Beating Cardinals: The Dodger Way

Let's talk about it! What a game! Again the odds were stacked against the Dodgers facing yet another Cy Young candidate from St. Louis on Thursday. Still the Dodgers found a way to win with a 21-year-old lefty named Clayton Kershaw, disciplined plate appearance from the entire team and the genius work of Joe Torre. Oh, and the timely help of former Dodger killer Matt Holliday, the hired gun who turned on his own outfit as mercenaries tend to do from time to time. What does this mean for the Dodgers....

First, it means anything is possible with this club. Beating back-to-back Cy-Young caliber pitchers proves there is no duo that the boys in blue can't handle in the playoffs. Clutch plays and epic performances have come from almost every Dodger player (except Manny) in the past two games and the confidence the team has in itself must be off the charts.

Second, Joe Torre is a genius and a perfect match for this team. Giving Kershaw (21 years old) the start, calling for Broxton in the 8th, and sending up Mark Loretta were all moves that proved his managing acumen. More importantly, JoTo&Co have changed the teams attitude and gotten the most out of every player on the roster.

Third, St. Louis is done. What I saw as a better hitting SF Giants team (Cy Young duo with inconsistent line-up) simply doesn't have enough weapons to beat LA. What advantage does St. Louis really have at this point?

Fourth, the Dodgers acquisitions were huge. Belliard and Sherill have been stand-out players for the Dodgers. Many baseball "experts" believed the Dodgers needed a big ticket pitcher like Lee or Halladay to be a contender. Few recognized the Sherill acquisition as being valuable.

Fifth, the Dodgers team is RIDICULOUS. Looking into our dugout yesterday I was simply blown away by this team. Torre, Mattingly, Bowa, Duncan, Ausmus, Martin, Belliard, Blake, Furcal, Hudson, Loney, Loretta, Thome, Ethier, Kemp, Pierre, Manny, Broxton, Weaver, Billingsley, Garland, Kershaw, Padilla, Wolf, Belisario, Kuo, Sherrill, Troncoso, etc. etc. Veteran Gold Gloves, MVP's, All-Stars, World Series Championships, HR kings and so on were hoping to pinch hit while the Dodgers young guns played like champions. I'll bet that there is no award in baseball that someone on this Dodger team hasn't received or will receive in the future. It's almost too much. Hell, we even have two Hall of Fame announcers calling every game.

Despite all of this the Dodgers remain an underdog to beat the Cardinals in Game 3. What? How can this be? The Cards don't have another Cy Young candidate to start, haven't scored more than three runs a game and have Lady Luck working against them. This is the lot of the Dodgers it seems, second class since Brooklyn. Counted out, written off or simply ignored. Remarkably, the underdog reputation continues today despite the Dodger tradition of success against all odds.

So count us out again and expect the Dodgers to loose. We welcome it because we are up to the challenge and love our tradition of doing the impossible...






Holiday (Celebrate)
Madonna

Holiday Celebrate
Holiday Celebrate

Chorus:

If we took a holiday
Took some time to celebrate
Just one day out of life
It would be, it would be so nice

Everybody spread the word
We`re gonna have a celebration
All across the world
In every nation
It`s time for the good times
Forget about the bad times, oh yeah
One day to come together
To release the pressure
We need a holiday

(chorus)

You can turn this world around
And bring back all of those happy days
Put your troubles down
It`s time to celebrate
Let love shine
And we will find
A way to come together
And make things better
We need a holiday

(chorus)

Holiday Celebrate
Holiday Celebrate

(chorus)

Holiday Celebrate
Holiday Celebrate

Holiday, Celebration
Come together in every nation