Center Field Gate

Tommy Lasorda is a ubiquitous presence in baseball and a legend in Los Angeles. The camera finds him in Dodger Stadium during nearly every game of the week, he’s constantly interviewed, and his baseball judgment is considered nigh on saintly: Tim McCarver mentions his name in a worshipful (almost liturgical) tone (”there’s Tommy”) and reporters scribble furiously when he talks, which he does — a lot. He’s even supplanted the late Walter O’Malley as “Mr. Dodger,” certainly he’s more worshipfully remembered than Walter Alston, whose managing career matches Lasorda’s. When Lasorda retired as the Dodger’s manager, back in 1996, he spent untold hours sidling up to Hollywood legends and walk-of-fame wannabes, hobnobbing with producers and starlets, and befriending crooner Frank Sinatra. Tommy’s done everything but the perp walk, but you never know.

But despite what Trolley fans might think, Lasorda’s not perfect. In 1993, he questioned whether then-Dodger prospect Pedro Martinez (5-11) was big enough to be a good pitcher, prompting the Dodger’s front office (which spent their time back then listening for the whip-crack in his raspy voice), to trade him to Montreal in exchange for second sacker Delino DeShields. Martinez rewarded Lasorda’s skepticism the next year: he pitched nine innings of perfect baseball for Montreal, compiling a 17-8 record. And he went on to become one of the best pitchers in baseball. Anyone can make a mistake, but apparently Pedro holds a grudge, not least because the endlessly yakky Lasorda was so outspoken in his criticism of his diminutive pitcher. It’s one thing to say a guy is “too small” to the front office, it’s another to say it in pubic. Then too, Pedro is not the kind of guy who’s known for steering away from controversy – and neither is Lasorda.

Back in 2005, Lasorda picked a fight with the Phillie Phanatic on his blog after the Phanatic took a Lasorda jersey, put it on a dummy, and ran over it again and again before a Dodgers-Phillies game. “This should not be shown in ballparks, especially in front of children,” Lasorda complained. “It exhibits disrespect and violence.” The next time the Dodgers were in town, Mr. Thin Skin (during a clubhouse lecture he gave on compassion, he told a player who interrupted him to ”shut the f … up!”) body-slammed the Phanatic to the ground. And bragged about it. Say what you will about Martinez’s defense in fending off Don Zimmer: at least he didn’t attack a mascot.

The Martinez-Trolley feud would be enough to make tonight’s Trolley-Phuzzie match-up worth watching, but it’s not the only story of this series. Head hunter Vicente Padilla is scheduled to start for the Dodgers against his old team, who traded him to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later — a “here, we don’t want him” swap that ruffled Padilla’s feathers and got under his very thin skin. Padilla was not well-liked in The City Of Brotherly Love, whose fans mercilessly dogged him about his wildness and mound antics and remained silent when he was traded. That wasn’t true for other Phillies: Randy Wolf (also now a Dodger) had a thick-as-syrup “Wolf Pack” following that howled when he appeared, while Jim Thome’s apologists were so vocal, so slathering, it was almost embarrassing. Padilla went on to become a felon in Texas, but has apparently cleaned up his act in L.A., where his teammates testify that he’s the brother of Mary Poppins. Of course he is: pitchers actually have to enter the batter’s box in the National League (where the game is played among men) — which means any Padilla fastball aimed at an opposing player’s ear is likely to result in his being carted from the field. Right past Lasorda’s box.

The silence you hear tonight when the Philllies take the field in the bottom of the 1st will have a lot to do with the importance of a second-of-seven NLCS  match-up: but the cameras will be trained on Lasorda, Martinez and Padilla, and not on the scoreboard. And any up-and-in fastballs are likely to be interpreted as more than pitches designed to move the hitter off the plate. This is for all the marbles in the National League, but this isn’t LA-St. Louis, or Philadelphia vs. the Rockies. This is an old fashioned grudge match between teams and players that don’t each other very much. And it will be pure entertainment.

Ryan Zimmerman’s 9th inning home run on Sunday ended the Washington Nationals eight game losing streak and gave the Anacostia Nine a come from behind 5-4 win at Nationals Park. Knotted up at 2-2 in the top of the 9th, reliever Mike “Heart Attack” MacDougal let the game get away from him, giving the Marlins a 4-2 edge, with Phish righty Leo “lights out” Nunez entering the game to close it out. But in the bottom of the ninth Willie “Wee Willie”  Harris led off the Nats end of the game by pumping his fifth home run into the second deck in right field to pull the home towners within one. His upper deck powerhouse was followed by a Cristian Guzman hustling infield hit with Ryan Zimmerman coming to the plate. Dan Uggla went far to his right to get the Guzman hit, but could’t reach it in time to throw out Guzman, who was called safe at first. Zimmerman then stroked a 1-1 pitch into the centerfield boxes to give the Nats their first win in ten days,  a stunner that sent the Marlins packing to New York without the sweep they needed.

Until the ninth, the heroes of the game were hard luck pitcher J.D. Martin, who pitched 6.2 solid innings, and Elijah Dukes, who was two for two with a walk. Dukes ended up on base four times. Dukes has raised his average to .260 — but, more importantly, he seems more calm and focused at the plate and in the field, a good sign for next year.  Dukes also had an early game scoop of a Marlins sure hit to short right field, a sign of the former Rays’ renewed confidence in the outfield. The win against the Marlins not only ends the Nats eight game skid, in which the Washington club seemed to be unable to score runs when they most needed them, it improved their walk-off prowess against the South Florida Nine. The Nats now have seven walk off wins against the Phish, who are straining to win the wild card race against the fading Chops, as well as the Rockies and Giants. The Marlins will continue their pursuit of the first spot in the wild card against Tim Redding and the Mets at Citi Field on Tuesday in New York, while the Nats will also take a day off before sending John Lannan to the hill to face Pedro Martinez and the ever-surging Phuzzies at Nationals Park.