ShareThisThe Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels faced off in an exhibition tune-up Thursday night, a pair of baseball big dogs expected to rule their respective divisions over the next six months.
Uh-oh.
"Favored to win." Famous first words. I'm not sure there's a sport less predictable than baseball, unless you count rock-paper-scissors.
"Whether they're predicting success or doom for you," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said, surveying the Chavez Ravine field in uniform for the first time since Philadelphia ended LA's season here 5-1/2 months ago, "there's no shortcut to it."
Exactly. Baseball is 162 days of what can go wrong?
The Angels didn't even have to wait for Game 1. Three of their five starting pitchers (John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar) are in various states of disrepair. All are expected back before too long, but that doesn't aid Mike Scioscia's sleep patterns.
"Major league managers, the first thing they think about when they wake up and the last thing they think about before they go to sleep is the rotation," the Angels boss said. "Right now we're trying to get through some things."
On the Dodgers' side, once they signed their 36-year-old "phenom," Manny Ramirez, in the early days of spring training, the sky went from gray to kaleidoscope.
No doubt, Ramirez's return instantly solidified the lineup. He was the hub. The other guys were the spokes. The Dodgers were ready to repeat as National League West champions.
"I'm real happy with our starting eight -- we have the potential to score some runs," Torre said, omitting the No. 9 spot in the lineup, and momentarily letting go of the notion that major league managers wake up and go to sleep with pitching on their minds.
Lost in the Manny euphoria was the fact that the Dodgers have overhauled key pitching parts. They will be relying on guys either long on potential (Chad Billingsley, Clay Kershaw, James McDonald and closer Jonathan Broxton) or long in the tooth (Randy Wolf, Hiroki Kuroda and maybe even Jeff Weaver).
If the Dodgers' attack looks more imposing than it's pitching, for the first time in years, the Angels, likewise, are uncharacteristically brimming with "O." They averaged eight runs a game in Arizona.
The late addition of Bobby "The Bargain" Abreu ends the team's Tin Man syndrome. The lineup now has a bona fide "heart" with Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter.
"We have the potential to do more things than we have in awhile," Scioscia said. Translation: more long ball, less small ball.
Nice. But here's the weird part: These "favorites" are set offensively, just needing the pitching to come around. In what league (that doesn't use aluminum bats) does good hitting beat good pitching?
The Angels also lost their 62-save man, Francisco Rodriguez, luring lefty Brian Fuentes to try to fill those prodigious closer shoes.
"I'm sure all the fans are hoping I put up 80 saves," Fuentes said playfully, exaggerating the point before the game. "I'm just going to try to get the first one. Frankie was unbelievable last year, but he's in New York, just thinking about getting one, too."
Anyway, the roulette wheel begins turning next week, and nothing is pre-ordained. (Historical reference: Tampa Bay.)
"There are always going to be pleasant surprises and unpleasant surprises," said Torre, who didn't have to add that, as a general rule, favorites hate surprises.
(Contact Gregg Patton at gpatton@PE.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif.
