Put A Fork In the Dodgers, They're Done.

Hello,

I've been a Los Angeles Dodgers fan for as long as I can remember. My favorite player growing up was Steve Garvey. I remember that amazing infield that was so good and together for so many years. Those players being Garvey, Bill Russell, Davy Lopes and Ron Cey (The Penguin). I remember afro'd Reggie Smith and Dusty Baker playing in the outfield. I remember the intensity of Fernando mania. (Who knows how big that would have been in the modern social media era?) And who can forget all the great Dodgers pitchers I grew up with, Orel Hershiser, Don Sutton, Bob Welch, Jerry Reuss and others.

And who can forget Tommy Lasorda guiding all those great Dodgers teams? Of course I had mostly "grown up" my most memorable Dodgers moment happened. That of course is Kirk Gibson's improbable home run off of Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.

Now let's fast forward 24 years later. Orel Hershiser is working for ESPN, Davey Lopes is back as a Dodgers coach and Kirk Gibson is managing for the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks are in town this week to face the Dodgers. And the Dodgers are being managed by a former Yankee? A lot can change in 24 years.

And I'm not sure what it is, but since the Dodgers made the big 9 player/ Adrian Gonzalez they've seemed to be worse. Since that trade, the Dodgers are 2-5. Even more concerning is how few runs they've scored. They've only scored 21 runs in their last 7 games. But take away the 10 run explosion they had against Colorado, it would only be 11 runs in 6 games. That's less than 2 runs per games, it's not like they are playing the elite teams in the NL either. They've had that 2-5 record against the below .500 Rockies and Diamondbacks. And starting tomorrow they play another below .500 NL West team, the Padres, who they haven't played very well against either. What are they going to do this weekend when they travel to San Francisco to play the NL West leading Giants?

According to espn.com the Dodgers only have a 26.1% chance of making the playoffs at this point. For the Dodgers to remain relevant they probably need to win their next 4 games against mediocre teams. Then they need to take at least 2 of 3 against San Francisco this upcoming weekend. Realistically do I expect this light hitting, ineffective pitching team to win 6 of 7. No, I'd be happy if they won 4 of the games.

In other words put a fork in the Dodgers, they are done. It's time they start preparing for the future. I wish they would have kept Hiroki Kuroda. He didn't have the greatest record, but he did what he could with not having much offense by him. I was sad when Kuroda signed with the Yankees in the off season. Kuroda leads the Yankees with a .304 ERA. This Dodgers team would be so much better if he was one of their starting pitchers. The Dodgers need to add at least one more quality pitcher this off season and find a way to make their current players gel. This Red Sox model of getting a bunch of great players that don't necessarily gel isn't a strategy that works that well. This current Dodgers lineup needs a Kirk Gibson like player to fire them up.

Worse case scenario, the Dodgers are no longer owned by the reality TV drama duo, the McCourts. So even if they don't make the playoffs, they're future looks so much brighter.

themusicaddict