Dodgers enjoy it when the schedule turns Rocky

NOMAR GARCIAPARRA pointed to his temple, indicating how smart he was to get hurt at this time of the season, allowing James Loney to play for the Dodgers.

Brad Penny was on pace to give up 27 runs Thursday, but his back stiffened and “for the good of the team,” he said, he was forced to call it a day after one inning.

Then it was off to Mark Hendrickson’s locker after a win, something I’ve never experienced before, and tell me you don’t believe the fate of the Dodgers now is to win it all.

With everything on the line, the schedule called for the Dodgers to play Colorado, a team the Dodgers have now beaten 15 times this season. Someone was looking ahead with the Dodgers’ best interests in mind.

Take away the dates with Colorado, and the Dodgers are 70-70 instead of 85-74 with a chance to play into October.

Take away the five wins Penny had against Colorado this season and he’s 11-9.

Take away the Rockies, and where are Elmer Dessens and Giovanni Carrara going to pitch next year?

The Rockies are so bad it would be accurate to say you could pitch for Colorado and the results would not be much worse. Two of the first four pitches Ray King threw were hit for home runs by the Dodgers. Jose Mesa relieved King, faced three hitters and surrendered a double, another double and a home run. If Hendrickson is wearing a Rockies’ uniform, he is their ace.

“I don’t think there is a team in Major League Baseball that’s terrible,” argued Marlon Anderson, and after striking out twice I can see why he might want no one to think such a thing.

But let me tell you, Brett Tomko pitched against the Rockies, and you know how he’s been going lately, and he did not give up a run. That’s how terrible the Rockies are.

Not only that, but 6-foot-9 Hendrickson went to the plate as a hitter, 0 for 19 with 14 strikeouts, and the Rockies walked him. You’d have a tough time missing that strike zone.

But so it goes for the Dodgers now, everything falling their way, the boys in blue feeling so darn good about themselves these days that Hendrickson said after the game, “Last time I checked, I’m having a pretty good year.”

That’s the thing about a good fairy tale, believe whatever you want.

IT’S ALWAYS interesting to note how players handle things differently.

In Hendrickson, I have an athlete who takes himself very seriously, although for much of the season he’s been a joke.

In Tomko, I have an athlete who has been booed recently, but who responded to being teased after shutting out the Rockies by saying, “shadows,” referring to the shadows that crept across the field between the mound and home plate. “Smoke, mirrors and shadows did it.”

IN THE sixth inning with runners on first and third and two out, Jeff Kent fielded a ground ball and leaped over second base like he was afraid to record the third out. As a result, the Rockies scored.

“I was going to throw to first but couldn’t make the throw,” Kent said. “I knew there was a runner on first, we weren’t holding him on and I predicted he would hustle to second base and not be a lazy slouch.”

Now Kent knows Rockies’ third baseman Garrett Atkins is a lazy slouch.

KENT RETURNS to San Francisco tonight, and while booed in previous appearances, he said when he walks down the streets, the fans hug him.

Hard to believe, because knowing Kent, if someone attempted to hug him on the street, he’d deck the person.

“I still have a copy of a picture that ran in the paper of a sign someone was holding at a rally in the Castro District in 2002,” Kent said, referring to the World Series when the Giants played the Angels. “The sign said, ‘Who needs a Rally Monkey when Jeff Kent is so hunky.’ ”

FORMER DODGER pitcher Mike Venafro has one leg longer than the other, and so years ago he began wearing a one-third-inch pad in his shoe. With Venafro plagued by back problems throughout his career, the New York Daily News reported earlier this year that Mets doctors finally figured out why his back was hurting: Venafro had been wearing the additional padding in the wrong shoe. Now I understand why he’s pitching for the Rockies.

THIS MIGHT be hitting a little close to home for Raiders fans. A high school in Michigan is canceling its remaining games because the team has been unable to score a touchdown.

CHARGERS SAFETY Terrence Kiel, arrested on suspicion of felony drug charges, told officials he was having financial difficulties, earning only $500,000 a year. I can just hear his agent now: If only the Chargers had paid him better.

ANDRUW JONES, who might be on the trade block in anticipation of becoming a free agent after next season, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “There’s a lot of teams out there that have a lot of money. L.A., Anaheim, the Mets ... a lot of people are willing to spend money for good players.”

Jones won’t be 30 until the first month of next season and has hit 92 home runs the last two years. The Dodgers and Angels need a center fielder, but who would you favor if it came down to a bidding war between Moreno and McCourt?

TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Jim Meser:

“Let me get this straight, Disney offered you a part in a movie? Gee, when did they decide to remake ‘Dumbo?’ ”

I believe I was wearing my Los Angeles Angels cap at the time and looking forward to the playoffs.

T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.