Shut Up and Pitch!

In 2004, sports and politics danced a wickedly nasty tango as the ESPN trolling fan was not only subjected to Curt Shilling's thoughts on the Yankees, but his unwavering support of George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election. Just what I need, another know-nothing athlete trying to sound intelligent on television.

Now, in the midst of one the most hotly contested midterm elections in recent memory, another know-nothing pitcher has decided to get into the act. Jeff Suppan, St. Louis Cardinal pitcher, appeared recently on a republican financed ad denouncing a Missouri State Constitutional Amendment proposal on the upcoming ballot that would call for increased funding for state stem cell research. Yes, the Crespi High grad and career flame out Jeff Suppan suddenly is under the impression that people actually care about what he thinks. Sure the ad also has 1-hit wonder, and starting quarterback on the God Squad, Kurt Warner denouncing the measure, as well as Jim Caviezel, you know that guy that was a crap actor and all of a sudden started walking and talking like Jesus Christ after that anti-semite/drunk's movie premiered. Yeah him, not to mention the broad from that stupid Raymond show.

All this "star power" for one reason, to denounce Michael J. Fox's support for the measure. Why Alex P. Keaton you ask, well he happens to live with a little condition, maybe you heard of it, it's called Parkinson's disease. Yes, his afflication which cause, among other symptoms, uncontrollable muscle movements and spasms is one disease that could be erradicated by conducting stem cell research to find new ways of fighting the disease. Yet, while he sits and dialogues about living with parkinson's on an ad supporting the measure and the democratic candidate, he is criticised by the likes of the drug riddled Rush Limbaugh who said yesterday on his radio program, "I think he [Michael J. Fox] was either off his meds or acting, he it exaggerating his Parkinson's." Gee, I knew Rush had an anal cyst that kept him from serving in Vietnam, however I wasn't aware he also had Parkinson's.

Why should I care? Well, file under the perpetually growing list of idiots in the public eye that love to talk without knowing the facts. One thing that probably escaped the Suppes' attention is that the ballot measure has nothing to do with a constitutional amendment for human cloning. Unfortunately, the radical religious right, or the Al-Qaeda of Christianity, has managed to make stem cells equal cloning. It is really sad to see a guy try to act informed, while looking like a complete jackass. Does he really think that a vote for the measure is going to create some human cloning farm somewhere in rural Missouri where people will be harvested for parts? If that's the case, then I am sure Suppan still believes he is an elite pitcher.

Now, the issue isn't whether you should support stem cell research, that's up the voter and their conscience. The issue is whether professional athletes should have the forum to talk about their views and use their celebrity to inform or mislead the public. People complain that "Liberal Hollywood" is a prime example of celbrity run-a-muck in the political process, but honestly, absent the occasion PSA on get out the vote, when have you ever seen any credible superstar artist actively campaining for the party line? George Clooney takes his cues from himself, and quite frankly I would imagine he and Sean Penn have both earned the right to say whatever they want. After all, how many of these blow hards like Shilling and Suppan have ever gotten on a boat and drugged through hurricane ravaged streets in New Orleans to rescue people from water filled homes like Penn, or traveled to the Sudan to see first hand the effects of genocide and been involved in world wide campaigns to end hunger and poverty like Clooney?

Furthermore, this game of discrediting celebrity was started by the very right wing of the political system that is funding this ad, and many other ads across the country that are misleading, deceptive, and in the case of Harold Ford Jr. in Tennessee, down right racist. When the Dixie Chicks said they were ashamed the President of the United States was from Texas at a concert in England, they were received in the United States with murder threats and Toby Keith types that told them to "shut up an sing." Hey, turn about is fair play in politics, right?

So again, the question remains, do we really need Suppan, Warner, and Shilling types driving home half truths and lies? The question is a flat out no. I've never seen Shills or Suppan spending the off season teaching Somalian children to read, or joining the USO to entertain the troops in Iraq. I have never heard of them ever assisting in the Katrina clean up or personally assisting schools meet no child left behind standards. All I have seen is them preach to the base and denounce the opposition party, and continue a narrative, or party line, that has seen the US build a 3 trillion dollar deficit, be bogged down in Iraq, and cover up pedophilia by GOP congressman.

