After Hee Seop Choi hit three home runs in Sunday’s game, the headline in today’s Los Angeles Times: “Three-Sock Joy for Dodgers.”
Tag: dodgers
Historical baseball note
Since I don’t have high-speed Internet at my new apartment yet, I’ve been watching more TV than usual. That included tonight’s Dodgers game, a 2-1 win over the Brewers. I wanted to mention this piece of trivia that fascinated Vin Scully, since I’m not sure how far it will be disseminated: with this game, the Dodgers have now played more games at Dodger Stadium than they had at Ebbets Field.
Incidentally, the best Vin Scully moment of the game was him reading Jim Tracy’s lips during an argument with the home plate umpire, but not giving the exact translation: “Fertilizer, fertilizer.” The second-best was his plug for the pre-game show airing before tomorrow’s game: “I think you’ll find it somewhat interesting, as it always is.”
While I’m at it, it’s looking like the plans detailed here for me and Jason to do a 4-city baseball trip next month are not going to come to fruition, since I will have only been in my new job for a month. We may do an overnight trip just to Phoenix, for a Saturday night game. But that leaves things open for me to ask: hey, Levi, how about a Western trip in 2006?
Jim’s first major league game of 2005
Since I posted a couple of weeks ago, the Nationals had fallen a couple of games out of first place in the NL East, but the Dodgers were still atop the NL West.
There have been a few changes at Dodger Stadium since last season — other than three-fourths of the players on the field — and perhaps the most dramatic one is one I didn’t get a picture of: tickets are now being scanned at the gate instead of torn.
The blue seats up front are new…
This new LCD ribbon board goes all the way across the front of the loge (second) level, displaying all the latest in advertising, and probably some scores, if you can find them…
And there are smaller LCD displays next to the field for more advertising, replacing those old-fashioned “roller” displays…
And there was a new logo on the scoreboard…
The advertisement is for a special “Dodgers vs. Nationals inaugural game” T-shirt that was being sold for $30. Hey, they’ve got to pay for the new LCD displays somehow. What wasn’t new was the “ANA” designation for a team that everyone else is abbreviating “LAA”…
What I didn’t get a picture of, because there was nothing to see, is the fact that the Dodgers are saving 10 cents a letter by not putting players’ names on the backs of their uniforms. Also, I was distracted by the advertising on the new ribbon board. So I guess there was a game at some point, and here’s the final scoreboard…
Original comments…
thatbob: Look look look! As of today, 5/6/05, the White Sox have a .750 record! And the Yanks are tied with the Wuss Wusses for last place in their division! Incredible!
More from "Faithful"
Poor Stephen King, on the West Coast while the Yankees and Red Sox are playing in late July: “With no NESN, I was reduced to the coverage in the Saturday Los Angeles Times — which, due to their ridiculous infatuation with the Dodgers, was skimpy.”
I would guess that the Los Angeles Times is less infatuated with the Dodgers than the Boston Globe is with the Red Sox, if only because there are two major league baseball teams within the Times’ home delivery area, and they try to serve both constituencies. In fact, it was probably the amount of Angels coverage that kept them from putting a longer Yankees-Red Sox story in that morning’s paper. They’ve definitely had more Angels articles than Dodgers articles this offseason, because of the name change foolishness. Speaking of which, ESPN is going to be using “LAA” in the score box on any Angels games they broadcast this year, and they don’t even have the same owner as the Angels anymore!
Original comments…
Jason: Imagine that – a city newspaper writing a whole lot about their local baseball team.
Since the Angels are now “LAA”, does this mean the Dodgers will be “LAD”?
Jim: Yes, based on “NYY” and “NYM,” the Dodgers will be “LAD,” unless they try to get clever and go with LAN (for “National”).
Levi: I hope they abbreviate DC as “DC-(N)” as if they’re a politician.
Why would Levi be jealous of me?
