By virtue of this afternoon’s Cardinal 12-3 beat down of the Diamondbacks, the Dodgers clinched their first National League West title since 2004. The Bums closed the show winning eighteen of twenty-three and their 16-5 record in September is the best in baseball. They have one man to thank and that’s Manny Rodriguez.

 

Man Ram’s bat has been white hot since coming to LA in a deal finalized just minutes before the trade deadline. In just 50 games, Manny’s rocking a .396 batting average with 17 jacks and 53 rbis. Several Dodgers have benefitted from the addition of Manny to the lineup but nobody more so than Andre Eithier who’s 30-84 (.425) since #99 was inserted into the three-hole in front of him.

 

Sure Manny ran himself out of Boston and yes Manny is in the midst of next year’s contract drive but … Manny being Manny’s combined numbers of .332 with 37 Hrs and 121 rbis are certainly worthy of MVP consideration. That won’t happen of course, Albert Pujols is a virtual lock, but worthy of consideration. He’ll get a look on from the West Coast media.

 

More importantly, despite just 80 plus wins, Manny can take the Dodgers on his back and take them into late October. The Dodgers three man trifecta of Chad Billingsley, Derek Lowe, and rook sensation Clayton Kershaw match up favorably with anything coming out of the National League. The pen is rock solid. The once anemic offence is hitting .293 and avgg 6.4 rpg in their last seven.

 

How great would it be to have a Dodger/Red Sox Fall Classic? We can only hope!