Today's Lineup - Saturday April 2, 2011 1:10 pm

Opening Weekend continues with today's 1:10 pm start.  Ted Lilly gets the start against Matt Cain.

Here is today's Dodger lineup:

Miles 3B

De Jesus 2B

Etheir RF

Kemp CF

Loney 1B

Gimenez C

Paul LF

Carroll SS

Lilly P

Interesting that Xavier Paul gets the start in LF.  The third left fielder Mattingly has used in as many games.

Definitely not the strongest lineup Mattingly can field but hopefully we'll finish the day 3-0!

True to the Blue!

Upcoming Dodger Appearances - Frank and Son

It looks like Frank and Son Collectible Show is shaping up to be the place to be this Spring & Summer for Dodger autographs.  Granted most of these appearances are not free, it is still cool to see Dodgers from previous eras available for autographs.  Hall of Fame Sports is putting together Dodger Days at Frank & Son.  March 12th was the first Dodger Day and Sweet Lou Johnson was the special guest.  You can read my post about his appearance here

Here are the next four Dodger Days scheduled:

April 23, 2011

Maury Wills

7x All-Star

3x World Series Champion

2x Gold Glove Winner

1962 National League MVP

Free Signing

Time: 9:30am - 11:00am w/invitation from Hall of Fame Sports

10:30-11:00 w/out invitation from Hall of Fame Sports

Rudy Law

Dodger in 1978 & 1980

Free Signing

Time: 10:30am - 12:00pm

Claude Osteen

3x All-Star

1965 World Series Champion

$25 - flats, minis & balls

$35 - equipment, bats & jerseys

Jim Lefebvre

1966 All-Star

1965 World Series Champion

1965 National League Rookie of the Year

$29 - flats, minis & balls

$39 - equipment, bats & jerseys

May 14, 2011

Don Newcombe

4x All-Star

1949 Rookie of the Year

1955 World Series Champion

1956 Cy Young Award Winner

1956 National League MVP

$29 - flats, minis & balls

$39 - equipment, bats & jerseys

$10 - inscriptions

Roger Craig

1955 World Series Champion

$25 - flats, minis & balls

$35 - equipment, bats & jerseys

Ed Roebuck

1955 World Series Champion

$25 - flats, minis & balls

$35 - equipment, bats & jerseys

June 18, 2011

Players to be announced

July 9, 2011

Frank Howard

4x All-Star

1960 National League Rookie of the Year

1963 World Series Champion

$25 - flats, minis & balls

$35 - equipment, bats & jerseys

Bill Singer

2x All-Star

No Hitter on July 20, 1970

$25 - flats, minis & balls

$35 - equipment, bats & jerseys

Also at Frank & Son but through Honabach & Sons there will be a Dodger Day on July 30,2011.  So far the only player appearance announced is Dodger center fielder Matt Kemp.

Appearance times, unless noted, are to be announced.  More details & information to follow as the dates get closer.

True to the Blue!

Final Notes on Dodger Opening Day & Tonight's Linuep

Clayton Kershaw's performance on Opening Day was awesome!  Nine strikeouts, no runs & only on walk through seven innings was just what the team needed going against the Giants & Tim Lincecum.  The team won and that is what counts but there was one statistic that jumped out at me after the game.  The Dodgers were 1-11 with runners in scoring position stranding nine runners.  They definitely had plenty of chances to break the game open but just couldn't come up with the clutch hit.  Hopefully, this doesn't become the norm.

Juan Uribe was scratched from tonight's game due to still being sore from getting hit by a Tim Lincecum pitch in yesterday's opener.  Aaron Miles will get the start at 3rd base in his place.

Tonight's lineup:

Furcal
De Jesus
Ethier
Kemp
Thames
Loney 
Barajas
Miles
Billingsley

True to the Blue!

Dodger Opening Day Festivities

Above is the special Opening Day only cover of Dodgers Magazine.  I got to Chavez Ravine about an hour before game time and headed into the left field gift shop to see what was new for this season.  One of the first things I noticed was a new t-shirt for the ladies made by NIKE.

Take a look -

For the guys there were also a couple of new shirts made by NIKE.  I actually saw a few people wearing these at Camelback Ranch.  The Ethier one is pretty sweet!

Take a look -

Once it was time for the game to begin, you could just feel the electricity in the stadium.  They introduced both teams and of course the Giants were heavily booed!  Before the National Anthem was sung the Dodgers played a video tribute to Duke Snider and made mention that the players would be honoring Duke with a patch on their jerseys.

Members of all branches of the United States Armed Forces came out and unfurled a huge flag for the National Anthem which was sung by Placido Domingo.  His rendition was awesome!

As soon as the National Anthem was over, there was a fly-over by a Stealth Bomber and there was a release of Doves.

Both teams during the National Anthem

Up next was the Ceremonial First Pitch.  Everyone knew it was going to be Fernando Valenzuela but the way the Dodgers presented it was great!  Vin Scully was introduced and while video highlights played Jerry Reuss was introduced and came out to the mound.  Vin talked about how Reuss was scheduled to be the Opening Day starter in 1981 but was injured.  Vin mentioned how Burt Hooten would've been next in the rotation but he was hurt also.  Vin introduced Tommy Lasorda and Tommy waddled his way out to the mound.  Once Tommy got there, Vin explained how Tommy made the decision in 1981 to go with the unknown young lefty Fernando Valenzuela.  I was laughing as I watched Tommy take the ball from Reuss, turn to the Dodger dugout and tap his left arm.  Next, Vin introduced Fernando Valenzuela and El Toro came out to the mound, took the ball and delivered a high strike to Reuss for the Ceremonial First Pitch.  It was also funny to see Fernando trying to convince Tommy to let him throw the pitch from the front of the mound but Tommy insisted he throw the pitch from the rubber.

