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.

A Historic Game

Monday night, I was fortunate enough to witness one of the greatest games that I’ll ever see in Dodger history. The setting: the final game of the series with the Padres who had won 14 of their last 17 games over the Dodgers, ahead by half a game with a victory in the previous night…

It all started in the very first inning when Penny gave up four runs and you thought, “Oh boy, please let it be not one of those games that torture you”. After the second inning, his pitch count was at 76 pitches and you knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy game.

During the next couple of innings, Dodgers managed to score and tie the game heading into the top of the 6th inning, After failing to convert a bases loaded with no outs situation in the 6th, the Dodgers, then brought in Broxton in the 8th inning only to have him give up 2 runs. We answered with a run in the bottom of the 8th. But then in the top of the 9th, Saito gave up another three runs including a wild pitch with the bases loaded.

By this time, we saw crowds flood the exit signs, as is typical of LA games. But I, being a true fan, never have left a game early nor ever will. And I hate to be sitting on a high horse, but I believe that only the true fans deserved to see this game. Only the true fans would still be at Dodger Stadium at the bottom of the 9th inning when we were down 5-9 whether we won or lost. Of course, there are parents with kids, the horrible traffic out of the stadium, a work day the next day, but I’m sure every single person who left wished they would have stayed this one night.

Then in the bottom of the 9th inning with Adkins pitching, Kent is first up to bat. With a 1-0 count, he blasts a homerun over the center field fence. We all cheer and I thought, “Kent must have been so mad that he must have thought, ‘what the heck, I’m going for it’”. As if to make a statement about his long career, or inspire his fellow teammates he led the incredible mark of events in this 9th inning.

Then JD Drew was up next, and with a 2-1 count, he blasts a 461 feet homer to the right field. The crowd goes wild as we chant JD Drew, JD Drew.

By this time the Padres has had enough and decided to bring in their future, hall-of-famer, Hoffman who has successfully shut down the Dodgers in every save situation for the past 5 years (total 55 saves out of 57 opps).

Martin who could potentially be nominated for rookie of the year, is up next. And I don’t know if he was feeling it, or trying to make up for his 0 for 4 at bats, or his dropped ball at the home plate, or was just plain inspired by what just happened, but whatever was going through his mind, on the very first pitch, he homers, this time straight to left field.

Anderson, whom we got through a trade with the Washington Nationals just a shy of a month back at the end of August, was hitting 4 for 4 with two singles, a triple and a homer. He comes to bat and on the very first pitch again, hits the fourth consecutive homerun to tie the game. The crowd is going crazy now, jumping up and down and knowing that something special is happening right before their eyes.

Betemit, Ethier (batting for Saito) and Furcal all fly out just a few feet from the fence and we’re headed to extra innings.

Sele, in the top of the 10th gives up one run and thanks to an awesome effort on the aging Kenny Lofton to steal away a home run from McAnulty (he didn’t catch it but he did keep it from going over the fence), we were only down by one run.

And still, the second exodus started with some people leaving the game...only to have Kenny Lofton walking on Saenez, and then the stage is set: Garciaparra, who was struggling all night long, going 1 for 5, with a double, hitting into a double play, flying out twice and a critical strikeout with two men on base, was finally ready to make his mark in the history books. With a 3-1 count, the injured Garciaparra homers into the middle of the Left Pavillion, and like the injured Kirk Gibson, he hobbles around the bases as the Padres are stunned and the stadium, a complete, chaotic pandemonium.

As we finally emptied the stadium and into the parking lots, fans were still screaming and hollering, high-five-ing strangers on floating air. And as my voice was wearing thin from all the screaming and as we tuned into the post-game show and Dodger Talk on the radio, I can still hear the cars honking as we descended down from Stadium Hill.

I will never forget this game.

UCLA loses to Florida

It was definitely one of the worst officiated games ever in the history of college basketball in the universe and beyond! But I'm still proud of those guys and how far they've come and for giving us the Gonzaga game and major, lifting-the-roof props to Coach Howland. We'll see them next year, I'm sure.

Baseball season officially started today. Dodgers lose 10-11 to the Braves despite having 17 hits. And of course Lofton starts the year being on the 15 day-DL. But Angels manage to edge out the Mariners for a 5-4 victory with an impressive performance by new-comer JC Romero who bailed out Colon after he loaded the bases with no outs in the 6th inning after giving up a homerun, a single and a double to allow the Mariners to come back and tie the Angels 3-3. Thanks to an all-team effort including Kotchman and Figgins, Izturis, Molina, Cabrera and even Salmon, the Angels were able to squeak out the final run to win the game.

