September 11, 2005

There will be no gut wrenching losses this October.

There’ll be absolutely no pitching to Jack Clark, or Ozzie Smith for that matter. We’ll have no four-run ninth inning San Francisco comebacks; no three error World Series innings from Willie Davis.

Bill Buckner won’t be thrown out stretching a double and Joe Rudi won’t be homering off Mike “I don’t need any warm-up pitches” Marshall.

Burt Hooton won’t be on the verge of tears in Philadelphia.

Reggie Jackson’s ample posterior won’t be getting in the way of an easy double-play relay, and his bat won’t be connecting with a single Charlie Hough “fastball.” We’ll have no Graig Nettles and no Brooks Robinson, thank you very much.

And we’ll have absolutely no Dave Goltz, so help me, God!

Need more of a silver lining, do you? Well, the Dodgers will be in a much better position to not sign their top draft pick. Which is good, because you just know that if the organization were able to get its paws on the young man, he’d be next in line for Tommy John surgery, at the earliest. Just as sure as we’re standing here…

Let’s hear it for Luke Hochevar for almost and unwittingly becoming the Curt Flood of amateur baseball. And way to go, Garth Iorg, for engineering the near coup of Scott Boras’ kingdom. If ever an agent needed to be beaten and humbled, it’s that guy. It was worth a try. Totally. Excellent, Garth. Way …

Before we get too excited about Willie Aybar’s first big league start, let’s recall Jose Offerman sparkling at shortstop in his debut, and homering in his first at bat…

The Dodgers should sign Jose Cruz, Jr. to an extension right now...

Through September 11, Shawn Green has played in 140 of Arizona's 144 games, missing three after the recent birth of a child. He's hitting .297, with 23 homers and 73 RBIs. The Dodgers intended starting outfield of Jayson Werth, Milton Bradley and J.D. Drew average 76 games played, 12 home runs and 36 runs batted in.

Green has had a total of zero knee, finger and wrist injuries which have caused him to miss more action then is reasonable, has changed positions smoothly and quietly a second straight year at the first utterance of his club’s preference, and has actually followed the wishes of his managers. He hasn’t played the race card a single time…

Trivia: Who was the last switch hitter to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award? Answer below…

Why in the world would Jason Christiansen not want to take credit for fighting Barry Bonds? It’s got to be one of the coolest things he’s even done. Don’t take the Fifth, Mr. Christiansen; take a bow…

Charity Golf: Red Sox Nation West hosts a charity tournament to benefit the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, at Malibu Country Club, November 6, 2005. Contact Adrian-Lee Mahan at redsoxworldchamps@soon.com for more information…

Good Will Hunting: Each week in this space, we post at least one suggestion to the Dodgers brass. Easy to achieve steps the club can take to get back in our good graces. Click here to chime in.

This week’s request comes in a two-word email from Anonymous: “DePose DePodesta!!!” The man’s concise; you gotta like that…

Investors Wanted : Invest a thimble full of venture capital today, make major league minimum tomorrow…

Trivia Answer: Vida Blue, in 1971…

Statue for Sandy : The Koufax in bronze campaign continues, so please scroll down to the photo below and vote yes on 32…

Get well soon, Dave G...

Remember, glove conquers all….