You may, however, want to make your way to the local tavern to drink off Sunday's 11-2 season-ending loss to the Giants, where in a few hours a bartender can tell you the same thing.  The writing was on the wall in the first, when San Francisco plated Rajai Davis on a Randy Wolf double.  Sure, the score wasn't out of control at that point, but unfortunately the aforementioned writing said, "The Giants will hang a five spot on the Blue in the fourth, drop another three on them in the sixth and a deuce for good measure in the ninth."  And, as we know, the writing never lies.  On a positive note, in the footnotes, the wall mentioned there'd be bacon in the press box for the media to put on their hot dogs.  So the wall taketh away, but the wall also giveth. 

All hail the wall. 

With extras on Saturday, no BP scheduled for Sunday and a final day that matters only to the Vegas crowd, there isn't much by way of big stories to report.  There will be plenty of time to start with the postmortems on the '07 season -- something we'll kick off this week -- but for the Blue the process began today.  Or at least the process of talking about it.  Grady Little, Ned Colletti and Frank McCourt all met with the media before the game.  It's the same group that will lead the Dodgers into next season (McCourt confirmed that both Little and Colletti will return in '08) and will be entrusted to figure out what went wrong this year, and more important, to channel their inner handymen and fix it. 

The big theme of the day?  Disappointment.  Good to know they agree with the fans on this one.   

Don't ever accuse the Los Angeles Dodgers of not caring about their fans.  Not only did they pull off a 6-5 win over the Giants last night, but knowing that Blue fans will soon be without their baseball, they took it upon themselves to gift them an extra frame to enjoy.  If that's not athletes giving back, we don't know what is.  The evening was ugly for starter Chad Billingsley, who lasted a scant 1.1 innings before allowing six hits, three walks, four runs and himself to be removed in favor of Mark Hendrickson.  A rough outing, to be sure, but the only thing more certain than that statement would be Grady Little's faith in Bills' skills and development.  But the youngster's derriere was covered by his teammates, whether you're talking relief work, defense (Matt Kemp gunning down Kevin Frandsen at home) or the hot Dodger bats, exemplified by a pinch-hitting Luis Gonzalez.  Entering the game in the bottom of the 10th with one out and Andy LaRoche on second.  A veteran comes through with a knock to deep center.  A youngster crosses the plate.  The winning box score formula for years to come ... except for the part about the veterans.  While a sage presence will obviously be scattered about here and there, their general presence next season might be as common as during these last few games.  As for the presences of Grady Little and Ned Colletti, time will tell (and possibly soon).

Which is why Dodger fans can take more than just a little solace in tonight's 6-5 extra-innings win over the Giants.  Sure, the game barely equaled a hill of beans when measured in terms of tangible worth (i.e., postseason implications).  Still, it clinched a series victory against the hated ones, which does a Dodger fan good when trying to reconcile a disappointing season.  Perhaps Chad Billingsley can use that knowledge to reconcile a disappointing final start.  Whatever rationale he used, he definitely had plenty of time to think it over, since he was back in the dugout PDQ.  Six hits, three walks and four earned runs over 1.1 innings tends to earn a hurler the fast hook.  Thankfully, those following in his footsteps (particularly long man Mark Hendrickson) limited to the Giants to only one extra run over the next 8.9 innings, allowing the hot Dodger bats to create enough runs to crack open a see-saw battle in their favor.  Juan Pierre alone contributed three ribbies, but the biggest run of all came from a pinch-hitting Luis Gonzalez.  Bottom of the tenth.  One run.  Andy LaRoche on second.  Single to center.  LaRoche crosses the plate.  A box score worth the three hour, forty-two minute wait.   

Just as he reported yesterday, there ain't jack going on before a game these days.  I mean, nada.  Nothing particularly interesting to talk about.  Nothing particularly intriguing to analyze (I think you can figure out on your own why Delywn Young is in the lineup).  Zip in the way of material.  Save a few guys  scattered around the clubhouse signing a bunch of pics and gear (which is every bit as enthralling as it sounds), there would have been nothing for me to watch except for the USC-Washington game on the picture box.   And even that wasn't all that fun for this blogging Trojan alum, since USC is playing like dookie right now (as I type this sentence, John David Booty threw a "pick-six").  14-14.  Of course, Washington is universally recognized as a powerhouse, what with their 2-2 record and all.

