Playoff Debate No.2—Do Torre And LA Have Anything To Prove?

In one of the ugliest playoff games you're likely to see this year, the Dodgers stumbled their way to a 5-3 win in game one of their NLDS series against the Cardinals.

Neither team could do squat with runners on base and the clubs conspired to leave a ridiculous 30 men on base.

Yeah, 30! And here you were thinking that it's just A-Rod who has trouble in October.

I've asked a couple of Bleacher Report's most knowledgeable scribes to share their thoughts on the game.

Everyone has an opinion—what's yours?

Say hello to Cubs fan, senior writer and featured columnist Bob Warja and owner of www.cardsdiaspora.com Aaron Hooks.

Be sure to check out their pages and show them some love by clicking on their names above. I couldn't have done any of this without them.

• What was the key play of the game?

Bob: Obvious calls might be Kemp’s homer, or Martin getting hit by a pitch with the bags loaded in the sixth.

But to me, the key play was Furcal fighting off ten pitches before finding one he could lift in the air to give LA a two-run lead, a lead they never relinquished.

Aaron: Matt Holliday's backwards K with the bases loaded and no outs in the top of the first.

Ash: With the Dodgers extending their lead to three in the home half of the sixth inning, the key play was Troy Glaus striking out to end the top of the seventh.

Glaus, coming in as a pinch hitter, represented the tying run after Molina and DeRosa hit back-to-back two-out singles against Kuo.

Even an extra-base hit would could have cut the deficit to one, but Glaus just couldn't do anything with Kuo's heater.

Kuo threw him a steady diet of four-seamers up and in and Glaus swung and missed three times. The closest he came to doing any damage was fouling off a fastball at his letters, but then he went way out of the zone to chase a pitch at eye level to end the inning.

Although a record number of men were left on base throughout the game, this was a real momentum killer when they had the chance to answer straight back.

 

• Which outfielder will have the bigger series: Ethier or Ludwick?

Bob: I pick Ethier over Ludwick simply because he’s the better offensive player. He is more selective at the plate, has better plate discipline and follows Kemp in the order and Kemp is a stud.

Sure, Ludwick benefits from hitting behind Albert and Holliday, but those guys, if they are allowed to hit, should clean up the bases, leaving little for Ludwick to drive in.

Plus, Ethier hits lefthanded, while the Cards big three starters are righties. And though Manny may not be the Manny of old, he has a strong reputation as a clutch performer in the postseason, so teams may pitch more to Ethier.

Aaron: Andre Ethier, although Ludwick had a very good game one.

Ash: Ethier will get the better of Ludwick. The Dodgers' right fielder has shown his third consecutive season of improvements and after trading some plate discipline for power, he is a threat in the clean-up spot behind Kemp who I think is underrated.

Ludwick has struggled this year against the Dodgers, picking up just five hits in seven games with no extra base hits.

 

• More than half of this year's regular season meetings between the two clubs were decided by two runs or fewer. Were fans right to expect a close game decided by just a few runs?

Bob: Sure, fans were right to expect a close series, but not because of anything that happened during the regular season. That has absolutely zero bearing on the outcome of a playoff series. I just think they are two excellent, evenly matched clubs.

Aaron: I don't think that either team has enough to to blow the other out. The Dodgers pitching will leave the Cardinals in every game, while the limp Cardinal bats can't score 4 runs, let alone blow another MLB playoff team out.

Ash: Based on what we saw in game one, I don't think runs will be at a premium. Both teams will have ample chances to do some serious damage against the opponents' starting pitching, but I think Dodgers have the edge offensively.

Even though the regular season games were close, the Dodgers won almost a third of thier games by more than five runs, showing they can break out their bats against almost anyone.

The bad news for Torre's men though is that they fared worse against the Cardinals than any other team in the majors in 2009.

 

• What was the key stat from the game?

Bob: One important stat may be the two intentional walks to Albert. He can be a one man wrecking crew, so not allowing him to beat you is huge. But the key stat might have been pitch counts.

Both starters were shaky and (especially Wolf) were not very economical. Running up high pitch counts leads to a battle of the bullpens and that favors the Dodgers.

Even more importantly than the number of pitches Carpenter threw in five innings, is the fact that many of them were high stress pitches. A combined nine walks from the two starters led to an early night for Wolf and Carpenter.

Aaron: 30 runners left on base. Ugly game.

Ash: For me, the key statistic was both teams combining for just five-for-28 with runners in scoring position. In all but two half-innings, men were stranded on base and in reality either team could have scored a dozen runs.

This was certainly not one for the purists, although it did have Dodger Stadium rocking one way or the other throughout the contest. There's only so many times you can get excited in the middle innings though, only to be disappointed when your boys fail to come through with runners in scoring position.

 

• Joe Torre has won four World Series rings and six pennants. LaRussa has won two championships and five pennants. Does either manager have anything to prove anymore?

Bob: Yes, Torre does in my estimation. Prior to winning with the Yankees, he had a very unremarkable managerial record and those Yankees teams were loaded.

Not to say he isn’t a good manager, just pointing out that yes, I think he does want to show everyone he can win a ring outside of NY.

As for LaRussa, he’s had a lot of success, but remember, next year could be his last in St. Louis, so I’m sure he’s itching to win it all, plus he has an ego, like everyone, and he knows he’s getting older and may not have this chance again.

But both managers make the Hall of Fame regardless of how this series turns out, yet because Tony has won titles in both leagues, I lean toward Torre as someone who may wish to prove something.

I think both managers records prove that the impact of the manager is overrated; you need talent to win. In the years they didn’t have that, they lost.

Aaron:  Both managers are in the Hall of Fame. Neither has anything to prove to anyone. TLR would like to get that 3rd WS ring, which so few have ever gotten, but if he never gets it—can't really take anything away from him.

Ash: Both managers have something to prove. The Cardinals have been miserable ever since winning it all in 2007.

After playing .500 ball for two seasons, Tony LaRussa has finally got his team back on track. He is one of the best managers in baseball, but he has to prove that 2006 was not as good as it gets.

And of course Torrre has a point to prove. He wants to show he can win a title in somewhere other than the Bronx. He hasn't won the championship in almost a decade and you know there's nothing he would like more than to beat the Yanks when it matters most.