Tonight’s game is what Dodger fans are all about. It was pretty cool to see the fans that showed up tonight get into tonight’s game like it was a playoff contest. They sat through a 25-minute delay and a pretty solid downpour for much of the game to root on the Dodgers.

For their dedication and patience, someone came up with the great idea to reward them with tickets to an upcoming game, so fans can turn in their ticket stubs for tonight’s game for Reserve level tickets to either the May 10 or May 22 games.

James Loney got a hit in his Major League debut Jae Seo pitched three innings in his Dodger debut.

As I mentioned in the pregame blog, Eric Gagne decided to drop his suspenion appeal and serve his two games now. So Danys Baez came in and shut the door for his first save, sending the wet but happy crowd home for the night.   

It’s been a busy day over here, so we’re just getting to post the lineup:

Furcal, SS

Cruz, LF

Drew, RF

Kent, 2B

Loney, 1B (Major League debut)

Mueller, 3B

Repko, CF

Navarro, C

Penny, P

Also, some other news from downstairs today. Eric Gagne is going to start serving his suspension today. Grady also mentioned that Cesar Izturis might play a little outfield when he comes back, in addition to getting some time at second base and shortstop. Nomar went on the DL in place of James Loney. And how ’bout a lineup with four switch-hitters? Not too shabby.

Now we’ve got to hope the rain stays away. We’re still hoping to start this thing up one hour from now.

It is Opening Day and I wanted to explain the thinking that went into the final decisions concerning our roster coming out of Spring Training. The biggest question that we had was whether to go with 11 or 12 pitchers. Throughout the last two weeks Grady, the big league staff, Ned and the front office staff went back and forth as to what was best. In the end we decided to go with 12 pitchers and give Grady the ability to exploit matchups late in the game with a lead (shorten the game, if you will).

Unfortunately, it was Oscar Robles, who did such a good job for us last year and had a good spring, whose spot on the team was eliminated. Our other competition during the spring was for our fifth starting pitcher, which was won by Jae Seo. What the spring showed us is that we have better Major League ready depth in our system than we did last year. The biggest reason is that our young prospects have had an additional year to mature and are now starting to reach Triple-A. In addition to Robles, we can call on D.J. Houlton, who showed marked improvement during Spring Training; James Loney who had a great spring; Russell Martin; Chad Billingsley who was very impressive in his first big league camp; Andre Ethier, who we obtained from Oakland in the Milton Bradley deal; and Joel Guzman, whom we shifted to left field and has immense potential.

We can also choose from veterans such as Kelly Wunsch, Joe Beimel, Japanese import Takashi Saito and Aaron Sele. The thing to remember is that while we start the season with 25 men, a Major League roster is always a work in progress. If, for instance, our starting pitchers consistently work deep into games and the 12th pitcher isn’t used much, we can send a pitcher out and recall a position player. Mentally, a person in my position works from a 30- to 35-man roster — the 25 in the big leagues and the five to 10 players in Triple-A (or even Double-A) who are primed to help the big league club.

It is a great honor to make the Opening Day roster and a huge mental blow to those who don’t. However a Major League roster is in constant flux and most, if not all of the names previously mentioned will probably be playing in Dodger Stadium before the year is out.      

This is a first, I’m sure. We’ve never posted a blog from the press box, but we were running around this morning getting everything set and fortunately, it all went off without a hitch. There were a few small changes, like our anthem singer coming down with laryngitis, but Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish filled in and did a great job.

Of course, there was a lineup change after what we posted yesterday. Nomar came down with a strained right intercostal muscle, so we had to move Olmedo Saenz into the lineup, but we’re hoping Nomar will be able to get back in the lineup soon.

Back to the game duties. More later today…

It’s the night before Opening Day and just like every Dodger fan, I can’t wait for the morning. Of course, my morning will probably start a little earlier than most Dodger fans, as our office will be arriving at Dodger Stadium at 7 a.m. for the last minute preparations.

Grady Little put it best today – that everyone from the groundskeepers to the broadcasters to the players, coaches, managers and front office will have some butterflies at first pitch tomorrow.

We’re continuing to think positive about any possible rain. At this point, it is our intention to get tomorrow’s game in regardless of the weather. The good thing about a day game is that it allows for rain delays and we still have the ability to play a full nine innings.

There are all sorts of exciting things going on tomorrow, including players greeting fans at the turnstiles from 12:00-12:10 and Hootie and the Blowfish playing a concert from 12:00-12:30. Tommy Lasorda will throw out the ceremonial first pitch and the usual pomp and circumstance that accompanies Opening Day will be in full effect.

If you can’t make it to the stadium, be sure to check out FSN Prime Ticket as they switch over to their "new" station (same station, new name).

By all accounts, it was a very successful spring. Very few injuries (Kenny Lofton should be ready to go by the time we come back from the first road trip) and the vibe in the clubhouse is as positive as I can remember in all my time with the Dodgers. Now, it’s time to get some sleep.

