Come to the Caravan…
Many of you have asked about the caravan and the public stops this year, so here’s the deal. First, you can read the entire release to see exactly where we’re going this year and what time the stops are, etc. However, keep in mind that many stops on the release are not open to the public (schools, hospitals, etc.)
As for the public stops, there are four this year but only two are for autographs. The third is just a really cool thing we’re adding this year.
Next Tuesday, there’s a public stop at Yankee Doodles at Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. We’ll be there at 5:30 pm and the guys scheduled to be with the group are Jeff Kent, Russell Martin, Brad Penny, Takashi Saito, Fernando Valenzuela and many others. This is an autograph stop.
On Wednesday morning, we’ll be sending off the Dodger equipment truck to Vero Beach in style. This really signifies the start of Spring Training, as all of our bats, balls, uniforms, etc. starts to make its way to Dodgertown a week ahead of all of us. The stop is open to the public and the players will be there, too, but this won’t be an autograph stop. Still, for those of you who can come in a little late to work, this will take place at 9:30 a.m. at Dodger Stadium by the players’ parking lot, so stop on by to help say "goodybe" to our stuff and "hello" to baseball season.
Wednesday afternoon, we’ll have a big pep rally at Universal CityWalk at 4 p.m. and this is also an autograph stop. Among those expected to be there are Andre Ethier, James Loney, Matt Kemp, Hiroki Kuroda and Nomar Garciaparra.
And finally, there’s another cool opportunity for those of you who can sneak out during the middle of the day. Our players and legends will be serving as the waiters at the Panda Inn in Pasadena (3488 E. Foothill Blvd) from 1:15 – 2:15. So, if you’ve ever wanted Andre or Matt or Nomar to take your order of orange chicken and beef and broccoli, this is your chance. You’ll need to call to make reservations at 626.793.7300. This is not an autograph stop, either, so please don’t show up with tons of things for the guys to sign. They’ll be busy working to get you your food in a timely manner.
We hope to see everyone there and that you’re all getting fired up about the season.
Inside the Dodgers 
The Panda Express thing sounds like fun – I used to live in Arcadia. Unfortunately its about 15 years too late 😦 I’ll have to settle for waiving at the equipment truck as it rolls past on I-10.
Here’s my nightmare line-up**:
Furcal
Pierre**
Ethier
Martin
Loney
Kemp
Nomar**
Martinez**
Loaiza**
Wait a minute – maybe that was last year and I wasn’t dreaming…
Thanks Josh for the info. I also agree the Panda Inn restaurant sounds like an awesome experience.
Hey enchanted,
I’ve lived in Arcadia my whole life.
Hopefully Dodgers fans won’t be throwing up their Chinese food thinking about that lineup.
Hey scott, yup born and raised Baldwin and Longden. I’m probably older than you though – I remember the drive-in theater at the end of Longden and Peck/Myrtle, and still recall when the mall was all a big parking lot for Santa Anita. Remember seeing it full a time or two too.
enchanted,
East Arcadia, near 10th/Camino
I remember Edwards drive-in. The mall was built when I was very young. Just turned 40.
enchanted,
Taco Lita fan?
I heard Gonzo just signed with the Fish…as a FOURTH outfielder. Rumor has it that Florida is a great place to retire. I personally won’t miss you here in L.A. Bye Bye.
Jack
Gonzo is obviously not going to be a late inning DEFENSIVE replacement!
Scott – Taco Lita – yes!! On Duarte between 1st and 2nd (I think) – it still there? My dentist used to be across the street. I only got 7 years on you though!! Yeah – West Arcadia was my turf… not much left from when I was a kid though.
Sure hope Gonzo plays against the Ds – look forward to our guys being the ones to take the extra base!!
enchanted,
Taco Lita is still there. No El Loco though. Yep, no more Bob’s Big Boy, just “Coco’s”…
Maybe Gonzo and Kent can reminise at 2nd base when Gonzo takes 2nd on a single to left with Pierre playing there. They can cut on the kids together like last season.
lol jhall
Lakers just traded Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittendon for Pau Gasol
Scott – spent many hours of my youth in that Bob’s on Baldwin. Spent some time as an adult in that Coco’s.
Maybe Long Gone will be the stabilizing influence with the Florida youth that he was with ours.
Would like to find a way to unite him with JP and Kent again…
How about JP & Kent to Florida for Univision?
I miss the hot fudge cake from Bob’s.
When you plan next year’s caravans, how about having a public stop somewhere near Inglewood? I work at the Inglewood Public Library, and won’t be able to get to any of the caravan stops this year.
BTW, I’d like to see autograph days open to all fans. I can remember when every home Sunday was autograph day. Sometimes there would be two players and/or coaches signing at tables throughout the stadium. Maybe next year?
