Back on August 29, I wrote that the Dodgers were dead.
LA had just lost 4 in at Washington, 7 straight losses overall, and the
Dodgers were 3 1/2 behind Arizona in the West. Then 9 days later, I
admitted that I was wrong. It's not the first time, and it definitely won't be the last.
Our sometimes trusty sports update guy A. Martinez has been against the Dodgers from the start of the year. On opening day he all but guaranteed that Arizona would win the division. When I called the Blue dead in August he was 100% with me, but he stuck to the position until the 8th inning of today's D-Back loss at St. Louis. How dumb can you be? As late as yesterday, when the Dodgers had a magic number of 3, A. stubbornly stuck with the notion that the Dodgers would somehow collapse and miss the playoffs.
I'm glad to say that I was right when I admitted I was wrong and A. was wrong to stick to his position when it was obvious that the Dodgers would win.
Who deserves the credit for this NL West Division title?
#1 - Assistant GM and Scouting Director Logan White
The man who could be the next General Manager. As Scouting Director,
White's first draft pick in 2002 was 1B James Loney. Then he took
Jonathan Broxton in the 2nd round, Delwyn Young in the 4th, James
McDonald in the 11th and catcher Russell Martin in the 17th round. His
first selection in 2003 was starter Chad Billingsley followed by Matt
Kemp in round #6. 2B/3B Blake DeWitt was Whites 2nd selection in 2004
and reliever Corey Wade was taken in the 10th. And, furure ace Clayton
Kershaw was the 1st Dodger pick in the 2006 draft.
#2 - Manager Joe Torre
Contrary to acting Yankee bobo Hank Steinbrenner, Torre makes a huge
difference. I understand George's spawn is frustrated at spending $207M
and losing to a team (Tampa Bay) with a payroll of just over $40M. He
has flushed lots of his Daddy's money down the toilet, but lashing out
at Joe this week isn't the answer. Try developing talent in your farm
system Hank. The fact is that Joe Torre is the calm of any and every
storm. When all seems lost, this skipper stays calm. He took a bunch of
kids, some spare parts and a late season acquisition, and turned the
Dodgers into division champions.
#3 - Manny Ramirez
In 50 games since coming over from Boston, Manny is batting an
astounding .397 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs. LA is 28-21 since Manny
arrived, and they've won 18-23 since their 8-game losing streak ended
on August 29. What a diference a bat makes.
#4 - Derek Lowe
He's 14-11 with a 3.29 ERA, but he's been even better down the stretch.
He's on a streak of 9 straight quality starts dating back to August 11.
He's 6-1 with a 1.32 ERA over that span allowing just 9 earnies in 61
innings pitched.
#5 - Jonathan Broxton
Far from perfect as a closer with 7 blown saves in 21 chances, but
somebody had to pick up the slack when stud closer Takashi Saito went
down. But Broxton stepped it up with just 2 blown saves since August 1,
and he has not allowed a run in 10 appearances in September. That may
be enough to make him the closer to start the 2009 season.
#6 - Corey Wade
I know. Who is Corey Wade? Well, there's always one long reliever who
gets used and abused in a Joe Torre bullpen. Back in 2006, Scott
Proctor made 83 appearances for the Yankees eating up 102 innings.
Ironically, Proctor is part of this Dodger bullpen, but he hasn't been
healthy much in 2008. So, Corey Wade has come to the rescue with 53
appearances since being called up from AA Jacksonville in April, and
despite a stretch on the DL in August, he has chewed up 70 innings with
a 2.19 ERA and a WHIP of .90.
Notice that I did not list GM Ned Coletti. Yes, he did manage to make a pain-free deal for the guy that the Red Sox didn't want anymore (Manny), but signing Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt and Andruw Jones and re-signing Nomar Garciaparra were all colossal errors. I believe that this team has succeeded despite Coletti.
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