From a story by Dylan Hernandez in the LA Times last week:

After the hailstorm of criticism he received for his high-priced free-agent signings that didn't work out, Colletti was asked whether he felt vindicated when the midseason trades he made pushed the Dodgers to the top of the NL West.

"I have great confidence in what I do," he said. "I know what my relationship with the McCourts is. I don't need to be vindicated."

Colletti could point to how he plugged several holes this season that were created by injuries to the likes of Rafael Furcal, Brad Penny, Nomar Garciaparra, Jeff Kent and Takashi Saito.

Though Ramirez and Blake might have thrust the Dodgers into the postseason, moves involving lesser-known players such as Angel Berroa, Pablo Ozuna and Blake DeWitt helped keep them in the race.

On the advice of bench coach Bob Schaefer, Colletti acquired Berroa, a former AL rookie of the year who spent the previous year and a half with the Kansas City Royals' triple-A affiliate. A player who cost the Dodgers almost nothing -- the Royals paid what remained of the $5.25 million owed Berroa and received only Class-A infielder Juan Rivera in return -- was their starting shortstop over the last two months of the season.

A month ago, Hernandez profiled Berroa's comeback with the Dodgers. Yes, that's what he called it:

Angel Berroa said the way he has felt over the last week reminds him of when was the American League's rookie of the year in 2003.

"I've got my confidence back," said Berroa, who spent most of the last two years with the Kansas City Royals' triple-A affiliate in Omaha traveling on commercial planes and sleeping in cramped motel rooms.

Oh, Berroa ended up hitting .230/.304/.310 with the Dodgers during the regular season, eating up 246 PAs. Nevertheless, he's like a double next week away from becoming one of Joe Torre's guys, insuring him a place on the roster for the next five years.

Then there's this bizarre Berroa note, also from the LA Times:

The Dodgers are so confident, Angel Berroa bought a Ferrari

Technically, at least. 

The actual car in question isn't, say, one of these bad boys, which run about 200K, but rather a battery powered, 1/10 scale model.  Cherry red with a racing stripe, the kind of car that would get a man pulled over by battery powered, 1/10 scale members of the Highway Patrol.  Berroa, who also has two remote controlled helicopters and a "Robotic Construction System" in his locker, arrived for the Dodgers' team workout today at the Ravine to find his newest toy at the bottom of a stack of boxes on his chair.  The ones on top were filled with useless athlete paraphernalia.  Shoes, gear, etc. "I don't want that stuff," Berroa said, quickly putting it aside and pulling out the big prize, which he unveiled with a kid-at-Christmas smile before the assembled media.

Jonathan Broxton, who didn't realize earlier in the season his locker would soon be Toys'R'Us adjacent, could only shake his head.  "I don't know how he's gonna get this _________ home," he said with a grin. 

By the end, weren't we seeing more than a few "Berroa is very childlike" stories emerging from the KC clubhouse? Seriously, you read stuff like this, mix in your favorite Emil Brown story maybe, and remember, say, a third of the things you've ever read on Deadspin about these guys, and it honestly makes you feel ashamed you even follow sports. Really, to consider the men of Jockdom longtime inhabitants of High School is too generous. Many are still emotionally and intellectually in Middle School.