In video form!  No reading necessary, but feel free to transcribe if you'd prefer...

BK

The Dodgers officially kicked off a winter sure to provide plenty of fodder for debate by coming in, clearing out their lockers, and saying goodbye to the media for a few months.  Manny wasn't talking about his future, but he's not the only player about whom the Dodgers have a decision to make.  There is the potential for turnover up and down the roster, and the pitching staff is going to be of particular concern.  Manny Mania aside, Joe Torre made the need for arms clear, and with Derek Lowe generally seen as gone and Brad Penny's injury making his option a big risk to pick up, there's work to be done. 

This won't shock too many people, but Juan Pierre's agent Mark Pieper formally logged a trade request on behalf of his client. Phrased as amicably as possible, Pieper made it clear the issue isn't the Dodgers or any problems he has with the team or the front office, but merely a question of playing time.  He'd like to be somewhere he can get more of it. 

Manny was voted a partial playoff share from his former Red Sox teammates.

Great stuff on LA's arbitration situation with Russell Martin and Andre Ethier from Jon at Dodger Thoughts, with a big assist from TrueBlueLA. 

Manny related comments from the time I spent in the media throng surrounding Dodgers owner Frank McCourt after Wednesday night's season ending loss in Game 5 of the NLCS:

"No, it's not a no brainer, because it takes two to (sign him).  It's the old expression, "It takes two to tango."  So we'll see."

"Sure, I sit there every game, and can see what (Manny) has meant to the team and how he's connected to the fans.  But people just can't lose sight of the fact that I don't sit there in some chair in a big office and decide exactly who's going where.  There's another side to this, and players make decisions as to where they play.  I can't make any predictions because it's up to the player.  As much, or more, than it is to me and the organization.  We just have to realize that.  It's a fact..."

Q: You said you can't predict what players are going to do and where they're going to go, but you can control the team's interest, the organization's interest.  Is it something where you anticipate making as much of a push as you can to bring him back? 

A: "I'd like to bring back all these guys.  I love this team.  This team did what no Dodgers team has done in twenty years, so I'd like them all back.  But it's not that easy.  We have to figure out who fits on this club for next year, and who really wants to be a Dodger.  Who wants to be here.  So it's a process, and we're certainly going to make our interests very, very clear to the players we want back, and those conversations will be pretty apparent to (the media) as time goes on." 

Comforting, no?

The end might have been inevitable anyway, but the final moments of a very strange 2008 season, filled will all sorts of inconsistency and frustration but also the franchise's first playoff series victory in 20 years, were hardly pretty.  Behind a red hot, series MVP Cole Hamels, Philadelphia took advantage of another bad start from Chad Billinsgley and some poor Dodgers defense for a 5-1 win in Game 5 Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium .  The better team better prepared for the magnitude of the moment will move on to the World Series while the stunned Blue will pack up the gear and look forward to Spring Training.  It wasn't the game LA wanted to play- They didn't generate much off the Philly ace, and what they could scrounge up offensively was generally wasted.    

A week ago, things seemed so promising.  Now, it's on to an uncertain future.  We know General Manager Ned Colletti will return, but the roster he'll assemble is anyone's guess.  A trio of veterans have almost surely played their last games in Los Angeles.  Rafael Furcal would like to come back, and there's interest in making it happen.  Outside the organization, Jake Peavy is willing to relocate north should the Padres decide to blow it up. 

Brad Penny's option doesn't seem likely to be picked up.

As the old saying goes, "When a team has more errors than runs, they probably lost."  Such was the case Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, as the curtain came down on a very strange 2008 season for the Blue with a 5-1 loss to Philadelphia in Game 5 of the NLCS.  Most fans understood the dreams of a World Series bound Dodgers team suffered a debilitating blow after they let Monday's lead slip away, but hoped the home team could come out with some fire and send the series back to Philadelphia.  Instead, the Dodgers went out with a whimper, shut down and frustrated by an ace-caliber lefty in Cole Hamels while self-destructing on the mound and in the field.  On a night that required they be sharp in all facets, the Dodgers came up short.  Well short.  To wit:   

