2011, The Season of “What Ifs”

All the Dodger related blogs have made their points, (See blogroll to the right).  Kershaw is amazing, there’s no doubt about it.  He’ll most likely take home the Cy Young hardware, and that is very special.  But I wonder, was his 2011 performance a tragic waste of phenominal performances to this lifeless team?  

What if Kershaw and Kemp had simply had a few more pieces around them? What if the kids had been allowed to play earlier on in the season?  What if the Dodgers had received a power bat to accompany Kemp in the middle of the order?  What if the McCourt ownership problems were not an issue and the Dodgers could have spent money like the large market team that they are?

2011 will be remembered by me as the season of “what ifs.”

I hate to throw negativity into the mix, especially considering that last night’s win was possibly the most satisfying of the year, but man, this could have been an incredible year for the Dodgers had they been able to mix some more solid contributions in with the Kemp and Kershaw seasons.  I get some relief seeing that they have a good chance of finishing over .500.  Now a sweep of the Giants to close off their home schedule is next on the agenda.

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Interesting  to note, without the Giants in the league who are the worst offensive club in baseball, Kershaw’s numbers wouldn’t be under consideration for the Cy Young Award.  Let’s put things into consideration here.  The Giants had Mark DeRosa batting clean-up last night.  They have scored on 542 runs and their Pythagorean record puts them at 78-76, a full five games less than their current win total.  They are last in runs scored, last in OBP,  second to last in OPS and batting average.  This is a bad offensive team and Kershaw was able to take advantage of their awful assemblage of talent.  

As a legitmate Giant hater and one that revels in their misery, I must say that I enjoy their ineptitude and am happy to see them fall on their faces.  Kershaw will forever be a Dodger favorite to me because he absolutely owns them.  Just as former Dodgers that owned the Gnats in the past are favorites.  Ron Cey, Bob Welch, Jerry Reuss, and Paul LoDuca come to mind. 

Here’s to the Giants being eliminated from post season play by Thursday at Dodger Stadium.