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COPYRIGHT 2005 South Florida Sun-Sentinal
Byline: Mike Berardino
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Watching the Dodgers' clubhouse, if not their entire season, implode last week over the Milton Bradley-Jeff Kent feud, one couldn't help but consider the whole notion of chemistry.
I thought back to a conversation about that topic with Dodgers Gen-eral Manager Paul DePodesta in spring training. This was when the idea of pairing the volatile Bradley with a moody addition like Kent was still in its honeymoon phase.
Even if everybody outside the Dodgers' organization knew the experiment was doomed to fail eventually.
"I definitely think there's value in chemistry," DePodesta said. "I think it's sort of a chicken-and-egg argument. I haven't seen many teams that have lost 100 games where people remark about what great chemistry they have."
The subject remains one of the most fascinating in sports, especially one with such a sprawling season as baseball. Many baseball observers in Southern California believe, for instance, the Dodgers haven't been the same since trading blood-and-guts catcher Paul Lo Duca to the Marlins last summer.
Was that move made, I asked DePodesta, because he felt chemistry was severely overrated? The brainy GM from Harvard typically puts his faith only in the quantifiable, but on this issue he claimed some wiggle room.
"I certainly take chemistry seriously," he said. "I do think it's an important element, but I think winning comes first. I've created that opinion because of the people that have played in the big leagues that I respect who believe that's the case. (Assistant GM) Roy Smith told me chemistry starts with a three-game winning streak."
Well, the Dodgers have had exactly two of those since a 12-2 start. To be sure, a spate of injuries has had much to do with that,...
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