"I Will Never Forgive Myself"

Those were my final words to Kim last night before she went to bed and I decided to stay awake to watch the final at bat on MLB.TV with the Dodgers trailing 9-5. To be truthful, I had actually decided to go to sleep after the Padres scored three in the top of the ninth to go ahead by four. Nomar had just stepped on first to bring an end to the hapless inning when Kim yelled, "Are you coming to bed yet?" I gave a begrudging, "yes." I walked in and started to brush my teeth and apologigize for my Dodger addiction that would only last another two weeks or so. I then said I had to get a drink of water, which was just a way of checking the score one last time. When I walked past my computer, Kent was circling the bases with the first homerun. I went in to Kim and told her I would need five more minutes because if something happened, I would never forgive myself. Little did I know what I would be in store for.

As soon as I went back out, Drew was circling the bases and Hell's Bells (Hoffman) was entering to be the finishing touches on the bums. Heck, he hadn't even blown a save vs. the Dodgers in five years and was 55 for 57 over his career against the Dodgers. First pitch to Martin was cracked over the fence to bring the Dodgers to within one.

Now, with MLB.TV the picture quality isn't the greatest; it's a little grainy and the ball is sometimes hard to track when it heads into the outfield and near the fences. As Marlon Anderson hit the next pitch high and deep, my nose was inches from the screen to try and watch the flight of the ball. When Cameron climbed the fence and came back down, I thought he had a ball in his glove. Then a moment later, Vinny said the game was tied and he couldn't believe what was happening.

My excitement was almost an exact opposite the next inning when Aaron Sele came into the game. Those of you that read this blog know my feelings for Sele. He got the first batter to line out to Lofton followed by a double, walk, and single to lose the lead again. I found myself pleading to higher power to help, but knew the higher ups had bigger things to worry about. I started to think about the bottom of the tenth and wonder if Hoffman would be back out. I had a glimmer of hope in the tenth when Rudy Seanez, former Dodger, was spotted warming up. With Lofton up I knew he was the key to the inning. He had to get on and steal second and pray for a single. After the walk, Nomar came up and I started to put myself in Little's shoes. What do you do here? Nomar hasn't looked good tonight swinging the bat. So, do you steal, hit & run, or let him swing away? Once the count hit 2 & 1, I started to think about whether or not you have Kent, who was up next, sacrifice if Nomar walks to try and put runners at 2nd & 3rd. They would then walk Drew, which would bring up Martin with the chance to be the hero or the goat. All of these things went through my head until Nomar uncorked on a 3-1 fastball down broadway. I did my little jig a pumped my fist a little bit looking around for somebody to tell. I almost wanted to wake up my wife and tell her, but she probably wouldn't have felt the impact of the moment, especially since she was snoring and in dreamland. Needless to say, I wasn't able to fall asleep for a couple hours because I was so wired, but I would've never forvgiven myself if I would have gone to sleep.

Here is a great link to some photos of the night by the LA Times.

Sele Stretching His Limits

I couldn't help but feel a little hopeless five days ago when I read an article in the LA Times that said Grady Little was planning on saving Aaron Sele from work during much of August in hopes that he would be rested to be an integral part of the Dodger's stretch run. At the time, I laughed under my breath and hoped I would never see the day when the Dodgers would be counting on anything more than Sele as a batting practice pitcher. The guy had a good first month of his season, but has pretty much stunk after that. This article popped back into my head in the 13th, 14th, and 15th innings of last night's game at about 1:00 a.m. local time as I watched Sele escape bases loaded and one out situations twice and then proceed to walk relief pitcher and Dixie State College's own Brandon Lyon in his first at bat of the season who scored the winning run when Orlando Hudson hit a walk-off homerun with two outs.

We keep hearing about all the prospects the Dodgers have yet they continue to throw guys out there like Sele who stink.

Fantasy vs. Reality

I sometimes struggle with this idea when it comes to managing and cheering for my fantasy team versus the Dodgers. Now, understand that my cheering always defaults to the Dodgers, but I do have to think twice about it sometimes. Like take tonight for instance: Jake Peavy pitching for the Padres, which incidentally have won 10 of 11 vs. the Dodgers this year, has had a terrible year. I traded for him a month or two ago and he has done exactly squat for me. So as I contemplated starting him vs. the Dodgers tonight, I have to ask myself if I would root for him to pitch well and possibly win. I decide to start him with the understanding that I am rooting for a 0-0 tie into the ninth inning with the Dodgers winning it in the tenth against Trevor Hoffman. I go through this daily with my fantasy baseball team. Does anyone else root for weird things when it comes to fantasy vs. reality (and don't tell me about your love life again JTJ) or am I the only one?

