September 2010
Apparently, LA needs some air conditioning…
From all we hear, it’s about 115 degrees back home in Los Angeles, which seems unfathomable for the last few days in September. Here in Denver, it’s a nice 75 degrees but I’d bet if we check back with them in a few months, they’ll be wishing they had the sun and not the snow.
Not a whole lot to report from Denver…and clearly not a ton to report from Arizona, either. It dawned on me that part of why I’ve posted less regularly this season is the growing volume of great Dodger blogs that are out there right now for everyone to read.
When we started this blog five seasons ago, I’m pretty sure there were only a few blogs that were widely read that covered the Dodgers on a daily basis. Now, it becomes harder and harder to come up with unique content on top of all the great work that already gets done at dodgers.com through Ken Gurnick and his colleagues, as well as through all your sites.
So, for 2011 (and what’s left of 2010) we’ll try to come up with a fresh twist on the ITD blog. Not exactly sure what that will be, but we’re certainly up for suggestions. Posting lineups doesn’t make much sense anymore, nor does the “news.” By the time we get to sit and post something, it’s already spread around the Internet so fast that all we’re doing is recapping what you already know.
In the meantime, keep checking back regularly…we’ll keep trying to come up with fun things to post while we figure out the best way to communicate with an ever-growing fan base online.
Campy, CSUN and the DDF
It was a great afternoon on the field at Dodger Stadium, as the Dodgers, the Dodgers Dream Foundation, the Campanella Family and Cal State Northridge announced a partnership to keep Roy Campanella’s legacy alive for years to come. You can read the details here but equally as cool were some of the great items we brought out from the archives, including his original wheelchair, his shin guards from Brooklyn and the contract he signed to play for the LA Dodgers just weeks before his accident.
Jamey Carroll, meanwhile, was voted the Campanella Award winner by his teammates and you can tell he was truly humbled by it. And well deserved. Turns out, he was an exercise science major at Evansville and did a lot of physical therapy studies along the way, so it couldn’t have fit together more perfectly. Photos of the event are here.
And of course, Bill Plaschke wrote a column about the Campanella legacy in today’s Times. Plenty more coverage that you’ll find tomorrow, I’m sure.
It’s a bright spot in a tough week for the team but with tonight’s win, the team avoids a sweep and heads to Arizona in an hour or so.
Will post from there tomorrow.
Live at 5! Don Mattingly, new Dodger manager
Im sure by now youve heard the exciting news that Don Mattingly will take over for Joe Torre next season. Obvoiusly our office is slammed right now with logistics but be sure to tune into PRIME TICKET for the live news conference at 5 p.m. to hear it all for yourself. Im sure Ill post more later…
Rest in Peace, Al LaMacchia
It’s a sad day in the Dodger organization and throughout baseball today, as Al LaMacchia passed away this morning at his home in San Antonio. Al has been with the team since 2003 and most of you probably know that he was the scout who recommended that we trade for Andre Ethier back in 2005. But that was just one of countless recommendations during a career in professional baseball that spanned eight decades as a minor league player, Major League player and scout.
Of course, those who knew him knew that he was more than just a baseball scout – a good family man, a WWII veteran and great person. We issued this release a little while ago and found a couple of other unique stories about him courtesy of Fred Claire.
Bradley/Ethier linked by Notable Trade
Our thoughts are with Al’s whole family and those who knew him. He will certainly be missed.
Filming at Dodger Stadium
Ever wonder what happens at the stadium when the team is on the road?
Well, in addition to planning for the upcoming homestand and dealing with any number of business issues that come up on a daily basis (the same as any company, really), Dodger Stadium has been a favorite spot for filming movies over the years.
Last week and this week, Moneyball was being taped here and it’s just the latest in a long line of movies filmed at the stadium. The woman who handles the coordination of all these tapings sent a list of all the movies and shoots that have taken place at the stadium, which I found interesting and thought you might all enjoy it, too. The list is below.
By the way, one of our longtime Dodger scouts and a truly tremendous person, Artie Harris, actually plays a scout in the upcoming Moneyball film. He has a few scenes with Brad Pitt and said he was really great to work with. And as you might know, Jonah Hill plays the Paul DePodesta character, though not of the same name. Yahoo’s Tim Brown had an interesting article about that, in case you missed it.
And northstateblues – thanks for your honest feedback. All I can tell you is that I truly don’t consider us a PR machine. The best we can do is try to explain the decisions we make and hope that fans understand them, while knowing that not all fans will agree with every decision. But the next time you’re at the park, please do let me know, as I’d love to fly by the seats to say hello.
Anyway, here’s the list of those movies and TV shows dating back to mid 80s…and it doesn’t even include the dozens of shows that have used the stadium as base camp but not actually filmed on site.
