O' ye of little faith -- Mattingly says these Dodgers have chance to make playoffs

Don Mattingly has a message for all of you getting just a tiny bit down on this year’s Dodgers: It’s going to get better!

He meant this season, too.

"I think we have a chance to be in the playoffs this year," Mattingly said.

Of course, there is the argument that they can’t get much worse, though only four games under .500 going into Tuesday night’s game leaves them room to continue to sink.

Mattingly is convinced several underperforming offensive players will become more productive and the team will get a boost with the return of Rafael Furcal and Casey Blake off the disabled list.

"Four games under .500 is not where we want to be," he said.

"We’re better than this. I really believe that. We’re going to see. We’re going to see if what I believe in, and this team I believe in, if it shows."

Mattingly is paid to say things like this, though he seems to believe it. Furcal comes back, Blake comes back, Marcus Thames comes off the DL, Jonathan Broxton returns strong …

"Obviously I feel we’re going to be a better club as we get back to full strength, the way we kind of came out of spring training, I think we’re going to be a better club," he said.

How much better? Despite their recent woes, the National League West is hardly running away from them. They went into Tuesday only four games back of the Giants. And the Giants are scoring at the same league-low 3.47 runs per game as the Dodgers.

"If we can put some things together, we have a chance to be in the playoffs," he said.

Mattingly is Little Orphan Annie under a baseball cap: "The sun'll come out tomorrow."

Just need some patience. Mattingly has never been a manager before, so maybe there’s a naïve quality there. Or just a public one. Or deep in his baseball soul, he believes.

ALSO:

T.J. Simers: That's a lot of cheese to go see these Dodgers

Left field is a wasteland for the Dodgers

-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Don Mattingly throws batting practice prior to a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 11. Credit: Charles LeClaire / U.S. Presswire

Comments

[campc4]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Donnie can you please stop drinking Frank's Kool Aid!

[HI Dodger Fan]

when you get right down to it, though, donnie is right. there is a chance because this appears to be another down year for this division. Colorado and SF don't appear to be running away from everyone. 4 games out is not a mountain. nice first inning by the way. go blue!

[OldBrooklynFan]

I believe for every drop of rain that falls....etc...etc...etc

[waus]

Yeah, right. A big boost will come when Furcal and Blake return to the lineup and replace two of the most recently productive members of the team, Carroll and Miles.

Mattingly must think Dodger fans are naive, stupid or both.

[Wish I May, Wish I Might]

The question should be, how many more games until Mattingly is replaced.
Get a clue Mr. Mattingly.
Geez.

[These Dodgers Suck!]

He's merely counting on the rest of the NL West to suck too!

[Striker]

Yep, Donnie, until you're mathematically eliminated, you have a chance.

But I wouldn't get too dreamy about the brittle-brothers: Broxton, Blake and Furcal.

They're a train wreck. Just a matter of which car derails first, before they all jump the tracks.

Boycott.

[VekikS]

Donnie is just doing his job. Support him and the team form a distance. Continue the boycott! The problem is squarely on McCOurts and their personal spending that led to this mess. Hammer the McCourts until they are replaced.

[Native Angeleno]

D Baseball won batting championships with the Yankees, but could not win his way into the postseason until i believe his last season, as a wild card, and even then they couldn't get out of the first round. THIS is the expert who knows what a team needs to make the playoffs?

Mattingly seems to confuse heart or desire with the necessary talent. WE knew this team was going nowhere before spring training, based on the same roster Mattingly swears is post-season material!

Has there ever been a team playing in October that didn't have a regular starting left-fielder going back close to a year now?!

The power of self-delusion. What does that say about his managerial judgment? "I'll let this guy batting .179 hit for that guy batting .220. I know there's a hit in that bat somewhere. Oh boy, post-season here we come!"

Somebody give Mattingly a Napoleon hat with LA on the front.

[16blows]

"We’re going to see if what I believe in and this team I believe in, if it shows. If we can put some things together, we have a chance to be in the playoffs."

- that's a lot of "if's" there, donnie baseball; you might wanna give the David Gates & 'Bread' LP a rest.

What makes mattingly think that once furcal & blake return they'll remain healthy? don must be a norman vincent peale fan.

Aside from the fact the two most effective players of late will likely be bumped to the nech or at l;east one of them, the track record this season doesn't inspire confidence in either the two DL'd dudgers.

