2010 Dodgers Preview: Second Baseman

By Benjamin

1. Is that really a picture of the Dodgers clubhouse shower?

2. I’ve got a steak bet for you. What’s the over/under on James Loney home runs this year? 13.5? 14.5? Let’s decide, because I’ll take the over. And if nearly 15 years of friendship serves me well, you’ll take the under. Whaddya say?

Los Angeles Dodgers Second Basemen for the 2010 Season

The Starter? Blake DeWitt (Question Mark to be Explained Later)

Uniform Number: #33

Former Dodgers to Wear #33: Jeff Hamilton, Eddie Murray

Bio/Fun Facts: 2B or Not 2B. Poor Blake has been the second baseman in waiting for 2 seasons now. A 24 year-old Missouri high school standout who used to play the hot corner. DeWitt was promoted four spots to become the Dodgers’ Opening Day third baseman in 2008 when Nomar Garciaparra, one of the LaRoche Bros. and Tony Abreu all went down with injuries during spring training. DeWitt thrashed National League pitching during his first few months in the bigs, turning a cup of coffee into a three course meal. But as the season wore on, DeWitt’s numbers came back to earth, the Dodgers signed another Blake to play 3B, Casey Blake, and DeWitt was sent back to Triple-A. But the fast start to DeWitt’s career had many singing his praises and with Jeff Kent off the books, everyone expected DeWitt to be the 2009 starting second baseman. Not so fast! Insert Orlando Hudson. The Dodgers go shopping, pick up O-Dawg and give DeWitt a one-way ticket to Albuquerque. Hudson has a standout year, hits for the cycle on Opening Day, even earns a Gold Glove. But he gets hurt late in the second half and the Dodgers are left with a hole at second base. DeWitt sits by his phone and waits for the call, fully expecting to be back in the majors to fill the role till Hudson heals. Think again! The Dodgers bring in Ronnie Belliard, the roly poly middle infielder. DeWitt can’t believe his eyes, and proceeds to gauge out his corneas with the blunt end of a butter knife. To everyone’s surprise, Belliard tears the cover off the ball. When O-Dawg returns from the disabled list, he’s found that his position has been usurped by the pudgier Belliard. The playoffs begin, and whose starting at the #4 position on the diamond? Our Gold Glove winner? No. Ronnie Friggin’ Belliard. (It turned out to be a stroke of genius, as Belliard singled in the tying run in the bottom of the 9th in Game 2 of the ALDS, as the Dodgers went on to an improbable victory). But with the season over, Hudson out of the picture and Ned Colletti doing his best bear impersonation, basically hibernating all winter; DeWitt MUST have been thinking, “Second base is mine.” Fast forward to the off-season when the Dodgers do the inexplicable and re-sign Belliard and pick up ANOTHER middle-infielder, 36-year-old Jamey Carroll. To be honest, it’s still DeWitt’s job to lose. But are the Dodger signings simply a self-fulfilling prophesy? He’s RUDY at this point. I swear, if someone other than Blake is starting at second base Opening Day, I’m flying out to L.A. to start a chant in the stands, “DEW-ITT! DEW-ITT! DEW-ITT!”

Strengths: Quality left-handed bat, sure handed fielder, young and fleet of foot.

Achilles’ Heel: His own franchise’s lack of faith.

Best Second Baseman Now: I love me some “Pedroia the Destroyah” bumper stickers but Chase Utley is the best second baseman in the bigs today. Dude hits 30 jacks and drives in 100 every year, has finished in the top 8 of the MVP voting three times and does it all from a position not expected to have any offensive output. And what kills me is how could the SoCal kid get looked over by our boys in blue?!?! Dude was born in Pasadena, raised in Long Beach and went to UCLA. Drafted in the first round by the Phils in 2000. Who did WE draft in the first round of 2000? Some dude name BEN DIGGINS. Ever heard of him? Yeah. Me neither.

Best Second Baseman Ever: Lotta possibilities here. A very “arguable” category, much like all three outfield positions. There’s Bobby Doerr, Eddie Collins, Rogers Hornsby, Jackie Robinson, Frankie Frisch, Ryan Sandberg, Nellie Fox, even (*gulp) Jeff Kent. But I’m gonna go with Nap Lajoie here. For two reasons. One, he was baseball’s very first “best player ever.” He became so popular that the Cleveland ballclub he played for changed its name to the Cleveland Naps in his honor. Can you imagine that happening in sports today? The St. Louis Alberts or the Cleveland LeBrons? It’s crazy. But intriguing. I’m willing to call our boys in blue the Kemps for a season if you are. The Pirates can just be renamed the Sinkholes. And two, on the last day of the 1910 season, Nap trailed Ty Cobb (baseball’s second “best player ever”) 4 percentage points for the batting crown. The opposing manager hated Cobb so much that he allowed Nap to reach safely seven times on bunts to win the title. Some would say Nap’s 4th batting title was a farse, but 70 years later, the debate was re-opened when it was discovered that Cobb had illegally re-entered a game that season and gone 2 for 3, granting Nap the batting title even without the 7 bunt singles.

