Having the (Dodger) blues...

Rafael Furcal was and is a very flawed player. At times, he seemed to get the Little Man Syndrome and try to show how much of a man he was with big homerun power. Other times, he simply was too nonchalant in the field. But, all players have their little demons. Some have really big demons (see: John Rocker).

However, I never miss Furcal more than when the Dodgers come to town. In the top of the fourth with the Dodgers down by a run, Furcal pushed a bunt toward shortstop and Edgar Renteria, his replacement, had no shot. Maybe he would have been able to get there if his name was Furcal? Eii, who knows. But nonetheless, it was Furcal’s speed and guile that did pretty much what you are always told you cannot possibly do. He stole first. He would later score the game-tying play and the Dodgers would score again to take the lead in the fourth.

In Renty’s defense, he did make a nice play on a Luis Gonzalez groundout that should have probably been turned into two, but Kelly Johnson fumbled with the ball a little, turning the play into an RBI fielder’s choice.

Furcal received a lot of criticism in Atlanta and some of it was justified. Like I said, he did try to turn into a power hitter when he was better suited to use his speed and OBP ability, like he did his first year when he put up an IsoOBP of .099. To put that in context, entering tonight, Kelly Johnson IsoOBP was .149 (a number he is not likely to continue). Furcal had it all in 2000. He stole 40 bases, reached base nearly 40% of the time, and got a Rookie of the Year award because of it.

However, he failed to live up to that particular hype again, though he did have impressive years in 2003 (109 OPS+) and 2005 (100 OPS+) before leaving Atlanta. His defense always looked worse than it really was. Yes, he committed between 23 and 31 errors in four of his first five years, but he was getting to balls you only dreamed of. He was also throwing out people he has no business throwing out.

Not that I do not like Renty and for the money, he is a better player.

I just miss Furcal every now and then.