Even Playoff Scenario Is Shaping Up Well

Well, it ain’t over until it’s over, but it’s almost over. By pulling out Wednesday night’s 7-5 victory over the Little Giants, in all likelihood the Dodgers are going to become the division champions, which has more importance than a lot of people seem to think it does.

Many of the Dodgers say it doesn’t matter--because that’s the safe thing to say--but, if I were them, I would much, much, much rather play the St. Louis Cardinals than the Atlanta Braves.

Let’s say they open the playoffs at St. Louis. Three games of a maximum five-game series would be played in Los Angeles. And, on the road in St. Louis, there is an off-day scheduled between Games 1 and 2, giving pitchers an extra day’s rest. That would make it easier for Ismael Valdes, Hideo Nomo and Ramon Martinez to pitch the whole series.

Ah, but let’s say the Dodgers open the playoffs against Atlanta. They would have to face, say, John Smoltz and Greg Maddux, and then play the next three games on the road. I like Atlanta’s chances to win one of those starts, Smoltz’s or Maddux’s. I don’t think the Dodgers would enjoy flying to Atlanta, needing to take two out of three.

That’s why--in my mind, anyway--this business of “division champion or wild card” is not insignificant.

I can hear some of the Dodgers now, saying something along the lines of: “Well, we’ll have to beat Atlanta sometime if we want to go to the World Series. We might as well do it now.”

But I disagree. Do it later. Put it off as long as possible. After all, you never know, the San Diego Padres might knock off the Braves for you. And regardless, I would rather take my chances in a seven-game series with the World Series champions than in a short series that has to end in Atlanta.

Every little game counts, including Wednesday night’s come-from-behinder over the Little Giants, who kicked the ball all over the field like no team in Los Angeles except the Galaxy.

The situation is still looking A-OK for the Dodgers, who haven’t lost successive games since Aug. 7 and 9. For the moment, Bill Russell’s club has no serious injuries and no serious dissension, with the minor exception of Delino DeShields somehow finding it difficult to fathom that Russell would choose to pinch-hit for someone hitting .223.

A little anger is understandable, since, as Russell himself says of DeShields’ disappointment at being replaced, “I wouldn’t want him laughing about it.” In other words, as long as it is clear that a player isn’t putting himself ahead of the team, the manager will accept the fact that DeShields doesn’t feel like turning Ozzie Smith cartwheels over getting the hook.

Besides, the Dodgers pay pinch-hitters good money to pinch-hit. That’s why they’re sitting there.

Russell pushed the right buttons again, as the Dodgers fought back gamely in a game that the Little Giants once led, 5-0. When he lifted Wayne Kirby for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning, Billy Ashley, an all-or-nothing slugger, was sent up with the bases empty. To some, Ashley might seem a guy Russell would save for one final, ninth-inning swing for the fences.

Well, baseball’s manager of the half-year knew exactly what he was doing. Ashley poked a Mike Piazza-style homer to the opposite field, tying the game, 5-5. I don’t know if Russell had a computer printout or a hunch, but Ashley made him look like a genius.

If you watch Russell’s club carefully, you will see how often he puts runners in motion, thinks ahead, keeps this team on its toes. It is no reflection on Tom Lasorda’s managerial ways to say that Russell has his Dodgers hustling and playing as well as any other team in the majors over the last two months.

And at around a quarter past 10 on Wednesday night, almost simultaneously, the Dodger Stadium posted the final score from San Diego, a 5-3 Padre loss, just as Eric Karros connected on another opposite-field homer.

Good things happen to good teams, and this is a good team. The Dodgers are not exactly home free, but they are in the neighborhood.