A BIG FAT, I TOLD YOU SO

The following is from Yahoo News:

Dodgers fire manager Jim Tracy

Tue Oct 4, 7:45 AM ET

Jim Tracy, 49, who managed the Los Angeles Dodgers for the past five seasons, will not return for his final season, general manager Paul DePodesta announced.

"We felt strongly it was time for a change," DePodesta said.

The club posted a 427-383 record under Tracy, but struggled through an injury-plagued campaign in 2005. Prior to

Excuse me while I do my “I told you so” dance.

Is there any doubt that the firing of Tracy was caused by the blunder in spring training?

The item below was in my blog on April 9.


GAGNE'S INJURY--A BASEBALL MYSTERY

by Fanball Staff - Fanball.comTuesday, March 22, 2005NewsEric Gagne's spring debut was not as encouraging as fantasy owners hoped it would be. The Dodgers' All-Star closer faced four batters, throwing about 22 pitches, in the sixth inning of Monday's game against the Red Sox, but noticeably favored his left leg.

Gagne sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee on February 24 during field drills. "I tried to protect it and not put too much weight on it," Gagne told the Associated Press after Monday's outing. "It feels pretty good right now. I knew it wouldn't feel good (during the game)."

Pitching coach Jim Colborn noted that Gagne's mechanics were off because he was favoring the knee so much.

Mar 23 On Monday, Gagne showed obvious discomfort in his left knee, which he sprained on Feb. 24. The 2003 NL Cy Young Award winner did not limp or hop at the end of his delivery in his second outing.

Gagne said he scaled back his effort to about 75 percent and did not push off his back foot as much as he did Monday.``I treated it like a bullpen (session),'' he said. ``Last time, I tried my regular mechanics and I wasn't ready to do that yet. I don't care about results too much. I'm trying to find my comfort zone where I can land and not have the knee bite.''Gagne said there is no question he will be ready for the season opener April 5 in San Francisco.

April 2, 2005ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) - The good news for the Los Angeles Dodgers is that Eric Gagne's knee feels fine. The bad news is that the righthander's elbow does not.The Dodgers placed Gagne on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained right elbow Friday, one day after the closer experienced a strange feeling during an appearance against the New York Mets.

The mystery is what the hell could they have been thinking of? They let him pitch with bad wheels? Has nobody ever heard of Dizzy Dean?

UPDATE: This on June 21, 2005:

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dodgers closer Eric Gagne will have season-ending surgery to fix a sprained ligament in his right elbow.The 2003 NL Cy Young Award winner had a second MRI exam Tuesday and doctors concluded he needs Tommy John surgery. The All-Star reliever has a second-degree sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament and was recently placed on the 15-day disabled list. His operation was scheduled for Friday."We're probably looking at about a year, maybe by the All-Star break next year he'll be back," manager Jim Tracy said.