The baseball season is finally over, with the Cardinals taking home the big prize. Does anyone outside of St. Louis actually care? How ironic is it that the wost Cardinal team in recent years is the one that ends up winning it all blah blah blah ... who cares. The offseason is here! Free agents have already started to file and Olmedo Saenz has already started fattening up for hibernation. As for the rest of the Dodger organization, looks like another offseason of tinkering. Lets take a look at the top 5 things Ned Colletti should and shouldn't do this offseason.

1) Ned SHOULD let Nomar go. It was a great year for Nomar. He won the Comeback Player of the Year award, was the most clutch hitter in the National League, and gained the love of Dodger fans everywhere. Sadly, here is where it must end. We all knew when he was signed that he was just a temporary stop-gap until the youngin's were ready to take over, and they are. James Loney is ready. He already has the best glove in the NL, and during his September call-up and in the playoffs he proved his .380 clip in AAA this year was no fluke. Loney will be the Dodgers' starting first baseman next season. As for Nomar, maybe he should give Boston another shot?

2) Ned SHOULD NOT continue bringing Giants over to the Dodgers. The only thing worse than bringing in a bunch of Devil Rays (which he did way too much of last season) is bringing in a bunch of Giants. Last season Colletti brought in Bill Mueller, Brett Tomko, Kenny Lofton, and Ramon Martinez, all former Giants. If you thought the orange and black invasion ended there, you were wrong. This past week, he hired former Giants trainer Stan Conte (of no relation to BALCO founder Victor Conte, yeah, right, coincidence) to become the new head trainer of the Dodgers, ensuring that the Dodgers will be the most juiced team in the league next season. At this rate, it's a mortal lock that Colletti will shell out $50 million so that Jason Schmidt can make 15 starts a year for us. Hey Ned, I hear Juiceman's a free agent...

3) Ned SHOULD run Joe Beimel out of town. For those of you who don't know, Beimel showed up to the NLDS with a deep gash in his pitching hand and was thus left off the postseason roster. He told the team it happened when he dropped a glass while getting a drink of water out of his hotel sink. It was later revealed that he got hurt not drinking water at his hotel sink, but rather drinking whiskey at the bar down the street. Everyone found it a bit fishy to begin with. First of all, nobody really drinks out of their hotel sink. Second, last time I checked, when you drop something it means the object is no longer in contact with you. Hard to imagine such a large cut was made after dropping a glass. What a douchebag. Because of him we had to pitch Mark Hendrickson's ineffective ass in the 7th. Beimel's lying lips must go. The Dodgers have had a good run of turning obscure left handers into serviceable relievers in recent years. Tom Martin (who's a dead ringer for Christian Bale), Kelly Wunsch, and then Beimel were all no-namers who made the team and were effective. I think we can do it one more time.

4) Ned SHOULD NOT allow Takashi Saito to go back to Japan. Offer him a 2 year deal worth around $8 million. That should be enough to get him to stay. Without Saito our bullpen is shakier than Tara Reid after a night out. Jonathan Broxton is probably still a year away from being able to close, and nobody knows if Eric Gagne will throw another pitch in his life. Offer him all the Mitsubishis, Toyotas, and Fujitsus he wants. Saito has to be resigned. It's a must.

5) Ned SHOULD acquire a power bat. Last season the Dodgers were second to last in the National League in home runs. Only the Pirates hit less. A power bat has to be the first thing on Colletti's list. A power bat that plays center field or third base would be even better, as the Dodgers have major question marks at both positions. There's no way Kenny Lofton's 4925 year old legs should be resigned, Matt Kemp is still too much of a lock to swing at the 2-strike slider in the dirt, and Wilson Betemit looks like the second coming of Jose Offerman at third. Some names that would fit perfectly? How about Andruw Jones? Alfonso Soriano? Gary Matthews Jr.? Hell, I'd even take A-Rod if we don't have to give up the farm to get him. Please just don't sign Alex Cintron and call it a successful offseason.

Note - Here comes the NBA! Look for the first round ball post of the season later in the week.

It was as inevitable as death and taxes, but when it came today, it still hurt. The Dodgers were finally eliminated from the playoffs by the New York Mets in a three game sweep. It marks the end to a season that had more ups and downs than every roller coaster in Magic Mountain combined. The Dodgers were bad, then good, then terrible, then great, then god awful, then unbeatable, and at the end, ultimately shitty. It's amazing we were able to survive as fans.

Since the Dodgers won the World Series in 1988, we've made the playoffs four times. We've been swept three of those times, and have come out in total with a 1-12 record. The only win? Lima time, baby! That's sad, no matter how you look at it. It's as if the baseball gods said, "OK, we'll give you Gibson, but after that you will suck for the next 20 years." I mean good lord, you'd think we could win a fucking game once in a while. Of all the veterans that we stocked up on who were supposed to "help" us in the playoffs, only Jeff Kent performed up to par with the power of the moustache. Nomar? Hurt. Again. Kenny Lofton? 1-13. Rafael Furcal? 2-11. J. D. Drew? 2-13. Greg Maddux? Sup-par performance today. For the most part, our veterans with postseason experience ended up being our undoing. That and the bonehead play in game 1.

