By Matthew McConnel, 3L

OK, so it is the beginning of October, and we are about half way through the semester, but the real stress is about to kick in. No, I am not talking about LAWS problems or midterm papers, I am talking about baseball playoff season: the postseason. As predicted, the Dodgers finished ahead of the pack and won the National League West. Their rivals, the hated San Francisco Giants and pesky Colorado Rockies put up a valiant effort, but the Dodgers won critical August and September series against each team to extend their lead.

Now the Dodgers need to win 11 games against the best of the best. In true law school fashion, I will brief the case that is the 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers.

Issue: Do the Dodgers have what it takes to win the World Series?

Rule: In order to win the World Series, a team must have starting pitchers who give their team a chance to win, an offense that is capable of scoring runs, and a bullpen that can get outs and protect leads late in the game.

Analysis: Starting rotation: On paper, the Dodgers’ starting pitchers might not be as recognizable as other teams. The Phillies have all-stars Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels, the Cardinals have former Cy Young award winner Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainright. Starting the season, Chad Billingsley was supposed to be the ace of the Dodgers staff. However, his second-half struggles (3.38 E.R.A first half, 5.34 E.RA. second half) have left Randy Wolf (2.87 E.R.A second half) and Clayton Kershaw (2.43 E.R.A. second half) fighting for the “ace” label. While Wolf and Kershaw might not have the name recognition the other teams have, a close look at their stats show that they can get outs and keep the Dodgers in games. A healthy Hiroki Kuroda (3.23 E.RA. second half) and a return to form from Billingsley would give the Dodgers a very formidable 4-man rotation for October.

Lineup: Rafael Furcal, James Loney, and Russell Martin underperformed all year. Leadoff hitter Furcal struggled to get on base all season (.320 OBP in 09 v .348 career), Loney forgot how to hit for power (.403 SLG in 09 v .455 career), and Martin became a glorified singles hitter (.338 SLG in 09 v .469 in 07). As you can see, one-third of the Dodgers hitters were almost automatic outs all season. Thankfully, Casey Blake (.365 OBP, .471 SLG) and Orlando Hudson (.354 OBP) have been solid while Matt Kemp (.362 OBP, .500 SLG) and Andre Either (.365 OBP, .531 SLG) have emerged as genuine offensive stars. The Dodgers will need Manny Ramirez to perform closer to his first half stats (.487 OBP and a .699 SLG) than his second half (.380 OBP and a .492 SLG). Against some of the best arms in baseball, the Dodgers will need contributions from everybody in the lineup, something that has been hard to come by all season.

Bullpen: The Dodgers have the best bullpen in baseball. Jonathon Broxton has arguably been the best closer, averaging less than a base runner per inning and striking out well more than a batter an inning. Throw in the deadly lefty combo of George Sherrill and Hong-Chih Kuo and right-handed flamethrowers Ronald Belisario and Ramon Troncoso, and the Dodgers will be able to get outs late in the game and protect leads.

Conclusion: Last year the Dodgers were not supposed to get out of the first round of the playoffs. This year, they will wind up being the underdog against good Philadelphia and St. Louis teams. However, over a 162-game span, the Dodgers had the best record in the National League not by accident. They had the best pitching staff and an offense that can put some runs on the board. Whatever the outcome, it will be an exciting October.