Only a cheap and lazy writer would resort to making old guy jokes on a night like tonight
Unfortunately, that's what you people have been saddled with.
Tonight at the Ravine, 44 year old David Wells will take the mound for the Blue against 41 year old Greg Maddux. Put 'em together, and it's a staggering 85 years worth of pitchers trotting, even if slowly, out to the hill. That's 595 dog years. In Maddux, we're talking about a guy who broke into the bigs in 1986, at age 20. (Interestingly, his first appearance on a Major League field was as a pinch runner, not a pitcher. Who knew?) In Wells, we're talking about a guy who could remember where he was on November 22, 1963 when Kennedy was assassinated. Granted, he was six months old at the time so uncovering said memory would likely require a hypnotist, but still, that's going back a ways. A pairing with this much mileage may not happen often, but it adds an interesting wrinkle to a monumental game for the Blue. Win, and they're a mere 1.5 games behind San Diego for the Wild Card. Lose, and it's back to 3.5, with a crowd in between them and the prize.
And while they may be old, Maddux and Wells are also still dealing. Maddux, in particular, has been red hot lately. No walks in his last 54.1 innings. After a July 13th start in Arizona, his ERA was 4.35. Now it's 3.68. A 2.43 August and 2.19 September will do that. Wells, for his part, has won two of three starts as a Dodger. Ugly wins, maybe (usually smoke = fire. With Wells, smoke = mirrors), but wins.
"They're two men out there competing with everything they have to beat the other team. I don't think that'll ever change in either one of those guy's lives," Grady Little said of the matchup. "It may not be what they had 20 years ago, the same stuff, but they'll be competing to try and win the game." Little, not surprisingly, has been happy with what the Dodgers have received from Wells. "It's just what we had expected. He's a guy who will take the ball, compete, and keep you right in the ballgame. He's done that for us each start he's had."
And without going out on a limb, I'm willing to bet Wells would like to go out tonight shove this one right up the Padres' posterior. Aw, hell. We're talking about David Wells here. If ever there was a time to say "ass" instead of "posterior," this is it.
Ass. There you have it.
In other news, Andy LaRoche said his back issue is due to a "protruded disc." He's been on an exercise program to try and strengthen the area, something he'll continue through the offseason. It's nothing that should require surgery or bother him into spring training next year, assuming LaRoche doesn't slack off. Ironically, his most recent bout of stiffness came because of an off day. More specifically, an off day when he got off his program. He must be getting old. "Yeah, I'm washed up already," LaRoche joked.
Derek Lowe was able to play catch today, a very encouraging sign. "All I was concerned about was that he was able to grip a baseball and throw it, and he was able to do that. We're more than optimistic that he'll be ready to go on Saturday." Lowe joked that he ought to wear one of those red jerseys quarterbacks don at practice to make sure nobody accidentally hits him. Lo and behold, that's exactly what he had during warmups today (provided, perhaps, by Broxton). He certainly did look protected out there. No word if the little dose of levity will garner a letter from the rather humorless league office uni police.
"He may get a letter with one of those pictures in the mail like I got," Little joked, referring to his own brush with the fashion cops who busted him for wearing a short sleeve jacket with no jersey underneath. It's not that he couldn't wear it, "but at a thousand dollars a pop, I quit doing that. I guess they had some sort of modern technology to tell there wasn't (a jersey)" Call it Terry Francona west. At least they didn't pull Little out of the dugout. "I'm sure that was a geographic thing. A lot of people like coming to the west coast, but I don't think they'd come all the way out here for that."
LINEUPS- Not surprisingly, Luis Gonzalez, a .315 career hitter against Maddux, is on the card. He'll hit in behind Jeff Kent, who has a .321 career mark vs. the future HOFer. James Loney has been bumped up to third, while Matt Kemp goes down to seventh. It's a lefty heavy group up top. Tony Abreu gets another start at third.
