The Garbage Man

(Photo by Tony Gutierrez, AP)

Most people who have been reading my posts or opinions on SOSG and TrueBlueLA know about how critical I have been on James Loney's offensive contribution, especially when the Dodgers did not make a push to get Victor Martinez or any other power-hitting first baseman. My main argument for getting some like Martinez is that the Dodgers lineup didn't need any more contact hitters. Instead, they would benefit more from someone who had pretty good power numbers, either with hitting homers or from slugging. Loney was a one-bag type of hitters, but had a pretty decent year, until the trade deadline.

Since the trade deadline, Loney has not had the best numbers: 15 for 71 (.211), 9 BB, 0 HR, 8 RBIs through today's game. Bad month but not terrible, right? If you take away the first three games of the month when he had 3 multi-hit games in a row, his numbers are as bad as it gets: 8 for 57 (.140), 0 HR, 3 RBIs in the past 17 games.

Tonight, he went 0 for 5, the only Dodgers position player without a base-hit. Also, he made a critical error in the bottom of the 10th that pretty much dashed all hopes of a victory.

I know I have been too critical on Loney, but why can't I be? I mean he is no Andruw Jones, right? The way he has been playing recently, he is Jones sans the expensive price tag. He did hit that grand slam last season in the playoffs and probably is hitting the worst slump of his young career. However, sometimes I still wonder how good would this team be if we had Martinez, Adrian Gonzalez, or even Adam Dunn batting behind Manny.

Sorry Loney, losing some games make the fans a little critical of you. I have been calling you Garbage Man from my seat in Field Box 53 every time you fail to drive in a run or get a base-hit. Please prove me wrong soon.