Los Angeles Dodgers

This time, it's the Dodgers feeling blue as the Cubs win 7-0.

Last season, the Dodgers spoke almost boastfully of how well they scouted Ryan Dempster, using advanced reports to help beat the Cubs 7-2 in Game 1 of the NLDS. Apparently, they've lost the playbook, as Dempster and the Cubs bullpen combined on a five-hit, 7-0 shutout of the Dodgers on Saturday afternoon.

Look, there are a lot of reason why one might say that the Cubs won this game, and frankly, why they looked so completely different than we've seen them over the last month.

The MLB All-Star Game voting has been a popularity contest for years.  Everyone knows that.  We've all seen players with weak numbers get voted in by the fans merely on name recognition.  For that reason, the MLB powers-that-be began allowing the managers to hand pick players they believed were worthy of inclusion.

Filed:May 28th, 2009

Click here for the photo gallery of Thursday's game

They're deep. They have a real good pitching staff. They're athletic; even balanced. And they're the best team in the National League.

They're the Dodgers, and they're everything the Cubs were supposed to be this year once, you know, they got more left-handed.

Before the season began, they were typically picked to finish fourth in their own division.

Fred Claire, the embattled General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, managed to pry open the tight-fisted grip Peter O’Malley had on the organizations coffers. Claire was convinced that one fiery superstar, with a World Series ring and several All-Star game appearances to his credit, was the key to turning the Dodgers around.

This one's gonna hurt, but it's gotta be done.

There's a double edge to constantly dumping on the Los Angeles Dodgers when you're a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan. Well, if you are and you pride yourself on being as objective as possible. I certainly like to think I fit both parts of that description.

Which means the second edge is about to get me.

Because the Bums are very good in 2009—there's no getting around that fact anymore.

May 7: A day Dodgers fans would like to try and forget. 

Manny Ramirez, immediately embraced by the Dodger Stadium faithful after coming from the Boston Red Sox in a trade last July 31, found out he was forced to sit out the next 50 games for his actions.

Joe Torre needs to reconsider his bullpen usage before he has no arms left in October.

Torre has the Dodgers (31-15) keeping a steady pace ahead of the surging San Diego Padres. Even with the aid of a 10-game winning streak, the Padres (23-22) have only crept within 7 ½ games of the Dodgers.

• Baseball
• Los Angeles Dodgers
• MLB
• NL West