So here is an open letter to these athletes that want to be involved in the political rhetoric:

Shut up and pitch. Do your job and leave politics out of sports. We look to you guys to take us away from the nightmare that is the real world, not to remind us of everyday crap. In the end, you only serve to fatten our pockets when we place a bet on you or assist us in getting wasted at a bar. We pay to watch you play, not to talk. Oh, and also, remember that the people that pay your salary, A.K.A the fans, are both democrats and republicans.

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At The End of The Day, Some People Just Don't Get It

Well into day 2 of the Kenny Rogers saga and the battlelines have been drawn. It seems that now Tony LaRussa has gotten an earful from Cardinal fan and has proclaimed that the foriegn substance on the gambler's hand was not dirt. Gee, what a revelation Tony.

Last night, Buster Olney, Senior ESPN Baseball Analyst, joined Doug Gotlieb and Jeff Rickert on ESPN Radio to break down game 2 and stated that Kenny is not alone when it comes to doctoring the ball. Apparently, the amount of pitchers that use some form of foreign substance is not as low as MLB would like you to believe. 'There have been several pitchers tell me that they have used silicon sprays to help them grip the ball,' proclaimed Olney. Seeing as how MLB actively took a major role in covering up steroids, this doesn't really surprise me much.

What does suprise me are the apologists that seem to miss the point of all this. Why should we care? Because the integrity of the sport is what keeps us tuning in and not to the WWE. Fans know that by tuning into a sporting event, the outcome has not been predetermined and that the odds of one team winning the game are an even 50/50 split. But hey, what's integrity when you have a multi-billion dollar operation, right?

It's always the same argument, 'it's only steroids, what's the big deal?' Or you get the, 'everyone is doing,' line. Then when congress gets involved, you get the genius that undoubtedly will break out with the gem, 'isn't there enough problems in the world that we need to concentrate on baseball?' Well, get this through your fat, uneducated heads, baseball is a business that reaps the operational rewards of holding anti-trust status, that means that it can manipulate its market as much as it wants without having to worry about the feds breaking up the business, and it can get around trickly consumer protection laws. 'Hey, let's charge these guys 10 dollars for a beer and 20 for parking!' Price-fixing anyone? This has given the league the oportunity to grow after several mismanaged labor disputes and gives them the leverage they needed to attract fans back to the game.

Seeing as how baseball does have this special status, I think that would make the league a bit of a public trust, because after all, US laws are protecting the product, and those laws are supported by US tax payers. At any rate, MLB's 'turn a blind eye' argument is a classic decievement if I have ever seen one, and the fact that they knowingly cover up infringments of the operating rules and down right criminal behavior, makes the league guilty of being a criminal enterprise. Hey, they took down the Gambino family that way, why not serve a R.I.C.O. warrant at Bud Selig's door.

So, this all leads us to the heart of the matter. Baseball is wrong in covering up this latest round of cheating. It's not a conspiracy theory, and quite frankly the conspiracy theorists is always the wacko nut job that trys to sell the ridiculous party line, get a clue you self absorbed maniac, everything isn't always about you so stop thinking everyone else lives in the same fictional world you created in your head. But I digress. It is a fact. Millions of eyes can't be wrong, and damnit, that looked pretty dark and shiny on my HDTV. That was pine tar, plain and simple.

So when the next guy comes around trying to sell you on the fact that it's no big deal, nothing to see, move along, stop and ask what his motives are. Tony LaRussa isn't saying much because he still wants to be on Jimmy Leyland's mailing list, and quite frankly, Leyland could probably kick his ass if he saw him out on the street. I think it goes further, however, and the possible exposing of all of MLB's little white lies is far too much for a sport with so many black eyes to deal with. From the players' union to the owners, to the umpire's union, the fact is that they are all single handidly playing a role in the defrauding of the fan, and the increasingly mess the league has become.

This post season, the story was Kenny, and now MLB is on the verge of losing that story line and needs to act quickly to keep the focus the positives of the game. The irony being that the more they try, the more they villify the very thing they were looking to exploit for their marketing purposes. But hey, now more people will tune in to watch with this new layer of drama. Subplots, got to love them.

