In a movie called “Twice in a Lifetime,” Gene Hackman plays a blue collar worker in Seattle who is a diehard Seahawks fan. There is a scene where he is watching the Mariners, who were very bad in the 80’s when the film was made, on TV, and his son says “these guys can’t get their act together.” At which point Hackman’s character says “ahh, football season will be here soon” (a dated reference to the Jim Zorn-Steve Largent days). Gee talk about art imitating life; especially in Los Angeles. While USC and UCLA football are currently ruling the roost, the Dodgers are, well, they can’t get their act together.
Adrian Gonzalez is batting just .242 with one home run as a Dodger.
Los Angeles lost two of three to San Francisco this weekend and now find themselves on the outside looking in as far as their postseason chances are concerned. They were a game out of the division lead on July 31st ; they enter Tuesday 5.5 games behind the Giants. A two game series in Arizona followed by four home games versus the Cardinals, the team currently ahead of the Dodgers for a wild card playoff spot, are up next. These next six games might be the most telling games the Dodgers will play the rest of the way.
The Dodgers are just 4-4 for the month of September. There are a couple of reasons the Dodgers find themselves in this current pickle. Injuries have sidelined both pitcher Clayton Kershaw (sore hip) and Matt Kemp (sore shoulder). But the main culprit has been an anemic offense.
The Dodgers plated a total of five whole runs against the Giants. They were 1 for 23 with runners in scoring position. Ironically, the scoring problems stem from the players who were going to add the lumber to a balsa wood line-up.
The Dodgers are 6-9 since acquiring Adrian Gonzalez. He is batting .242 as a Dodger and has not hit a home run since his Dodger debut way back on August 25th. The Dodgers were scoring an average of four runs a game “pre-” Gonzalez; they are averaging just 3.3 runs a game with him. They have scored at a miserable clip of 2.75 runs a game in September. Although Gonzalez’s average is disappointing, he is hitting .313 with runners in scoring position. So if he is coming through in the clutch, what is the other problem?
Another mid-season acquisition, Shane Victorino, is part of the reason Gonzalez hasn’t had too many chances to drive in runs. Victorino is hitting just .245 as a Dodger and was recently “demoted” from the lead-off spot to the number two hole. Second baseman Mark Ellis has been the spark at the top of the line-up these days. He is hitting .333 over his last 10 games and is currently on a seven game hitting streak. Five of those seven have been multi-hit games.
The Dodgers mid-season pitching acquisitions have fizzled as much as the bats. Former Phillie Joe Blanton is 1-4 in seven Dodger starts. He has made it into the seventh inning just once in those games. The jury may still be out on Josh Beckett who came over from the Red Sox with Gonzalez. The bad news is he is just 1-2 in his three starts; the good new is he has given up only eight runs in those starts.
These guys better get their act together soon. Dodgers fans aren’t quite ready for football season.
Kemp and Kershaw, home-grown talent, aren’t durable enough to form the foci of an ellipse around which the lesser lights may orbit. Hired guns look before unwrapped from the mail-order armory like just the thing to scare the opposition. Something has to drive building a winner, some combination of patience and perspicacity in the front office. You could say Mattingly doesn’t handle pitchers well (what! a manager who wasn’t a catcher?), or the G.M. is too quick to deal prospects; but where is the belly-fire we like to see flashing from our players’ eyes? I say: underpay underperformers! Give them all one-year contracts for an amount totally determined by their and the team’s results on the field (i.e. a minimum and a calculated bonus). What kind of psychology justifies giving a megabuck to a guy from a slum or a farm–and then expecting him to play like he’s hungry? Cities ought to “nationalize” their teams, confiscate them from the owners and get the fans involved with young players who will be around for a few years. I am willing to take anyone’s bet on when we’ll see the first robotic player on an MLB diamond: I say it will be 2044.
Kemp and Kershaw, home-grown talent, aren’t durable enough to form the foci of an ellipse around which the lesser lights may orbit. Hired guns look before unwrapped from the mail-order armory like just the thing to scare the opposition. Something has to drive building a winner, some combination of patience and perspicacity in the front office. You could say Mattingly doesn’t handle pitchers well (what! a manager who wasn’t a catcher?), or the G.M. is too quick to deal prospects; but where is the belly-fire we like to see flashing from our players’ eyes? I say: underpay underperformers! Give them all one-year contracts for an amount totally determined by their and the team’s results on the field (i.e. a minimum and a calculated bonus). What kind of psychology justifies giving a megabuck to a guy from a slum or a farm–and then expecting him to play like he’s hungry? Cities ought to “nationalize” their teams, confiscate them from the owners and get the fans involved with young players who will be around for a few years. I am willing to take anyone’s bet on when we’ll see the first robotic player on an MLB diamond: I say it will be 2044.