That was quite an amazing game, and I do think that Martin was out at 3rd but I think that you are giving Torre some undeserved credit saying that:

"From the moment he brought Wade into the game, Torre managed the bullpen perfectly"

I am still wondering why Wade was not pulled for Beimel when Daryel Ward came to bat, why bother to warm up Beimel if you are not going to use him with a man in scoring position and a lefty coming in? That well could have been a turning point had Broxton not bailed out Torre.

But what a great win for the Dodgers, any word on on Kuo's availablity for the Phillies left handed lineup?

I am still in shock from last night.

What a great day to be a Dodger fan! It's been a long time coming.

I'm old enough to remember back to the 1960's teams and the powerhouse teams of the mid-late 70's. I haven't felt so good about the Dodgers as a playoff team since the 1970's - even though they won in '81 and '88. The current team is vastly underrated (for the moment) and even if we lose the league championship I can't see a blowout coming.

One thing that concerns me, slightly, is Ethier's lack of production. He hasn't looked awful by any means and I keep telling myself he's just been a bit unlucky and he will turn it around in the next series. Maybe he needs to hit in front of Manny? What is everyone else's take on this? I'd hate to see Torre "rest" him and put Pierre in. I'm also not sold on Ethier and Loney hitting back to back. They are too vunerable to the LOOGY.

As I said, Loney is MVP.

From our vantage point, it was impossible to tell if Kuroda was getting close strike calls, but we DID notice that (I believe -- tell me if I'm wrong) that neither side had a called strike three all game. The ump would call strikes, but all the strike threes (strikes three?) were swinging.

Did the ump have an especially tight zone? Was he simply refusing to call batters out on anything close?

I'm checking out now but would love to know others' opinions.

I will say, he seems much calmer lately now that he knows the veterans know their place.

NLCS here we come.

12 batters, 56 pitches (4.67 per batter - that is a lot), 35 for strikes.

Two inherited runners, both stranded.

If that were to happen, the Dodgers would be worldbeaters. Would be nice.

it might seem weird but I busted out laughing at that.

That's great. Even though many players did not get in to the series, I think everybody knows, that if the Dodgers are to go all the way, everyone will have to contribute. I can definitely see those three coming through in some way.

Rickey wasn't fired after 1942. The Dodgers just hired him away, although Rickey and Breadon were headed for a parting of the ways.

The Yankees owners bought out Larry MacPhail after the 1947 World Series because he kept causing problems.

In 1890, Brooklyn manager Bill McGunnigle, who operated as a general manager in that era as well, was let go after leading Brooklyn to its second straight pennant. But that was because Brooklyn pretty much had to hire Monte Ward to run the team, as he was considered one of the best players in the game at the time.

It wasn't a success.

One thing I disagree with from your post, Jon: I do think Torre's use of Broxton in the ninth was a vote of no confidence in Saito. Nothing against Sammy, but he is basically pitching with a torn ligament in his elbow, and even though that experimental injection is allowing him to pitch with some effectiveness, he is not that pitcher we watched for his first 2 1/2 seasons as a Dodger.

While I don't expect Torre to publicly announce it, I expect Broxton to be the closer from now on.

If we play the Philadelphia, I think we will see a leadoff homer by Raffy at that ballpark.

Also: I blame the Dodgers for my fairly poor performance in soccer this morning. A few celebratory beers and I'm useless in the morning. But we won. And I'm happy.

I am happy about the lack of thundersticks too. That is what separates the Dodgers from the Angels, the Angels have thundersticks and a t-shirt shooters and crap.

I can see that, but since the Phils might close out today, I figure both clubs will have "equal momentum". It's only a one day difference.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/ps.jsp

He likes to be miserable so I don't know if he would be in a celebrating mood.

I have to say, James Loney has to be the series MVP. The grand slam in game one, the two run double last night were game winning shots.

Although, I must say, Ronnie Brown is pretty good at football

There are way too many old friends coaching in other organizations. I mean, I understand that guys take the jobs that are available, but there's something not right about seeing Scioscia and Mickey Hatcher in Angels uniforms, or Davey Lopes in a Phillies uniform. It'd really be nice if we had more former Dodgers on the coaching staff.

Derek Lowe @ Cole Hamels
Chad Billingsley @ Brett Myers
Hiroki Kuroda @ Jamie Moyer
Greg Maddux or Clayton Kershaw @ Joe Blanton

Other than that, I'm happy to report that WSU is rather terrible football team.

Some fun pictures from last night, including celebration.
Click on the 10/4/08 Gallery.

Also, I've got a little story to share if I can violate Rule 1 in Spanish. May I get a ruling, Philosopher King?

Frankly, given that the Phillies have a balanced lineup (2 switch, 3 righties, 2 lefties, 1 platoon), unlike the righty-heavy Cubs, I hope to see Lowe 3 times, who is by far our most effective starter against such a lineup (.633 OPS against lefties, .635 against righties); both Billingsley and Kuroda allow .100 or so points higher OPS verse lefties; also, a 3 man rotation gives us more match-up options in the pen.

Sammy was pounded hard on Thursday, leaving Torre with a thin bullpen. He didn't want to use the lefties (Beimel and Kershaw) against the Cubs' all-RH lineup, he knew McDonald is too green to come into that situation, and Chan Ho is nothing more than a long reliever at this point. That meant Torre could either use Maddux as his 7th inning guy, or he could stretch the three guys he knew he could count on (Kuroda, Wade, Broxton) as long as he could to fill up that extra inning.

He decided to let Kuroda hit in the 6th inning, hoping he could make it through 7. The fallback plan would be to use Wade and Broxton each for 3+ out appearances if Hiro couldn't finish the 7th. Which is exactly what happened. It was tremendous tactical managing by Torre. I've been as tough on Joe as anyone here, but he came up huge last night.

MVPs = Loney, Lowe, Billingsley, Kuroda, Broxton

I think everything starts with Manny this off season. My hunch is that they resign him for 3 or 4 years, for a very big chunk of money. I also suspect that Jones will be traded or designated for assignment, and Pierre will also be on the trading block. I could see resigning Blake to a 2 year deal while they develop someone in the minors to take over. I'm not sure the Dodgers need more pitching, even with Penny and Lowe leaving (Billingsly, Kuroda, Kershaw, McDonald as a front four isn't too bad) but CC wouldn't be a bad acquisition, the question is whether the Dodgers would be willing to pay for him.

Can McDonald really start next year? And what to do with Clay's innings?