Dodgers regrouped and got better

THE DIFFERENCE between winning and losing at the upper echelon of sport is so small as to be almost immeasurable. The Dodgers might be in their second consecutive National League Championship Series because of a man almost nobody knows.

Ron Rizzi is an East Coast scout who is responsible for closely observing several teams, including Baltimore and Washington. He also spends every winter in Venezuela.

Two years ago, Rizzi found lefthander Victor Garate in Venezuela. On Aug. 30, the Dodgers traded Garate and Luis Garcia to the Nationals for Ronnie Belliard, the same Belliard who has become their starting second baseman, who batted .351 in 24 regular-season games for the Dodgers, who knocked in the tying run in the incredible Game 2 comeback against the Cardinals.

It was Rizzi who strongly suggested the Dodgers trade for Orioles closer George Sherrill. On July 30, they did. Sherrill now sets up closer Jonathan Broxton.

"He was the lead guy on Belliard," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said, moments after the Dodgers eliminated the Cardinals. "He was the lead guy on Sherrill. And he was also the guy who convinced us to sign Ronald Belisario.

"He kept calling us around Thanksgiving from Venezuela, saying, 'We need to sign this guy. The arm is live.' We brought him in and gave him a chance."

All Belisario, 26, did in 69 games out of the bullpen was pitch to a 2.04 ERA.

The Dodgers are a better team than the one the Phillies beat in the 2008 NLCS because most of the players who are left from that team got better. And the front office complemented them with the players Rizzi suggested, as well as free-agent Randy Wolf and late-season pickups Jon Garland, Vicente Padilla and Jim Thome.

"Last year, we really relied on Manny [Ramirez]," Dodgers third-base coach Larry Bowa said. "It was like, 'Manny's got to stay hot or we're dead.' I don't think it's anything like that this year."

Not with solid regulars like Rafael Furcal, James Loney, Casey Blake, Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and Russell Martin. Ramirez' 50-game suspension actually helped all the other regulars get better. They had no choice.

"First of all, just the experience we had last year is so key. Big-game experience," Blake said yesterday about the difference between this year's team and last year's team. "And just the kind of seasons some of these young guys had are really incredible. They're the reason why we're here. Guys like Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. They've been fabulous. They've basically carried us. So it's the confidence those guys have plus the confidence of our starting pitchers and our bullpen.

"I thought we played pretty good against the Phillies last year. They just played better."

Many of the regulars were there when the Mets swept the Dodgers in the 2006 NLDS. They were there last year when they swept the Cubs before losing to the Phillies. And they were there for the sweep of the Cards. So there is plenty of playoff experience.

"Go back to our '06 series against the Mets where we had a lot of the same guys," Colletti said. "Now, you see them. That's the mark of players that are maturing . . . You see it in the results that they put forth and when they put them forth."

And there is also this to consider:

When that fly ball headed for the Cardinals' Matt Holliday in Game 2 and the series looked for all the world as if it was about to be even, Bowa did the only sensible thing.

"I tell you what I did," he said. "I started walking to the dugout. I never do that, but it's a routine fly ball . . . "

You know the rest of the story. Perhaps, it is just the Dodgers' time. The Phillies, of course, will have a lot to say about that.

"We give you good at-bats, one through eight," Bowa said. "We catch the ball. We play great defense.

"In a short series, when you're asking your starter to go six, we go with [Hong-Chih] Kuo, Sherrill and Broxton. And they've been lights out."

Not unlike the Phils bullpen, circa 2008.

"We don't really have a quote-unquote No. 1 [starting pitcher]," Bowa said. "We have a lot of guys that pitch hard, play hard. We've got a kid that's got a chance to be a No. 1 in [Clayton] Kershaw [tonight's Game 1 starter]. It's more of a complete team."

The Dodgers had the NL's best on-base percentage, left the fewest runners on base, allowed the fewest earned runs, and, not coincidentally, had the most wins (95).

And they did most of this without some of the players who will play key roles in this series.

Padilla looked like Don Drysdale in shutting out the Cardinals for seven innings in the clincher on Saturday. He was released by Texas on Aug. 17 and the Dodgers picked him up on Aug. 19. He was not let go because he could not pitch.

"I can't speak for him about what happened in Texas, but he's been great here," Wolf said about Padilla. "Here, people leave you alone. They don't care about what kind of clothes you wear and that sort of thing. He's definitely helped us. I like Vicente. I don't know what happened in Texas, but obviously it wasn't pretty."

Bowa, of course, knew the pitcher from their time together in Philadelphia.

"I had to put it out on the line," Bowa said. "[Manager Joe Torre] called me in. He really wasn't worried about his ability. He grilled me on, 'Is he going to mess this clubhouse up? What kind of guy is he?' And I gave him the honest-to-God truth. He didn't do anything bad with me. He was on time. He showed up. He pitched. He didn't miss starts.

"After they started grilling me, then Ned Colletti came down and I'm like, 'God, I'm putting myself out there.' I read all the stuff about how bad he was in Texas. He wasn't bad with me. I don't think Joe questioned his ability. He just said, 'Bo, I don't want my clubhouse messed up.' ''

Colletti listened to Bowa.

"I don't know what went on," Colletti said. "All we got is what other people tell you. People told us a year ago we were foolish bringing in the leftfielder who carried us all the way to the LCS . . .

"I told [Padilla] I had no preconceived notion of who he was. I knew he was a talented pitcher. I said, 'You start with a clean slate here. You'll write the next chapter.' So far, he's penned a pretty good piece."

The Dodgers won a modern MLB record 13 consecutive home games to start the season. The Dodger Stadium crowds are much younger and much louder than they once were. So the homefield advantage they did not have last year but have now could mean something.

"People say homefield advantage isn't important," Bowa said. "I think it's very important. We play good on the road. We play real good at home."

And this is Torre's second year with this team.

"He knows when to stop the game," Colletti said. "He knows when the game lays in the balance. He's got a great knack for knowing when it's tilted just a little less than he likes it so he's going to tilt it back the other way. If he does something a touch unconventional, he's not afraid of doing that if he feels he's got the right people in the right spot."

And make no mistake: Torre wants another World Series, maybe more than ever.

"He'll never admit this," Bowa said. "I think deep down, he's just tired of hearing, 'Well, you should win with a $200 million payroll.' "

Now, Torre is winning with the Dodgers. How much more winning will be determined soon enough, starting tonight. *