As the regular season winds down, 22 teams are facing an offseason filled with golf rounds and hot-stove strategery.
Meanwhile, the fans of those squads are looking at the prospect of spending the winter without the warmth of a postseason appearance. In an attempt to bring some closure between franchise and follower, we're asking a blogger from each team to write a cathartic missive to their disappointing 2010 lineups.
Up next is SosG Orel and SoSG Sax from Sons of Steve Garvey. They're taking solace in the fact that at least their team won't lose to the Phillies in the NLCS again this year.
Dear Los Angeles Dodgers,
It's hard to write a breakup letter when your parents' divorce and unabated avarice dominates all the headlines, but at least this split won't require millions in legal fees.
Sometimes life is an embarrassment of riches, but this past season has only been rich with embarrassment. I should have known it was over when problem child Jonathan Broxton(notes) gave up four runs to the Yankees in the ninth inning of a backbreaking extra-innings loss, but like a fool I stuck around.
I should have known it was really over after your lifeless six-game losing streak following the All-Star Break, but like an idiot I held out hope.
I should have run like hell when it came out that Frank and Jamie McCourt paid a Russian psychic named Vladimir Shpunt hundreds of thousands of dollars to think positive thoughts for them. (Really.)
But ... I stayed.
No longer.
The Good Times: Sure, there were some happy times. Andre Ethier(notes) started the All-Star Game and Broxton was credited with the save. Clayton Kershaw(notes) threw a complete-game shutout against the Giants — which you won with only one hit. John Lindsey's(notes) feel-good story, about finally making the Show after years of dutiful perseverance in the minors.
The Bad Times: But those were merely slivers of hope in a morass of ineptitude. Where did it all go wrong?
• Pitching, or lack thereof. 2009 team ERA+: 116. 2010 team ERA+: 96. You replaced Randy Wolf(notes) with Vicente Padilla(notes), and the fifth starter position was again a rotating door of has-beens and might-not-be's. The bullpen: Source of strength last year, Achilles' heel this year. Broxton went from closer to loser, and while Hong-Chih Kuo(notes) was nails, his four-times surgically repaired elbow made him more of an occasional secret weapon than a consistent knockout punch.
• Offense, or lack thereof. 2009 team OPS+: 104. 2010 team OPS+: 91. Of your eight opening-day position players, only four have had more than 500 PA. All four (James Loney(notes), Casey Blake(notes), Matt Kemp(notes), Andre Ethier) have regressed statistically from their 2009 performances. At second, Orlando Hudson(notes) (2009 OPS+: 109) was replaced by Blake DeWitt(notes) (2010 OPS+: 99), who was replaced by Ryan Theriot(notes) (2010 OPS+: 66). Jamey Carroll(notes) was your most consistent hitter. Kinda sums it all up.
• Baserunning, or lack thereof. Vin Scully likes to tell the tale of a very young Larry Walker, who, before he fully comprehended the rules of the game, tried to retreat from third to first — by running across the diamond. At times, it seemed like you were taking Vin's story as instruction, running yourselves out of so many crucial situations that post-game highlights became blooper reels.
• Joe Torre. By all accounts a great guy and well-respected manager, Torre could get irrationally stubborn. Left Broxton in to throw 48 pitches during the meltdown against the Yankees. Inexplicably trotted out the skeleton of Garret Anderson(notes) (OPS+: 29) on a regular basis. When GA was released, Torre reportedly drank seven gallons of Bigelow green tea in protest. (Not really.)
• Matt Kemp, or lack thereof. Such a confounding figure he gets his own bullet point. After a strong 2009, he seemingly could do no right this year. Had run-ins with just about everybody — coaches, the manager, the front office ... and probably the groundskeepers, peanut vendors and organist too. Set a career-high for strikeouts. Made his share of mental mistakes. Yet, currently has 25 HR, 83 RBI and a 102 OPS+. He's signed for $7 million next year.
• Injuries. You lost players to the DL (Ethier, Rafael Furcal(notes), Russell Martin(notes), Padilla), to substance abuse rehab (Ronald Belisario(notes)) and to karmic retribution (Manny Ramirez(notes)).
• Too little, too late. When you were nearly out of contention, GM Ned Colletti went on a questionable shopping spree, trading a bevy of young players for Scott Podsednik(notes), Theriot, Ted Lilly(notes) and Octavio Dotel(notes). Dotel is already gone; none of the others is signed past this season.
• The competition. The Padres were superior to the Dodgers in every aspect (at least through August). The Giants, loathe as I am to admit it, pitched their way to the top and got just enough offense late in the year to make a run. Even former Dodger manager Jim Tracy lapped us with the Rockies down the stretch. For you, 2010 was fated to be a season of litigation and frustration.
Shape Up Or Ship Out: Problem is, things don't look much better for 2011. With almost $90 million already committed for next year and the never-ending McCourt divorce debacle certain to hamstring your financial resources, there's no one or two signings that will fix your many shortcomings.
Add to that a rookie manager in Don Mattingly, and we're all set for another circus, both off- and on-season.
So it's probably best we never see each other again, Dear Dodgers. After Game No. 162, we should go our separate ways. When you come calling in March of next year, I'm not responding.
Almost certainly not.
I mean, probably not.
Well, we'll see.
See you next April,
Sons of Steve Garvey
* * *Follow the Sons on Twitter — @sosgsosg
Read Big League Stew's previous Dear John letters here.
Related: John Lindsey, Blake DeWitt, Andre Ethier, Ryan Theriot, Jonathan Broxton, Scott Podsednik, Orlando Hudson, Randy Wolf, Ted Lilly, Manny Ramírez, Los Angeles Dodgers
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