Dodgers: Team of Brotherly Love?

Coming off what was possibly the worst played game in years, the Dodger multimillionaires with their apathetic “It is what it is.” attitude, strolled into Philly with all the lassitude of that dance made famous in 1958 by American Bandstand right there in that city.

The stink of this team goes all the way to the top, where the Guggenheim Group slept, while Derrick Hall hired the “take no bullshit” Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa to take charge of a struggling Diamondbacks.

It is unimaginable to me that men at the highest level of baseball are so clueless at knowing and executing the fundamentals of the game. Al Campanis, long time Dodger minor league manager, scout, and General Manager, literally wrote the book on fundamentals, “The Dodger Way to Play Baseball”, in 1954. In it, Campanis writes:
“TEAM MANAGEMENT
There are five qualities that distinguish the good manager or coach. These are:
1. The ability to control his players or team.
2. The ability to stimulate his players to give their best at all times.
3. The ability to teach baseball fundamentals.
4. Knowledge of the game and strategy.
5. And courage … to carry out his convictions or impulses.

CONTROL OF TEAM
A manager who can not control his team soon loses their respect and the players become openly defiant. This is evidenced by the deliberate missing of signs, and the breaking of curfew and training rules. The manager who allows his team
to get away from him is well on his way to a losing season. If you are by nature an easy going type, you must then be a good ‘actor’. Be a bit stern at times just to let the team know that YOU are running the club.”

Are you listening Stan Kasten? If you want to continue your winning legacy, you better get guys in there that can get the job done and not be afraid to hurt the feelings of multi-multi-multi-millionaires like “I’m not a platoon player.” Matt Kemp. Mattingly needs the cashews to tell Kemp that the MANAGER decides who plays, and who sits. The way Kemp has been screwing up defensively lately, tells me that he has regressed into his five tool, but no brain way of playing of a few years ago, or that his ankle is much worse than he wants to admit. If the latter is true, he might be on the cusp of entering the realm of other Dodger superstars like Tommy Davis and Bobby Valentine, whose careers were ruined by ankle injuries. At least in their cases, they damaged their ankles by going hard after a ball, not because their head was up their ass strolling from third to home, then being surprised by a throw to the catcher, and lunging wildly at the plate. So because of his thoughtless way of playing, he lost his “explosiveness” when starting to run, changing himself from being a gold glove center fielder, to a well below average one.

The picture of Citizens Bank Park shows “Ashburn Alley”, the concourse behind the brick Batter’s Eye, named in honor of HOF Philly center fielder Richie Ashburn.