Little did I know how much more relevant this two-month-old post would become:
When opportunity knocks, the Dodgers always seem to be out on the back porch frying burgers with the radio on too loud. Observe:
May 9-11: The then-MLB-best D-backs face the Cubs juggernaut and get swept out of the windy city for their first 3-game losing streak of the season. Finally the Dodgers will gain some ground, right? Nope. The Dodgers suffer their own sweep via the jugger-not Astros and actually lose ground after their subsequent loss to Milwaukee.
May 26-30: The mighty Diamondbacks get swept by the lowly Giants and lose the opener to the even-lowly-er Nationals to cap their first 5-game losing streak. At least now the Dodgers will pick up a few games here. Nope. Dodgers get swept by the Cubs after losing 2 of 3 to St Louis, then lose 3 of 4 to the Mets. Again they lose ground.
June 2-4: D-backs get swept by Milwaukee. While it may be too little too late, at least the Dodgers can make a move here, no? Nope. Dodgers match Arizona's 3-game losing streak at the hands of the Rockies and Cubs.
June 13-15: D-backs win the first game (barely) but still manage to lose the series to Kansas City of all teams. Surely the Dodg- Nope. Dodgers get swept by Detroit to cap a 5-game losing streak and lose ground.
Thus has been the Dodgers' 2008. After the D-backs' scorching 27-15 start, they proceeded to go 13-23. But over that same time, the Dodgers went 14-21, picking up a mere 1.5 games. Put another way: since May 22, the D-backs have lost 18 times on a day the Dodgers also played a game. In the Dodgers' corresponding 18 games, they've come away with 4 wins. If we'd just played 0.500 ball during those games, we'd be leading the division by a game. Now, I probably put less stock in the specific timing of wins and losses than anyone I know, but even I find this frustrating.
Well, I assume you know where this is going...
August 24-28: The D-backs lose the rubber game against Florida, then miraculously get swept by the then-48-82 Padres to go 0-4 over that period, just as we go up against the even-worse Nationals. NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! WE CAN'T EVEN STAY EVEN!!! After the Phillies finish their sweep of us, we conveniently remain in the bent-over position on the bus down to DC. 0-5, loss of a half game over that same span (and I'm not even counting the preceding two losses to Philly).
2 comments:
Was at the Dodger-Nats game Wednesday night. Expected a great game with Maddux pitching, etc. Instead the Bums looked totally inept in the field and impotent at the plate. A real downer for this longtime ( remember Brooklyn?) Dodger fan.
Thanks for the report, Bunten. Sometimes it's hard to believe this organization has six World Series titles. Did you follow the team from Brooklyn to L.A.?
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