Here's a post-settlement baseball tidbit to get you going. Leading the league in home runs and RBI, Alex Rodriguez only needs to make up a 26-point difference in batting average to win the Triple Crown. Very doable, in my mind - especially if no one else continues to notice for awhile.

The word came this morning that a strike has been averted, and I am happy. I am not one of those (many) fans who would have been angry had a strike occurred. Rather, I think I would have been sad, the way you would be with an incorrigible family member. You don't like it when they misbehave, but you have become jaded enough to think that they just will and there's nothing you can do about it.

Perhaps that makes me the worst kind of relative - the enabling kind. But the thing is, I am sympathetic to the players, who more than ever this year have been painted as the villains in this disagreement. Every night, fans are interviewed by the media and say that it's just a game, and the players have enough money. I'm just amazed by the narrow-mindedness of this. The money isn't being divided between fans and players; it's being divided between owners and players. And the owners are richer people than anyone. Not to canonize the players, but it is the owners' greediness and fiscal irresponsibility that is the primary cause of every labor disagreement in baseball history. I say that with great confidence.

Certainly, though, it will be nice to see this dicussion fade away for awhile, and move back onto the games.

By homering for the only run in the Dodgers' 1-0 victory Wednesday, Odalis Perez became the fourth Dodger pitcher to hit one out this year. The last time four Dodgers pitchers homered in the same season was 1930, when Sloppy Thurston, Ray Phelps, Jumbo Elliott and Watty Clark all went deep.
Just look at that list. Sloppy, Ray, Jumbo and Watty. Now those were some names.

Never in my life have I seen an ambulance drive onto the field to aid a baseball player. Alex Cora's injury, which I saw on television Monday, not in person, was truly scary. Though it was a relief to hear that he had movement the moment he regained consciousness, as a viewer you did not see any movement at all.

On a lighter note, at Tuesday night's game, a Dodger janitor was mopping up a spill a few rows in front of us in Aisle 114. A foul ball came, and landed right where he was mopping. He trapped the ball with his mop, without even looking up. He reached down, picked up the ball, proudly held it aloft and ran off, mop raised in one hand, ball raised in the other. I don't know if he finished mopping up the spill, but it was a wonderful moment and the crowd gave him a huge ovation.

While the Dodgers have rallied to a nice wild-card lead, here is a sobering article to remind you how far away they are from being a real team.

It was interesting to see Tracy not pinch-hit for Kevin Brown Tuesday night, with the Dodgers trailing 4-1 with two out in the bottom of the seventh. Clearly, it was more important for Tracy to see Brown get some work then try to use either Karros or Jordan to try to get something going for the Dodgers.

Given that Brown allowed two runs the next inning, and that the Dodgers scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, this decision may have well cost the Dodgers the game. But I'm willing to give Tracy the benefit of the doubt on this one. He weighed the probablility of a pinch-hitter getting on base and scoring with two out in the seventh (probably something like 10 percent), and decided his chances of reaching the playoffs depended more on Brown getting more work. It may not turn out to be the correct decision, but I do understand it.

I am impressed these days with Jim Tracy's handling of the Dodger starting lineup. In the wake of the July slump, Tracy has essentially benched three of the eight Dodger starters - Izturis, Jordan and Karros - to go with hotter and potentially more productive hands.

This is not to say that Alex Cora, Marquis Grissom and Dave Hansen/Tyler Houston are great offensive players by any stretch. But Tracy's willingness to be objective, and not play the players that have the reputation as starters, is refreshing.

Brian Jordan is reportedly peeved that he hasn't been starting, and I'm sure Karros is unhappy too, because he always seems unhappy. They should just be happy that someone on the team is hitting, and rest and mentally prepare for the opportunity that will surely come their way again.

Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci pointed out this week that the Dodgers are 15th in the league in on-base percentage and first in the league in hitting into double plays. Think about that. This is an inept offensive team. There is very little margin for error for Jim Tracy.

The Times reported today that the Dodgers are thinking of pitching Kevin Brown out of the bullpen. I have thought for weeks that this was the logical place for him to go - even before the bullpen became so unreliable. Brown's question right now is not his talent, but his endurance. Even if he can't pitch on back-to-back days, he can be a reliable force in the bullpen and give the others some clearly needed rest.
The proposed alternatives aren't as good. Moving Daal to the bullpen takes away one of the rotation's more consistent starters, and Ishii always has trouble in his first inning of work - it seems like a recipe for disaster to move him to the bullpen, unless in a mop-up role. I'd like to know why Ishii always walks people in the first inning, but no one seems to know.
While I think the Dodgers should be conservative in trades with other organizations, they need to be dynamic within the organization. Be willing to change peoples' roles. Let Brown ease back into the majors; make the best use of his current abilities. Then, if it appears he has the strength, move him into the rotation. By then, perhaps, we'll have a clearer idea of whom Brown would replace as a starter.

