One night only…
I’m guessing that many of you back in LA will be heading to Joe Torre’s Safe at Home Fundraiser tonight, where he and Sandy Koufax will talk about all sorts of interesting things at the Nokia Theatre. For those at the Scully/Wooden event a few years ago, you know this is a unique opportunity and hopefully you can make it out there.
We’ll be here at Camelback, so I’m taping it on PRIME TICKET so I can see it when I get home. It’s only airing one time…live!
Back here in Arizona, it’s still pretty cool but workings are plugging along. We had the annual photo day, which is always a very busy day in which numerous photo companies (as well as Jon SooHoo) come out and take head shots or action shots of the players. However, in recent years it has expanded so that now they do a lot of other things on that day, including the “head scans” that allow the players to look so real on video games. Our TV partners, KCAL, also shot some cool photos and on top of all that, our DodgerVision crew is in town to film the players for the stuff you’ll see all season long at Dodger Stadium.
These sorts of things take hours of time that the public rarely gets to see until the finished product, but it’s a cool thing to experience “behind-the-scenes.”
And of course, a tradition the PR department started in Vero Beach continues here at Camelback. Prior to photo day (which starts at 7 a.m.), we hit up Cracker Barrel so seven of us enjoyed some biscuits, gravy, hashbrown casserole and other such goodies at 6 a.m.
Inside the Dodgers 
Thanks for the new thread and update, Josh. I hope those of you going to the event have a great time.
For those who want to watch the Safe at Home event on Prime Ticket, it starts at 7:30 p.m.
:))) Thanks Josh!!! I’m ready for the games to begin and let the chips fall where they may!!! I like our chances in the NL West. Beyond that, depends on the pitching. Guess we’ll cross that bridge when its time!!!
Good morning ITD!
Is a wet one here in the LA area but I am excited about attending the Koufax event and I did noticed this morning that is being televised so is all set.
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Sorry I will miss you Josh! I read from Benny that Jon SooHoo, Torre (of course), Mattingly, Honeycutt. They will fly back after the event.
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Thoughts and prayers to the people in Chile and everybody in the path of the coming tsunami.
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Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/archives/2010/02/black_history_month_sweet_lou.html
Ferk and Billz are our largest variables!!! We really need Furcal to get off to a good start and perform. Especially leading off. Sets the whole table.
I agree with you, Jhall, on Ferk and Billz. I think Kershaw will be fine…..Dre and Matt too 🙂
Martin is right behind them. He needs to find some semblance of his All-Star season.
Hi Gang
Another big season is approaching but it’s hard to tell when I’m away from my computer and out in the snow.
20.8 inches have fallen in Central Park for a record 36.9 inches, making this the snowiest month since records began in 1869.
But, believe it or not, it’s hard to tell, thanks to the modern snow equipment.
There might be some left, when the Dodgers get here in April (lol).
It’s hard to believe spring training games are about to start.
GO BUMS GO!!!
I’d start Russell lower in the order…behind James and Blake, at least at the beginning. But, you know Joe won’t do that. He will still probably bat Matty 8th! lol
Hi’Ya Trumom!!! Great to see you!!! I’m not worried about Matt, Andre, James, Brox, and Kersh!!! Mannys’ performance could also make a big difference. I’m not counting on much more than a mediocre season from Manny however.
Thanks for the new thread Josh!!!
Hey Jhall!!! It’s great to see you on here!!!
I have a feeling Manny will do very well. Afterall, when he leaves us he will want the big money, so he will have to put up good numbers. Don’t you think so, Jhall?
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It’s great to see you too, Jhall. Been kind if bland and boring without you and, Enchanted hasn’t been around much either.
New computer fired up and going strong, Nellyjune?
Hi’Ya Nelly!! I hope so Trumom, Manny is playing for his DH career in the AL. You never know what you will get with Manny however. I just hope he doesn’t mail it in like he did with the RedSox when he was disgruntled!!!
Yep – they said for me to get my problem fixed, I was better off buying a new one……………….so I did 🙂
If he becomes disgruntled, Joe will sit his assss down!
