A busy day here in Minnesota and from my first glance, the Metrodome isn’t as bad as I’ve heard it is. It’s not your typical new ballpark with every new amenity, but to me, there’s a lot of character here which is what you want in your yard. I’m glad we got to see it before the new one opens up in a few years.

We arrived last night at about 11:30 local time and were in the hotel shortly after midnight. I cranked out the game notes in the morning and then Scott Akasaki, our team travel manager, and I headed to the Mall of America. After all, while I’m sure there’s plenty more to do in Minneapolis, I’m not exactly sure what it is. Maybe we’ve got some blog readers out there with recommendations.

Ironically, we arrived at the Mall around noon and saw a huge crowd gathering in the middle of one plaza. Sure enough, it was part of the citywide celebration of the 1965 World Series anniversary. Yes, we went all the way across the country and stumbled upon an autograph session by Willie Davis and "Sweet" Lou Johnson, two guys who are in our offices on a daily basis. Those two will join several former Twins in a pregame ceremony tonight here at the ballpark.

As for the Mall, it is pretty impressive in size and has just about every single store you’ve ever seen in any mall. The amusement park and underground aquarium were a nice touch, though we didn’t visit either of them with our limited time.

Another nice thing about this city that we’ve found so far is the public transportation. We took the train to the Metrodome, though it absolutely started pouring on Scott, myself and A Martinez as soon as we got out. But we’re now dry and under the dome for the next six hours or so and hoping to keep this win streak going.

Here’s today’s lineup and a final thought:

Furcal, SS (got 1,000th hit yesterday)

Lofton, CF

Garciaparra, 1B (hit 200th homer yesterday)

Drew, DH

Kent, 2B

Ethier, LF

Kemp, RF

Izturis, 3B

Martin, C

Billingsley, P

Read in today’s USA Today that the CEO of Sun Microsystems, Jonathan Schwartz is doing a blog and that more CEOs could follow suit. I think this is a good step for big business all around the country and so far I think the Dodger organization has been glad that we’ve been able to communicate directly with our fans through this avenue.

The Dodgers return to Minnesota today for the first time since the 1965 World Series and former outfielders Lou Johnson and Willie Davis are expected to take part in special pregame ceremonies at the Metrodome. Johnson hit a home run in the deciding Game 7 of the World Series and Davis went 5-for-12 with three stolen bases in Games 3-4-5 at Los Angeles.

The 1965 World Series against the Twins’ mirrored the Dodgers’ Fall Classic 10 years earlier against the New York Yankees. In both matchups, the Dodgers lost the first two games of the series on the road; won three straight games in their home ballpark; wasted a chance to clinch the Series by losing Game 6; and finally won the deciding game. And both Game 7 efforts were complete-game 2-0 victories from left-handers who were named the MVP of their respective Series – Johnny Podres in 1955 and Koufax in 1965.

When Minnesota hosted the annual All-Star Game in 1985, Koufax and former Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew were named honorary team captains.

Today’s lineup features four shortstops on the infield. Nomar Garciaparra (1,024 games), Ramon Martinez (249), Rafael Furcal (846) and Cesar Izturis (559) have played a combined total of 2,678 games at shortstop during their careers entering today’s game. For good measure, the starting catcher Russell Martin is a converted third baseman.

Happy Birthday goes out to Aaron Sele, who celebrated last night with a victory.

Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Nomar, 1B

Drew, RF

Ethier, LF

Martinez, 2B

Izturis, 3B

Martin, C

Penny, P

If we can get out of here with a sweep, it will be nice, given our recent track record on the road in AL cities. Check out Tony Jackson’s Daily News blog for more on that.

Quite a long day for stadium workers today…

From 12-2, we’ve got the WIN clinic, as a girls’ softball instructional is going on down on the field right now with Jamie McCourt, Eric Gagne, Manny Mota and Jeff Kent.

The car gates open at 5 p.m. for tonight’s Hollywood Stars Game…among those coming are Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Jimmy Kimmel, James Van Der Beek, Mia Hamm, Louis Gossett Jr., Carlos Mencia, Michael Clarke Duncan and Corbin Bernsen. That game starts at 5:15.

The real Dodger game starts at 7:10, with Cesar Izturis set to leadoff and play shortstop. He will appear in his 560th game a short, leaving him 11 games behind Jose Offerman for third place on the L.A. Dodgers all-time games played list at that position. Bill Russell (1,747) and Maury Wills (1,497) are in the top two spots.

Here’s the lineup:

Izzy, SS

Cruz, RF

Nomar, 1B

Kent, 2B

Saenz, 3B (6-for-7, 2 HR, 5 RBI off Zach Duke)

Kemp, CF

Ethier, LF

Martin, C

Sele, P

I enjoyed meeting the Dodger Thoughts crew at tonight’s game. Hopefully they enjoyed the victory.