Oh, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist, nor an 'expert' to understand that it was a bad call, the umpire got the ruling wrong, and isn't worth his salt. But, I wouldn't expect people who equate past amature experiences and fantasies with contemporary issues in hopes of drawing compelling parallels to understand that.

Blue Balls and Strikes

There seems to be some disagreement as to what happened last night during game 2 of the MLB World Series. As millions happen to be tuning into the broadcast, Fox Sports did an incredible job of showing what appeared to be pine tar or some other oil based product on the left thumb and palm of Kenny Rogers. Kenny says it was dirt and insists that he washed it off on his own accord without being notified by home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez of the substance and being asked to wash it off, contrary to what Jimmy Leyland and Umpire Supervisor Steve Palermo stated in the post game. Kenny apparently seems to be the only smart one of the bunch. See, if he admits to the talk, then he is admitting to breaking MLB rule 8.02, listed below. Marquez on the other hand shows the kind of baseball chops it takes to work in today's MLB, a league where the commissioner and his sycophants think they can shape the game to meet their own needs and desires. No wonder President Bush wants so desperately to work in baseball after his term is completed.

Marquez and the crew blew the call last night, plain and simple, and have put a nice cherry on top of the horrible job the umpires have done this post season. Whether it's them calling a foul ball fair, a fair ball foul, or progressively shrinking the strike zone in the later innings, the umpires have left their mark on this year's MLB postseason. It's a shame really, because the umpires are supposed to be the "FAIR" arrbitrators of the rules and not enforcers of some archane concept that seems to afflict anyone working in baseball. The fact is that, much like the US Constitution, baseball and its rules are a living thing and cannot be interpretted in the same manner it was 50 years ago. The days of racists and drunks running rampant in the game are long gone, and so should this overplayed concept of the umpires always being right and above reproach.

When people screw up in a "real" job, they usually get fired, the same should apply to guys who's job it is to not be the lead story in SportsCenter. And I don't want to hear the arguments made about it being a cold day and he just wanted to get a grip on the ball, it's all crap. The fact is that if you can't hack it up there using the talents you were given, they sit down and watch the game like the rest of us. John Kruk and his "analysis" only illustrate the furthered deconstruction of the game's integrity. "I would rather he [Rogers] load up the ball and get a better grip than hit me in the ear." Not quite there Krukster, if Rogers need a little extra to get the ball over the plate that isn't part of the rules then it's not a service to you or the batter, it's cheating, and apparently you are all for cheating.

Marquez, through Palermo, insists that he only asked Kenny to wash off the substance because the crew agreed it was dirt, the classic don't blame me, I'm only one part of a whole. Well that's a good defense but unfortunately not the case because he could have made the decisions to run Rogers.

Am I hating on all umps, of course not. I am sure that they go through great lenghts to get themselves into a position to call a World Series game. However I do take exceptions with guys that would rather not do their job and protect some story line then actually get the call right. If you have a crap strike zone in the first inning, then you should have the same crap strike zone in the ninth. I understand that it is a human element thing, however not enforcing the rules as they are stated in black and white is unacceptable and an illustration of the hubris these so-called independant arbitors posses. I mean, honestly, the umps are like pitchers in the American league, they get to be as dirty as they want and never have to answer for their mistakes. They go so far as to state that any disagreement over balls and strikes is an automatic ejection, a sign of truly inferior argument skills, or a sense of fear of actually having to defend their calls.

So why all the hub bub, well last night Kenny got away with murder, or the pitching equivilant thereto, and nobody seems to care about that. It's not that I am a fan of the Cardinals, Tony LaRussa was such as baseball man and genuine stand up guy that he let Jose Canseco and Mark McGuire inject themselves in the ass with anabolic steroids while at Oakland, however the game has suffered another black eye that nobody seems to care about because the MLB and the umpires union insist on maintaining this artificial blue line of conduct where everybody dismisses Kenny's actions. Truly disgracful but hey, the MLB let the steroid era go on to further ratings so why not a cheating pitcher as well, right?

