It was perhaps the coldest spring training game in recent memory, with the temperature starting at 50 and dropping rapidly with damp wind. Not your typical Phoenix evening. But the Dodgers and D'backs put on a good show.
I do feel a bit sorry for the Dodgers. I was a season ticket holder when I lived in LA and a big fan. But when they picked up Manny Ramirez I began losing faith quickly. As a Red Sox fan by birth, I knew Manny was a clown and an embarrassment to the sport. Things got worse when he got caught in LA taking girly steroids. And even worse when he made it clear he wanted to leave... again, and went to the White Sox.
I had really looked forward to watching the kids mature, but when Manny left, the team's owners decided to divorce and that meant no more money would go into the team. They have not made any significant pickups since. And many of the \ kids have turned out to be busts. Russell Martin is gone, Broxton has been demoted, Kemp seems more concerned with Rheanna than with hitting, and even Clay Kershaw looked weak tonight.
Kershaw has actually had a very good spring, but tonight he gave up 8 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings. He did give up only 2 runs, but he still got the loss with the D'backs winning 3-0. Ian Kennedy walked 3 but otherwise gave up only 3 hits and no runs in 5.1 innings.
The Dodgers will have a pretty good rotation, but with Manny gone, there is no heart to their batting order, and you can't win when you don't score runs.
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