Home Opener
Glad to see everyone getting excited about the team, whether you’re in favor of the lineup or not. For what it’s worth, today’s is the same as yesterday’s below. And yes, we will begin removing all of the comments from anyone who swears in their posts.
Meanwhile, with Jason Schmidt starting today, readers of the L.A. Times were treated to a very interesting article about him from Steve Henson.
Over at the Daily News, the front page of the paper has an article about Nettie Berkson, who will be attending her 50th home opener this year at Dodger Stadium. In a nutshell, this is what Dodger fans are all about. I hope that many of you make it out here today for the first game of the season and that the winning streak continues.
In the meantime, everyone in the front office will be extremely busy, looking to ensure that you have an awesome time at Dodger Stadium. The first employees showed up in the wee hours of the morning and most of our office was here by about 6:45. Let’s hope it all pays off at the end of the day.
Inside the Dodgers 
GO Dodgers. I still thing Gonzos finished, but I’d be happy to be wrong if he helps us win games.
keep on thinging. and hope the dodgers are hot again today.
Really great article about Schmidt.. Hope he pitches well today and we get our first home win.
Go Dodgers!!
Sorry about the annoyingness of the posts from last night fans… Hope i did not offend anyone too badly.
I thing all the time frank. 🙂
I’m getting ready to head out to Dodger Stadium I hope you guys have a good time.
Go Dodgers! OPENING DAY!!
Hi Frank – How are “things” going. Very well I hope. Winter has gone fast. I can’t imagine the excitement at Dodger Stadium today. I can follow the game as it is a day game. Excited about that. fliegel – I think ahead to playing the better teams too but have decided to take it one day at a time. I really think we can compete with them depending on our starting pitching. If that comes together as we expect, watch out. Looking for some more bats to spring to life today. GO DODGERS!!
53 – Eat a Dodger dog for me.
My family, who lives in LA, was offered 4 opening-day tickets at the last minute but they area all working. I really thought about hopping a plane from Denver so I could take them…
Congrats to everyone who gets to be there today. You are truly envied. Let’s hope the Dodgers own the Rockies as badly as they did last season. (Dodgers in Denver next week for a 2-game series…I’m hoping they can do the same then, when I can actually see them in person.)
Since I spent the W/E, in the bay area. I went to Sec. 209,
and I asked everyone, for this “Hurley Dude”, Giiants Fan (Thats how he spells it)??.I had waited long enough, for Barry to launch one Plus he was going to buy me a beer.It was Sunday (7th) inning.??NO HURLEY..Typical
BIG MOUTH Giant CRUDE. Post again,Turkey. It’s typical for “BIG MOUTHS ” Like you..
pat25rod – You’re getting all hot and bothered over nothing. Wouldn’t you be too embarrassed to show if you were a Giant fan with a roster that is getting older and older and paying magabucks to Bonds and Zito?
puppyhead01 – Get those tickets for next week. Were you at Loney’s 9 RBI game in Denver last season? Yes, I too envy all the Dodger faithful going to the game today.
Cheer even louder for the rest of us who arent lucky enough to attend the game today. Stay Hot!!!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/04/09/SPG8FP544S1.DTL
How bitter is SF? I love it.
Harold, best bet for you and I (and puppyhead too) is to go to the market and grab any bun length hot dog with buns and then smother them in mustard, relish and chopped onions. It won’t be quite the same but it will do nonetheless. Don’t forget to use the indoor George Foreman grill to make them as authentic as possible. Then turn on the game and enjoy! BTW… you ARE watching the game today, right? : )
Can the Wilson Betemit experiment really be given a chance if he’s removed from the lineup with every left handed pitcher that faces us? I mean really… how much worse than Martinez is Betemit, especially given the fact that he will hit for more power over the course of the season. Oh, and there really is something to be said for batting in the number eight hole and not getting any pitches to hit with the pitcher following. Wilson has never been a number eight hitter before…
What a quandary this team has before them. Furcal will be coming off the DL soon and who will be the “inevitable” first key injury of the year? We all know that somebody will get hurt, but for someone like James Loney and Matt Kemp/Andre Ethier, the key injuries that most would welcome involve the names Garciaparra and Gonzalez. It’s tough love baby… but that’s the way it’s going to have to go down if these younger players are ever going to be given a shot at playing every day.
