Hard to believe Kirk Gibson’s legendary, series-changing home run in Game 1 if the 1988 World Series was 20 years ago today.  I remember it well: I was 18 and on a college tour with my parents somewhere on the East Coast.  At that moment, I was watching the game with my mom and explaining the improbability of the Dodgers winning the series without Gibson in the game.  It ranks as my favorite Dodgers moment of all time, and I can still hear Vin Scully in my head saying incredulously, “The impossible has happened!”  How can that not give you chills?  Hard to believe that was the first come from behind, walk-off HR in World Series history.

I wish I could pull the clip from Ken Burns’ “Baseball” documentary, as he put together a great piece on “the moment,” interviewing everyone associated with this game, but instead I found the clip on YouTube.  Rather than rehashing a moment we all know so well, I thought I would share other’s takes on the home run from the Detroit Free-Press (this is great) and the Los Angeles Times.

So where you, Dodger fans?  Let’s hear your stories!  And Gibby, dust off those cleats and meet us out at the Ravine…we need you for Game 5!

So now that I’ve had 24 hours to process what happened last night, I’m ready to move on, a new man, ready for Game Five!  How did I do it, you might ask?  Well, I first read Josh Rawitch’s inspiring stats (the Dodgers have won three straight games 10 times this season, they’ve won back-to-back games on the road 17 times this season, etc.).

I then thought back to the five stages of grief that people tend to go through when experiencing something traumatic (ok, these are for dealing with death and dying, but I’ve adapted them in a more light-hearted manner for the Dodgers’ recovery after the Dodgers’ loss to the Phillies on Monday): 

Denial – This cannot be happening!  This is definitely how I was feeling in the top of the 8th when Wade and Brox gave up those homers to Victorino and Matt Stairs.

Anger- Why is this happening to the Dodgers?!?  I’ll admit it, I had some anger and frustration collectively towards the Dodgers – Torre and his decisions to pull Lowe and Kuo, Martin’s inability to come through in the clutch, etc., but for the most part, I felt pure shock and numbness. 

Bargaining- Ok, this stage doesn’t really work for me.  Dodger fans are both realistic and optimistic - we don’t need to bargain with ourselves.

Depression – Yup, this and resignation summed up my post-game feelings for sure.  In my head, I was already moving on to the off-season, thinking about what moves the Dodgers should make, whether Manny or the pitching staff deserved the majority of free agent dollars, etc.  I considered this series a lost cause.

Acceptance - My current state of mind.  I’ve accepted that the Dodgers need to win three in a row, and, hey, that’s not so bad!  They’ve done it before, and they’ll do it again, right?  Hell, we’re in the friggin’ NLCS for god sakes!   

So I say, bring it on Phillies, and let’s see you try and rip this series from the Dodgers at the Ravine!  Ok, I feel much better now, and I hope you do too.  GO BLUE!

Ok Phillies fans, this is your chance.  We see you’re checking out our content in much higher numbers than usual, so this is your chance to comment on what you think the keys to the series have been so far.  We’ve rallied over here, and are now ready for game five, baby!  Do you think it’s over?  Comment below – it’s an open forum for Philadelphia fans!

The Wade and Kershaw choices were the strangest ones for me. Wade threw over 30 pitches the night before in the Dodgers win in game 3 – was it really necessary to bring him in ahead of Kuo? The Kershaw situation was another strange one…Clayton doesn’t have experience in the postseason and had only acted as a relief pitcher three times in the entire 2008 season – definitely not a seasoned veteran for mid-game appearances.

Bottom line – we may have stocked up on hitting with the likes of Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake this year, but pitching may be the piece that costs the Dodgers the chance at the World Series. Don’t blame Torre, blame the pitching dilemma we are in – an issue that is the responsibility of the Dodgers front office.

I’m still in shock over the way tonight’s game turned out. I noticed that the Dodgers also canceled their workout as well as Joe Torre’s news conference for tomorrow. Looks like Joe and the team are a little sad as well.

