Friday, January 14, 2011

Five Faces to Watch in 2011

1. Vin. There were too many curses to count in 2010, so I'm starting 2011 by counting our blessings. And our #1 blessing is Vin Scully. Not many things remain consistently pure throughout life: taking that first swig of a freshly opened Coke...scritching a dog behind its ears...listening to Vin Scully. As long as Vin is on, life is good.
2. Don Mattingly. If change begins at the top, then there's hope for the Dodgers. Donnie Baseball is the Dodgers' first rookie manager since Jim Tracy, and maybe this tabula rasa will deflect some heat from some of the over-scrutinized younger players. (Okay, Matt Kemp.)
3. Davey Lopes. Davey's back! Along with Trey Hillman, he's a coach with major league managerial experience. He's got the departed Larry Bowa's old-school credentials plus genuine Dodger Blue bona fides. Mattingly's handed him the keys to the Dodgers' running game. And it doesn't hurt that he's BFF with Dave Stewart, Kemp's agent.
4. Clayton Kershaw (lock him up already, Ned!). Outside of his stellar numbers (212 K's and an ERA+ of 132 in 2010), the newly hitched Kershaw possesses a poise beyond his 22 years — which is why he could be the clubhouse leader of the future (especially now that Russell Martin is gone). He already knows how to lead by example; will Mattingly bring out Kershaw's more demonstrative side?
5. Youse guys. If you're reading this blog, you're not a casual fan. If you're reading this blog, you're not a bandwagon fan. How will the rest of our fellow fans react after one of the more painful seasons in recent history? It's said that Dodger fans don't vote with their wallets. So let's see how much they get behind this young 2011 team.

13 comments:

MeanieBreanie said...

Counting the days till the games begin.

Fred's Brim said...

damndamndamn I gotta get out there this season!

Kyle Baker said...

Well said, Orel. I will plan to have a Diet Coke, scratch Frankie behind his ears, and listen to Vin as much as I can for this upcoming season.

Fernie V said...

Great list

#3 I love old school dodgers, you can't help but day dream of matt kemp flying around the bases like (dare I say) Gay Victorino.

But:

#4 We are going to have to pay him millions when the time comes. I used think we should pay now but so many things can go wrong. Remember we have no luck paying big for pitchers. Farm pitcher example darren d

Steve Sax said...

@Fernie, you can't be putting Minotaur and Dreifort in the same paragraph, right? Dude, that's harsh

Steve Sax said...

Why is Vin's name now "Getty Images"?

jmk said...

What a minute, we're categorizing the '11 Dodgers as a "young" team? Casey Blake, Furcal, Uribe, the pitching staff besides young Clayton and Bills, Barajas, Gibbons, Carroll...Need I go on? I mean, we just dropped 47 year old Pat Borders fer crying out loud. No, we can't call this a young team anymore, more like "Youngish, but far too old to still be living in their old Bedroom at the Parent's House"

Steve Sax said...

we also dropped brad ausmus

Jason said...

Well, if Jamie gets an ownership stake back, I'm sure she'll be dating a young driver of some sort which would bring the average age down a bit.

Pistol Pete Reiser said...

For box-level seats alongside Jamie, and a decent paycheck... I'd hit it.

Yeah, I said it.

God forgive me.

spank said...

I'd hit it for free and w/o the need for box level seats. Why? Because that's how I roll.

spank said...

On second thought,after visualizing the scenario in my head,I'd hit it for free beer and dodger dogs at the stadium which will probably be worth more than box seats.

Jason said...

@Spank - How many Steel Reserves would be required prior to said hitting-that occurred?