Los Angeles will always be home for me and come January and February, we’re all reminded how good we have it out there, but summer time in Chicago is among the greatest places to be in the world. The weather is perfect, everyone is out and about and from what it seems, they have a real appreciation of the summer months because they know how brutal it is in the winter.

Yesterday was an incredible day because it was a holiday here and the city was in rare form, but obviously the results of the game were the highlight. That was all we could have asked of Esteban Loaiza and hopefully it will carry over to today.

We have added six people to the team – Nomar is activated off the DL and Erics Stults and Hull, Delwyn Young, Tony Abreu and Wilson Valdez were all recalled. Since Wrigley is the third oldest park in the country (I think), you can imagine how crowded the clubhouse is, but so it goes. I’m actually in the dugout right now, where Kim Ng will be hosting a live web chat in 45 minutes (at 2 p.m. PT).

Here’s today’s lineup:

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Kemp, RF

Kent, 2B

Gonzo, LF

Martin, C

Loney, 1B

LaRoche, 3B

Penny, P

Here’s today’s lineup:

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Ethier, RF

Kent, 2B

Gonzo, LF (40th birthday)

Martin, C

Loney, 1B

LaRoche, 3B

Loaiza, P

Andy LaRoche is the latest to join the team and he’s in the lineup for the finale against the Padres. The lineup includes mostly guys under 30 years old and six home-grown Dodgers. It could be similar to what is out there next year, though obviously Nomar is still very much in the picture for 2008.

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Kemp, RF

Kent, 2B

Ethier, LF

Martin, C

Loney, 1B

LaRoche, 3B

Billingsley, P

David Wells will begin serving his seven-game suspension today.

Jon Meloan, Chin-lung Hu, Chad Moeller and D.J. Houlton were recalled, with more possibly coming once the minor league season ends.

Here’s the lineup:

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Ethier, RF

Kent, 2B

Gonzo, LF

Martin, C

Loney, 1B

Hillenbrand, 3B

Lowe, P

Since August 15, only one NL team has a better winning percentage than the Dodgers’ .714 mark and it’s the Giants (.733). Time to keep this little run going. It’s another huge game for David Wells so we’ll see if he’s up to the task against his former team.

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Kemp, RF

Kent, 2B

Ethier, LF

Martin, C

Loney, 1B

Hillenbrand, 3B

Wells, P

Most days, as I drive into Dodger Stadium or walk into a visiting ballpark, I try to keep in mind how fortunate I am to be working for the Dodgers and remember how many people would gladly take my job in a second if I didn’t want it. And while there are long hours, travel and quite a few sacrifices that all of us in the front office make to do these jobs, there are very few people who don’t realize just how good we have it.

Today is yet another day where I think about how cool this job is at times. I’m currently on a boat in the Pacific along with Brad Penny, Tommy Lasorda and 40 kids from the Daniel Hernandez Youth Foundation who wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to spend a day fishing, let alone get to do it with a Hall of Famer, an All-Star pitcher and one of the most well-known fishermen in America.

Brad first brought up this idea back in Spring Training and while we looked into other programs, he told us to contact Dan Hernandez, who has a fishing show. Dan donates his time, money and expertise to trips like this and the kids are all having a blast on the boat. Tommy led the kids in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and there’s several media members also on the boat, so you’ll get to see the highlights on TV and in the newspapers.

So while most of the team is enjoying a day off (and Brad’s horse is currently racing at Del Mar), he’s giving his time to these kids, as are Tommy and Dan and it’s a very cool reminder of just how fortunate I am to have this job and all of us are to have the things we have in life.

With a three-game sweep of the Padres and we’ll be a game out…two out of there would be nice, too. We’ll see how it turns out starting tomorrow…

Don’t look now, but the Dodgers have won nine of the last 13 games.

It’s a 12:10 game today…anyone starting to feel "sick" at work and needing to go "home?" Just curious.

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Kemp, RF

Kent, 2B

Gonzo, LF

Martin, C

Loney, 1B

Hillenbrand, 3B

Penny, P

UPDATE: We just claimed Esteban Loaiza from the A’s.  Again, I’m sure Ned and Grady will have their comments shortly but here’s my take, for what it’s worth. Assuming he’s healthy, which is obviously not a definite (but he has thrown two 7.0-inning solid starts this week), he could be a very nice addition down the stretch. And given that we don’t know what Wolf’s status is next year or just how strong Schmidt will be when he comes back, he’s a very good gamble at one-yeare and $6.5 million. I know that sounds crazy but if you think about what’s out there on the free agent market in terms of pitching, it’s extremely thin. Given that, marginal guys could get huge contracts from everyone who needs starting pitching. This guy has won 10 or more games in five of the last six years coming into this year, which has mostly been lost to injury, so he could be a very nice fourth or fifth starter next year. Again, that’s just my two cents as a fan.