I am certainly enjoying looking at all the pictures from spring training thus far. Can’t wait to watch them start playing games.
One can dream Trumom!!! I don’t think Manny and his 20M sits. He’s kind of got us by the balls!!!
I do have faith that Joe can handle Manny effectively!! I think he has the experience and “kid gloves” required.
We are going to miss O’Dog’s defense at 2nd!!! Along with our pitching, we can’t let our defense have a major lapse. Defense is key. Especially against pitchers like the G’nats bring. You can’t give up extra outs!!!
Defense, defense, defense jhall!!!! I totally agree.
Pitching, Pitching, Pitching!!!!
Can we just skip the spring training lol?
U.S. wins first four-man gold since 1948
http://sports.espn.go.com/olympics/winter/2010/bobsled/news/story?id=4952659
Wow another event we couldn’t win that just doesn’t seem possible it took us this long to win one.
All I can say is that was a fabulous interview that TJ did with Koufax and Torre.
TJ did a good job of mixing the serious with the not so serious, with a few funny moments as well, and I was glad he never seemed to make Sandy (or Joe for that matter) uncomfortable. He did a very good job IMO. I was in awe watching Sandy Koufax so eloquently answering those questions. Joe Torre deserves credit as well for a job well done in his interview and getting Sandy Koufax to agree to do the interview. Plus, Joe had some wonderful things to say about Clayton Kershaw.
This wasn’t really worth it to do that.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_train_deaths
I’m with you, Nelly. The program was awesome! My respect for Joe as a person has risen immensely. BTW, did anyone notice that Emma was in a few pans of the audience?
Tonight was definitely a night I will not forget anytime soon. I thought TJ did a very good job as well. I thought one of the more interesting moments of the night was when TJ point out Peter O’Malley. Next to the Koufax and Torre ovation, that was the largest and longest ovation of the night. I’m sure that makes McChump real happy:)
Also, found it interesting that the former Dodgers owner (Mr. O’Malley) was there, the Angels owner (Mr. Moreno) was there, but no current Dodgers owner. Could it be that Frank was afraid of the reception he would’ve received if he would’ve shown up?
Good morning ITD!
What an incredible night! Once I got home I watched the playback! This morning when I woke up I thought about last night!
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Sparkle!
When I got home my brother told me he saw me in the audience at the beginning and at the end. Sure enough there I was wearing Blue and at the end you can see my little Dodger bag.
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Simers did a great job with the format. Sandy was AWESOME! Like Sparkle, my respect for Torre grew. I love Kershaw!!
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I talked to Sweet Lou. I told him that my last tribute to Black History month was about him. He put his hands together and bowed. I also told him that before I did not know he played in the Negro League He said “Oh yeah, I played for Buck O’Neil.” I said hello to Tommy Davis and Don Newcombe.
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What an incredible night! The inmortal Sandy Koufax condensed into a very down to earth human being!
Thank you Sandy!
Thank you Torre!
Thank you Simers!
Thank you all that made this happened!
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Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/
GO BRUINS!!!!!
Fight on!
GO USC!! Orel’s son is a Trojan!
Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/
GO TEAM USA HOCKEY!!!!!!!!
GO DENNY, KYLE AND ELLIOTT!!!!!!
GO TEAM USA!!!!!!!
GO ARIZONA STATE!!! (not a USC or UCLA fan when it comes to college baseball) – Sun Devils all the way!!!
GO DENNY!!! GO KYLE!!!! GO JOEY!!! GO KEVIN!!! GO SMOKES!!! GO ELLIOT!!! ………..heck GO EVERYONE BUT JIMMIE ( and Brad and JPM)!!! (jk Eric – LOL!!!)
Also, found it interesting that the former Dodgers owner (Mr. O’Malley) was there, the Angels owner (Mr. Moreno) was there, but no current Dodgers owner. Could it be that Frank was afraid of the reception he would’ve received if he would’ve shown up?