Wild Card: While playing Winter League Ball in the Dominican Republic this year, DeWitt didn’t shack up with an exotic girlfriend like his teammates… he got food poisoning. “I lost quite a bit of weight,” he reported to L.A. Times’ Dylan Hernandez, “I’m not sure what it was. I ate something the first week I was down there and I really couldn’t eat after that.” Who was his manager? JOSE. OFFERMAN.

Conspiracy Theory: Could it be that the former All-Star is trying to get back to The Show by poisoning Dodger prospects then attempting to earn a Spring Training invitation as their replacement?

Wild Card II: Blake DeWitt's doppleganger... Marilyn Monroe

The Backup: Ronnie Belliard

Uniform Number: #3

Former Dodger to Wear #3: Steve Sax was my first love. He came packaged in an 8X10 photograph when I became a member of the Blue Crew. I begged my dad to trade for him in his fantasy league (My dad later swapped Ozzie Smith for my boyhood hero). Years later, I would find myself working for Fox Sports Net, logging baseball games for highlights on the now defunct National Sports Report. One of the analysts on the show? None other than ol’ #3, Steve Sax. Our first close encounter occurred in an elevator. I was taking it down to the first floor, my shift was over. He stepped on at the 3rd floor, he was bound for the studio on the 2nd. He wore a dapper grey suit and smooth black wingtips.

Three thoughts crossed my mind while I savored the few moments Steve and I shared the same air.

1. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG. OMG.
2. Wow. He’s short.
3. It’s just one floor, why won’t he take the stairs?

My first close encounter with the highly annoying Fox Sports Anchor Man Van Earl? At a urinal. No thoughts there.

Bio/Fun Facts: So Colletti comes out of his coma just in time to re-sign Belliard. Only there’s a very interesting “catch” in the contract. Ronnie has to weigh in at 209 pounds (his weight during the 2009 playoffs) or he loses the $875,000 he’s signed for and the contract’s reduced to a minor league deal. Maybe the strangest deal ever. If he’s represented by anyone more credible than Gumby, he doesn’t sign that deal. But this is Ronnie Belliard. Ladies and Gentleman, your 2009 Playoff Second Baseman. Ronnie showed up at camp weighing 211 and he’s got three weeks to shed two pounds. His answer? “I’m still eating whatever I want, I’m just trying not to eat too late.” If I’m Blake DeWitt, I’m stuffing Ronnie’s locker with ho-hos and telling him the Dessert Fairy came.

Strengths: Hot Dog Eating Contests.

Achilles’ Heel: Twinkies.

Wild Card: Besides Man-Ram, Ronnie Belliard is the only Dodger with a World Series ring. He was a member of the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. There’s a lot to be said for having “winners” on your team, especially when your club is in the thick of it at the end. And nothing is more gravitating or more motivating than when a ballplayer shows up to camp with his World Series ring and he struts around the clubhouse, rallying his teammates around him with, “Hey! Get on my back! I know how to win one of these!” But you can bet Ronnie ate his ring.

The Other Backup: Jamey Carroll

Uniform Number: #14

Former Dodger to Wear #14: My dad used to say nobody blocked the plate better than Mike Scoiscia. He steadily wore the tools of ignorance for our boys in blue throughout the ‘80s, teaming up with some of the best hurlers in club history like Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser. He hit an improbable homerun off Doc Gooden in Game 5 of the 1988 World Series. It extended the game and the series, eventually resulting in a victory and our last world championship to date. He was next in line to sit at the helm of Dodger blue, but a band of idiots took over the club and foolishly cast Mike off like a useless piece of garbage. So the former catcher drove himself and his ’88 teammates a few miles south on The 5 to manage the Angels. All he’s done since then is win a World Series, collect countless division titles and, coupled with a billboard owner, turned the Angels into the consummate baseball franchise in Southern California. Yuck.

Bio/Fun Facts: He’s a third stringer, so I won’t spend too much time here. The Dodgers are his 4th club. He was drafted by the Expos. He finally made it to The Show as a 29 year old rookie, 7 seasons ago. He has maybe the most feminine name in baseball. He’s married and is the father of fraternal twins.

Strengths: For a guy who’s been a backup his entire career, his .276 lifetime average ain’t too shabby.

Achilles’ Heel: He’s 36. He can’t play every day. And if DeWitt doesn’t get the starting job, Carroll and Belliard will have to split time at second base.

Wild Card: This doesn’t exactly pertain to Carroll, but I learned something new while researching this “preview.” Did you know that second base is also referred to as “the keystone sack”? Great name for a bar, don't you think? “Hey Ray! Meet me down at the Keystone Sack. First round’s on me!”

Postscript: Got an email from my dad today. It reads, "Andruw Jones reported to the Chicago White Sox camp early, 25 pounds lighter and in great shape. He emphatically stated he was the best center fielder in camp. Joey Cora a bench coach looked up to him and said. You'd better be there are only pitchers and catchers in camp right now."