Rollin' with wins: Game 29 Unfair Win Shares

If the Dodgers had Jimmy Rollins, that post title would be perfect. But Rollins isn't on the Dodgers, and good thing too, at least in the early going, because though Furcal has struggled he's still outhitting Rollins by a good margin. No, the post title simply reflects the reality that the Dodgers are indeed rolling, or "rollin'", if you will, and that said rolling is accompanied by many wins.

Speaking of Furcal, he will get one of the unfair win shares. He scored the first two runs, then drove in the first of seven in the sixth when the laugher win sort of just snuck up on the Dodgers. The Dodgers had been merrily stranding runners and walking batters and running up the pitch count and making heavy weather of what should have been an easy win, and then suddenly it all fell into place and they led 9-1.

Hudson drove in the second run of that laugher inning with a bases loaded walk. I guess he was practicing for the next time the Dodgers need a bases-on-balls-off win. He earns yet another unfair win share for that and his other three times on base, including two RBOs ( runner batted over who would go on to score ) in the first and fifth innings.

Both Martin and Manny are contenders for the last spot on the podium. Manny it was who really blew the game open in the sixth with his splendid opposite field double down the line. If unfair win shares were based on artistry he'd get one for that hit, but then he'd lose it again for that ugly thing he hit in the fifth, the whatever it was --- well, how about I let ESPN's play by play tell the story:

M Ramirez grounded into fielder's choice to second, C Kershaw out at home, R Furcal to third, O Hudson to second.

Wait, what? No, that's completely wrong. I mean, I guess it's technically correct, which may be the best kind of correct, but it doesn't come close to describing what really happened. Since when is a pop fly hit behind the first base bag a grounder? When it hits the ground, answers the wise ass. Ok, whatever.

Martin did well, and I'm happy to see it, but these are unfair win shares, and since he didn't really figure in any of the scoring until after the game was decided, he's left down on the floor with the rest of the share-less Dodgers.

The last unfair win share goes to Clayton Kershaw. I don't really like giving them to starting pitchers who only go five innings, and yet this is the second in a row. But there is value in going five strong innings. It's better than going seven crappy innings, you know? Especially since the pitching staff is up to 13 men now. It helps if I think of Kershaw as a long man out of the pen, because I would have no trouble at all giving a reliever a share for five inning of one run work in a close ballgame. Heck, he'd probably get two. Kershaw kept the Dodgers in the game, kept them from ever trailing, actually, until the offense could go to work. I think that's good enough for me.

The unfair loss shares go the three stooges who pitched for the Nats in the sixth inning. That was easy. Harder to figure is the laugher share. By the time the Dodgers were running up the score more than half my attention was on the Lakers and Lost, so it's going to go to someone from one of those teams. Kobe is too much of a punk to get it, so I'm going to give it to Locke for being such a enigmatic badass.


Unfair Win Shares ( Dodgers )

Furcal -- 1 ( 4-1 )
Hudson -- 1 ( 9-1 )
Kershaw -- 1 ( 5-4 )

Laugher Share ( Lost )

Locke -- 1

Unfair Loss Shares ( Nats )

Cabrera -- 1
Hinckley -- 1
Kensing -- 1


Note -- Dodgers season long unfair share records are now in the sidebar, loosely ordered by player type. Also, current unfair record is listed in parentheses after each share awarded now.