Image Credit: Washington Post

Furcal, SS

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Martin, C

Loney, 1B

DeWitt, 2B

Blake, 3B

Pierre, CF

Lowe, P

OK, so you if you visit our blog frequently, you know we highlight Tiger Woods’ love for the Dodgers from time to time. Tiger was again in attendance cheering on the team, this time in Frank McCourt’s box, no less during game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium. Tiger was featured on the Jumbotron and many photos were snapped of him (see above).

Now, I realize that there weren’t many A-list stars at the game (none, really unless you count the likes of Ryan Seacrest or Danny Devito – heck, Fox was reduced to talking about Mary Hart and Pat Sajack in the crowd), but clearly the loss to the Dodgers has folks from Philadelphia looking to take shots at anyone – including Tiger Woods.

In his morning diatribe, John Gonzalez of the Philadelphia Enquirer wrote the following about Tiger Woods:

Tiger Woods: He was at the game. If he’s healthy enough to cheer on the Dodgers, he should be healthy enough to be on the golf course. I’m now certain the guy faked his injury.

WOW – that’s the best that they could come up with? If you read the article, you’ll see how Philadelphia is in an all-out cryfest about EVERYTHING that happened in the game. This includes:

1. The crowd getting on Moyer for beaning Russel Martin in the first inning
2. L.A. fans doing the wave
3. Various chants for Manny Ramirez
4. Chase Utley being called out at second base (insert “ha ha!” cry from the Simpsons bully here)

Hey Philly – you are still up 2-1. Time to man up and acknowledge that this was never going to be a sweep and take the good with the bad (see our earlier posts on the series as an example)

carry on…

Cory Wade

And what was up with that bench-clearing moment?  Looks like one “accidentally” got away from Kuroda – most likely in retaliation for the BS that went on with Russell Martin last night.  Hopefully that’s the end of it and we can go back to some good ol’ fashioned baseball tomorrow.

Finally, give another game ball to the fans tonight!  I’ll be uploading a few great shots from the Ravine a bit later, but their enthusiasm and passion definitely helped the Dodgers tonight.  Great job Dodger fans – let’s bring it again tomorrow!

photo: Ray Stubblebine/Reuters

OK, so the 2008 NLCS isn’t tied to the financial meltdown in any way…except that the Dodgers seem to be in freefall right now, just like the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA).

Financial metaphors aside, Billingsley was the big problem in Game 2 – he gave up four runs in the 2nd inning with two outs already on the board. He then escaped to the third inning where, after securing one out, he gave up four more runs before Torre yanked him from the game.

What happened?

“Up to that point, he was throwing the ball well,” Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. “It’s hard to say what happened because it happened pretty quickly.”

By this time, the Dodgers were staring at a 8-2 deficit and couldn’t dig their way out. Perrennial hitter Manny Ramirez did his part with a three-run homer to make it 8-5, but that was all the Dodgers could muster.

I’m not sure where the bailout for this crisis is going to come from – Torre is talking about bringing Lowe back to start in game 4, but what will that accomplish? Manny has certainly been contributing, but where is the rest of the Dodger offense? could Philadelphia just be too solid for the boys in blue?

I sure hope not – but I am one of a select few that is still bullish on L.A. right now.

Patt Burrell and Chase Utley made it look easy tonight, each driving a home run in the sixth to lead the Phillies to a 3-2 victory. Derek Lowe looked pretty tired on the mound – something pretty uncharacteristic for the generally solid Dodgers pitcher.

Game 2 is Friday in Philadelphia, with Phillies right-hander Brett Myers facing Dodgers righty Chad Billingsley. Ol’ Chad makes me a little nervous, as he has definitely been streaky as of late, and with Manny carrying the offensive load for the team right now, we either need to see the bats come out in force early or hope Chad can keep it close for the first 4-5 innings (similar to what Lowe was able to accomplish before melting down in the 6th).

Phillies closer Brad Lidge is especially deadly – he is 44 for 44 in save chances this year, so the Dodgers shouldn’t expect any 9th inning heroics – they will defnitely be few and far between.

What you do think of the Game 1 performance? Was the big issue offense, defense, or both?