I’ve Got To Admit: It’s Getting Better
May 16, 2009 at 12:19 am | Posted in 2009 rules so far | 7 CommentsSo, first off, the biggest news: Vin has taken over the ship here at MSTI for the week
end! Yes, to paraphrase the great Stevie Wonder, I have been, if that, a Part Time Blogger, but it’s nice to be back.
But we have more important things to talk about: like, how about those Dodgers? You know, the team that was supposed to fall into this deep funk post-Mannygate, start sucking, and wallow themselves in sadness and stuff themselves with lots of Lithium? And who could blame them? I mean, for crying out loud, they started out 1-3 without Manny! Surely the season is over!
Well, not quite. As you saw today, the Dodgers came back from a 3-0 deficit against Chris Volstad and won 6-4 aided by HR’s by Casey Blake, Xavier Paul’s 1st career HR (who, by the way, continues to impress), and a respectable pitching performance by Eric Stults, who went 5 IP, giving up 3 ER, walking 2 and striking out 5. Broxton was shaky again in the 9th, and was only throwing a mere 98 MPH this time, but he got the job done and, given his pitch count over the past two days (28 pitches today, 27 pitches the night before), will likely get the day off tomorrow. No, actually, make that a guarantee.
So far the road trip has been a very refreshing one for the Dodgers. Coming off the horrible series against SF, they didn’t look their best, but they have rebounded quite nicely, taking 2 out of 3 from the World Champion Phillies and rallying to win the first game in Florida at Sand Bark Stadium (yes, I will continue to screw up the name of the stadium… it can’t be any worse than what it ACTUALLY is!). The really good news, in particular, has been the emergence of James Loney on this road trip. Not just because he’s belted 2 HR’s, but his approach at the plate in general looks better and it shows, collecting another two hits today. It’s interesting, though: the more I watch this team, the more I’m reaffirmed at just how good we are and can still be even with the absence of Manny. That isn’t to discount his impact, our team is still obviously better with him, but my confidence in our offense is still relatively high; we’re still piling up runs (and with a really struggling Ethier) and, for the most part, if we’ve had issues in these past eight games, they’ve primarily been due to bullpen issues, namely that Guillermo Mota was born.
Even with that, the Dodgers advance to 25-12 and retake the claim of having the best record in baseball. Not bad, huh?
- Vin 
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It’s getting better all the time
Comment by Damon— May 16, 2009 #
I have to admit, I was cursing the baseball gods, breaking stuff, and generally burning things in effigy after the 1-3 post-Manny start. I had lost all faith. I was Judas.
But I have reformed. This team can play! They do some good little things to win, and they are magically transformed into a “Moneyball” style force that relies on getting guys on base. I have been critical of Joe Torre, and the bullpen (both handling and personnel) remains a mess, but the Pierre, Furcal, Hudson sequence in the lineup really puts a lot of pressure on opposing pitchers and I think it is working for this team. I don’t know how long they can continue to prevail like this once Pierre (inevitably) reverts to the norm of his performance, but so far this style of ball has worked and we need to give credit where it is due.
Comment by Matt— May 16, 2009 #
I have to admit, I was cursing the baseball gods, breaking stuff, and generally burning things in effigy after the 1-3 post-Manny start. I had lost all faith. I was Judas.
But I have reformed. This team can play! They do some good little things to win, and they are magically transformed into a “Moneyball” style force that relies on getting guys on base. I have been critical of Joe Torre, and the bullpen (both handling and personnel) remains a mess, but the Pierre, Furcal, Hudson sequence in the lineup really puts a lot of pressure on opposing pitchers and I think it is working for this team. I don’t know how long they can continue to prevail like this once Pierre (inevitably) reverts to the norm of his performance, but so far this style of ball has worked and we need to give credit where it is due.
Comment by Matt— May 16, 2009 #
I have to admit, I was cursing the baseball gods, breaking stuff, and generally burning things in effigy after the 1-3 post-Manny start. I had lost all faith. I was Judas.
But I have reformed. This team can play! They do some good little things to win, and they are magically transformed into a “Moneyball” style force that relies on getting guys on base. I have been critical of Joe Torre, and the bullpen (both handling and personnel) remains a mess, but the Pierre, Furcal, Hudson sequence in the lineup really puts a lot of pressure on opposing pitchers and I think it is working for this team. I don’t know how long they can continue to prevail like this once Pierre (inevitably) reverts to the norm of his performance, but so far this style of ball has worked and we need to give credit where it is due.
Comment by Matt— May 16, 2009 #
A litle better all the time.
It’s very heartening to see this team rebound from what must have been a shocking blow. Hopefully their confidence is growing in themselves as thy see that they CAN do this.
How about that Casey Blake? sometimes that Creamy Veteran Goodness translates well, Though to be honest, “the kids” aren’t kids anymore and don’t really need CVG.
Comment by Babe Herman— May 16, 2009 #
Good to see you back on the down Lowe, Vin.
Nice reference to Stevie Wonder. No truth to the rumor that he is replacing Cowboy Joe and Iassogna as NL umps, though.
Didn’t you read the memo, though, that the only reason the Dodgers have this record is because of all the games against the NL West and as soon as they started playing “real” teams it would be over?
Comment by Mike— May 16, 2009 #
Tony Jackson is back…but it’ll be about a month before he’s fully back in the swing of things.
I’m really looking forward to this: http://www.ladodgertalk.com/2009/05/now-hear-this-2/
Comment by Gibby's Limp— May 17, 2009 #