For those who haven’t heard yet, we’re playing at game at the Coliseum on March 29 and earlier today, we did a walk-through (in the rain) so that we can get a sense of how it will all work from a media and broadcasting standpoint. All I can say is, this is going to be a really, really cool event and if you’re a Dodger fan and you’re in Los Angeles, you’d be crazy to miss it. Tickets will be as inexpensive as $1 for standing room only and it’s a game that I think is going to be talked about for years to come. Tickets go on sale Feb. 2, but you can sign up now to get the latest information about that game.

Speaking of tickets, some of you have inquired about tickets for the two "home games" that we’ll play in Arizona on March 20 and 22. Those will go on sale tomorrow on dodgers.com, so be sure to check that out, too.

For all you hockey fans, Tommy Lasorda will be the special guest of the Kings tonight when they host the Ducks at STAPLES Center at 7:30 p.m.

Tommy will drop the honorary puck prior to the game, and he will sit in the Kings TV broadcast booth the entire second period on FSN West with Bob Miller and Jim Fox.  In addition, he will be the guest on the “Kings Live” pre-game show, which begins at 7 p.m. and I think he might even be giving a pregame pep talk to the team.

It’s official. We’ll be leaving for Beijing, China on March 11 with about half the team while the other half plays for about a week in Vero Beach. Then both teams will meet up in Arizona for the final six games of Spring Training, starting on March 20 before heading back to Los Angeles.

And in case you missed it, here’s the transcript from Ned Colletti’s web chat yesterday.

Here’s a press release we’re sending out momentarily…

DODGERS NAME EASLER HITTING COACH
Former NL All-Star to replace Mattingly on Joe Torre’s staff

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today named former National League All-Star Mike Easler as the hitting coach for the 2008 season. Dodger General Manager Ned Colletti made the announcement. Easler will replace Don Mattingly on Joe Torre’s staff, as Mattingly will shift to the role of Major League Special Assignment Coach for the 2008 season due to family reasons.

“Mike has enjoyed success as both a player and a coach in the Major Leagues and he’s extremely familiar with our players,” said Colletti. “This is an opportunity to promote a very talented individual from within the organization and we expect him to make a seamless transition to the Major League staff.”

Easler, 57, was the St. Louis Cardinals’ hitting coach from 1999-2001 and served in the same capacity for the Brewers (1992) and Red Sox (1993-94). He spent the last two seasons as a hitting coach in the Dodgers’ minor league system, first with Double-A Jacksonville in 2006 before being promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas prior to last season. In that role, he worked extensively with Matt Kemp, James Loney, Andy LaRoche, Tony Abreu, Delwyn Young and Chin-lung Hu, among other Dodger prospects.

The Cardinals reached the postseason in two of his three years as a hitting coach, ranking third in the NL with a .270 batting average and fifth in the league with a .339 on-base percentage and .441 slugging percentage in 2001, his last year as a big league coach.

During his 14-year Major League career, Easler played primarily in the outfield and posted a .293 average with 118 homers and 522 RBI with the Astros, Angels, Pirates, Red Sox, Yankees, and Phillies. His best season came in 1984 when he finished sixth in the league with a .313 average while slugging 27 homers and 91 RBI in 156 games for Boston. He was named to the National League All-Star team with Pittsburgh in 1981.

The Cleveland, OH native was a member of the 1979 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates and served as a minor league manager and college baseball coach following his big league playing career.

Mattingly will remain employed by the Dodgers full-time in the role as a Major League Special Assignment Coach in 2008 and will assist with the Major League coaching staff during Spring Training as well as other duties throughout the season.

“I’m very grateful that the Dodgers have allowed me to take care of these family matters and I hope that everyone can respect our privacy during this time,” said Mattingly. “I truly appreciate the support of all Dodger fans since joining the organization and I look forward to helping the team win in 2008 and beyond.”

Over at DodgerThoughts, Jon Weisman succintly sums up the offseason for fans.

Today at 2 p.m. PT, you can ask Ned Colletti about all of these moves and more during a live web chat on dodgers.com. Remember, it starts at 2 p.m. but you can input questions about an hour early and generally speaking, the earlier they get into the hopper, the more likely they are to be answered. There are so many questions that come in every time we do this, it’s impossible to even see them all, let alone answer each one. But I know a lot of you are anxious to talk to Ned about this winter and this is a great chance to do so.

Meanwhile, early this morning Joe Torre hopped on a flight to China…I can’t tell you why, but, um, if you can’t figure it out, go ahead and Google Search Dodgers and China and see what comes up. It’s officially been deemed the worst-kept secret of the winter.

Hopefully most of you have today off from work, as we celebrate the memory and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The names of Jackie Robinson and Dr. King go hand in hand, but I was floored a couple years ago when Don Newcombe told me a story about him and Dr. King.

One night in 1968, only a few months before he was murdered, Dr. King was having dinner with Don Newcombe and he told him how much easier his job was because of the success of Jackie, Newk and Roy Campanella. The story is retold in the book "How to Be Like Jackie Robinson," with an exceprt found here.

Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, take a moment to think about how your life and the lives of others have been affected by Dr. King and everyone involved in the civil rights movement.

Another player signed, as the team avoided arbitration and signed Scott Proctor today, leaving only Joe Beimel to finish up among those eligible for arbitration.

