From Los Angeles – Mark Langill
Greetings from Los Angeles and welcome to the “Inside the Dodgers” blog. Although Spring Training is under way in Florida, it’s business as usual for those at Dodger Stadium. Whether selling tickets, planning the publications, designing ad campaigns and billboards, or monitoring the progress of the offseason stadium renovation and construction, the clock is ticking and everyone knows Opening Day and the 2006 season is just around the corner. I will be in Vero Beach from March 5 until the end of Spring Training and I always enjoy my time there. If you like history, just imagine attending a training camp started by Dodger President Branch Rickey in 1948, and filled with photos and landmarks from both the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodger teams.
I am posting my first entry from my desk at Dodger Stadium in the Publicity Department. As the team historian and a former newspaper reporter, this Dodger blog is an exciting opportunity to give fans some insight about the daily activities surrounding the ballclub. For example, one of the morning assignments yesterday was taking my digital camera around the ballpark for updated pictures at Dodgers.com. My favorite angle is from center field. Pull back the outfield gate, step onto the warning track and the view gazing toward home plate is spectacular. The various stadium seating levels piled toward the sky have been compared to a wedding cake and Italian opera house.
Early in the morning, the goal is to get a photo when there are clouds to avoid shadows. Unfortunately, the sun was peeking through the clouds at the wrong time around 9:30. I was taking photos by the new baseline box seat area near the visitor’s dugout around 9:40 when the clouds suddenly covered the sun. I didn’t want to run toward the center field fence, so I briskly walked around the outfield track, hoping the lighting would remained unchanged for a few minutes. By the time I reached center field again, the shadows had reappeared. Fortunately, another cloud cover came along later in the afternoon when I was in the Right Field Pavilion. Those little things make me appreciate the work of Jon SooHoo, one of the best photographers in baseball. Jon packed what seemed like seven trunks of equipment for his multi-week stay in Vero Beach. Check out his photo galleries this spring.
Inside the Dodgers 
Getting to walk around Dodger Stadium field taking pictures sure beats sitting in a cubicle all day. ;D
Looks like the restoration is coming along well.
I’m not sure I could have resisted the urge to run across center field going “back, back, back to the wall” in my mind. 🙂
I am looking forward to your blog. There was a poster on the message board with the name spendodger who would give us great updates in Spring Training. He died about two years ago. A real gentleman and he is still missed.
If I could make a request, I would like to read a blog entry after you have watched some BP next week and tell us who is hitting them past the berm. Thanks
I guess I haven’t been paying attention to the renovation pictures, but I gotta say, it’ll take a while to get used to the new color scheme. I’m doubly glad I bought my physical seats last fall now.
Do they have plans to renovate the bathrooms at Dodger Stadium?
Shooting into the light like that doesn’t help, either; most cameras will either overexpose the parts you don’t want (the sky) or underexpose the parts you do want (the stadium, whatever).
Cannot be business as usual withou Bones in the clubhouse
No one will ever find me here – he he he…
I found you! 😉
Foiled again!!!
You can run….but, you can’t hide!
Hmmm…Rivera is playing first base tonight.
I see Donnie learned from JoJo on how to “reward” a player after a HR and single the game before.
Oops – missed that.
NEVERMIND
For sure! Unfortunately for us, Fecal & Yawn are still in the lineup.
A moment of silence please. Furcal’s bat is dead.
The Cubs manager is stupid to have Marmols closing last night games after throwing 20+ something pitches and gave up 5 runs and didn’t recorded an out on Thursday.
Could be why the Cubs haven’t won anything for the last 200 years.
To bad Ramirez help him out last night when he made a bad base runners error and the game would’ve been tied.
BISON!!!!!
You would think that opposing teams would pitch more carefully to the only guy on our team that can hit.
if they start walking Matt…DonDon should bat him 3rd and Dre behind him.
Wow Kemp just kill that ball.
Crap….Kuroda ……yuck!
Good grief!
SELL NED SELL!!!
That’s #8 for Ethier
Damn. He must’ve started drinking early.
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I gotta catch up…
If we could only acquire 6 more ML caliber position players, a couple of starters and a bullpen in the next couple weeks, we could have a real shot at the playoffs.
( 😕 )
Jeez Uribe sucks. How is it that Ned can always pick out the crappiest players and give them multi year contracts?
I don’t know why Donnie doesn’t have him sitting the pine!
Ned has the talent to do that – and he knows how to breathe. I think that’s the extent of it.
Great….bases loaded for Fuckal!
Remember, Raffy…don’t swing your bat!
It worked. Good plan Tru!!
Sorry Tru, but if they could get a few good prospects for Dre, I’d do it.
