Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Nomar, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Ethier, LF

Aybar, 3B

Martin, C

Penny, P

Just got to the ballpark in San Francisco and unfortunately, Bill Mueller’s right knee is still acting up, so we’re going to put him on the DL and recall Oscar Robles from Las Vegas.

Lineup to follow…

I would like to give everyone an update on Luke Hochevar. Luke is currently playing for the Fort Worth Cats of the Independent American Association League. The Dodgers retain exclusive negotiation rights to Luke until May 30, which is a week before the June 6 first-year player draft.

Since drafting Luke last June, we made him what we considered a fair offer. That offer was rejected and negotiations would best be described as being at an impasse. We have monitored Luke all along and have had scouts at the games he has pitched for Fort Worth. As happened with Jered Weaver, who signed at the last minute with the Angels last year before the deadline to reenter the draft, anything is possible.   

Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Nomar, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Mueller, 3B

Cruz, LF

Martin, C

Lowe, P

What are the odds? We invited Duke Snider out tonight to take part in pregame ceremonies and sign copies for fans of his new book, "Few and Chosen." Before the game, he’s down on the field, shaking hands with Grady Little and just about the time he sat down to start signing his books, Jeff Kent hits a three-run homer to give him 1,333 career RBI, tying him for 75th place all-time with…Duke Snider.

We can’t make this stuff up.

Oh yeah, he also passed Ron Santo on the RBI list. Next up is Johnny Mize at 1,337. The official scorer, Don Hartack, said that the only thing stranger would be if we had been playing the Cubs and Santo were here to broadcast the moment.

Meanwhile, Kenny Lofton just stole his 575th career base to move him into sole possesion of 20th place all-time, surpassing Hugh Duffy. Ken Gurnick asked me if Duffy would be here to sign books, but alas, he passed away back in 1954.

In our research earlier today, we found it interesting that several different "all-time stolen base" lists exist. That’s because, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, prior to 1900 a fielder’s choice counted as a stolen base. Seems strange to me, but we’ve decided that we’re going to be announcing the list that exists since 1900. Lofton is now five shy of Ozzie Smith for 19th place on that list.

On any given night, you can see history made at Dodger Stadium. Now if only Brett Tomko goes seven more innings without allowing a hit…

Repko’s sprained ankle looks like it’ll keep him off the field for at least a week, so we’ve DL’d him and recalled Willy Aybar, who will be here by game time.

Furcal, SS

Lofton, CF

Nomar, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Mueller, 3B

Ethier, LF

Martin, C

Tomko, P

I just returned from the memorial service for Steve Howe and it was very respectfully done. The service was led by former Dodger infielder John Werhas, with eulogies from his former teammates on the 1981 World Championship team, Rick Monday and Ken Landreaux. Among his other teammates that were present were Ron Cey, Matt Nokes, Lee Guetterman and several others.

The service, which is the first of three in the next week (there is one in his hometown in Michigan and another in Montana) also had a video tribute to Steve, which can be seen here. His daughter, Chelsea, recorded a song in his memory that was played and his son, Brian, who looks quite a bit like his father, were both there with Steve’s widow, Cynthia.

Steve’s life was cut short tragically, yet he will always be remembered for his place in Dodger history and more importantly, for the memories he shared with his family.

Furcal, SS

Cruz, LF

Nomar, 1B

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Mueller, 3B

Repko, CF

Martin, C

Seo, P

We just got back from the ceremony in which KCAL/KCBS sports anchor Jim Hill was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  For those of you not living in LA, this is quite an honor and the turnout of celebrities and athletes can attest to that.

Among those on hand from the Dodgers were Frank and Jamie McCourt, Don Newcombe, "Sweet" Lou Johnson, Jaime Jarrin, Jeff Kent, Rick Monday and Eddie Murray. Others lining Hollywood Blvd. were Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Don King, Luc Robitaille, Marcus Allen, James Worthy, Natalie Cole, Warren Moon, Jim Harrick, Kings announcer Bob Miller, Chief Bratton, Stu Nahan, Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, Jeannie Buss, Tim Leiweke, City Councilmen Tom LaBonge and Eric Garcetti, Eric Dickerson, Willie Gault and the honorary mayor of Hollywood, Johnny Grant.

As the PR director, I can truly attest to the hard work and dedication that Jim brings to his job every day. The players trust him because he is always at the stadium, which isn’t always the case with TV personalities. He is respected by just about everyone in the industry because he outworks just about everyone in the industry.

It’s weird…at my wedding, someone told me to appreciate the fact that I had all my friends and family around because that only happens twice in your life and you’re only alive for one of those times. Jim is one of the lucky few who got to see just how much he means to this city and the sporting community and we were all honored just to be a part of it.

If any Dodger fans needed perspective on wins and losses, they only need to check out the coverage of Eric Gagne’s Bowling Extravaganza last night. Coming off three wins and yet still under .500, the Dodgers’ event last night at Lucky Strike in Hollywood made baseball seem a lot less important in the grand scheme of things — and I truly believe I’d be writing that even if we were 10 games over .500 and in first place.

More than a dozen of Eric’s teammates showed up at the event, as did several Hollywood celebrities from David Arquette to James Van Der Beek and even a late night appearance by Matt Leinart, who’s a good friend of Gagne’s.

The event, which benefits the Dodgers Dream Foundation and Mattel Children’s Hospital, also included about a dozen of the kids from Mattel, where Gagne has visited in the past to help put a smile on the youngsters’ faces.

Call me crazy, but an event like this is what celebrity is all about. We all agonize over every win and every loss during the year and I might be the biggest culprit. That’s what makes baseball such a special game. But the thing to remember is that it is a game and for one night, the team’s record meant nothing and their winning streak was unimportant.

For those that were unaware, the idea for this event came from Gagne himself, who approached our community affairs department last season looking to do something like this. It turns out, Nomar had been doing it in Boston the past few years, and he and his wife, Mia Hamm, were both there last night to show their support.

This might not get covered in the local newspapers (though tons of TV crews were there), but this really is what makes our jobs so rewarding.