Wake-up call: Andrew Bynum, Manny Ramirez, Teemu Selanne
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First things first: The photos above say it all about why the Lakers’ Andrew Bynum and now free agent Manny Ramirez are so good and so worth a lot of money. One has a deal now (Bynum) and one is about to start the free-agent negotiation stage (Manny). Bynum, who just turned 21, has agreed to a four-year deal worth about $58 million, Mike Bresnahan reports. And Dylan Hernandez reports that Dodgers GM Ned Colletti says this morning he hopes to talk to Manny Ramirez soon. Let’s hope that Colletti and the Dodgers don’t low-ball Manny (who turned the team around at midseason) despite the fact that the left fielder is 36.
B-r-r-raseball: So wasn’t that the best darn October baseball game you’ve seen? As The Times’ baseball columnist Bill Shaikin points out, it took only 78 minutes for the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies to get it done. And what tension! Either team could have won right up to the last out -- it was that close. A packed 3.5 innings. What if all regular season baseball games averaged 78 minutes? By late summer, I am weary of those nine-inning games that take 210 minutes or more. Give us 6 innings of baseball like last night and attendance at every stadium would rocket. And imagine how using pitchers would change. A guy could pitch five innings and then the closer comes in. No more 12 pitchers in a game because the relief corps just isn’t that good.
Add baseball: I’m glad the World Series is over for one reason: I don’t have to see Joe Maddon, boy from Pennsylvania, in that ear-flap-down baseball cap and those heavy gloves that looked like my ski gloves. I got cold looking at him.
Add baseball 2: Joe Torre was interviewed on the Lakers-Clippers telecast last night at Staples, where he watched Kobe’s team demolish Baron’s team. Torre agreed it was gratifying that the team that put away the Dodgers so easily went on to win the whole thing. But the Phillies also showed that the Dodgers have a ways to go. They got as far as they did because of the incredible hitting of Manny Ramirez and the pitching of Derek Lowe and Hiroki Kuroda and Chad Billingsley. But when Billingsley collapsed in the NL series, it seemed so did the Dodgers. By the way, MLB’s Dodgers beat guy Ken Gurnick answers some fans’ questions and reminds me of one painful thought: pitcher Jason Schmidt has another year left on his contract at $15.5 million.
Lakers’ time: The Lakers Phil Jackson talked how good the team’s defense was in the 117-79 victory over the Clippers (see video below) but what I saw of the game it looked more like the Clippers’ lack of defense. Baron Davis is a terrific player but he can’t do it alone. As The Times’ NBA columnist Mark Heisler points out, the Clippers simply ran into a buzz saw.
Photo at left: Andrew Bynum blocks the shot of Clippers center Chris Kaman during the first half last night. Credit: Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press
Photo at right: Manny Ramirez hits another home run, this one in Game 5 of the NLCS. Jeff Gross / Getty Images