Winning’s contagious and so is losing. And this is not something you want to stay in the habit of doing.”
— Dodger right fielder Andre Ethier addresses the team’s dismal recent performances, on “Dodgers Live” before Sunday’s game

Let’s hope the way the Dodgers played today becomes an incurable disease!

There hasn’t been much high-fiving for these guys lately.

They hit when they needed to, came from behind after a shaky first inning by Stephen Fife (called up to replace the injured Chad Billingsley) and had defense up the wazoo, with special kudos to Mark Ellis who continues to dazzle at second base. For the first time this week, it was actually fun watching a Dodger game!

The 7-4 win in Baltimore stopped the Dodgers’ losing streak and meant they avoided a second consecutive sweep, which would really have been soul-crushing. Today, they looked like the team I love: the chemistry was there (like when new-guy Ramon Hernandez signaled to Kemp to slide to the outside of home plate when scoring from second on a single). Kemp was happy and excited, and had three hits for the second day in a row.

Nothing makes baseball more fun to watch than Matt Kemp’s smile.

So it’s on to New York, after a Monday of rest. Let’s hope the momentum makes the flight.

P.S. Right before the game, I changed the header on this blog to a photo of the team victorious. I think I’ll leave it, in case that had anything to do with it.

I feel like crying right now. Today has been a bad day. The Dodgers lost twice!

The only thing that makes the world brighter is my beautiful chihuahua, Zorro. Who could be sad and hopeless looking at this spectacular face?

I urge all Dodger fans to think of this photo each time the team loses or sucks, which means, at this rate, every day.

I feel sorry for the guys, because I like them all so much, and I know they can do and have done so much better than this in the past. All I can do now is wince every time I see those billboards touting “A Whole New Blue.” I think that’s called hubris, and the joke will stare us in the face all season.

I honestly don’t know how sports writers do it. Following a team like the Dodgers, who are so painfully failing nearly every time they come up to bat (or bring Ronald Belisario on in relief), is just plain depressing. How many times can you say, “The offense isn’t producing”? How many ways can you phrase the term “leaving men on base”? It’s a chore! Right now, as I am writing this, the Dodgers are in the middle of the second game of a double-header in Baltimore. They lost the first one, 7-5, and in this one so far, they are tied at 1 in the fifth.

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong plays to a packed house at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Photo by Chad Sengstock

So I’ve decided I don’t have to write about every single game. If one is just like the day before, I’ll maybe write about something else, like the Green Day concert I went to Thursday. It was fantastic! They played the Sports Arena, and the place was jam-packed. Billie Joe Armstrong was in great form and seemed to really be enjoying himself (although I wonder what inhaling all that pot smoke means for his sobriety.) It was a great way to spend a day without Dodger baseball. Unlike this “Whole New Blue,” Green Day never disappoints.