“The teams that are able to shake off bad things are the ones who are going to be playing in October,” Torre said.

That quote by Torre sums up yesterdays win over the Phillies.  Good series overall taking two of three against a team we couldn’t beat at home last season.  James Loney came out of home run slump, which didn’t bother me much since he had 20+ RBI’s in his first 30 games played without a homerun.  That is productivity folks!

Next up is the Marlins with a possible visit by Manny.  I think it will be good for the team to chat with him and give him some support.  This is especially true now since his HCG story appear to be unraveling before him.  I think after the initial shock I do not care anymore.  This era of baseball has been tainted and nothign suprises me.  I just hope the new generation of ball players that started since this whole fiasco began a few years back can bring the game out of all of this.  For the Dodgers we have a good crop of guys to do that in Martin, Kemp, Loney, Billingsley, Kershaw and Broxton.

Mean while back at the ranch…

The most exciting thing to happen to the Nationals this year was the Ryan Zimmerman hit streak.  Now that it is over attention has turned to the upcoming draft.  Everyone is expecting the Nats to use the first pick in the draft to select Stephen Strasburg from San Diego State.  One problem, how can the Nats even afford to sign him?  I do know this… NO ONE is going to Nats games this year– I can’t even seem to give my company’s seats away.  Perhaps Strasburg can put some butts in the seats, but I doubt it.

One again the Devils Agent has struck.  The draft should be about teams being able to improve themselves.  If the contract bar is set so high that the best propsect can’t be picked using the first pick than the system is broken.  And the Nats should be mindful, we Dodger fans know that Boras will keep his guy out for a year so he can get paid.