Kind of wild around here

As a Bronco fan, winning 9-6 in football isn’t exactly the way you want to wake up on Monday morning. Yet a fellow Denver fan pointed out to me the silver lining – that my favorite football team has yet to give up a touchdown this season. And why does that matter at Inside the Dodgers? Because silver linings are important in sports. They allow you to see through the obvious negative vibes and stay positive when you need it most.

Sure, a win yesterday would’ve been huge. It would’ve guaranteed us first place at the end of this series, but you know what? A win tonight would do the same thing. A win tonight and we’re right back where we were when this series started. And, if the season were to end today, we’d still be going to the playoffs.

I know, I know. These are tough pills to swallow after a great outing by Derek Lowe and a game that was obviously winnable, but this is no time to get down on the boys. When we were reeling in July, everyone stayed positive and the team bounced back. There’s no reason it can’t happen again today.

So get back to work. Try hard not to think about tonight’s game until you’re done with your work day. Then come on out to Dodger Stadium and get your fleece blanket and wave it like there’s no tomorrow. Or head home and watch the game with your kids, your friends, your family or your fellow Dodger fans. These next seven games are crucial because we’re at home and that doesn’t mean a thing if we’re all walking around with our heads down, right?

Fantasy Football

Just curious…how many of you are watching pennant race baseball while monitoring your fantasy football teams? Seems to me like this time of year, everyone has an eye on that other sport, too. The good thing is, in this day and age, you can come to the stadium, watch the Dodgers and still keep up with your team on your blackberry, treo or whatever handy device you keep on your side. Ah, the wonders of modern technology.

I wonder what John Wooden must think when he says all these crazy gadgets. He was here today, as was Laffit Pincay, the Hall of Fame jockey. Throw in Eddie Murray, Jeff Kent, Greg Maddux, Vin Scully, Jaime Jarrin and Jerry Coleman and there’s quite a few Hall of Famers in the house today.

1981 Remembered

We just finished up a luncheon and press conference for the 1981 Dodgers, who will be honored at tonight’s game. It’s hard to believe some of those guys are in their 50s and 60s, but time flies. Almost everyone was back here, with the exception of guys like Scioscia, Baker and Lopes, who were coaching elsewhere today.

As for the game, Nomar is out with the injury from last night. We’re still not sure how long he’ll be out of the lineup, but he’s out today. Here it is:

Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Lugo, 2B

Kent, 1B

Drew, RF

Betemit, 3B

Ethier, LF

Martin, C

Billingsley, P

Today's game

Same lineup as yesterday, with Kuo in Penny’s place. Let’s hope he pitches as well as Penny did.

The sun has come out, so as Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks would say, let’s play two! Nevermind, let’s just play one and get back to LA with a 5-5 record on the trip.

Oh, and Tommy Lasorda is leading Wrigleyville in Take Me Out to the Ballgame today, so tune into WGN if you can.

The past week and week ahead – Roy Smith

I write this as I fly from New York to Los Angeles. I accompanied the team on the first two legs of this current trip as we played the Brewers and Mets and spent Monday visiting with my mother and family in New York.

The thing that sticks out on our first two stops was the clutch pitching of our two rookie left-handers, Hong-Chih Kuo and Eric Stults. They both gave us tremendous starts when we needed them. It was also very gratifying that Ken Howell, our Triple-A pitching coach was there to see them. In September, Major League clubs are allowed to add additional coaches, and we brought Kenny for the first two weeks of September. Ken did a tremendous job with both pitchers while they were under his tutelage at Las Vegas and I was happy that he was able to see his hard work pay off.

While we were on the road, our Double-A affiliate, the Jacksonville Suns, were knocked out in the first round of the Southern League playoffs. However, the team and the coaching staff of manager John Shoemaker, hitting coach Mike Easler and pitching coach Danny Darwin had a great year. The organization is very proud of their work and that of the team. Also John Shoemaker will be joing the Major League staff for the last two weeks of the season.

As for me, my job when I get back in the office is to organize our advance scouting effort for the playoffs. In about a week to 10 days we will send our professional scouts to scout our most likely potential opponents. They will send their reports in to LA where bench coach Dave Jauss organizes the information and distributes it to Grady, the staff and the players. Because of the amount of teams still in contention, the fact that we have to scout the American League teams as well, and the fact that I held the job of advance scout of the Pirates for a year, I also will be out on the trail.

Mark Weidemaier has been our advance scout for many years and is considered one of the best. He was joined by Dan Freed, who picked Weid up in the middle of the year to allow Mark to do some special assignment work. Both of those men will lead the effort.

Was Tony Jackson on the grassy knoll, too?

To put to rest all of the conspiracy theories regarding the missing photo of Tony Jackson, let me assure you, the photo was originally posted with Tony’s consent and then when things spun entirely out of control he figured it was better if we took it down and we did. 

I don’t know if everyone realizes how many hours the beat reporters put in each day, particularly when traveling.  They fly commercial, they take redeyes, and many of them, including Tony, jump around from city to city for 162 games straight – not including Spring Training, postseason, etc.  They live the life of the team without many of the perks that make travel easier.  Tony was just sitting in the dugout after coming off the redeye and waiting for Grady to start his daily briefing.  He wasn’t slacking – and we woke him up right after the photo was taken – so he didn’t miss a thing!  In total, he was probably a sleep for a matter of a couple of minutes.

This was all done in good fun and Tony was being a good sport and that’s the full story.  Rest assured, he’s one of the hardest working people in the league and anyone who knows him, knows that. I certainly would not have posted it had I thought anyone would think otherwise.