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With both college football and the NFL going ahead full steam, it’s been hard to really pay attention to the goings-on of the Dodgers. And there is a good reason for that.
The Dodgers just plain stunk it up at Telecom-of-the-Moment Park against the Giants. Each game featured a Dodger pitcher giving up crucial runs late in the game. Jonathan Broxton gave up home runs in Friday’s and Sunday’s games, and David Wells managed to only give up two runs in a dicey sixth inning on Saturday to preserve the victory.
You know a series isn’t going well when Takashi Saito doesn’t make an appearance. The August DHL Delivery Man of the Month (I’m not joking about this one) awarded to the most outstanding relief pitcher was brought on in a non-save situation Saturday. Saito has been lights out in August converting all 10 save situations he was in while posting a 0.68 ERA and giving up only one run in 14 games.
All that aside, this week is a make-or-break week for the Dodgers. They start with a three-game series against the Padres on Tuesday and a weekend series against the D-Backs. If they bomb like they did this past weekend, there is no October for the Dodgers. However if they manage to play well and gain some ground in the division and wild card standings, they still have a chance to sniff the playoffs.
For Tuesday night's game, the Dodgers are remembering 9/11 by hosting a hero's night to pay tribute to civil servants. Prior to the game the world's most horrible baseball announcer Rick Monday will head over to the LA Fire Department training center to meet and greet over 1,000 public safety officers and family members. Monday, besides making Dodger games unlistenable on the radio, is best known for preventing the American flag from being burned at Dodger Stadium while he was playing for the Cubs.
There will be a helicopter flyover prior to the game, and local representatives from the LA Police Department, LA County Sheriff's Department, LA Fire Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, LA School Police Department, CHP and the US Marines.
It should be a great tribute to the sixth anniversary of the attacks on 9/11. What would be great is if LA Police Chief William Bratton beans Rick Monday. Oh wait. Does that mean I get subpoenaed now?
The most pressing question now is will the Dodgers make the postseason? The magic eight ball says, "Don't hold your breath." Words to live by.
AP Photo by Ben Margot