Quandary?? That’s an understatement…
Go Dodgers!!
Anything like hoping for injuries to dodger players like Nomar and Gonzo so prospects who maybe good can play is disgusting. Im my opinion.
Also, Juan Pierre is pressing as a leadoff hitter. Furcal needs to return quickly to take this pressure off of him. Pierre feels he’s got something to prove and right now he’s trying way too hard. He’d be good in the number eight hole… but we all know THAT won’t happen.
I really hope that Grady is paying full attention to how well Russell Martin is filling in as a number two hitter. There were many of us last year who felt this was his best slot in the lineup and we’re being rewarded so far with some excellent play from Russell. He’s got the eye of a ten-year veteran at the plate… very patient, selective and knows when to go the other way with the pitch. He’ll also see a lot more pitches to drive in this slot… and with that comes an 18 to 23 homer season. Expect his power output to increase this season… but not if he’s placed back in the eight hole…
Go Dodgers!!
Kevin – can only follow the game on computer but is quite good on SI. Satisfies my longing. Your hot dog plan sounds good.
“Anything like hoping for injuries to dodger players like Nomar and Gonzo so prospects who maybe good can play is disgusting. Im my opinion.”
When I say “…injuries that most would welcome”, I’m specifically talking about those who are calling for Loney and Kemp/Ethier to be playing every day. In my opinion, injuries coming to Garciaparra and Gonzalez are the only way this is going to happen. I would never “welcome” this myself, but the mood of this blog during the past two weeks would suggest that these injuries would be welcomed by many. Yes, it’s disgusting… more accurately though it’s called “tough love” because many of these so-called “Dodger Fans” are misplaced in their desire to have the younger prospects play. That was my point… not that I personally would welcome it…
Go Dodgers!!
Kevin I agree with your Russell Martin comments. He is definitely patient at the plate, with good coverage, and like LoDuca appears to not worry about a two strike count. That allows the leadoff hitter ample opportunity to steal. Martin, contrary to Joe Morgan’s assessment, has good speed for a catcher. GO DODGERS!!
hi euhlman, sorry about that fliegel, couldn’t pass that one up. I am really feeling well lately, it’s been 3 months and I feel good, going to make that 70″s club we talked about, need 13 years, but I shall be there. played golf last friday, hit some shots to make me go back this week to try again.
this year is going to be our year, our 35 to 40 man team is going to do it. I look forward to the vet’s playing better and Loney, LaRoche, Abreu, and Meloan coming up and helping Martin,Kemp, and Ethier help our older guys.
hope I can see todays game on T.V. ready to go, looking for another 10 runs today.
the only thing to hope for in regards to nomar/gonzo etc. is that Grady will recognize when and if they have outlived their usefulness as everyday players and will act accordingly. If they remain productive everyone will be rooting for them to stay healthy.
x
I agree Mr. Pelk. It felt like I was just talking taking to myself.
Be sure to visit my blog.
http://www.joeyp190.blogspot.com
x
ooh ooh ooh
http://www.joeyp190.blogspot.com
So I heard Ned is holding a “Most Chicken-Like Looking Dodger” where we, the fans, get to got for the Dodger whose face most resembles a chicken.
.
.
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Gotta vote for today’s starter. It doesn’t get any chicken-ier than that.
…”Most Chicken-Like Looking Dodger” contest…
Glad to hear all is going well Frank. I have 15 to make the 70 club. Think I can do it. Have been blessed with wonderful health. Have not spent a day in a hospital since I was born in 1941. Big game today. I too look for the youngsters to lend a hand again this year. I think Grady will give Nomar, Kent and Gonzo adequate rest as he did with JD last year. GO DODGERS!!
euhlman –
I was at the game the night BEFORE loney hit his 9 RBIs at Coors. Loney hit those in a day game, if I remember right, which I can never get to.
Sparkkuhl, good idea on the hot dogs. I might just go home real quick so I can do that and watch the game on mlb.tv.
Go Dodgers! Go Schmidt!
(I guess I’d much rather root FOR Schmidt than against him…rooting against him in previous years never worked out so well for me.)
