In this morning’s Los Angeles Times, Steve Henson writes an incredible piece about the Dodgers’ history in China and throughout Asia, with great quotes from Frank McCourt, Dodgers’ Director of Asian Operations Acey Kohrogi and Peter O’Malley, among others.  The article touches on a number of things the team has done over the years and ties it into the Yankees’ first trip to China.

Steve also wrote a sidebar about who baseball’s Yao Ming will be, which is another interesting read.

As some of you know, the team has had roots all over the world since the 1950s, including Asia, Central and South America, the Dominican Republic, Australia, Russia, Ireland and countless other places on the globe. But I really think that because it’s not something that the casual fan sees, it’s also something that most people don’t realize. It’s stories like this that bring these efforts to the forefront and it’s these efforts that help the Dodgers land such talents as Fernando Valenzuela, Hideo Nomo, Chan Ho Park, Hong-Chih Kuo and Chin-lung Hu, among others.

And of course, this is not to ignore the efforts of the Dodgers and MLB in trying to find these talents at home, too. In yesterday’s Times, Helene Elliott wrote a piece that was also fantastic about the Urban Youth Academy in Compton. We stopped there for the caravan on Wednesdsay, so players like Nomar, Juan Pierre, James Loney and others got to interact with the youngsters on site. It’s at this academy and through the RBI program (Reviving Baseball in Innercities) where we signed or found players like Lyndon Poole and Trayvon Robinson, who we hope will one day be playing at Dodger Stadium. 

It’s really refreshing to see some great stories like this in the mainstream media, especially when you consider how the media has changed over the years to highlight the negative things that occur, not just in sports but in the world.

We’re back at Dodger Stadium and pretty tired after a long day of trekking from spot to spot around the city. We got to see a ton of Dodger fans at the Long Beach Aquarium, so thanks to all of you who came out to support the team. From what I hear, there were people lining up early this morning and the event was awesome.

We also got to stop at Nomar’s old high school and he was pretty floored at the reception he got there. Stops at an elementary school and MLB’s Urban Youth Academy were also very cool and I think all the players – past and present – who made it out today really seemed to genuinely enjoy being out in the community.

I’ll try to post more about this tomorrow, but it’s about time to call it a night. Be sure to check out the front of the site, which should have a story from Ken Gurnick (who was on the caravan with us both days) and a photo album of great shots from Jon SooHoo.

We leave for Vero Beach one week from tomorrow. Hard to believe.

He might not be Willie Mays, but we signed Joe Mays to a minor league contract with an invite to big league camp. As a former 17-game winner in the big leagues, he could be an interesting arm in the mix this spring.

As for the caravan, Day 1 was a tremendous success by all accounts. We’re hoping to see you all out there tomorrow!

We’ve got a great group of guys heading into the community today – Grady Little, Randy Wolf, Andre Ethier, Russell Martin, Luis Gonzalez, Steve Garvey, Willie Davis and "Sweet" Lou Johnson.

There are a couple of stops open to the public, including Pasadena City College at noon and Speedzone in the City of Industry at 5 p.m. There will be a limited amount of autographs available at those stops, so get there early if you want to try and meet one of the players.

For those who can’t make it to the caravan, Grady Little will be doing a live chat today at 2 p.m. PT. And for those who miss that, check out his interview this morning with Roggin and Simers Squared on KLAC 570. Money and Petros Papadakis from KLAC will be broadcasting live from tomorrow’s event at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

Also, for those who missed DodgerTalk on Sunday night, you can listen here and continue to listen each Sunday night at 8 p.m. on KFWB 980.

We hope to see you at one of the caravan stops today or tomorrow.

Just a quick update before the weekend. Earlier today, we sold the contract of Oscar Robles to the Mexico City Reds and we signed outfielder Larry Bigbie to a minor league contract with an invite to big league Spring Training.

At the end of the day, this is probably a good thing Oscar, as his opportunities here would probably be limited with Ramon Martinez, Wilson Valdez, Chin-lung Hu and others competing for a spot on the big league club.

I hope everyone enjoys the Superbowl and then turns on KFWB for the first DodgerTalk of the year.

First off, thank you all for your comments about the Rewards Program. We’re obviously working hard to make sure that our fans are happy and we’ll do our best to please everyone. This isn’t always possible, but we’ll certainly die trying.

In regards to Spring Training broadcasts, we have yet to announce a full radio schedule for the games, but rest assured the plan is to have a similar schedule as last year. KFWB will broadcast most of the weekend games live, as well as a few other notable games. Every other game should be available on dodgers.com or mlb.com, usually with the Dodger broadcasters and occasionally with the visiting team’s broadcast. If you are looking for information on which radio affiliates will carry the broadcast, you’ll have to touch base with your local affiliate, as they’re all different. But, everytime we have our broadcasters do the games, which is the majority of the time, that feed is available to the affiliates. Whether or not they choose to use it is up to them.

Sticking with the radio topic, don’t forget that DodgerTalk starts this Sunday night on KFWB 980 with Bob Harvey following the Superbowl. Nomar Garciaparra will be the guest and it will air every Sunday at 8 p.m. until the season starts.

And, in case you missed it, Frank McCourt chatted this morning with Roggin and Simers Squared on KLAC 570. Take a listen if you missed it, as he covers a number of interesting topics that I think fans will find important.

And finally, to answer the question, yes, there will be beer sold in the All-You-Can-Eat right field pavilion, but I don’t think it will make the place any less family friendly. As many of you are aware, there is alcohol sold at most sporting events throughout Southern California and they are able to maintain the family atmosphere. It is our plan and goal that the same holds true here at Dodger Stadium. And as in years past, the left field pavilion will remain alcohol free for those who prefer that option.

First off, I want to thank you all for your patience as we’ve sorted through the issues revolving the fan rewards program. We know that a lot of you have had questions and you should all be receiving an email that is specific to your point total, but in short, we’ve worked really hard to make sure that you’ll be getting a package that will have a higher value than what you woud have received if you had redeemed all your points. In short, here’s the deal:

For anyone who was a member of the program, you will all be receiving Gameday Audio free for the 2007 regular season.

You’ll also all be receiving a voucher for four tickets, the level of which will depend on how many points you had accrued. Obviously the more points you had, the better seats you’ll get.

All of you will get access to a special pre-onsale event for 2007 tickets (excluding Opening Day). Information on how to access this will be sent to you via email in late February.

Again, please know that we’re just as disappointed as all of you are that Sports Loyalty Systems, Inc. discontinued the program, as we know how much many of you utilized it. For those of you who had kids enrolled, one option that you might want to consider is the Blue Crew Fan Club.

And for the fan who asked when individual tickets go on sale, the answer is Saturday, March 3. The ticket vouchers that you’ll receive from being a member of the Fan Rewards Program will be mailed out next week so that you’ll have them in time to use on this date.

Thanks again for your support.

For those of you who were around in 1959 when the Dodgers won their first championship in Los Angeles, you’ll probably remember Art Fowler, who passed away yesterday. He was also a Major League pitching coach for 14 years and the Dodger organization would like to offer our condolences to his entire family and those who knew him.

We’re in the office over the weekend, so it feels like July…except for the rain outside.

If you didn’t see the comments section of the last post, be sure to check out the description of the Select-A-Seat event we had at the stadium today, where apparently fans were having quite an enjoyable time. We had tons of front office employees helping out, but that’s actually not the reason I’m here today.

From 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. today, we had a breakfast and a lunch event with our Dodger affiliate radio stations from around the country. While the majority of these people come from around California (Palm Springs, Bakersfield, etc.), we’ve also got some from out of state and even the U.S. Virgin Islands. These stations broadcast Dodger games to fans that can’t get KFWB, so once a year they come in for an update on the upcoming season. Frank and Jamie McCourt both spoke to the group, as did Jaime Jarrin, Charley Steiner and several others.

Tonight, we’re heading to the Golden Mike Awards, where Vin Scully is going to be receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Radio Television News Association. And tomorrow, I’m going to be at the bone marrow drive at St. John Bosco High School in support of Nomar and Mia’s new foundation.

But, while these things are all indications that the season is about to start, there’s an even bigger one that all of you will enjoy. DodgerTalk is set to begin again, as the first one will air on KFWB 980 immediately following the Superbowl on Feb. 4. They will then air every Sunday at 8 p.m. throughout Spring Training, so be sure to tune in and get the latest news and information about the team.

As some of you guys have probably read, Nomar and Mia are holding a private soccer clinic at his old high school, St. John Bosco, this weekend to announce the launch of their new foundation, 9 to 5. While this is not a Dodger event, we’re obviously very supportive of the two of them and their efforts to benefit Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, where we also have a very strong relationship.

At Sunday’s event, there’s a recruitment drive for bone marrow donors so if you are free and able to come help save someone’s life, we’ll hopefully see you down there.

Also, I mentioned last week that one of our trainers, Stan Johnston, got the chance to address many of our troops on the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan before they headed off to the Middle East. Stan was blown away by the experience and shared a few photos with me, so I wanted to post one just so you can get an idea of what he was doing. The pictures obviously don’t really do this justice, but we thought you might enjoy. With all the debate in the country these days about the right strategy in Iraq, there seems to be no debate whatsoever that as long as our troops are abroad, we all must support their efforts and this was one small way that Stan was able to do that.

I know there are still questions about the rewards club and while I don’t have any answers yet, I promise you that as soon as it’s resolved, you’ll be getting information both here and directly to you via email. Thank you for your patience.

And finally, I know that one of you wanted to know how I got started at the Dodgers and while I won’t bore you with all the details, I can tell you that I began as an intern in the Advertising and Special Events Department in 1995 and slowly have worked my way up, just like any other industry. As you can imagine, it’s a very tough business to crack into from the outside because there are so many people who have dedicated years of time and energy at the lower levels of the field. But I can also say that the best thing to do is regularly check the Dodger job board on the website for openings with our team and others.