Friday, May 16, 2008

Post-Game Thoughts: Dodgers vs. Brewers

Have you ever had a time when you were so pissed off, that you started to do some unreasonable and overcompensating act, and after you calmed down while you were in the middle of said act, you think to yourself, what the hell am I doing? Well after the Dodgers lost their sixth game in a row and watching them get swept by the Houston Fricken' Astros, I was mad as hell and was not going to take it anymore. So I jumped in the car with a friend and drove to Miller Park. Which brings us to Observation #1: Time moves backwards in Kansas.

Miller Park. I have been here before and boy it is a nice stadium. The roof was closed which is good because it was pretty cold. We got there early and enjoyed the park. The statue of Hank Aaron was impressive and there was a smattering of Dodger fans. In fact, I had to rub my eyes a couple of times as I thought that I saw a large, mullet-wearing Steve Sax, but I don't think it was him, in fact I think it was a woman.

Which brings me to Observation #2: Wisconsin fans can eat. Now I still believe that the king of all hot dogs is the Dodger Dog, but boy Wisconsin people know their sausages - their brats are GOOD! Plus they have this secret sauce that is out of this world. Bought two of those and sat down for a good Dodger game.

Game 1: The Comeback Kids.

Aisle 123 has to be the prime spot for seeing Dodger games at Miller park as it is right behind the Dodger dugout. We looked HORRIBLE for eight innings with another unknown pitcher shutting us down (sort or like the Atlanta series - who are these guys?). Worse was the White Cecil Fielder, two rows behind me, who decided to ride me and my dodger jersey for eight innings. Whenever the Brewers scored - which was early - he would run down from his seats and try and high five me. I had to laugh it off because I think he would have eaten me, but I was fuming inside. Ahh, the life of a visiting fan.

Then on to the ninth - it was another ex-HGH-Dodger coming in to shut us down, Guillermo Mota. But right before that, Brewers manager Ned Yost came out to argue something which I have no idea what he was so angry about, but the end result was that it seemed to get Mota off his game. Observation #3: Torre knows how to manage. I really liked his moves at the end of the game. Pinch hitter Delwyn Young came up and worked a walk with a couple of strikes against him. Then pinch hitter Andre "why the hell am I on the bench" Ethier come up and laced a single down the right field line, moving Young to third.

Uh oh, Slappy Pierre coming up. Now, he was our offense that night and I was riding him for the first part of the game, but I was still not optimistic, a sure double play. Then WHACK - double to the gap - a PERFECT Pierre hit - 2 score, up by one. No Fricken Way. Hey, Fat White Cecil Felder in the stands, high five! Then Jones with a weak ground out RBI to pad the score. Nice comeback guys. Saito in for the save and I get to go home happy. Oh, chorizo won the sausage race. Now that I had blown the whole SoSG budget on the tickets, I had to settle for the Days Inn through out-of-pocket expenses, slightly hoping that the Dodger team would be staying there too. I put the chair against the door and watched the Lakers win, then went to sleep with dreams of a win streak dancing in my head.

Game 2 - Underdogs and Unexpected Surprises

Sheets was, well, pulling the sheets over the Dodgers' eyes for five innings. We were making good contact with his pitches but they were all outs, much like the Greg Maddux of old. Then Jones comes up with his relaxed, kick back, I've got a 36 million dollar contract and you don't, attitude. Another quick out - but then WHAM and I remember thinking to myself, hey this might have a chance. It is a great feeling to be sitting in the bleachers and being the only person standing up cheering while everyone is sitting on their hands. Then the flood gates opened - Kent with a solo shot, Loney with a triple, Maza with a single, then Gary 'Roids Bennett strides up to the plate and jacks a 3-run home run. Bennett was dialed in all night - maybe because he used to catch for Sheets and knew what he was going to throw. So the avgs of .183, .283 and .200 hit 3 home runs and put the game out of reach. Bennett for good measure hits an RBI single and ends his night with 4 RBI's. Amazing.

This game also marked the debut of Luis Maza at shortstop. Maza wears his socks high, a la Pierre, and if you squint your eyes from our nosebleed seats, you would swear that it was Pierre with his noodle arm at shortstop. EVERY single throw to Loney was an adventure - you had to wait for the ump to make the call because it was so close at first. I think Torre got so fed up, he moved him to second where he proceeded to STILL lob the ball to Loney. He looked like Bennett tossing the ball back to the pitcher - which, by the way, annoys the crap out of me. Observation #4: We need Furcal back. But congrats to the rook for getting his first MLB hit. Oh, and chorizo won AGAIN!

Overall it was one great .500 team beating up on another .500 team. The losing streak is over and a new winning streak begins. The SoSG budget has been blown for the rest of the year, but it was worth it in order to right the ship. I was going to try and make it to the Angels series, but have no more money and had to sell the car for food and a wild pig. So if you see a guy walking on the side of Route 66 in a Dodger jersey and you aren't a serial killer, please take me to California, I can pay in lengthy stories of the current Dodgers who were great 4 years hence. Go Blue.

4 comments:

Orel said...

Great recap! But what did you do with the wild pig?

Eric Karros said...

Very thorough recap, I feel like I was there too. If I were, I think between you, me, and the guy in the Sax jersey, we could have taken the White Cecil Fielder.

Alex Cora said...

I ate the pig - remember those "Sconies" really know their sausages!!!

Steve Sax said...

AC, sorry I was at the game and didn't even tell you in advance. Now, I gotta go get me a haircut (burp!).