Over the last 4 seasons (including the current one) furcal has been hurt 75% of the time or 3 years out of those 4... he's missed 169 games those 3 years - the equivalent more than an entire season... he'll turn 34 later this year.

blake will be 38. He got hurt in spring training - running out a BUNT - then regular season a reported groin strain & shortly theraft his elbow got infected - unsure if one led to the other. What's next, the heartbreak of psoriasis?

And broxton, Grace's "biggest man in the world"!... him too?

Can 'jose' gimenez recapturing his spring training greatness be far behind?

Next mattingly will tell everyone slappy 'e' is just pacing himself and that he expects him to get back into tht Triple Crown race lickety-split...

[16blows]

Alright Dilbeck, knock it off. Bumped to the nech? Ay caramba. No, I'm not drunk (not yet - that will come after donnie & the boys win the World Series, later this year). No... not 'nech', rather 'bench' (if only it was Johnny.)

[D4]

Donnie is saying the right things in public. What do you want him to say at this point, abandon ship, were 40 some odd games in? Surely, we must play better...No arguements there, but to conceed that wont happen, is unsubstantiated. If your right, you collect on dont pass, if your not, ah heck your still happy, were in the playoffs, sounds like a double sided nickle flipping in the air to me...It ain't over till it's over.

[Scott]

Is Mattingly going to un-retire and play first base?

[Joe Chorneau]

I get it, really, it makes sense, y'all are down on the Dodgers this year and your minds won't discern between what is causing it and that which is being profoundly affected by it. Mattingly is not the cause. His hands are full, no first year manager should have to put up with all the things he has, (with all the injuries for starters). What else can he say? "Oh folks, the Dodgers really suck this year and have no chance to do anything but maybe fourth place!"
Anyone remember what happened last year? Toward the end the Dodgers fell apart, same team, same lineup, but players minds were distracted with McCourt's circus events. And Mattingly, this year talked to his new team like a dutch uncle and got them to keep their chins up. And that is all he's been doing this whole season, dispite more and more distractions, and with all the injuries, he's steadfast in his determination to head toward the end. Now it's your turn. Support the team, not the organization.

[McCourt blows]

Donnie has a future in comedy when he gets fired.

[John Boyes]

Has the IRS arrested Frank McCourt yet for being an idiot ! Oh, sorry thats the circus clowns who are after Frank, they need a leader !
I hope to all get out, Bud Selig gives this rat basterd his walking papers, sends him on a hobo train somewhere due east !
Has there EVER been anyone more hated in LA sports annals that this fool !
Why would he consider even staying knowing eventually the Giants fan who was beaten will clean out "nifty frank" for firing the chief of security at Dodger Stadium. No wonder Jamie wants out fast !

[bleednblue]

Has anyone ever questioned how Donnie Baseball became our Manager? And how MLB allowed the Dodgers to hire Donnie without interviewing a single Minority for the Managers position. Im sure the new Executive VP of Baseball Operations for MLB had nothing to do with it. There is a reason the Yankees gave Joe Girardi the Job over the Legendary Yankee Donnie Baseball. Our Delusional Manager wants us to have faith in Broxton, Loney, Blake, Frucal, Gwynn, Gibbons, Thames, Navarro, Castro, Cormier, and Garland. All player who will not be with the Dodgers next year! Thats half of our current Roster!

[bleednblue]

It is hard for me to have faith after 23 years of frustration! The McCourt’s have embarrassed and disgraced this Historic Franchise. Our General Manager Ned Colletti the Ex-Giant employee who admitted openly that he cried tears of joy when the Giants won the World Series last season. This man who's heart is still in San Francisco, gave Jason Schmidt and Juan Uribe both ex-Giants a combined 68 Million Dollars, For What? 3 Wins and a .214 batting average, and still this man is employed and in control of our Player Personal!

[old dodger fan]

For a market as big as LA, it is a shame that the Dodgers find themselves sloshing in the mud, without out a sense of direction or the ability to put together a good working business. We need a changing of ALL management and put together a working group of people that want the Dodgers to be a winning team or at least competitive. For the last few years, we have sunk to an alltime low on evaluating players and how they will fit into the team.....we hire the dregs and has-beens and say how great of a team we have and have a payroll of over $100 million and 3 players batting over .300 and all the rest .200 or less. We bring back Blake and Furcal and we sit 2 of the most productive players...Miles and Carrol. Signed Looney for 4.3 and he is tanking it like Martin. No one wants to play for the Dodgers and we can't beat the good teams. So Sad!!!!!!!!