I’m over 6 feet tall, I have a full head of hair, I have a cat who doesn’t get up on the kitchen counter, and also…
Jason and Todd got tickets through a contact at their job, so there we were in the top deck of Dodger Stadium for Game 4 of the National League Division Series, the Dodgers needing a win against the Cardinals to stay alive.
Jason invited me, and Todd invited his wife Jenn, of course. So here she is eating pizza…
This was the first time I had sat in the top deck at Dodger Stadium. It was not bad. I’m pretty sure I was closer to the field than when I had sat in the upper deck in San Diego in May, and I was definitely closer to the field than I was in the upper deck in Philadelphia in August. And these seats are only $6.00 general admission during the regular season. (They were jacked up to $12.00 reserved for this first round of the playoffs.)
It must be the playoffs, because there’s the bunting…
And a special logo painted on the field…
And a blimp…
And what seems like hundreds of umpires…
So many umpires, in fact, that they don’t display them at the bottom of the scoreboard because there’s only space for four of them (it’s not really visible in this photo, but trust me, they’d normally be at the bottom)…
And they handed out everyone’s favorite loud and annoying item, Thunderstix…
So let’s all think blue! Or think 76 or 980, if you’d rather think about numbers than colors…
Odalis Perez pitching in the top of the first…
And then some stuff happened that I didn’t take pictures of because I was trying to follow the game, but night fell with the Dodgers behind 6-2…
It was time to summon the giant floating heads of Eric Gagne…
He did pretty well against the Cardinals, but the damage had already been done…
Noted Kenny G fan Ray King got into the game and was effective against the Dodgers…
Perhaps he and Mike Metheney were humming “Songbird” during their meeting on the mound…
Since this auxiliary scoreboard wasn’t needed for its usual purpose of displaying out-of-town scores, it was instead pressed into service for additional statistic display duty…
See the taillights in the parking lot? Yep, people are leaving in the 8th inning, despite the number of come-from-behind wins the Dodgers have had this season…
It’s the bottom of the 9th, the Dodgers are down by four runs, the fans are being exhorted to show their blue (not “show they’re blue”), and this is all seeming familiar to Jason and me, as if it happened just a week and a half ago…
Speaking of which, the note about Alex Cora that was displayed as he was batting in the bottom of the 9th seemed very familiar…
But on September 28th, the Dodgers were facing the Rockies’ bullpen. The Cardinals’ bullpen, and Jason Isringhausen in particular, is a somewhat different story. So, long story short, some happy Cardinals…
The Dodgers wish them well in the NLCS, especially if they’re going to be playing the Braves…
And even though the Dodgers lost, it was a great and highly improbable season, so the stadium crew thinks it deserves a playing of “I Love L.A.”…
Oh, and by the way, this game set a new Dodger Stadium attendance record…
Go Cards.
Original comments…
Levi: Ah, that was a fun series. And I feel really good about Round 2, whomever we face. I’m rooting for tonight’s Braves/Astros game to go 22 innings.
And I loved seeing the hugs and handshakes. It made me really happy, and it seemed a better send-off for the Dodgers than just retreating to the clubhouse would have been.
Jose Lima bean
A thought on Saturday night’s Dodgers-Cardinals game: since Joe Buck was off for his NFL football broadcasting duties, wouldn’t it have been great if Fox had told Tim McCarver to stay in St. Louis and instead had the game called by a certain Los Angeles-based announcer who’s been around since the last Ice Age and has more broadcasting talent in his little finger than Tim McCarver has in all the shoe-polished strands of his hair combined?
No such luck, and even if I had been watching live instead of TiVo-delayed, I couldn’t have listened to him on the radio because of the delay inherent in DirecTV. Eventually, I put the TV on mute and listened to Brian Wilson’s “Smile” on my iPod instead.
Original comments…
Toby: Levi, Did you happen to catch Fox Sports’ “Beyond the Glory” special on Kirk Gibson’s WS Game 1 HR in 1988? It was narrated by Joe Buck. …Was a great piece.
