Category: Dailies

Not quite an off day

Yes, we are devoid of a baseball game tonight at the stadium, but it’s still a very exciting night. Eric Gagne is hosting his annual bowling tournament tonight and Lucky Strike in Hollywood and there are still a couple spots left if you’re interested in trying to bowl a strike alongside some of the game’s best strike-throwers. Okay, bad pun but it’s a Monday morning.

There should be about a dozen players there, as well as several Hollywood celebs like Freddie Prinze Jr. and James Van Der Beek, among others. It’s a great night for giving, as proceeds benefit the Dodgers Dream Foundation and Eric’s other favority charity, the Mattel Children’s Hospital.

Otherwise, we’re all playing catchup here at the ballpark today, as off-days at home are few and far between. Tomorrow we’ll be back at it, as Odalis Perez will be activated from the bereavement list. The rotation still hasn’t been set for the weekend in SF, but we’ll have Jae Seo, Brett Tomko and Derek Lowe against the Astros.

And for all the underdog fans out there, we wish good luck to the Clippers tonight in their series opener. Derek Lowe showed up at Dodger Stadium wearing a Clippers’ beanie two days ago, so you know the support is there from our side.

Music at Dodger Stadium…

Sitting here in the press box at 8:30 and I was just thinking how cool it is that at a stadium in Los Angeles, we can hear Green Day (American rock), Shakira (a Spanish pop singer), Matisyahu (a Jewish reggae singer) and Nancy Bea Hefley (a legend on the Dodger Stadium organ) all in the same night.

Back to the game.

Derby Days

Third base coach, Rich Donnelly actually picked Barbaro a month ago. Not too shabby.

Here are some game notes for today, with key information, Derby Style:

POINT DETERMINED – Aaron Sele went to Triple-A Las Vegas at the end of Spring Training, determined to make his case for the starting rotation and he will get the chance to do so tomorrow, as he will replace Odalis Perez in the rotation. The Dodgers placed Perez on the bereavement list, as he has returned home to the Dominican Republic to be with his ailing mother. To make room for Sele on the 40-man roster, the club moved Yhency Brazoban (Tommy John surgery) to the 60-day DL.

Penny_winners_circle DERBY DAY FINDS PENNY IN WINNER’S CIRCLE – Dodger starter Brad Penny, who owns six thoroughbreds and follows horse racing closely, takes to the mound on the night of the 132nd Kentucky Derby. Yesterday, Penny got the chance to see his horse, Excess Temptations, run to victory at Hollywood Park. Penny was joined by teammate “Brother Derek” Lowe and "American Pie" actor Jason Biggs (second from right).

CAUSE TO BELIEVE – With last night’s win, the Dodgers have defeated the Brewers in 23 of their last 31 games dating back to 2001. Los Angeles has not lost a season series to Milwaukee since 2000, went they went 3-4.

SHARP HUMOR – Nomar Garciaparra helped celebrate his heritage on Cinco de Mayo yesterday, as he warmed up in a Mexican poncho during pregame and proceeded to get two hits.

FLASHY BULL – Dodger reliever Jonathan Broxton, nicknamed “The Bull,” has made three appearances this season and has not allowed a run, striking out four in 2.1 innings.

Fireworks before, during and after the game…

Just watched the finale of the fireworks show here on Cinco de Mayo from the dugout standing beside the only Dodger born in Mexico, Oscar Robles. Another Dodger of Mexican descent, Nomar Garciaparra, came up big with the game-winning hit and then did the postgame interview wearing a Dodger poncho.

Nomar actually did an incredible job before the game of lightening the mood in the clubhouse, as he wore the poncho out onto the field during warmups. It was just the sort of thing this team needed – a veteran showing some leadership and making everyone forget about a five-game losing streak.

The Cinco de Mayo themed fireworks show was a very good one, with songs from Shakira, the Gipsy Kings, Santana, Mana and others. There’s a reason why it’s always one of the best promotions we have.

I remember coming to Dodger Stadium as a kid and being really excited to go out on the field during fireworks night. As the fans file out to the parking lots right now, I can’t help but hope that a lot of kids witnessed their first Dodger game tonight. An exciting win following by an awesome fireworks show. Every night should be like this.

Keep your fingers crossed

It’s a busy day today at the doctor’s office, with Dioner Navarro getting an X-ray and CT scan and Bill Mueller getting an MRI on their wounded body parts. Last night was obviously a tough loss, but there still isn’t anyone panicking. I’ve heard a lot of references to the Astros last year, who were reeling in May before turning it up a notch and winning the National League pennant.  Stranger things have happened and we all have to remember that right now, we’re only four games out of first place. A good winning streak can turn things around in a hurry.

On nights like last night, I spend way too much time in the GM box with Ned. After Mueller left the game, we had tons of media asking for a medical update and obviously I was trying to get something to Vin Scully, Charley Steiner and Jaime Jarrin as quickly as possible so that they could tell you guys what was going on. Sometimes it’s a quick diagnosis and sometimes it takes a little longer. It certainly doesn’t help when two guys have to be examined at the same time, but so it goes. The way it works is that the medical staff calls up to Ned, who either calls me or sends me a blackberry message with the update. With two guys down, I figured I’d just wait with him in his box to help speed up the process.

Let’s hope today’s update is a good one. But, one thing I can guarantee is that we’re a lot better equipped for injuries like these this year than last. That’s not a knock on anyone, but with our prospects a year closer to the bigs, guys like Russell Martin, Willy Aybar, James Loney and Andre Ethier give us some good options when another guy goes down. 

Meanwhile, Odalis is still in the Dominican, so Sunday’s start is up in the air. Most of the speculation is around Aaron Sele or Chad Billingsley and as soon as I hear something, I’ll let you all know.

JR