The Futility Infielder

"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat. Losing after great striving is the story of man, who was born to sorrow, whose sweetest songs tell of saddest thought, and who, if he is a hero, does nothing in life as becomingly as leaving it." -- Roger Kahn, The Boys of Summer

The 2004 Dodgers finally ran out of miracles on Sunday night. After six-and-a-half months of thrills and chills, capped by the outpouring of emotion that was Lima Time on Saturday night, their season ended with more whimper than bang. Managing only three hits, they fell to the mighty St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 and were eliminated in four games. Albert Pujols drove in four runs, three on a tiebreaking, backbreaking, heartbreaking shot off of middle reliever Wilson Alvarez in the fourth inning, and the outgunned Dodgers simply had no answer for that. Make no mistake: the better team won this series.

Alvarez had come on to clean up starter Odalis Perez's dirty work. For the second time in the series, Perez failed to make it out of the third inning, walking five batters and leaving manager Jim Tracy little choice but to go to his bullpen early. With the Dodgers already trailing 2-1 and with two on and one out, Alvarez wriggled off of the hook by striking out Jim Edmonds and Reggie Sanders, who had homered in his previous at-bat. But the next inning brought trouble in a big way with Pujols' big blast.

Still riding a wave of optimism after Saturday night's raucous celebration, the Dodgers had gotten off to a promising start on a first-inning homer by Jayson Werth against Jeff Suppan. They put two runners on in the second to no avail, and threatened again in the third when Werth walked and took third on a Steve Finley single. That brought activity from the Cardinal bullpen, but Adrian Beltre could manage only a sacrifice fly -- his first RBI of the series -- and while it tied the score, it also started a string of fourteen consecutive batters set down by the Cardinal starter.

The umpires gave Suppan some help. Leading off the seventh, Milton Bradley was called out at first base on a grounder; replays showed he beat the throw. The volatile Bradley, who's dealt with anger-management issues all too often recently, mustered considerable restraint, especially after a no-catch call had gone against him earlier in the game. On that play, he appeared to have made a sliding snag of a Tony Womack blooper but dropped the ball in transferring it to his throwing hand. He recovered to get a 9-4-3-6 force at second just two batters before Pujols' homer, not that it made much difference in the outcome.

Yhency Brazoban, Mike Venafro, Giovanni Carrera and finally Eric Gagne kept the score close, allowing only one run over the final five innings. But even that was too far for the enfeebled Dodger offense to surmount this time. As the outs began to dwindle and the outcome grew more apparent, I made a decisive move from my seat on the couch. I muted the blather of Tim McCarver and Thom Brennaman and used the TiVo to synchronize the video with the MLB Gameday Audio feed from Vin Scully. If I was going to watch the Dodgers go down in defeat, I would do so in style; far better to hear it from Vin.

The boys in blue themselves went down in style, and with class as well. When Alex Cora made the season's final out, Tracy and his players came onto the field to shake hands with Tony LaRussa and the rest of the Cardinals. It was a rare and touching display of sportsmanship that gave the crowd, the largest in Dodger Stadium's 42-year history, one final chance to send off a team that had given them an improbable, memorable ride. Even at home I was clapping.

• • •

As such, I come to praise the 2004 Dodgers, not to bury them. After spending the better part of the News Corp era in self-induced exile from my Dodger roots and fretting endlessly over their various suitors, I was braced for the worst when Frank McCourt's seemingly underfinanced bid turned out to be the winning one. Watching the Dodgers lose the Vladimir Guerrero sweepstakes and its nefarious underpinnings only fed my skepticism. Hearing that McCourt might sell naming rights to Dodger Stadium had me even angrier:

McCourt's very presence, particularly via the potential abandonment of Dodger Stadium or hanging of a corporate moniker upon it, poses no less a threat than the utter rape of the once-visionary franchise. How long before the Dodgers become a ramshackle squad of faceless ballplayers wearing head-to-toe teal uniforms in a domed mallpark? The time just drew a lot closer.

Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts, a man with similar fears, voiced a bit more optimism:

No matter how many misgivings have built up to this point, I don't think there's a Dodger fan in town who won't come to like McCourt if he can do the job."

The new owner had at least one stroke of genius when he took over the club, hiring Oakland A's assistant GM Paul DePodesta to be his general manager. The move resonated with me and many others who thought that the Dodgers, as one of baseball's marquee franchises, deserved to be armed with a creative, cutting-edge braintrust that could undo the mistakes of the Foxies. In DePodesta, the righthand man for Billy Beane during three years of AL West alchemy, McCourt had his man and we had ours.

For years I had begun each Fox-era season with hope but not faith. From 3000 miles away, I would follow their offseason moves intently, slowly losing interest as the team stumbled out of the gate or wilted in the summer heat, only to make a day-late, dollar-short run at the Wild Card that would have me scrambling to keep up. The decision to hire DePodesta -- and retain Tracy -- began to restore my faith.

Taking the reins from Dan Evans, a man who deserved better after restocking the farm system, DePodesta spent the year improvising masterfully in concert with Tracy, most notably with a bullpen almost completely rebuilt with rookies and castoffs after a flurry of deals at the trading deadline. The team upgraded its offense over last year thanks to the additions of Bradley, Werth, and Jose Hernandez. They watched Adrian Beltre finally live up to his star potential. They turned their defense into the league's best (a .715 Defensive Efficiency Rating, tops in all of baseball) as Cora and Cesar Izturis emerged as the game's top double-play combo. They overcame a shaky rotation that nearly dropped an axle down the stretch and a trade that more or less blew up in their face. And they kicked the Giants squarely in the groin on the season's final weekend, capping a seven-run ninth with a Steve Finley grand slam that will live in the annals of Dodger lore forever. NL West champs, for the first time in nine years.

For all of that and so much more -- Eric Gagne's 84 consecutive saves, Alex Cora's 18-pitch at-bat, Lima Time, night after night of pinch-grand slams, 53 come-from-behind victories including 26 in their final at-bat, their first postseason victory in 16 years as Lima shut down the league's most feared offense and got L.A. fans to stay right to the end -- the Dodgers showed their hearts every single day and won mine all over again. If I'm a bit misty-eyed, whatever tears I've shed over the end of their season have been tears of gratitude and joy. Thank you, Dodgers, for bringing me home.

Now, three time zones away, I might finally get some sleep.

• • •

No sooner does a season end than players begin scattering to the four winds. But the signs so far from the Dodgers are mostly positive. Shortly after the team's defeat on Sunday night, DePodesta discussed Adrian Beltre's status. "I'd like to do everything I possibly can to make sure he's back in a Dodger uniform," declared DePo of the 25-year-old third baseman, who hit .334/.388/.629 with 48 homers and 121 RBI. With bloodsucking viper Scott Boras representing Beltre, that may well be an expensive and contentious proposition, but at least the GM seems braced for the task. And with one report suggesting that Beltre and Boras are seeking a six-year, $84 million deal, it may actually be quite doable.

Keeping Tracy in place also seems to rate high on DePodesta's to-do list. Last month he said he hoped to re-sign the manager, and Tracy has indicated his willingness to stay. I hope nothing stands in the way of their union because it will be smashy-smashy time around here if they lose him. Of the free agents, Lima is a good bet to return -- hell, he might get a statue by then -- while Perez likely punched his ticket out of town with his poor postseason showing. Finley may well be back.

One player who definitely won't be is Robin Ventura, who officially retired on Monday. Ventura only hit .243/.337/.362 with 5 homers in 175 PA this year, but he excelled in the pinch, hitting .271/.368/.458 with 3 homers and 14 RBI, including a grand slam. That blast, the 18th of his career, tied him with Willie McCovey for the third-most in baseball history behind Lou Gehrig (23) and Eddie Murray (19). Think about all of the great sluggers who aren't on that list for a moment. Ladies and gentlemen, in that way at least, Robin Ventura was one of the most clutch hitters of all-time. How cool is that?

