Los Angeles Dodgers

Pity the prima donna who loses her voice.

Manny Ramirez is a prolific hitter. He’s also a perennial headache. In 17 big league seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder has justified his shenanigans in the clubhouse with his statistics on the field—which would be better news if his recent numbers didn’t raise the specter of a looming collapse.

Distinction means running ahead of your peers.

Decline, on the other hand, means fading back into the pack.

With Spring Training in full swing, the Dodgers injuries are starting to tally. However, fans shouldn't panic—this sounds like the same record we have listened to for years. For the past decade, the Dodgers have had preseason injuries that make the news, and most often they make the news simply because it's Spring Training, and nothing else is going on.

Russell Martin, Casey Blake, and Cory Wade are already making headlines with reported injuries, but the Dodgers organization and the players don't seem concerned.

Once upon a time, in a Dodger era far, far away, lived one of the best closers in all of baseball history.  It was 84 consecutive saves until the "Game Over" Gagne beast was proved to be human.  

Few individuals knew it at the time, but on Oct. 6, 1966, Sandy Koufax started the final game of his career.

The highly favored Los Angeles Dodgers had dropped the first game of the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles, but Dodgers fans were not overly concerned because Koufax was starting the second game against young Jim Palmer.

Koufax won 27 games during the season and completed 27 of 41 starts. The Orioles' entire staff had "only" 23 complete games.

Sandy Koufax, hands folded in his lap, sat in the center of Nokia Theatre's bright stage between the Skipper and the Local Sports Columnist , who sat waiting for him to say something.

There’s much to dislike about Manny Ramirez, from the absurd drug-related bust to the ridiculous antics, to the worthless quitter he is.

Losing much sleep on whether he’ll return next season to Dodgertown is pointless, and dwelling on the disturbing topic creates a ruckus with spring training a week away.

Sandy Koufax won the Cy Young Award for the third time in 1966.

He won 27 games for a Los Angeles team that was offensively challenged, and compiled a 1.90 ERA+, which was the best of his career. Koufax was at his peak.

Los Angeles, led by Koufax and Don Drysdale, won the pennant, but the underdog Baltimore Orioles swept the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series.

It was a tremendous upset that only Frank Robinson and Orioles' manager Hank Bauer thought could happen.

In an article about the Yankees outfield depth beyond their starters , I made the assumption that Marcus Thames was going to make the team and made it seem like the only way Jamie Hoffmann would stick with the team is if the Yankees worked out a trade with the Dodgers to keep the Rule 5 pick.

What happened to Russell Martin in 2009?  Was it an aberration or have his skills actually declined? Before we can answer that question, let’s take a look at his 2009 production:

505 At Bats
.250 Batting Average (126 Hits)
7 Home Runs
53 RBI
63 Runs
11 Stolen Bases
.352 On Base Percentage
.329 Slugging Percentage
.285 Batting Average on Balls in Play

The National League West lacked a clear-cut favorite to win the division for most of its recent history.  That changed though in 2009 when the Dodgers were expected by almost everyone to win the division.  The addition of Manny Ramirez really put them up and above their competition.  The Dodgers did go on to win the NL West, but it was a lot closer than anyone had expected.  Teams such as the Giants and Rockies proved that they were capable of contending with the Dodgers last year.  The Dodgers had to use every ounce of their ability to come away with the NL West, and I feel that the race w