As a veteran (old) Dodger fan, I have been blessed to have been around for every one of the Dodgers six World Series championships. Granted, I was only two years old when they won their first one in Brooklyn in 1955, but I have a very vivid recollection of those in 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981 and 1988, with my favorite being the four-game sweep of they heavily-favored New York Yankees in 1963.

But with the Dodgers currently mired in a 26-year-long World Series drought (and with me getting up there in age), I am beginning to think that I may have already witnessed my last Dodgers world championship and that, quite frankly, is a bit disturbing to me.

Having been a Dodger fan my entire life (since 1953), there is one statistic at which the Dodgers perennially excel at that has always driven me crazy – leaving runners stranded on base, or LOB as it is know in the box scores. Although untrue, it seems that year after year the Dodgers leave more runners stranded on base than any other team in baseball. And while it may seem this way, the truth of the matter is that they usually rank in the middle of the pack every year and occasionally even find themselves among teams with the lowest LOB per game average. But it’s hard to argue that they just seem to always leave more guys on base than anyone else – especially lately.

Yasiel Puig led off the first inning of Wednesday night’s game with a double and Scott Van Slyke the second inning. Neither scored. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

In their last 10 games – of which they are 5-5 – the Dodgers have left a total of 68 runners on base for a 6.8 per-game average. However, in the five games that they lost during this stretch, they left a total of 32 men on base for a 6.4 LOB average. And while leaving men on base is rarely a topic of discussion when the Dodgers win, it is magnified when they lose – and they are currently suffering through a three-game losing streak.

Although many sabermetricians do not consider LOB as a true test of a team’s successes and failures, it’s extremely difficult for fans not to – especially when many of those runners are left in scoring position (RISP) – i.e. left at second or third base with two outs or less); and at this dubious statistic the Dodgers have excelled in their last 10 games.

In the five games that the Dodgers won in their last 10 games, they left 39 runners on base but were an impressive 14 for 37 (.388) with RISP. However, in the five games that they lost in their last 10 games, they left 32 runners on base but were a dismal 4 for 30 (.125) with RISP. And while it is easy to say that it all balances out in the end, it really doesn’t. Simply put, the inability of the Dodgers to drive in those 32 runners – especially those in RISP – cost the Dodgers every one of those five losses.

How so, you ask? Because the Dodgers lost those five games by two runs, one run, three runs, one run and two runs respectively. And although they probably wouldn’t have won all five of those games, they most certainly should have won most of them but did not because of their inability to drive in those stranded runners.

The absolute killer, and a situation that Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and hitting coach Mark McGwire need to find a solution to (and soon), is scoring those RISPs when there are no outs – especially after a leadoff double or triple. It seems that the inherently good teams do this on a regular basis – teams like the Giants, Royals and Cardinals (hackers notwithstanding). And while the Dodgers are themselves a good team, their inability to score RISPs with one out or less has been their Achilles heel in getting past the NLCS for the last 26 years.

What’s the answer? That’s the million-dollar question – or multi-million dollar question when looking at the Dodgers payroll; and therein may lie the answer. It seems that whenever one of the Dodgers high-priced power hitters comes to the plate with RISP, they’re thinking that bigger is better and seem to try to hit the ball to Pasadena instead of shortening up their swing and accomplishing the same goal with a simple base hit.

As crazy as it may seem, the guy with the most pinch-hit home runs on the team is also the guy who has driven in more crucial runs with singles – including several walk-off base hits. That guy is Alex Guerrero who, in spite of his continual success at doing so, has been relegated to a bench role rather than having his bat in the lineup every day. Perhaps this is a solution to Mattingly and McGwire’s on-going LOB/RISP problems.

Although Alex Guerrero’s pinch-hit home runs have been exciting, he continues to come up with clutch hits in key situations by shortening up his swing rather than trying to knock the ball out of the park.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

Another guy who continues to come up clutch in key situations has been Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick, and to his credit, at least Mattingly has Kendrick in the lineup (almost) every day and has him batting in the inherently RBI-rich clean-up spot.

But whatever the answer, unless the Dodgers find a solution to their on-going LOB/RISP problem, that 26-year-long World Series drought will probably continue – and I know of at least one veteran (old) Dodger fan who is not very comfortable at that prospect.