You wouldn't think that a kid growing up in the 70s, 80s and 90s would come to be such a huge fan of Maury Wills, who did most of his damage in the 60s, but it's true. It certainly helps that my father, also a native Angeleno, counts Maury among his favorite players, but I can probably only think of a couple Dodgers who I have liked as much as Maury and I guess that's because he's such an incredible person.

I'd imagine that any of you who have met him over the years at Dodger functions feel the same way. There's no doubt in my mind he belongs in the Hall of Fame and his hometown paper, the Washington Post, ran an incredible article on him last weekend. If you haven't read it, please take the time to do so. You'll love him even more than you did before.

As for the upcoming weekend, usually during the winter we aren't at the stadium much but we'll be hosting the annual 5k walk for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). This is an incredible organization (full disclosure, I'm on the board of directors) and the current president of the local chapter is Todd Zeile, whose daughter suffers from Type 1 diabetes.

Todd got me involved a few years ago and I know that last year when I posted a link here, several of you wanted to donate so feel free to do so again if you'd like. I know a few ITDers will be at the walk this weekend so we look forward to seeing you here.  

Got this news release in my inbox today...will be interesting to look back at the end of 2010 and see how close the projects are...sorry that the formatting is probably off

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 3, 2009

Bill James projects key Los Angeles Dodgers for 2010
Manny Ramirez slated to rebound

In the recently-released Bill James Handbook 2010, baseball guru Bill James projects the 2010 seasons for players on the Los Angeles Dodgers--and predicts a big comeback year for outfielder Manny Ramirez.

"In any season, the vast majority of players play in a manner that seems a natural extension of what they had done before," James says in his new book. "When that happens, our projection should be reasonably accurate."

With this in mind, here are five key Dodgers hitters for 2010, according to the new Bill James Handbook 2010:

Key Dodgers Hitters (by OPS) 
Player  At-bats  R  HR  RBI  SB  Avg. OPS 
Manny Ramirez 514  88 30  101 1  .296 .943
Matt Kemp 573 99 23  91  32 .311 .873 
Andre Ethier 560 85 24  89 5 .288 .868 
Russell Martin 533 80 12  71 13 .272 .768 
Casey Blake 517 72 18  68  3 .257 .762

Projecting stats for pitchers is very different from projecting offensive stats for hitters. "We used to believe that pitching performance was much, much less predictable than batter performance," James says. "This is probably still true...due to injuries and other factors. Sometimes a pitcher gets hurt, and when that happens our projections for him are knocked into a cocked hat."

Here are three key Dodgers pitchers for 2010, according to the new Bill James Handbook 2010:

Key Dodgers Pitchers (by ERA)
Player  IP  W L K  SV  ERA 
Jonathan Broxton 80 6  3 104 40  2.36 
Clayton Kershaw 180 13 7 188 0  3.25
Chad Billingsley 185 12 8 177 0  3.65

The complete projections for the 2010 Los Angeles Dodgers can be found in the Bill James Handbook 2010.

For further information on the Bill James Handbook 2010
go to www.actasports.com

Andre has been named the MLB Clutch Player of the Year!!! 

And just think, you guys all supported him before he was a big time star!

And while we're at it, Jonathan Broxton, Joe Torre and Ned Colletti are up for MLB.com's 2009 This Year in Baseball Awards in the Closer, Manager and Executive categories. Vote Now!

Still imagining a Yankees-Dodgers World Series matchup?

This is the "phantom" 1962 World Series program cover, produced before Los Angeles lost a best-of-three format National League tiebreaker against San Francisco at the end of the regular season. In the final game at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers took a 4-2 lead into the top of the ninth inning, but San Francisco rallied for four runs and won the pennant.

For older fans, there was a Dodgers-Yankees program cover made for the 1951 World Series, which instead became a collector's item when Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" three-run home run for the New York Giants in the bottom of the ninth inning beat the Dodgers, 5-4, in the third and deciding playoff game.

Another late-season heartbreak for the Dodgers led to the previous World Series matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees in 1950. The Phillies held a seven-game lead on September 23, but the Dodgers eventually cut the deficit to one with one game remaining on October 1. Needing a victory against the Phillies at Ebbets Field to force a playoff, the Dodgers wasted a bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the ninth against Robin Roberts and lost, 4-1, in 10 innings on Dick Sisler's three-run home run.

Sisler was the son of George Sisler, the Hall of Fame infielder who in 1950 was working for the Dodgers as a scout and sitting behind the Brooklyn dugout. Asked after the game about watching his son beat the Dodgers, George Sisler replied, "I feel awful and terrific at the same time."

The Phillies advanced to the World Series for the first time since 1915, but lost in four straight against Casey Stengel's Yankees.

-- Mark Langill

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you on behalf of the organization for the time, effort and money that you all put into following the Dodgers. Last night was tough...not much more can be said than you've all already said and the media has offered. The Phillies were clearly the better team this week and they outplayed us. But as always, I try to look on the bright side.

This year, many of you started the year with visits to Camelback Ranch and got to experience Spring Training for the first time. We all got to watch many of our favorite players mature before our very own eyes and have breakthrough seasons. The long-awaited ITD tour brought many of you face to face for the first time and of course, brought Joe Pierre out to Los Angeles for a very memorable weekend. The fact that this site can do that is an amazing thing and one of the primary reasons the blog was started in the first place.

The Dodgers finished with the best record in the NL for the first time in more than a quarter century and swept the NLDS for the second straight season, both of which are pretty impressive feats. And Dodger Stadium rocked during the playoffs like I've never seen before...literally. From the press box, we could feel the stadium shaking with your cheering, towel waving, and excitement.

The 2009 highlights are simply too many to try to list...

Inside the Dodgers continues to be a great place for fans to gather and share their thoughts. Despite techinical issues that we obviously hope will be worked out, you guys have all made this a place where all opinions are welcome and your feedback is truly appreciated. I'm not sure how many teams have this sort of back and forth forum with their fans but I'm very proud that we do and your thoughts are taken into account by the highest levels of the team, so keep sharing them.

In the meantime, don't stop coming to this blog just because the season is over. We'll continue to try and post relevant updates all the time (though proabably not daily). And remember, Spring Training is just around the corner...

Here's the message I just sent around to the front office...

If and when we turn this series around, we would be the 12th team to erase a 3-1 deficit and come back to win the series. That's hardly considered rare in the game of baseball. In fact, it happened as recently as two years ago and the Red Sox have actually done it twice in the last five seasons!

We beat the Phillies four times in a five-game stretch earlier this year and just this season alone, we have had 15 winning streaks of three or more games. Fifteen!

Joe Torre, Manny Ramirez, Casey Blake, and Doug Mientkiewicz have all been a part of series where the team that was up 3-1 didn't win the series. No one here in Philly has given up and neither can anyone back in Los Angeles. A win tonight brings the series home to Dodger Stadium where anything can happen.

"Manny is a guy who has been through everything and so has Doug," Pedro Martinez said yesterday. "They can be really inspirational to those guys and I wouldn't be surprised if they do something to call it to their attention and turn them around. I hope they don't, to be honest."

See - even the Phillies realize this thing isn't over, so keep up the positive vibes and don't let down the preparations for Game 6! It'll be here before we know it! 

---

Enjoy tonight and keep those spirits high! I'm hoping to see you all at the stadium on Friday.

Certainly the good news of the day came from our workouts, where Ned was signed to a long-term extension. Given all that we've accomplished over the last four years, I'm thrilled about this and the fact that we'll have some continuity within the front office for a long time to come. I hope you'll all join me in congratulating Ned...

Of course, this comes on the heels of the toughest loss that I think I've been a part of as a Dodger fan. Jon Weisman has a healthy way of viewing things and I tend to approach this stuff the same way he does. It hurts, a lot, but this series isn't over. We've got to win tomorrow and then see where it goes from here.

Over at Psychollingy, Steve Lyons shared his thoughts from last night and yes, he felt the pain, too.

But tomorrow is a new day. And for the first time this year, we have an actual must-win game.

For those Dodger fans looking for an open window to jump, an 11-0 loss like Sunday night in Philadelphia may be hard to watch. But trailing 2-1 in a best-of-seven NLCS format, it's hardly the end of the world. Older fans should recognize the same score from Game 1 of the 1959 World Series. After the 11-0 defeat against the White Sox in Chicago, pitcher Don Drysdale boarded the bus and shouted, "Is that all they've got?", which drew laughter from his teammates and the Dodgers eventually won the Series in six games.

The 1960 New York Yankees enjoyed blowout World Series victories by scores of 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0. But the Pittsburgh Pirates won four games by scores of 6-4, 3-2, 5-2 and 10-9. The 1984 Chicago Cubs opened the NLCS with a 13-0 victory at Wrigley Field. But the San Diego Padres eventually won the series in the best-of-five format.

Obviously the Dodgers have a major challenge ahead, but somehow those blowouts in a non-elimination game usually take a back seat in the history books to the late-inning heartbreaks.

-- Mark Langill

Here's tonight's lineup:

Furcal, SS

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Belliard, 2B

Martin, C

Blake, 3B

Wolf, P

Joe switched it up a bit...

Furcal, SS

Belliard, 2B

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Kemp, CF

Loney, 1B

Blake, 3B

Martin, C

Kuroda, P

Clubhouse is loose and happy right now. Everyone is getting ready for tonight but there doesn't seem to be an uptight person in the room.

It's 48 degrees for the workout here, but according to weather.com, it feels like 42 degrees. For Angelenos, it feels like the March of the Penguins, but mostly we're indoors today.

The players have been working out in the cages and just getting used to the weather here, as obviously we've got to win at least one game here, if not more. Yesterday's win was obviously huge and you've got to believe that a Game 3 victory would get this team's confidence extremely high.

Joe Torre told the media a little bit ago that Kershaw will start Game 5 on Wednesday and that's about the only news from out here today.

Think warm thoughts for the Dodgers...and as Manny Mota just walked by and told me, "Stay postive!"