Today is the first televised game of the season and Vin Scully will call the action for KCAL 9 in Los Angeles. Beginning his 57th season with the Dodgers, Scully’s memory is a virtual encyclopedia and the available stories seem endless. Cuba’s victory over the Dominican Republic in Saturday’s World Baseball Classic prompted Scully to recall at the dinner table the Dodgers’ spring training in 1959 when wet weather in Vero Beach disrupted the exhibition schedule. Undaunted, the Dodgers arranged with the Cincinnati Reds to fly to Cuba for the weekend. Scully remembers such details as the team hotel, conversations in the lobby, and even the souvenirs available for tourists just months before the Castro revolution.

Here is today’s lineup for the Dodgers vs. the Washington Nationals this afternoon at Holman Stadium:

Rafael Furcal, SS; Kenny Lofton, CF; Jose Cruz Jr., LF; Jeff Kent, 2B; Nomar Garciaparra, 1B; Bill Mueller, 3B; Ricky Ledee, RF; Sandy Alomar Jr., C; Derek Lowe, P.

While Spring Training runs smoothly here in Vero Beach, there is anticipation for the regular season – and a chance to see the renovation at Dodger Stadium. The players, coaches and other team officials who had a chance to check out the stadium changes during the winter are looking forward to seeing the finished product when the Dodgers play host to the Angels in an exhibition game on March 31. Third base coach Rich Donnelly already is planning the team’s workout schedule at Dodger Stadium, and others making their first trip to the West Coast next week are asking questions about the climate and stadium design.

This winter’s construction phase restored the original color pallet from when the ballpark first opened in 1962, while also replacing the more than 50,000 plastic seats originally installed in the mid-1970s.

Beginning with the top deck, the seat removal provided a chance for workers to repair and refresh the underlying concrete. Another new look will introduce an old-school concept to the ballpark – box seating along the baseline seats. The Dodgers’ adaptation will integrate more legroom and a table amenity to the baseline areas.

Great care was also taken with the last of the stadium’s original wooden seats, located along the third-base side of the Club Level. Those seats were refurbished and returned to the area, along with a rainbow-theme color pallet reminiscent of the Club Level and the back wall of the original ground-level dugout box seating section. This photo shows the outfield wall with the original shade of blue from 1962, just one of many "original" touches to the ballpark which has remained one of Southern California’s most popular destinations for tourists and baseball fans of all ages.

And fans wanting a sneak preview of the "new" Dodger Stadium can check out the latest photo galleries on dodgers.com

Here is the Dodgers’ starting lineup vs. the Detroit Tigers at Lakeland –

Jason Repko, CF; Willy Aybar, 3B; Joel Guzman, LF; Olmedo Saenz, DH; Matt Kemp, RF; James Loney, 1B; Ramon Martinez, 2B; Pat Borders, C; Chin-Lung Hu, SS. Starting pitcher – Chad Billingsley

Here are today’s starting lineups for the Mets and Dodgers in Vero Beach:

NEW YORK: Endy Chavez, CF; Jeff Keppinger, 2B; Jose Valentin, 3B; Xavier Nady, RF; Victor Diaz, LF; Ramon Castro, C; Todd Self, 1B; Chris Woodward, SS; Steve Trachsel, P.

LOS ANGELES: Rafael Furcal, SS; Kenny Lofton, CF; J.D. Drew, RF; Jeff Kent, 2B; Nomar Garciaparra, 1B; Bill Mueller, 3B; Jose Cruz Jr., LF; Russell Martin, C; Brett Tomko, P.

When Tom Goodwin joined the Dodgers as a rookie outfield prospect in September 1991, he walked into the Dodger Stadium clubhouse on a Sunday morning in a purple-colored suit. Fifteen years later, Goodwin arrived at Dodgertown in shorts, a T-shirt and white tennis shoes, the kind of attire which the modern-day ballplayer might wear on a typical day in Spring Training.

But Goodwin is 37 and perhaps embarking on another career. He will join Rick Monday this weekend on the Dodger radio booth, the third guest analyst in 2006 following former catcher Steve Yeager and pitcher Jerry Reuss.

"I feel a little nervous," said Goodwin, who had two stints with the Dodgers (1991-93 and 2000-2001) during his 14-year career in the majors in which he batted .268 in 1,288 games with 369 stolen bases. "It’s a funny feeling not getting ready for a game, physical-wise. Hopefully, I’ll be more relaxed by the time the game starts."