By 636566cy on February 28, 2010 12:31 AM
That question is like a slow pitched softball in the middle of a Home Run Derby… I’m sure it was a “prior commitment”, but the number of possibilities could fill up Letterman’s Top Ten for a week.
I guess that the closest thing to a solid answer is that McCourt is as mercurial and aloof as Manny is as a player. The difference being that Manny Ramirez was at one time considered one of the greatest RH hitters of all time before coming to LA. And McCourt… owned parking lots.
The Dodgers Baseball Club has really become like a child in the middle of this divorce (an 120-something old child, but bear with me here). The tragic kid in the divorce who is used as a pawn by the power-hungry, spotlight-grabbing parents, ruining any chance the child has of a normal life because the parents ultimately, deep down inside, blame the child for their problems. So they don’t mind what happens to the child in the future, all they want now is to tear apart the franchise like Cinderella’s first dress.
One is the Walrus, one is the Carpenter. We are the oysters. Lulling us for over five years with talk of how their new team, over 3,000 miles away from the only baseball franchise they gave a damn about, has the greatest fans in the world. Heck, if they had figured that out 30 years ago, we’d actually have owners who understand Dodger tradition.
But regardless of their understanding of what Dodger Tradition really is, they tell us they’re the “caretakers” of that tradition. It soon became obvious, however, that to them the Dodgers’ tradition took a backseat to whatever hare-brained scheme they had at the time, from moving Spring Training, at Peter O’Malley’s behest, from the one and only Dodgertown to the middle of the #@*&$ desert (and i come from the middle of a #@*&$ desert, so I know a thing or two about #@*&$ deserts), effectively destroying a 60-year-old component of Dodgers History (one of the only links the team still held to Brooklyn, where their fever for baseball LONG predated the team now known as the Dodgers) for the sole purpose of establishing a “McCourt Legacy”.
Not to mention that they moved the team away from Sandy Koufax’s home at the time when we have a 22 year old with a great fastball, a killer curve, and a bit of a wild streak. Great call.
Then, the McCourts decree that EVERYWHERE IS DODGERTOWN! Oh, happy day. All my life, I’ve wanted to visit Dodgertown, but I guess my problem was that I wanted to visit Vero Beach, Florida. What a fool I was, Dodgertown was here in Marysville all along! But not just here, wherever you are too! Admiral Byrd didn’t explore Antarctica… he explored Dodgertown: Antartica. Everywhere has always been and will always be Dodgertown, and all we had to do was cut all ties to Vero Beach! “We are at war with Eurasia, and have always been at war with Eurasia…” (I wonder if Dodgertown: Earth is upset their Dodgers haven’t won a championship for over 20 years.)
I have neither the energy nor the desire to continue on with this post, nor waste anymore time on the situation with the leadership of our franchise. I appreciate the fact we’ve reached the postseason so many times since they’ve taken over. And in truth, if we were to have anyone in control to ensure the continued care of Dodger Stadium itself, I’m going with the Real Estate guy (too bad he only got to renovating the Field Level before the current mess).
BUT
The Number One Priority As A Baseball Owner Should Be WINNING THE CHAMPIONSHIP! Not moving the spring training home. Not renovating the stadium. And for crissakes NOT BUYING THE FRIGGIN L.A. MARATHON.
With a championship under his belt, they can use it as a jumping point to make improvements to these things, and have some semblance of trust from the fans.
But McCourt keeps bringing up the rhetoric of the Championship Dodger Franchise… while… NONE OF THOSE CHAMPIONSHIPS HAVE BEEN UNDER McCOURT!!! He’s scavenging off of the achievements of the O’Malleys, and justifying that to destroy the tradition they claim to protect.
Could you see if he had bought the Red Sox?!!!
Would he be touting them as a “Champion Franchise” pre-2004 on the basis of the pre-1918 championships?
Would the Dodgers have had an owner who was… “gifted” enough to buy the team without television rights, wondering 5 and a half years later why he “has no money” except for whatever Jamie McCourt digs up in court filings?