Yeah the last Bob’s I knew of was in Fresno and it went out 2-3 years ago. Remember that weird spaghetti-chili thing they had when we were young?
suekamm – I remember autograph days too!! Seems to me they had two guys on each end of the stadium on each level. Think I got Jim Brewer, Manny Mota & Bill Grabarkawicz (think I just killed his name) one day.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a Bob’s along the 60 fwy west of the 57.
At least I get good Tacos out here!
And on autograph day when I went, they signed on about 3″ round stickers printed to look like a baseball.
I would like Broxton to plant one right on Gonzo’s ribs. That would be nice payback.
Interesting how Long Gone can accept being 4th outfielder now, but not last season…
That was a nice article on Ed Roebuck, especially bringing up names like Gino Cimoli & Charlie Giovanna, I remember Charlie as the batboy and people usually pronounced his name as if it had an “I” at the end. I think this year is going to refresh a lot of memories.
So between Santana and Beltran, the Mets are paying $40M PER YEAR for two players through 2011. Considering one’s only playing 35-36 games a year tops, that’s alot of c-notes. Even if Santana wins 20 games a year, that’s still more than $1M per win.
Glad the D’s didn’t saddle themselves with that kind of contract. The D’s will be the envy of the league in a few years when their starting rotation of Kershaw, McDonald, Winthrow, Billz and Miller will be tearing up the league and won’t even be making $10M between them.
good to see Beimel back on board. GOOD signing!!!!!!!!
I got online at 7.a.m this morning and I could only get Berm area for the Red Sox at Vero :-(.
Pierre: that was a real nice article on Ed Roebuck. I enjoy all the articles by Mark Langill.
I got reservation for Panda Inn!
Yes, Taco-Lita is till there. I used to go to El Loco in Monterey Park when I lived there. There is still Bob Big Boys in Burbank. I Used to go there with a boyfriend a long time ago on Friday nights when everyone used to bring their old cars. There is also one in Glendale. I used to like the spaghetti with chilli and the burger combos.
glad to see Kent is part of the caravan.
Sue: We miss you on the other site. Do keep in touch, we love to hear from you. Are you going to the Coliseum? I will get my two tickets from the season tix, but I also bought four from the Booster club. Linda and Harpo are taking two and EastCoastDodger is flying in for that game. Still have one more.
yeah,we got Beimel back.
Oh yeah, I remember the drive-in on longden and mirtle/peck! Lots of condominums there now. -emma(crzblue)
im going to the Coliseum game baby!!! took me 30 min. to get 2 freakin tickets…but i got them. **** YEA!!!
I got 6 tickets for the coliseum! Lower Reserved Row 1…only problem….the coliseum map doesn’t show a Row 1 for lower reserve. lol
It’s 11:30 and the dodger game at the coliseum is already sold out. I will like to thank the dodger organization for doing a great job of keeping the tickets away from scoupers. I went on stub hub and the have hundreds of tickets for sale. Way to give them to the real fans. By the way congratulations Frank McCourt on your new house, it’s nice to see that raising the cost in parking and tickets is helping you live large. Please, Please sell the team already and let’s get an owner like Arte Moreno who cares about the fans.
The game sold out already ? Wow that was fast !
Josh — I am VERY supportive of the Dodgers and everything they do, but realizing that my family just got priced out of the Coliseum game really really got me upset this morning.
I was online at 10 and couldn’t get tickets. Then I hear that season-ticket holders were offered the ability to purchase 16 TICKETS EACH? That’s just an invitation to scalp.
I’m sorry, I’m not usually down about things, but I was really looking forward to this game. It will cost 2 to 3x more to go now and that I cannot afford.
Eduardo, Arte Moreno cares so much about his fans that he charges them more for tickets to Yankee and Red Sox games than he does for Tampa Bay games. I hope this does not give the Dodgers any ideas. But really, what difference does it make how many homes Frank McCourt has?
Baseball Musings: Team Offense, Los Angeles Dodgers
We continue to look at team offenses for 2008 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In 2007, the Dodgers scored 4.54 runs per game.
I plugged in a likely lineup to the Lineup Analysis Tool, using the Marcel the Monkey predictions from Tom Tango. For pitchers, I used the team pitcher averages from 2007. The lineups rate as follows:
* Best: 5.08 runs per game
* Given: 4.84 runs per game
* Worst: 4.54 runs per game
The Dodgers managed to improve, mostly by getting rid of Luis Gonzalez and giving a full time job to James Loney. But the Dodgers have choices in constructing their lineup. The above represents the “old” lineup, including Pierre and Garciaparra as every day players. A young lineup, replacing those two with Ethier and LaRoche yields the following:
* Best: 5.25 runs per game
* Given: 5.04 runs per game
* Worst: 4.76 runs per game
Playing the youngsters increases scoring by about 0.2 runs per game, or about 32 runs over a season. That’s three wins. Given the close nature of the NL races the last few years, three wins could be huge. However, it’s tough to sit players who are earning the big bucks.
