Well, we're in the playoffs—a year sooner than I expected, thanks to Manny Ramirez!
Like all Los Angeles Dodger fans, I'm incredibly excited. Have they got the stuff to go all the way? Sure! The challenge is, so do all the other teams left. Hurray for October!
I'm a relatively new fan, with five seasons of listening to Vin Scully under my belt, but I know we're not supposed to look past the next game. However, waiting for the NLCS to start is like a cat waiting for a can opener.
In the meantime, my thoughts turn back to where we've been, and where we're headed.
The Dodgers have been through an exasperating season of injuries to established players: Brad Penny, Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra (as usual), Takashi Saito, and occasionally Jeff Kent, Hiroki Kuroda, Hong-Chih Kuo, and the addition-by-subtraction Andruw Jones.
We've had scrubs substituting for injured scrubs, times when the veterans on the field were sophomores, and times when the lineup's median age was something like 24.
Russell Martin, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and James Loney weren't able to step in and fill the shoes of the vets plus compensate for the sub-Mendoza part of the batting order. How our pitching staff managed to keep us treading water with so little run support, I don't know.
At last the cavalry began to arrive in the form of Angel Berroa (not top-notch, but reliable), Casey Blake (now we're getting somewhere), and finally, the godsend of Manny. Also—not to be forgotten—Greg Maddux alleviated the strain on the bullpen, so Manager Joe Torre didn't have to keep spot-starting relievers like Chan Ho Park at a time when the pen was already stretched by Saito on the Disabled List and Jonathan Broxton closing.
Now, finally, almost everyone we needed is off the DL, the holes are filled, the scrubs are gone, and Nomar and Kent are pinch-hitting instead of Andruw Jones and Mark Sweeny.
Despite Saito's iffy elbow, Broxton's ninth-inning nerves, and the absence of Kuo forcing Torre to overuse Cory Wade—overuse a reliever? Say it ain't so, Joe! The Dodgers are in far better shape than they were all season long.
Will we go all the way? No idea.
What really pleases me is that this is only the beginning. Regardless of where Manny's playing next year, we now have a bunch of proven young players who have been in the postseason once or even twice (those that started mid-2006). Most are around 23-24.
Think what Torre did when he began with Derek Jeter and all the rest of the young Yankees he started with 13 years ago. They were built into a dynasty.
Even if Manny is just a passing thunderbolt, look at the team that's emerging: Martin, Kemp, Ethier, Loney, and Blake DeWitt, Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, and Broxton.
And that's not counting Scott Elbert, Chin-Lung Hu (Pacific Coast League Futures game MVP, still needs to adjust to big league pitching), Delwyn Young, Jason Repko, and Tony Abreu. They haven't proven themselves yet (except perhaps Repko), but some will.
Suddenly, Ned Colletti doesn't have many holes left to fill, and the only lingering problem is Jones/Juan Pierre. Signing Manny may lead to problems down the road, but it may be worth the risk to put a promising-looking team over the top.
Either way, this is a team coming of age. Dangerous bats, good pitchers, good defense, and speed.
So regardless of what happens in the playoffs this year, Dodgers fans can feel not only the excitement of these games, but realize that what we're looking at is NOT a fluke: It's the emergence of a team that's going to have a shot at the playoffs for years to come.
Is this the beginning of another Torre dynasty?
Will detractors once again insist that Torre can't manage because he was handed a core of good players who would excel with anyone at the helm?
That's the sort of sour grapes that carry the sweet whiff of victory.
8 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
Molly Gray 9 months ago
Great article, Joe Torre will have some great teams here in LA, not sure if it's going to be another dynasty but I would sure like that!
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Abner Lope 9 months ago
I think it may be a little premature to start using the word "dynasty" to describe the Dodgers right now. Are they in the NLCS? Do they have one of the best managers in baseball history? Do they have a great team right now? Yes to all questions.
However, a dynasty involves continued success, year in and year out.
So many things can happen over time: key players can get hurt, go into long slumps or be traded; the competition in a division can be vastly improved during the off season; squabbles in the clubhouse can distsract and deter team chemistry; personal problems can arise, and fire sales can happen if a team's budget is slashed, etc.
Too many teams have played into October one year only to be watching the post season on TV the next year. For a dynasty to happen these days, a core group of great TEAM players must be signed for an extended number of years AND they have to stay healthy and productive.
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Ellen B. 8 months ago
You're right -- while writing that I let myself get a little carried away by hope, and realized in retrospect that there's always the possibilities of injuries or unexpected problems knocking the heart out of this young nucleus. There's still some chemistry problems with these young guys -- not between them, since all but Ethier came up together through the minors, but between them and the vets, and to some extent between them and the coaches. Reading between the lines, the main problem with having so many AAA players come up in the space of 2 years is that they seem almost too sure of themselves sometimes, and they blow off coaches. That ws part of the problem earlier this year. But I think Torre's finally got them in his pocket, especially since Mattingly came back from personal leave.
Anyway. The main thing is, the Dodgers finally have a homegrown young core to keep or to lose, instead of an endlessly-reshuffled group of FAs. As long as I've been a fan, which isn't all that long admittedly, it seemed like every year they were starting from scratch.
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Rory Davis 8 months ago
Ellen..Great to have you on board...You're literally the perfect Bleacher Report writing candidate...A Latin teacher! That means great writing, not to stereotype, but after reading your article its true..You seem very knowledgeable about Dodgers baseball. Keep up the good work come the ALCS!
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Rory Davis 8 months ago
Although I hate the Dodgers with a passion that is unexplainable...I enjoy reading quality writing about anything baseball. =)
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Ellen B. 8 months ago
Thank you very much for the encouragement, Rory! Alas, I'm not a truly knowledgeable baseball fan; I'm a homer who follows one team with studied passion, although I am at least interested enough in baseball to learn about the teams mine is playing against. I prefer Vin Scully broadcasts for that reason, or, on the road, I'll tune into the other team's broadcast so as to get a different perspective.
I haven't watched a complete AL game yet, although perhaps it's time for me to come out of my homer (and anti-DH) shell and learn what I've been missing.
As for the Dodgers hatred -- no problem. I feel obligated to hate the Giants myself, after all!
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Abner Lope 8 months ago
Ellen:
One thing I will say that is a Dodgers' step toward a dynasty is their manager. Joe Torre is a great manager. He has a knack for unifying players and putting a professional and poised attitude in the clubhouse. I saw him do it here in Atlanta during the early 80's, then in St. Louis and of course in New York.
I am willing to bet that getting out of NYC added several years to his life. Not that LA is not a media center; it is, but hopefully not nearly as brutal and barbaric as NYC. I am not too familiar with the Dodger front office, but any time you get a manager and a front office/GM who work well, you are going to have some great years.
Nothing is worse than a GM who thinks he alone knows what is best for a team. One thing that helped the Braves in their streak of divisional championships was the rapport between manager Bobby Cox and GM John Shuerholz.
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Ellen B. 8 months ago
A very good point! I'm not entirely sure about the rapport between GM Ned Colletti and Joe Torre -- although Ned has to be grateful to Colletti and Manny for saving his job (maybe). But at least they are all on the same wavelength, and it's clear that Colletti and the owner fully support Torre's decisions and then leave him alone to do his job. Media and fans occasionally question Torre's moves in individual games, but for the most part he gets credit for being a steady hand and fixing most of the clubhouse tensions he inherited.
I'd like to think that Joe Torre has made the same transition out here from the east coast that I did, and that those silly State Farm ads have a grain of truth to them. It certainly helped my health, and I wasn't in a media fishbowl!
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