Izturis goes back to shortstop tomorrow and Furcal gets the day off. Saenz gets to face Zach Duke, against whom he’s 6-for-7.

Three hits moves Izzy up to the two-hole. Welcome back to Jim Tracy, Jim Colborn, John Shelby and Jimmy Lett.

Today’s lineup:

Furcal, SS

Izzy, 3B

Nomar, 1B

Kent, 2B

Drew, RF

Kemp, CF

Cruz, LF

Martin, C

Tomko, P

Time to get back on the right track. D-Lowe on the mound and our infield has a combined 14 postseason apperances, 12 All-Star Game appearances, two Rookie of the Year Awards, five Silver Slugger awards, two batting titles, one Rawlings Gold Glove award and one MVP award.

Congrats are in order for Stan Johnston, our trainer, who is headed to the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh.

And, since the bullpen’s been taking a lot of heat lately, consider this: Takashi Saito has not allowed a run in his last 11 appearances (12.2 IP), lowering his ERA from 2.62 to 1.82. Since May 6, he has posted a 0.45 ERA (1 ER/20.0 IP), the lowest mark of any pitcher in the Major Leagues with at least 20 innings pitched, ahead of Juan Rincon (0.77) and B.J. Ryan (0.79).

Here’s tonight’s lineup:

Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Nomar, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Ethier, LF

Izturis, 3B

Martin, C

Lowe, P

I know I haven’t posted very often after games, but before I leave the stadium, I think it’s important to let the fans know that we all share your frustration and continue to work towards improving the team. The biggest thing that I try to remember during losing streaks is that they are bound to happen during the course of a long season. That doesn’t make them any easier to take, but as most of you will remember, we had lost five in a row heading into that Cinco de Mayo game and then became the hottest team in baseball. It’s happened before and it can happen again.

I think that most people would agree that this division will be a dog fight all season. Even with the countless injuries we’ve sustained (Gagne, Mueller, Brazoban, Repko, etc.), the team has been able to weather that storm due to the performances of the young kids we’re calling up. They’re bound to have their struggles, too. Don’t get too down on them or the team. Now’s when they need the fans’ support more than ever.

I know my job is to stay positive, but hopefully it will rub off some of the readers. The key really is to not get too down when we’re losing and not get too far ahead of ourselves when we’re winning.

On a side note, Derek Lowe will take the ball tomorrow instead of Brett Tomko, who fouled a ball off his foot during BP today. Tomko will start on Friday.

More for you all in the morning…

Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Garciaparra, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Saenz, 3B

Kemp, LF

Martin, C

Billingsley, P

We get to see Chad in his home debut, which is what a lot of fans have been waiting for. After seeing him in San Diego last week, it’s hard not to get too excited about his potential.

In the meantime, I’ll spend the afternoon helping get the word out about this weekend’s Hollywood Stars Night. We just got Sandy Alomar Jr. on 96.3 FM and earlier today, Matt Kemp was on KROQ with Kevin and Bean and on Jim Rome’s radio show.

For those of you who haven’t been to the Hollywood Stars game in a couple years, it’s new now, so you can sit on the outfield grass and catch potential home runs hit over the temporary fence by TV and movie stars.

I just finished an 11-day trip which included stops in Jacksonville, Vero Beach and our complex in the Dominican Republic. The Jacksonville club couldn’t have been hotter, as they were in the midst of a 10-game winning streak which clinched the first half division title for them. Some standouts included Andy Laroche and right-hander Joel Hanrahan, who were both promoted to Triple-A while I was there.  Second baseman Tony Abreu and shorstop Chin-Lung Hu are providing outstanding defense up the middle for the Suns, as well as Mark Alexander and Casey Hoorelbeke, who are an formidable one-two punch out of the bullpen. Manager John Shoemaker, pitching coach Danny Darwin and hitting coach Mike Easler did a great job in leading the team to their first half title.

Single-A Vero Beach has had its struggles, but there are good signs. Scott Elbert pitched very well while I was there with Xavier Paul, Blake Dewitt and Cory Dunlap providing the offense.

Dodger Vice President Craig Callan accompanied me on a trip to the Dominican, where went over issues concerning the running of our facility as well as observing a workout of young players directed by head of international scouting and longtime Dodger executive Ralph Avila. Overall it was a very fulfilling trip. 

On another note, today we will be hosting our first pick in the recent First-Year Player Draft, left-hander Clayton Kershaw (7th overall) as well as shortstop Preston Mattingly, who was our third selection (31st overall). We look forward to welcoming them to the organization and getting them started on their path to Dodger Stadium.