Dude…where’s my Dodgers?

So last night, I got home a little later than I normally do and flipped the game on, kicked my shoes off and popped a Bud Light Lime (I should be receiving sponsorship money).  Lying sprawled out on my cushy sofa, watching the Dawyers sitting on a comfortable 7-3 lead in the 7th.  After a pretty nice rally started by Kershaw

with 2 men aboard and 1 out, one of my used-to-be-favorie-now-cantstandja players, James Baloney gets up to the plate and looks like a deer in the headlights.  He’s got this look on his face that says, “Are the cameras on me, ’cause I can’t hit this thing.”  But he does…well, he flies out to center about the time my wife says, “what are you doing?”

I say, “I’m working,” with a giggle and a sip.  But she’s off on a long weekend trip and it’s time to get up and be a good husband/daddy and get the kids ready for bed, etc.  So I flip the TV off and head up to hang with the kids while she packs.  I’m laughing and having a good time, brushing teeth and picking out PJ’s and I decide to just jump in the shower and get ready for bed myself at the end of it all.  Kids are in bed, wife is wrapping up her dress rehearsals for this weekend (love you babe), I flip on the TV in the bedroom – 8-7 Rockies.  REALLY??! I almost throw my remote because it is so Un – -believable…or is it?

I don’t know about you all, but I’m sick of it.  I have to recreate it from the box score because I didn’t see the pivotal bottom 7 (remote probably would have flown) – but it reads like this:  single to right, single to center, Kershaw walks Blackmon to juice ’em and gets yanked.  Elbert comes in and gets knocked for a single, but it only scores one (7-4).  Then a strike out, then another walk (7-5), and another pitcher (McDougal).  Tulowitzki gets a 2-run single (7-7), then another walk, then a hit batter (Giambi) catches us up with the story here at 8-7.  Our 4th pitcher Hawksworth gets us out of the inning, bloodied for sure, but he leaves us still within striking distance.  Rockies blow through Gwynn, Carroll and Gordon in the 8th (Gwynn I get, but was hoping for more from Carroll and Gordon) – which means Blake, Ethier and Kemp are going to have a shot in the 9th.  But in the bottom of the 8th our 5th pitcher (Lindblom) gives up a double that puts runners in scoring position, just to make things a little more difficult for the guys that are carrying the weight of the team, and producing 90% of the offense on the team.  Sac fly scores and makes it 9-7 bad guys.

The guys who can help us are in a position to help us, so I don’t know what else you could ask for – OK maybe a .500 record, offense from more than 2 guys, a real owner (that Hershiser/Garvey rumor reported in the LA Daily News sounds almost too good to be true) – but after a ground out by Blake, Ethier gets a stand-up double with our only offense of late – Kemp – coming to the plate representing the tying run.  Huston Street buckles and K’s Kemp with a nasty slider and then Vin comes on and says that Barajas is 6-10 lifetime against Street…………..make that 6-11.

The boys in Blue go out with a fizzle…again.  Almost makes me miss Manny…OK, I miss Manny.

The optimism of my last post (sorry Jerry, I tried) has been smacked down by reality.  I was down at Petco Park yesterday and was listening to how terrible the Padres were from all of their fans – but the sickening truth is that we’re nutted up with them for worst team in the uber-powerful NL West (6.5 back of SF, 5.5 back of AZ, and 2 back of CO as of this post).  Feels a lot like my 9ers sagging year after year in the NFC Worst.  Things have to change, and I honestly believe we can only go up from here, and it all starts at the top.  As per Tommy John in Kenny’s latest post:

"The Dodger way was brought on by the O’Malley family and not just the way we played baseball.  The O’Malley’s made you want to come to the park and perform for the fans, made us proud to wear Dodger Blue"

I still wear my Dodger Blue – I want to be PROUD to wear it, but dude, where’s my Dodgers?