"He's one of those guys when you have, like, 30 pitchers in spring training, you bring him in, you know he's going to throw strikes," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "You don't pay a lot of attention because you're trying to make your mind up with other people."
Those spring stats were indicative of what Wade could do for the Dodgers - and had done, really. He occasionally carried a hefty earned-run average but his walks and hits per innings pitched always hovered around 1.00.
Called up April 24, Wade did more of the same.
In 40 appearances through Aug. 8 he had a 2.56 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP - a validation of bench coach Bob Shaefer, whose eye Wade caught in spring training.
"When we were looking to do something different in our bullpen, [Shaefer] mentioned Cory's name a number of times. And it came to the point where we made a move and brought him up," Torre said. "He's able to change speeds. He can throw changeups and curveballs, he's got enough of a fastball to keep people off that other stuff."
That might have changed in August, when he missed 20 days with right shoulder tendinitis. It did not. Wade was even better - a 0.536 WHIP in 18 2/3 innings.
That helped him finish the season with a 0.93 WHIP; by comparison, both Phillies setup man Ryan Madson and perfect closer Brad Lidge were at 1.23.
Entering last night Wade had given up four hits and no walks in six postseason innings, including 2 1/3 against the Phillies, against whom he had given up just one hit, his only baserunner.
That number doubled last night in the eighth inning. Shane Victorino ripped a one-out, first-pitch homer that scored an inherited runner and tied the game at 5. Carlos Ruiz then pulled a two-out, first-pitch single to leftfield, and Wade was finished, pulled in favor of Broxton, who yielded a two-run, game-winning shot to Matt Stairs.
Dodge balls
Joe Torre started
Juan Pierre in centerfield over
Matt Kemp because, Torre said, Kemp was "fighting himself." Kemp was 2-for-4 in Game 3 and 2-for-8 against starter
Joe Blanton (whom Pierre had never faced) but was 5-for-24 in six playoff games . . . Lefty
Clayton Kershaw, a 20-year-old Double A callup who is pitching out of the bullpen, referred to Torre as "Mr. Torre." Asked when he might reach a first-name familiarity with his manager, he replied, "It's going to be a while, I think." *
