Could it be?

The Dodgers are up by three with five to go, could they really do it?
Last year they collapsed in the last two weeks of the season, so I still have this nagging feeling. The odds however, are getting better and better.
Last night Chad Billingsley won his 16th game. It has been a breakout year for him. What I love is that Billingsley is a product of the old Dodger way. He came up through the organization, got his feet wet in the majors with some spot starts and relief appearances, then settled in to the rotation and has become a permanent fixture. Back in the 80s (it is really hard for me to refer to the years of my youth as "back in...") Orel Hershiser came along the same way.
Billingsley has the look of a guy that will be here for the next 10 years. He is big and sturdy and should not break down. The Dodgers deserve credit for being patient with him as he developed. All too often teams (including the Dodgers) panic when their young players do not produce big numbers on the day they arrive in the majors.
Some of that is probably due to money. When you pay an eighteen year old 2 or 3 million dollars right after the draft, you want a quick return when they reach the majors 3 years later. In some cases that works out, but in others it may take time. All of us hit bumps in the road early in our careers, we just were not given a seven figure paycheck before we ever started.
Billingsley however,looks like he has arrived. Coming right behind him is Clayton Kershaw. The two of them could form a homegrown 1-2, lefty-righty combination that the Dodgers have not seen since a couple of kids named Koufax and Drysdale came along. That may be an over the top comparison, but if you told me a year ago Joe Torre would be managing the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez would be batting fourth and the division title would be in reach...well. anything can happen in baseball.