Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness

Well folks, this is it. In a few hours, Eric Stults takes the hill to close out the 2007 season for our beloved blue. In an insane end to the season in the NL, 4 of Sunday’s games have monumental impacts on the playoff hunt (good rundown here), but Dodgers/Giants might as well be a WNBA tilt for all the effect it’s going to have on the national baseball consciousness.

That’s right, your 2007 Los Angeles Dodgers: The Road to 4th Place.

And who are we kidding, anyway? Today’s the end of the season in name only. 2007 died two weeks ago, the second Todd Helton deposited Takashi Saito into the right field seats. Since then, while the NL has been so wide open that I half expect the wild card is going to be taken by the Hartford Whalers, the Dodgers have entertained themselves with a death march highlighted by the absurdity of the geezers telling the kids to get off their lawns, followed by the kids replying that Jeff Kent’s only ‘weekend dad’ now, so they don’t have to listen to them. Not to mention losing 9 out of 10 at one point.

We should be happy this train wreck is over, right? After a season that involved suffering through Nomar’s crimes against baseball at 1B while James “HOLY SHIT, THIS KID IS GOOD” Loney wastes away in Vegas, awful defense, a revolving and revolting back end to the starting rotation, awful defense, the holy war of Juan Pierre, and the race to see whether Grady Little can actually legally be held responsible for the death of Russell Martin, we should count our blessings that none of the prized kids got hurt, traded, or exposed as a bust, right?

Well, you know what? Not me. One huge reason why I love baseball is that it’s every goddamn day. There’s always a roster move to contemplate, always a lineup choice to make, and then you get to come back the next day and do it again. But now? Now we get to wait through a cold winter (suck it up, Angelenos. A low of 52 is not cold. You’ll have no sympathy from me while I walk through the snow to the subway) until the warming glowing warmth of the last Vero Beach spring training pops up in February. Which I will be attending. Mark it, dude. I wish the 2008 season started tomorrow.

Anyway, MSTI will be here each day of the offseason to lap up rumors, light incense for the firing of Griddle (more on this in the future), and expose Bill Plashke as the monumental asshat we all know he is.

Coming Monday? A full position-by-position player recap by Vin and myself. Because I know you can’t wait to read about Chad Moeller and Wilson Valdez!

PS. BRAIN! BRAIN. brains. This is the most inside of inside jokes, and only my partner in crime Vin’s going to find it funny. And you know what? That’s good enough for me.

- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness