Lineup
We just got finished with Ned’s live chat from here in the press box at Miller Park.
Here’s the lineup:
Furcal, SS
Lofton, CF
Nomar, 1B
Kent, 2B
Ethier, LF
Kemp, RF
Lugo, 3B
Martin, C
Hendrickson, P
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Inside the Dodgers 
Big start for Hendrickson, I imagine it’s his last chance to stay in the rotation. Hope Lofton doesn’t wear down, but it’s September and he needs to be out there.
Where’s Hendrix’s personal catcher? Hall played pretty well last week.
give andre a day off, he seems to be running out of gas.. hendrickson needs to have a good game, this is his last chance, and i’m not talking about 5 innings and 3 runs, i mean he has to have a really good outing..
BELIEVE IN BLUE!
Finally Martin catches Hendrickson 😉
Wonder if it will help. Hall did play quite well, he’s no Jason Phillips!
Here’s to hoping the Dodgers can get back on track today. We’ve no business being weak, losing-streak teams’ saviours in September! Go blue!
Not to be a fatalist, but the next two with the Brewers are “must win” games for the Blue Crew. With four coming up against the Mets and four more against the Padres, we need to win nearly every other game and could use a little help from those teams playing the Padres and Giants.
Not too sure why you think Ethier is sliding Ray, he is still hitting .331, which would have him tied for 3rd in the NL if he had enough at bats. Andre has had quite a few multiple hit games since the All Star break. I think he is fine.
I have a feeling Kemp is going to break out soon, maybe today. Glad to see him in there, and near the bottom of the line up.
Take walks if you need to big guy, eventually they will have to throw you fastballs!!!
Hi fansince53. I came aboard in 1952. I really enjoy this blog hearing from guys like you and kday01 who are my age, Gary the in betweener, Ray and his kids, all the other Dodger faithful and yes Joey. Diversity of opinion. We have to go with who we have and trust Ned to pull the right strings. That is easy for us to do after the fact. He doesn’t get a second guess. And yes you are right. Those eight games are going to make or break us. Good to have a cushion before then.Go Dodgers.
ive seen grady pointing to the 87 win mark as his goal. if the dodgers win 2 of 3 for all series in sept and split with pads and mets, they hit 89 wins. and they will be playing some so so teams such as brewers, pirates, cubs, dbacks and rox. its up to the dodgers to prove that they belong in the playoffs. consistent pitching and hitting throughout the month and the blue crew should be looking dangerous in october. hopefully bills wont miss too many starts.
Yep, if the Dodgers can’t pull out this Brewers series, they are not quite on the strength they thought they would be. September’s schedule does not favour the Dodgers much, the guys will have to reach deep in every game and play with fire and concentration ( yesterday’s performance didn’t seem very focused or intense to me ) if they don’t want the entire season’s work, and especially August’s push, to fizz out towards “also ran” status and watching October from the outside.
I’m glad Lugo is batting 7th, good call on Grady.
hello 52 and 53 this is 51. you are right we need a good game from Hendrickson tonight. Maybe martin well be the charm Hendrickson needs.. GO BLUE!!!!!!!!
1) I’m going to say it’s all about hitting the right streak at the right time. Since the all-star break, this team has been all or nothing.
2) Kenny Lofton is starting against a lefty? I’m honestly not too keen on that one, but Drew gets the night off, and Ethier and Kemp are at a very comfortable 5 and 6 spot, with Lugo down in the 7 hole where he belongs. Might be a good one.
3) Hendrickson is a road pitcher. Dodger stadium isn’t for him, but he’s just fine somewhere else.
4) I’m curious to see if the Dodgers have gotten more sleep than the night before, and if they will play like they have had more rest today.
5) If you’re flipping through the channels during commercials, check out the DCI championship on ESPN 2. These are some talented groups, and they’ll look better than your high school ever did.
oh my god!! mark hendrickson is worthless!, i wonder what sport hes gonna try now.. maybe he can lawn mower racing, or go on the putt-putt circuit… grady do something!!!
BELIEVE IN BLUE!
looks like it could be another long night…I hope not. next couple of innings will tell.
Well, looks like Hendrickson threw the game down the chute for us already >:-(
Now he’s not a road pitcher or a home pitcher. He’s just junk. Sigh.
ARGH!! HENDRICKSON!!!!
Dude, can’t you go at LEAST one inning with out giving up a three-run bomb?!
This guy is totally worthless… Navarro was worth much more than this.
Hendrickson Blows!! (I hope he reads this)
Hendrickson was a horrible trade. His career figures warned that he was a bad pitcher who got lucky for a year. He can’t handle pressure it seems, he put up those numbers for Tampa Bay after all.
It is not, however, his fault that he is losing today’s game. He is obviously not getting it done, yet he is appearantly considered the only one who can pitch, so he has to pitch. And then we lose, it seems. The offense is now, as it has been all year, near incapable of erasing deficits.
When Hendrickson pitches……I just cringe and hope WHEN the opposition hits the ball hard, it goes right to one of our fielders. He is a below average number 5 starter. Use Kuo, Sele, or Elbert……they couldn’t be much worse.
We have to have someone better than Hendrickson. Look at his body language-I’ve never seen a player look lazier than Hendrickson. He acts as though walking to the dugout is an effort
Seen enough? Guess good thoughts aren’t the answer.
Yes Hendrickson is horrible but can eveyone quit trying to play GM? Who cares about Navarro, Martin will have a much better career. The problem lies with Little giving him the ball every fifth day. No question that he should not be in the rotation 1-6 & 5+era coming into this game! Hopefully this start is enough to bounce him from the rotation. The team cannot afford to have him pitch this badly in his last 4-5 starts of the year LoCal will catch them. Anyway, Ned only provides the pieces, it’s up to Little to use them wisely.
The trade ******
blows, blows, blows…
bottom of the 5th. I’ve seen enough. turn of the t.v. and computor and get a good book. maybe if I don’t watch or listen, they will turn it around.
nice throw by KEMP, maybe I spoke to soon.
It’s now 5-0, so might as well pack it in for this ballgame. It’s time to hand the ball to Kuo and Stults the next time we’re past Penny, Lowe and Maddux. I can’t imagine how Hendrickson ever won 3 ballgames for Tampa, but this is the last start he would make for me. I also think it’s time to have Garciaparra and Lugo sit – they’re doing nothing but watching their averages slide. Play Loney and Betemit every day. I’m so tired of hearing of all the experience that some of these veterans are supposed to have in the crunch time of September/ October. Let’s face it, Nomar is capable of putting in about half a season any more, and I’m grateful for what he provided before the all Star game. I said then that he’d finish the season a lot closer to .300 than .350, but I didn’t really expect him to finish under .300 – now it looks like a certainty, if Grady keeps him in every day. Lugo just can’t hit in the National League – maybe he can get adjusted next year. I don’t really want either Garciaparra or Lugo around for next year.
holy smokes, did you see that throw by kemp?
is this next year’s team?
LF ethier. CF kemp. RF repko/werth/loney/young???
laroche, betemit and furcal on the left… kent and loney on the right. no room for nomar if we don’t pony up a bunch of cash and put loney in the OF. martin behind the plate.
SP — really hoping for RLR of penny, zito, lowe. then we’ve got room for maddux and billingsly with kuo waiting in the wings. bullpen of tomko, brazoban (if he can make it back), brox, sammy, and even gagne. throw in a lefty or two and we’ve got a nice team that won’t cost us a 100million.
Looks like Lugo is well on his way for another 0-fer..
Give me Ramon Martinez…..
Here’s how much Hendrickson *****.
I said, “I hate this man worse then any other person in the world.”
My wife said, “Even more then Barry Bonds?”
I said, “Barry Bonds doesn’t loose us 6 almost 7 games.”
Kemp’s throw to first in the first inning wasn’t all that great, he nearly threw it into the stands … too early to call him a great fielder!
I am sick and tired of seeing Little put Hendrickson in the lineup day after day after day. Hendrickson has the same sort of hold over him that Carter did …
Hendrickson is also the reason we are not going to make the post season. Vent, vent, vent 🙂
Nomar is becoming baggage, sit him down, it will help his knee and it will help the team. The worst Loney can do is go 0-4, 0-4, 0-4 like Nomar does now, but at least Loney will gain some experience. Keeping Nomar in helps us nothing.
hi, I haven’t had the time to post for a while. as a fan since 1959, this year is the most rollercoaster team we have had. I also think hendrickson stinks. . I am been saying protect the future all year, and I am happy we haven’t lost many of our top talent.
ned’s trades with tampa bay are killing us for sure. and why not bring up laroche, he seems to keep getting forgotting, send back to double a late promotion to aaa, and now not allowed to
spend one month watching the pennant race, while most of his friends get at least the experience to watch. he is on the 40 man roster, so it is not like they have to clear a spot for him. I feel this is a huge injustice to la roche.
as for henderickson, if he were in the real world, he would be called into the office and told he had not been doing the job, and that we have decided to go another direction. pick up your last check on the way out.
lets hope for a huge inning or two tonight, and we do need to take 2 of 3 from the brews, 2 of 4 from the mets, and 3 of 4 from the pads, or the last couple of weeks will be hard on the team
Holy **** we **** again……
Brewers look set to sweep us, this team is not playing with any kind of visible spark.
Time for Hendrickson to be thrown out on his ear. But boo to the offense for getting shut out, too. They never seem able to help out pitchers who struggle, not even a little. This team is pretty one-dimensional in that it seems it can only win if it manages an early lead. Trailing early seems to break its back and will.
This is disgusting! losing 3 in a row, not to mention losing 2 in a row to the Brewers! I mean Good God! What is going on? If the Dodgers can’t beat the Brewers there is NO WAY they can beat the Mets this weekend. We are dropping fast and the Padres are coming in for the kill. We play the Padres in 2 weeks and we all know they always put a hurt on us. They might just deliver the final blow to knock us out.
How many more times does Grady have to see Hendrickson implode on the mound before he has the balls enough to send him to the bullpen where he belongs?? Heck… how many more times is the Dodger brass going to sit and watch this anemic offense do absolutely nothing when their behind in the game? Why can’t grady pull his freaking head out of his *** and sit the players who aren’t producing?? Grow a pair Grady and do something about this!!! Who the heck are we playing here?? The Yankees?? No!! These are the freaking Brewers after all!!******…
their behind in the game
s/b “they’re” behind in the game
Oh yeah… 51, 52 and 53…
I’m the 43 year-old of this group. I’ve seen enough baseball to know when to say “disgusting”, and the last three games have been utterly disgusting to say the least. Anemic bats is an understatement.
The only question now is how many more. When this team decides to loose, it really is determined. 4 in a row? 5? 8? We are being DOMINATED by one of the worst teams in baseball (who had lost 10 in a row when we got to town). Today is the day I realize were not winning the west, or probably even the wild card. 9-0 now, but that doesn’t matter. I think down 3 is enough to sink the Dodgers. They look done for, again. No fight. Never seen a team so easy to meat down mentally. I can’t wait to see the Grady wise-crack tomorrow. Something like “…well- there’s a lot of beer in this town, its probably good that we don’t have too much to celebrate!” Shut out by Doug Davis. A guy who has allowed almost 2 base runners/inning this year. Statistically, that’s an amazing feat!!! A pennant winning team? Nah.
today was embarrassing, plain and simple..i have been saying for a long time not to put in “shawn bradley”, hes not good!.. and yes, we got robbed in that deal.. wat the **** is grady’s problem?.. “shaw bradley” cant pitch worht a ****, so why keep running him out there?… joel hanrahan, dj houlton, spike lundberg might do a better job.. “shawn bradley” is fast becoming hideo nomo from the ’04 season, everyone knows he stinks, but they keep running him out there… i’m effing pissed at the job that grady has been doing, some one needs to give him a good slap and wake his *** up! and dont even get me started on the offense, 4 hits?.. are you kidding me? tough times to be a dodger fan..
BELIEVE IN BLUE!
oh yess, i forgot.. 3 ERRORS!!! W.T.F.!!
BELIEVE IN BLUE!
I finally also think Hendrickson should be dropped from the rotation, but tonights game can’t be all laid on him. Since when is this Davis a Cy Young candidate?
Which team is in first place? It’s hard to tell watching this listless performance from the Dodgers, Part of it is Grittle’s fault, he keeps playing guys who continue to **** it up. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, bench Nomar and play Loney. Also keep Betimit at 3rd. Switching guys around only contributes to errors. That and let Hendrickson join the groundskeepers, he might succeed there.
May I have your attention please? Would whoever stole the Los Angeles Dodgers kindly bring them back (except for Mark Hendrickson) AND FAST? No questions asked!
Like I said last night in my first ever post here: “The only guy worse to have on the mound (than Carrara) is Hendrickson. If Grady starts him again, he has only himself to blame.”
I think the world of Grady Little and hate to bash him (and not just because people say that I look like him, but because I really believe in him and respect him), but for the life of me, I can’t understand why Grady keeps Hendrickson in the rotation. (Hendrickson must have some serious dirt on somebody in the Front Office).
All that being said, I believe that Hendrickson has (FINALLY) made his last start as a Dodger. HEY GRADY – CAN YOU SAY “UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE”? Good God, PLEASE get rid of Hendrickson! (I’m telling you, the guy is a San Diego Padre Mole).
Let’s all pray for a Colorado Rockies victory tonight!
lossing 2 streight to a team that lost 10 in arrow i’m o.k. with, but if we get swept my the BREWERS! it’s a dam shame!!!
Here’s to hoping we can salvage a win from this Yankee team disguised as the Milwuakee Brewers. Here’s the team I’d send out tomorrow if I were managing. Well… I can dream can’t I?
Rafael Furcal, SS .366 L-10 Games. Mr. Consistency. Need I say more?
Matt Kemp, CF .148 L-10 Games. Let’s see if he learned anything in AAA.
JD Drew, RF .361 L-10 Games. Dude is swinging a hot bat right now.
Jeff Kent, 2B .333 L-10 Games. Treats every at bat the same. A true pro.
Andre Ethier, LF .343 L-10 Games. Kid’s proven he hits lefties.
Wilson Betemit, 3B .351 L-10 Games. Can’t hit lefties if he doesn’t see them.
James Loney, 1B .333 L-10 Games. Slumping Nomar needs the time off.
Russell Martin, C .324 L-10 Games. Playing like a 10-year veteran.
Derek Lowe, P Will get another win. 3 hits in his last 12 at bats.
This has been really frustrating the last few games, but the team is so streaky, there’s no reason to think they wouldn’t have a chance to get another winning streak going on. They just have to do decent against the Jets/Nets/Mets and use SD’s visit to the Ravine to their advantage. No easy task, but hey, many fans (myself included) thought that after the 1-13 post-AllStar record, we might as well have fielded the 51’s for experience.
Now, we’re still in first, if only by one game, and the NL West is sitting pretty in the :: cringe :: Wild Card race. It ain’t over til it’s over, especially this season. And if October comes with LA in the postseason, I like this team’s chances better than the blown-up-and-piecemealed 2004 team’s.
ok I’m gonna go out on alimb here and say this but its very plain to see.Our scouting of other teams whom we don’t play often is Seriously lacking.This team came in here thinking the brewers blow but look at there record at home and the fact that they were in the nl wildcard hunt prior to there losing streak.What I saw tonight was a formitable team and it wasn’t the dodgers at all. Our Team was either ill informed of the competition or just blew off the warning label. Oh yeah LH pitcher walks alot we’ll crush em…Danger Danger Stingray under your chest…is the best comparision don’t take it for granted that the small threat can’t kill you.Hendrickson is a Joke I’ll join that bandwagon and Grady is a Quack as manager while i’m on it. When we are Winning he shuffles the lineup to accomodate….*** is that?Nomar is not producing sit him Lugo …. bring him off the bench. I’m with
Furcal
Lofton
Betemint
Kent
Drew
Loney
Eithier
Martin
Pitcher
Kemp isn’t ready yet and needs some work maybe Nomar will do better off the bench through the stretch Loney is solid Defence. After this season no matter if we make the playoffs or die a horrible nl west death I want a new manager…….Grady finds ways to lose….
“….Little has made a habit of resting players the day after they excel. Garciaparra, for example, drove in six runs Saturday against the Colorado Rockies and sat out Sunday…”
“A lot of their success has to do with knowing they have the next day off,” Little said. “It gives them a relaxed kind of feeling.”
IS HE INSANE? Has anyone EVER heard anything that flat out stupid? THAT folks is why we fold like a cheap suite in the face of adversity. What kind of leadership is that in a pennant run?
“A lot of their success has to do with knowing they have the next day off,” Little said. “It gives them a relaxed kind of feeling.” That was a quote from the LA Times. Is this guy a total idiot or what? Anyone imagine that kind of statement and attitude from Pinella, Billy Martin, or Torre – or for that matter from Hodges, Snider, or Campy. I know it’s impossible, but I would love to see this guy Little gone next year, no matter what.
GONE TOMORROW!
Lineup I want to see tonight:
Furcal
Martin
Nomar
Kent
Ethier
Kemp
Lugo
Repko
Lowe-Capuano is a good matchup for a turnaround, too.
Now we know what people in Boston knew all along. Little is insane!
patriot,
I hope youre right, but Capuano has better numbers than any dodger starter so we are probably going to need a heck of a game from Lowe the way we are hitting. Wake up the bats!!! And for goodness sake I dont want to hear anything about loud teenagers in the freak’n team hotel as a reason we look flat. Give me a break.
The downfall of the Dodgers is not getting David Wells.This is no time to be putting stiffs like Sele and Hendrickson out day in and day out.Once again I am a realist and the Dodgers will not win the division and probably not the wildcard either! This stinks of 1991 when they blew it down the stretch,just ask Eddie Murray he was there!! I like Russell Martin but Piazza and his 20 homeruns (so far) are going to lead the Padres to the division title,and imagine he could have been had for 3 million dollars!!I had a post 2 weeks ago about getting wells now it is going to bite us in the ***!!! I know the Redsox wanted James Loney but they could have worked around that. The Padres gave up a catcher hitting .233,233!!! for him.Nomar, Kent,Drew,Betemit,Lofton NEED to be in the lineup EVERYDAY until the the season ends ,*** it up!Some of the Dodger fans on these posts mean well but are blinded by Dodger blue.Loney,Repko and especially Kemp are not the answer this year or next and definitely not in the pennant stretch.As usual the Dodgers overhype there prospects. As soon as one of these guys starts hitting like David Wright,Ryan Howard,or Ryan Zimmerman then you can chirp about how great Kemp is,he ***** bad and i mean bad, way to big of a hole in his swing! Our best young player is Eithier and he did not come from our system.Bad times,bad times.
Here’s what I would like to see tonight:
1. Furcal SS (As Gwen Stefani would say “Rock Solid”)
2. Lofton CF (Not great D but he’s been hitting the ball very hard)
3. Drew RF (hitting a lot of doubles lately – our top RBI guy)
4. Betemit 3B (he’s our top homerun guy and belongs in the number 4 hole)
5. Kent 2B (still playing hurt, but usually good for one or two hits/RBI’s a night)
6. Ethier LF (the Rookie of the Year – what else can I say)
7. Nomar 1B (I know his hitting has tanked, but he is a Gold Glove first baseman and is still capable of multi-hit games & power. Dropping him into the number 7 hole might just fire him up)
8. Martin C (a clutch hitter with men on base)
9. Lowe P (a nut case, but he is brutal when his sinker is working)
As noted, Grady needs to get over this “day off” BS. There will be plenty of days off after the World Series. If it ain’t broke – don’t fix it. I think the expanded roster is going to his head. Go with the guys who got you here Grady.
GO DODGERS!
I totally disagree with most of that, but am really not happy right now. I don’t like the way were playing when it counts most. Ill take Martin over Piazza any day. Kemp and Loney are just fine, but we DO need the ‘vets to step it up now. Banking on the rookies in Sept doesnt make sense. Wells, I didnt think we needed, but Bills being hurt has changed things. He done for the year?? Seems like those trunk injuries are months not days to recover, that really hurts. Its time for Kent, Nomar, Furcal (has been a major stud), Drew, Lowe, Penny to put the team on their backs and get it done.
drj884,
Capuano is a power pitcher. The problem with power pitchers is that they give hitters more power off the bat. Consider the following:
Capuano:
1.14 HR/9, .425 opp SLG
Lowe:
.63 HR/9, .360 opp SLG
Further, in non-homerun hits, Derek Lowe gives up an average of 1.27 total bases, while Capuano gives up 1.45 total bases.
You could make a good case that Capuano’s HR/9 is only .72 at home, but then you have to account for Lowe’s being .42 on the road. Hitting solid line drives against Capuano is how to beat him.
You know, losing three games in a row is not the issue here. The way the Dodgers have lost these past three games is however the big issue. I can handle losing three games if we’d even been close, but they were over after the first pitch was thrown! Where’s the life in this team?? Who’s going to step up and take accountablity for their actions?? Where is the coaching for our once proud pitching staff?? Honeycutt?? I don’t think so! Who’s responsible for throwing Broxton the other night when the game was FAR out of reach?? THAT’S THE FREAKING TIME TO THROW SELE OR HENDRICKSON UNTIL THEIR ARMS FALLS OFF!
Grady… it’s time to push for the playoffs. Get over your players “needing” a rest day. If a player is slumping, NOW is NOT the time to wait to see if he’ll pull out of it. You guys KNOW who is getting the job done. Make the moves that make sense… no more of the “cowboy” logic Grady! We’re sick of your stupid jokes. “..It gives them a relaxed kind of feeling”??? I get a relaxed kind of feeling each morning after my bran cereal!! I’m sure your regulars don’t need the same treatment from you Mr. Little! Quit it with the cute remarks. This is the time to make or break this season.
Little’s relaxed approach may have been essential in the pressure-pot of Boston, but out here on the West Coast it doesn’t get the job done at all.
What I can’t take about the team’s last three losses is how flat they played – it looked like they surrendered the game before they started playing.
Little is not a very good manager for getting results down the wire, it seems. We will be listening to his little jokes about not making the post season, I suppose. Face it, this team is just not good enough to compete in the post season. And now that everybody else steps up the intensity, we are going to really start falling behind if we keep the relaxed approach.
Little doesn’t seem to allow his players to settle into a rythm. Errors surely happen more often when a guy doesn’t play the same position every day.
Things I don’t have the stomach to see anymore:
a) Hendrickson’s weak, bearded face
b) Nomar’s windup while waiting for the pitcher to blow him away
c) The team rolling over the moment the other team shows even a tiny bit of spine
When I saw Little’s “relaxed” comment in the Times, I was pretty puzzled myself. At this rate the players are going to have all of October to relax. I’d like to have heard the rest of the conversation, or hear all of Grady’s thoughts on the subject before demanding his head. I do think just a bit of tension can be useful in these situations. Nobody needs to be told this is crunch time.
This road trip is far from over and Blue can pull this out and rest this winter.
i agree that the Brewers looked liked the first place team and LA came up and mailed in from the first inning.
Furcal doesn’t even slide trying to steal second.
Kemp airmails a throw past first.
Kent boots a ball and allows a run to score.
The whole team looks and plays disinterested. I know they are not that way, but in the wake of Grady’s comments about “being relaxed and rested” this team looks like its sleeping standing up.
And where is the veteran leadership – Kent, Nomar, Lofton and the like have all crapped the bed on this road trip.
And then there is “Shawn Bradley” Hendrickson…my gosh, what a waste. He looks timid and lost and can’t even hit 90 mph when he lands about 50 feet from home plate with each throw?!?
And yes, can we bench Lugo until the playoffs, if that day comes. He is now creating more harm than good, as this team is now totally out of synch while trying to get him in the lineup when a) he can’t hit and b) is not playing his natural position.
And finally, I will believe in this team when a) they win on the road and b) come from behind and win!
WOW I guess it’s beat up Grady day !!!
Kevin / Griffon64 your letting a comment in the Times influence your judgement. Yes Grady is laid back and Yes it does seem like guys are getting too many rest days. But pulling a Billy Martin doesn’t work and this isn’t NY !!! I have to believe that many things are being said behind closed doors !! I also have to believe that these guys are doing a pretty good job of ragging on each other. So having Grady say something inflamitory in the media just isn’t productive. A managers number one job is keeping these guys thinking positive and giving encouragement. Breaking down a player just isn’t the way anymore.
Believe in the Blue.
Go Dodgers !!!
The last paragraph of Jon Weisman’s post “JV” on Dodger Thoughts is priceless.
I hope that was Mr. Hendrickson’s last appearance for 2006 – Ned made some great acquisitions, this wasn’t one of them.
Jon Weisman’s Dodger thoughts ROCKS!!
“And finally, I will believe in this team when a) they win on the road and b) come from behind and win!” – Yes, absolutely. Couldn’t agree more. This is a team that is hard to root for sometimes, because you just know they’re going to roll over the moment the opposition takes a lead of more than a run.
garysmith@glsmith.com – I am aware that reporters are notorious for firing a comment out of context to spice up their writing. But this is not the first comment of the sort that Little has made, it seems. I would like to believe the things you say you have to believe, but it is hard to believe them when the team on the field plays so tepidly ;-P
The following is reprinted without permission from “Dodger Thoughts”. Sorry Jon. This one’s too good to link to!
“In the 1984 Pioneer League Junior Varsity cross-country finals, I made up ground on a hard hill climb, defying expectations, neared the leaders, followed most of them in missing a turn and going off course, retraced my steps and ran my lungs out to hold on to a respectable finish.
That’s your 2006 Los Angeles Dodgers – pride and joy on the line, arms flailing, dashingly ill-prepared, a hint of talent here and inadqeuacy there, a surefire winner on Everybody Gets a Trophy Day, and potentially an actual champion of the lesser gods if the finish line would just show up at the right time.”
Jon Weisman