Still a Light at the End of the Tunnel

The old building emptied fast, the crowd shrinking from small to scattered to spring training.

The tired offense disappeared even faster, the Dodgers swinging wildly at second pitches and Kent Merckers and air.

At the end of an awful Thursday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, empty seats littered with empty hope, only one light remained.

Right there on the left-field scoreboard.

STL 10, SD 3.

Although it wasn’t a final score -- the St. Louis Cardinals added a run later in their victory over the San Diego Padres -- it was certainly final proof.

The Dodgers may be lousy, but they’re also only a week from being leaders.

The Dodgers may be in a ditch, but they’re also in a pennant race.

Pretenders? Yes. Contenders? Absolutely.

And if you don’t think one team can be both, you haven’t been following the National League Jest.

It seemed that the only people who didn’t bolt Thursday’s 6-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds were the kids, packs of brightly colored reds and yellows and greens roaming the pavilion and making noise until the end.

Paul DePodesta being not much older than most of them, here’s hoping he was watching.

For him to raise the white flag on this season before Sunday’s trade deadline would be easy, painless and wrong.

For him to use injuries as an reason to fold his strangely built team would be bad baseball.

For him to fail to give a meaningful September to those fans who lead the league in attendance would be bad business.

Not to mention, it might really tick off his future Hall of Fame second baseman.

“We have plenty of time to be buyers, we have plenty of time to be winners,” Jeff Kent said Thursday afternoon after a rare day off. “Guys can’t quit.”

You want to trade Jeff Weaver before he bolts as a free agent? Fine. Get a good bat and a veteran reliever in return.

You want to trade Odalis Perez because, hmm, maybe you should not have signed him in the first place? Again, only for a bat and an arm.

You don’t want to use prospects to acquire a hitter and reliever because you think, even though this team might win the division, it would never win a playoff series? Think again.

There is a reason that wild-card teams won the World Series in each of the last three seasons. Anything can happen in October. Just ask Jose Lima.

“We’ve got a division that’s consistently inconsistent,” Kent said. “The winning percentages are dreary, but take that out, and look at who’s playing, and how we compare to them, and we’re doing all right.”

Ten games under .500 and doing all right?

Only 6-8 since the All-Star break and doing all right?

Actually, yes, considering that during that time, they have gained 1 1/2 games in the standings.

They are five games behind the Padres, three games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks, with 60 games left.

And look at the finish line.

The final 29 games are against teams without winning records.

And 25 of those 29 are against the National League Jest.

And all 29 of those games should be played with the everyday lineup that DePodesta built, with J.D. Drew and Jose Valentin returning from injuries.

Barring further bruises, the only irreplaceable player they will be missing down the stretch is Eric Gagne. Although his loss is huge, the reality is that the Dodgers were 19-11 this season before he threw a pitch. And although Yhency Brazoban has blown some stolen bases, he has blown only four of 23 saves.

The Dodgers can’t use Gagne as a reason to quit.

They can’t use other injuries as a reason to quit.

They can’t even use rookies as a reason to quit -- according to Stats Inc., the Atlanta Braves have used 15 rookies this season, two more than the Dodgers, and look how poorly they are doing.

“I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that we can shave five games off in two months,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “Do we have a chance? Yeah, we do.”

How much of a chance depends on DePodesta.

Can he outsmart Kevin Towers in San Diego, Joe Garagiola Jr. in Arizona, Brian Sabean in San Francisco?

Can he reupholster with another Steve Finley without ripping out the likes of Paul Lo Duca and Guillermo Mota?

Will he even try?

His manager thinks he should.

“In my opinion, the division is up for grabs,” Tracy said.

His team thinks he should.

“We have lots of games left against San Diego and Arizona,” Giovanni Carrara said. “Five games back is nothing. We play hard, we have a chance.”

They didn’t act like it Thursday, but half of those players shouldn’t be in the lineup in six weeks.

The real story wasn’t on the field, but on the out-of-town scoreboard, where the message to the Dodger front office should have been as clear as the one from fans screaming at Olmedo Saenz as he lumbers down the first-base line.

Run it out.