Category: Dailies
A ride down the 5
Out in Anaheim tonight, the first of two Freeway Series games is going to get underway in a couple hours. Tomorrow afternoon, the Angels trek up to Dodger Stadium for the final tuneup of the year and you can see two starters – Billingsley and Kuroda – for the price of one.
Meanwhile, tonight it’s Kershaw against the Halos, with this lineup behind him:
Furcal, SS
Martin, C
Anderson, LF (gotta be weird for him tonight in Anaheim)
Manny, DH
Kemp, CF
Loney, 1B
Blake, 3B
R. Johnson, RF
DeWitt, 2B
Not much else to report at the moment…last night’s opening of Dodger Stadium was smooth and quiet, for the most part, with the real deal just 11 days away.
Lots going on at Dodger Stadium
By now the word is already spreading that Blake DeWitt has won the competition for starting second baseman, which puts Jamey Carroll and Ronnie Belliard on the bench…and the bench is looking pretty solid by most accounts.
Charlie Haeger takes the fifth spot of the rotation to start the year and will pitch one of the games on the first trip against the Marlins.
It sounds like Ned and Joe played an April Fool’s joke on Blake when they told him he got the job, so I can only imagine how that felt in his mind. I know I cringed today when I saw a Dodger blog drop an April Fool’s Joke on its readers, but I won’t spoil the surprise for those who haven’t figured it out yet.
Fans are filing into Dodger Stadium as this gets posted and another season is just about underway. Sure, the games today, tomorrow and Saturday don’t count, but just having thousands of people come to the park with their friends and family makes it feel like an Opening Day is here.
You can listen in on KABC or KHJ…no TV for tonight. Here’s the lineup:
Furcal SS
Kemp CF
Ethier RF
Ramirez LF
Loney 1B
Blake 3B
Anderson DH
Martin C
DeWitt 2B
Haeger P
A typical LA trip to Vegas…
There are many in Los Angeles who enjoy a quick trip to Vegas without ever getting a hotel room…drive in, enjoy all that the city has to offer, and drive home.
Well, that’s what the Dodgers are doing today, they’re just not driving. The team will depart Camelback Ranch in about an hour or so, head to Vegas, play a game against the Reds at our old Triple-A affiliate’s home park, Cashman Field, and then head back to Los Angeles for tomorrow’s game against the Indians.
If you’re home tonight, be sure to tune into PRIME TICKET, where Vin Scully will call the action. And if you’re around tomorrow, come on down to the Ravine to get this season started off right!
A savvy post
For those who haven’t had a chance to read the original Dodger blogger over at Baseball Savvy, check out his great post from last night on a topic more important than Cactus League action.
Many of us in the front office often say that the best part of this job is the ability to really have an affect on other people – both through the day-to-day interactions at the ballpark and the special circumstances like Christopher Ramirez earlier this spring.
Well, as Baseball Savvy points out, it’s not just those in the front office with a chance to make an impact…and congrats to the site on its 10th anniversary of “covering” the Dodgers.
UPDATE:
We talk a lot in the Dodger organization about community and giving back, but it’s really cool to see that our players buy into the concept. MLB just announced that the Dodgers are the winners of the 2010 Bobby Murcer award, which goes to the team whose players donate the most money to the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.). That organization makes the rounds each spring to ask players to donate for the members of the baseball family who are in need and they have come through every time we’ve turned to them for help.
Players from across baseball donated nearly $2 million to the cause and we’re very proud to see our team step up for those in need.
And the winner is…
The Jim and Dearie Mulvey award, for the top Dodger rookie in camp as voted upon by the coaches, goes to Josh Lindblom.
The last several winners have been Xavier Paul, Blake DeWitt, Tony Abreu, Hong-Chih Kuo, Jason Repko and James Loney, with such past winners including Raul Mondesi (1994), Mike Piazza (1993), Eric Karros (1991), Orel Hershiser (1983), Fernando Valenzuela (1981), Bob Welch (1978), Steve Yeager (1972) and Ted Sizemore (1969, the first year the honor was presented).
Josh was brought over to the big league camp pretty early last year and spent much of it with the team but this was his first full spring with the Major League players so he remains eligible.
Of course, Piazza seems to have won the award in 1992 and 1993 so clearly the rules are somewhat flexible but still, it’s a nice honor for Josh, as it’s been given out for more than 40 years.
Final Four
No, not West Virginia, Duke, Michigan State and Butler. It’s the last four games before the Dodgers head home for the first big league game of the year at Dodger Stadium.
There’s a night game tomorrow in Goodyear, a day game Tuesday in Tucson and then a split squad on Wednesday, with half the team here for the Camelback finale and the other half heading to Vegas.
After that, it’s the first time the Dodgers will be back playing at Dodger Stadium since the NLCS and it should be a fun couple games before the team heads out to Pittsburgh for the real deal.
The game in Vegas on Wednesday night will be televised, so you can tune in on PRIME TICKET or KABC, where the station will be broadcasting live throughout various parts of the day.
99 Problems…
Manny, who homered yesterday, arrived at the clubhouse today wearing a shirt that says, “I’ve got 99 problems but my swing ain’t one.” We’ve had some cool shirts around the clubhouse over the years, but that one becomes an instant classic in my book.
He’s back in the lineup today:
Furcal, SS
Kemp, CF
Ethier, RF
Manny, LF
Loney, 1B
Blake, 3B
DeWitt, 2B
Ausmus, C
Haeger, P
Padilla in Pittsburgh, Kershaw at the home opener…
Word is out now, but in case you check here before anywhere else, Vicente Padilla will start us off in Pittsburgh on April 5 and Clayton Kershaw will be the starter at the home opener on April 13 against the D’backs.
Joe Torre’s reasoning: “We just decided to line them up that way.”
That means the second game will be Kershaw in Pittsburgh, then Billingsley and then Kuroda.
More from Joe: “We have 4 guys you could put their names in a hat. I had no problem with Clayton starting the Home Opener.”
Meanwhile, if you didn’t see the Dodgers Media Network piece on Clayton and his boyhood friend, Matthew Stafford, check it out here.
Dodger baseball on the air…
Hopefully everyone in LA got the chance to tune in today and hear Vin Scully, who was back on the air and in good spirits. He’ll also do the game next Saturday, so make sure to tune into KCAL for more poetry from the best…
Please forgive the delay in posting for ITD…went back to Los Angeles until next weekend to help get things ready at the Stadium before we open the doors to all of you on April 1. In fact, the doors of the Stadium were open today for the marathon, which I’ve heard was a great success. Did any of you run in it?
Anyway, with ITD back in LA this week, the lineups may be a little slower in coming but we’ll still try to post daily.
Vin Scully is doing just fine…
A quick update on Vin, as news reports in LA have come out that he was admitted to the hospital this evening.
I just spoke with him a few minutes ago and he said that he simply got out of bed too fast this evening and fell and bumped his head and so for precautionary measures, he was taken to the hospital and will stay overnight for observation. However, he wanted to assure everyone that he’s fine and that he expects to be at Camelback Ranch this weekend for the telecast on Sunday.
As you can imagine, he appreciates everyone’s concern and I can assure you, he sounded just like he always does…
Inside the Dodgers 