I have been busy with work this month, and I’m still trying to find the balance between (paid) work and (writing a blog) work. Never fear, I will find it.

As stated in the headline, tomorrow morning I am departing for Los Angeles to watch game 2 of the National League Championship Series. That’s a baseball game between the Dodgers and the Phillies, in case you didn’t know. Starting at 1:07 I’ll be at Chavez Ravine, smiling my face off.

Special thanks to Niel for the birthday ticket to a ball game, and to Meg for unhesitatingly supporting the trip.

Have a great weekend, because I know I will.

One for the road:
Tangled Up in Blue

—–> This t-shirt will make more sense later in the blog, but you still won’t want to buy it.

I have a belief that we as spectators can play a part in the outcome of a sporting event. I know it sounds crazy. I know it is crazy.

—-> Your team lost because you went right. Don’t worry, though, they would have lost either way.

Here is a quick quiz to determine whether your sports fanaticism may have turned the corner into insanity:

1. Have you ever avoided making a presumptuous statement, purchase, or solid plan around a playoff game, before the outcome is 100% secure?
2. After a big loss have you ever taken a long walk and asked yourself, “Did I do everything I could have done as a fan to pull out this win?”
3. Has your mind ever drawn a direct connection between you excessively talking trash to another team’s fan and a suspicious drubbing of your team the next day?
4. Do you contemplate the karmic history and nature of the outfit you are wearing on the day of a big game?
5. Do you firmly believe that you attending or not attending–watching or not watching–an important game for your team can swing the outcome?

Are you nodding your head right now? Did one of these questions prompt you to spend two minutes zoned out remembering a particularly personal and painful sporting event? If so, I need your help.

—–> Don’t cry! It’s not your fault your team lost, it’s your fault you root for the Cubs.

The Dodgers are in a funk. It may have started when they didn’t complete a full sweep of the lowly Nationals. Splitting the first two games against the Pirates wasn’t great. But the wheels came off the (band)wagon Sunday with a terrible blown save by Jonathan Broxton (a shoe many of us have been waiting to drop for some time) after the Pirates had gifted them a win with three runs in the top of the ninth inning.

Four straight losses later, the Dodgers still stand one game away from clinching the division. They are now in grave danger of not securing the best record in the NL and missing out on home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Falling to the Wild Card is still a possibility. The offense has disappeared on this roadtrip, the hitters who were hot have cooled. The pitching has been suspect. Everything is going wrong at exactly the worst time.

—-> Casey and Joe attempted to win the game by running out of the dugout, but it turns out they had to score more runs than the Pirates.

Something needs to change before the playoffs start or six months worth of hard work are about to go to waste in two weeks worth of missed opportunity. Does the lion’s share of the work rest in the hands of Andre Ethier, Manny Ramirez, Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, Rafael Furcal and Randy Wolf? Yes.

But as fans we can do our part as well. Here is what I propose: All Dodger fans, sports fans who responded with at least two yeses during the above quiz, and readers who would consider themselves to have a soul please consider taking one or more of the following measures to do your part in this very important quest:

1. Attend the game Friday night. This is a well-known way to incur karma for your team. The following things have happened at various Dodger games I have attended: Greg Maddux pitched 6 1/3 no hit innings at the age of 40; Andre Ethier hit two homers in a game, including a two run game winner; and of course, the Dodgers hit four consecutive home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning plus one in the bottom of the tenth to secure the most amazing come from behind victory in the history of mankind. I repeat, good things happen when you go to games in person.

—-> Look at this guy’s gut hanging over the railing. Why did he pick that moment to finally be active? 56,000 people now hate you.

2. Wear Dodgers paraphernalia. Wear a Dodgers t-shirt, hat, socks, earrings (do they make these?), whatever you have. Wear it from the morning through game time. If you have kids, get them involved.

—-> You must look this cute in your Dodgers gear in order for them to win.

—-> Unless the sight of your hot bod makes Manny hit home runs, please keep your Dodgers gear on the whole game.

3. Watch the game on tv or internet. For those of us too far or too poor to attend the game in person, let’s do our part by watching the game from beginning to end. If you don’t have an mlb.tv account and you are out of market, something could be worked out.

—-> You might have to think about purchasing a TV at Costco for a few hours while the Dodgers game is being shown there on 54 different big screens.

