Game 161: Dodgers @ San Francisco Giants 4:2

That's what I longed to say for the entire season - the 2006 Los Angeles Dodgers have clinched a playoff birth! Congratulations to the team, coaches and management. Now, the wild ride begins as anything is possible during baseball playoffs.

It was very fitting, that the post-season was clinched on another excellent performance by the latest Dodger acquisition Greg Maddux.

"I think the job he's done speaks for itself," Little said. "It's not just
what he does on the mound, it's what he means around the ballclub.
Today, he took the bull by the horns. He said he was just
about done after six. I said, 'No, you've got one more.'
He was outstanding."

Other key contributors were veterans we have all been expecting to show up more prominently come playoff time: Kenny Lofton, Rafael Furcal, JD Drew and Jeff Kent. They went combined 8-for-16 with all 4 RBIs, two doubles and a triple.