Mr. Unlucky’s Almanack

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I consider Joe Torrey the greatest sports spokesperson and public figure in the past 20 or 30 years, and I adore him.

However, the Dodgers’ hiring of Torre as manager is a bunch of things besides obtaining a first-rate baseball manager.

First of all, it represents the failure of Dodger ownership to figure out how to put together a winning team, both on and off the field, despite repeated (even today) public protestations about "getting it right."  They now have a great manager, but it’s all cover-up, once again.

To owner Frank McCourt, if you can’t field a winning team, you steal a symbol from the East Coast–first ex-Boston manager Grady Little and now ex-Yankee manager Joe Torre–and hope they can bring the magic with them.  You see, McCourt still identifies with the Boston Red Sox more than the Bums.  He probably got off watching the BoSox sweep the Rockies.

Problem is, Frankie boy, the magic elixir for winning is $$$.  And McCourt wants to win on a $75 million annual player payroll while extorting the fans for ever-higher ticket, parking and concession prices.

Meanwhile, his general manager, Ned Colletti, is hell-bent on giving his ex-Giants players huge, long-term contracts (Jason Schmidt, et al.), and then at trading deadline on making it look like he knows what he’s doing by bringing in a buch of fringe (and basically useless) rejects such as Shea Hillenbrand, David Wells and Esteban Loaiza.

The Dodgers should definitely win more games in 2008 and maybe even take the NL West title, but will Torre take them to the promised land?

Highly unlikely unless the payroll spikes by tens of millions to bring in veteran leadership and guys who can hit when it counts–and hit big.

You Might Also Like:

• First in BS, First in Signing Cheaters
• What Else? More Smoke and Utter Dodger BS
• McCourt Decrees: L.A. Shall Become Boston
• Tommy Lasorda for President
• Collusion of Common Sense

Posted in Almanack Musings |