Speaking of Proctor, I know a lot of you who read this blog are on the East Coast so here’s a cool opportunity to meet Scott, Joe Torre, Johnny Damon and others. Scott is hosting a Celebrity Ball on Feb. 1 in Florida, with the proceeds benefitting kids on the Treasure Coast (near Vero Beach) who have educational, medical, or financial needs. You can read more about it in this article that ran a few weeks ago. It’s always very cool when our players set up their own charitable events and this is one of them.

Otherwise, not much to report on a lazy Sunday morning. Football is in the air for just a little while longer and everyone knows what that means…Spring Training is around the corner.

We’re all staying really busy these days, which is why I haven’t posted daily. Today we opened up the Player Development Winter Workouts to the media and there should be plenty of stories, but the main bits of news were:

– Jason Schmidt has been throwing off a mound lightly and is doing well. We still won’t know where he’ll be come Vero, but there is definite optimism.

– Andy LaRoche and Nomar Garciaparra will head to spring neck-and-neck for the third base job. Ned said that Andy would more than likely have to play himself off the team and that he’s at the point in his development that Kemp and Loney were at this time last year.

– Ned said he’d leave the lineups up to Torre, but when Jon Weisman from CNNSI.com/Daily Variety/Dodger Thoughts asked if it is possible that on Opening Day, the outfield could be Jones, Kemp and Ethier, Ned said that it wouldn’t be out of the question.

Coverage is all over, including at dodgers.com and dodgerthoughts, while several of the newspapers will have stories in them tomorrow. 

Overall, it was nice to feel like it was baseball season again. After the workouts, I accompanied Ned to the KABC/ESPN Radio studios, where he went in-studio for an hour with Steve Mason and you can hear that interview at their podcast page. A couple fans called in and asked questions of Ned, and you can do the same during a live chat on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Tomorrow, the workouts will be open again and we’re expecting Joe Torre will be there, so be on the lookout for more Dodger coverage around the same time as it showed up on the site today.

The countdown to pitchers and catchers has begun on the front of the site, which means we’re extremely close to departing for Vero Beach. I don’t know about all of you, but I can’t wait for Spring Training and I hope that many of you will take a trip to Dodgertown if you never have. You won’t regret it.

Also, voting began today for the top catcher in Los Angeles Dodger history so be sure to visit dodgers.com/anniversary. Obviously on that page, you can only vote without comments, but I’d be interested in hearing you all debate the various catchers on the list. I’m really interested to see who will be picked…it’s up to the fans, and it’s not just the catcher. Many positions are now open, so vote if you haven’t.

Also, for those of you with questions for Ned, he’ll be chatting with fans on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Or, you can tune in tomorrow to ESPN 710 at 3 p.m., where he’ll be in studio with Steve Mason for an hour.

Late last night, we got the word that one of the greatest Dodger pitchers of all-time, Johnny Podres, passed away at the age of 75. Johnny was a part of four World Championship teams with the Dodgers, including the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series. He was the first person to throw a pitch at Dodger Stadium in 1962 and the stories I’ve heard about him all day certainly show what a tremendous loss this is for the Dodger family.

Tommy Lasorda shared his memories of Johnny over at his blog, so be sure to check that out.

Unfortunately, we got more tough news today when we came into the office. Jaime Jarrin called to let me know that Ruben Valentin, who has covered the Dodgers for many years and was a regular voice on FOX’s SAP channel, passed away over the weekend during a visit to his native Puerto Rico. Ruben was a very classy man who always treated us with great respect and we tried to give him the same in return.

He is remembered over by Miguel Angel Morales at the "Detras de los Dodgers" blog.

Our hearts go out to both of the families of these great men and I hope that you’ll all take a moment to remember them and keep them in your thoughts.

Just working from home this weekend while our prospects continue their program at the stadium. As you probably read in Ken Gurnick’s story yesterday, the players had dinner last night with John Wooden, one of the many great surprises in store for them during this two-week period. Speaking of Gurnick, for what it’s worth, he has absolutely nothing to do with the photos on the site or the captions in them. I saw the post here that listed the mistake and asked MLB.com to correct it.

In case you missed it, there’s a great story on Robin Ventura’s ankle transplant surgery on MLB.com and it’s a fascinating read. Robin is probaby one of my favorite players to deal with over the 13 years I’ve been in baseball. After I got to know him a bit, it blew me away that he’ll often be remembered as the guy who charged the mound against Nolan Ryan because that just didn’t strike me as his personality. I guess we all do some dumb things when we’re young. Regardless, it’s great to see that he’s pain free now in his ankle because it had really gotten the best of him by the end of his career with the Dodgers.

Another nice story to read is in the Toronto Sun and it’s about Russell Martin, whose helping some fellow young Canadians improve their games. 

Otherwise, not much else doing over the weekend. If you’re driving into work on Monday, tune into KABC, where Nomar will be doing an interview between 8 and 9 a.m. about his upcoming charity event. And keep an eye out next week for lots of articles about our prospects and this great development program, as we’re opening it up to the media for two days and giving them a chance to chat with all the up and coming Dodger players.

UPDATE: One more thing: The Wilson Valdez deal that has been rumored for quite some time is official and he has been sold to a Korean team.