LA WeeklyBY MARK GROUBERT
Los Lobos belts the National Anthem out of the park prior to Game 4.
Hall of Famer-to-be Jeff Kent watches helplessly from the dugout as his rookie replacement Blake Dewitt’s batting average descends to just .091.
Two-time batting champion Nomar Garciaparra watches helplessly from the dugout as his veteran replacement at third base, Casey Blake strikes out for the third time.
World Series champion Juan Pierre watches helplessly from the dugout having been replaced by the young free-swinging Matt Kemp who is hitting just .208.
And I, bleeding Dodger Blue from numerous orafices, watch helplessly from Section 6, Row N, Seat 1 as the Dodgers turn a certain series-tying victory into a sure season-ending defeat in just a matter of seconds.
Bad night to quit sniffing glue.
[Monday night, October 13, final score of Game Four of the NLCS: Phillies 7- Dodgers 5. Phils now lead the best-of-seven series 3 games to 1.]
Dodger fans on edge with just 2 run lead in the 7th.
In a night to forget but one we will unfortunately always remember, the Dodgers, just 7 outs away from victory saw their once heralded bullpen collapse in the 8th inning under the emotional weight of 320-pound Jonathan Broxton. With just two pitches, one from rookie reliever Cory Wade and the other from the immense Broxton, the Phillies of Philadelphia put 4 runs up on our scoreboard flipping a 5-3 deficit to a 7-5 lead faster than we could say, “Game Over.”
The stunned crowd of 55,000 plus, wilted rally towels in hand, shuffled aimlessly towards the parking lots like zombies. Once there, they sat in exhaust fumes for an hour as they probed, pontificated and probably puked over what had just happened to their beloved Boys In Blue.
Entire stadium encourages Manny to make trouble against Phils.
There was a whole lot of finger pointing going on in those motionless cars.
Wednesday night will most certainly be the last game at Dodger Stadium this year. If the Dodgers happen to win, it’s on to Philadelphia and back into that deafening bandbox. If they lose, they will see each other next February in Glendale, Arizona at their new spring training facility.
It’s been a long, strange season.
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