A relatively quiet night at the ballpark left a lot of questions unanswered, namely:
- Why did Grady Little wait so long to take out Tomko, who was clearly off--there was no way we were going to come back after spotting them eight runs, and the bullpen, well-rested after the last two games, did a fine job (0 runs the rest of the way) and could have entered the game much earlier?
- Why we were playing for one run in the first inning, down 3-0, when Rafael Furcal gets a leadoff single and Juan Pierre tries to lay down a sacrifice bunt? Huh?
- Why does everyone in the lineup insist upon swinging early in the count against unproven pitchers (including Luis Gonzalez' rally-stifling GIDP in the sixth, when Gonzo swung on a 1-0 count to weakly ground back to the pitcher)?
- Why is Ramon Martinez is allowed to come up to bat in a game-ending situation (and sure enough, he ended the game)?
- Why does the Coca-Cola trivia contestant always win?
- Why, when a Dodger comes up to the plate, does the stadium scoreboard ribbon puts up these creepy little horizontal slivers that focus on the player's eyes. It's a little Big Brother-esque.
I feel like I need to bring the Dodgers to Radio Shack. I've got questions. Maybe Radio Shack has answers.
The only positive thing the Dodgers can say is that they were generous in letting the Cardinals put an end to their offensive woes. (And, we shut down Albert Pujols who went 0-for-5.)
- 3 wins the hat shuffle.
- Coca Cola Trivia contestant answers correctly.
- Blue wins the dot race.
- Two beers, one dog consumed.
- Parking was not easy tonight, despite a light crowd. They had stacked cars in Lot G in unmarked areas, and forced me to exit on Academy Road rather than the Sunset Gate in which I entered. Too many parking attendants were standing around idly. Put 'em to work, Frankie!