The Trolley Dodger

Congratulations once again to the Los Angeles Lakers of Los Angeles for an awesome Game 7 victory over the hated Celtics.

A most excellent win.

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers on their winning the 2009 NBA championship!

Let’s hope this bodes well for our boys in blue this Fall. :)

More in depth after game, as ipod touchscreen makes lengthy writing hard. Lineup for tonight:

• Pierre
• Furcal
• Hudson
• Blake
• Loney
• Martin
• Ethier
• Kemp
• Kershaw

6:11p

Smell of cooking Dodger Dogs wafting in from below. Mustn’t cheer. ;)

Phillies taking BP. Was on field for Dodger BP earlier — a wonderfully surreal experience. Ken Levine of Dodger Talk radio show told me going on the field never gets old. I believe him.

6:17 pm

Phillies lineup:

• Rollins
• Utley
• Werth
• Howard
• Ibanez
• Feliz
• Bruntlett
• Ruiz
• Hamels

Next time I’m bringing a laptop. ;)

6:27 pm

Scuttlebutt saying Glavine not in Dodgers immediate plans. Anonymous sources!

6:35

When Fernando Valenzuela walks by in wraparound shades and snappy shirt, it’s hard not to start doing a happy dance.

6:42

During BP earlier James Loney hit a bomb off Don Mattingly into the back of the visitors bullpen. This drew appreciative hoots and hollers from the rest of the team.

He was in a group with Orlando Hudson and Mark Loretta.

6:47

Nancy Bea on the organ. They should have an occasional all-organ game, with nothing but Nancy. :)

7:00

The anthem never knew what hit it.

Vin Scully sighting by entrance to media dining room! I picked a good time to refill my diet coke. ;)

Big heartfelt cheer from crowd for Juan Pierre and his player of the month award.

First pitch 7:10. 67 degrees. They announce it in press box.

7:15

Kershaw a wee bit off but infield takes care of it.

7:21

Fair number of Phillie fans here based on cheers after that double play.

7:35

Graphic on board showing 7 Dodgers 25 and under.

And a nice hit for hustling Loney. Hamels couldn’t get over in time.

…for naught as Russ hits into double play.

7:44

Montage of Fernando highlights to the tune of ABBA’s “Fernando”. Then a huge cheer as they showed him in booth. Great moment.

7:49

No replay here, but I thought for sure Kershaw was safe. Close play. Shame, that was a nice solid hit.

Boy it’s hard not to react too much on big plays. Have to maintain decorum.

8:03

Huge cheer for Lakers score at end of 3rd quarter.

Chase Utley run on towering Sac Fly by towering Ryan Howard.

8:20

Phew! Escaped the top of the 5th with no damage done.

I keep thinking there’s cheering and clapping in the pressbox behind me, but it’s the fans in the seats right above us. :)

8:29

Nice run down of that fly ball by Pierre. Big cheer. Crowd loves Juan.

Furcal leaping just missed that liner.

8:33

Belisario up in bullpen.

8:39

Kershaw out. Time for a Dodger Dog. Or two.

8:49

Lakers final just announced. Another big cheer.

Dodgers threaten in 6th but nada.

Cory Wade into pitch.

8:57

A few fireworks went off prematurely over in direction of Think Blue sign. Happens to stadiums all the time, so don’t feel bad. ;)

The second base ump is missing a good game.

Phillies score again 3-0. Leach coming in to pitch, hopefully not belly itch.

9:03

Battery level warning just now but I’ll keep going as long as possible.

9:09

Hamels pitches thru 7th: 22 balls, 50 strikes, 72 total. Yikes.

After final out I’m headed to locker room.

9:15

G. Mota replacing Leach.

9:18

Don’t Stop Believing, sings Journey.

Crowd sings along, alternating with booing Phillie phans.

9:22

Man, thought that first Russ foul was out for sure.

Attendance 33,839.

9:26

One thing this season has taught us is to never give up, but Hamels has been pitching like a fiend. Has a CG shutout in hand if the bottom of the 9th goes as quietly as the rest of the game.

9:43

Oof. 97 pitches.

Thanks for following tonight. Back later.

Congrats to the LA Lakers, 2009 Western Conference Champs. Four more wins, and that’s it.

Thank goodness Bill Plaschke has been distracted by the Lakers playoffs this past week. Let’s hope the Lakers go all the way, if for no other reason than to keep him preoccupied and away from Dodger Stadium.

For those just tuning in, Plaschke submitted a diatribe 10 days ago, in which he lambasted Dodger fans for getting on with their lives without Manny Ramirez, calling them no better than San Francisco Giants followers. Them’s fightin’ words.

Today came an article by Randy Cohen in the NY Times, “Is Manny Ramirez Really All That Bad?”, in which the reverse of Plaschke’s “tar and feathering isn’t good enough for Manny” argument is opined:

If we admire athletes who work hard to improve their play, then why do we damn those who do just that with the use of banned substances?

Fellow commenter “Hollywood Joe” and I got into a conversation about that piece in this thread on Dodger Thoughts. My take is that Cohen skirts around what to me is the core issue — taking PEDs is against the rules of baseball. And moreover, it’s rude. :) I wrote,

Baseball is an all-too human activity masquerading (at least for some folks in the fourth estate) as a religion. The imperfect human story is always more entertaining than the flawless saint’s. If every game pitched were perfect or every hit a home run, then it ceases to be interesting. This is why I don’t play sports video games on rookie mode once I’m used to the controls.

This is also why gaining an advantage via an activity that is against the rules sullies the game, at least to me. It becomes a less entertaining game, even if the subject itself is more interesting. Cheat codes are maybe fun once or twice, to continue the metaphor, but making a habit of them while playing with friends is unsporting.

Now, this doesn’t mean that I enjoy baseball less because of the rampant PED usage. The sport is more than just the game, and the reasons to watch it are more complicated than just faceless automatons throwing, catching, and hitting mechanically.

It’s the human side that adds depth to watching sports. Otherwise, you might as well just flip a coin and be done with it. The stories are what keep me entertained over the course of a long season. Not a soap opera, but the drama of a marathon grind.

Will Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and the other “kids” continue their maturation into the ballplayers we think they can be?

Will the pitching staff keep it together with Hiroki Kuroda out, or will they fold under the pressure?

Does Jonathan Broxton have what it takes to be a closer?

Will Manny Ramirez be himself when he returns in July?

Can the team go all the way this year and erase 21 years of futility?

I continued in my comments,

To use an ESPN favorite, Derek Jeter’s “classiness” is much less of a big deal without A-Rod’s soap opera on the team as a counterpoint. :)

Doesn’t mean I condone A-Rod’s behavior — I don’t get why, with his innate talents, he felt the need to get even more of an advantage. And that question makes him way more fascinating of a character than the manufactured facade he worked so hard to maintain.

And none of this requires burning him, Manny, Clemens, Sosa, McGwire, or Bonds at the stake. People like Plaschke who are seemingly more interested in making sure they get back on “Around the Horn” are worse for baseball than Manny or A-Rod.

As a postscript, I feel as if I should reiterate what I said in my 5/9 post: I like Bill Plaschke. When he’s on, he can be a great sportswriter who shines a light on that human drama like few others in his field.

Let’s hope the Lakers keep him busy for a while.