You might not remember when our skies were blue or our freeways were a pleasure. You might not even remember what you had for lunch two days ago. (You had chicken. No, no - trust me, it was chicken.)

Here's one other thing you might not remember: Hee Seop Choi actually got off to a good start when he joined the Dodgers.

In his first game with the Dodgers, on July 31, Choi faced perhaps the best pitcher in the National League West, Jake Peavy. Choi fouled out, doubled to deep right and grounded into a double play. In his final at-bat, against Akinori Otsuka, he was walked intentionally. In sum, Choi produced three total bases and three outs.

As you'll see, that game was the last complete game Choi would play for more than a week. Despite this, Choi's blue skies in Los Angeles weren't limited to a single day:

August 1: Choi struck out as a pinch-hitter - against Trevor Hoffman.

August 2: no game.

August 3: Choi did not play.

August 4: Choi doubled in his first at-bat, against Pittsburgh. The future maligned first baseman was now 2 for 5 with two doubles and a walk as a Dodger. Choi later struck out and flied out. In the eighth inning, Olmedo Saenz pinch-hit for Choi and struck out.

August 5: Choi grounded out as a pinch-hitter.

August 6: Choi entered the game defensively in the 10th inning. He struck out in his only at-bat.

August 7: Choi started. He struck out, hit an RBI double, popped out and walked, playing the entire game.

Choi was now 3 for 12 with three doubles and two walks, giving him an OPS of .857 after more than a week with the Dodgers. He hadn't hit a home run, but he had made considerable headway in stop-and-start traffic, with some good power in his engine.

This was Choi's peak, however, though his decline was slow, not sudden.

August 8: Choi flied to left and struck out, then came out in a double-switch in the sixth inning.

August 9: no game.

August 10: Choi struck out in his first at-bat, then hit a sacrifice fly deep enough not only to score Adrian Beltre but allow Shawn Green to advance from second base to third. He then flied to center and was hit by a pitch. His batting average as a Dodger fell to .188 and his OPS to .675, but he completed his third game.

August 11: Choi did not play.

August 12: Choi walked twice, flied out and grounded out.

August 13: Choi grounded out twice and struck out. Saenz pinch-hit for him and singled. Choi was now 3 for 21 - all the hits doubles - with four walks and an HBP.

August 14: Choi did not play.

August 15: Choi started against Mark Prior and had his fourth double, a groundout and a single. In the top of the eighth, Jose Hernandez hit for Choi and lined out. Choi improved to 5 for 24 - a .208 batting average and a .708 OPS. Against Peavy and Prior combined, Choi was 3 for 6 with two doubles; against the rest of the league, he was 2 for 18 with some walks.

In any event, one could expect better than a .708 OPS from a platooning first baseman. Choi was in trouble.

And then, from August 16 through September 4, Choi went 4 for 30 (all singles) with six walks. Following his 1 for 4 performance on September 4, Choi was benched from starting in the pennant race for good.

So what of it?

As a Dodger in 2004, Choi had 76 plate appearances, a number that many have felt was too small to judge him upon. In fact, the negative segment of Choi's 2004 Dodger debut was even smaller. Indulge me in some hairsplitting for just a moment, courtesy of the Baseball Musings Day-by-Day Database:

July 31 - August 7: 14 plate appearances, .857 OPS

August 8 - October 3: 62 plate appearances, .454 OPS

Okay. So for a week he was good, and for a few weeks, he was about as bad as he could be. Or so one would have thought. Let's look at 2005:

April 5 - April 10: 18 plate appearances, .289 OPS

Ugh.

April 11 - April 26: 38 plate appearances, .966 OPS

This last figure, of course, is boosted by his 4 for 5 performance (with a home run) Tuesday night. But it hardly seems fair to leave that out, with all the gruesome stats that have fallen on his ledger.

As a Dodger, Choi now has 132 plate appearances and a .632 OPS. The OPS is completely inadequate for anyone who doesn't pitch. But as we can see from splitting hairs, that bland OPS hides some wild fluctuations.

Which leads us to this comparison:

Choi with Florida and Chicago: 642 plate appearances, .814 OPS
Choi with Los Angeles: 132 plate appearances, .632 OPS.
Career: 774 plate appearances, .782 OPS

Is Choi a .632, a .782, or an .814? Or is he something even better? Choi just turned 26 years old. He is nearing a make-or-break point, but he hasn't reached it yet. He just hasn't. Many people watched him in the opening week of the season and decided his swing, so slow with so many holes, was irretrievably bad. Since then, Choi has gone on, if one might be so reckless to say it, a tear.

We are inching closer to an answer on Choi, but we are not there yet. Those who are behind him need to remember he can be very bad, and those against him need to remember that he can be very good.