4. Participate in any wolf-related activities. Randy Wolf is pitching for the Dodgers Friday night, so if you’re not really a Dodgers fan and/or don’t own any Dodgers stuff please consider these fall back options: if you are a fifth grader and have a t-shirt that depicts a wolf, wear it. If you have a werewolf costume ready for Halloween, consider giving it a test run tomorrow between the hours of 7 and 10 pm PST. If you have a wolf mask, that will do. You could check in on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, or try growing his beard. If you have a German Shepherd you might mention to people you pass on the street while walking him that he is part wolf. Eat at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant. Watch Teen Wolf. If you’re headed down a career path as a Nurse Anesthetist, consider applying to Wolford College. Wolf down your dinner just for good measure. Kids, this is the one time offer: you have carte blanche to cry wolf.

—-> Wolf Blitzer has done two things you have never done: Won an Emmy and whatever it is he is doing here.

If these ideas sound like the pleas of a desperate and disturbed man, it is because they are. But no one wants to see 150 games of good baseball go down the drain because of one lousy week and a half, right?

—-> Use this to throw at something in frustration when you realize that it is a waste of 5 bucks.

This is your opportunity to help out in a way that has absolutely no direct connection to the actual outcome of an event. But if you find yourself sitting in front of the tv watching the closing moments of a 4-0 complete game shutout at 9:30 pm or so on Friday night wearing a a werewolf costume with a Dodgers T-shirt stretched over it, take a sip of the Lone Wolf you fixed yourself and smile.

You are a part of something bigger than yourself.

—-> There may be more on the line then cheering on your team.

Here is an NPR report on Vin Scully calling Sandy Koufax 1962 no hitter:

Unfortunately, the only video I can find is this replication of the 4+1 game from Sept. 18, 2006 (did I ever tell you about that game I went to?). The audio is the real call from Vinny.

And the greatest of them all. Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series heroics. Check out what has become a signature Scully move: listen to how long he stays silent and lets the crowd roar before finally stating that now famous line, “In a season that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.”

Sorry, if there is trouble viewing this last one. View the original here.

In 2007 I was watching a Dodgers game with my brother-in-law up in Seattle. It was late in the season and Russell Martin had gone from being a surprising breakout in 2006 to a mainstay offensively and defensively in 2007. It was late in a tight game and there was a runner on second and Martin stood in the on-deck circle. The opposing team decided to intentionally walk the batter ahead of him. This is fairly common practice when first base is empty and the team deems the current batter a bigger threat to knock in the runner than the batter in the on-deck circle (since you’re a professional pitcher, you probably know this already.)

This can also often be taken as a slight to the second batter, in this case Russell Martin. He had come through a few times for us already that season, and my confidence was high that he would do it again. So, of course, I started running my mouth. I declared loudly that you don’t ever walk to get to Russell Martin. Ever. Because he will make you pay. Martin promptly doubled to the corner in right field knocking in the runner and backing up my big mouth.

Why, you may ask, am I bringing this up now? Andre Ethier. He has officially reached this level. I’m putting you on notice: it is not a good idea to give Andre even one chance to win the game with a swing of the bat. Two chances is a seriously bad idea. And three chances is like placing the win in the gift bag and handing it to the Dodgers. It may have taken him until the 13th. And there were certainly many other heroes (Juan Pierre and the entire bullpen as Weisman notes), but he did it again.

Consider yourselves warned. And for the rest of you who aren’t NL pitchers but still decided to read this post anyway. Click here and enjoy.

In about the eighth inning several conversations I’ve had with Niel and Yoon over the last couple weeks swirled then settled, something clicked and I started getting nervous. This team has a startling number of similarities to the 2008-2009 Cleveland Cavaliers.

Before I get started, I’m going to throw out two huge disclaimers. One: I do not presume anything to be “locked up,” “in the bag,” or “over.” We’re not even to the All-Star Break yet. Two: Congratulations to the Lakers on winning the title. L.O. and Trevor, I hope you pass up the big bucks to come back and defend the title. I know that’s not a disclaimer, but I had to add it.

Okay, here are the similarities:

1. Led by a huge star.
The LeBron-Manny comparisons are tricky, considering the limited impact one every day player can have in baseball, Manny’s association with PEDs, and the age difference. But look at it simply; these teams are both led by a mega-star.

2. Great home record.
The Dodgers are 24-9 at home, the Cavs went 39-2 in the regular season.

3. Best overall regular-season record.
Disclaimer at work here, it is still very early. But at this point of the season, this describes both clubs.