DODGERS-
Rafael Furcal- SS
Juan Pierre- CF
James Loney- 1B
Jeff Kent- 2B
Luis Gonzalez- LF
Russell Martin- C
Matt Kemp- RF
Tony Abreu- 3B
David Wells- P
PADRES-
Brian Giles- RF
Marcus Giles- 2B
Mike Cameron- CF
Adrian Gonzalez- 1B
Khalil Greene- SS
Kevin Kouzmanoff- 3B
Scott Hairston- LF
Josh Bard- C
Greg Maddux- P
BK
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Aryan should get in the habit of assassinating Little Ol' Grady's character before every game. Oh, wait....
GO BLUE!!!!
Posted by: phat2zday | September 13, 2007 at 09:58 PM
Move over Mr. Worthy, L.A.'s got a new "Big Game James."
It may have been made out of desperation but signing Wells is starting to look like Ned's best move of the year.
With people on the bench who can actually hit, including youngsters who can use the game experience, why does Grady keep sending up Saenz to pinch hit?
Posted by: uclart47 | September 13, 2007 at 10:09 PM
Everyone is always a critic and knows how to manage a professional baseball team better than Grady Little. Give me a break!
Great game and BIG WIN for the boys in blue.
My opinion about GL starting Gonzo in place of Ethier is a good move. Ethier has been struggling the past few games and needed a little break to gather himself after diving into first base trying to get a hit last night. As far as Kemp starting tonight's game is definitely a bad move since he struggles to hit pitchers who are masters of the off-speed and breaking ball pitchers.
All in all, this was a solid game; unfortunately as fans we can't focus on the positive and fully back up our guys no matter what. The Brooklyn fans were more loyal and less finicky than us LA fans. How about we cheer them on instead of picking apart everything that happens during the game.
Posted by: SFDodgerGirl | September 13, 2007 at 10:59 PM
uclart,
I agree. Against a lefty pitcher, I would be using either Young or Hu. He's also got Lieberthal, Hillenbrand, and Valdez, each of which are about .240 hitters. Why would he go with the .180 Tomato?
Posted by: Crash24 | September 13, 2007 at 11:03 PM
we need 3 out of three...
Posted by: the WOLF | September 13, 2007 at 11:33 PM
right wolf 3 out of 3
Posted by: K T USN | September 14, 2007 at 06:40 AM
Great win last night. As I predicted Tuesday night, the Dodgers would lose the Peavy game, but would be ok if they rebounded to win the next two, which they did. Now on to Arizona, where the Snakes are primed to go into a serious tailspin. A sweep would be fantastic, but two out of three will keep the ball rolling.
Now, a heavy sigh!
Plaschke's ass-kissing of Grady assures that Forrest will be back next year. Grady helped nurture Loney through his anger at being sent back to AAA??!!! Who's the guy who sent him down in the first place? Oh yeah, Grady.
Grady gets credit for keeping Broxton calm during his recent lousy stretch?! Who's the guy who overused Broxton in the first place? Oh yeah, Grady.
Grady gets credit for keeping Pierre calm enough to hit .357 over the last 30 games?! What about the 30 games before that when Pierre was in the lineup every day despite his inability to get on base or throw out runners trying to go first to third? Who gets the credit for that?
"It is this communication upon which he should be judged." Communication?! Tony LaRussa could make three pitching changes in the time it takes Slingblade to spit out a sentence. Communication?! He never could explain why he kept trotting out Tomko and Hendrickson start after start. He never could explain why Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier weren't in the lineup together for two dys straight, even wehn they were carrying the team. Communication?!! Communication isn't just about speaking, it's about paying attention to what others are telling you. And with the entire world noting that Wilson Betemit was a stiff, Grady wasn't listening.
David Wells has fired up this team with his enthusiasm and his gritty performance. Before he arrived, they were as flat and monotonous as a Forrest press conference. If the Dodgers make the playoffs, it will assuredly be in spite of Grady, not because of it. He has had all the tools in his belt; he just hasn't used them very well.
Posted by: SaMo | September 14, 2007 at 10:44 AM
SaMo -
Bravo, my hat is off to your post. Couldn't have said it better myself.
Posted by: Brian | September 14, 2007 at 06:40 PM