St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel was quoted earlier this season: “You always hear baseball is a marathon, not a sprint.” Remarkably, after this marathon-like 162-game season, the Dodgers found themselves in first place ahead of their National League West rivals. Seeing that last year the National League West was extremely competitive, with four of the five teams having winning records and the Colorado Rockies representing the National League in the World Series, it was widely believed that the National League West would be baseball’s toughest division this year. However, it was as if all five teams forgot to stretch, hydrate, and load up on carbohydrates. This allowed the Dodgers to suffer injuries, make unwise lineup decisions, and eventually catch a second wind to capture the division title.
Throughout 2008, the Dodgers experienced injuries to several key players, including second baseman Jeff Kent, closer Takashi Saito, and starting pitcher Brad Penny. However, none were as critical as when All-Star shortstop Rafael Furcal strained his back in the beginning of May. At the time, Furcal was the Dodgers most valuable player as he led the team in on-base (.448 OBP) and slugging percentages (.597 SLG). Granted, it was highly unlikely that Furcal would keep producing these superstar statistics, his unique skill combination of getting on base, hitting for power, and running at high speed was surely missed. Making matters worse, Furcal’s replacements were an offensive black hole in his absence. Angel Berroa (.314 OBP, .335 SLG), Nomar Garciappara (.306 OBP, .419 SLG) and Chin-lung Hu (.231 OBP, .207 SLG) spent most of the season being automatic outs in the Dodgers lineup. While Furcal’s injury was a serious setback (no pun intended), the Dodgers were able to stay with the pack and eventually win the division.
During the past two off seasons, Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti has spent a small fortune on centerfielders Juan Pierre, 5 years for $45 million, and Andruw Jones, 2 years for $36 million. With investing so much money in one position, one would think centerfield would be the least of the Dodgers’ problems. Instead, Pierre (.319 OBP, .318 SLG) and Jones (.256 OBP, .249 SLG) were utter disappointments. In fact, they were the two worst outfielders on the Dodgers. Matt Kemp (.339 OBP, .455 SLG), Andre Ethier (.364 OBP, .513 SLG), and Delwyn Young (.328 OBP, .347 SLG) were far more productive at the plate and contributed more to the Dodgers’ success. However, Dodgers Manager Joe Torre stubbornly insisted on starting Pierre in left field, Jones in center field, and had Kemp, Ethier, and Young platoon in right field for most of the season. A successful team usually has its three best outfielders see the majority of the playing time. However, this was not the case for the Dodgers most of the season, handicapping them in the race for the division title.
On July 31, 2007, the Dodgers were 54-54 and two games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks. However, on that day, the Dodgers acquired a second wind, actually more like a new pace runner, for the rest of the season. This game-changing acquisition was future Hall of Famer Manny Ramirez in a three-way trade with the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates. \Torre has called Ramirez “a difference maker.” First-base coach Mariano Duncan commented, “When you have a guy who’s a future Hall of Famer who plays the game with enthusiasm and produces every day, you can’t measure that.” Ramirez made an immediate impact on the Dodgers as he won National League Player of the Month for the month of August by hitting .415, 9 HRs, 25 RBIs, .508 OBP, and .736 SLG. In addition, Ramirez set the tone for the rest of the lineup and made those around him better. For example, in June and July, the Dodgers had on-base and slugging percentages of .290 (OBP), .354 (SLG) and .320 (OBP), .385 (SLG) respectively. However, after Ramirez’s arrival, the Dodgers got on base more frequently (OBP .340) and hit for more power (SLG .442) in August than the two previous months. Most importantly, this increase in offensive production led to the Dodgers winning more games. By the middle of September, the Dodgers had made up six and a half games on the Diamondbacks and led them by as many as four and a half games. With Ramirez now leading the way, the Dodgers never looked back and captured the National League West title.
The reality is that a baseball season is a marathon in which teams and fans are constantly advised to not get too high or too low. Luckily for the Dodgers, they were able to stay within striking distance and finally pull ahead of the National League West pack around game 140 of the long 162-game schedule.
Written by Matt McConnell, 2L
Sports Editor
