John Shoemaker is well aware of the events that took place last season that stripped the 51s of some of their muscle just when they needed it most.
"Well," said the first-year Las Vegas manager, "it happens, often, to every organization in baseball."
The 51s had produced the best record, 85-59, of any team in 20 years of minor-league baseball in Las Vegas and the Pacific Coast League's best mark in 2002. Then the Dodgers plucked a host of the core players from their Triple-A team before the PCL playoffs began.
Pitchers Victor Alvarez, Robert Ellis and Jeff Williams, infielder Chin Feng-Chen and Joe Thurston, outfielders Wilkin Ruan and Luke Allen, and catcher David Ross were all summoned to Los Angeles.
Those hurlers combined to win 25 games and save 31 for the 51s, with a 4.01 ERA. Those batters combined to hit .314, with 65 home runs and 314 RBIs in more than 2,000 trips to the plate for Las Vegas.
It was not surprising, then, when Edmonton beat the 51s, 3-1, in the best-of-five first round of the PCL postseason.
"That's what was kind of so disheartening last year, about the end of last year," said versatile veteran Chris Clapinski. "We felt, 'No way we'd lose.' Then, we had Joe and Ross and Wilkin, and all those guys, get called up. And all the pitchers.
"The wind left our sails, so to speak, and we felt like it would be a tough go. Of course, it's all in retrospect. There's always a what-if. People don't really care. But if we would have kept the team we had, I honestly feel we would have had a good chance at winning (it all)."
In fact, it was a rare series of events that conspired against the 51s.
In the major leagues last season, eight teams advanced to the playoffs and only one, Los Angeles, did not qualify for the postseason despite finishing within 10 games of the lead in its division.
Of those nine teams, only the Triple-A squads of two teams -- Anaheim (Salt Lake) and Los Angeles (the 51s) -- played well enough to participate in their own league's postseason.
The Dodger Dilemma, then, demanded that they make their team as strong as it could be in the final month at the expense of the top minor league team's playoff run.
"Obviously, you have to be in a position to be in the playoffs in the minor leagues, which the Las Vegas team was last year," Shoemaker said. "And you have to have your major-league team be in contention.
"And (the Dodgers) have to call up as many people as (they) think can help, even if it's one guy who might win one game for you starting from Sept. 1 all the way to Sept. 29. You have to get your people up there, in position."
It would be a different scenario, according to Shoemaker, if the major-league team were out of the playoff race. Then, the desire to promote four or five players would likely be curtailed until the end of the minor-league postseason.
"Maybe that would be more important to them, right then, in their careers," Shoemaker said. "But in a situation where your major league team is in a pennant race, as many guys as they want to bring up, they'll probably bring up immediately in order to help the major-league team win."
The 51s have plenty of new faces this season. What hasn't changed, though, is the winning. Despite Thursday's loss in Salt Lake City, they are a PCL-best 27-13. At its current pace, Las Vegas will finish with a blistering 97-46 record.
Shoemaker, 46, has been a part of the Dodgers' farm system since 1977. As a manager in Single-A and Double-A for 13 years, his teams won two league championships, four league finals and five first- or second-half titles.
He has managed in Vero Beach, San Antonio, Yakima, St. Lucie, Great Falls, Savannah an Jacksonville. At each stop, Shoemaker has asked his team to outwork the others in its specific league. That, he said, is what the 51s have accomplished.
Moreover, his players know he, hitting coach George Hendrick, pitching coach Shawn Barton and the rest of the organization will provide them with anything they need to be a better player.
Once the game begins, however, there are no individuals.
If a .425 hitter is asked to bunt, he'll do it. If Shoemaker needs to make a double switch, he'll do it. Forget about the possibility of a demotion to Jacksonville or the hope of a one-way ticket to Los Angeles.
"You're Las Vegas, a team," Shoemaker said. "Forget about yourself for nine innings. Fortunately, we've gotten off to a good start. We have a lot of positive energy. We have a great group of guys, and the support has been awesome."
In his first stint with the team that directly feeds the parent club, Shoemaker has prospered by fielding what he believes to be the 51s' best lineup nightly and by treating marginal fill-ins as he does young prospects whom the Dodgers are watching closely.
Communication is critical.
For example, Shoemaker told catcher Ryan Kellner that he would play sparingly, because David Ross was the team's No. 1 catcher for the first month of the season. Then the Dodgers called for Ross, and switch-hitter Koyie Hill was brought up from Jacksonville.
Before Hill landed in Las Vegas, Shoemaker told Kellner that he would continue to be the team's reserve catcher. Impromptu team meetings, like the one Shoemaker called on the infield three hours before Monday's game, are not uncommon.
With Chen, Ruan, Calvin Murray and Bubba Crosby, the 51s have four solid outfielders. So when the designated hitter isn't being used, one of them knows he'll be sitting.
The team just added Rick Bell from extended spring training, so it now has, Shoemaker said, Jason Romano, Eric Riggs, Clapinski and Joe Thurston to fill the four infield positions.
"I don't want to leave anyone's name out, but you can figure it out," said Shoemaker, unintentionally omitting shortstop Gookie Dawkins.
Dawkins, 24, has been struggling mightily at the plate, hitting only .155. Shoemaker sat him for three consecutive days, and Dawkins went 0-for-3 in his return Tuesday.
Soon enough, Shoemaker talked about "organizational precedence" in general terms that seemed to relate to Dawkins' struggles.
"For example, perhaps one of our guys who is a good-looking prospect is really, really, really struggling, not hitting at all, and we would, maybe, be very tempted to pinch-hit for him," Shoemaker said. "We probably wouldn't do it.
"We want the guy to get the at-bats and learn from certain things. In certain situations, we really aren't at that type of liberty. It would send a bad message, maybe, to the player, that, well, 'They don't have confidence in me in that situation.'"
Developing chemistry, and a consistent winner, at the level that is most vulnerable to roster movement has been the challenge that Shoemaker has mastered, so far.
To fans watching the Dodgers hover in second place of the NL West, though, Shoemaker could not rule out a September player purge similar to 2002.
"Well, you know what is crazy about baseball? By the time we get to August, or September, you just never know who might be out on the field," he said. "We're still very, very early into the season, fortunately."
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