Major League Baseball Rule 8.02

The pitcher shall not -- (a) (1) Bring his pitching hand in contact with his mouth or lips while in the 18 foot circle surrounding the pitching rubber. EXCEPTION: Provided it is agreed to by both managers, the umpire prior to the start of a game played in cold weather, may permit the pitcher to blow on his hand. PENALTY: For violation of this part of this rule the umpires shall immediately call a ball. However, if the pitch is made and a batter reaches first base on a hit, an error, a hit batsman or otherwise, and no other runner is put out before advancing at least one base, the play shall proceed without reference to the violation. Repeated offenders shall be subject to a fine by the league president.(2) expectorate on the ball, either hand or his glove;(3) rub the ball on his glove, person or clothing;(4) apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball;(5) deface the ball in any manner; or(6) deliver a ball defaced in a manner prescribed by Rule 8.02(a)(2) through (5) or what is called the “shine” ball, “spit” ball, “mud” ball or “emery” ball. The pitcher is allowed to rub the ball between his bare hands.

PENALTY: For violation of any part of Rules 8.02(a)(2) through (6):(a) The pitcher shall be ejected immediately from the game and shall be suspended automatically for 10 games.(b) If a play follows the violation called by the umpire, the manager of the offense may advise the plate umpire that he elects to accept the play. Such election shall be made immediately at the end of the play. However, if the batter reaches first base on a hit, an error, a base on balls, a hit batsman, or otherwise, and no other runner is put out before advancing at least one base, the play shall proceed without reference to the violation.(c) Even though the offense elects to take the play, the violation shall be recognized and the penalties in subsection (a) will still be in effect.(d) The umpire shall be sole judge on whether any portion of this rule has been violated.

1540 Is No Longer The Ticket

For those who happen to care, KMPC 1540 'The Ticket' here in Los Angeles has officially done away with all their local sports talk and are going to conentrate on bringing you more of the pre-packaged national sports talk that the majority of sports talk radio format fans here in the city don't really care about. I am sure that if I wanted to know the ins and outs of Auburn football, I would tune into to any number of jag offs at the other stations to hear them spew meaningless rushing stats against Florida. That is not great sports talk. Great sports talk was being able to call up Petros or Freddie Roggin, hell even that horrid Dave Smith on occasion, and talk about why Brian Cook was a worthless peice o'Shite or why Grady Little had a better chance of managing a McDonalds franchise then a winning Dodger team. You listened to the local only afternoon format because you wanted to call the 'P' and talk about getting faded in the parking lot at the Coli while waiting to enter the USC game. You listened also because you wanted to hear Mario in La Habra or Ronathon in Gardena say something incrediblly stupid and be laughed at by the crew. It was all once so great.

Now, we are left with the usual host of gas bags and dead air specialists that have zero talent and only speak to listen to themselves talk. Arnie Spanner has never been cool nor informative or entertaining for that matter. I am sure that if I was a die hard Knick fan, or a serious follower of ACC college football, I would be in seven heaven. Steve Mason and John Ireland prove on a constistant bases over on KSPN that they haven't had an original thought nor a clue for the better part of 10 years now, and the black hole that is Xtra Sports is a down right disgrace. Truly awful times.

Now I know that sports talk is, in the grand scheme of things, not very important at all. As Big Eddie Shultz once said on his radio show, sports talk is the type of format that will get you worked up about a guy striking out with the bases loaded on a daily bases. I don't need that type of drama in my life. However, the afternoons at KMPC was great escapism for me, when I was unemployed and bored out of my mind, when I was having rough times at home, sitting in gridlock trying to get home, or simply to forget about the disaster the real world has become. I tuned into the Petros Show and knew that for the next three hours, I would laugh the hardest I have in a while, and I would be able to forget about the problems I may have had. I may be getting sappy and sentimental, but the radio has truly lost one of the greatest things going for it.

And it is quite sad, actually, that the second largest market in the country has no NFL team and now no real local sports talk. We are stuck in sports limbo having to listen to the worries of Florida State fan or the rants of Buckeye Bob in Ohio. I could really care less. All I want is to listen to great sports talk, worry about who will win the Fight Club Forum match up, and listen to young Lincoln Baum talk about bagging another breezie in the Michigan dorm.

