THIS SPIN A GOODWIN.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI ANAHEIM - When you talk about the Dodgers' manifold humiliation this October, you begin with the fact Tom Goodwin ``I'm thinking they'll probably take more heat for the Angels making it,'' Goodwin said last week of the Dodgers, who dumped him but still have to pay him, ``than for me making it.'' True, the worst thing from the Dodgers' perspective might be the fact the Angels, their down-at-the-heels neighbors, are in the Series, and they are not. Unless the worst thing is the fact the San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California that currently play in the National League West Division. New York Giants history Early days and the John McGraw era , their battlin' rivals from upstate, are in the Series, and they are not. Unless the worst thing is the fact all four of the other major-league franchises in California now have won pennants since the Dodgers won their last pennant Pennant A continuation pattern in technical analysis formed when there is a large movement in a stock, the flagpole, followed by a consolidation period with converging trendlines, the pennant, followed by a breakout movement in the same direction as the initial large movement, the in 1988. Unless the worst thing is the fact both Angels manager Mike Scioscia You get the picture. The air has changed since the Dodgers finished their season declaring it a success despite finishing third, a reasonable assessment considering their progress in the front office, and in the clubhouse, as well as on the field. A cynic cyn·ic n. 1. A person who believes all people are motivated by selfishness. 2. A person whose outlook is scornfully and often habitually negative. 3. said no man can be truly happy unless his best friend is miserable, and that's certainly true of a ballclub and its rivals. The Dodgers had to be breathing a whole lot easier before the Angels and Giants left them in the dust. You suspect the people who get their mail at 1000 Elysian Park Elysian Park can mean:
And you wonder whether, like George Steinbrenner's New York Yankees  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. in any offseason after a New York Mets
Provocatively, the Dodgers say the answer is no. ``I want the fans to know our approach doesn't change. I don't want fans to think this makes us want it more,'' said Derrick Hall
 This article or section is written like an . , the Dodgers' senior vice president for
communications. ``We have to try hard every year.''
Said Hall: ``Whether it's the Angels, whether it's the White Sox, it doesn't matter who it is that's crowned, it's a reminder that you're not there and a motivation to get there. That gives (general manager Dan Evans) and the baseball staff motivation going into this offseason. ... To watch somebody celebrate is a bitter reminder that that's where we want to be.'' But Hall said the front office is determined that ``our approach can't change.'' In fact, he said, the Angels' triumph with the products of their own amateur scouting and farm system - an emphasis to which the Dodgers are trying to return - ``reminds us that we're on the right path.'' The embarrassment, if that's the word for what the Dodgers ought to be feeling, would be worse if, in winning 92 games to take the wild-card race with the Giants down to the final week, they hadn't confirmed second-year manager Jim Tracy's fitness for the job and found a center-fielder-slash-leadoff-hitter in Dave Roberts For other uses, see Dave Roberts (disambiguation). David Ray Roberts (born May 31, 1972 in Okinawa, Japan), is a Major League Baseball center fielder for the San Francisco Giants. . It's harder to pine for Scioscia, who quit in 1999 as manager of the Dodgers' Albuquerque farm club, tired of interference from the major-league front office then run by Kevin Malone
Kevin Malone is a fictional character from the US television series, The Office. He is played by Brian Baumgartner. , or for Baker, who had a bitter parting in 1993 after eight seasons in the Dodgers outfield. It's impossible to miss the noodle-batted Goodwin, who was released by the Dodgers in the spring but continued to draw his $3 million salary from the Dodgers while getting some big hits for the Giants. Hall said the Dodgers are ``proud'' of Scioscia and Baker, ``happy'' for Goodwin. At the All-Star break, when they were up in the playoff echelon, the Dodgers had to think they'd make the World Series before those guys. Now, the Dodgers' slant is that this all-California World Series is good for Dodgers. ``The only thing better would have been us being there,'' Hall said. ``We truly believe that having fans in Southern California watching baseball this late into October is good for all of us. It puts our team in a pretty good situation as far as marketing next year. It's going to make the (Dodgers-Giants) rivalry that much more intense.'' The Dodgers will have to work hard, between now and their March 31, 2003, opener at Arizona, to prove they have not been eclipsed by the Angels and Giants. Listening to Hall contrive con·trive v. con·trived, con·triv·ing, con·trives v.tr. 1. To plan with cleverness or ingenuity; devise: contrive ways to amuse the children. 2. a positive spin on the Dodgers' nightmare World Series, it appears the hard work already has begun. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: No matter what progress Jim Tracy's Dodgers made this season, it has to hurt to see the rival Giants and Angels in the World Series. Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion