Juan Pierre: Resurrection! But Torre pulls Belisario!

Dodgers sudden underdogs, suddenly interesting!

Here’s a memorable remark from Vin Scully (commenting on an attempted bunt that rolled foul early in the game) Furcal wasn’t trying to poke it or push it...he was just trying to drop a poached egg on the infield...and it slid off the toast.’ 

The Game

You had Jeff Weaver starting for the Dodgers against Tim Lincecum, who looks to be about 17 years old (24, actually). I had no idea who he was, as I wasn’t aware the Giants were still playing ball. But Vin Scully had all the low-down and I got an excellent education. Apparently he won the Cy Young Award last year as a rookie, and he doesn’t take showers. 

Anyway, I had watched the Dodgers yesterday, when they won easily, 8-0. I got a nap in between the 2nd and 6th inning. The new retro radio they gave away on Thursday was on...but the delay between the TV and the radio was too distracting. I just checked again. FSN is just as bad as Fox versus the radio. 

Juan Pierre is coming to bat. One man on, 2 outs. Bottom of 9th. Poor guy, he must feel like he has to do everything. Well today he is pretty much the whole offense. 

3 for 5, and a walk.

Oh well, he hit a fly ball but the outfielder made another amazing catch. If I were Juan Pierre, I would be like, ummm...hello? Where is the rest of the team?!

The Dodgers wouldn’t be tied at this point if Pierre hadn’t scored or driven in every damn run. And the Dodgers might be chilling in the locker room right now if...

Pierre makes another catch in the 10th

...if Joe Torre hadn’t yanked Belisario after giving up a single. Is it just me? Or is Torre pulling people too early? Remember the 2nd game? Kershaw had 13 strikeouts? The Dodgers were making history, up 2-0 on Jackie Robinson day. And after the 6th or 7th inning, Torre pulls Kershaw for i-don’t-know-who, and suddenly, in like 10 seconds, the Dodgers give up 4 runs. But they won in the ninth on a walk. And the decision to pull Kershaw is forgotten. 

But not by me.

So here we are again. Belisario came in and got out the hard part of the Giants order 123 in the 6th. Came in in the 7th and gave up a single. BAM! Torre’s on the mound. Let’s get someone else in here. BAM! The Giants tie it up. And there’s Belisario, totally wasted. And you can’t have him back. And I was thinking, Joe hasn’t had to deal with pitching decisions like that. In New York he usually had a starter who could go 7, a set-up ace and then Mariano Rivera. It was automatic. But the Dodgers are a different story. All I know is...I wouldn’t have dumped Belisario like that. He throws hard. And I wouldn’t have pulled Kershaw back in April when he had 13 strikeouts. 

Ethier just flied out. I can faintly hear Foreigner’s Cold as Ice playing in the back of my mind. He’s in a slump. And apparently he is trying too hard, they say. Message to Ethier:  stand in front of the mirror and repeat this phrase a dozen times, ‘I can’t get a hit, and i don’t give a shit!’ As soon as not getting a hit no longer makes him feel bad, he will start hitting again.’ It’s that simple. 

Look at the standings. The Dodgers are 5-6 games ahead, in 1st place. But it’s May. So no one cares about the standings. In August and September everyone will start paying attention to the standings and it will infect everyone.

2 down in the top of the 11th.

The point is, the standings don’t matter in May. When something doesn’t matter you don’t worry about it. Ethier is probably worried every time the Dodgers are batting. He probably feels relieved when the inning is over. And he can go back to the outfield and be a success and not give a shit. Anyway, it’s a vicious cycle. The more you suck, the worse you feel, the harder you try. It’s natural. You have to be counter-intuitive. Therefore, ‘I can’t get a hit, and i don’t give a shit.’ 

SF now has 2 men on. Bottom of the 11th. Game is over 4 hours.

Mota is in now...in the 12th. He was Gagne’s setup man. Remember? Before the dumped him to Florida or wherever. Speaking of Gagne...where is he? All I know is that last year he was blowing saves for Milwaukee. After blowing them for the Sox in ’07. 

By the way, speaking of former Dodger pitchers....bet all your money on the Dodgers to beat the Phillies on Tuesday. Why? Three words:

Chan Ho Park

And we’re in the 13th inning. Oy! I have nothing more to say. Let God decide. Juan Pierre is the greatest! And the Giants have just gone ahead on a sacrifice. And Juan Pierre is probably saying, why did I even bother? Hang in there, Juan!!!! We believe in you!!!

But wait - Casey Blake just hit a homer in the bottom 12th and we are tied again.

5-5. I think Torre has spent more time on the mound today than Belisario. 

13th inning. Mota is coming apart. 

Giants win 7-5.