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Tuesday, Nov 24, 2009
Milton Bradley and Jeff Kent star in "Dodgers Chemistry Experiment II: The Sequel." This time, chemistry matters. Unless it doesn't.
Aug 30, 2005 | The Los Angeles Dodgers are conducting another one of their chemistry experiments. Here we go again. If this one's anything like the last one, when they traded clubhouse leader Paul Lo Duca last year, it's going to convince you that team chemistry matters -- provided you already believed that.
The Dodgers are a lousy team that's hanging around the race for the National League West because the division is so bad top to bottom that lousy might be good enough to win it. Last week outfielder Milton Bradley and second baseman Jeff Kent had words in the clubhouse and then sniped at each other in the press.
This is all proof that Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta, a stats guy who used to assist Billy Beane in Oakland, doesn't understand anything about team chemistry, and erred when he ignored it as he constructed the roster. You can't build a team by looking at numbers on a computer, this argument goes. Chemistry matters.
Owner Frank McCourt said as much last week, giving DePodesta a public dressing down in the Los Angeles Times. Similar thoughts were expressed by team president Tommy Lasorda, who's all about chemistry.
This all led to the question "If chemistry's so important, why are you airing your criticisms of your own G.M. in the media?" -- but only if you don't believe team chemistry means much.
The current dust-up began Aug. 20 in Miami, when Kent hit a game-tying double against the Florida Marlins that he thought should have been a go-ahead double, but Bradley, who'd been on first base, stopped at third. Kent yelled at Bradley after the game, which the Dodgers won, accusing him of not hustling.
Bradley, who's nursing a sore knee, which might explain his not running full speed, immediately requested and got a closed-door meeting with manager Jim Tracy, and then three days later, back home in Los Angeles, told reporters that Kent is a good player but a lousy clubhouse guy. He said, "The problem is, I think he doesn't know how to deal with African-Americans," among other things. Kent shot back that Bradley's accusations were "pathetic."
For this discussion, we'll ignore the substance of these charges and denials. It doesn't really matter to us if Kent really can't deal with African-Americans. It just matters that these two clubhouse problems, Bradley the hothead and Kent the sullen loner, are bickering.
The Sporting News' excellent baseball writer Ken Rosenthal represented the chemistry argument over the weekend, calling this season "the Dodgers' failed chemistry experiment" and writing that "the Dodgers are a perfect example of a club that places too little emphasis on the emotional makeup of their roster."