4. Play in the weaker conference/league.
It’s true the Cavs, Celtics, and Magic posted good records, but after that the Eastern Conference was clearly an inferior conference. The NL is not-so-affectionately referred to by Bill Simmons, ESPN’s The Sports Guy as quadruple-A. And don’t get me started on the NL West.

5. Early favorites.
Most people picked LeBron’s Cavs to play in or win the Finals this year. The Dodgers are currently Vegas’s odds-on favorites.

6. Flawed supporting cast.
I wouldn’t besmirch the name of the Dodgers by comparing them to sack of junk LeBron dragged along behind him into the Eastern Conference Finals, but they are flawed. The pitching staff shows holes both in the starting rotation and in the bullpen. Not to mention that a number of Dodger starters are injury prone (Wolf, Kuroda, Milton) or have had limited innings in past years (okay, just Kershaw here, but he’s kind of our great hope so that counts for something, right?), or were pulled off the scrap heap (Milton, Weaver). The bullpen has been shaky as well.

I know it’s early in the season yet, and I really shouldn’t be writing this until Aug. 1 (the day after the trade deadline), but a large reason the Cavs didn’t reach their potential and win it all was that they refused to leverage an expiring contract to improve the team. Their philosophy was clearly, “Why mess with what’s working?”

This makes sense up to a certain point and, ultimately, that’s what worries me. If August rolls around and the Dodgers are still humming along, bolstered by the return of Manny, it might be too easy to look at the team and say, “Things are going great. We can save a bit of money and not make a move.” Owner Frank McCourt was very public with his complaints about low revenue last year, even giving up an extra rising prospect just to save $2 million in the Casey Blake trade. I wouldn’t put it past him to try on this excuse for size.

There are a few reasons why that would be a mistake:

1. A pitching flaw is guaranteed to show up in the playoffs.
Year after year we see it happen.  A great offensive team goes cold in the playoffs, and pitching either rises to the occasion and carries them to the next level or sends them whimpering into the off-season. Take a look at the 2008 Dodgers post-season for a sound example.

2. With the economy in its current state, a deal can be found.
Why make a deal? The better question is why not make a deal? There will be players available. The prices should be bargain basement. You have the money (and we know you do Mr. McCourt!), you’re in sunny southern California, and your team is in a solid position in the standings. Better to have an insurance pitcher or two than have Randy Wolf’s arm fly off at the elbow on Aug. 2 to grave repercussions (not just for those on hand).

3. Facing the elite of the AL will be a big jump.

It’s one thing to beat the Rangers in a series in June, or beat up on the re-building NL West. It’s going to be an entirely different thing to face the Red Sox, Yankees, or Rays (none of which the Dodgers face in the regular season) with a full head of steam.  You need every weapon you can find for that fight, and a bit of luck as well.

This is my plea to Ned Colletti and Frank McCourt: Spend the money, the minor-leaguers, whatever it takes (without disrupting the major league club chemistry, of course) to get a front line starter and bullpen help. You will be rewarded with our dollars at the ticket office, the concession stand, the souvenir booth, and all the memorabilia the occasion provides. If you make the move, we will come.

And so will the best chance we’ve had in 20 years to end this season like our local NBA counterparts. Not the team in Cleveland.

If you follow the Dodgers at all, you know that the month of May was not a good one for Andre. Watching him swing at pitches he normally wouldn’t, or pop up pitches he would normally drive wasn’t much fun. I can only imagine how tough it is to isolate a problem and then work through it when 95 mph fastballs and 79 mph curveballs are involved.

Last week all signs pointed to him breaking out of one of the worst slumps of his career. A line drive single here, a clutch double there. His first home run in almost a month. Then over the weekend it became official: He hit a game winning 2-RBI double Friday night, and won the game with a HR to center in the bottom of the 12th inning on Saturday (his second of the day). Welcome back Andre.

I had just gotten into work, I was logging in to my computer when I got the text from my brother-in-law “Manny suspended 50 games.” Luckily I was already sitting.

Since then I’ve been reading every last comment on Dodger Thoughts, responding to snide Facebook wall comments, buying (and then canceling) some Oliver Peoples sunglasses, bouncing emails back and forth with my Dodger buddies, pretending everything is fine, trying to find something to eat. In short, I’ve been trying to cope with the shock of news as unexpected as any since the morning Meg told me she was pregnant with our second daughter. Yeah, that was a surprise, too.

