Let's go, Dodgers! Let's go! Clap clap clap!

JE and I went to the Dodgers vs Colorado game last night. The place was packed. Official attendance count was approx. 50,000 people. Not bad, nothing like the 100,000 or so you get at The G at an AFL game, but for a small baseball stadium it was a big crowd. The parking lot was jam packed as well. We found a spot just about as far from the Pavilion seats as you can get, without being on the other side of the stadium. After walking almost 10 minutes from our car to the stadium we then lined up to get JE a pizza, but someone mentioned they were out of pizzas, so we got him a Dodger Dog instead. The line at the concession stand was pretty long as well and by the time we got to our seats it was bottom of the 3rd and the Dodgers were scoring their first run of the game.

Top of the 4th the Rockies got 3 runs, a lead which the Dodgers promptly erased by scoring 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the 4th. The Dodgers added two more runs, one in the 6th and one in the 8th, while holding the Rockies scoreless for the remainder of the game to take the win. It was an excellent game.

Afterwards everyone traipsed down to the outfield to get a good vantage point for the Fireworks show which JE thought was fantastic. His dad liked it, too :P

I must say, if you don't leave until the end of the game, getting out of Dodger Stadium afterwards was a nightmare. Everyone takes their own route to the exit, so you end up with at least 5 cars trying to merge into just one lane. Crazy. If you're not aggressive, you don't get out. I might have a little Ford Focus but I've been here a while, and while I'm normally one of the nicest, most polite guys you'll meet, when the need arises I'm one of the most aggressive drivers on the road, or in the parking lot as the case may be. So when people start being rude and think they're cutting in because I have a little car and they have an SUV, they can just get the fu...er...think again.

We got home close to midnight, JE was sound asleep. I carried him upstairs and tried to get him to wake up to pee, to tell Liz about the fireworks, nothing. Head raised for a second, but only to turn the other way and flop back down on my shoulder. I put him into bed and he was dead to the world. There wasn't even a murmered request for a story.

I wasn't far behind him, although I still logged into WoW for a bit. It's nice logging in and having 20 gold waiting for me in the mail from my in-game auctions. I'm saving up for one of the more prestigious "shinies" in WoW, the Epic Mount and I almost have enough gold for it. I killed critters for another hour or so and made another 20 gold, and before I logged I listed a few more auctions which should net me another 10 gold or so. It might seem boring and monotonous just killing mobs for hours on end, but the gold racks up, and I have a friendly guild that likes to chat a lot and most of my guild-mates are my age, married, with kids, so for me WoW is very much a social experience.

I crashed around 1:30 or so then snapped awake at 8:30. Liz made the excellent decision that we should go to Hometown Buffet for breakfast. Yummo! Now I have a tummy full of carb-heavy food, JE is with the in-laws, Amber will be napping real soon. Gonna get me a drink then dive into WoW and make some more gold. Epic Mount! Here I come!

*edit* Saturday night. I now have the gold but the Stormpike Guard don't love me. I need to kill more people, real people (in-game of course :P) to get the Stormpike to like me enough to sell me one of their Turbo Rams.

A bit of good news

It turns out that the Dodgers -- who have now lost 8 in a row -- have an even bigger crybaby than Benitez named Brad Penny. After Kenny Lofton lost a fly ball in the daytime glare from empty seats at Chavez Latrine, Penny threw a temper tantrum even though he was in the midst of giving up 6 straight hits. Here's part of the LA Times recap --

The last time the Dodgers had a worse stretch was in 1944, when the team was noteworthy for its combustible manager, Leo Durocher, and fiery second baseman, Eddie Stanky.Not that Brad Penny or Kenny Lofton were aware of the connection, but their dugout spat early in what became a 10-3 loss to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday probably would have gained the approval of a manager nicknamed "The Lip" and a player nicknamed "The Brat." The fourth of six consecutive hits given up by Penny was a hustle double by Dave Roberts that Lofton said he didn't see well because of the sun's glare off the seats behind home plate at Dodger Stadium.Penny apparently interpreted Lofton's difficulties as a lack of effort because after that four-run third inning he pointed a finger at the center fielder and yelled as he approached the dugout.Lofton was restrained by coach Mariano Duncan and injured first baseman Nomar Garciaparra, then prepared to bat. He struck out, took a seat on the bench and didn't take his position the next inning until Penny was about to throw the first pitch.

This is what happens when you have Jeff "Clubhouse Cancer" Kent as a "team leader." Dodgers are now 47-55 and 7 and half out of first.

Dodgers 8, Mets 5Mets 9, Dodgers 7

I don't know quite what happened here. The Mets sent our their top two pitchers, each with a reasonable claim as one of the best in the National League this season, especially if you refrain from muddying the phrase "one of the best" with any sort of number. They did this at Dodger Stadium, historically a very comfortable locale for pitchers. And yet they both got smacked around.

On Tuesday, Pedro Martinez gave up seven runs, six of them earned, in just five innings. He allowed eight hits and two walks while striking out six, which seems like a decent collection of numbers. But two of the hits were home runs and each came with a runner on base.