Frank… good to have you back! And it looks like you have plenty of golf left in you… I heard that a 102 year old woman hit her first hole in one over the weekend with the “big-dog”. She’s sure to make the late-night show circuit this week…
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=bizarre&id=5191700
I agree for the most part about Russell Martin really coming around and stepping up. Although I still miss Lo Duca, Martin makes it much easier. But I don’t know if I can say he hits like a 10 year veteran. There’s definitely a difference between how he and Kent approach the plate. And for those of you that couldn’t watch the game (I’m in the San Francisco Bay area, so I actually got to watch this past series), Russell Martin struck out swinging at a ball that hit him on his triceps. He’s definitely ahead of the game at his age, and I’m excited to know that he can only get better.
Go Dodgers!
This is a bit off topic, but does anyone wonder if Francona will rest Drew as much as Grady did last year? That’s OK Frank, it was funny.
Two outs in the top of the first, and I can only watch it on the radio (although I didn’t want to see that HR).
I don’t think any real fan wants Nomar or Gonzo to get injured.
But, all teams have injuries, and if I had to pick guys to be injured, it would be the guys where we have replacements that we have a lot of confidence in. That’s better than an injury to Furcal, who even with good replacements for the first week has created a hole in the offense, or an injury to Martin, which would be devastating.
Also, we all know there will be injuries, and espescially with the older guys who have had injury problems in the past. And let’s face it, Ned has build the team knowing that this is likely to happen. We have made a point to be ready with some good rookies who can play if our front line guys get injured. We saw it last year, and there will probably be similar events this year.
But I think all fans hope Nomar and Gonzo are healthy and productive all season long.
leekfink…i wouldn’t be upset at all if Gonzo gets hurt and Ethier and Loney have to play in his spot.
Okay I am here, who has the beer! Man if I am alive at 102, about the only way I could hit an hole in one would
be on a very short, downhill par 3
let’s get it going guys,we need runs, no t.v. here in central Oregon, espn has poker on.go figure.
man I say beer and Schmidt hits a homerun, word of the day is beer.
I too don’t want any injuries to anyone, but as last years shows, and ned says the team is 35 to 40 players, because it is a long season and players do get hurt.
Kemp just hit the plexiglass on the Right Field scoreboard very hard. Looks like the shoulder and he’s coming out.
OK…I’m watching on Gameday and there was an injury delay followed by Ethier spelling Kemp. What just happened??
Wow that got answered quickly. Did it look serious or more like he’s shaken up?
Andre Ethier is coming in for Kemp. Kemp went back to the wall and tried to catch the drive off of Baker’s bat. He first started in on the ball but might have had a better play on it if he’d gone back for it first. It doesn’t look too serious for Kemp. Just being cautious I feel.
daggumit…that ***** for Kemp…hopefully it’s not anything too serious.
i didn’t know the “s” + “ucks” word was not allowed here lol
Frank I’m having some trouble following the game. I am following it on SI.COM and is quite current in its updates. However, the first annoyance is that the picture of Jason Schmidt has him wearing a Giant cap. Not an annoynace, but a distraction, every now and then to the right of the game chart is a picture of some of the swim suit issue girls. There it’s gone. Back to the game. Jason is having some trouble. Bats need to come alive today. GO DODGERS!!
The sky is real difficult in right field today. On a couple of plays Kemp really had to work to catch them. I don’t know why his glasses were on his cap when that ball was hit. Sounds like a team fine for Kemp. If you have glasses in the outfield, why do they stay on top of the cap??? Is it just to look cool??? Outfielders in the past would have those lenses down on the crack of the bat if it was hit their way.
Looks like Loney might get a call up sooner then later. It looked like he jammed or badly bruised his shoulder. I bet he goes on the DL and Loney gets a call up.
max, why would we do that when we can instead keep valdez on the team???
well maybe not. If Kemp goes on the DL that opens a spot for Furcal so the Dodgers could keep Valdez. Keeping 3 shortstops doesnt make any sense but everything management has done so far this year hasn’t made much sense either.
jspelk…Valdez has been overachieving so far
your sarcasm meter must be running low today.
ironic how Loney’s callup hinged on injuries and it might be Kemp’s that gets him one.
Nope… it looked like Kemp smacked his head along with his right shoulder. It didn’t look too serious, but perhaps he just got his bell rung a little bit and that’s why he came out.
Valdez has been overachieving, and we’ve been benefitting. If he’s going to have a breakout season, I’d rather he do it in this organization.
Hey! You two play nice now! We don’t want another “dodgerdude17 vs. ewk216” like we had here last night. : )
huh dodgers up Beer.
lets go we need runs
Beer. I’m with ya.
Atta boy Ramon.
BEER!
uh… okay… I don’t drink… but here goes!
Beer!
Maybe it only works once each inning.
Jeff Francis a Canadian boy from British Columbia. Today team trumps country. GO DODGERS!! Rev up those bats.
Report on Matt Kemp… Scully says a “Very sore right shoulder” and has been taken for preliminary x-rays…
OK…gameday had injury delay then Schmidt taken out. Any info?
so if kemp has a dislocated shoulder (as speculated) how long is he out? is that season ending or…?
Looks like Schmidt pulled a hamstring on a play at first base…
Matsui hit a roller to Garciaparra and he bobbled it… then found it and threw to first with Schmidt covering and Schmidt grabbed at his right hamstring when he stepped on first base.
So Hendrickson is coming in and is allowed as many pitches as needed to loosen up. Long delay…
Days like today really show the value of depth and youth. If Kemp and Schmidt are out for any length of time, we have solid replacements ready to step in. Bills might get some starts, and Ethier is likely to start daily as well.
BTW…what is it with April and May injuries with the Dodgers the past few seasons? It seems like the injuries always pile up then and slow down a lot later in the season…
I’ve seen many a dislocated shoulder… and if it was dislocated it popped back in immediately. Kemp had range of motion but you could see visible discomfort on his face.
Schmidt’s injury is going to be day to day… it also didn’t look too serious… but we’ll see. These things have a way of becoming a nagging injury if a player tries to come back too quickly.
And with all this injury madness…Repko is nowhere to be found. Amazing.
Yeah… why us? This injury epidemic really stinks. Can we please go a season without more than just a couple of big injuries? They’re going to happen to every team, but this is ridiculous!
jspelk… your sarcasm needs a bit of water. That was very dry…
Ethier’s going to have a HUGE at bat this inning… mark this post!
I’ve got it marked Kevin.
dodgers up 6 pack of BEER
let.s get some runs, Hey I went to si, all I got was a big blue eye looking at me, hope all these injuries end now, and schmidt, and kemp will be all right quickly.
Oh well… next inning!
From the mouth of Vin Scully to my ears to your eyes:
“On this day in 1981, Opening Day at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers to play the Houston Astros and Jerry Reuss to do the pitching. Only Reuss had a bad ankle and couldn’t start. So the Dodgers gave the ball to a left-hander by the name of Fernando Valenzuela. He shut out the Astros two to nothing, and that was the beginning of Fernando-Mania. Let’s go back to this one.”
About time to get a double play or two.
Scully reporting that Schmidt is already feeling better, but the Dodgers figuring here it is only opening day and not going to let him hurt it any further.
beer, come on dodgers, need runs.
scully just compares valdez to julio lugo.
Hendrickson… very impressive thus far.
somebody get jeff francis a beer, get him out of their,
8 runs to go to get to 10.
Francis is out Frank.
enjoy the cold one jeff, go dodgers, may have to go, keep putting up runs . Beer.
I miss Raffy. What the **** was Lieberthal doing popping up a 3-1 pitch? It’s just unacceptable in that situation. If only Raffy was in that lead off spot i think we win the game… he wasnt so who knows…
Schmidt is going to be interesting this year, but i think im very happy to have him on the team. I’m thrilled Andre got a hit– he just hits the ball hard every time, other than his base hit, which just goes to show why baseball is such a great sport. He’s a great player.. Thinking about our IF/OF, we should have catcher, corner OF spots, 1b, 2b locked up for 10 + years. If La Roche comes around all the better. We really have an amazing ******* farm system though it gets me excited– just the prospect, the potential, of having such a consistent, stable team made up of youngsters gives me the goose bumps. Who knows how it all plays out, but the last 10 years have been anything but predictable or reliable from a fan’s rallying point of view…
Go Dodgers.
I think if there is one thing i truly hate in my life it is the San Diego Padres.
A frustrating loss to say the least. It seems that the Dodgers “Left their (bats) in San Francisco”.