I feel like I am in high school and did something wrong and got caught doing it. That feeling of unavoidable consequences, of chickens coming home to roost. You can’t talk your way out of this one. Manny tested positive for steroids. The kids can’t hold up on their own, they need Manny even if he is being Manny (which usually looks something like this: .348, .492, 6 HR’s, 20 RBI, 26 walks through 27 games). Everything is tainted. Everything is falling apart.

But hold on. What did he test positive for? Reports are still coming in from every which way. One of my favorite writers Steve Henson of Yahoo Sports, along with Tim Brown, have reported here that Ramirez tested positive for a testosterone boosting women’s fertility drug, gonadotropin. Sources are saying it was used to deal with “sexual performance” problems. Some reports are saying this drug is used to rebound from steroid cycle. It is also reported that Manny tested positive once in Spring Training and then a second time on a more recent drug test. What do we make of all this? Let’s take a look at some of the evidence.

1. The section of the agreement under which Manny was suspended was section 8.G.2. This rules out a positive test for steroids (which is covered under a different section) and marijuana as well.
2. There is no test for HGH, and since reports are that he “tested positive” it can’t be HGH (not to mention players in the past who have been caught receiving shipments and not been suspended).

That doesn’t get us very far. If we take Manny’s story at face value, it’s fairly encouraging. We’d all like to think that this was just a formality mix-up. That Manny didn’t get the right permission slip filled out and turned into MLB. That’s a tough pill to swallow (no pun intended), especially after one major leaguer after another comes up with a story that includes, “I swear I didn’t know,”, “it was prescribed”, or my favorite, “I didn’t know. It was prescribed, and I swear this was the first time I’ve ever done it.” Sounds like a teenager who got an MIP to me.

If we assume he’s been caught in a lie and trying to spin the PR, where does that leave us? Worst-case scenarios could include that he’s been taking steroids since puberty and before that couldn’t even walk straight. Is it somewhere in between? Let’s assume that Manny was using some sort of performance enhancing drug. What does that even mean, anymore?

I realized for the first time that my view on ballplayers using PEDs had shifted when the stories about Alex Rodriguez testing positive came out. He is the game’s highest-paid, and so-called best player. I should have been shocked. I just wasn’t. After Bonds, Palmeiro, McGuire, Sosa, Clemens, and pretty much everyone from that era was implicated, there was no name that I could hear that I would be shocked by. No name that would lead me to bitterly declare, “Not you ____ ____. Not you. Anyone but you.” with the stoic look on my face on the verge of cracking. Especially considering the fact that there is no test for HGH, and there’s a lot of money to be made by those selling PED’s if they can stay ahead of the testing curve, I just assume that pretty much everyone is using something.

Add to that the gray area that comes with us not knowing whether some of this stuff is even bad for us (not the steroids, of course, but some of the other energy/recovery type supplements), and I just can’t get up in arms about “destroying the game” and all that. On the other hand, I’m glad my two year old daughter isn’t quite big enough to realize he’ll be gone. I still don’t like the idea of having to explain to her that Manny has to sit out because he cheated.

Ok. It happened. The sky fell on our 13-0 at home, best record in the big leagues party. Everything has changed. But once you get through the shock and the scare of the “What are we going to do without Manny?” moments, things get interesting. How much have the kids grown up? Can Ethier keep leading this team in RBI and HR? Has Furcal found his way out of his slow start? Will the O-Dog take this opportunity to inspire unity and lead the clubhouse? Will the front office use the newly available $7 million to get a much-needed pitcher? What will tonight’s lineup look like? Will Matt Kemp and James Loney take this opportunity to step up their games? Is there any way we can still not play Juan Pierre?

The biggest question I have is this: How will this team react? Tonight the Dodgers play the Washington Nationals. A fine team to prove their grit against. Will they be able to settle in? Who will emerge as the leader of this outfit? Will they put a chip on their shoulder and make this the “It’s us against the world!” season? Or will the stomach punch knock them down. If I see a numb look, or an uncharacteristic failure, I’m going to be nervous.

If the Dodgers go .500 for the next 50 games without Manny Ramirez their record will be 45-33. That’s still pretty good, especially in a weak NL West (I’m talking about you Giant fans! Take all your cracks today, you’re still weak!).  Things aren’t going to go according to the plan we had yesterday. The Dodgers probably won’t win all 81 home games. It’s not the end of the world, it’s a test. And a little adversity is just what this team needed to show what they’re made of.

