Boys of Summer

Dem Bums are downright scary.  In fact there isn’t a bum in the lot.  Original manager Georges Bseraini returns for his 12 seasons on the Dodger Bench with his strongest team ever with 7 HOF’ers and 6 or 7 borderline HOF’ers.  The only weakness on this team is the fact that there isn’t enough playing time to keep all the egos happy.  Bseraini, who has won 1 World Championship and 2 pennants hold the KOD record for most consecutive seasons managing the same franchise.  Quite frankly, this is the Dodger way.  In the tradition of Walter Alston (24 seasons) and Tommy Lasorda (20 seasons), Bseraini fits right in.  His pitching staff is an embarrassment of riches.  Nobody should be shocked at the 1-2 punch of Koufax and Drysdale at the top of the rotation.  Nothing needs to be said about their pedigre.  Sandy is the only 200+ inning pitcher in the league with a sub 2.00 ERA.  Drysdale will keep hitters off the plate anytime they even think of crowding it.  Who are the 3-4-5 starters ?  Try picking just 3 from the list of:  Don Sutton, Tommy John, Orel Hershiser, Don Newcombe, Preacher Roe and Fernando Valenzuela.  Break up the Dodgers is all I have to say and I haven’t even talked about their lineup that is.  Oh, and what a lineup it is.  Gil, Pee Wee, Campy, Duke, Skoonj and Robby for starters and we haven’t even gotten out of Brooklyn yet.  Head to LA and you get the Davis boys, Maury Wills and his fleet feet + Garvey, Cey, Smith and Scioscia.  Stalwarts like Russell, Baker and Lopes didn’t even make the roster that’s how strong the varsity is here.  The pen might be the weak part of the team, but calling it a weak spot is like picking on Cindy Crawford for having a beauty mark.  Any pen that has Ron Perranoski, Jim Brewer and Jay Howell can’t be too shabby.  With all those great starters in front of them they might actually wind up working as hard as the Maytag repairman.