Show Me The 'Money Ball'

Ken Macha just got fired, just now. Who the hell cares, right? Well, we should care because with him goes another facet in the argument made by Billy Beane in the 2003 book by Michael Black, Money Ball. Despite introducing us to the world of small market baseball and the sabremetric geeks that make up a small population of the baseball world, the reader was also able to read all about the fundamentals to winning in a small market, dictated through the maniacal dealings of the Oakland General Manager and his minions. The book attempts to paint Beane as a semi-genius who some how has figured out this whole free agency thing, however as time goes by all we are left with is an increasingly narrative that resembles more fiction than fact.

We got the first dismantling of the Money Ball theory last off season, when after guiding the Dodgers to the worst finish in a while, the boy blunder, A.K.A. Paul DePodesta was abruptly fired as the Blue's GM while conducting his managerial search. And to think, he was just on the verge of signing that managerial legend Terry Collins to lead the ship. In any case, DePodesta's implementation of the Money Ball fundamentals lead to more irrational transactions that would make chaos theorists chomp at the bit for an analysis of his actions. Paul LoDuca and the selling of Shawn Green, despite his inability to catch a fly ball these days, for what was supposed to be the catcher of the future Dioner Navarro are a few examples of the brain cramps DePodesta and his IBM Thinkpad had while with the Blue. Getting rid of Jim Tracy was also not the brightest idea in the world; however the maneuver does fit with the Money Ball modus operandi.

As stated in the 'novel,' Beane loved him some Macha because Ken was the type of baseball mind that would be willing to let Beane make managerial moves while his eccentric self was out driving around he parking lot all night during the game. Macha was a yes man, a guy that was willing to play whoever the guys upstairs wanted playing, and a guy that was to rarely receive any of the credit for what happened on the field while taking the brunt of the blame. In essence, the perfect fall guy, stooge, goat, etc. Depo tried this act with Tracy and he walked, partly because Trace is a stand up baseball guy who actually manages the game.

Need more, OK. J.P. Riccardi in Toronto, another Beane disciple, saw his clubhouse completely divided near the end of the 2006 season when manager John Gibbons, another yes man, got into it with Shea Hillenbrand and Ted Lilly. During Riccardi's tenure, the Jays have managed to finish as high as 3rd once, but hey, at least they never finish in last. Despite running off a semi-productive player in Hillenbrand, and alienating pretty decent pitching arm, Riccardi loves him some Gibbons because the brand of mediocre baseball maneuvering that Gibbons brings to the table is just enough to make the Jays fans excited until mid-July, when the Yankees and Red Sox make their traditional visits to Skydome and smack the Jays around for a few series all the while relegating said Blue Birds 15 games out of first. Never has a city cried in chorus for Cito Gasten harder then Toronto.

So what do we take away from all this. Well, Macha is probably better off being fired. Now he can probably join a real coaching staff and actually feel what it's like to manage. However the long and short of it is that managers will come and go in Oakland, however the club, and any other club using a variation on the Money Ball principle, will never win anything because they are built around a statistical fallacy and not on the reality of baseball. That reality being that the human heart, chemistry, and down right desire trump any statistical logarithm or analysis. Fire Kenny Macha, fire Billy ‘couldn't buy a hit in the bigs’ Beane as well.

Psycho Steve Lyons Update

It strikes me a little odd that the same company the employs the perverted sexual harassing Bill O’Reilly and the conservative lying pornographer Sean Hannity would have a problem with a pretty innocuous comment made about Hispanics from Steve Lyons of all people. Now don’t get me wrong, Steve Lyons is pretty annoying and is not for all audiences, however I really don’t mind him and what he brings to Dodger’s Live and the radio calls. So finding out that he was fired about over a comment that quite frankly nobody got, and that as a Hispanic I didn’t take offense to is pretty troubling seeing as how the company employs a network of "people" that say far worst about far more many people on a daily basis. I guess this only lends more credence to the fact that those right wing gas bags over on the Fox News Channel are more actors than journalists, and their viewers are secretly supporting the exploitation of themselves on a really bad reality show.