Better Off Dead – 1984
Mask – 1985
Fletch – 1985
52 Pick-Up – 1986
Naked Gun – Police Squad – 1988
Talent for the Game – 1990
Sandlot – 1992
“Hart to Hart” – 1993 (TV episode)
The Scout – 1993 (trailer scenes)
Strange Days – 1994
The Fan – 1995
Kate Spade – 1996
“In the Zone” – Children’s Baseball Show – 1996
Molly – 1998
Life – 1998
“Arli$$” – 1998 (TV show)
A Tribe Called Quest – 1998 (music video)
Bounce – 1999
For Love of the Game – 1999
The Core – 2002
Matchstick Men – 2002
American Idol – 2002 (TV show)
“Fastlane” – 2002 (TV episode)
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” – 2003 (TV episode)
“Fear Factor” – 2004 (TV show)
Be Cool – 2004
“Superman” – 2005
“Numb3rs” – 2005 (TV episode)
Rocky VI – 2005
Fast & Furious – 2006
Star Trek – 2007
“Stunt Junkies” – 2007 (TV episode)
“Light it Up” – 2008
“The Bachelorette” – 2008
“Chef Jeff Project” – 2008
“Modern Family” – 2009
“The Lamas Family” – 2009
“NCIS LA” – 2010
Joel Osteen – 2010
“Edgar Floats” – 2010
“Reinvent the Wheel” – 2010
Moneyball – 2010
Ask and ye shall receive…
In the last post, I mentioned how much I would have loved to have witnessed the conversation between Tim Wallach and John Lindsey, telling him he’s reached the big leagues. Well, as it turns out, you can!
Apparently Ned Colletti gave a heads up to the Dodgers Media Network and they filmed the conversation. It’s cool behind-the-scenes stuff you just can’t get anywhere else.
So check it out…and keep rooting for Big John. Hopefully he’ll get to debut in front of his family in Houston, have a big month, and earn himself a big league gig somewhere in 2011.
Need a feel good story?
After 1,570 games at the minor league level, John Lindsey has reached the big leagues. He’s among the five callups that Joe Torre just announced and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
He started his minor league career in 1995 with the Arizona League Rockies and has since been at Portland, Asheville, Salem, San Bernardino, San Antonio, New Jersey, Jupiter, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, New Orleans, the Arizona League Dodgers and Albuquerque…not to mention the Dodgers’ trips to China and Taiwan, which is how I’ve had the chance to interact with him.
I’m happy for all of our callups – John Ely, Jon Link, Chin-lung Hu and Russ Mitchell, who will be making his big league debut. They all deserve it but imagine giving 15 years of your life to something and wondering if you’ll ever make it to the big leagues. I would have loved to have witnessed the conversation between John and Tim Wallach.
And the best part is, no one can accuse this guy of not legitimately earning it – he hit .356 with 25 homers and 97 RBI after going .316-26-100 for Triple-A Las Vegas in 2008.
There aren’t many people with whom I’ve visited the Great Wall of China (Beijing) and the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial (Taipei) but I’m proud to have done so with Mr. Lindsey.
Touring the stadium…
Thanks to those of you who made it out today…it was a fun afternoon tour and given that we only had about 20 total people on hand, we took some detours into areas that we’re not normally permitted to go. A peek inside the clubhouse, inside the weight room, up the clubhouse tunnel and into the area where Kirk Gibson got loose before his big homer in ’88. We even ran into a few different Dodger folks who were kind enough to say hello, including Manny Mota, who spent a good amount of time with the group.
Series finale is tomorrow night on ESPN, so it’s a 5:10 game…hope we’ll see some of you out here again.
Congrats to SooHoo!
Tonight, the Dodgers honored Jon SooHoo on his 25th anniversary with the team and it’s been a great night for those who know him. Usually the guy behind the lens, he had 50 photographers shooting his every move and his entire family and tons of friends on hand to celebrate. Well deserved and here’s hoping he’ll be here for another quarter century.
For those of you joining the Inside the Dodgers tour tomorrow, we’ll see you at noon at the top of the park gift shop.
Kershaw or Lincecum?
Talk about a no-hit jjinx…I had literally typed these words when Casey just got a hit:
“Sitting here watching Roy Oswalt throw five-plus no-hit innings while Clayton Kershaw has 11 strikeouts through six innings and”
That’s as far as I got. So, I’ll go back to my original thought. With Tim Lincecum’s Giants coming to town this weekend (he won’t be pitching), I thought back to the 2006 draft when we took Kershaw a couple picks ahead of Lincecum.
Of course, the right-hander has gone on to win a couple Cy Youngs so clearly he’s an incredibly talented pitcher but here’s my question to all of you: As you sit here on Sept. 1, 2010, with Kershaw leading the NL in strikeouts and just 22 years old, would you rather have him or Lincecum under your team’s control over the next three years.
Obviously Lincecum has had a down year by his standards, though still not bad (11-9, 3.80, 179 K, 1.35 WHIP) while Kershaw is 11-8 (possibly 11-9), with a 3.01 after today’s outing.
Given what you know about both, if you could only have one on your team next year, who would it be and why? And of course, pretend you’re not a Dodger fan and try to be objective.
Inside the Dodgers
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