T minus 19

If the MLB season is a marathon, a pennant race is a sprint...that takes place at the end of a fucking marathon. You can't feel your legs. Your face is stuck in an expression of pain. Your mouth is frothing so much it looks like you just bit into a bagel with extra cream cheese (shmeeaaar). Like Jeff Kent after going first to third on a double to right. All that and now it's time to turn on the jets.

That's where the Dodgers are with 19 games left; after an up and down (mostly down) second half, the Dodgers need to play some of their best baseball right now. And with their next six at home against the Padres and then the D'Backs, I mean right now.

We know this. Yet the following quotes (from the LATimes) by two key veteran Dodgers are kinda disturbing. First, from Juan Pierre:

"I wouldn't say make-or-break, but if we don't take care of business at home, it'll be that much tougher. If we play well and get back in the hunt, we still have two weeks after that. There's still time to mess up either way -- either we mess up or the other team messes up."

I don't quite get what Pierre is going for with this quote. Is he downplaying the importance of winning the immediate two series because of the imminent losses what will occur in the two weeks after that? Does he not realize it's possible to NOT mess up at all? How about we just try to win them all, Juan? Just a thought.

And then there's this gem from the increasingly quotatious Jeff Kent:

"The games that are the most important are the games that will put you on the verge of elimination. I don't think that that's coming this week. It frustrates me that it gets amped so much like that. It's going to be important for us to play consistent baseball without being emotionally involved."

Yes, yes. I believe in saving a little something for those really, really crucial, back to the wall, win or go home type games. But to play "without being emotionally involved" -- is that a good thing? We're not doing a fucking science project here.

At least my man Saito recognizes that there's some urgency:

"We can't wait for a miracle. We have to create one...Wooooo yesssahhhh!!!"

Damn straight.

But, of course, what do I know? These guys are veterans and I guess they're just setting the tone for a young clubhouse. Keep them even and centered. But still, Kent did admit this:

"We do understand that we have to start making up some ground. Time is shortening itself."

Yeah dude, time tends to do that.