Sep 26, 2008 - 2:08 AM
0 shoutsJoe Torre gets the last laugh.
While his former team, the New York Yankees, will be missing the postseason for the first time since 1993, Torre is headed to the playoffs for the 13th straight season as the first-year manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Torre's return to the postseason became official when the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 12-3, on Thursday afternoon. That result enabled the Dodgers to clinch the National League West Division title - their first since 2004 - even before their game against the San Diego Padres on Thursday night.
Torre guided the Yankees to the playoffs in all 12 of his seasons in the Bronx but rejected the team's incentive-laden contract offer following New York's third straight first-round exit last year. He moved west to replace Grady Little as the manager of the Dodgers.
The Dodgers endured a number of injuries throughout the season, losing shortstop Rafael Furcal, former ace Brad Penny and closer Takashi Saito for long stretches, and got virtually nothing out of free-agent acquisition Andruw Jones. However, they also benefited from playing in the weakest division in the major leagues.
Los Angeles (83-75) was under .500 as late as September 2, when it owned a 69-70 record, before getting hot and likely will have the worst mark of the eight playoff participants.
"This is an important first step towards our ultimate goal," Dodgers owner Frank McCourt said. "The entire organization, from (general manager) Ned Colletti and his staff, to Joe Torre and his coaches and all of the players and staff members throughout our front office and minor leagues, deserve tremendous credit for their hard work and dedication over the last eight months. We expect that this culture of winning will continue and that today is just the first of many exciting days in the month to come."
"We cannot possibly thank the fans enough for their constant support," Los Angeles president Jamie McCourt added. "They have come out to Dodger Stadium all season long, through thick and thin, and they continue to embrace the team in ways that surely contributed to the team's terrific home record."
The Dodgers also got a huge boost when they acquired Manny Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox at the trade deadline. While Ramirez was a disruptive force in Boston, leaving the Red Sox with little choice but to deal him, he has been on a tear since moving to the West Coast.
"It's good, but it's just the first step," Ramirez said of the clinching. "We're happy, but we're not going to go crazy about it. The goal is to go to the big dance, the World Series. This is not a championship yet."
In 50 games with the Dodgers, Ramirez has been on his best behavior and is batting .398 with 17 home runs and 53 RBI.
Still, their hopes were fading following an eight-game losing streak that left the Dodgers five games under .500 (65-70) and 4 1/2 behind the Diamondbacks on August 29.
"It feels outstanding," said Casey Blake, who was also acquired in July. "You get brought over to do a job. It looked pretty bleak there for a while. We turned it around. However, it happened, we'll take it."
However, Los Angeles won five straight against Arizona as part of a surge in which it reeled off 12 victories in its next 13 games. The Dodgers took over first place on September 6 and never relinquished it.
"This is satisfying after all the hard work," righthander Derek Lowe said. "This is a great feeling. It means a lot."
