Number Five Is Not Alive

I don't think it matters that much who the Dodgers' fifth starter is. If they make the playoffs he's the guy who doesn't matter. He becomes a long man in the 'pen if he even makes the postseason roster at all. Kershaw, Billingsley, Wolf, Kuroda. That would be the Dodger postseason rotation. I think it would be pretty good. It could be better. I do sometimes daydream about Halladay, which is harmless fun as long as it doesn't turn into a nightmare in which Kershaw leaves. Teams have won it all with worse postseason rotations than that. As long as no one gets hurt I don't worry about the pitching too much.

I think Schmidt is done. In truth he was done two years ago. His comeback this year never had a chance. His arm is gone. The speed and command are gone. But I don't think we knew that for sure until now. Maybe we still don't know that for sure, but I think the burden of proof is with the Schmidt believers now. Are there any left? What could you possibly point to in defense of him, besides the hopeful idea that he might do better next time?

Maybe before this season there was a 5% chance that Schmidt could come back and be an effective pitcher. And that 5% was enough to justify his two starts for a team well ahead of the competition. But now it's down to 1%. And that 1% isn't high enough to justify anything. Not with the Dodgers. Too bad. I wanted him to succeed. I don't care about the contract anymore. I just wanted to see the guy do well. But now, well, I would say this to Schmidt if I was the Dodgers: you don't have to leave baseball, in fact you shouldn't give up and leave baseball, but you can't stay here. Is that mean? Hell, yeah. But far meaner is keeping Stults down when he's so much more deserving of a roster spot right now. They can hand him his huge check when they tell Schmidt to get lost. That should take some of the sting out of it. ( Did I say I don't care about the contract? Maybe I should say I try not to care, but sometimes I can't resist a little jab over it. )

The Dodgers won the on-base battle again yesterday, 18-17, if I've added in all the hit batters correctly. What a wild mess, I hear. Yeah, I didn't see it. Didn't see the almost-comeback. I would have loved to see that, just to savor having Kemp up as the tying run after they were down 8-0. It's not that I thought a comeback was impossible, it's just that time is precious and sometimes I have to decide to cut loose a game that is very nearly a lost cause. Sure, there is a 2% chance of an amazing comeback, but there is a 100% chance that the fence in back needs building.


Game 98 Unfair Loss Shares ( Dodgers )

Schmidt -- 2
Weaver -- 1

Schmidt was the most costly pitcher, but Weaver's poor outing was more disappointing. That four run deficit was reachable for the Dodgers, but eight was a bit much.

GAme 98 Unfair Win Shares ( Marlins )

Ramirez -- 1
Baker -- 1
Uggla -- 1

Coghlan, Cantu and Uggla all have an identical box score of 2-5 with a run and an RBI. How the heck do I break that tie for the last unfair win share? I gave it to Uggla because he hit a home run and because his name means "owl". I think that if every player's name was Sweedish then Vinny would have taught all of us how to speak Sweedish by now.