Monday, September 10, 2007
Spoiler Alert
Poor Jonathan Broxton. After giving up only two home runs all year, he surrendered two game-winners this weekend, to Dan Ortmeier and Ray Durham, respectively, to drop the series against the Giants. Now the Dodgers' once-promising playoff hopes are nary a flicker. Broxton certainly hasn't reached Niedenfuer levels of choke-a-tude, but nearly killing your team's postseason hopes in the span of three days has got to suck.
Not that I, or any, Giants fan should feel much sympathy. Since our team is going nowhere this year, the best thing to cling to now is that sweet sense of schadenfreude as the Dodgers' season goes up in flames. After dropping the series this weekend, the Dodgers are now five-and-a-half games back of the Diamondbacks in the NL West, and two-and-a-half back of the Padres for the NL Wild Card. Our old buddy, BP's Playoff Odds Report, saw their playoff odds sink from 33% at the start of Friday's game to 23% at the start of today. They aren't done, per se, but it doesn't look good. Again, to paraphrase Pete Townshend, schadenfreude, reign o'er me!
What the Giants' series win also accomplished was it ended the Dodgers' unacceptable dominance at Mays Field, a winning streak that extended to 11 games. Instead of meekly rolling over in a potential spoiler matchup like in the final weekend of last season, the Giants made their stand. The 1982 incarnation of Joe Morgan would have been proud.
With the Diamondbacks coming in, the Giants have the opportunity to play the party pooper once again. Funny thing about the DBacks: they lead their division despite a horrible run differential. They sport a shiny 81-63 record despite being outscored by their opponents by 29 runs. Usually that's an indication that a team sucks (Arizona's Pythagorean Record is 69-75), but somehow the Snakes are getting it done this season.
Remember another team that ran into the playoffs despite being outscored by other teams? That's right, the 1997 Giants, a team that would get crushed 19-3 one day, then come back and win a few 2-1 games in a row. As we all sadly know, that team didn't fare too well in the postseason (Wilson Alvarez, meet Devon White), so perhaps it's a bad omen for the DBacks.
Not that I, or any, Giants fan should feel much sympathy. Since our team is going nowhere this year, the best thing to cling to now is that sweet sense of schadenfreude as the Dodgers' season goes up in flames. After dropping the series this weekend, the Dodgers are now five-and-a-half games back of the Diamondbacks in the NL West, and two-and-a-half back of the Padres for the NL Wild Card. Our old buddy, BP's Playoff Odds Report, saw their playoff odds sink from 33% at the start of Friday's game to 23% at the start of today. They aren't done, per se, but it doesn't look good. Again, to paraphrase Pete Townshend, schadenfreude, reign o'er me!
What the Giants' series win also accomplished was it ended the Dodgers' unacceptable dominance at Mays Field, a winning streak that extended to 11 games. Instead of meekly rolling over in a potential spoiler matchup like in the final weekend of last season, the Giants made their stand. The 1982 incarnation of Joe Morgan would have been proud.
With the Diamondbacks coming in, the Giants have the opportunity to play the party pooper once again. Funny thing about the DBacks: they lead their division despite a horrible run differential. They sport a shiny 81-63 record despite being outscored by their opponents by 29 runs. Usually that's an indication that a team sucks (Arizona's Pythagorean Record is 69-75), but somehow the Snakes are getting it done this season.
Remember another team that ran into the playoffs despite being outscored by other teams? That's right, the 1997 Giants, a team that would get crushed 19-3 one day, then come back and win a few 2-1 games in a row. As we all sadly know, that team didn't fare too well in the postseason (Wilson Alvarez, meet Devon White), so perhaps it's a bad omen for the DBacks.
Labels: dodgers suck, finding solace in a bad season, playing the spoiler
