Sports

Thu - August 9, 2007

Well, at least we're beating the Giants......sigh

The Dodgers can't seem to score

Apparently, the Dodgers were so excited about Bonds hitting 756, A-Rod hitting 500, and Glavine winning his 300th that they wanted to break a record too. They decided that Orel Hershiser's record of 59 scoreless innings... Someone should politely let them know that it was the OTHER team that the Bulldog kept from scoring.

All sarcastic kidding aside, the Dodgers are currently up to 28 consecutive scoreless innings, and have been shutout in their last 4 out of 5 games. They have fallen from first place to fourth in less than a week, meaning the only team worse than them is the miserable Giants (who everyone, myself included, will now return.to not-watching, since Barry has broken the record).

Having moved to the Eastern time zone, and being a busy dad, I can't really watch their games any more, so I have to keep up with them from reading box scores the next day. Part of me is somewhat thankful, seeing how bad a picture the box scores have painted of late. Here's to hoping this year can end with a bit more of a consolation than the fact that we ended up better than the Giants, and at least we didn't let Barry hit 756 in Dodger Stadium.

UPDATE: My reverse-jinx plan has worked! Clearly, someone (perhaps all) at the Dodgers reads this blog, and was shamed by my scathing sarcasm. This led to the Dodgers offensive reawakening in a 5-4 victory over Cincinnati.

Sat - October 9, 2004

I love Jose Lima

Jose Lima is the best thing that happened to the Dodgers this season - and he proved it tonight

Although I am sad that the Dodgers are in such a tight spot right now, I'm overjoyed to see that they won their first playoff game since winning the '88 World Series. In fact, they had their first playoff game shutout since Orel Hershiser did it in game two of that World Series. But I am especially happy to see that it was Jose Lima that accomplished it.

Jose Lima was a walk on in spring training, and had to fight for a spot on the team. He's one of those guys that most people counted out a while ago. While he hasn't been flawless this year for the Dodgers, he has pitched very well - particularly at home. But the one thing that I really like about Jose Lima is he has brought such a fire and excitement to the Dodger dugout. He is the cheerleader of the Dodger team, and he was just the spark this Dodger team needed. From silly things, like kissing Steve Finley's bats to get him out a slump, to just being a good teammate - Lima is almost always the first one to congratulate a teammate - he has breathed life into a Dodger team that was rather dull. Thanks to his performance tonight, you can add to that list that he pitched his best game of the season when the Dodgers needed it the most.

The 90's were a cruel decade to the LA sports fan. We did not win a single playoff game in any major sport, with the Lakers, Dodgers, and Kings all being swept out of the first rounds whenever they made it. To add insult to injury, we also lost both of our football franchises. The Lakers won their first of three championships in 2000, announcing that the 90's curse had been lifted. Yet the Dodgers still had yet to make it to the playoffs this decade - the September collapse being a regular Dodger fan nightmare. Well, now that curse too has been lifted.

I don't know if Lima's huge performance tonight could spark the Dodgers enough to mount a comeback over the mighty Cards, but I do know that the last time Dodger miracles happened things were looking bleak against a tough opponent. Yet we won because we had a team that played with a ton of heart, led by a guy who played with everything he had. I also know that this Dodger team won a large majority of its games by coming from behind rather than leading. With the Angels disappointing postseason fizzle-whimper, the Dodgers are all I have left. One thing is for sure, its going to be some exciting baseball tomorrow night and I'm looking forward to it. Thank you Jose Lima.

Sat - October 2, 2004

In a year that's been so improbable...

The Dodgers and Angels clinch the NL and AL West divisions, within about a half hour of each other

In '88 when Kirk Gibson hit his memorable home run, as he hobbled around the basepath and into the history books, Vin Scully - the voice of the Dodgers now for close to 6 decades and the greatest baseball announcer - eloquently proclaimed, "In a year that's been so improbable, the impossible just happened." I figured I would borrow that line for the title of this post, seeing as I'm a bit overwhelmed by what I saw today in baseball. Within about a half hour of each other, both the Dodgers and the Angels came from behind to clinch the NL and AL West titles. Janet and I were lucky enough to have sat down right in time to watch both happen, as we flipped back and forth between the two games.