October 15, 1988

I'll never forget that night as long as I live, no matter how senile I become, and no matter how much of my hair falls out. I had just begun my 7th grade year at Pine View Middle School seven or so weeks prior and my family had gone up to Fish Lake in central Utah for a night of sitting around doing nothing (I now love Fish Lake for its simplicity and unchanging landscape, but for a 12-year-old kid nothing could be worse than simplicity and un unchanging landscape). As we left the cabin that night, the game--game one of the world series vs. the Oakland A's--was just starting. I talked my dad into listening, much to the dismay of the rest of our family, to it in our old grey and red suburban. The Dodgers got off to a fast start with the light hitting Mickey Hatcher cracking a two-run homer into the left-field pavillion scoring Steve Sax. This is the same Mickey Hatcher who hit one home run the entire year and was only playing because Mike Marshall was injured. The tide quickly turned sour as the A's loaded the bases against rookie Tim Belcher (Orel Hershiser had won game seven of the NLCS against the Mets just two days prior or would have been pitching) with bash brother (and apparant steroid user) Jose Canseco. Canseco proceeded to line a grand slam off the top of the center field camera causing a dent and almost decapitating the camera man. The Dodgers scored one more run in the innings to come cutting the lead to 4-3 but couldn't get much going against Dave Stewart.

As the ninth inning rolled around, my family and I pulled into the garage and I sprinted to the kitchen TV. I knew, having followed baseball very closely this year and every year prior, that Dennis Eckersley was a tough as they came that year as a closer. It was his second full year as a closer and his line that year read: 4 wins, 2 losses, 45 saves, 2.35 ERA, 8.8 strikeouts per 9 innnings, 1.375 walks per nine innings, and a WHIP (walks + hits/innings pitched) of .867--incidentally a WHIP anywhere close to 1 is excellent. With that said, even as a 12-year-old punk, I knew the Dodgers had very very little chance of doing anything in the bottom of the ninth. Mike Scioscia was the first due up and struck out with very little fanfare. Jeff Hamilton followed suit striking out on three nasty pitches. Third up that inning was the dissapointing Mike Davis, who had come over from the A's as a free agent where he hit 22 HR and knocked in 72 the year before. As a Dodger he did very little that season--2 HR, 17 RBI, .196 average. Needless to say, this wasn't someone Eck should have been very afraid of facing. But, on a 3-2 pitch he walked him.

As I watched all this happen, everything seemed to run in slowmotion after that as Kirk Gibson hobbled out of the dugout with two bad knees, a pulled hamstring, and a pulled groin. He looked nearly helpless in the first few pitches from Eckersly. He fouled the first strait back almost falling over. The second dribbled up the first base line about 15 feet. It was evident at that point--watching him run--that he would probably be thrown out at first on a single to left field. Gibson worked a full count after being down 0-2. On the third ball Mike Davis took a chance and stole second base without a throw. All Gibson needed to do was single to the outfield and be able to run to first. As Gibson stood in for the 3-2 pitch he proceeded to step out and collect his thoughts one last time (he later said that as he stood in initially for the 3-2 pitch he remembered a scouting report the team had been told about what Eck loves to do on 3-2 pitches: the backdoor slider).

As Gibson waited I remember Vin Scully saying, "4-3 A's, two out, ninth inning, not a bad opening act!" Jack Buck's call on CBS radio of the homerun was priceless and something that has been etched into my brain for the past 18 years. "But, we have a big 3-2 pitch coming here from Eckersley. Gibson swings, and a fly ball to deep right field! This is gonna be a home run! Unbelievable! A home run for Gibson! And the Dodgers have won the game, 5 to 4, I don't believe what I just saw! I don't believe what I just saw! Bill! Is this happening?"

I remember crying and lauging, jumping up and down and trying to find somebody to hug in my house. What a moment. I still get chills thinking about it. Now 18 years later, I sit waiting for it to happen again.

The Mad Dog

I have to admit that I was very sceptical when Colletti traded for Maddux in the final moments of the trade deadline. I wasn't too upset about losing Cesar Izturis. The guy is a career .260 hitter with an on-base percentage below .300 making 3.2 million a year. Sure the guy has a glove, but he has no arm and wants to be a Red Sock with old buddy and fellow terrible hitter Alex Cora. With that said, the Maddux trade to me was just a move for purpose of making a move. Although he gave up six runs (four earned) tonight against the Giants in six innings, the guy has been unbeleivable. Combining the end of his last start against the Giants and the beginning of this start tonight in 'Frisco, the guy retired 32 straight hated ones. For those of you scoring at home, that is a perfect game plus five more outs.

The Hated Ones

The Dodgers blew up for 14 runs tonight and 17 hits against the hated Giants including 10 runs in the first two innings. Would you believe that none of the runs scored on homeruns? It is truly amazing this year for the Dodgers: they have the lowest number of homeruns in the national league (102--only Kansas City in the American League has less [93]), but lead the national league in batting average and on-base percentage. I guess this is kinda what Depo (Paul Depodesta) had in mind when he started to put the team together before last season. Too bad he tried to do it with the likes of Hee Seop Choi.

Just a side note to tonights game, Steroid had one at bat and decided it was too cold for him to stay in the game. I'm sure he had left the stadium long before the seats were warm under those clueless fans in San Francisco. I can honestly say, I will never miss Barry Bonds.