• Chad Billingsley: On the heels of a terrible Game 2 performance that damaged his reputation well beyond his poor mound work, Billingsley was just as ineffective Wednesday night.  Jimmy Rollins led off with a solo homer giving the visitors an important early lead.  Billingsley seemed to settle down until, in a moment reeking of deja vu, he once again found trouble with two outs in the third. A walk, two hits, and a wild pitch meant two more runs for Philadelphia, and that was it for Bills.
• Rafael Furcal: In a disastrous fifth inning that hammered home the final nails in LA's big blue coffin, Raffy was charged with three errors leading to two more runs for Philadelphia, giving them a 5-0 lead. 
• Bats: Everyone knew opportunities would be hard to find against Hamels, and he held up his end of the bargain.  But there were chances, the Dodgers just didn't take advantage.  Blake DeWitt had a particularly tough night, grounding into two double plays.  Jeff Kent struck out to end a rally in the seventh.  Russell Martin was a black hole in the middle of the order, an 0-4 night capping a brutal series, an NLCS worth of frustration boiling over after a called third strike in his third at bat ended LA's half of the sixth.  Andre Ethier and Furcal each took an oh-fer.  It just wasn't a good night for the sticks.

But really, none of that matters right now.  Dodger fans will spend the next few days and weeks trying to wrap their heads around what was in sum an infuriating, joyous, exasperating and exciting year.  Game 5 of the NLCS marked the team's deepest run into the postseason since winning it all in '88.  On the other hand, the Blue only won 84 games in the regular season, advancing to the playoffs by virtue of a weak division.   

Fans can, and ultimately should, relish the excitement of the last few weeks, of a group that rallied to win the West and swept the Cubs.  But looking forward, it'll be hard to feel comfortable with the team, because nobody has a clue what the Dodgers will look like in 2009. 

Do, or do not.  There is no try.

As expected, Kemp is back in.

Phillies:

Rollins.      SS
Werth.      RF
Utley.        2B
Howard.     1B
Burrell.      LF
Victorino.   CF
Feliz.        3B
Ruiz.        C
Hamels.    LHP

Dodgers:

Furcal.       SS
Ethier.       RF
Ramirez.    LF
Martin.       C
Loney.       1B
Blake.       3B
Kemp.       CF
DeWitt.      2B
Billingsley.   RHP

Need some inspiration heading into tonight's do-or-die Game 5?  How about this?  October 15, 1988...

And just for good measure, to remind people that, as Vin might say, the improbable is not impossible...

BK

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Join us for Purple, Gold, and Blue at 11 am.  Guests will be Kevin Baxter of the LAT, and John Gonzalez of Philadelphia Inquirer.  Click the show widget on the side of the page, or go straight to the chat board by clicking here.

Having seen their golden opportunity to knot up the NLCS disappear Monday night, all that's left for the Dodgers, down 3-1 to Philadelphia, is to win three straight, starting tonight at the Ravine, when Chad Billingsley looks for a spot of redemption against Philadelphia's ace lefty Cole Hamels.  While the Dodgers face a steep uphill climb, teams have done what they'll need to do to reach the World Series.  It has happened before. The best way to make it happen again?  Don't think about the World Series.  Don't think about anything but Game 5, actually. 

Speaking of which, given all the ruckus that surrounded his failed outing in Game 2, Billingsley is definitely in need of some redemption tonight at the Ravine.  It's not just LA's season at stake, but some wonder if another bad outing could leave Bills with labels he'd rather not carry.  It may not just be Philadelphia watching to see how aggressively he pitches.

Joe Torre canceled his team's workout for today, but still met with the media at Chavez Ravine.  Not surprisingly, the events of last night were front and center on the minds of many a media member (myself included).  These press conference style Q and A's aren't the best place to get deep into issues- it's hard to give follow up questions and, like Kindergarten, everyone gets a turn, but Torre did give a little more explanation of the logic behind how he used the bullpen.  Not much else came out of the presser, beyond the normal "we can win this, we're a strong group, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera," aside from confirmation that Matt Kemp will be back in the lineup tomorrow night.

Click below for the relevant part of the transcript. 

BK