Ventura will be best remembered for those slams, including two in one game as well as the "Grand Single" he hit with the bases loaded to end a rain-soaked 15-inning League Championship Series game in 1999. He'll also be remembered for his hilariously misguided charging of the mound on Nolan Ryan. Back in 1993, the 46-year-old fireballer had hit the 26-year-old Ventura, who took offense. When he attacked, Ryan grabbed him in a headlock and broke out a can of Lone Star-brand Whupp Ass, and the footage often gets aired on blooper reels everywhere.

But there was plenty more to Ventura's career. At Oklahoma State, he set a collegiate record (since broken) with a 58-game hitting streak in 1987. Two years later, he made his major-league debut with the Chicago White Sox, and the next season, he was in the bigs to stay. He won five Gold Gloves with the Sox and played on their 1993 division winner. Despite suffering a gruesome ankle injury that cost him most of the 1997 season, he recovered his top-flight form in the field and won another with the Wild Card-winning Mets in '99 while hitting 32 homers and driving in 120 runs.

After that, back problems slowed his bat speed considerably, and his batting average fell into the .230s. But his power and plate discipline kept his shelf life going, and when he was traded to the Yankees for David Justice to replace plate discipline-challenged Scott Brosius, he found a home in Bronx Bomber lineup. He hit .247/.368/.458 with 27 homers and 93 runs, and made the All-Star team for only the second time in his career.

After getting off to a strong start with the Yanks in 2003, he fell into a dismal slump during June (.578 OPS) and July (.613). At the trading deadline, the team pulled the trigger on a fateful deal for Cincinnati's Aaron Boone, and Ventura was sent packing to the Dodgers for outfielder Bubba Crosby and pitcher Scott Proctor. His first homer as a Dodger was an improbable inside-the-park job made all the more amusing by Ventura's slow-footed reputation. "Usually, someone has to go on the DL for me to get even a triple," he quipped afterwards.

That was Ventura too, witty and perceptive, popular in the clubhouses and with the more astute fans. One time I was at a Yanks' game with Alex Belth and we considered the question, "Which current Yankee would you most like to have dinner with?" Both of us chose Ventura independently. When I blindly put the question to my pal Nick a few days later, he had the same response. Great minds...

Retiring at 37, Ventura now joins a class of third baseman who won't make the Hall of Fame but who are better than most of the ones who are in there. Last week in a Baseball Prospectus article, I took a look at the Hall of Fame credentials of several players using my JAWS system, which deals with career and peak Wins Above Replacement totals by averaging out the player's lifetime total with his five-best-consecutive-season total. The average Hall of Fame third baseman scores at 74.7, the average Hall hitter a 75.3.

Mike Schmidt (108.4), Eddie Mathews (94.9), and George Brett (92.8) top the list of enshrined third basemen, which is weighted down by some dubious choices such as George Kell (52.4) and Fred Lindstrom (44.4), who's fourth-lowest among all hitters. Meanwhile on the outside are the criminally neglected Ron Santo (88.4) along with Darrell Evans (78.3), Graig Nettles (76.4), Ken Boyer (73.9), and Ron Cey (70.1). Ventura, at 75.0, is at home in that company as well, thanks to no fewer than six outstanding seasons of 9.0 WARP3 or more. He's easily as good as the average Hall of Fame third baseman.

Ventura says he may consider returning to baseball in some capacity. Whether it's as a coach or a commentator, he'd be a fine addition anywhere. He's welcome in my book any day.

• • •

Yankees-Red Sox: as you can see, I'm just dying to dive into the fray. There's really not much that needs to be said at the outset of the series. The Yanks are hungry, the Sox are hungry, their fans starved. The hype in the press is thick, the rhetoric in the blogosphere is sure to be even thicker. Now that I've tucked the Dodgers in for the season, you know where I'll be.