When a guy who's had a David Wells-esque career takes the mound for what might end up his last time in a professional baseball uni, it's safe to say most baseball fans would like to see him go out a high note.  If it happens to be a guy who's had an actual David Wells career, even better.  In the case of last night's 8-3 win over the Giants, Wells' note may not have been "high" in a traditional sense, but it was pitch perfect enough to sound sweet to a Dodger fans' ear.  In what could be a swan song, Boomer put forth six solid, workmanlike innings, keeping his club in the game and the "W" within reach of his name.  From there, the kids (and even a few "adults") took care of business.  James Loney has  absolutely dominated throughout September, which makes him cranking a long ball for his 32nd RBI of the month more impressive than shocking.  But in the end, the story was really about Wells, who can now send himself off in winning fashion, should he choose to call it a day in baseball.  For those into collecting inexpensive memorabilia, it might be worth printing up a copy of the box score. 

For those of you who figured the Blue were done winning for '07, shame on you for your lack of faith.  With their 8-3 victory over the Giants Friday night, the Dodgers not only gave themselves and their fans something to smile about, but ensured they'll finish the season no worse than a .500 team.  Small victories both (the latter not really constituting a victory, per se), but about the best that can be had now that the damage has been done.  The big news, other than James Loney's 15th home run of the season (giving him 32 RBIs in September and the fourth highest single month total in team history), was the performance of David Wells. 

Granted, as a society we've been saying this for about the last six or seven years now, but it's never been more true that Friday night could very well have been Boomer's last appearance on a big league mound.  And good for him, he went out a winner.  Six innings, three runs (two earned), and a scattered- when you win, they're scattered- seven hits.  Good enough for his ninth win of the season, and fourth as a Dodger.  Not surprisingly, Wells spoke at length to the media after it was done, and we'll try to get that to you this weekend. 

More on the game tomorrow.

BK

(When the time comes to kick off a totally meaningless three game, season capping series between the fourth and fifth place teams in a division, the term "important news" in relation to ballpark scuttlebutt becomes an extremely relative term.  Bear that in mind as you read what follows.)

Given the lineup changes we've seen over the last ten days or so, unusual sights on the field are always a little more intriguing.  Consider the motley crew (as opposed to the Motley Crue) taking grounders at short during B.P.  You had your Chin-Lung Hu. No surprise there.  Ramon Martinez.  Makes sense.  Nomar Garciaparra.  Retro is in.  Why not?  From there, it gets more interesting.  Luis Gonzalez?  Well, he played some third base back in the day, remember?  Mike Lieberthal?  He's probably got the freshest legs on the team.  But my personal favorite was Takashi Saito.  Much to the delight of his teammates, Saito, while able to pick it reasonably well, seemed to struggle with the throw.  He bounced a couple, threw wide once or twice, and generally found it difficult to get the ball to Mike Sweeney at first on a line.

"He was throwing sliders," Sweeney laughed. 

Give the Dodgers a little credit.  Last night's 10-4 loss to the Rockies, their third straight and ninth of their last 10 games, serves as proof positive that they're more or less unstoppable in this regard.  More  decidedly "stoppable," however, would be Esteban Loaiza.  The waiver-wire-claimed righty continued to struggle in Blue, lasting just 3.2 innings on the mound before reinforcement was required.   As has been the case this season, Loaiza thinks the performance would have been different had the home runs (in this particular game, a pair) not occurred.  So what's causing the rash of long balls?  Depends on who you ask.  But whether you agree with Loaiza (it's a leg thing) or his Skip (it's an arm thing), the bottom line is that the team is very much looking forward to seeing what the guy can contribute to a box score at (hopefully) 100% next season.

Not that I predicted the exact score of tonight's 10-4 loss to Colorado before the first pitch was tossed.  I'm not that dude Matthew McConaughey played in "Two for the Money," nor do I claim to be the second coming of Kreskin.  I mean, the final could have easily been 11-5, Rockies.  Or 3-0.  4-1.  21-1.  The particulars themselves were definitely something of a surprise for me.  But the outcome in broad strokes?  Not so much.  I'm not trying to be cynical, but let's be honest.  Tonight's reverse-brooming box score was the Rockies' seventh straight win over this club.  They've won eight of the last 10, boast a 12-6 record against the Blue in 2007 and a trip back to early April is required to relive the last time the Dodgers won consecutive contests against this NL West rival.  Combine the visitors' 11-game winning streak with the Dodgers dropping nine of their last 10, and it ain't a shock this marks the first season the Rockies will finish ahead of the Ravine Crew in the standings.