A lot has to be said about Joe Beimel cutting his hand and not being able to pitch in this series. He would have definitely helped out in game 1, when Grady Little had to bring in Brad Penny in the 7th, and today as well when he brought Jonathan Broxton in to pitch the 6th. Beimel is usually the guy we throw out there in those spots, but too bad he had to be hurt. Worse is that he tried to play it off like he hurt it in his hotel room late at night getting a drink of water out of the sink when multiple people reported seeing him get the cut at a bar that night. Sure Joe, we believe you. Like anyone really drinks out of a hotel sink.

So now we look toward a long offseason. Like recent offseasons, a shitload of changes are sure to be made. Do we resign Nomar with James Loney having such a torrid finish? Does Eric Gagne take a huge pay cut to stay with the Dodgers and make one last go at it? Do we let Lofton go off to join the 348th team of his career? Does Wilson Betemit keep his third base job with Andy LaRoche breathing down his neck? Will Greg Maddux put off retirement for one more season? Will Oscar Robles be back? Only time will tell. The only sure thing is the Dodgers need to get a power bat. We can't afford to be second to last in the league in home runs like we were this year. The bullpen and rotation also need help. Barry Zito, anyone? Alfonso Soriano? Carlos Lee? We can only dream, and, as Dodger fans, be eventually disappointed.

So with the season over, I probably wont be posting much here until the NBA season starts at the end of the month. That is, unless something worth writing about happens like Grady Little gets fired (please?) or something like that. Until then, it's been fun.

First off, damn the UCLA Engineering department for making me take a safety class at same time Game 1 of the NLDS is on today. Second, damn douchebag safety workers who pick on people dozing off or not paying attention in safety classes. Don't they know that nobody actually wants to be there? How can you honestly expect anyone to be enthusiastic about attending a mandatory safety class? The whole thing is just very upsetting. But on to the game.

Let's start right off at the most idiotic and embarrassing play of the day. In the second inning with J. D. Drew on first and Jeff Kent on second, Russell Martin hits one off the wall in right. Somehow Kent's old slow ass isn't at third base yet when the relay is made, and he's easily thrown out at home. But more appalling was that J. D. Drew came in right behind him and was tagged out just as easily sliding in on the other side of the plate. I don't think this has ever happened in real life before. The only time I can ever remember a play like this is in Major League when Willie Mays Hays and some other Indian both slide one after the other to avoid the tag; except both of them were safe. The dumbness was rubbed in when Marlon Anderson then hit an RBI double, which would have scored both Kent and Drew had they not been tagged out. This atrocity ended up to be huge as later, with the score tied, Brad Penny sucked again and coughed up the game. The Dodgers lost by one run, 6-5.

Why was Drew right on Kent's back? Why didn't he pick up his damn head and look at third base coach Rich Donnelly? Why didn't Donnelly yell his lungs out to tell Drew to stop? How can something this stupid happen in the playoffs? These were all the questions swirling through my mind as I watched the replay in dead speechless silence. Just unbelievable. It makes you wonder how the Dodgers ever got to the playoffs in the first place.

Kent said after the game: "It's easy to sit in a booth and it's easy to color this at the end of the day by saying, 'If this would have scored and that would have scored ... it would have added up and they would have won.' You can't do that in this game." Well Jeff, the last time I checked, 5 + 2 = 7, which would have given us the 7-6 victory. OK, maybe the game wouldn't have played out exactly like it did after had they both scored, but it couldn't have been any worse.

So now, down 0-1, we look to steal tomorrow's game and go back home with the series tied. We're confident at home. The only team that won more home games this season in the NL was ... the Mets. Damn. Come one Hong-Chih Kuo! Make the family proud!

Sidenote: Fuck you, Joe Morgan! How dare you insult the Dodgers and Mets by leaving the game in the middle to go do the Yankee's game. Why didn't you just not show up at all and leave the color commenting to Steve Phillips? If you're gonna be there, stay the whole game and don't go trotting off just cuz it's the Yankees. Screw the Yankees.

It was said earlier that the Dodgers needed to go 5-1 to guarantee a playoff spot. Well, whaddu ya know? They went 6-0, and for the second time in three years, are playoff bound. You could not have asked for a better finish to the season, going into a tough series with the Mets with a little momentum. Well, you could ask for Nomar to not be friggin' hurt again, but that's like asking Clay Aiken not to be gay. The rotation lines up with Derek Lowe in game one, Hong-Chih Kuo in game two, and the old professor Greg Maddux in game three. There's even a chance Brad Penny can un-herniate his spine in time to pitch game four, if necessary.

As dominant as the Mets have been in the NL this season, I like our chances. Their Pedro-less rotation will consist of El Duque, Tom Glavine and Steve Trchachschschshschcel. Their lineup, however, is tough with Reyes, Beltran, Delgado and Wright, but to be honest, I'm more worried about some of their other players. A lot of the Mets are former Dodgers, and you just know that they're gonna come back and stick it up our asses. Former Dodgers seem to have a habit of doing that. Paul LoDuca, Shawn Green, Jose Valentin, Ricky Ledee, and Guillermo Mota frighten me to death right now. I wouldn't be surprised if Duaner Sanchez and Steve Schmoll come off the DL just to do something like beane Rafael Furcal in the head.

So the series starts Wednesday, when ESPN will be airing those annoying as hell "Wednesday is only 5 more days to Monday Night Football" adds. Thanks a lot for nothing FOX, first you fuck up the Dodgers with shitty ownership, now you force us to watch as ESPN tells us Wednesday had a D in front of an N, and Monday has an N in front of a D. Assholes.