Category: Dailies

Homestand opener

The Pirates are in town for a three-game set…Jon Garland is starting tonight and going for his eighth straight season with 10 or more wins, which would be him in some pretty elite company in terms of active pitchers. The only guys with more are Javier Vazquez (10 seasons), Mark Buehrle and CC Sabathia (nine seasons) and Derek Lowe (eight seasons).

A free Dodger Dog for everyone in the house tonight…which explains why my office smells like Farmer John has been hanging out in here all day. On the opposite side of my wall is a concession stand and it’s a stronger waft than usual…

Here’s who’ll be backing Garland:

Furcal, SS

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Blake, 3B

Martin, C

Hudson, 2B

Garland, P

A powerful morning…

This morning, Dodger Stadium played host to a memorial service for Ted Hall and Arnie Quinones, the two firemen who lost their lives almost two weeks ago helping fight the Station Fire. It was an extremely moving service with thousands of people in attendance, including Vice President Biden, Governor Schwarzanegger, Sen. Boxer, Frank McCourt, and several other dignitaries. The widow of Mr. Quinones is ready to give birth to their first child any day now, which made it even tougher to be a part of, but I think the Fire Department did itself proud today in the manner in which it was handled.

For those interested in donating to the fund set up for the families, you can visit this site.

It’s a reminder to all of us that the real heroes in this world are out there every day but for one day, many of them “took the field” at Dodger Stadium.

Up north at AT&T Park, here are the guys who will take the field tonight for us:

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Manny, LF

Kemp, RF

Blake, 3B

Loney, 1B

Martin, C

Hudson, 2B

Padilla, P

Battle by the Bay

The three-game set against the Giants kicks off tonight and I’m guessing some of you made the trip up north (or already live up there and will be showing your Dodger blue in the crowd).

The division lead is down to two games, but hopefully everyone is planning to be out here next homestand to help these guys bring home another NL West title. Free Dodger Dog Night on Monday, Fleece Blanket on Tuesday and Manny bobblehead for the Wednesday day game. Plenty of great stuff going on during the Pirates’ series before the Giants come back into town.

Also, for any of you golfers, KABC is hosting a golf tournament on the off day next week (Sept. 17) at Trump National and it benefits the USO. Celebs, former Dodgers, and possibly some currently players will be on hand so go swing the clubs at an incredible course for a great cause.

Here’s tonight’s lineup in San Fran:

Furcal, SS

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Kemp, CF

Loney, 1B

Blake, 3B

Belliard, 2B

Martin, C

Kuroda, P

Brian Cavazos-Galvez

He’s one of our most recent draft picks who also happened to win Pioneer League MVP honors in his first pro season. He also won the August Dodger Pride Awards, which you can read about here.

Even more interesting is the story about him in the most recent edition of Baseball America. You have to have a login to read it (or get the hard copy), but it’s a great read. His father is former Dodger Balvino Galvez, who played briefly for the team in 1986 (back when Pete Guerrero was hitting homers left and right).

Might be worth picking up a copy of the mag…

Big series kicks off tomorrow in SF.

Tonight's lineup and Randy Wolf

Garland going against his old team again tonight…every win is big these days and we’ve had a couple the last two nights.

Here’s the lineup:

Furcal, SS

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Belliard, 3B

Hudson, 2B

Martin, C

Garland, P

Also, while I’m waiting to hear details from our PR rep on the road after Joe Torre passes them along to the media, it appears Randy Wolf will miss his next start and this weekend we’ll be Kuroda, Padilla, Billingsley this weekend against the Giants. More details coming shortly on this blog (if I’m still at a computer) or from Ken Gurnick on the front of the site.

 

Answers to your blogging questions…

So I’ve spoken to the good folks at MLB.com and basically, here’s what they’ve told me about the delay you’re experiencing sometimes when you post.

MLBlogs comments weren’t built to be real-time chat vehicles or discussion threads. They exist so that you guys can leave us a comment about what we post. The good thing about this blog is that we have so many followers traditionally, but the downside of that is that you are all trying to comment and it’s putting a drain on the load – which won’t be solved by adding servers.

When 10 people try to send 10 comments in all within 10 seconds, MovableType tries to republish the same page 100 times. With you guys, it’s many multiples of 10. So there is not a solution that is going to improve the ability to have a comment show up immediately; at times (like this) it will be problematic.

I know it’s not the answer you all were seeking, but hopefully you can live with the delays from time to time and still find this to be a useful place to talk Dodger baseball.

Speaking of which, here’s tonight’s lineup in the desert

Furcal, SS

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Loney, 1B

Belliard, 3B

Hudson, 2B

Martin, C

Billingsley, P

Pads series underway

The San Diego Padres hit up Dodger Stadium this weekend, starting tonight and for those who aren’t yet aware, Sunday’s game is on ESPN, a 5:10 start so please don’t show up at 1:10!!

With two night games tomorrow and Sunday, I sense that Russell Martin will be in the lineup for both, so he’s out of there tonight. And Ronnie Belliard spells Orlando Hudson for another day. Here’s the lineup:

Furcal, SS

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Kemp, CF

Blake, 3B

Belliard, 2B

Loney, 1B

Ausmus, C

Kershaw, P

Valley days

Congrats to fellow blogger and Dodger friend Alyssa Milano on her recent nuptials.

As for tonight, should be interesting starting Garland for us instead of facing him. Any of you Valley folks know that he went to Kennedy High and Randy Wolf went to El Camino. We’re filling out a roster of Valley boys and let’s hope Jon can be as consistent as Randy has been this season.

Here’s tonight’s lineup:

Furcal, SS

Kemp, CF

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Blake, 3B

Loney, 1B

Belliard, 2B

Martin, C

Garland, P

First week of September

The first week of September brings many anniversaries for longtime Dodger “Iron Man” Steve Garvey, who made his Major League debut 40 years ago this week against the New York Mets.

Garvey began his career as a third baseman from Michigan State University, and he was the team’s Opening Day third baseman in 1970. But his troubles throwing to first base during the next three seasons eventualy left him in limbo on defense and relagated to pinch-hitting duties. The Dodgers nearly traded Garvey to the Phillies prior to the 1973 season in exchange for Willie Montanez, but Philadelphia reportedly turned down the deal. Garvey’s career fortunes changed early in 1973 when outfielder Von Joshua was injured, prompting manager Walter Alston to move Bill Buckner from first base to left field. That left an opening for Garvey to try the position.

Garvey joined the infield of Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey on June 23, 1973 and the group spent a record 8 1/2 seasons together. But Garvey’s National League record streak of 1,207 consecutive games did not begin until Sept. 3, 1975 after he missed two games with the flu. Garvey had played in 156 of the team’s 162 games during his N.L. MVP season in 1974. 

— Mark Langill

And here’s tonight’s lineup:

Furcal, SS

Ethier, RF

Manny, LF

Kemp, CF

Loney, 1B

Belliard, 3B

Martin, C

Hudson, 2B

Billingsley, P