The Angels won first, so we'll start with them. Going into the 8th inning, the Angels were down 4-2. If they lost this game, it would mean a one game, winner takes all situation on Sunday, as they would be tied with the A's for the AL West (neither team has any hopes of getting the Wild Card as a consolation prize, as Boston has had that wrapped up for a while). The Angels managed to rally for 3 runs in the 8th, and that was the difference. Janet and I turned it at the bottom of the eighth and watched the Angels hang on to clinch the division.

The Dodgers had an even more exciting night. Down 3-0 in the 8th, they managed to get two on with only one out. Janet and I were watching on the edge of our seats as the Dodgers tried to get one more come from behind victory (they had 52 before today, and 15 of those were in the 8th or later). But the 8th was disappointing and the Dodgers came up completely empty. With only three more outs to go, we were starting to get worried. The Dodgers loaded the bases and managed to tie on a single, some walks, an error, and an 8 pitch at bat that ended in a single. Once the score was tied, the pressure was off, and it was pretty clear the Dodgers would win. But I never would have suspected a walk off grand slam from Steve Finley. Anyone looking at the score of 7-3 would never guess the amount of excitement in the game.

So for the first time ever in major league history, both the Angels and the Dodgers are playing in the postseason. These two games were exactly what I love of about baseball. Basketball is a very exciting sport to watch, and the late second three pointer is pretty hard to top. But when you get the Dodgers and Giants, bitter rivals for decades, battling for their postseason life and the division title, I don't think you can find anything more exciting. Every pitch counts, every pitch makes you hold your breath and wonder what will happen. You watch as the batter fouls off another pitch, and you can start breathing again and you think to yourself "I'm not sure how much more of this I can take." That's excitement and thats why I love baseball. It's definitely going to be a fun postseason to watch.

Thu - September 30, 2004

Dodgers lose, but still gain ground

The magic number has now fallen to 2, and the Dodgers might even have a shot at clinching the division tonight

The Dodgers suffered their first loss in this current homestand against the Rockies last night. But the bad news didn't last for too long - after I watched the Dodgers get closed out in the ninth (after Tuesday's game, you HAVE to watch the ninth), I flipped the channel over to the Giants-Padres game just in time to see SD mount a 10th inning rally to beat the Giants.

This means the magic number falls to only 2, which all of you who read (and understood) my past punditry know means that any combination of Dodger wins and Giants losses that adds up to 2 will clinch the division for the Dodgers. This means that if the Dodgers win tonight, and the Giants lose, the whole race is over even before the weekend showdown. It also means that the Giants must win all 3 games this weekend against the Dodgers to win the division, and if they both win tonight or both lose tonight, even winning all 3 games this weekend would only result in a tie (in which case there would be a one game playoff, assuming that the wild card is taken by the Cubs or Astros). So the Dodgers should concentrate on winning tonight and hope that SD can knock the Giants out of the race - if not, the Dodgers only need to win one game out of three against the Giants at home.

Meanwhile, the Angels have not only mounted a comeback, they've taken back first place by a game. I had pretty much counted them out last Friday when they dropped the first game of a three game series with the A's. At the time that put Oakland up by 3 games, but the Angels managed to take the remaining two games in the series and leave only down by a game. Thanks to beating up on the Rangers (sorry Pres. Bush), and the Mariners finally coming to life against the A's, the Angels not only gained ground but actually overtook the A's. This one is basically going to come down to the three game series in Oakland this weekend.

Whoever setup the schedules this year must really feel proud of himself, with the Dodgers and Giants battling over the NL West and the Angels and A's battling over the AL West all in the last weekend of the season. Some truly exciting baseball going on right now, and I haven't even mentioned the NL wild card. Hopefully our So Cal teams can have a great weekend, and a few good playoff series, and I'll be talking freeway series on this blog in a few weeks.