I wonder what someone who knew what they were doing would’ve done with this nice crop of ballplayers that were planted in the FOX days, and matured under the reign of the ownership that has fallowed the farm system, and doesn’t look too keen on competing with the Yankees and Red Sox in payroll, but all too happy to compete with those two BESIDES SEAT PRICING?
Prove me wrong. I LOVE being proved wrong when I’m writing stuff like this. I WANT to believe. So why is it anytime I’ve ever given the ownership credit, and start to stand behind them in the belief that they have faith in their ‘keeping Dodger Tradition’ rhetoric… they do something to prove that the Los Angeles Dodgers will always be the McCourts’ silver medal, the step-child they never wanted? The unwanted step-child whose mama is 300 acres of real estate overlooking downtown L.A.
On a closing note, I only have four words for Jamie McCourt, the woman who, for someone who wants to own our franchise, does everything in her power to destroy us until she can call the bombed-out crumbles her own Dodgertown (it’s already her own Dodgertown, though, since EVERYWHERE IS DODGERTOWN).
The four words (besides that previous paragraph):
NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!!!
Does anyone know where I could view a replay of the Torre/Koufax event?
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It wasn’t carried here in Giant country & I would love to see it.
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Josh maybe they can put it on the Dodger page?
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As far as liking Torre I really like what I’ve seen of him.
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Many don’t like all of his decisions but I’m more accepting of them. Some moves work & some don’t.
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I find him to be a very smart manager. Sometimes the decisions don’t work out.
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I got his autograph last year at The Phone Booth. His was the autograph I sought after the most so I was keeping an eye on him and saw how he was with everybody. He was so nice and you could tell it was important to him to spend time with the fans.
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There was this little area near the Dodger dugout where people that need access from the stands to the field can stand. It’s not an area where there are many autographs given as those happen more over towards the dugout. This young boy about 10 was standing there holding a ball and pen and patiently waiting for someone to come by. Torre was being interviewed and I saw him look over at the boy. When he was finished with his interview he started to walk over there but kept having people stop him and talk to him. He eventually got over there and walked up to the little guy and started talking with him. He didn’t just sign his ball but was really spending time talking with him. Sometimes you get an autograph and not a word is said by the signer. Well he treated this little guy like he was a family member. Many of us crowded around hoping for an autograph and he just was talking away with him for a few minutes asking him what position he played and to make sure he had fun playing the game & what not. Kind was the word that came to my mind. He then took a picture with him and then spent about 15 minutes there signing, talking, and posing for photo’s all the while really connecting with everybody.
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I was impressed. He was real with everybody and once again the word that comes to my mind is kind.
Beautiful post, NSBlues!
I can’t rant as well or as long as you.
That’s why I shorten the whole thing to:
#482 Frank and #69 Jamie, and
SELL THE TEAM, you F***ers!
Wow!!! Way to go team USA!!! What a fabulous game this is!!!!!!
Great posts, Northstatblues and Collie.
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Bear ~ :)….my sentiments, too!
Northstateblues – fabulous post!!!
When TJ announced O’Malley, all I could think is “why can’t we have that family back?” 😦
I was reminded of that fact that Russell is from Canada. There is a picture of him in the locker room after Canada won gold. Let’s hope he plays for gold this year. I hope he has a great season.
Great photos of the Safe Home event last night. Still can’t believe how much bigger Koufax’s hands were compared to Kershaw’s.
Northstateblues – you hit my slow pitched softball out of the park with that answer. And the post, one of the best I have seen. Awesome!
Good morning ITD!
NSBlues!
Wow! Wonderful post!
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I could not go to the USC/UCLA game. I went to pick up food to take to the stadium and when I came out my car would not start. Triple A started the car, drove it to my mechanic and he said he needs to replace my alternator. I know is getting time to replace my Toyota Solara. It has 202K miles but I has been a good car for me. I would like another Toyota but with their problems,I don’t know…I guess at this point, the only thing I know that it will be blue and later on in the year.
Emma
http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/
http://DodgersBlueBlog.com/