We’ve got quite a bit going on today at Dodger Stadium and a lot of it is stuff you’ll want to know about.

In addition to our regular duties in the PR department (game notes, press releases, etc.), today included lots of side gigs that has kept all of us busy. At 11:45, three of our players met at the player’s parking lot for a visit to White Memorial Hospital, where they visited with some of the sick kids there. Brad Penny, Eric Stults and Shea Hillenbrand each spent time talking to them and though I wasn’t there, in a strange way I was excited to hear that no media showed up for the event. Obviously we let them know when we’re doing stuff like this but the real goal of these visits is for the kids to have a great day in the middle of some tough realities they’re facing. The report back was all positive and it obviously hits on one of the key goals that the team has – giving back to the community.

At noon, Andre Ethier arrived here for the second part of his stadium tour that I wrote about last homestand. FSN Prime Ticket continued to film him going around to places that fans can’t access and I think it’s going to be a great show when it’s all said and done. Still no air date set, but keep an eye out for more on that front.

At 1 p.m., I broke off from Andre’s tour to introduce Derek Lowe to a reporter who has an extremely unique angle he’s taking to a very cool story. Believe me, I know that’s vague, but I would keep an eye out in the L.A. Times for a very cool story on Sept. 5 while the team is in Chicago.

And at 2:30 we had the biggest news of the day. The next phase of the renovation at Dodger Stadium will be the entire concourse on the field level as well as creating two new clubs on that level for fans with baseline tickets to enjoy. There’s a lot more to the announcement than just that, but this should dramatically reduce the lines at concession stands that fans have always complained about. In subsequent offseasons, the Loge Level, Reserve and Top Deck will all be modified as well. This obviously speaks to another key goal that has been set out and that is creating the top fan experience in all of sports and we’re working out way toward providing that for all of you.

And of course, the most important goal of them all is winning baseball, year in and year out. We’re not where we need to be, but we’ve got 31 games left to get there. Chad takes the hill tonight trying to keep the momentum alive and here’s the lineup behind him:

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF (15-game hitting streak, one shy of his career best)

Ethier, RF (.444 avg, .545 OBP over last seven games)

Kent, 2B

Gonzo, LF

Martin, C

Loney, 1B

Hillenbrand, 3B

Billingsley, P

With the team arriving back at 4 in the morning, most guys won’t be here until closer to 5 p.m.

But, with a little time to kill yesterday, I found all the Dodger MLBlogs and put them on the left side of the screen, so feel free to check out the fans out there with their own Dodger sites.

Meanwhile, Dodger Thoughts proprietor (is that what he’s really called?) Jon Weisman passed along this link where fans can "scout" the fielding ability of players in the Majors. It’s an interesting concept, though I’m not sure how valid the answers will be because there’s no way of knowing if people just go in there and screw up the system on purpose or how often they really watch the players they’re rating. But, it’s an intriguing that’s been put together over the last two years on on the web.

Last night was a huge win from David Wells and hopefully it will turn the tide for the team. If you want to come down tonight, be sure to get here early, as Don Sutton is throwing out the ceremonial first pitch (Wes Parker will be honored during pregame on Wednesday).

And if you’re not coming down, tune in 40 minutes early, as Brad Penny’s Before the Bigs debuts tonight at 6:30 PT.

Also, since many of you are minor league enthusiasts, here is some info you’ll want to know. The Dodgers announced their participants for the Arizona Fall League and they will be: pitchers Zach Hammes, Justin Orenduff, Greg Miller, Wesley Wright and Cory Wade, infielder Blake DeWitt, outfielder Xavier Paul and coach Garey Ingram, who will all be on the Peoria Saguaros starting on October 9. Headed to the Hawaiian Fall League are pitchers Steven Johnson, Garrett White and Kyle Wilson, catcher Kenley Jansen, infielders Josh Bell and Russell Mitchell, outfielders Jamie Hoffmann and Ryan Rogowski and pitching coach Ken Howell.

On another minor league note, Jacksonville’s Clayton Kershaw was named the Southern League’s Pitcher of the Week today after just four starts at Double-A.

Finally, I noticed that someone has been posting from Australia, which is pretty cool. Are there any other countries represented here?

Still waiting on a lineup, so I’ll add it when we see it.

UPDATE: Lineup

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Kemp, RF

Kent, 2B

Ethier, RF

Martin, C

Loney, 1B

Ramon, 3B

Lowe, P

Time to see what the big guy’s got left in the tank.

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Kemp, RF

Kent, 2B

Ethier, LF

Hillenbrand, 3B

Loney, 1B

Lieberthal, C

Wells, P