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  • August 13, 2008 03:07 PM ET

Guru Tourneys Round 2-Who will win the NL West?

Cassidy's House: Priceless (135-87-9) vs travis31 (78-41-12)
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I say the LA Dodgers.

The Dodgers have managed 2 stay within striking distance of Arizona all yr despite a 5-9 start from their ace Brad Penny due 2 an injured shoulder he didnt tell anybody about until it was 2 late.

Now the Dodgers have added Casey Blake @ 3B & Manny Ramirez in LF to a lineup that seriously needed some more pop. Say what you want about Andruw Jones, but the Dodgers are a game behind the D-Backs despite AJ sucking out loud.

The Dodgers have two young outfielders in Andre Eithier and Matt Kemp who have been hitting the ball great all year, and James Loney has done and admirable job holding down 1B until Nomar Garciaparra can get his injured butt in shape for the first time in a couple of seasons.

The Dodgers starting three is great now that Penny has gotten healthy, Derek Lowe is coming into his own, and Chad Billingsley continues to rock the MLB world with all those K's despite no early season run support as his record reflects.

In the last ten games for eac team, the Dodgers are 6-4(including two wins in a row over the Phillies), whereas as the D-backs are sputtering at 4-6 as we head down these long Dog Days of August baseball.

Dodgers>D-Backs


"James Loney has done and admirable job holding down 1B until Nomar Garciaparra can get his injured butt in shape for the first time in a couple of seasons"

I strongly disagree with that statement. Loney will still start when Nomar comes back.

And Im sure by now everyone has heard about the Adam Dunn trade by now. This gives the Dbacks an established hitter who has some serious power.

But thats not even the best part of the deal.

Connor Jackson is at his best when he is able to be a gap hitter who doesnt have to worry about swinging for power. Having Dunn in that lineup should take that concern off Jacksons shoulders and we should see an increase in Jacksons average, which will benefit the free swingers on the team, with more runners on base and they wil be able tp score more runs.

Arizona, although in a little bit of a slump, will be fine and they havent even lost the divison lead yet.

Dbacks over the Dodgers.


"I strongly disagree with that statement. Loney will still start when Nomar comes back."

Nomar has been back already b4 getting reinjured & in every case he was the starter unless he couldnt run @ all then they just had him pinch hitting. As of now he can do neither effectively.

James Loney is a great hitter, dont get me wrong. However, Nomar isnt making Nomar-money to sit on the bench down the stretch & have L.A. to come up short and always wonder what would have happened if they had started the big name they brought in just for these situations a couple years back.

Adam Dunn is a nice pickup for the D-backs. However, for every hit he averages 1 1/2 strikeouts, so I wouldnt call that production in the clutch. Adam is an all or nothing hitter. Before he came over to Arizona he was hitting .233 with 120 strikeouts and only 87 hits. Thats not a good ratio for a guy you have in the heart of your lineup to drive runners in when the need arises. Adam's biggest problem is he swings for the fences on every at bat. Dude, this isnt your own personal homerun derby league, this is MLB: be a team player for once.

Manny w/Sox: .299, 109 hits, only 86 K

Man-Ram>Adam Dunn


Im not a big Dodgers guy. I live in the Midwest.

If the Dodgers want to start Nomar over Loney there are just costin themselves in the divsion race.

I know that Adam Dunn is a HR hitter or bust. But thats not my point of why Dunn makes a big impact. Besides, Dunn gets lots of walks and can get on base for this Dback lineup who need all the baserunners they can get.

We now get to see the old Co-Jack again. The one who hits for god average, and puts the ball into the gaps.

But now on to the biggest advantage point of the Diamondbacks.

Thats right, you guessed it. The duo of Webb and Haren gives the Dbacks 2 solid starts every time out. Thats one thing the Dodgers havent had all year. Consistent starting ptiching. Billingsley has been up and down and Kuroda has been a big disapointment.


I am not a big D-backs girl. Never saw the need for wanting to live & play in the scorching desert that is Arizona. But I digress....

This TD isnt about Nomar vs. Loney. The fact remains that if I am wrong & Loney does start over Garciaparra, then that even speaks MORE in favor of MY argument according to u. The Dodgers have the luxury of playing Loney vs right handers & Nomar versus left handers if it comes to that.

The reason Dunn gets any walks is because there was nobody behind him in the Reds lineup who was more threating, which isnt saying much if you follow the Dead Legs. I would love to see a guy like Connor Jackson protecting Dunn in the lineup. That way I know Penny, Lowe, or Billingsley of the Dodgers wont pitch around Dunn and give the D-Backs a charity baserunner. They will just strike his flailing arse out.

Most every team has at least one good hitter. There is no need for me to address "Co-Jack" as he will surely do his best to keep the Backs in the race until the final week.

What it will come down to is top-bottom batting orders. Dodgers: Matt Kemp, Juan Pierre, Ramirez, Kent, Russell Martin, Casey Blake, Andre Eithier, James Loney, Berroa>D-backs


The Dbacks will be able to hold on. Their pitching will be enough to keep them ahead of the Dodgers.

