Oh, Canada!

(Former Dodgers manager and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame member Tommy Lasorda shared a picture from the museum's collection while reflecting on the Dodgers play in Toronto)

I thought you'd like this old picture of me from Canada!  That's when I was playing for the Montreal Royals.  At the time of this picture, I had just accepted a challenge to eat 100 pieces of calamari.  I didn't even win!  Hard to believe knowing my reputation now, but at the time I didn't have the physique.  Look at me: I was an athlete!

Beyond those days, I haven't had a better time in Canada beyond this series against the Blue Jays.  After blowing em out Monday night, we come back Tuesday and Wednesday to win!  Our 10th road win in a row - an LA record!  Now, you might expect this from a 1st place club like the Dodgers, particularly against a junk team like Toronto.  But remember what I always say, except for a buffet, nothing comes easy.  It's the sign of a winner to play to the last pitch!

Now that I think about it...I think this week's series ties for my favorite time in Canada.  My other favorite time was at the start of the 1982 season.  I think it was May or so, but we were in Montreal playing the Expos.  Welch was on the mound, and we were in control.  I had a lot of old friends visiting me from the days of the picture above, so it was a great trip.  Anyway, Welch is in a groove so I get the clubhouse guy's attention.  I tell him of a nearby place that has good ham and croissant sandwiches and stuff, so I give him some cash.  I thought I'd remembered to exchange money, but I gave him a $20 U.S.!  Well, he comes back with 2 grocery bags full of food!  I totally forgot.  Well, before the word got out I took down the 1st bag.  2nd was harder, but Nando helped - he needed his strength because he was pitching in a couple days.  Shit, to think there was a time when $20 would buy me enough food to fill me up.

(Yawns)  Excuse me.  Still tired from that night flight last night.  What's in the fridge?

When you're hot, you're hot

Last night was simply a thing of beauty.  You're hearing and reading a lot about the Dodgers play of late, but nothing compares to last night.  How this could be the team I wrote about a little over a month ago is the same team now, I don't know.  But when you have the following pitching:
Chris Capuano
Carlos Marmol
Brandon League
Kenley Jansen nearly blowing a save, for texture
...and Nick Punto playing like I told you he would: 0-5 on a night when everyone else got a hit...

...you don't win the game.  When it was 8-3 after the 6th inning, I said aloud (to, it turns out, no one interested) that I didn't like the fact that the Dodgers in essence forfeit every 5th game when Cap pitches.

Then the tide turned.

After playing UCLA ball in the 7th, the 8th inning came around.  Gonzo and Either with dongs, and we have the lead...and somehow (despite the list mentioned at the start of the article) the Dodgers win.

Just as when you're in a slump you find ways to lose, when you're truly hot you win games like that.  Still can't believe it.

Of course, the first I read of this crediting Donny Mustache at all for this win, I'm throwing the monitor out the window.

Il comandante parla

(Baseball legend and famous Italian Tommy Lasorda spoke Sunday night in Washington DC at the Italian Consulate, concurrent with the Dodgers playing the Nationals )

Thank you very much!  I have to say it's always a great pleasure to speak in front of so many great Italians, knowing all you do for us in America.  But anytime I'm in Washington DC, I always have to say a famous quote from this town, and if you don't mind a little Italian...

"Ora, io sono in controllo!"

(Everyone laughs)

You know, I've been in town all weekend with the Dodgers in town before speaking to you tonight.  And it's funny, after last season, I thought for sure this town would be fully behind the Nationals, but it's still a Skins town, huh?  Well, it has to be...because this morning I ran in to some residents from this town on my way to lunch.  They said "Wow, Tommy Lasorda, great to meet you!  I wish, if we ever got a team, you'd be a part of it."  And I said hey - you do have a team right now.  And the guy says back to me "I know."

(chuckles)

You know, I've coached a lot of great Italians over the years.  I insisted we draft, and I managed, Mike Piazza.  By the time he made the bigs he said to me "Tommy, I'm indebted to you.  What advice can you give me?"  I said kid, if you're catching, I need you to be a rock back there.  Just like Scioscia.  He said "Get strong and lift weights to stop everything?"  I said "No, EAT!  It worked for one Mike, it'll work for another!"

(Everyone laughs)

Now, I'd like to say something to our Italian friends.

Tutti ci hanno detto che a volte dopo l'all-star break.  Che abbiamo fatto.  Bene, la Dodgers show, spazzare i cittadini, e nonostante Matt Kemp realizzare ha pagato per essere feriti, continuiamo a distruggere tutti!