Petros Papadakis Update

So it turns out that all around bad guy Roger Nadel, KMPC 1540 The Ticket General Manager, became irrate after the Friday September 29 show when Petros engaged in a conversation with a caller about the bleek outlook at 1540 The Ticket. It is no secret that the Ticket is a piece of crap, and that the station is 2 steps from being completely off the air. Let's face it, Tony Bruno and his lap dog Mark Willard will be moved to whatever station picks up the Sporting News Radio contract, as will Dave Smith. The only thing that made 1540 attractive was that it had the "P," and was host to the only original show in the market. Having lost USC football this season, the Ticket had resorted to becoming your average play-by-play radio station with football games of teams an L.A. sports fan could care less about.

With the impending sale of the station, the future was awfully bleek for the Ticket and the "P." Nadel, always the radio executive that runs the station much like the worst run high school in South Los Angeles, is a typical overreactor that is more concerned with his own ass then with providing "great sports talk" to the city. He is from the Ray Calusa mold of general manager, who while at KSPN 710 decided to run Fat Joe McDonald and Doug Krekorian from the station and replacing them with the unlistenable pair of dildos that currently inhabit the time slot. I beleive they are Mason and Ireland at this point, but I am sure that there have been a fair share of turn over in the slot. For Fat Joe's part, all he has done is get picked up over at XTRA 570, who I guess decided to go back to a sports talk format by dumping Mancow and that other idiot Phil Hendrie. Regardless, NEXTRA is still pretty unlistenable as well even with Jim Rome still in the rotation. And to all those Rome fans, that stuff was funny in like 1996.

The Ticket is pretty much worthless at this point. Bruno and the lap dog are your typical morning sports duo that have nothing new to offer the sports talk landscape. Dave Smith, when he is not telling the story about being sent to county jail, is busy pushing boxing down our throats, and the 2 Live Stews are, well, I won't get into their act. In short, Petros was all the station had and now he is gone and with him goes probably the freshest and most charasmatic voice on the Los Angeles radio dial. Where else could you hear about PAC-10 football, Michigan updates with freshman Lincoln Baum, and get advice on how to pick up drunk breezies at the Clipper game? I guess it's back to Air America on the XM for me.

Good Bye to the Petros Papadakis Show

Today is probably one of the saddest days of my life because I just found out that Petros Papadakis has decided to end his relationship with KMPC 1540 The Ticket in Los Angeles. Gone are the Superfly "TOOOONIIIGHT!" drops, reggae music lead ins, This Charming Man, Lance Romance, Cornelius Corndog Edwards, Brian "The Hoelice Chief" Viera and the rest of the crew. What will I do with my afternoon commute. This f'n sucks balls man.

How Long Til Pitchers and Catchers Report?

I was feeling rather pensive last night and wanted to give the blue an easy time of it with my final remarks on the 2006 season, however it is quite difficult to find silver linings in a season that should have been more then what was delivered. I am never the less amazed as to how some players seem to fall part come the big moment.

Greg Maddux may have over 300 wins, but that fact that he slid in to 1 world championship when the bumbling Bobby Cox managed to luck out and be pegged against another idiot in Mike Hargrove and his Cleveland Indians says a lot about a guy that is a supposed "genius." On Saturday night Maddux decided to pack it in, and laid an egg in front of the home crowd of over 54 thousand to gift the Mets a 9-5 victory. It goes without saying, that this was a series more lost by the Dodgers than won by the Mets. I am glad he won't be back next season as I was growing pretty tired of his overly condisending, psuedo-intellectual, act with the media. The supposed calculating mind of Maddux is nothing more than the simple calculations of a washed up pitcher. Cerebral my ass. All I saw was a guy that gave the Mets four early runs and grabbed his gear when he got lifted for a pinch hitter to leave the dugout area. Great team mentality there Gregie.

I hate the fact that Grady will be back, had I been in control of the Dodger ship I would have fired him minutes after the final out was recorded and called Dusty Baker to come home once and for all. The Dodgers need Dodgers at the helm, not guys that couldn't manage their way out of paper bags and got themselves run out of Boston for being a poor tactitian. Ned Colleti, still collecting a pay check from the Giants, should have hired the Bulldog Orel Hershiser to lead this squad. Instead we got stuck with the 'ah shucks' boy and his crew of guys that single handedly destroyed the 88 win season. Rich Donnelly should have been fired on the spot after that baserunning blunder in game 1, and Rick Honeycutt may have had a pretty decent career, however he can't coach worth a damn and his inability to fix mechanical problems in pitchers and provide the guidance for solid performances should also warrant a pink slip.