Today’s broadcast will be carried by MLB.com; Saturday and Sunday on KFWB 980 in Los Angeles.

It was a quiet morning in Vero Beach in the Major League clubhouse because the Dodgers play host to the New York Mets in a night game at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach. The Dodger players won’t report to the clubhouse until 3 p.m. Brett Tomko is scheduled to oppose New York’s Steve Trachsel. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, there will be green-colored bases and the players will wear green "LA" caps.

But the minor league complex was busy Friday morning as team photographer Jon SooHoo and minor league administrator Chris Haydock conducted the annual "photo day." A conga-line of ballplayers and coaches stretched along the hallway adjacent to the minor leaue clubhouse beginning at 7 a.m. The minor leaguers wear blue-colored mesh Dodger jerseys for their workouts, but for the official mug shot, they chose from four different-sized white home uniform tops, the same "look" as the big leaguers’ photo day on March 1. Each held a piece of paper with their last name to identify the subject, followed by a few more frames without the paper. These photos are used to supply other publications, such as Baseball America, or if a player’s hometown newspaper calls looking for the latest photo of the particular player.

… Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully is expected to arrive this afternoon. Broadcaster Steve Lyons and his father, Richard, arrived during Thursday’s game in Vero Beach. Also in camp today is the family of Dodger bench coach Dave Jauss: wife Billie, sons D.J., Charley and Will.

… And a Happy 35th Birthday to Dodger third baseman Bill Mueller.

On Wednesday, I was part of a delegation of Dodger officials, lead by Frank and Jamie McCourt, who flew to the Dominican Republic to tour our baseball academy Campo Las Palmas, which is located in the town of Guerra. The purpose of the trip was to affirm our commitment to maintaining our presence in the Dominican, commemorate Campo Las Palmas’ 20th year as our baseball academy and announce that Ralph Avila, who had worked as a consultant to baseball operations the last four years, would be taking on a greater role this year by overseeing our Latin American scouting efforts. 

     Campo Las Palmas was founded in 1987 and is truly unique in that not only is it beautiful with its trees and flowers, it also has 15 acres of farm and agricultural land to grow food for the academy. It also maintains livestock. It was Ralph Avila who in his then role as Vice President/Latin American Operations who designed and built the academy. Campo Las Palmas has been rated as the No. 1 facility in the Dominican annually since then. Eliadoro Arias, who currently runs the camp, took us on a tour of the grounds along with Ralph, filling us in on the history and some of the unique features. We then moved to the cafeteria where Eliodoro, Ralph, Frank and Ned Colletti addressed a large contingent of sports writers and television crews. Mr. McCourt also announced a $20,000 donation to Futoro Vivo, which is a school for underprivileged children which lies adjacent to our complex and which the Dodgers have traditionally helped support.

  After the press conference, we took a tour of the school which was truly impressive. I was very proud of our organization for the contribution we made to the school. Guerra is a very poor town and without Futoro Vivo many of these children, who are the poorest of the poor, would have nothing.

    All in all it was a very memorable day and one which I was especially proud to be a Dodger.               

Here is the Dodgers’ starting lineup for this afternoon’s game with the visiting Florida Marlins at Holman Stadium:

Kenny Lofton, CF; Nomar Garciaparra, 1B; J.D. Drew, RF; Jeff Kent, 2B; Joel Guzman, LF; Bill Mueller, 3B; Sandy Alomar Jr., C; Oscar Robles, SS; Aaron Sele, P.

Congratulations to Dodger right-hander Brett Tomko, whose uniform number 35 was retired by Florida Southern College last night at Henley Field in Lakeland, FL, home field of the FSC Moccasins, the defending NCAA Division II National Champions.

In 1995, Tomko won NCAA Division II Pitcher of the Year honors, going 15-2 with a 1.35 ERA. He struck out 154 batters in 126 innings.

"It’s my first trip back (to FSC) in 11 years," Tomko said after the jersey retirement ceremony. "It’s been strange to go around the campus and see the field and relive a little bit of how it was in college. But it’s definitely been a fun day."

On having his jersey retired: "I would have never thought anything like this could’ve happened when I was here. It’s a great honor and a great feeling. It’s definitely been a blessing."