The 2006 Dodger Season Thread

[captsapp]

There won't be a one-game playoff is SD and LA finish with the same record. Because it will be between them for the division AND the wild-card, the team with the better head-to-head record automatically gets the division - the Padres. So here's hoping for a SD loss and a sweep of the Giants! Oh yeah, and hoping the Cardinals lose, the Astros win, and the Cards have to play a make-up game. That would be nice, to face a completely exhausted and worn-out team for the first round (especially if it's on a 6-game winning streak).

Peace
Scott

[Elvis]

Have I mentioned yet how much I hate Lugo? Why is this guy playing everyday? He is absolutlely clueless against NL pitching.

Edit: And no sooner does he drive in the go ahead run and then get picked off.

[Elvis]

2006 NL WEST CHAMPIONS!

I don't care if we have to share it with the Pods, it still sounds pretty sweet, huh?

Wooo Hooo!

[DodgerBlue81]

2006 NL WEST CHAMPIONS!

I don't care if we have to share it with the Pods, it still sounds pretty sweet, huh?

Wooo Hooo!

2006 WILD CARD WINNERS!!!

The Padres get credit as the NL West Champs, but winning the Wild Card and making the playoffs is still nice. 10 years ago in 1996, we also won the Wild Card and got swept in the 1st round by the Braves, hopefully that doesn't happen this year.

[DodgerBlue81]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I still can't believe the stinkin Diamondbacks fell 1 stinkin run short. They were down 7-0 and made it 7-6 but lost.

It was nice celebrating in San Fran. So much for them being motivated to spoil us, we swept them. But Arizona couldn't get it done so we're going to New York instead of hosting the Cardinals.

What a huge difference! Losing those 2 games to the Pirates cost us the division and homefield against the Cardinals in the 1st round.

[Elvis]

2006 WILD CARD WINNERS!!!

The Padres get credit as the NL West Champs, but winning the Wild Card and making the playoffs is still nice.

We're co-division champs with the padres. It isn't being stated as such, but this is exactly the same precedent that was set before in 2001 with the Cardinals and Astros. They finished the season with identical records. The Astros had the better head to head record, so the Cards went in as the "wild card berth", but were declared co-division champs with the Astros. You can look it up.

As was posted on MLB.com:

2001 National League Central Division Co-Champions!!!!

"In case you were wondering, the Cardinals and Houston Astros are officially co-champions of the NL Central -- even though the Cards are performing as a Wild Card entry in the playoffs.

The tie-breaker which was invoked to designate the Astros as division champs -- after both teams finished the regular season with 93-69 records -- was purely to determine postseason seedings.

So there's a bit of history here. It marks the first time ever for a flat-footed tie for either a league or division title. All prior ties were resolved in playoffs."

Tom Singer, MLB.COM

[mojorisin71]

We're co-division champs with the padres. It isn't being stated as such, but this is exactly the same precedent that was set before in 2001 with the Cardinals and Astros. They finished the season with identical records. The Astros had the better head to head record, so the Cards went in as the "wild card berth", but were declared co-division champs with the Astros. You can look it up.

As was posted on MLB.com:

2001 National League Central Division Co-Champions!!!!

"In case you were wondering, the Cardinals and Houston Astros are officially co-champions of the NL Central -- even though the Cards are performing as a Wild Card entry in the playoffs.

The tie-breaker which was invoked to designate the Astros as division champs -- after both teams finished the regular season with 93-69 records -- was purely to determine postseason seedings.

So there's a bit of history here. It marks the first time ever for a flat-footed tie for either a league or division title. All prior ties were resolved in playoffs."

Tom Singer, MLB.COM

Same thing happened with the Yankees and Red Sox last year, I believe.

[mojorisin71]

Friday, September 29, 2006

Los Angeles 4, San Francisco 3 at AT&T Park

W - Jonathan Broxton (4-1)
L - Mike Stanton (4-2)
S - Takashi Saito (23)

LA 4 runs, 7 hits, 0 errors
SF 3 runs, 12 hits, 0 errors

HR - JD Drew, LA (20)

Dodgers' record - 86-74 (T-1st in NL West)