And just in case you were wondering, on July 3 I’ll be cheering my head off for the Dodgers like usual, including Manny B Manny. The honeymoon may be over, but that doesn’t mean the marriage will end badly.

There’s something else that keeps me up at nights as well. And I don’t think I’m alone. If you listen to the Planet Money podcast too often it starts to weigh on you. You get way under bid on a job. That frustrated feeling of defeat sticks around a little longer than usual. Your buddy who’s a builder is sweating bullets. Houses in your neighborhood (or the nicer neighborhood around the corner) are for sale, and sitting empty. The numbers are reported, the look is on the faces around you. Things really are bad.

Two nights ago the Dodgers started a game against the Giants in self-defeating fashion. Right fielder Andre Ethier and center fielder Matt Kemp collided in the outfield, causing Kemp to drop a routine fly ball. On the next play Kemp misjudged a line drive, starting in and then heading out as the ball sailed an inch or two past his outstretched glove. Those two plays led to three runs in an eventual 5-4 loss. It was a sloppy start and a frustrating loss. After the game we learned that due to high wind conditions Ethier couldn’t hear Kemp calling for the fly ball on the collision. Wind that also played a factor in the ball sailing over Kemp’s head. Neither one was interested in making excuses:

Both players called for the ball as it sliced from right to center, but neither heard the other.

“Because of the wind,” said Kemp. “It was pretty crazy tonight with the wind and the noise, but the ball should have been caught by one of us.” (From Ken Gurnick, mlb.com)

We all live in ambivalence. Positive and negative. Action and inaction. Progress and stagnation. The layers on top of this are what make it really tricky. Generally speaking, it’s not appropriate to ask people how their how things are going financially with their business. But now the recession is such a topic of international discussion that it’s all any of us can think about. Somehow it’s ok to talk about. We ask, and we answer. I hear myself saying things like, “Things are going fine.” Then describing how the slowdown has allowed me to do the necessary preparation for projects I normally wouldn’t be able to do. We hedge our disclosures, paint a pretty picture. And why shouldn’t we? I don’t want to complain to people about my problems any more than they want to hear about them… Not that I have any problems to complain about. Should we just keep our mouths shut about this stuff, suffer or succeed in silence? Or is it therapeutic to talk about it? There’s the ambivalence tugging at me again.

Last night the boys in blue played another tough one against the Giants. Weather conditions were bad, the game was tight. With one out and runners on second and third in the sixth, the Giants were threatening to break a 2-2 tie. Emmanuel Burris smoked a line drive, just nailed it. But tonight the breaks were falling for the Dodgers. He hit it right at first baseman James Loney, who doubled up Travis Ishikawa at third. In the ninth inning Ethier doubled in the go ahead run on a ten pitch at bat, then Kemp tripled him home to pad the lead. Dodgers win. Up and down, good and bad. No excuses. Take the lumps as they come, and be ready for the opportunity when it arrives.

Happy Opening Day everybody.

Usually I just call my buddy Andrew and we talk forever about this stuff and come to some grand conclusions. This year, I’m putting in writing my Dodger predictions. This will make it slightly more difficult for me to avoid embarrassment when I’m terribly wrong, and much easier for me to claim credit if I wind up being right. It’s not scientific, so I’m not going to back these up statistically or justify them vehemently. They’re just plain old predictions from a guy who follows the team. Here we go:

1) An ‘all groweds up’ Clayton Kershaw will be the dodgers ace by seasons end.
2) 2009 will be the year of Ethier, Martin and Loney. Manny’s going to bring the big bat and the fans of course (I’d say .315/.405/.590, 35 HR, 95 R, 120 RBI), but Ethier, Martin and Loney will make their big breakouts. And for Martin, let’s call this his BIG, big breakout. Can you make the leap even after two consecutive all-star games and a silver slugger award? I say yes.
3) The Dodgers bullpen will give me an ulcer by mid-May, and will hopefully be satisfactorily
4) The 5th starter question won’t matter as much as we think it will, once the season gets started.
5) As I do every year, I predict the Dodgers will go 162-0. That’s right. This is the year the Dodgers go undefeated.
6) In all honesty, I believe this is the year we win 90+ games. It’s so on.

GO BLUE!