Alexander: Dodgers should have handled things themselves

The satellite according to Jim:

• The archetypal regularisation of thumb, arsenic baseball’s past contested divisional contention barrels guardant to its decision this weekend: If you, arsenic a 100-victory squad chasing different 100-victory team, person to beryllium connected a 100-loss squad for assistance … well, possibly you should person taken attraction of things yourselves.

Let’s stipulate that the Dodgers got burned by Arizona successful 2 ways implicit the past week – a desultory nonaccomplishment to the D-Backs past Saturday that enabled the Giants to reclaim a two-game lead, followed by a expanse of Arizona by San Francisco to support that two-game borderline adjacent arsenic the Dodgers were sweeping San Diego. Now the Dodgers request large assistance from a Padres squad whose play has gone disconnected the rails since Aug. 1 (18-36, including a 4-16 agelong done Thursday night), and bully luck with that. …

• That brings america to the edge-of-the-cliff wild-card crippled against St. Louis connected Wednesday, for which the Dodgers present look each but destined barring a miracle. It could beryllium a terrifying 9 innings for a instrumentality basal that saw a 106-win regular play successful 2019 obliterated successful the NL Division Series by wild-card (and eventual World Series) victor Washington. And for each of the speech that the Dodgers are battle-tested? They’ve ne'er had to look that one-and-done crippled close retired of the chute. Terrifying whitethorn not beryllium the connection for it. …

• Those who ticker the Dodgers daily, warts and all, spot this otherwise than those from the extracurricular who measure chiefly connected the ground of those 100-plus victories. Former New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica, present penning for MLB.com, still says they’re the “best and astir implicit squad successful the sport” adjacent if they don’t triumph the division. He missed each those nights they’ve near full colonies of men connected base, but it sounds nice. …

• Maybe Lupica should person a speech with the “Fire Dave Roberts” contingent connected Twitter. …

• How acold person we travel (or regressed) successful a small much than a year? Think backmost to past summer’s aboriginal days of Pandemic Sports, erstwhile teams and players returned to a regular heavy with COVID-19 protocols and caution and radical emphasized the necessity to look retired for those with whom they shared a locker room.

“It’s astir a batch much than conscionable your ain idiosyncratic wellness and safety,” Andrew Heaney, past the Angels’ subordinate rep, said past July. “That’s evidently important to everybody. But conscionable arsenic important is your teammates, your staff, your teammates’ family, your staff’s family, the community.”

• Now opposition that with the attitudes and rhetoric of the high-profile NBA players this week who person resisted the vaccine oregon proclaimed that it’s nobody’s concern whether they get it oregon don’t. Team players, right? …

• The NBA’s wide vaccination complaint had reached 95% arsenic of Thursday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, with some the Lakers and Clippers either astatine oregon en way to 100%. If the holdouts person to adhere to abstracted protocols, that’ll beryllium an awfully lonely existence. (Especially connected crippled nights successful San Francisco and New York, erstwhile metropolis wellness orders volition support them retired of the arena, period.) …

• Meanwhile, the WNBA was 99% vaccinated successful June. And for immoderate unusual crushed the opus “Man Smart, Woman Smarter” – performed implicit the years by, among others, Harry Belafonte, Rosanne Cash and the Grateful Dead – keeps moving done my head. …

• While we are fixated connected the Dodgers-Giants race, and people so, the conflict for the American League 2nd wild-card spot betwixt the Red Sox, Mariners and Blue Jays apt volition spell to the last time and possibly a Game 163. There’s adjacent a accidental of a four-way tie for 2 spots if the Rays expanse the Yankees (the existent chaotic paper No. 1) this weekend.

Do the Angels adjacent person it successful them to play spoiler successful Seattle? And did the Mariners drawback a large interruption erstwhile Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his scheduled pitching commencement Sunday? …

• Ohtani vs. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the AL MVP: Discuss.

I’m not connected that sheet (I person an AL Manager of the Year vote). But I enactment a batch much credence successful the “valuable” portion of MVP than immoderate voters. The prime present is betwixt wherever Toronto mightiness decorativeness without Vladdy Jr., and whether the Angels were watchable oregon adjacent viable astatine each this twelvemonth without Shohei. …

• That past constituent – and the thought that Ohtani could bolt if the squad doesn’t amended – is besides a situation arsenic the offseason beckons, which brings america to the yearly question astir the Angels: Can they physique a championship-caliber team, and does Arte Moreno person to enactment retired of the mode to marque it happen? …

• This week’s ungraded successful the National Women’s Soccer League, concerning coaches’ abusive behaviour toward players, should beryllium a sign. All of the coaches progressive were male, including 1 who had been fired by different squad successful the league for the vague description, “violations of squad policy.” This tells maine (a) the vetting process is woefully inadequate, and (b) shouldn’t much women beryllium coaching women? …

• There are 2 pistillate coaches among the league’s NWSL’s existent 10 teams. Southern California’s enlargement teams successful 2022 volition treble that fig with Angel City FC’s Freya Coombe and San Diego’s Casey Stoney (who volition beryllium moving for squad president Jill Ellis, the erstwhile U.S. Women’s Team coach). In this arsenic successful truthful overmuch else, possibly SoCal volition commencement a trend.

jalexander@scng.com

@Jim_Alexander connected Twitter