What I said was, you know, this weekend, everyone thought the Dodgers would flame out.  All-Star game...some of you here might have thought we'd end this slide.  Well, outside of Kemp forgetting how to fucking - huh?  Oh, excuse me.  We got through all the jams...sweep the Nats, and we're only a half game or whatever out of first.  Where's the "natitude" - is it

(Crowd begins to murmur)

Uh...in conclusion, Chiedo scusa, bene gli Italiani. Per brindare alla fine atleticità e ai grandi Italiani!

(applause)

Debunking the Lunkheads

Halfway through the season, the Dodge are at .500.  It's as if the season hasn't happened.  Oh, it has...but you really had to follow them each and every day to see the tide lay flat, go low, and rise again.  If you didn't do that, and you were just looking at how LA is playing of late, you'd foolishly attribute this to the manager.  As a CBS Sports.com employee, you'd then be motivated to write tripe such as this:

"Dodgers' decision on Don Mattingly among first-half bests"

Of course, I could just post this article and we'd all have a laugh and return to the beer in front of us and enjoy life.  But to let this stand is to give acceptance of someone taking the uneasy task of writing about all big league teams, and in doing so, thinking they're right.  I know fuck-all about the Pirates...you notice I don't write about Pittsburgh's team.  Who'd have the time to KNOW about all teams?  

"It was mere weeks ago when Mattingly was so close to being fired that he was last seen at the end of a plank on a pirate ship. At least, that's pretty much what everyone wrote, said and thought. Now, the guy could wind up being NL Manager of the Year, and wouldn't that be something?"

How the shit would this happen?
1. The Dodgers win 40 games in a row.
2. I don't know...I'm at a loss.

As it stands, there are 6 teams in the NL with a better record than the Dodgers.  At this point last season, the Dodgers were 47-40.  So...Donny Mustache is doing better this year, I guess?  That makes sense when you consider last year we didn't have Gonzo, Puig, Greinke, Crawford, Hanley...should I go on? 

"Against NL West opponents, the Dodgers are 14-3 in their past 17 games. On June 22, they were a season-worst 9½ games out of first place. Sunday, they were 2½ back. That's a net gain of seven games in the standings in 22 days."

Funny, but it was the same man who managed the team at the start of the season...when the Dodgers were getting swept at home by San Diego and Arizona, looking like poop against the Giants.  What were Manager of the Year and his pal Ned doing during this start?

Being as stubborn as a toddler.

No one likes to be proven wrong.  It's inevitable in life, and certainly in a sport where you play 162 games...but home many times did Brandon League have to simply take a dump on the mound?  How many losses did he have to single-handedly create for Donny to pull the trigger for anyone else?!  How long did guys such as Cruz, who simply didn't have it anymore, remain in the line-up? 

When injuries started the season, and there were plenty, you got to see the REAL Donny manage.  He had to manage a real situation.  He turned to Ned, who simply brought the same old revolving door names from seasons past to LA.  No one was anticipating Justin Sellers to match Hanley's numbers...but you get neither the hitting nor fielding.  To watch things get worse showed the lack of action in this group.  I remember a Dusty Baker quote from his days with the Cubs.  They weren't winning (there's a shock).  Dusty said he just needed his starting pitching to be healthy.  He needed Prior and Wood to throw 180 pitches a game while he gnawed on toothpicks...then he'd be a good manager! 

"Even with Greinke missing several weeks earlier with a broken collarbone, Dodgers starters rank third in the majors with a 3.40 ERA."

Yes, Greinke has returned to form.  But if your starters are that good, how are you not winning games?
1. You can't score.
2. Your bullpen fucks up.

When the starter leaves a game for the Dodgers, that's when it gets interesting.  Donny (as I've written more times than I care to remember) learned from the mind of Joe Torre.  Joe had likely the finest closer in history in New York.  He had a DH.  So he sat on the bench...waited for his team to get the lead...and knew it was money in the bank.  If there were other bullpen pitchers in the game, they had to go by the 9th for you know who.

Watch a Dodger game (if Bud will let you find it) from the first half of the season: Late innings become The Donny Double Switch Show.  Players and positions move, Donny never confident that a relief pitcher can last more than an inning because no matter what, the ENTIRE LINE-UP WILL HIT THIS INNING...MARK SAID WE'RE GETTING HOT.

It has totally screwed us in games...and not just series like the Atlanta trip in May which was painful.  By continuing to double switch throughout the game, you're making it harder for yourself to continue line-up & bullpen if a close game arrives in the 9th or beyond.  Donny never seems to realize that, because of said switches, he has the pitcher's spot up AGAIN.  Well, better take that guy out and...gimme the guy off the bench who can't hit .200 - any of them.

If you say Donny isn't to blame for having no depth on the bench or minors, look at Ned, who is still operating most days in a McCourt haze.  The Nolasco trade stunned me because Ned was actually making a move.  What took him so long?!  Waiting to see if he should do a fire sale? 

