FanNation - The Republic of Sport

NBC football analyst John Madden once said that winning is a great deoderant.  With the 2007 season winding down to a precious few days, the Dodgers are a team in serious need of a shipment of Right Guard.

A horrific final month of the season continued for the Dodgers last week as they lost six of seven on a trip to Colorado and Arizona,winning only the final game of three against the Diamondbacks yesterday.  What once was an inspired blend of young and old players has become a team in apparent crisis, where the youngsters are thought of as being too cocky while the older players are questioned for decreasinging production.  One thinks that all it would take to remedy the split is a nice eight game winning streak, but it's too late for that in 2007.  All that's left for the Dodgers now is to play for pride and a chance to get hot and surge past the Rockies into third place in the NL West. 

FINALLY A HAPPY ENDING

Yesterday's 7-1 win over the first place Diamondbacks showcased a Dodger squad that started only one player 30 or older (Juan Pierre) and featured homegrown talent at every position except leftfield (Andre Ethier, who came from Oakland in the Milton Bradley trade following the 2005 season) and the well-traveled Pierre. 

Dodger starter Chad Billingsley won his 12th of the year and continued a strong second half of the season that has seen him register a 2.77 ERA.  Billingsley's strikeout per nine innings pitched ratio of 8.65 this year is a significant improvement over his 5.90 rate in 2006.

Who's hotter than the Indian summer weather on the east coast of the US? That would be young Dodger James Loney, who homered yesterday and continued a surge that has seen him hit .395 with seven homers and 25 RBI in September.

Rookie Tony Abreu had a homer and made a fine defensive play before leaving yesterday's game with what was reported to be relatively minor hip injury.  Abreu's homer helped extend his six game hitting streak, a streak in which he has eight hits in 25 at bats.

Dodger lefty Joe Beimel was called upon to perform his speciality on Sunday, and he did it very well.  The lefty was brought in to face fellow southpaw Stephen Drew with two outs, the bases loaded and the Dodgers ahead 5-1.  Beimel got Drew to end the threat, and also got the D-backs out in order in the seventh. On the year, lefties are hitting only .189 with 25 strikeouts in 95 at bats against Beimel.

WHAT WENT WRONG?

A more exhaustive look at the 2007 will follow in weeks to come, but a quick glance at some of the team's 2007 and 2006 numbers shows the main reason for the Dodgers' decline this year has been a lack of power.

The team's pitching numbers have been relatively consistent over the past two years.  Starters this year have a 57-58 record with a 4.35 ERA, a 6.72 k/9 ratio and 1.40 walks/hits to innings pitched number.  In 2006, Dodger starters went 64-49 with a 4.29 ERA, a 5.69 k/9 figure and a 1.40 WHIP figure. Out of the pen this year, Dodger relievers are 23-18 with a 3.71 ERA, a 8.50 k/9 ratio and a WHIP figure of 1.23. In 2006, the bullpen crew was 24-25 with a 4.12 ERA, a k/9 ratio of 8.12 and a WHIP of 1.35.

At the plate, particularly in the outfield, the Dodgers have had a major power outage in 2007.  Dodger outfielders hit 54 homers with a .829 OPS in 2006, but have only 35 (a Major League low) with a .764 OPS in 2007. Even the infielders (.762 OPS and 76 homers in 2007, against .813 and 92 in 2006) have seen their power numbers drop dramatically. 

ON DECK

Brad Penny goes for his 17th win of the year on Tuesday as he tries to stop the red-hot Rockies, winners of eight in a row (including four against the Dodgers).  Penny is 8-2 with a 3.09 ERA at Dodger Stadium this year, and 25-11 with a 3.35 ERA lifetime at Chavez Ravine.  In his last seven starts, however, Penny has struck out more than three batters only once (he had six against the Diamondbacks on September 14th).  Colorado's Garrett Atkins is 12-29 lifetime (.414) against the Dodgers' ace, while Matt Holliday has only a .241 average in 29 at bats but has four homers among his hits.

Colorado's Tuesday starter Josh Fogg is 2-0 in his last five starts, allowing more than three earned runs only once during the five game stretch.  If he's to win his 10th of the year tomorrow, he'll likely have to watch out for Dodger veterans Juan Pierre and Jeff Kent.  Both players have worn Fogg out over the years with Pierre hitting .515 in 33 at bats, and Kent posting a .455 average with six homers in only 33 at bats.

DODGER FLASHBACK

While the 2007 Dodgers play out the string, things were a little more exciting on this day 42 years ago.  THe 1965 Dodgers were in the midst of a pennant race when the played the St. Louis Cardinals on a Friday night at Dodger Stadium and when the Cards took a 3-l lead into the seventh behind starter Bob Gibson, it looked like the second place Dodgers might fall two games behind the hated Giants in the National League standings.

But in the eventual World Series championship year, magical things happened and some did on this evening.  The Dodgers patched together a run in the seventh (driven in by Maury Wills on a sacrifice fly) and scored two more in the eighth on a Jim Lefebvre single to take the lead 4-3.  Ron Perranowski held the Cards scoreless in the ninth to preserve the win, and the Dodgers continued on a march that would lead them to the National League title and a World Series triumph over the Twins.