HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Landing in sports purgatory couldn't have happened to a more deserving Sooner. Have fun with the worst organization in sports, Blake!

Roids or Not, the Guy Can Rake

Much to the joy of Team Stockel -- A-Rod homers in his fourth straight.

Did the Mets throw that game?

I'm not sure I've ever seen a team give away a baseball game in one inning quite like that. Let's examine.

Top 11th: NY Mets
- R. Martinez lined out to center
- R. Castro lined out to left
- R. Church singled to left
- A. Pagan singled to deep right center, R. Church out at third

The Mets appeared to take a 3-2 lead in the top of the 11th on Pagan's gapper to the wall. Church scores from first base easily - except for the fact that he clearly missed third base on the way home. I've never seen a base runner look so guilty. The Dodgers quickly picked up on it, tagged the base, and the inning was over. A horrendous mistake by an established big-league player, but shit happens, right?

Bottom 11th: LA Dodgers
- M. Loretta walked
- X. Paul safe at first on center fielder C. Beltran's fielding error, M. Loretta to third, X. Paul to second
- J. Pierre intentionally walked
- R. Furcal flied out to left
- O. Hudson reached on fielder's choice, M. Loretta scored, X. Paul to third, J. Pierre to second on first baseman J. Reed's throwing error

This is where things get crazy. After Loretta leads off with a walk, Xavier Paul hits a routine fly ball to left center field. Beltran and Pagan converge on it, both of them making it there in time to catch the ball. Beltran clearly calls off Pagan, but the ball falls innocently between them. Hmm. Beltran picks it up and rifles it into the infield. There's now runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. The Dodgers then intentionally walk Ted Williams.....err....Juan Pierre to load the bases.

The Mets then bring in Beltran to play a 5th infielder spot. Furcal flies out to shallow left and Loretta decides not to test Pagan's arm. Hudson then hits a ground ball directly to Jeremy Reed, who has an easy throw home to get the force out and preserve the tie. Of course, Reed throws it five feet wide of the catcher. Loretta scores and the Dodgers win.

Sheesh. I'm only half-joking about the possibility that the Mets "black-soxed" it last night. However, the alternative for the Mets ain't all that appealing. A little league team would be embarrassed by that 11th inning. The Dodgers will certainly take it though.

1st Half Thoughts

I am watching on DVR, so this is a little late in coming, but .... damn that was quite a first half. Pau finally looked like he wasn't up all night drinking mojitos and screwing eurotrash women, Ariza is about one step away from turning this into a gang war, and Kobe is just sitting back letting everyone else take over.

Can't ask for much more as a Laker fan. Still need to play defense, but the defensive effort so far looks strong. What is it about home cooking?

And not to be lost on this day.... Clayton F'ing Kershaw!! No-hitter through 7! Dodgers win 12-5 with the scrub lineup in! Looks like it could be a glorious sports day in the Penny household. Laker Girl is giddy.

Dare to Nightmare?

There is too much potential for a loss for any Laker fan to feel comfortable on this Sunday morning. At this point, I am done with predictions, done with analysis, and done with the semblance of understanding what makes these Lakers tick (or not). In some ways, I am reverting to pure fan status, just waiting with anticipation for the game, which I will watch either with glee or outright depression. I don't know that I like this better, but a Game 7 with a clear underdog is definitely what sports is all about.

That said, looking at this game on paper it would certainly suggest that the Lakers should bounce back. But as they say...

Good thing I have the Dodgers and Fish to tide me over until Showtime!

The Reports of My Demise are Greatly Exaggerated.

I have to admit, I was cursing the baseball gods, breaking stuff, and generally burning things in effigy after the 1-3 post-Manny start. I had lost all faith. I had foresworn the gospel. I was a baseball Judas.

But I have reformed. The Dodgers can play! They do some good little things to win. They play good defense, and the pitching has been remarkably adequate. Don't let the record fool you, the Phillies are a good team and taking 2 of 3 in Philly is huge. Beating Volstad in Florida is no small feat either, given that guy's stuff. And now they face Andrew Miller and Jon Koronka, not exactly the aces of the Marlins staff.

The Dodgers have magically transformed into a "Moneyball" style force that relies on getting guys on base. I have been critical of Joe Torre, and the bullpen (both handling and personnel) remains a mess, but the Pierre, Furcal, Hudson sequence in the lineup really puts a lot of pressure on opposing pitchers and I think it is working for this team. I don't know how long they can continue to prevail like this once Pierre (inevitably) reverts to the norm of his performance, but so far this style of ball has worked and we need to give credit where it is due.

A Riddle, Wrapped In a Mystery, Shrouded in an Enigma

I have spent much of my day trying to understand what is going on with the Lakers. I think we can agree that the series really is about the team from L.A. (not to be too much of a homer). When they show up, they win by 40. When they don't, the Lamar High Redskins could beat them. So what is happening here?

I have come to some conclusions that you are free to tear apart:

1) The Lakers are young and inexperienced. This seems impossible given that they are, well, the Lakers, but this team is really not playoff tested. Beyond Kobe and Fisher, you have Gasol (whose first playoff experience was last year, when they cakewalked to the Finals and then were toasted by a real team), Lamar Odom (experienced), Trevor Ariza (2 playoff games last year), Bynum (no playoff games last year), Farmar (perennial backup, had a horrible playoffs last year), and Vujacic and Walton (experienced, but both struggling this year). The Lakers "best five" (Kobe, Fisher, Gasol, Bynum, Ariza/Odom) basically have no winning experience on the front line.

2) The Yao-less Rockets are a Horrible Matchup. Without Yao, there is no place to hide Bynum on defense. This forces the Lakers to play small-ball, which is not the strength of either this team or the triangle offense. The triangle relies on a good passing bigman in the post, but Gasol is struggling as a post player against smaller, quicker Rockets forwards. Bynum can't play on offense because he is a tremendous defensive liability against the mighty mite offense the Rockets are running.

3) The Lakers are Arrogant. This team succeeded in the playoffs last year when they were the underdogs and everyone thought they were a year away. This team struggled against crappy opponents in the regular season this year because they went in expecting to win even if they are not as sharp as they could be. This team is lacking a Garnett-type leader, a blue-collar, lunch pail type player who jerks them back into focus when they are coasting. The Zen-master is the exact opposite of this type of leader. He is trying to make them relax when it appears the problem is they are too relaxed.

4) Vujacic can't shoot. It is easy to forget that this off-season the Lakers got rid of an energy guy (Turiaf) and resigned Vujacic for big money because of his great shooting in the playoffs. The Rockets are able to clog the lane and prevent Kobe from getting his shots in large part because no one is hitting any 3's (except Ariza, who is not exactly a feared shooter). Vujacic was supposed to play the John Paxson roll on this team, and instead he is playing the Luc Longley roll.

5) The NBA is Fixed. Okay, I just threw this in because I told Laker Girl last night when the score was 21-3 that, if I didn't know better, I'd say the Lakers were throwing the game. David Stern was in attendance after all.

As for Sunday....who the hell knows. At this point, I would be hard pressed to go against the Lakers with their backs against the wall -- but at the same time the Lakers have shown they cannot match the Rockets' mental toughness. If the Rockets get out to a lead I have no faith that the Lakers can mount a rally.