Death By A Thousand Cuts

First of all, this brilliant picture is off of a site called "executedtoday.com." Really a lovely image, if I do say so, and one that perfectly encapsulates what it has been like to be a Dodgers fan lately.

While some of us have been too busy to blog of late (notwithstanding that we are only 12 days away from the start of college football season), others have been so disgusted by the near loss of a 15 1/2 game lead that the mere thought of putting fingers to keys carried the weight of Leonard Davis five years after his pro career ends. However, on the eve of a massive 3 game series in Colorado, I felt the need to add my thoughts to the ether .... lest the bloodletting soon be completed and render me incapable of offering any more.

I suppose the good fan in me should concede nothing. We have a 3 game lead still, and just as easily as a Colorado sweep of the next three games could erase that lead, a Dodgers sweep could make it 6. Still, Old Mo' is really on the Rockies side, and i get the feeling the Boys in Blue are wilting under the pressure of their first real challenge since Manny arrived last year. Ned Colletti elected to do nothing prior to the trading deadline, and we will see if that is brilliant faith in the young kids or delusional myopia predicated on saving a little money.

Needless to say, I don't have a good feeling at the start of this series. Amazingly, it feels as though the Dodgers have already lost their lead and the series, despite the fact that the Rockies are trotting out Josh Fogg and Jason Hammel (he of the 7.00+ ERA at home) as two of their starters. The way the Dodgers have been hitting, though, I can't see us taking more than one in the series. At this point, I feel it is more likely Vicente Padilla incites a full-blown riot by hitting Todd Helton in the head than that the Dodgers pull 2 of 3. Still, I will be pulling for them, if only because baseball is a synonym for masochism.

Where's the Tylenol?

We at SLAE are not always big on numbers, but let me throw out some numbers.

14 W - 17L (the Dodgers' record since the All-Star Break).

6-9 (the Dodgers' record in August).

4 1/2 (the number of games back in the NL West of the Rockies.

3 (number of blown saves by Broxton out of his last 5 opportunities).

0-2, 4.76 ERA (tonight's starter's, Chad Billingsley, numbers lifetime against the Cardinals).

We at SLAE are also not ones to panic when things turn bad.

Wait....yes we are.....P A N I C!!!!!!

After last nights systematic dismantling by Chris Carpenter and the Cards (which should please the Lone Reader), the NL West suddenly looks imminently loseable by the Boys in Blue. The numbers tell part of the story, but what is most concerning is that they are just playing bad baseball.

Carpenter, with all due respect, did not look particularly dominant last night. Evidencing the SLAE jinx, Bison Kemp struck out twice on HORRIBLE pitches, even after working the count in his favor. Casey Blake is going through his predictable decline to slap-hitter status (which belies his size and Beard), Furcal and Hudson continue to fail to spark the top of the lineup, and Manny still does not look like the Manny of old (and certainly not the Manny of last year).

I'll give some credit to the Cards (mostly for Lone Reader's benefit). Pujols is a frigging God. The guy seriously should just relocate to Mount Olympus. Ankiel hit a mammoth home run, and Ludwick made a beautiful throw to nail Ethier at third on a sac fly. But more than anything, they impressed me by making just enough plays to hang around until they got to poor Charlie Haeger -- which you just knew was going to happen eventually.

The Dodgers are playing right now without that confidence and assurance. Watching them, they don't look like they are always thiiiiis close to pulling a game out (as the good teams do), they look like they have to put up 9 runs in order to have a chance to win. And no team is going to do that in the playoffs (if they, gulp, get there).

So now the questions start: did the team get complacent (I think so); is the bullpen dead tired (umm, yeah); is there enough starting pitching to survive a stretch run and the playoffs, especially with Kuroda out for at least a start and of questionable effectiveness when he returns (we'll see); what the hell happened to the offense that was getting key hits early in the year and always seemed to have guys on base (who the hell knows).

All I know, is I am thiiiiiiiiis close to full-fledged meltdown mode, and if Billingsley can't beat
Mitchell Boggs tonight, and the Rockies win, I could spend the night curled in the fetal position in the corner of my living room.

How long until Longhorns football starts again?!?

Attack of the Bison

Not enough has been said here on SLAE (in fact, not enough has been said here lately, period) about one of the great young players in baseball. Anyone who watches the game today knows about Matt Kemp's athletic gifts. He has speed and burst like a good running back, power, a penchants for great plays on defense, and a nice arm. He is now hitting .313/.372/.494 and has a nice OPS of .866. He has 16 homeruns, 76 RBI, and, oh by the way, is 24 years old. All those things would be enough to make me worship at the altar of the Bison.

What I really enjoy about Kemp, though, is the emotion he brings to the game. He, of all the younger Dodgers, really seems to have benefited from Manny's presence and, I think, it has most to do with the fun Manny has while playing. Watching Kemp, he is smiling, laughing, talking throughout the game. He makes a great catch, he yells over to Either. He gets a gork single, he is laughing with Mariano Duncan at first base. He hits a home run, and you can seem him enjoying the moment with his teammates in the dugout.

Not enough players these days enjoy sports that way -- the way that sports need to be enjoyed. There are certainly enough things in our day-to-day life to be serious about, and sports should not be one of them. Certainly we fans are going to take these games WAY too seriously (football season is less than a month away, after all), but losing ourselves to the emotion of the game is part of the fun. From the players, I want to see reminders that these games are entertainment. I want something to make me smile, something that inspires me to not take life so seriously (if only for a little while). More than anything, I think that is what we need from our sports these days.

That and a World Series championship!

Separated At Birth?

I think I have found a long-lost family connection. I suggest you tap into that contract...