Raffy steals one from the Giants

It took all of two games for the Los Angeles Dodgers to establish a new identity in the next era of Dodger Baseball. This is a different team with a new regime, and it only feels proper that the club transitions itself for a new time with all of the 50th Anniversary ceremonies being conducted.

There is a youth movement in LA; not only in the age of the roster, but also in the mindset of the coaches and players and the style of play that will be filling the Dodger Stadium grounds in 2008. The Dodgers were hung up in a pitchers duel on Tuesday night with their arch rival, the San Francisco Giants.

Derek Lowe took the hill for Los Angeles and followed his mantra, which is pounding his sinker down in the zone and watching his infielders run left and right. Sounds like a pretty good gameplan right? Works for Lowe. The righthander was cruising into the seventh inning until he surrendered a couple of hits, one which he took off of his left leg, and exited stage right with the bases loaded and nobody out.

Lowe brings an edge to the Dodgers' pitching staff that will go mostly unnoticed this season, but should not be underappreciated. Lowe is not flashy, nor does his bring a sexy arsenal of pitches to the mound. No high-octane fastballs zip towards the plate during his starts, and there are no knees buckling as he breaks of some otherworldly hammer. Those duties are left for Brad Penny and Chad Billingsley.

But what Lowe brings to the club is immeasurable. Lowe is workman like; he takes the ball every fifth day and does his job. He is not about striking out 15 batters or throwing no-hitters. The man is humble enough to recognize his weaknesses, yet intelligent enough to pitch to his strengths. Lowe is a ballplayer who grinds through pitches, at-bats, and innings. The average fan may find him boring, as he works quick under a monotonous manner. But ask manager Joe Torre, and he will tell you that there is nothing boring about recording out after out.

There will come a day this season where Dodger fans recognize the indellible mark that Derek Lowe will leave on Billingsley, and soon-to-come Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers are adapting a tough mentality and that will ultimately prevail.

But of course it takes two sides to make a great duel, and San Francisco has something extremely special in 23-year-old Matt Cain. Cain dominated through five innings, before running into a little bit of trouble in the sixth, due to his high pitch count. Cain left the game with two outs in the sixth and the bases loaded, but the bullpen slammed that door, leaving him with an all too familiar no-decision.

Cain is the epitome of future ace and Cy Young award contender. His stuff is elite and his confidence is rare. Cain is lighting in a bottle, mixed with 96 miles per hour of moxie. He will take the ball and combine with Tim Lincecum to keep the Giants off of the McCovey Cove floor this season, but 2008 may end up like 2007 if the Giants cannot find a way to push any runs across the plate. Last seaosn, Cain went 7-16 on a club where he recieved the second-worst run support in all of baseball. Put him on a contender, and he could of easily won 18 games with the same performances.

But all of that was irrelevant at Dodger Stadium this night, when Rafael Furcal brought the mail home from second base on an infield single by rookie Delwyn Young in the bottom of the ninth inning, propelling the Dodgers to a 3-2 victory and a 2-0 start to the young season.

Furcal was 2-5 and Andre Ethier had 3 hits to lead the offense. With the emergence of the young studs and support of the veteran cast, there is an undeniable chemistry being built throughout this clubhouse. It is seen from top to bottom when the Dodgers take the field. The attitude and the swagger in Los Angeles is built around aggressiveness these days, and who knew it would take a stoic face from Joe Torre to make it happen.

The fire is coming from the higher power and trickling down to the men who swing the bat and run the bases. Huroki Kuroda will have a nice impact and Mark Sweeney will be a key piece in late-inning situations, but Larry Bowa is arguably the biggest offseason acquisition for the Dodgers. Why? Bowa's intensity, passion, and pursuit of winning cannot be matched. That much is for sure.

All it took on Tuesday night to get Bowa riled up was a few words from umpire Ed Montague, suggesting that Bowa remain in the third base coaching box, instead of warily wondering wherever he pleases. A couple words lead to a couple shouts, and before you knew it, Torre was out on the field holding back an irate Bowa who had been sent to an early shower. Bowa stormed off in style as he sent dugout water coolers crashing to the floor.

This is not some senseless outburst, mind you. This is an attitude and this is Bowa setting the bar high, early in the season. The Dodgers may have been a bit too soft last season, equating to their late season collapse. That surely will not happen this season. It can't if the ballclub takes to the style of their third base coach. Stand your ground and stick up for what you believe in. That is Bowa's message and it is one which is tried and true.

Los Angeles was trailing 2-0 in the seventh inning with runners on first and second and nobody out when they ran a double steal, with Blake DeWitt barely squeaking his foot past the tag at first. It is not exactly by the book, and it certainly would be a rally killer if DeWitt had made the first out of that monumental inning at third base, but it ignited the comeback, and that is what matters in the box score.

Then the aggressive decision of Furcal to round third on a diving stop by second baseman Ray Durham in the bottom of the ninth puts the stamp on the evening that showed of what the Dodgers are all about. The first fifty years in Los Angeles have their own memories, ones that untouchable amidst the minds of that generation, and hallowed in the annals of Dodger history.

But this is a new generation. It is time for a new tradition to be built, and tradition must be built on principles and attitude. The people of LA should like what they saw on the bases from the Dodgers tonight, and ownership should be ecstatic by the inclination that Derek Lowe has made a priority when he takes the mound. Lowe, Torre, and Bowa are all about the business and mindless about style. Once this era of Dodgers comes along for the ride, there will be an abundance of jubilant celebration in the next half-century. So far, so good.