Consider the 2011 season of Los Angeles Dodgers. They played 73 games, losing 41. As one of the most revered franchises in baseball, shouldn’t the numbers be a little different for them? The Dodgers have recently broken a losing streak where they lost five games. Currently they are in the 4^th place for the Western Division of the League. If it weren’t for the Padres, Dodgers would perhaps be the worst playing team this season.

So why are the Dodgers not up to the game?

Underachieving players

Several of the Dodgers players could possibly be overrated, but are underachieving or playing well below their skills.

Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier are performing brilliantly, as expected of them. Earlier in the year, Ethier had a 30-game hitting streak and Kemp beat all expectations. Kemp is currently ranked in the top three of the League.

But other players like Chad Billingsley, James Loney, Clayton Kershaw and Jonathan Broxton have played lackluster games this season. Are these players just having a bad season or are they not so great as we thought?

Injuries

To be fair, the Dodgers performance has taken a beating due to the many injuries. Furcal and Blake cannot seem to stay on the field and that has obviously affected the Dodgers. Dee Gordon, the young player that the Dodgers have called up to fill in, has done a remarkable job. Perhaps he should take Furcal’s job permanently.

Things need to turn around and they need to very soon. If the Dodgers continue as they are, we are looking at a year which is reminiscent of the one back in 1992, where the Dodgers lost almost a 100 games. This is the worst season for Dodgers in many years and also perhaps the worst team that they have had.

Vincente Padilla, the right hander or the Los Angeles Dodgers is scheduled to undergo neck surgery soon. He had been sidelined since May 14^th due to neck pain caused by a bulging cervical disc. He has been on the disabled list times 10 time in his career altogether. He missed a few weeks last year due to the same problem. Don Mattingly, the Dodgers manager, says that the conservative approach has not worked so far and therefore neck surgery seems to be the best option.

Padilla will need at least 2 weeks to recuperate after the surgery, before he can even start pitching again. He had also had a forearm surgery, so he began the season on the disabled list. Padilla was the opening day starter for Dodgers two seasons back. He was also the closer for Dodgers after Jonathan Broxton had a bone bruise in his elbow and went on the disabled list.

Vincente Padilla was an All Star with Philadelphia in 2002, before he signed with the Dodgers for a year for $2 million. After Hiroki Kuroda was hit by a line drive during an Arizona game, the Dodgers had to sign Padilla out of necessity.

Padilla is one of the very few modern pitchers to use the “eephus pitch” which throws a slow ball. This particular pitch is nicknamed soap bubble by the Dodgers fans. He has in fact two completely different pitches – the eephus pitch and the fastball. His favored pitch is the fastball, Padilla pitches at about 93-94 mph. He is also capable of pitching the ball at a slow 50 mph in a slow curve eephus pitch.

But he rarely throws makes consecutive pitches and is also known for hitting the batters. In fact he has hit batters 106 times and led the American League in batters hit in 2006.

Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson (1919-1972) was the first black MLB player of the modern era. Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and broke the baseball color line. He was one of the key players who brought about an end to pro baseball racial segregation. His character, undeniable talent and remarkable baseball career revolutionized professional baseball and significantly contributed to the Civil Rights Movement.

His cultural impact and brilliant baseball career combine to make Jackie Robinson one of the greatest baseball players in the history of the game. It is not surprising then that most of the Dodgers fans, commentators and game experts would choose Jackie Robinson as the Dodger’s franchise player.

They would all relentlessly harp about racial segregation and how Robinson played a crucial role in the shaping up of professional baseball as it is today. They would be right, yet wrong.

The thing is, it is not just the sociopolitical influence of Robinson that makes him a great Dodgers player, he just is the greatest player in the franchise history regardless of color, cultural or political considerations. He is the greatest Dodgers player; it is as simple as that.

Robinson is hugely popular among baseball fanatics and among those who have just a passing knowledge of the game, so rather than going into his baseball career, we are going to talk a bit about his beginnings.

Jackie was not born during the best of times for an aspiring black baseball player. He had to make his mark amidst the racial slurs and threats that were hurled at him on a daily basis. Robinson was raised by a single mother in a white neighborhood, so he was no stranger to hardships similar to the one he would face later in his professional life.

Robinson also underlined the fact that black ballplayers can play as well as if not better than the white players who dominated professional baseball at the time. He was the first UCLA athlete ever to win varsity letters in four different sports.

Jackie Robinson started his major league career when he was 28 years old. He finished with a .297/.383/.427 and a 4.5 WAR in his rookie season. He later moved to legendary status with a 16 HR, 124 RBI, 122 R,.342/.432/.528, 37 SB, 10.0 WAR line that got him the MVP award 1947 and also established him as a player who can hit a ball as well as pitch it at top-flight speed.

Only once in his career did he finish a season with a WAR under 4.0. Jackie was also an exceptional fielder, and he played both second and third base.

Jackie Robinson is the best Dodgers franchise player.

With Cole Hamels and Hiroki Kuroda, it was a pitchers’ duel on Wednesday. After the Philadelphia Phillies scored in the sixth, there was a prime opportunity for the Dodgers to score the next inning, but they wasted it.

The Phillies went on to win 2-0 behind the 8 shut out innings of Hamels. Kuroda allowed just one single through all of his 4 innings. He had also had the first 2 outs of the fifth inning. It looked like Kuroda will have an easy next inning too, but he could not find the strike zone all of a sudden. He walked Hamels and also threw a wild pitch that went behind Shane Victorino. Michael Martinez did not attempt to score and Rod Barajas, the catcher, fielded the miscue and threw it hitting Victorino in the butt.

Kurodo got Domonic to a full count before getting him to line out to Ethier. Manager Don Mattingly had let Kuroda bat in the bottom of the fifth in spite of the fact that he struggled. Ryan Howard, the second batter that Kuroda faced the next inning, hit home, the first for the Phillies this month.

The Dodgers also had a fantastic opportunity to recover the next inning with Ethier and Kemp. However, after those two, the Dodgers’ offense left a lot to be desired. Juan Uribe swung at the first pitch of Hamels and it turned out horribly. The rest were no better.

Hamels (8-2) struck out nine and allowed six hits.

Friday gametime was a bit of confusion for the Dodgers regarding which player will be coming on board.

Vicente Padilla, the right hander, was expected to come on board before the Cincinnati game. He is on the disabled list with a sore forearm. Jon Garland was unexpectedly placed on the disabled list due to his inflamed shoulder. Rafael Furcal followed suit, he was also officially placed on the 15 day disabled list on Saturday, owing to a strained side muscle during the Cincinnati Reds game Friday night.

The Dodgers have scheduled Rubby De La Rosa, the rookie, to take Garland’s spot in the Phillies game starting Tuesday.

By now, one would think the Dodgers be used to all the knocks that seem to be coming their way in 2011.

It became slightly more complicated than a regular bad day (on Friday) for Dodgers when the Dodgers spokesperson Josh Rawitch announced that Padilla was not ready to be activated yet.

Without Padilla to back the team up, the Dodgers will have to find someone else to replace him and they will not be able to consider Jon Garland either because Garland is also on the disabled list.

Garland has never been on the disabled list before throughout his 11 year old career. The Dodgers luck seem to be rubbing off on him now, this is the second time he is sitting out because of an injury. Garland had an oblique injury at the start of the season due to which he had to sit out the game.

The Dodgers called up Rubby De La Rosa from double-A Chattanooga during the last week of May. He is used exclusively as a reliever and was a starter at double-A.

13 Dodgers players have been in the disabled list 17 times this year already. What an year for the Dodgers!