Nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody needs to tell Dodgers veteran second baseman Mark Ellis that he made the biggest mistake of the season and quite possibly of his entire career, because nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody knows it more than he does.

Mark Ellis’ split-second decision to try to stretch a double into a triple is going to be the source of many a nightmare for the 35-year-old Ellis during the entire off season. It was so out of character for the guy who is, hands down, the most experienced and smartest player on the team.

If you’ve ever wondered what “out by a mile” looks like, this would be it.
(Video capture courtesy of Comcast Sports Network)

As expected, Ellis stood tall and acknowledged his mistake to reporters in front of his locker in a very somber Dodgers clubhouse after Tuesday night’s painful 4-3 loss to the Giants, thus eliminating them from playoff contention. And don’t think for one second that Mark took it lightly – his eyes were visibly red and his voice was audibly choked up as he stood and faced the music. And to their credit, the media folks that interviewed Ellis were sympathetic and understanding to a man who was in obvious emotional pain. One can only be thankful that T.J. Simers was not present.

Ellis said that because the play was in front of him as he reached second base, he clearly saw the ball die at the base of the wall and felt that he could make it to third before the ball could be fielded, thrown to the cutoff man, and then thrown to third base. Unfortunately, Ellis was off in his estimation – way off. He was out by a mile, as we used to say as kids.

Instead of standing on second base with one out when Shane Victorino followed with a real triple which would have scored Ellis with the tying run and leaving Victorino on third base representing the winning run with one out, Ellis watched from the dugout as Matt Kemp struck out to end the inning stranding Victorino on third base. (Note: The Dodgers were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position on the night including three by Kemp, so Mark Ellis certainly can’t shoulder the entire blame for this season-ending loss).

Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp watch their playoff hopes come to an end during Tuesday night’s painful 4-3 loss to the Giants. (Photo credit – Stephen Dunn)

The bottom line is that the Dodgers are done, in spite of putting on a gutsy performance during the previous six games; but as we all said many times during this 6-game winning streak, it was simply a matter of too little, too late.

But just wait till next year!