I think Adam Dunn will be energized by playing on a contender and we could see career best stats from him down the stretch.

Or at the very least, increased HRs. He will be more motivated to play now that his HRs actua;;y mean something to a team.....

Jackson bats in front of Dunn. Teams will continue to pitch around him and pitch to Mark Reynolds, who isnt much better of an average hitter either, but he has less power than Dunn.

Manny Ramirez, while as good as he as been, has lead the Dodgers to just a .500 record.

Even Manny hasbt been able to bring LA over .500 by a considerable amount during his stay.

Webb and Haren for the Dodgers to overcome.

Dbacks win the division.

Comments (79) Add A Comment

August 13, 2008  03:07 PM ET
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Good luck Travis

August 13, 2008  03:10 PM ET
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You too.

August 13, 2008  03:13 PM ET
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I heard that the Dogers will only 4-6 somewhere the last 10 games must have been wrong

August 13, 2008  03:13 PM ET
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The Giants are gonna go on a crasy run and win it mark y word

August 13, 2008  03:14 PM ET
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haha just kidding ^^

August 13, 2008  07:09 PM ET
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Cassidy's House: Fisher of Men said 08/13, 07:06 PM
I am not a big D-backs girl. Never saw the need for wanting to live & play in the scorching desert that is Arizona.

Me either.

August 13, 2008  07:32 PM ET
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Vote >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>& gt;>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>>> and then some

August 13, 2008  07:42 PM ET
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Peach doesnt know baseball from a hole in the ground but whatever.

August 13, 2008  08:46 PM ET
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Peach, who recently beat you?

And I wasn't going to vote, but I gotta go left because of a hater vote in my other td.

August 13, 2008  08:50 PM ET
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The Dodgers have too much firepower for the Dbacks to hold them off vote goes left

August 13, 2008  08:51 PM ET
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Peach, who recently beat you?

And I wasn't going to vote, but I gotta go left because of a hater vote in my other td.
Bigdleech | 08/13/08, 08:46 PM

Thats all big talk until I see a real vote registered with your name on it.

August 13, 2008  09:10 PM ET
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Okay, so you would rather have me vote against you than not vote at all? Fine then, I hope you're happy.

August 13, 2008  09:14 PM ET
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Okay, so you would rather have me vote against you than not vote at all? Fine then, I hope you're happy.
Bigdleech | 08/13/08, 09:10 PM

You said a post earlier that you gotta go left but didnt vote because it was me. Shows how much of a hater you are. Even when you agree with my side you cant bring yourself down to your knees to praise me in the comments.

August 13, 2008  09:17 PM ET
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Vote right

August 13, 2008  09:30 PM ET
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Okay, so you would rather have me vote against you than not vote at all? Fine then, I hope you're happy.
Bigdleech | 08/13/08, 09:10 PM

You said a post earlier that you gotta go left but didnt vote because it was me. Shows how much of a hater you are. Even when you agree with my side you cant bring yourself down to your knees to praise me in the comments.
Cassidy's House: Fisher of Men | 08/13/08, 09:14 PM

Ever hear of sarcasm Roy? Would that even make sense? I say that I am going to go left, even though you were the one that dropped the hater vote. Clearly a case of sarcasm. I guess I'll have to use the sign every time.

August 13, 2008  09:34 PM ET
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c3po and r2d2 vote on the same td, three minutes apart? I'm surprised we didn't see any Vader votes in there.
Bigdleech | 08/13/08, 03:40 PM

And another coincidence. Carolinagirl joins Women R Us again, and then instantly votes for you in a td. Nothing suspicious there...
Bigdleech | 08/13/08, 03:44 PM

Insinuating that I cheat when the same exact voters that vote for you show up in all your TDs and that isnt suspicious either? Give me a break leecher and stop tracking my TDs like its one of your measley paychecks.

August 13, 2008  09:37 PM ET
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gotta go with Cass here.

August 13, 2008  09:37 PM ET
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c3po and r2d2 vote on the same td, three minutes apart? I'm surprised we didn't see any Vader votes in there.
Bigdleech | 08/13/08, 03:40 PM

Hilarious how you have a giglorious blind spot to Duquesne's weak attempt to frame me for cheating.

August 13, 2008  09:37 PM ET
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gotta go with Cass here.
outlaw is East Bound and Down | 08/13/08, 09:37 PM

Be careful of keeping it real too much, outlaw. That will have you butting heads with leech everytime.

 
August 13, 2008  09:40 PM ET
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Insinuating that I cheat when the same exact voters that vote for you show up in all your TDs and that isnt suspicious either? Give me a break leecher and stop tracking my TDs like its one of your measley paychecks.
Cassidy's House: Fisher of Men | 08/13/08, 09:34 PM

I'm in high school, I have a part time job, so I don't worry about my paycheck that much. Unlike you, I will have to spend my senior year building up my app to get into a good college. I doubt you even had the grades to graduate at Citrus Heights Middle School.

And again, you provided one person earlier, and I proved you wrong on that.

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