Regardless, the Dodgers will have to be busy this off season with the shopping list being fairly obvious. The team needs to get a real first baseman, one that has power and is a prototypical first baseman, not a converted infielder. Unless they are willing to commit to James Loney, they have to go out and find a guy like Richie Sexson or Mark Teixeira. Kent is still a good second baseman, Betimit can shore up 3rd, and Furcal is a mainstay at short. In the outfield, the Dodgers have to commit to Andre Eithier in left and sign a solid center fielder like Scott Podsednik, Vernon Wells, or Willy Taveras. Drew would round out that outfield quite nicely.

Then the Achillies Heel of the team has to be addressed. The starting pitching has three guys that are committed, Penny, Billingsley, and Kuo, after that I would expect that everyone is in play. The market is going to be flooded with solid 1 and 2 starters, all NED has to do is go out and spend some of that McCourt money. They guy on everyones list is Roy Oswalt, if he's not a Dodger then you can run Ned out of town a la Kevin Malone because Oswalt should be begging to play in a stadium that will make his fastball look like Don Drysdale's. After that, you sign a buy like Tim Hudson, Carlos Silva, or the guy that I asked for back in May, Dontelle Willis.

Regardless, the face of the Dodgers will have to be redone to contend in 2007. Fans will have to demand that they field more then a bunch of Punch and Judy hitters to round up a lineup. It's not rocket science, it's only common sense, and no Ned, having 9 guys that are essential carbon copies of each other is not exactly a good idea. Hey Ned, way to go!

File Under Tooting My Own Horn: Madgaffer Scoops the Majors

Talk about being on top of this journalism stuff. Madgaffer broke the Nomar quad story at 8:37 AM. The Associated Press reported this item at, wait for it, 8:47PM eastern 5:47PM pacific. Pay special attention to the time stamp at the bottom of the story.

Garciaparra has Torn Quadriceps
By John Nadel, AP Sports Writer
October 6, 2006 - 8:47PM

Nomar Done for the Year?

My guy on the inside tells me not to expect Nomar for the remainder of the post season, however long that is. After leaving the game in the sixth, Nomar flew ahead of the team to L.A. to seek treatment on what is speculated as being a torn quadriceps muscle.

What Else Did you Expect?

Did I watch tonight's game? In a word, no. I spent the evening trying to figure a complex Explosion in the Sky song, you know the one from that high school football movie set in Texas, yeah that one. Anyway, I apparently missed out on what was sure to be a classic performance by Tom Glavine, one in which his slider starts 2 inches off the plate and finishes 7 inches off the plate without ever crossing the plate. Yeah, I'm sure he has all those wins because umpires NEVER give him that outside foot of the plate. Anyway, what I missed was another typical Dodger post season performance where they ended up a day late and a dollar short.

It is as if the bums are pre-destined to lose these games. Since winning it all over the roided up A's in '88, the Blue have only managed 1 post season win. That translates to 1-11 in the past 18 years, not exactly setting the world on fire. What has come about from all this is a culture of failure that infests the organization and seems to be the same reasoning the Clippers use after every season, OK they are not that bad. However, post season losing has become common place with this club and the silent bats didn't do anything to wake up those Dodger ghosts of past. As a matter of fact, this team, cleverly named the "Band of Others" by the LA Times is exactly that, a bunch of guys that have been brought in to change the mood of the club house and the losing culture. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Furthermore, it is a miracle they have managed to get this far without Jeff Kent running over someone with his motor bike, or Brad Penny putting a fist into the wall. I bet it's only a matter of time before Raphael Furcal starts drinking again. In any case, the Dodgers are now showing the same flat line characteristics a kin to a someone laid out on the slab with a bullet in the chest.

And it goes without saying that the 3.5 million suckers that bought a ticket to go watch the club play this past year have been treated to nothing but the best, except when it comes to the post season. The loyal fans, much like my neighbor Gary who let his 11/2 year old daughter go crying while he yelled at his television, bare witness to the absolute collapse of a once proud franchise that won post season games as easily as Kutcher pulled breezies and Matt Leinert got basketball players from Thousand Oaks preggers. This franchise has become mediocre and are on the verge of losing out to a team that despite its record, lacks the pitching depth to make it in the postseason.

