The Dodgers took 2 out of 3 this weekend from their hated rivals, the San Francisco Giants. In doing so, they are now only a half game out first place in the NL West despite the fact that they are two games below .500.

With the All-Star break coming up, that fact got me thinking: Will they stay the underachieving, boring to watch team that put them in this position? Or can they right the ship and become a team to reckon with?

Let’s take a look at each scenario individually and come up with a conclusion from there.

This Dodger team is harder to watch than “The Bill Engvall Show.” The offense is stagnant. Nobody can hit in a clutch situation. And can someone please hit a three run homerun? Oh wait, that would mean there has to be baserunners.

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After getting swept in Detroit it didn’t look very good for the Dodgers heading into the next series against the Reds. Good thing the Reds were in a funk of their own. The Dodgers ended up sweeping the series 3-1, 6-1 and 7-4, thanks to great pitching. The Dodger pitchers Billingsley, Lowe and Stults gave up only six runs in the three games. The Dodgers offense finally came alive for more than one game and scored sixteen runs.

The series against the Reds ended a nine game road trip for the Dodgers. They are back home in L.A. to start a nine game home stand against three American League teams. They face the struggling Cleveland Indians tonight for the start of a three game series. Then they will host the red hot Chicago White Sox, who lead the AL Central, for a three game series. The last series against the AL is a good one, as the Los Angeles Angels come to the face the real L.A. team. The Angels will be at Dodger Stadium for the last three games series. As expected many Angel fans should be there, but nothing good comes out of visiting fans being in Dodger Stadium. Especially since the Angels are doing so well and the Dodgers continue to struggle. We shall see what happens.

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The Dodgers didn’t fair well in the Windy City. They got blown out of town by the Cubs, getting swept in the three game series in Wrigley Field. They lost 1-3 in the first game, 1-3 in the second and 1-2 in the rubber match against the Cubs. The offense has been non-existent in the last six games for the Dodgers. They have scored a total of seven runs in those six games. Not very good and even if they got great pitching, not nearly enough run support to win any games.

After being swept by the Cubs last series the Dodgers we’re looking for some better luck against the Mets on Thursday. They didn’t get it. The Dodgers dropped the first game of the four game series in Queens 4-8 and have lost six of the last seven games. The upside for the Dodgers is that they scored four runs; which is a offensive outburst for them. The bad news is that Brad Penny gave up five earned runs in four innings, so the Dodgers were behind from the start of the game. They still have three more games against the Mets and who knows maybe a win might come out of it.

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You win some you lose some, that’s the nature of the beast. Teams expect to lose games in a 162 game season, that’s a no brainer. They just hope that they win more than they lose. At some point in the season your team is going to have winning streaks and losing streaks there’s nothing much a team can do, but go out and play. Eventually things will square away.

That seems to be the case for the Dodgers right now. They started out great, then they hit a bump in the road, then they went back up winning seven games in a row. Now they seem to be hanging in there, winning and losing evenly. Such was the case with the last two series.

The Dodgers started the weekend facing the Angels having lost 7 of the last eight games against them. They didn’t fare much better this time around. They faced Joe Saunders in game one and lost 4-2. Kuroda actually pitched well enough to win, but things came apart for the Dodgers when Bennett threw the ball all the way to the warning track, on what should have been the last out of the 4th inning, allowing a run to score. The Angels never gave up the lead after that. The second game the Dodgers won 6-3 behind Dewitt’s 2 run home run, four shut out inning by Kuo and Saito saving the game in the 9th. It was only the second win in eleven tries against Angels. The third and final game they lost 10-2, thanks to Lowe giving up seven runs in five innings.

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About 6,000 miles away in Moscow, the biggest soccer game in the world was played on Wednesday. Here in Los Angeles, as well as everywhere else in the world, the game was enjoyed by every true soccer fan.

The UEFA Champions League Final was played between Manchester United and Chelsea. The British teams gave the world a taste of brilliant soccer and an intensity that can only be felt in a game of this magnitude.

In the end, Manchester United won the cup with a final score of 6-5 in dramatic fashion via penalty kicks. Regulation ended with a tied score of 1-1 and was followed by a scoreless extra time.

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At last David Beckham is showing his skills on the field rather than outside. In the world of soccer it doesn’t matter what you look like, how much money you make or who are you married to. In the world of soccer what matters is the will and the heart you put in every single game.

There is no doubt that Beckham is starting to do so. For the second time in this young season, the British superstar has been named the Major League Soccer’s “Player of the Week.” This is partly due to his two extraordinary goals that gave the Los Angeles Galaxy a 2-2 tie with Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

Fans all over the world are ready to finally see the amazing Beckham, not the mediocre one. So much anticipation has been raised with his arrival and after the disappointing season last year, everyone is hoping to see a positive turnaround.

