FORGET ABOUT TORRE, OTHER L.A. SKIPPER DESERVES SOME CRITICISM

Joe Torre pulled off a bigger hoax than Balloon Boy and Mark Sanchez put together.

Guiding this aceless L.A. Dodgers team to the best record in the National League trumps them all. While it’s become trendy to use this postseason to point out Torre’s faults, the strength of his skills is actually becoming more and more obvious. Who else could have steered these fault-filled Dodgers to 95 wins?

Certainly not Mike Scioscia, the Angels’ manager deemed a genius ever since the Giants coughed up the 2002 World Series. Three games into being tormented by the Yankees, Scioscia still has not figured out that you cannot pitch to Alex Rodriguez in an important spot.

Important spots would be classified as: clinging to a 3-2 lead in the 11th inning with only Joe Girardi’s automatic-out subs coming up after A-Rod, and then trailing 1-0 in Game 3 at home.

Of course, Scioscia is the same guy who let Barry Bonds hit three home runs in that ’02 series — in a year when absolutely no one pitched to Barry.

Yet, Torre is the L.A. manager who finds himself under fire. A good share of it comes from New York where Joe Girardi is getting credit for … having the most talented Yankee roster in more than a decade — and hopefully not for his pep talk abilities (see Andy Pettitte v. Vladimir Guerrero yesterday).

Maybe New York columnists and commentators are simply spewing their disappointment with the Torre revenge World Series looking more and more unlikely as the Phillies look like the better team in the NLCS. Directing that anger at Torre, though, is like yelling at the kid selling popcorn because you hated the movie.

The Dodgers have one star-level starting pitching talent, and he’s 21 years old. Yet, Torre gets ripped for staying with Clayton Kershaw for too long in Game 1.

What, he’s supposed to be in a rush to pull Kershaw, his one starter with scary stuff?

Then, Torre is blasted for going with a hunch and starting Hiroki Kuroda in Game 3. As if his other choices — Randy Wolf and Chad Billingsley — were more inspiring.

Remember, the only reason the Dodgers might last a game or two longer against the Phillies than the Angels do against the Yankees is because Torre’s other postseason hunch, Vicente Padilla, has thrown well.

Torre’s managing feats grow more impressive. Only his talent level has dropped.  

– Chris Baldwin covers the sports media for Metro.

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