So what are we left with? Well the season is fading away quicker then Dennis Hastert's speakership and the team flys back to Los Angeles to open up the Revine one last time in 2006. Of couse, the block will be hot and major geekage will be in order, however the prospects of pushing this to the full 5 games seem slim and the fact is that despite all that has happened, Jose Lima might still remain the lone post season legend since Kirk Gibson.

Too LITTLE, Too Late.

I am not going to pile on and breakdown the baserunning meltdown that essentially cost the Blue 2 runs in the 2nd inning. Rather, I am going to discuss how the on going bullpen Russian Roulette is slowly killing the Dodger's chances of winning this series. Baserunning blunders aside, it is not what lost the game last night. The thing that lost the game was the implosion of Brad Penny et al, and the bullpen's inability to hold leads or ties late in ball games.

I never thought I would say this, but Mark Hendrickson was dealing. He came up in the sixth and shut down the Mets with a couple of strike outs. For a moment, the Dodgers looked like the tide was turning and they could actually pull it out. I mean, Nomar's clutch 2 out double capped a great comeback to tie the ball game at 4, and all signs were pointing up for the bums. Then came Penny, as he swadled in from the bullpen, he apparently forgot to pack his control and issued walks to the first two batters he faced. He finally was bounced after a Carlos Delgado double that plated the winning run.

I understand Grady's thinking, he wanted to save the hammer Broxton for the 8th and bring in Saito in the 9th, I get that. I just don't get why you would go away from what got you here in that situation. Penny is a fat starter, that's his deal. He isn't a reliever, and if there is something I know, it's that you can't tell a starter who has his usual pre start rituals to get hype and come in in relief. In those extremely rare cases where you get a guy that is just a straight baller, perhaps you can call on him to come out and be effective out of the pen. Uncle Tommy had success in '88 when he brought the Bulldog Orel Hershiser out of the pen, and Randy Johnson was very successful coming out of the pen in Mariner playoff games against the Yankees. Of course, for everyone of those examples, there is always the picture of Charlie Liebrandt of the Braves in the '91 World Series when Kirby Pucket took him deep to cap a brilliant comeback in game 6 and eventually a classic 1-0 victory in 10 innings in game 7. Last night's performance was more the latter.

Had Grady gone to a guy like Brett Tomko or Giovanni Cararra, maybe the game stays tied. Of course, if my mother had balls then she would be my dad. In any case, Grady showed his usual playoff prowes by going to a guy that had no realistic business being in the game. Penny is scheduled for game 4, he shouldn't even be on the trip, not with a "bad back." He should be at the Revine getting round the clock treatment and preparing for the game 4 start. Now, not only have the Mets seen some of his stuff, but they know they can hit him and Penny knows they can hit him. It's a no win situation.

Speaking of no win situations, Grady has already come out and said that there is no way he is going to use Derek Lowe on three days rest for game 4. "If we are down in the series and need to win game 4, we still need to win game 5. I would rather save Lowe for game 5." Sounds logical enough, however I and most of the reality based community know that you can't get to game 5 if you don't win game 4. This makes absolutely no sense seeing as how the only guy you can really depend on is Lowe, and a game 4 victory means you go back to Shea and throw the kitchen sink at the Mets. It just seems that Grady's line of reasoning falls in the same catagory as the logic which led him to keep Pedro Martinez in another inning in the 2003 ALCS. Had he not, then perhaps we would be talking about that great Red Sox dynasty of the mid-2000's and not Aaron F'n Boone. As they say, a fish rots from the head down.

Looking ahead, the only guy I really am going to miss from this club is Nomar. I have to admit, I did geek that guy pretty hard this year and came to be a true fan of number 5. Despite the big hits and the decent job he did at first, Nomar was a real "g" all the way. When asked be a youth group why the music he came to bat to was "Low Rider" by War, Nomar responded that it reminded him of home, Whittier, CA. That's super gangsta' if you ask me, way to keep it real Nomar.