Heath Bell relieved Pedro and of course that didn't help matters. There were two runners on when Pedro left and they both scored while Bell was on the mound. He even allowed a run of his own. He pitched two innings and gave up three hits and one intentional walk. He struck out two.

Tom Glavine didn't do much better on Wednesday. He recorded one more out that Pedro and allowed one fewer run. But like Pedro he put ten men on base as he allowed seven hits and three walks. And he gave up three home runs which accounted for five of the runs.

The Mets' offense did fairly well on both nights, though, despite mounting injury problems. Chris Woodward started at shortstop both nights due to soreness in Jose Reyes's wrist and totaled four singles and a walk. David Wright had two singles and a walk in game one, three and one in game two. Jose Valentin had three hits, two of which were doubles. Cliff Floyd had one hit in the first game before leaving with a sprained ankle, but the injury appears not to be series.

Lastings Milledge had merely a sacrifice fly in a hitless first game. But he had a terrific game two, hitting his first major league triple and his second home run. Carlos Beltran also had a hitless game one, though he did draw two walks. But, like Milledge, he did a bit better in the second game, hitting three singles and stealing a base.

Tonight the uninterrupted week of late night games continues in Arizona. The Mets will send out Orlando Hernandez (3-5, 6.19) to face the team that didn't want him. The Diamondbacks will start Claudio Vargas (6-2, 5.20). Another high-scoring game may be in the offing.

Booth movement and some major college football news.....in MAY

So because they no longer have the rites to Monday Night Football, ABC is pooling their resources to put together a major college football primetime package beginning this season with Notre Dame at Georgia Tech.

The goal is to pair some of the top match-ups of the season in this package, and get the "big named" teams their primetime slot. Among the teams featured, Notre Dame will be on three times, against Tech, Michigan State and USC (and maybe again in the Rose Bowl if they fall there), Ohio State is featured twice, Michigan twice, and USC three times.

(Editors note: The highlight for me personally is that October 14th game with the Alma Mater extracting revenge on Mecheatagain at Beaver Stadium. Finally we get them at University Park for the first time since 2001. Go ask THE Ohio State's Troy Smith how much he enjoyed last year's primetime game at the Beav. Oh, and your homegrown referees won't save your ass this year either.)

But the package itself is a great idea, it's the first time that network television will carry a college football primetime series, and the weeks where there is a dual broadcast, the other game will be picked up by either ESPN or ESPN2 meaning you get three primetime games likely in one weekend.

ABC is smart in the sense that they have picked college football "cash cows" USC, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan to lead this new adventure and they are also going with a 12-day selection package too, meaning that games from November 11 on, they will select the games they will air 12-days before hand. Good choice, this way, much like the NFL Flex schedule they can get the best match ups from the conferences they choose to air.

ABC is also carrying the Rose Bowl (only) during the BCS, so they keep some of the traditional Rose Bowl teams like Ohio State, Michigan, and USC close to the vest in the hopes that maybe they can land a match up with any one of those three in their lone BCS game. Remember the other three BCS games move to Fox beginning this season.

There are other movments in the college football world as well.

• NFL Network will air the Insight.com bowl beginning this year, this to go along with their airing of live regular season NFL games for the first time. That, plus they will take the top five games from each week and re-air them in full, it's the network broadcast too.
  

• Keith Jackson announced his retirement weeks ago, so ABC will scramble to fill his shoes and the booths are being switched around right and left. Brent Musberger will work with Bob Davie on the ABC Primetime game, Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge (who moved from CBS) will do the ESPN primetime game, and former ABC'er Gary Danielson takes Blackledge's roll as lead analyst on CBS' coverage of the SEC this season. This means that (my idol) Brad Nessler and Bob Greise will be the lead afternoon team on ABC and they will keep Gary Thorne on the other game during the afternoon (Since Mike Tirico is now the MNF guy)

• All we know about Fox's coverage of the BCS is that Thom Brennaman will call one of the games (the title game, maybe the "Plus-one" game?) and the rest of the crew, analysts and all will be named later. You could stay in house and get guys like Joe Buck or Troy Aikman, but it might be wise to go outside and get someone else. As long as it isn't the guys they use on the Fox Sports Net studio show during Saturday telecasts, it'll be OK. But Fox definitely has the shallowest of broadcasting talent pools, specifically when it comes to play-by-play and college sports.
  

• Those changes are inline with what the NFL booths look like with Greg Gumball moving back to play-by-play, James Brown jumping from Fox to CBS and Michaels and Madden jumping to NBC, Collonsworth and Bryant Gumball jumping to NFL Network.
  

It just goes to show that the booth movement is almost as crazy as free agency in other sports.

Currently, Dodger Stadium is one of the few Major League Baseball stadiums without the name of a corporate sponsor as part of the title. (Others include Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, and Fenway Park).

kdodgersstadiumsched new articles for Sunday, April 02, 20062006: A Preview of the Coming Season
... Piazza will not make that big of a difference, playing in the gigantic Petco Stadium. ... Los Angeles Dodgers : If the Dodgers' pitching staff remains healthy, ... My Prediction: The Dodgers win the National League West division. ...

