Manny being Manny,
What made the Dodgers lose, and
Do it for Torre.

Tomorrow night is Game 5 of the NLCS. With a devastating pair of home runs by Victorino and Stairs, the Dodgers find themselves in a pretty deep hole, looking up for a light or a miracle. Down in the series 1-3, they must now win not only tomorrow’s game but the next three in a row.

Manny comes to us, free-of-charge from Boston because of his publicized poor work ethic and more importantly, character flaws after pushing the team’s 64-year old secretary, Jack McCormick, over 16 tickets he wanted for a Red Sox–Houston game. I must admit, when I found out what he did to this old man, I was disgusted by Manny’s arrogance and lack of class. Hopefully Manny learned from his mistakes and wants to preserve his legacy as one of the best hitters in the game.

But aside from his off-the-field antics, no one can discredit his hitting ability or his clutch hitting in a pressure situation. Throughout the playoffs, he has been nothing but brilliant, able to hit or homer in critical situations. You can’t help but to marvel at his talent. So how is he able to hit so well? One factor is the free agent factor: There’s nothing like a free agent year to make you haul and pump up your marketability. But in addition to setting up the next team to pay you a multi-million dollar salary, unlike other players or rookies on the team, he is relaxed when approaching the plate. He doesn’t put pressure on himself to hit the game-winning home run, but has great patience to wait for good pitches and not swing at anything that comes close to the plate. That’s why sometimes he has a double or a single, and sometimes, he homers. There is no pressure for him, unlike the more inexperienced players, who are hungry, impatient, tense and wound up like stockbroker in the current economic roller coaster, not yet mature to trust on their natural talents. The Dodgers have a lot of talent, but how that talent is nurtured and matured will define the Dodgers’ future success.



I was never a huge fan of Joe Torre, because I hate the Yankees, but after seeing what the Yankees did to snub him out of the Yankee Stadium tribute, it would be really nice to see Torre back in the World Series while the other Joe sits at home watching one of the greats.

I have once heard that sports is 90% mental and 10% physical. Mental perspective and confidence leads to great plays or clutch performances and that can lead to momentum and momentum can lead to championships. If anyone has seen the Red Sox, after being down 0-3, to beat the Yankees in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, and on to win the World Series, or when the SF Giants were just one out away from winning the 2002 World Series until Scott Spiezio of the Angels homers to turn the tide, anything can happen in baseball world.