by John Shea , The San Francisco Chronicle

From the early days in Los Angeles, featuring the Sandy Koufax - Don Drysdale emergence, to the start of the team's rookie-of-the-year dynasty big Frank Howard in '60 and Jim Lefebvre in '65 to the Ted Sizemore -led "Mod Squad" in the late '60s.

To the Steve Garvey - Bill Russell - Ron Cey Davey Lopes came up late reign in the '70s, which included a long-before-Boston Bill Buckner , to the four straight rookie-of-the-year winners in the late '70s and early '80s, featuring Fernandomania, to the five straight rookie winners in the mid '90s, including Mike Piazza and Eric Karros .

The late '90s to mid-2000s, other than Adrian Beltre , was the driest period for player development and management, which made embarrassing stabs at free agents with no particular strategy in mind. Poster child: Kevin Brown .

From those ashes come the 2009 Dodgers , who are about the triumph of youth as much as the star power of Manny Ramirez . The Dodgers finished April with the best record in the National League West and second best in the majors, and it goes far beyond the Manny-being-Manny intrigue that prompts fans to show up on time and actually stick around.

Through April, Ramirez was fourth on the team in RBIs, trailing three guys in their mid-20s: first baseman James Loney and outfielders Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp , all hitting above .300. The ace, Chad Billingsley , 24, was 4-0, and the closer, Jonathan Broxton , 25, had seven saves and a sub-1.00 ERA.

This is a team of old-timers - Casey Blake is nearly as old as Manny, and the average age on the bench is 36 - but driven by youth, including Gold Glove catcher Russell Martin , an All-Star the past two seasons.

"Half way through last season," Ethier said, " Joe Torre came to us and said, "This is your guys' team. How far we go depends on what you guys are capable and willing to do. Take it and run with it.' That, spurred with what we did late last year, is showing through this year."

Now it's Manny's team, but he realizes he's not alone. "I set the table now," he said. "Ethier is the hitting machine. He's the RBI man."

"Yeah," Ethier said with a smile, "he's just a table-setter now, and I'm supposed to clean him up. He said I owe his clubhouse dues for the month."

Ethier is the cleanup hitter, positioned behind Ramirez. With 22 RBIs, he trails only Albert Pujols in the NL. How would he look on the A's right about now? Fine, thank you. But the A's deemed him expendable after the 2005 season and shipped him to L.A. for Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez .

Bradley's only full season in Oakland was 2006. He twice was on the DL that year but was a major factor in the playoff push as the A's No. 3 hitter. He hit .500 in the ALCS, which the Tigers won in a sweep.

A's general manager Billy Beane and Dodgers GM Ned Colletti made the trade, Colletti's first in L.A. Ethier was a prospect and coming off an MVP season in the Texas League.

"We loved Ethier," Beane said. "He was the second-rated prospect in our organization, but we wanted to win the division. You have to give up an asset to get anything. Andre and Travis Buck were similar players, and we were trying to win."

Said Ethier: "They were able to make the move and better their team for that year. Nick Swisher was ahead of me, and Buck was the next guy coming up. It turned out good."

Just check the NL West standings. And look into the Dodgers' future.

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