I think George Lopez' grandmother said it best with, "Then Don't Go!" We, as Dodger fans, are too loyal (and we don't even get credit for it). We're too nice. We go to the games no matter who they put out there. We go for the tradition. For Vinnie. For the organ music. The dogs. The tranquil surroundings of the Ravine. But we've got to stop it. I've been yelling this for years, to no one who can do anything about it of course, that we, are idiots. We're the Cub fans of the West. And the owners, all of them in this post O'Malley era, know it. They know we'll go no matter who they put out there in the Home Whites.
This is L.A. Not Cleveland. Not Milwaukee. Not Cincinnati. L.A. In L.A., we shouldn't have to endure as many rebuilding years as we've had. Did we back in March, as we sat around discussing it over beers with our buddies, really think that this team had a chance at a World Championship. Be honest now. Our hopes we're high. We loved that we were able to keep the kids. We knew we had good pitching but no true studs. We knew that we were hanging on to the hope that Andruw was going to turn it around and be a miraculous signing. But, deep down, we knew that there was a lot of wishing and hoping going on. We hoped that the kids would have developed some pop in their bats over the winter. We hoped that LaRoche was going to be the next Ron Cey. We hoped that Kent and Nomar were going to stay healthy. But, in our heart of hearts and in the most knowing, honest modules of our brain, we knew that there was a lot of praying and finger crossing going on if we were going to make a run at this thing.
Well, I'm tired. I'm tired of a lineup with no pop. I'm tired of a staff with Brad Penny as our No. 1. I'm tired of wishing and hoping that everything will work out. But most of all, more than anything, I'm tired of us setting new, damn attendance records every season. We need to stop supporting the mediocrity. I'm tired of seeing lineups with Maza and Hu in them every time I go out to the Stadium.
In his defense, McCourt has said some nice things about the future of the organization that I beleive. I support the plan to keep the youth and build around them. But at the same time, this is L.A. This is the Dodgers. It's been 20 frickin' years and we need some stars to go along with that youth so that Jeff Kent isn't our HR leader with 20 once again. If it's a money issue, we could've spent a lot of that Joe Torre money on a player who actually plays on the field. I'm all for hiring a big name, big salary manager, but you've got to have the team to go with him. The Lakers aren't going to pay Phil all that money if they don't have Kobe. Even small markets such as St. Louis and Cincinnati, have guys who can change the game with one swing. They just don't have any pitching. Let's keep our pitching intact and get a game breaker or two.
It's time to package some of the kids together and see what we can get. Not all of them obviously. But something to give us a chance. And if they don't do it, we need to stop setting attendance records. Cuz it's been 20 years since we've even been to the Show, and I'm tired of losing.
One thing I don't get tired of though is saying, Milwaukee. I love it. Every time I hear it I always think about Alice Cooper, in the movie Wayne's World, giving Wayne and Garth the history of the origin of the city's namesake, the Native American term, "Millie-Wah-Kay". I forget what he said it means, but I've always enjoyed saying it, Milwaukee, long before that memorable scene featuring Alice.