Just some footnotes and minor corrections on Thursday's entry.
On July 29, the Dodgers were 10.5 games behind Atlanta.
On July 30, the Dodgers swept a doubleheader from the Braves, rallying from a 6-1 deficit to win the first game 10-9. The Dodgers ended up sweeping the four-game series with the Braves to pull within 6.5 games, then lost to Cincinnati to fall 7.5 games back.
Two victories over the Reds brought the Dodgers within 5.5 games. Then, with an extra-inning victory on August 5, the Dodgers won another four straight over the Braves - three in extra innings - to pull with 1.5.
Two more victories over the Reds gave the Dodgers eight wins in a row and 12 out of 13, and put them ahead of the Braves on August 10.

Sorry for the posting problem below. I'm trying to get it fixed...

Just some footnotes and minor corrections on the last entry.

On July 29, the Dodgers were 10.5 games behind Atlanta.
On July 30, the Dodgers swept a doubleheader from the Braves, rallying from a 6-1 deficit to win the first game 10-9. The Dodgers ended up sweeping the four-game series with the Braves to pull within 6.5 games, then lost to Cincinnati to fall 7.5 games back.
Two victories over the Reds brought the Dodgers within 5.5 games. Then, with an extra-inning victory on August 5, the Dodgers won another four straight over the Braves - three in extra innings - to pull with 1.5.
Two more victories over the Reds gave the Dodgers eight wins in a row and 12 out of 13, and put them ahead of the Braves on August 10.

Just some footnotes and minor corrections on the last entry.

On July 29, the Dodgers were 10.5 games behind Atlanta.
On July 30, the Dodgers swept a doubleheader from the Braves, rallying from a 6-1 deficit to win the first game 10-9. The Dodgers ended up sweeping the four-game series with the Braves to pull within 6.5 games, then lost to Cincinnati to fall 7.5 games back.
Two victories over the Reds brought the Dodgers within 5.5 games. Then, with an on August 5, the Dodgers won another four straight over the Braves - three in extra innings - to pull with 1.5. Two more victories over the Reds gave the Dodgers eight wins in a row and 12 out of 13, and put them ahead of the Braves on August 10.

As of 5:30 p.m. today, the Dodgers are 9-18 in their last 27 games (a easy-to-calculate .333 winning percentage), yet if the season ended this second, they would be playing in a postseason game. How this will play out remains to be seen, but it does give me an opportunity to talk about one of the most roller coaster regular seasons of my life.

In 1982, before the wild card era when you had to win the division, the Dodgers fell 10 games behind the Atlanta Braves at around this time of year: late July/early August. At that time, getting caught up in playoff fever, Braves owner Ted Turner removed the tepee of Chief Noc-a-homa, the Braves' mascot, from its home in the outfield stands to make room for more seats for paying customers. In the next 12 days, the Braves lost their entire 10-game lead. They went 1-11, and the Dodgers went 11-1.

Perhaps poetically, my Dad and I were visting the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY as this was going on. It was just astonishing. The only problem was that it was happening in August and not late September. As the Dodgers continued to edge their new-found lead out to a few games, my 14 1/2-year-old self was slightly sad that it was going to end up being a runaway, instead of a dramatic finish.

And then Ted Turner put the tepee back.

The Braves started winning again, the Dodgers started losing. And on the last day of the season, Joe Morgan of the Giants homered off Terry Forster of the Dodgers in the bottom of the 8th inning, while the Braves were beating San Diego. Atlanta won the division on that final day.

You never have it lost, and you never have it won. And so, while I can look at the Dodgers, as I have earlier on this site, and alternately forecast doom or optimism, you simply never, ever, ever know. And I guess that's part of why I keep coming back. I am a cynical man who constantly hopes.

Brax Cutchin sent me my first fan letter! Sure, it may end up being my only fan letter, but it was nice all the same. Thanks, Brax! Consider my next entry dedicated to you...

This is no quid pro quo, but I feel an overwhelming urge to plug Brax's musical genius to the world via his own Web site.

I know I haven't been too steady with this so far. The ups and downs are just wreaking havoc with me. From the ninth innings of Gagne's ejection to Green's home run...if I could just learn to roll with these things, it would probably leave me better suited for life in general. But it is hard to roll...