The Dodgers Are the Best Team in Baseball? Without Manny? Really???

Wow. I’m gonna have to get one of those “Free Manny” shirts BSlim developed. (That BSlim is always thinking, by the way. If he’d been around during the Gold Rush, he would have been one of those guys who got rich not by finding gold but by selling water canteens to desperate miners for 100 times the normal price.) Then once I get my Free Manny T, I’ll have to place it next to my other “Free (insert name)” shirts.

Let’s see, there’s Free James Brown, Free Mike Tyson and, ah — what’s that other one?

Oh yeah — Free Nelson Mandela. I think he played for the Raiders back in the Madden years.

Anyhoo, the thing about this Manny Ramirez deal is that so far, the Dodgers don’t seem to be doing that badly without him. In fact, as I write this, they’re 6.5 games up. And I’m all like: How’s that possible?

Now, granted, they’re in a sucky division that’ll be lucky to wind up with two teams over .500. Still. The Dodgers so far have the best record in baseball — and they’re not that good. I mean, look at their roster, man. Have you seen the names? Kemp. Loney. Eithier. They’re okay, but not exactly A-listers. And somehow Juan Pierre is playing like he’s Ty Cobb.

A .403 battging average? Please.

Heck, maybe I was wrong about Torre being overrated. In fact, what the hell do I know? I also suggested that the Blue Jays weren’t going to be on top for long — and they’re the second best team in baseball. And I said David Ortiz was one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball. And so far this animal at the plate is batting .208 with ZERO homeruns.

Nice pick, Pembertonian. Almost as good as Jimmy the Greek.

Heck, maybe I was wrong about soccer as well. Maybe soccer doesn’t suck.

Okay, yeah. Soccer does suck. I mean, it really REALLY sucks.

But my point in all this is that the Dodgers shouldn’t be where they are — even with Manny. Yet, if they can be not terrible long enough for Manny to come back, then, well, maybe they can do some things. Sometimes it’s not about players who put up numbers, but rather, that thing called chemistry. So we’ll just see what happens as the season unfolds.

Until then — Free Henry Lee Summer!