Thursday, May 27, 2004 |
Euthanasia: Brewers 3, Dodgers 1
If you're a Brewers fan, you've long since forgotten the explosion in the house that Bud built, one that caused then-GM Ulice Payne to ultimately resign in the face of even further payroll cuts mandated by Bud Selig and his sock-puppet daughter.
No, you're probably glowing about .351/.408/.595 1B Lyle Overbay, newfound ace Ben Sheets (2.71 ERA, 73 IP, 1.36 BB/9, 9.49 K/9)... and sweeping the NL West leading Dodgers at home.
And for giggles, you're maybe gloating, just a little, because your team just dodged a big bullet now that Richie Sexson's on the DL for a labrum injury and will probably miss the rest of the season.
If you're a Dodgers fan, though, things are starting to look bleak. Already DePodesta feels required to spout platitudes that sound like they could have come from the GM's version of Bull Durham:
"I was prepared for this, even expecting it, because you're never quite as good as you are when you're winning or as bad as you are when you're not," he said. "I knew going into the year that there were going to be times when we struggled, because that's just what happens over the course of 162 games.This is a team that's hurting. The pitching is worse than last year, with Nomo out of action (and terrible on the mound), Lima run out of gas (and into the bullpen), Alvarez making awful starts, Ishii collapsing unpredictably, and Weaver as freakily inconsistent as ever."What's happening now is probably just the normal ebb and flow of the season. Even teams that win 110 games have stretches when they don't play well. The worst thing you could do is overreact when something like this happens."
The hitting has regressed to last year's awfulness -- including new acquisitions Encarnacion and Bradley -- with Green leading the way into the cellar, and Tracy apparently afraid to move him to the seven hole where he belongs. Only Cora and Izturis are -- barely -- holding their own.
And then there's Beltre and his busted ankle. Beltre's surgery-requiring ankle.
Even the usually excellent fielding, improbably, is also declining, with Beltre giving away yesterday's game in the final out, and again today with Izzy costing the team with his glove.
But this isn't about one game, or even a few.
It's about the season.
Beltre must get surgery. It's affecting his swing, and it's not getting better. He's pressing, and going after balls in the dirt again.
But if you take Belly out of the lineup, the team's chances for the season get a lot slimmer. He's been the mid-lineup offensive threat the Dodgers hoped for all these seasons in April and early May. Not anymore.
The Dodgers must win for McCourt to retain ownership of the team. Too many things have to go right to keep the loan sharks away. I'm not saying he's behind keeping Belly in the lineup, but he does have a strong reason to want it. But if Belly's still whiffing because of his ankle, it's time the Dodgers admitted the obvious: the season's lost. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon.
There just aren't enough corks for all the holes that need plugging. There's too many leaks in the payroll, holes with names like Green, Hundley, and Dreifort, and no cavalry in AAA to rescue the team. And we all know McCourt hasn't got the cash to make things fly, either.
We're no longer in first. And we're 24-21, the same as the Brewers. For those keeping score at home, that's a three-game series sweep away from .500.
Postscript: Green is on target for the Mendoza line with 10 more games at his present .143 (compiled over the last week) average. That would ironically put him on pace to hit .200 after the first game with the Blue Jays, the team he played for prior to coming to the Dodgers.
: 5/29/2004 11:42:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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