Jackie Manuel’s Posse

Ned’s Dodgers are done (and always were)

“Oh, right…I’m playing in a baseball game.”

It is 7-4 Astros in the bottom of the 9th. Two on, one out, and Brad Lidge is in the game. Any Dodger fan still watching has put up with an average Brett Tomko start and the usual poor fielding and big opposition inning. Shea Hillenbrand is on second and Mark Sweeney is on first. Juan Pierre is up. I don’t need to tell you what happened but just for giggles he popped up 7 feet behind home plate and Mark Sweeney forgot how many outs there were and was thrown out for the final out of the game. Matt Kemp, who had earlier homered, was on deck. You’d think that I would be numb by now. After all, in just three short weeks, the Dodgers have gone from NL West leaders to having just a 10% chance of making the playoffs. Remarkable really. I managed not to get too upset about the Scott Proctor deal, didn’t freak out when the snakes swept us, or even throw anything when we were shut out by David Weathers, Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Mike Stanton, Jared Burton, Brandon Webb in three straight games. Last night…I lost it. Tomko, Proctor, Saenez, Pierre, Gonzo, Sweeney, and Shea were just too much for me to handle at one time.

Too much for the Dodgers to overcome too. Sure, the kids have slumped too and injuries to Schmidt (who could have seen that coming), Kuo, Furcal, Lowe, and Wolf have taken their toll on an overworked staff. That said, only three Dodgers have more than 15.0 VORP and the 3b (Nomar) , CF (Pierre), and LF (Gonzo) have been disasters. JP might be is my least favorite Dodger of all time. Its not just that I don’t crush on 30+ year old CFs who can’t get on base, don’t (EVER) hit home runs, and whose defense and speed are rapidly declining. It’s his moaning about wanting to play every day. He’s apparently never going to benched, despite being out hit by Brad Penny. Seriously. I’m stuck with him for 4 more years…..every day.

I thought this year’s team wouldn’t have enough hitting to compete and they don’t, but the kids are promising and there is much hope for the Dodgers next season and beyond…at least there would be if Ned Colleti was fired. His signings of Shea and Sweeney are SO Brain Sabean. The next off-season will be huge. We need a starting pitcher and more importantly no crappy -10 signings that will block the kids. We just have to hope Ned learned from the off-season of Nomar, Gonzo, Pierre, and Schmidt. The last three weeks don’t make me feel very good about that.