We're In

Rollin' down Imperial Highway

With a big nasty redhead at my side

Santa Ana winds blowin' hot from the north

And we was born to ride

Roll down the window, put down the top

Crank up the Beach Boys, baby

Don't let the music stop

We're gonna ride it 'til we just can't ride it no more

From the South Bay to the Valley

From the West Side to the East Side

Everybody's very happy'

Cause the sun is shining all the time

Looks like another perfect day

I love L.A. (We love it)

I love L.A. (We love it)

We love it

Obligatory Magic Number One Curtain Call

Well, Well, Well. Magic number is one. Thanks to Manny. Thanks to Nomar. Thanks To Clayton Kershiser. Thanks to, uh, well, you know where I'm going with this. The Dodgers won another decisive game over a team that they should be winning decisive games over, defeating the San Diego Padres 12-4. The Dodgers also got a little help from their new best friends, the Arizona Diamondbacks, who lost to the Cardinals 4-2. I know that I have been hesitant to proclaim that the division will be won by the dodgers but I'm almost ready to do so. The D'backs play today at 2:15 which means that on my way home I may be stopping by the liquor store to pick up my own bottle of champagne. Of course, now that I've actually mentioned it, the Dodgers will lose and the d'backs will win. Well, whatever. I honestly have nothing to do with either outcome so I will sit in my cubicle and watch the box score update because for some reason, my MLB.TV does not work on my work computer.

Jake "how did this team get so bad so fast" Peavy 9-11 (2.77 ERA) VS Greg Maddux 7-13 (4.31 ERA). Ok, so Maddux has been far from amazing since his return to L.A. and may not even make the playoff roster (blasphemy!). However, he may not even have to win today. We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I'm off to watch the Kirk Gibson home run for the 15,000th time. THINK BLUE!

Nomah Makes it 3!

That's right! Nomar Garciaparra smacked a three run dinger in the first inning of last night's Dodgers game. After scoring six runs in the first inning, the Dodgers went on to beat the snot out of second worst team in the National League, defeating the Padres 10-1. And as much as I love a Dodgers win, the only comparable feeling is a Diamondbacks loss. The Cardinals get some L.A. love for defeating Randy "My fastball may have lost velocity but I'm still the ugliest sob in baseball" Johnson. The combination of the Dodgers victory and D'backs has put the dodgers magic number at 3. What a magic number it is. The 3 run homer by nomah, the 3 game lead they currently have over Arizona and 3 wins/dbacks losses to make it back to the postseason to avenge the past 20 years of failure.

Tonight's Game: 10:10 EST Shawn Estes (2-3, 4.73) vs Clayton Kershaw (4-5, 4.28 ERA). I'll just say this about Kershaw, if the Dodgers do clinch the division he will be the only guy on the roster not of legal age to drink a celebratory beer. Maybe Manny can sneak him one when Joe isn't looking.

Mambo # 5

Five is a good number, I suppose. Not as good as the number one, which is the amount of runs the dodgers needed yesterday to win. One run. One stinking run. The Dbacks won and are now 2.5 games behind the dodgers with one week of baseball left to play. The Dback play this evening and the dodgers get a day off. Tomorrow, each team will have six games left to play and the Dodgers will either have a 2 or 3 game lead. I still refuse to believe that this team will be in the playoffs until they literally clinch it, which may or may not happen until sunday afternoon. Consider me a temporary Cardinals and Rockies fan for the next six days. So, the dodgers get a day off to look for their offense, which had already taken sunday off, and then play 3 more home games against the Padres and then finish the year in the city by the bay.

Magic Number: 6

Dodgers lost last night. Big deal. The Douchebacks also lost which puts the Dodgers number to clinch the division at six. That's any combination of Dodgers wins and D'backs losses.  Yeah, the Dodgers didn't look very good last night and Maddux, coming off of a brilliant performance in Colorado last week, got shellshocked. But tonight is a different night and so they'll do it all over again. 

 I don't really like talking about the Dodgers having this thing wrapped up. I mean, this team is streaky and anything can happen. That being said, the Diamondbacks seem to have nothing left in the tank. They could go on some unbelievable streak and steal this division but I think that both teams will limp to the end of September. 

 Kuroda will start against Hennessey tonight at the old stadium. Kuroda has been great as of late, going 2-0 with a 2.95 ERA in his last 3 starts and the dodgers have been great at home this year. So, I like I said, I'm not worried.....yet.

Introducing....DODGERS BLOG

So, I don't typically talk about sports much on here (hell, I haven't talked about anything on here since the freakin' batman movie came out) but a September push has put the Dodgers in a position I was not expecting: playoff contenders. As a result, I am turning this blog into a place to dissect the rest of the Dodgers season, however long that may be.
Just to bring you up to speed on the season, the Dodgers currently have a 3.5 game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks with 9 games left to play (D'backs have 10 left). The Dodgers have six games left at home (3 vs Giants, 3 vs Padres) and end the season with 3 on the road against, who else, the San Francisco Giants. The D'Backs have 7 games left on the road (3 at Rockies, 4 at St. Louis) and end the season with 3 at home against the Rockies. Hopefully, the final 3 games of the season won't matter for either team, as the Dodgers will have at least the 3.5 game lead they currently enjoy. However, I am not counting my chickens
Regardless, during a meeting at work this morning, I made a chart of the possible outcomes for the season.It basically lists the possible records that have each team would have to post for the Dodgers NOT to make the playoffs. I'm not going to post it because I just realize I messed it up. Anyways, if the Dodgers go 3-6 and the Dbacks go 7-3, the D'backs would tie the Dodgers. I don't see either one of those records holding up.
So, from now until what I hope will be a run at the World Series, I will be posting about every Dodgers game. So get out your manny skullcap, complete with attached dreadlocks. It's gonna be fun.