It doesn't take a genius to know if a player isn't performing or is injured you need someone else in there...and if THAT player isn't working, you don't stick to your guns.  You get another fucking player.  Anyone...just try.  How the hell would you know if someone wouldn't work unless you tried it?

That short-sighted view (that so many old-time baseball fans and employees stick to) does no good when you're 9 games under .500 in June.  Instead, we saw minor deals, players mercifully sent down or cut, and our heads just at the horizon line. 

All this - Manager of the Year?!

That's (Expletive) Teamwork!

(Dodgers legend Tommy Lasorda stayed up after extra innings to relay his excitement.)

Way to go!  How do you like that?  We sweep Arizona, get back to .500, and we're just outside of first place.  And how did we do it on this road trip?  Fucking teamwork!  The starting pitching shows up (well, except when that lunkhead Capuano starts), we score with timely hitting, and clean up in our division!

First of all, I haven't written on this "blog" in a while, and was meaning to tell all you Dodger (and baseball fans) a Happy 4th of July.  We really live in the greatest country in the world!  Where else can I call up a friend in Denver and get the proper supplies to soak bratwurst in my award winning wine before grilling them the morning of the game?  I don't recommend doing that by the way.  The taste was a bit off, but you know my famous words: Never Waste Food.  Eating 6 of those, remorsefully, for lunch wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done.  In fact, I'm convinced that's why we lost that night.  That and the fact Capuano started.  Better yet, try grilling Italian Sausage, add the pasta of your choice, peas, a few cherry tomatoes and then add the wine at the end.

Huh?  Right, what was I saying?  There were a few reasons why we've landed in this spot.  It took us over 2 months just to get back to even!  I don't mind saying I'm a big reason why, but here are others:

That kid Nolasco came to LA, where he wants to play.  He's a solid started and he should take Capuano's place.  Unfortunately Stephen Fife is now injured with shoulder problems.  Those shoulder problems are unfortunately not due to pitching.  You know how it is with the young guys: you break em in to the major leagues.  I had him carry my cooler around San Francisco last weekend during that series.  There's plenty of good restaurants up there, but I always want to be comfortable on the road.  All I had in the cooler was a case of my award winning wine, prosciutto, provolone, peppered salami, and 2 loaves of bread.  If that's too much, well now he and I know.  He'd better rehab that shoulder to do the heavy lifting, capice?

Secondly, we're finally hitting the shit out of the ball.  I'm still not thrilled to have another outsider like Mark McSteroid on my team, but he always gave me a look when I'd correct his advice to our hitters.  And by correct, I mean I'd walk in to his office after lunch and let loose a few steamers.  He'd get back and knew it was me but never said anything.  You can imagine that, lately, I haven't had the need to resort to that old trick.

Third, in Arizona I paid a kid to wire our bullpen phone to my box.  Each night, Donny Mustache tried to send in Brandon League at different points, and all he'd get is me answering the phone.  "Tommy?  Sorry, guess this isn't working."  You know what happened next?  He just sat there.  So, once I'd see the need, I'd get on the phone and say "Gimmie whoever" and I don't mind telling you I made the right fucking moves.  Look at last night: guys stayed in until I took them out.  I bet Donny could see that relief pitchers can stay in longer than an inning...but he was probably consumed with trying to get gum out of a wrapper.

These are the facts: 4 at home with Colorado before the All-Star game.  We keep this up, we're at the top at the break.  I didn't see that coming.  It's like a waiter who gives you a free cannoli because he's impressed with your knowledge of risotto: you smile and eat it immediately.  You deserve those desserts!

Good News, Bad News, Sad News

ITEM - The Dodgers traded Matt Grrrrr...a guy very close to taking the Albuquerque train.  Never steady enough to be counted on or used regularly, we have one less trap for our confused manager to land.  This is a good thing!  YAY!

ITEM - In exchange, the Dodgers get another junk reliever, Carlos "I'm throwing this one down the middle of the plate as fast as I can and I bet you can't hit it oh wait you just did" Marmol.  Same problem, different name.  This is a bad thing.  BOOO!

The LA Times reported that Marmol might work out in Cameltoe er...Camelback Ranch or in Albuquerque before joining the team.  He's free to stay at either place by me.  I just wonder why we're paying for the guy.  If this recent strong play has taught us anything, it's that Skip Schumaker is most effective out of the bullpen, and worth the move.

ITEM - Luis Cruz refused to go to Albuquerque.  Free agency it is...never would have expected this at the start of the season, but I don't know what happened to the guy.  A pisser.  There's the possibility he could fool a team into signing him, along with that .127 average.  Wish you luck.

Off to Denver...who's up for a Coors?