Back from the dead...

that’s how the UCLA Bruins came back from a pathetic game where at one time they trailed by 17 points, to come back and win against Gonzaga 73-71.

All day long on sports radio they were replaying the 1995, second-round game when Tyus Edny raced across the court with 6 seconds remaining, to lay up the winning two points against Missouri to win 75-74. I remember where I was when that play happened: I was driving, I had to pull over in a parking lot to hear the rest of the game standing up in the parking lot, with the radio blarring, without having to give any more of my attention to the road and I jumped up and down as we won that game. With that game, we ended up winning the tournament and that was the last time we ever became NCAA champions. I thought well, of course they’ll play that clip to hype up the crowd and hype up the game but I know the Bruins will dominate against Gonzaga…

In the first 11 possessions, UCLA score a big fat zero points, with the first point coming at the 9 minute mark into the game by a free throw. Farmar couldn’t dribble, Afflalo couldn’t hit a basket, and the Bruins looked as pathetic as the Bad News Bears coming to Oakland to play Gonzaga.

I wasn’t really worried, I mean for a team that hadn’t scored in 8 attempts, we were only down by 5 points, then 6, then 10…. Then 17. Then I became worried. For the rest of the game I was clutching my stomach, biting my fingernails and holding my breath at every attempt that the Bruins were trying to make to chip away at the lead. Apart from many outlandish calls by the officials, UCLA had no one to blame but themselves.

Slowly they came back, and in the last three minutes, the Bruins scored 8 points and shut down the Gonzaga offense to come within striking distance. Then Farmar, with a steal from Batista, passed to Luc Richard Mbah a Moute for an easy shot under the basket giving the Bruins the lead for the first time with only 9 seconds to go, 72-71. The Bulldogs in-bounded to Raivio who ran with the ball only to have it stolen for a jump ball from Luc Richard Mbah a Moute with the possession arrow going to UCLA. UCLA then inbounds to Afflalo who gets fouled and makes one free throw to make the score 73-71. Gonzaga had one last chance, but Batista missed a desperate throw at the buzzer and the heartbreak was final.

It was UNBELIEVABLE.

It will go down as one of the most thrilling and unbelievable comebacks in Bruin history. It doesn’t really do it justice to just watch the last three minutes. You had to go through the excruciating, painful game for the first 37 minutes that allowed you to appreciate and marvel at the last three minutes. This will be another game that will be engraved in my mind.

The next UCLA game is on Saturday against #1 seed Memphis.
A win there will take them to the Final Four.
GO BRUINS!

March Madness

March Madness has finally started and UCLA has been getting a lot of love lately. No doubt that they have improved as the season progressed. I'm glad that they didn't have a perfect record this year, they've had their ups and downs and learned how to play with pressure, injured players, keeping things real. It's good experience for a team that is young. And I give real props to Coach Howland who has brought the team back to the basics of defense, defense, and defense. I think if the Bruins play their best basketball they will make it to the final four, but they won't win this year. Maybe in a year or two. But overall, I'm so glad to see the Bruins back where they should be.

Arte Wins and McCourt Doesn't Disappoint

According to the LA Times, the Angels win the naming lawsuit filed by the city of Anaheim and will continue to be called the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Now all we need is a new stadium closer to Los Angeles.

As many suspected, especially with the newly renovated seats in Dodger Stadium, McCourt has raised prices on seats, most significantly, the Pavillion (Home-run) seats are now $8/pop. Field level seats are higher too, but since I rarely get to sit there, I don't know how much more they are this year.

Bengie Finds a Home & Steeler Fans Agree

Catcher Bengie Molina agreed to a one-year contract worth $5 million with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday.
Molina will receive a $1.5 million signing bonus and a $3 million salary this year under the agreement. The deal contains a $7.5 million mutual option for 2007 with a $500,000 buyout. Molina, 31, had career highs of .295 and 15 homers last season. He won Gold Gloves in 2002 and '03.
Good for Bengie!

According to the online poll on the Pittsburgh Post Gazette (www.post-gazette.com), 51% of Steeler fans believe that the Super Bowl game was NOT officiated fairly. That's pretty cool. Even the Steeler fans can admit that the officiating was ridiculously awful. And of course being the classy organization that the Seahawks are, they didn't say a word about the officials in their interviews. Don't get me wrong, they had their chances and they weren't perfect, but we all know how momentum can make a huge difference in a game.