TWIB Notes
Dodgers in Jupiter at Roger Dean Stadium Seats: Left field bleachers. There's a reason it's easy to get tickets in the bleachers. The bleachers suck. To review, in the bleachers, there's no seat designation. You have a seat, ...

Senior Circuit Scenario
Cardinals - a new stadium, but the same result – a Central Division title. ... Dodgers - why not?.....who else is going to stop them, the Padres???....this may be Nomar’s last ... Mets over Dodgers NLCS Cardinals over Mets World Series ...

SIRIUS to feature Barry Williams (Greg Brady) on TV LAND
Not only will he be hosting his daily regular program (Barry hosts The Brady Brunch with Barry Williams on SIRIUS' Totally '70s - Ch 7), but he'll also be throwing pitches at Dodgers Stadium, showing off his singing talents, ...

Only The Agent Was Free
Drysdale started the fourth game of the season on Friday, April 15, 1966 vs. the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers won, 4-2, although Drysdale didn't figure in the decision. IP H R ER BB SO 6 8 2 2 1 3 ...

Pickoff Moves
Overcoming Stanolozol For Pre-Teens: Little League World Series Stadium Moves Fences Out. Ah, the rippling muscles of those 12-year-olds, and their famously churlish behavior towards the press. The power hitting in Little League has ...

Pickoff Moves, Lunchtime Edition
Another Cactus League Pitch For The Dodgers ... some justification -- that the Dodgers and Indians would be a great fit for the Cactus League. ... And almost every at-bat in Tempe Diablo Stadium has been greeted with a rousing ovation. ...

the original dodgers stadium - it's still here
One wall of Washington Park, the original stadium for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Third Avenue and Third Street in Brooklyn. Photo from http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SC ENES/Dodgers/dodgers.html I was walking near Third Avenue and ...

Freeway Series
Went to the Angels' exhibition game today against the Dodgers with my daughter's softball team — photos here. ... though they were fine for watching the game, so instead just took a few of the stadium and the spectators. ...

Season Preview
LA Dodgers -- The 2003 Red Sox don't have the pitching depth, and if Ned Coletti keeps handing out ... He's filthy, his division can't hit, his stadium is the best pitcher's park in baseball, and he's just no learning how to pitch. ...

Two Games, Dodgers Split-Squad Edition
Would you buy a used stadium from this man? ... Certainly, the Dodgers' offseason couldn't have gone any less catastrophically: ... Having fired DePodesta just in time for the winter meetings, the Dodgers sent Kim Ng to fill in. ...

Quantifying Fan Interest, pt. 3
Simply including the time since each ballpark was built didn't seem to work, as many old parks--Wrigley, Fenway, Dodgers Stadium, etc--are still fine places to watch a game. Instead, I sought out a mechanism of rating each ballpark. ...

Pinnacle Pulse
... who hope to break-in New Busch Stadium witha World Championship. ... PinnacleSports.com lists the LosAngeles Dodgers at 21/1 to capture the team’s ... Blue Jays 18/1Chicago Cubs 19/1Cleveland Indians 20/1Los Angeles Dodgers 21/1San ...

Pickoff Moves, Lunchtime Edition
This is definitely a major concern for the Dodgers. ... who met with Bonds at his Scottsdale Stadium locker for 20 minutes on Monday after the ... will be in the broadcast booth in the Dodgers' opening game at home, versus the Braves. ...

Pickoff Moves, Bedtime Edition
The Dodgers managed some offense of their own; JD Drew homered against Hector ... and especially for the Dodgers, if they stay healthy. We'll be in the stands tomorrow night at Angel Stadium, and I hope it doesn't rain; so far, so good. ...

Field Of Memories
Mom would drop me off at the tavern, and Grandma and I would get on the bus, at Fifty Cents a ride, ride to the stadium, eat hundreds of pounds of hot dogs, popcorn, ... The Cardinals were playing the Dodgers for the National League ...

MLB 2006
San Diego will also get decent pitching, thanks in part to the National Park they have for a stadium. Arizona is a perpetual work in progress. Barry Bonds won't last 30 ... 1) Dodgers; 2) Padres; 3) Diamondbacks; 4) Giants; 5) Rockies ...

Dodger Stadium
One of the few things I got to see while I was in LA was the home of (in my best Vin Scully voice) the Dodgers. Despite the fact that I have no desire to go back to LA, ... One bad thing is that it was really hazy that day. Dodger Stadium.

I finally get to see my Dodgers
There have only been two other series that the Dodgers and Twins played each other. Once was a World Series before my time. The other was last year in Dodger Stadium. I saw all three games last year on TV. ...

The 2006 Season
Carlos Beltran was a huge disappointment last year, but has the talent to own Shea Stadium. ... The Dodgers have undergone too many changes. The Rockies never seem to have enough pitching for that ballpark. That leaves the defending ...

The Dodgers will hold a press conference Wednesday at Dodger Stadium to announce a contract extension through the 2008 season for Hall of Fame broadcasting icon Vin Scully.

Scully, 78, is entering his 57th season as voice of the Dodgers, the longest tenure of any current sports broadcaster with one team. His current contract was to expire at the end of the 2006 season.