Jason’s note:
4 out of the last 6 years 3 games was the difference between making the playoffs and winning the division and 2nd place and hoping for the wildcard.
Yup it took me about 30 minutes to get tickets on the phone. and at first the girl was saying there wernt even selling them on the phone… grrr what was that about……. then finally the only best seats to get online and the phone were the out field area nothing infield or even close to where the diamond is. Very proorly handled I say… to know the only seats availb. right at 10 were out field area n nothing lower
It says that you have to be in the first 150 to get autographs, how early would i have to get there to be in the first 150?
lbirken. Arte Moreno is only chanrging extra for premium games like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers. But he is not raising prices for every game like Frank McCourt does every year. Parking is only $8 at Angel Stadium instead of $15. Angel games are still one of the least expensive tickets in the league and they put a better product on the field. Frank McCourt charges you an extra $5 for ticket if you buy it the day of the game now tell me that’s not being greedy, and if you read the whole article that was in the LA times yesterday it said that the dodgers were raising prices for every game not just premium.
So what do you think guys & Gals? You think we can keep up with the Mets? Now they got Santana and they’re stronger with him***there’s no doubt. Do you think our offense will suprise us by hitting the way they are capable of? Do ya think Martin, Loney, Kemp & LaRoche will shine? Will we get power from Kent, Jones & Furcal? Will Ethier come into his own? Will Pierre hit a HR? Will he take a day off? Will Mia treat Nomar right? Will the offense & starting pitching give the bullpen more rest? Will we make it out of the NLWEST and into the post season?
I agree, the way the ticket sales for the Colliseum game were handled poorly. 16 tickets per season ticket holder is a joke. I could see giving the season ticket holders the same number of tickets as what they have for Dodger games, but that’s it. When I first logged on at 10AM the only seats available (for 2 people) were in straight away CF more than halfway up. When I tried another search, I couldn’t get through. Turns out they were already sold out. I ended up paying dearly for behind home plate seats, 11 rows up on StubHub.
vr, Xei
Dang it people, are you sh**ing me about the cost of parking and raising the prices for premier games? What’s a second deck seat go for nowadays? I know I’m in a different world out here in the desert, but I didn’t think I was THAT outta touch. Kinda makes it impossible for the average joe to take his family to the ballgame. Reminds me why I gave up golfing – just got way too expensive.
Maybe when the Ds dump about $40-$50M in payroll after ’08 they’ll lower the prices – LOL.
pierres – in answer to your questions: Yes. Yes. Yes. Maybe. No. No. He’ll have to. Don’t care. Yes, and Maybe.
Sorry, couldn’t resist doing that. 🙂
1-So what do you think guys & Gals? You think we can keep up with the Mets? Now they got Santana and they’re stronger with him***there’s no doubt. Yes.
2-Do you think our offense will suprise us by hitting the way they are capable of? Yes.
3-Do ya think Martin, Loney, Kemp & LaRoche will shine? Very likely.
4-Will we get power from Kent, Jones & Furcal? Yes, more than last year.
5-Will Ethier come into his own? Yes. Especially if Torre starts and plays him regularly.
6-Will Pierre hit a HR? No.
7-Will he take a day off? Yes but not voluntarily. If he doesn’t, there is something terribly wrong with Torre’s judgement. Hope he has lots of time on the pine for the good of the team.
8-Will Mia treat Nomar right? Yes.
9-Will the offense & starting pitching give the bullpen more rest? Yes.
10-Will we make it out of the NLWEST and into the post season? Yes, if we can stay healthy.
I think we can go deep into the playoffs if we put the best team on the field and stay healthy. I am excited to get the season started.
Also, in reference to #8 above. I don’t care either.
Please check out a 2008 Dodgers Preview I wrote. Any feedback would be appreciated!
http://www.melnickandgrecofantasysports.com/DODGERS-2008-FANTASY-PREVIEW.html
The game at the Coliseum is already sold out!!!! You’re kidding me Josh. Tell all the corporate lackies and advertisers to give all those good seats to the fans. 100,000 tickets sold in one day? I’m so sure. Why don’t you tell us how many seats actually went on sale and how many were already reserved for McCourt’s buddies.
Thanks for answering my questions guys. I sure hope they are all answered correctly. Wasn’t that an exciting Superbowl? First it was all defense, then it was all offense. The only bad news will be that there proberbly will be no room for baseball news in my paper, tomorrow.