QUICKIE RECAP: A day after scoring 19 runs and getting 17 hits off the Rockies' pitching staff, the Dodgers arrived at AT&T/SBC/Pac Bell/whatever corporation buys out the current name Park and took on the Giants, figuring that San Francisco, long out of the playoff picture, would like nothing more than to play spoiler in baseball's biggest rivalry. Cynics everywhere (this poster included) were predicting one out of three for the Dodgers, who entered 3rd and King with a magic number of two. Throw in the fact that Noah Lowry has never lost to the Dodgers and Hong-Chih Kuo had an ERA of 5.40 in his short career against Orange and Black. The Giants jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Eliezer Alfonzo singled home Dodger killer Ray Durham in the third, and the Hated Ones added two more in the fifth when Dodger killer Randy Winn doubled Alfonzo home and Shea Hillenbrand hit an RBI single, and all of a sudden, the Dodgers forgot that they were in a pennant race. In the seventh, JD Drew hit a two-run shot to the walkway behind right field to bring the Dodgers within one, but Lowry shut them down, despite only throwing 66 strikes in 105 pitches. Kevin Correia pitched a scoreless eighth, but in the ninth, Mike Stanton allowed a leadoff hit to Jeff Kent and a one-out walk to Russ Martin. Olmedo Saenz hit a pinch-hit game-tying RBI single to silence the AT&T faithful and with former Giant Ramon Martinez batting, Stanton threw a pitch to score Martin, and the Dodgers overcame the 3-0 lead. But it wouldn't be the greatest rivalry in baseball without any more ninth-inning dramatics. Steve Finley (remember 10/2/04) hit a one-out infield single and advanced to third on a Winn single. Takashi Saito then got Dodger killer Omar Vizquel to hit a high fly ball near the third-base dugout and Martinez burned his former team by making the catch over the railing. With runners on second and third, Mark Sweeney struck out to end the game and secure at least a one-game playoff for the division. The Padres had lost to the DBacks earlier, which moved the Dodgers into a first-place tie.

[mojorisin71]

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Los Angeles 4, San Francisco 2 at AT&T Park

W - Greg Maddux (6-3)
L - Matt Cain (13-12)
S - Takashi Saito (24)

LA 4 runs, 11 hits, 0 errors
SF 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors

HR - Lance Niekro, SF (5)

Dodgers' record - 87-74 (T-1st in NL West)

QUICKIE RECAP: On the 161st day of the 2004 season, Steve Finley came up to bat at Dodger Stadium with one out and the bases loaded in the ninth inning and proceeded to end the Giants' chances at the division by hitting the now famous grand slam. Two years later in San Francisco, the Dodgers had a chance to clinch a playoff berth, and naturally, the cynics were all but proclaiming a classic Giant spoiler role, and even Joe Morgan had to bring the smack talk at ESPN. The Dodgers came out swinging first when Kenny Lofton tripled to right and scored on a Julio Lugo sac fly. When I saw the play, I had to do a double-check. Did Lugo deliver in the clutch? I spent the next two innings doubting myself, but sure enough, with Rafael Furcal at second base, Lugo doubled him home. He had single-handedly given the Dodgers the lead twice. Okay, so he complained about a lack of playing time, but to wait until the second-to-last game to produce? Give me a break. JD Drew scored Lofton on a sac fly, and it was 3-1 LA. I was prepared for the SF comeback, and Lance Niekro started it off with a leadoff home run off Greg Maddux in the fourth. But Maddux got his revenge off Matt Cain when he singled to right and stole second without a throw, silencing the AT&T faithful. Drew drove in an insurance run with his career-high 100th RBI in the fifth, and the Giants never threatened again. Takashi Saito struck out two in the ninth to get his 24th save, already extending his Dodger rookie record, and the Dodgers finally clinched in enemy territory. The Padres hold the tiebreaker, though, but who would want to play the Cardinals, who were 7-0 against the Dodgers in 2006?

[mojorisin71]

Sunday, October 1, 2006

Los Angeles 4, San Francisco 3 at AT&T Park

W - Chad Billingsley (7-4)
L - Brad Hennessey (5-6)
S - Joe Beimel (2)

LA 4 runs, 10 hits, 1 error
SF 3 runs, 7 hits, 0 errors

HR - James Loney, LA (4)

Dodgers' final record - 88-74 (NL West co-champions)

QUICKIE RECAP: One of the arguments I use in defending the Dodgers/Giants rivalry as the best and biggest in baseball is that the Yankees and Red Sox isn't much of one. The games are one-sided, and the Yankees have repeatedly beaten up on the Sox. But after the 2006 season's final series at AT&T Park, it's kinda hard to defend the LA/SF rivalry as competitive. Sure, the games were decided by two runs or less, but the Giants seemed to have just given up each game. Jason Schmidt pitched what might have been his last game with the Giants, going six innings and allowing three runs, including James Loney's first HR not against the Rockies. In the seventh, Brad Hennessey came in and with Jason Repko at second base, Julio Lugo singled him home to snap the 3-3 tie and Joe Beimel got three outs in the ninth to send the Dodgers into the playoffs with their seventh straight win. The Padres survived a scare by the DBacks in the bottom of the ninth to win their second straight NL West title, but this time they have to share it with the Dodgers, as they both finished with the same record. LA now heads to Shea Stadium to take on the Mets on Wednesday and Thursday, with Derek Lowe and Hong-Chih Kuo pitching Games 1 and 2, respectively. One year ago, we finished 71-91. This year, there was a seventeen-game improvement. I apologize for falling behind on the game recaps, but I can safely say that another season of Dodger baseball is behind us. I hope to do more of these in the upcoming weeks as the Dodgers figure to extend the season as long as they can.

[bhss89]

Off topic: Just listened to "God Bless America" as sung during the stretch at Yankees/Tigers; let's all take a minute and remember how great our country is and how great our American pastime of baseball is.
God Bless America indeed!

Thanks again for the reports mojo; nice work!

GO DODGERS! LET'S GET FIRED UP!