I will try to clarify a few things for those of you who could only listen or watch on the internet.
Kemp struggled with a couple of fly balls because the wind was swirling quite a bit at the stadium today. He did take a step in on Baker’s drive to right. He really hit the wall hard and I anticipate that he will go on the DL. In all honesty, he really should have made that catch without crashing into the wall.
As for Schmidt, he was not sharp at all. His speed was WAY down for a so-called power pitcher. He is saying that his injured hamstring was due to dehydration and that he will not miss his next start – Good news, indeed.
Hendrickson was outstanding today but, in all due respect, Rudy Seanez was awful. I will be surprised if he is still on the active roster by mid May.
Beimel finally got called for a balk (I was wondering when he would). To an umpire who is not familiar with his move, it is easy to see how this could happen. Unfortunately, that balk led to a run scored.
The 3-1 pitch the Lieberthal popped up (foul) appeared to be ball four (up and in), but I may be wrong. In my opinion, as poorly as Fuentes was pitching, he should have taken it no matter what. The game was pretty much out of reach by then, but he was the potential tying run. His at bat really surprised me for his time in the Bigs.
All of this is just my perspective (and my opinion).
Bottom line is that we just won four straight, and I will take four out of five any day.
GO DODGERS!
PS: I will be away on business for a week, so y’all mind the fort and behave yourselves.
PPS: The Dodger Dogs were delicious Harold! Also, the pre-game festivities were outstanding. It’s GREAT to be a Dodger fan!
Okay… this is weird. Our number 4 starter isn’t pitching tomorrow I guess. Dodgers.com shows Brett Tomko as the starting pitcher tomorrow. Is Brad Penny hurt or something? What gives?
Nevermind… they just have Tomko filling the number four slot because of Thursday’s day off. Thursday is another off day and the rotation begins anew. Sorry for the false alarm…
A real good explanation Kevin, Penny pitched on Friday, that would be three days rest. Tomko goes tomorrow night so Penny can go the full four days of rest and pitch Wednesday. Also, I may be in the minority but I was there today and aside from the normal traffic woes that come with an opening day I thought the new parking reconfiguration worked well, at least from the Golden State Lot. I got off the 5 at 12:05, went up Stadium Way, hit awful but yet normal traffic, the ‘Disneyland’ style parking employees flagged me to my spot and I got to my seat by 12:40. When the game ended we went back to the car, got in a little traffic going out of Stadium Way and it took about 10 minutes to get back to the 5. All in all not a disaster at least from my perspective and actually better than past Opening Days, in 2005 I sat in the car for 90 minutes circling the Stadium in awful standstill traffic trying to get a parking spot. I’ll be back out there tomorrow night rooting for the Blue!
Schmidt is now an 87-90 mph pitcher i think. I thought his velocity actually looked a little better than it did in his first start where he never got it above 88, with a lot at 86-85. Today he was consistently hitting 87 and up. He is still a good strikeout pitcher though, which is what is so interesting about him. I think he becomes like Maddux- obviously thats the ideal situation, but i see it in him. I guess with two less pitches also.
Worst opening day ever – after going to 35 straight! We got to the stadium the earlyist ever – 10:50 A.M. For 35 years, I have used the “Academy Road” entrance with no problems. We got off the 5, as usual, at Broadway. It took 2 hours to get from Salono to the gate – and we “cheated” by cutting in at the last minute! All the new plan did was transfer the heavy traffic from inside the stadium to outside the venue! Once inside the gates, there was no traffic. Our KFWB “Suite” seats were somehow missing at the party, the whole thing became a disaster. The flyover before the national anthem – with no warning? $15 to park – Angels still at $8? The longest concession and restroom lines in history! The parking staff “More than doubled”? We saw allmost no one. Every fan I spoke to agreed. If the current parking plan stands, they will have to double the amount entry gates. When we left our handicapped parking, the Dodgers had allowed people to “Abandon” thier cars throuout the inner circle lanes – Double parked cars, even in the center lanes. Now we were trapped and could not get out! What a joke! I went to The Angel opener Monday Night, got there 1 hour before the game, and I was at my seat in a half hour. Dodgers: I want four inner reserve seats to a Saturday game please! This is the least you can do. McCourt, Please Help Us!!