Here is today’s lineup in Anaheim and tomorrow’s Opening Day lineup:

Today: Furcal, SS; Cruz, RF; Ledee, LF; Saenz, DH; Garciaparra, 1B; Mueller, 3B; Ross, CF; Navarro, C; Sergio Garcia, 2B (Tomko, P)

On Opening Day at Dodger Stadium, we’ll send out:

Rafael Furcal, SS

Jose Cruz Jr. LF

J.D. Drew, RF

Jeff Kent, 2B

Nomar Garciaparra, 1B

Bill Mueller, 3B

Sandy Alomar Jr., C

Jason Repko, CF

Derek Lowe, P

OK, so maybe the song is a little off base. It rained for much of tonight’s game and eventually got to the point that in the middle of the eighth inning, the game had to be called on account of rain. Truth is, there was concern for the players’ safety and given that this was an exhibition game, it only made sense to call it.

It was nice to be back at Dodger Stadium, though. For 40,000 fans, it was the first chance to see the restoration that took place at the ballpark and for us in the front office, it’s a chance to get a dry run before Monday’s game, when 56,000 fans pack Chavez Ravine. There really is so much work that goes on behind-the-scenes at the stadium and every year, the Freeway Series provides a chance for new and old employees alike to get on the same page.

It seems like most of the guys that are battling minor injuries right now (Gagne, Lofton, Furcal and Cruz) should all be ready by Opening Day, barring any setbacks, so now we have to hope that the rain stays away.

Tomorrow and Sunday we’re in Anaheim for the conclusion of the Freeway Series and hopefully Raffy will get to play a little bit in Sunday’s game. Gagne, despite having an inner and outer ear infection, pitched tonight. It was great just to hear the opening notes of "Welcome to the Jungle," as it had been a while since that took place at Dodger Stadium.

For now, let’s all keep our fingers crossed that we get through the weekend with everyone healthy and get some sun on Monday, which should be quite a day.

Tonight’s lineup for the Freeway Series:

Jason Repko, CF; Dioner Navarro, C; J.D. Drew, RF; Jeff Kent, 2B; Nomar Garciaparra; Bill Mueller, 3B; Ricky Ledee, LF; Ramon Martinez, SS; Odalis Perez, P.

It almost feels like Opening Day…

I’m posting from the press box in Las Vegas in a 2-2 tie right now. I wanted to answer a few of the questions we’ve had, as I’m not sure I’ll get to post again tonight.

In terms of the Blue Man Group footage, you’re in luck. KCAL was on site last night and will probably use a lot of the footage of the guys that took part in the show during their pregame shows this week. I’m not sure if we’ll get the players involved in the commercials yet, but we’ll see what fans think of the spots. There’s a good chance we’ll also use some of the Blue Man Group footage on DodgerVision this year, as these guys add a pretty neat entertainment element to the telecast and can do the same for in-game entertainment.

As for how to follow the prospects this year in Las Vegas, the 51s PR Director Jim Gemma just informed me that you can listen to all their games online on the 51s website.

And finally, there was a question about Tim Hamulack and the story behind him. Most of you know that he came over with Jae Seo in the deal with the Mets for Duaner Sanchez and Steve Schmoll. Tim made his big league debut last year with the Mets and only played in six games, but he had a 1.02 ERA in 28 games at Norfolk and 1.26 ERA in 21 games at Binghamton. He grew up in Maryland and played at Montgomery Community College there before being drafted by the Astros in the 32nd round of the 1995 Draft. He bounced around to the Royals, Mariners, Red Sox and Mets organizations before reaching the bigs last season. Tim’s a pretty quiet guy, but is also quite nice and I know he was surprised to find out that his contract was purchased yesterday.

We touched down last night at about 9:00 p.m. local time and while a lot of guys wound up going straight to bed, a dozen of us headed to the Venetian for a 10:30 showing of Blue Man Group. As you’ve heard by now, they’re going to be doing KCAL’s commercials this year and invited us to check out the show while we were in town.

While I didn’t know this was going to happen, they asked several of our players if they’d be willing to participate in the show and much to my surprise, the guys were good sports about it. Brett Tomko was on stage for about 10 minutes during a bit in which he and the Blue Men were eating twinkies. Jason Repko was on stage during an indescribable bit in which it appears they string him upside down and slam him into a wall. Though they didn’t actually do that, he wasn’t too phazed. "I’ve run into walls before," he told me afterward and we’ve all seen that in action. Nomar Garciaparra and Jose Cruz Jr. were called out for "showing up late" to the show, as a spotlight caught them sneaking into their seats after the show was in progress.

It was a great experience and the fact that these guys played along was appreciated. Others who took in the show were J.D. Drew, Charley Steiner, Kim Ng and Pepe Yniguez, who was celebrating his birthday yesterday.

We’ve only got a little time here in Vegas and I’ll head to the park in a couple hours. Our split-squad team, managed by Dave Jauss, is playing in Kissimmee as I post this blog. After tonight’s game, it’s back to Los Angeles for the Freeway Series and everyone’s getting pretty excited for Opening Day.