Unfortunately, Ned is probably thinking the same way.
I think you have to Tru. He’s not the same player he was, whether he’s hurt or unhappy. This team has so many holes he could fill with the right trade.
But, Ned NEVER makes the right trade! I still think he will turn it around. I’d package Loney, Uribe, Kuroda, Lilly (most of the BP) and Blake….just to get them out of town!
Nobody’s THAT stupid.
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.
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Except Ned.
I know…it’s just wishful thinking.
Wow 7-0 Padres go figure
Seriously….put Uribe’s ass on the bench! I’d play Miles and Carroll….and, in a week or so, when Fecal goes on the DL again, bring Gordon back.
Love the picture of the stands at the top of this thread. Hope it looks the same next home game.
So does, Dodgereric!
I have a feeling that since they’ve been away for quite some time, the first home series crowds will be pretty good.
Elbert did well tonight.
Our winning streak is about to end.
Looks like even Donnie’s had enough tonight. Uribe needs to be another one of those players they pay to play somewhere else.
Wonderful way to end a ball game! Thanks Loweeney & Navarro!!!
Pretty sad when your best offseason acquisition is Aaron Miles.
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Seen enough Neddy? We have.
I’m really shock that Barajas didn’t PH for Navarro knowing how Donny love to get his backup catcher in the game.
I’m shock that Barajas didn’t PH for Navarro knowing how Donny love to get both of his catchers in the game.
lol dang I hate that when my post take forever to post so I hit post comment again.
His contract was bad enough, but Fuckal Fecal Farkle has made himself untradeable. You couldn’t give Uribe away. No one will take Barajas either. Blake would have to comeback and show something for a couple weeks before anyone would even sniff at him. Because of Rubby, you can’t trade Kuroda. No one in their right mind would touch Lilly and his contract. Rivera was already DFA’d once and only Ned would take him. Gwynn – HA! That leaves you Dre, Carroll & Miles as the ONLY tradeable commodities for a team that has 4 everyday position starters to fill next year, plus two others that would need SERIOUS upgrading. I won’t even go into pitching.
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Well done Ned. Well done.
Why bother trading? Who would we want to punish that much to bring them into this mess of a team? I’d just play out the season, bring sme guys from AAA and, hope we get a new owner during the off-season.
Blake would’ve fit right in with the Brewers or Reds or even the Yankees.
At least we aided the cause for the Dbacks…..the Gnats are being trounced by the Puds 11 – 2 in the 8th.
Final score 11 – 3 Puds.
All the Padres runs were scored wih 2 outs.
Yeah 11-2 dang
I feel bad for Kuroda. He deserves a lot better than this anemic team can give him.
It is hard to believe that we could be buyers again. Maybe the humane thing to do is give Hiroki a chance to make it to the World Series with the Red Sox or Yanks. Of course that would ensure that the Dodgers will continue near the cellar the rest of the year.
Why not give the new place a try. No need to look for little used threads here.
Enchanted can create his own thread over there rather than just using some old, little used, ITD thread. Lets try it and see how it goes. Tru and Collie are already “authors” there and can create a new post. Go to http://outsidethedodgers.wordpress.com/
Mariners Release Charlie Haeger
By Mike Axisa [July 16, 2011 at 9:44pm CST]
The Mariners have released Charlie Haeger according to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League transactions page. Seattle signed the knuckleballer to a minor league contract in November.
Haeger, 27, started nine games for the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate this season, posting a 7.74 ERA in 47 2/3 innings. He walked 42 and struck out just 35. Haeger has 83 big league innings to his credit, most coming with the Dodgers. He owns a 6.40 ERA with a 7.5 K/9 and 6.4 BB/9 as a Major Leaguer.
Don’t even think about it Ned.
Hey if we would bring back Haeger the Horrible so that we could trade Kuroda and get some real value for him, I’d be all for it. When he stinks it up for two months, who cares?
We still have a Dana Eveland and somehow manage a record of 9-5 with an ERA 3.62 but it doesn’t mean anything in the major.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=evelan001dan
Enchanted, you have “author” status along with Tru and Collie. Come on over Shad and you can be an “author” too.
http://outsidethedodgers.wordpress.com/
New game thread for today:
http://outsidethedodgers.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/lilly-munster-game-thread/#respond
This game is rolling along predictably well so far. We just need to lose another two out of three against the Giants, and we’ll be just where we need to be by the trade deadline. Did see a comment where a couple of contenders are interested in Kuroda, which would make a great deal of sense for us, but then I think “this here is Frank we’re dealing with”. Prospects might be good for our future, but Frank needs Cash Now – so one can imagine where all the good to come out of a Kuroda trade will be going.