The Narnia 3 Blog

Up Against the Wall

Well, I was hoping for at least a split in New York, but now the streaky team need to be streaky for the next three. Saturday and Sunday in LA (where they play much better) and one more back in New York. Here's the problem, like most managers in the playoffs Grady LIttle is going with veterans and in the first two games and in a couple of respects they haven't come through. BTW, Grady LIttle is a great manager and I'm glad the Dodger's have him.

Here are my recommendations for game three:

• Put Loney at first base. This should be pretty simple. Nomar is hurt and really hurt. He can't run and he is having fielding problems as well. Use him as a pinch hitter. Loney is a gold-glove calibre first baseman and he can hit. Putting Kent at first and Lugo at 2nd isn't working. Lugo is not a natural second baseman and he's not hitting enough to justify moving Kent out of position.
• Put Lofton on the bench and play Jason Repko. Lofton is 0 for the series, has played an erratic center field, and has a very weak throwing arm.
• Get Andre Either back into the lineup. His hitting and fielding are what carried this team for a large part of the year. Marlon Anderson has been great, but he's a bench player, not an everyday player and his playing everyday is starting to tell. Plus he is another weak armed minus defensive outfielder.

If the Dodgers can win game three, then in game four I would probably start Chad Billingsly not Brad Penny. Whatever the problem, Penny hasn't been right for a couple of months. The young players, in many respects, got the Dodgers to the playoffs; and these are going to be the guys who play every game next year, when Nomar and Lugo and Lofton are elsewhere. Even if they don't pull this series out, they get the experience that they need for the playoffis next year.