Once all the hoopla was over, Clayton Kershaw delivered a first pitch strike and the season was underway!  I will give my thoughts on the game later and i'm sure most everyone knows the Dodgers got the 2-1 victory.

Here's a pic of the cars driving in through the Sunset entrance, a picture of the Playbill for this homestand and the magnet schedule that was given out.

True to the Blue!

P.S. Yes, I tried a Doyer Dog and they are good! Yes, they played Don't Stop Believin' in the Bottom of the 8th and Jameson Moss was there once again, this time standing on top of the Dodger Dugout and using Tommy Lasorda to point at a Dodger cap at the end of the song.









Can We Put The Ethier Drama To Rest?

Trust me, when I Andre Ethier's comments about not being with the Dodgers next year, I shook my head and no doubt thought his timing was horrible.  Really? Two days before Opening Day?! However, the more I thought about it, I remembered that Ethier is under team control until after the 2012 season.  I just shrugged it off and chalked it up to a young athlete speaking his mind with microphones & recorders pushed in his face.

Today on the way home from work I was listening to AM710 ESPN's Mason & Ireland Show.  I'm usually not a fan of the Evil 4-Letter (ESPN) but Mason & Ireland were set to interview Dodger GM Ned Colletti.  They asked Colletti about the length of spring training (Ned says it's too long) and signing Billingsley to the extension.  Next they asked him about Ethier's comments.  Ned's reply included the following quotes:

"I was a little bit surprised by it but you know, I love the kid..."

"He's one of our leaders and one of the guys we look to and that's all I got to say about it..."

"In '06, in the month of September he struggled a little bit, it was his rookie year and he was talking about maybe I'm gonna get traded, maybe this, maybe that.  You know, i know he's...obviously he's still here and he's one of our...he hits in the middle of our line-up, he's one of our key guys and I don't have any interest in moving him, trading him, anything."

After hearing this portion of the interview I was curious as to what Ethier's quote/statement was in '06.  I did a little research and came across this Dodger Report by Ken Bolch of the L.A. Times.  The report was from September 23, 2006. 

Here's what Ethier had to say:



"I don't know if I'm going to be here next year or not, It's pretty obvious by the way the last couple of weeks have been going."

At the time of the quote then Dodger Manager, Grady Little, was giving Marlon Anderson most of the starts in right field.  Colletti's response was similar to his response today:

"I plan to have him here. He's got a long, good future ahead of him in L.A."

In his statements recently he also alluded to the Dodgers non-tendering Russell Martin and that the team might do the same to him.  To put this in perspective, I dug up an old interview from October 3, 2006.  The interview was from the L.A. Times Blue Notes blog run by the Kamenetzky before they left for the Evil 4-Letter website.  One thing Ethier touched on was his closeness with Russell Martin:

"The first time I met him was this last offseason in Phoenix during the fall league. We happen to have the same agent and he was in town working out. He wasn't playing in the fall league at the time, I was playing on the team with the Dodgers. We happened to have a little get-together and he was there with my agent and we got together and talked for about 10 or 20 minutes. That was the last time we talked until I came in for spring training. We were teammates all of a sudden. Then we became close because we were in spring training and roommates in Vegas."

Maybe Russell Martin being non-tendered and eventually signing with the Yankees hurt Ethier personally. 

Since Ethier is under team control until after 2012 and since his agent released a statement today basically saying Ethier wants to stay in L.A., can we please put this crazy talk to rest?  Does Ethier need to hit left handed pitching better? Of course! Should he just shut up & play? Yes! However, let's not get carried away.  Opening Day is tomorrow and we have a brand new season to look forward to!

If you'd like to listen to the entire Ned Colletti interview you can listen at ESPNRadio

Ned went on to talk about not wanting to sign a free agent left fielder unless the money & years were just right because Jerry Sands is probably only one year away.

True to the Blue!

More on the Doyer Dog

It turns out that the new Doyer Dog was the creation of Dodger Stadium Executive Chef Joseph Martin.  Check out the video from KCAL9 and see how the Doyer Dog is made.  The video also shows the new Doyer Fries.  You can watch the video here: Doyer Dog & Doyer Fries

Only two more days until opening day!
True to the Blue!

Tuesday Web Round-Up - Vin Scully, Ethier, Billingsley

T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times showed his softer side with this great article on Vin Scully.

Jon Weisman over at Dodger Thoughts via the Associate Press, takes a look at some interesting post game comments made by Andre Ethier.  Are his days as a Dodger numbered?

Evan over at OpinionofKingmansPerformance takes a closer look at the 2011 San Francisco Giants in the last of his four part series. opinionofkingmansperformance

DodgerBobble lobbies for Chad Billingsley to be the Dodgers 6th and final Bobblehead of the season on August 9th. dodgerbobble  I have to agree with DB, I think Billingsley deserves it.

True to the Blue!