Will they ever win again?

For a brief moment there, I actually had a glimmer of hope that the Dodgers might win a game. It’s been so long, I can’t remember what that feels like. You’d think you could get more than 2 wins against the Reds, Cardinals, and Astros.

Forrest finally played the kids, but had the good sense to stick Jeff Kent in the middle of the Loney, Kemp, Ethier trio. Result: Kemp gets on, Ethier gets on, but Kent hits into DP in between them so that no run can score.

As for next year, Derek Lowe is signed through the end of 2008. And don’t look now, but we may have Kent for one more year. His 2008 option is guaranteed if he reaches 550 plate appearances this year. So far, he has 424 with 43 games left in the season. He needs to average just three appearances per game for the rest of the season to remain a Dodger. Though at this rate, maybe he won’t want to stick around.

The stats all say Kent’s a sure hall of famer, since he plays second base. If he played short or third, however, he probably wouldn’t get in. Add to that the fact that he’s not a particularly good second baseman. At least Mazeroski saved some runs with his glove.

Still, when all is said and done, Kent has been a much better addition to this club than I ever imagined when they first signed him. His bat has been pretty good, and he gives a punchless team power from second base. He will be hard to replace. He looks better at 40 than Nomar does at 35.