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Looks like all the Dodgers needed was a good tongue lashing from me. They straightened up and started to fly right, well at least this week. Hopefully they can keep it up for the rest of the season or at least until the All-Star break.

The Dodgers ended the week off on the right foot, sweeping the series against the Rockies. The Rockies had been struggling going into the series and the Dodgers took advantage of it. They beat them 8-7, 11-3 and 3-2. The first game went a lucky 13 innings with the Dodgers winning it on a walk-off sacrifice fly from Russell Martin. The second game in the series was an easy win for the Dodgers. Brad Penny turned in one of his best pitching performances (7 innings/3 earned runs). He was backed up by 10 runs in the first inning, with four of those runs coming on Matt Kemp’s first career grand slam. The third game in the series needed extra inning , James Loney drove in Rafael Furcal with the winning run in the 10th inning.

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What once started as a promising season is now turning into a glimpse into the future, if the Dodgers don’t make a change for the better.

The Dodgers are 22 games into the season and are a sub .500 team, 409, to be exact. They don’t look so good right now. In fact they’re so bad that the lowly Giants are 1.5 games above them. The Giants were predicted by many to finish last in the NL West, but so far it looks like the Dodgers (if they don’t improve something) will be near or at the bottom of the division.

I think that more than anything, the Dodgers need to improve their starting pitching. Penny and Lowe are the only two of the five starters that have a winning record. Even Penny (3-2) and Lowe’s (2-1) records aren’t that good. Teams expect more out of their top two starters, especially from their ace.

Many will be quick to point to the offense as the problem; how they haven’t been scoring all that many runs. Even though that is a good point, of the 13 loses they have only scored 1+ runs 6 times, less than half. But, in those loses the Dodger pitchers have given up 85 runs. Do the math, 85/13=6.5 that’s a 6.5 ERA, high for any team. It’s hard to stay in the game if your team is almost always trailing from the start. The Dodgers will need to fix the pitching and that’s the bottom line. [ Read The Full Story -> ]

As I begin to write this, I find myself ripping at the seams with excitement. This is what a baseball must feel like every time it rips through the sky at hellacious speeds immediately after being smashed by the powerful and perfect swing of a bat. This past Saturday, in what may have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I had the opportunity to attend a Dodger game at the Coliseum; an event that commemorated the first venue in which the Dodgers played when they first came to Los Angeles in 1958. As it turned out, however, the event itself, in truly Dickensian fashion, proved to be not only the best of times but also the worst of times.

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With the MLB regular season only about a week away the Dodgers, just like every other team, are playing their final spring training games and trying to figure out who is going to be on their 25 man roster to start the season. The latter is easier said than done. The Dodgers have an abundance of outfielders, Andrew Jones will be the starting center fielder for sure, but choosing between Pierre, Kemp and Ethier (pictured) for the two corner spots is proving difficult for new skipper Torre. Torre hasn’t decided yet making it more than likely that it will come down to the wire.

Third base is one of the biggest problems that the Dodgers have yet to address. Nomar and LaRoche, the two player that were supposed to be battling it out for third base, are both injured. LaRoche had surgery on his right thumb, while Nomar has a broken hand, neither will be ready for opening day. The only logical solution is for the Dodgers to trade for someone that will really help them at the corner. Loretta from the Astros is a name that has been thrown out there along with Belliard from the Nationals. Both would be within the Dodgers price range and both are excellent defenders with average offense.

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After an 18+ hour flight that spanned 7,500 miles, The Dodgers landed safely in China. They are set to play the San Diego Padres in Beijings Wukesong Stadium on Friday 1 a.m. Eastern time. Wukesong Stadium will also be the stadium where baseball will be played during the 2008 Olympics. The Dodgers and Padres will be the first ever MLB teams to play in China. Commissioner Bud Selig and the MLB are hoping that this leads to more games in China and other places around the world.

The split squad Dodgers had a chance to practice on the field and so far reviews of the stadium have been positive. The grass was a little to short and fast, but was deemed playable by most of the team. Torres split squad consists mainly of prospects and non roster invitees. The only big names that are really there for the Dodgers are Andrew Jones and Matt Kemp; Nomar Garciaparra was a late scratch because of injuries.

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After 17 grueling years of playing in the NFL Brett Favre has finally decided to call it quits. After breaking all sorts of records, most consecutive games played at quarterback (253), most passing yards, most TDs and most interceptions, just to name a few.

A teary eyed Favre basically said that he could still play, but he can’t handle the mental part of the game. That he was just tired of training for upcoming seasons. He doesn’t care if he is ending his career with his last pass being the interception that lost the Packers chances of going to the Super Bowl. And he doesn’t care whether or not he is ranked among the best quarterbacks (he’s not even in my top 5), he played for the passion and fun of the game. One thing is for certain he always gave it his all every game and for that he is greatly appreciated.

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