One Final Plea
So it comes down to the next 21 and a half hours for Nomar and the All-Star campaign. And here are my final thoughts.
I actually agree with Jon Weisman’s Dodger Thoughts post the other day — whether or not you vote 25, 50 or 2,000 times for Nomar does not make you either a die-hard Dodger fan or a bad Dodger fan. As someone whose work day starts before 9 a.m. and lasts until 11 p.m. on many days, I can certainly understand that people get busy with their jobs, their kids, their hobbies or simply don’t care much about whether or not a player from their team goes to the All-Star Game.
But here’s what I’m tired of.
I’m tired of hearing how Red Sox fans are better than Dodger fans. Or that Yankee fans support their team more than Dodger fans. Or that the Cardinals have the best fans in baseball. I think that’s a crock.
Anyone who has seen the attendance figures in baseball knows where the best fans are and anyone who has been here when this place rocks with 56,000 fans shouldn’t have their loyalty to the club questioned. While other teams are building stadiums with capacities around 40,000, we’ve got fans practically hanging over the reserved level about 20-25 nights a year here.
That’s why we’re campaigning for Nomar – to silence anyone who thinks that as a whole, Dodger fans are too passive. And more importantly, because he deserves to be playing with the best players in the game next week. If I didn’t really believe that, I wouldn’t try to convince fans to spend a couple minutes of their precious time and help get him there.
If you want to, vote now. If you don’t, no big deal. Just keep rooting for the club down the stretch and keep putting your thoughts on the blog. We’re all ecstatic that fans have been able to post their comments here and that there’s truly a place for you to communicate with the front office and vice versa.
Now let’s go sweep the D’backs.
Inside the Dodgers 
Great point Josh, by the way you don’t get enough credited for what you do, great great job.
Great JOB! GO NOMAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nomar is an all-star (his #’s speak for them selfs)
I just voted 3 times (for the first time) after reading that post. Well done Josh.
Just voted for Nomar 50 times. Kept asking if I wanted to vote again so I did. 11:15 P.M. here in Nova Scotia so am turning in. Anxious to check the box score in the morning.
Well said. I don’t know what was more gratifying: reading that, or watching Luis Gonzalez ground into a double play after all his whining.
Dodger fans are incredibly passionate. They show up in droves despite numerous traffic hurdles. For all the criticism they receive for leaving early, 1) given the crowds at the game, a third can leave and you still have a bigger crowd than at most ballparks and 2) watch any game at another park, and you can see fans leaving early there as well.
Further, for better or worse, every move by the Dodgers is analyzed and re-analyzed to death – the passion with which some transactions are discussed is amazing.
Nomar is a good candidate for the All-Star Game but so are some of the others. If Nomar is elected or not, I don’t think it will signal to outsiders how passionate Dodger fans are. They’re going to be too biased to make that connection. By all means, vote for Nomar if you wish to support him. But don’t take it personally if he doesn’t make it.
There are always some bandwagon fans, but there is a strong core of Dodger fans that is clearly there through thick and thin, and if others can’t see that, they’re not looking.
Great to see Jon on the comments here. When it comes to blogging, I learned everything I know from him!
And he’s absoulutely right…if Nomar doesn’t make it, it’s not like Dodger fans failed. If he does, though, it will hopefully make the rest of the country take notice.
How sweep it is the fruits of victory!
Couldn’t agree with you more Josh. Thanks for all the work you put into the blog.
I voted a couple more times as well (Just wanna show my support)
50 more on top of my 50 more. : )
Just spent 30 minutes voting for Nomar, hope it helps. Sure glade to hear that Navaro and his family are OK. Florida Hwys can be tough !! Great game last night, Penny was in a grove and Izzy sure looks good in that #2 hole !! Got a little too interesting at the end but Saito pulled it out. Furcal is pressing but you have to give him credit for trying so hard. He got on base 3 times and stold two bases, but the one time he didn’t he was being asked to bunt and move the runner around but it didn’t appear he was very happy about it !! Grady was going for the insurance run and I think he felt he was hot enough to stay out of the DP. He just needs to relax and accept a team approach to the game.
Now lets beat SF !!
Go Dodgers !!!
As of 6 a.m EST, Nomar still has a slight lead. Let’s keep it up people and get him on the team.
Great comments by the way Josh. I enjoyed reading them.
Go Dodgers!
Great points, Josh, both about Dodger fans and Nomar.
I,for one, have been a Dodger fan since (gulp) 1952, and am as passionate as ever. I even purchased the MLB Extra Innings package this year so I can watch them all the time (uch to my wife’s chagrin).
As for Nomar, what can you say? How about extending that one year contract he has?
I’ve been wearing my pin and my fan that I made saying “vote for nomar in this homestand.
Ok, got to go back to voting…
Hey valvemaster. Think that was the year I became a Dodger fan. Vin was announcing and the outfield consisted of Furillo, Snider and Pafko. Have never lost my passion for the Dodgers. Living in Nova Scotia in the fifties could get Yankee, Giant, Red Sox, Philly and Dodger games. The first radio game I ever picked up was a Dodger game. But for an eighth of an inch on the dial could have been a Yankee fan.
Vin Scully and Duke Sdider captured me.
I’ve worn out my touchpad and keyboard voting for Nomar.
I think I spent more time voting for nomar than working..ooops don’t tell my boss.
With regard to fans of other clubs, all I have to say is “piff!” (it’s not as much fun in print as is it pursing your lips and “piffing” someone ine the face, but please try to use your imaginations).
I believe that Dodgers’ fans are the most polite, thereby earning the sorbiquet of “passive” and/or “timid”. Just because we don’t punch out someone (a la a NY ****’s fan) or spit on someone (a la a Giants fan) doesn’t mean we don’t love our team. I think that Dodgers fans have more respect for the sport than most.
Okay, now I’m off to log 50 more votes for Nomar!!!!!!!!!
NOMAR IS GOING TO PITTSBURGH!!! AWESOME JOB TO EVERYONE!!!
Re: Nomar Garciaparra’s on-deck dance: You can set the chicken dance to it. Yeah, sounds crazy, but try it the next game:
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da,
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da,
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da,
Toes – toes – toes – toes…
(repeat as necessary)
Having been off today and voted as much as possible for Nomar, I’m very happy to see he made the team. But there are a couple of things that seem really absurd. One is that a man leading the league in hitting had to be voted onto the All Stars in this way. The other is the rather pathetic voting system that allows people to vote over and over and over. The whole thing becomes rather silly and meaningless as the winner is not necessarily the best (although in this case he was) but the one with the fans with the most time to spend clicking with a mouse or texting with a cell phone.