Sun - September 26, 2004

2 out of 3 ain't bad

The Dodgers finish their series with the Giants by winning their second of the three games

For those who are not big sports fans, I apologize for continuing the thread on the Dodgers-Giants showdown - this blog will return to its regularly scheduled program soon. The Dodgers today were able to finish up the weekend on a good note, defeating the Giants in the rubber game of their weekend series. This puts the Dodgers two and a half games up over the Giants, and brings their magic number down to five. If you remember what I said in the first post, this means that if the Dodgers can win 2 or 3 from Colorado, and the Giants lose a game or two to SD, they will only need to win one game in the final weekend series with the Giants.

In the final analysis, this has been a good weekend for the Dodgers. I said I'd be happy if they could take 2 of 3 in SF, and they did. So I'm happy. The Dodger fan in me hopes they can take all four from Colorado - who have lost 3 in a row - and that the Padres can take at least one from the Giants. That would clinch the division for the Dodgers before the final series with the Giants and allow us to just concentrate on making sure the Hated Ones don't take the wild card spot from the Cubbies (who I marginally like to root for because a) they are up against the Giants, 2) they are one of the cursed teams of baseball and III) my poor friends who are Cubs fans are dying for some good news). Of course, the paranoid pessimist in me says that the Dodgers will drop 4 to Colorado just to make the final series extremely interesting and give me an ulcer. So please, my beloved Dodgers, beat up on the Rockies and put this thing out of reach - for my health, if for nothing else.

Sat - September 25, 2004

1 down, 5 to go

The Dodgers defeat the Giants in the first game of their series this weekend

I've been hesitating to post anything on the Dodgers, lest I jinx them with whatever happened to the Lakers. But I simply can't contain myself any longer - the race has gotten too exciting, and besides, the Lakers doomed themselves well before I posted on it.

For those who don't know, the Dodgers had a fairly comfortable lead in the National League West about two weeks ago. The Padres and the Giants were the only other two teams in their division that were in the running, with San Diego almost completely out of it. Then the Dodgers went on a bit of a nasty collapse while the Giants, of course, went on a big winning streak. I should add one other piece of history - the Dodgers and Giants have a long standing rivalry going back all the way to when both teams were in NY. In fact, some say it is the best in baseball (this article is a few years old, so the "current" details are off)

So it all comes down to these last two weeks, yet again, and the Dodgers play the Giants in six games out of their remaining ten - with the Giants at Dodger stadium for the last three games of the season. This means that basically an entire 162-game 6 month long season, is going to come down to 6 games played over the next 12 days or so. This is why I love baseball. A rivalry thats been brewing for decades re-ignited, the entire season riding on each pitch.

Here's my take - even though the Dodgers let San Diego keep hope alive for a little longer, it would take a cataclysmic collapse by both the Dodgers and SF to let them in this thing for real. The wild card adds a bit of hope to whoever doesn't win the NL West, but I think that the Dodgers and Giants will beat each other up so badly that whoever loses the division will watch them wild card slip out of their hands as well. So basically, if the Dodgers want to make it to the playoffs, they have to win the division (same goes for the Hated Ones, of course).

The Dodgers need to take 2 out of 3 this weekend, or even better sweep all three, if they want to be in a good position. 2 out of 3 would bring their magic number (the number of Dodger wins combined with Giants losses required to mathematically eliminate the Hated Ones) down to 5. This would mean that if the Dodgers can win 2 or 3 out of 4 from Colorado, and the Giants lose a game or two to SD, the Dodgers would need only one win in LA. If the Dodgers manage a sweep in SF, the magic number would be only 3 - meaning if they could win 2 in Colorado and the Giants lost once in SD, the series in LA wouldn't even matter. This is the other reason I love baseball - I'm a geek and there are so many things to add up and analyze mathematically (My first indoctrination to baseball stats was putting them in SuperCalc on my Dad's Xerox computer with 8" disk drives.... I was 5, thus ensuring a life of baseball and computer geekdom).

Tonight, the Dodgers took the first step towards the pennant by beating the Giants in a very close game, 3-2. I watched the ninth inning, which saw the Giants load the bases with two out in a one run game. I realized I might be a little too excited about this game when I noticed I was bobbing back and forth in Rainman fashion and telling myself "its only a game, it doesn't really matter." Or when I just realized how long this post has become. Perhaps I should just read the box scores.

Wed - June 16, 2004

A Most Depressing Performance

The Lakers lost and lost big - I am both wrong and sad

As much as I regret to report it, the Lakers were absolutely destroyed by the Pistons last night in game 5. The score (100-87) doesn't even tell how bad it was, as the Pistons let the Lakers score a few nothing baskets at the end. While I do think the officials gave game 4 to the Pistons, you have to give them all the credit for game 5. The officials were very balanced in this game - maybe even giving the Lakers a few breaks early on. The Pistons played an excellent game of team basketball, making great cuts and passes and playing with incredible intensity.

In fact, the Pistons deserve a lot of credit for consistently playing great for this entire series. Dennis Prager said it was a 4-1 sweep this morning, and I think that describes it well. The Lakers essentially stole game 2 with a clutch 3-pointer from Bryant to force overtime. My hat's off to the Pistons, and especially coach Larry Brown, for playing as a team and focusing on smart basketball. They beat us, adn thats all there is to it - although I do think the Lakers played way below their abilities, but then again, inconsistency is the most consistent thing about this team this year.

No one knows what happens next year for the Lakers. Gary Payton and Karl Malone are both old and may retire or take another offer. Kobe is a free agent, not to mention he could end up in prison. Phil Jackson is a free agent. Shaq has said before he would just retire if someone other than Phil was coaching. Even Derek Fisher could be leaving. For a team that was assembled for no reason other than winning the championship, second place feels very hollow. I'm sure this off season will prove to be interesting.

Personally, its now time to turn my interest to baseball, consoled by the fact that the Angels and the Dodgers won last night. The Dodgers are even in first place, a game in front of the Padres - of course, thats mainly due to how bad the NL West has become. The Angels are a game and a half back, but they have a far more promising team this year than when they won the series in '02. Let's hope their success will help drown out the Laker's embarrassing loss.

Tue - June 15, 2004

Go Lakers!

Lakers are in a must win game tonight - Go Lakers!

Tonight is game 5 of the NBA Finals, and my beloved Lakers are facing a must-win situation. Dropping one of two here in LA and then losing two straight in Detroit has brought them to the brink of elimination, staring at a 3-1 deficit in a best of seven series. No team in the history of the NBA has ever bounced back from a 3-1 to win a best of seven series. It has been done, however, 5 times in baseball.

The Lakers are well positioned to do it. They were 7 to 1 favorites coming into the series, mainly because no one has any answer for Shaq. The Pistons countered cleverly last game by simply deciding to shut down Kobe (with a little help due to the fact they didn't get called for a single foul while man-handling him). But Kobe will be back tonight - and for anyone bagging on Kobe, remember that the Lakers wouldn't be playing a game 5 if it hadn't been for a certain 3-point shot in game 2.

The Lakers need to play smart basketball, and that means not putting themselves in a position that the officials can hurt them. Feed Shaq early and often and hopefully he shows up very hungry and very angry. If they won't call people for fouling Shaq, who cares if he can dunk it for 2? The other Lakers need to - well, actually, FIRST they need to show up and then - not settle for the outside jumpers. On defense they've done a good job of getting Detroit out of their offense before, and they can do it again.

So, here's to hoping this year will end up like back in '88 - Lakers in seven ('88, incidentally, was quite a good year for me as a young kid rooting for LA teams. Not only did the Lakers win, but the Dodgers had one of the most surprising upsets, including Gibson's unbelievable homer. This made the 90's a vicious and cruel coming of age for yours truly, as all LA teams combined - even soccer and NHL if I remember correctly - could not manage to win even a single playoff game) Go Lakers!