The thing that struck me, though, was that they played Vin Scully’s call of the homer first, then used Jack Buck’s a little later. I had never heard anything but Jack Buck’s call of that homer. It was very interesting.
You’re so right about Vin Scully and McCarver, though. Why does he seem to worry so much about how deep the outfielders are playing?
Toby: Whoops – Just noticed that Jim posted that. Regardless, my comments wouldn’t change–just direct it at Jim, instead of Levi.
Jim: They did an entire “Beyond the Glory” on Kirk Gibson’s home run? Wow. I’ve closed-captioned a couple of those, and they’re pretty good, but I’ve never watched one at home.
In the video of the home run, you can see one car in the parking lot beyond center field leaving early. Its taillights suddenly come on just as the ball leaves the stadium, and it apparently syncs up perfectly with Vin Scully’s call, as if the occupant of the car was listening to the game on the radio and reacted to the home run by slamming on the brakes.
By the way, it turns out that if you actually go to a Division Series game at Dodger Stadium, not only do you not have to listen to Tim McCarver on your TV, you get to listen to Vin Scully’s calls of memorable moments from the past season. His call of Steve Finley’s grand slam to clinch the division was something like:
“Wherever it comes down, the Dodgers are division champs.” (35 seconds of crowd noise)
Can you imagine Tim McCarver being quiet for 35 consecutive seconds?
Toby: NO! He’d be talking about how one of the fans in the seventh row was playing too deep to catch the home run ball.
maura: chris berman was silent after vladdy’s grand slam the other night. as was ALL OF FENWAY. it was totally creepy and everyone at work was just looking at each other all alarmed-like.
thatbob: fucking yanx
The first games
I’m still busy busy busy at work, but I couldn’t let the first games pass with no comment, so here’s a quick post with no links, mainly designed to get other people’s impressions of yesterday’s games.
1) I know one game does not a series make, but I very much enjoyed the dazed look that Odalis Perez wore when he left the mound in yesterday’s Cards/Dodgers game. The last time a team hit five home runs in a game in a division series–wait–no team had ever done that before. It was a good start.
2) I was a bit bothered by the curtain calls at Busch Stadium yesterday, though. Curtain calls seem to me to be a bit disrespectful. I know players feel like the crowd is compelling them to come out, and they have to do it to shut up the crowd, but like a band after playing a perfunctory encore, they should just ignore the noise. Eventually it’ll go away. No matter how hard I stomped my feet at his show, Nick Lowe wasn’t going to come back out and play “I’ve Been Everywhere.”
3) The Red Sox did as expected. I expect they’ll do more of the same in games 2 and 3. And Johnny Damon’s hair seems to be even longer than before: it’s down past his shoulders.
4) I finally saw Scooter the Talking Baseball last night. Acting as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world, Joe Buck said, “And now, to tell us some more about the change-up, here’s Scooter.” And there he was, unsettlingly flesh-colored, with a weird stitching mouth and backwards ball cap. Until that moment, I was still trying to make myself believe that he was a figment of Jim’s imagination. But no: Fox really does think kids are this stupid.
5) After the umpires took back the Sierra home run last night, deciding that it was foul after all, I decided that the only thing better than a Yankee making an out is a Yankee thinking he’s hit a home run, then making an out. I decided that every time a Yankee hits a foul ball–even just a grounder–the umpires should wave their fingers for a home run, make the hitter run the bases, then confer and send him back to the plate. Now that would be fun.
Original comments…
Levi: Oh, and how could I have forgotten the way the radar gun reading bursts into flames any time a pitch gets above about 92 mph? What a wealth of new excitement that brought to my enjoyment of the game! Thank you, Fox! Thank you!
maura: that near-hr was ruben sierra’s, actually. he promptly struck out.
Levi: Thanks, Mo. I fixed it.
Jason: When is Fox going to bring out the blue dot to follow where the ball goes? And when will we see Calista Flockhart eating a hot dog?!?!?
stacey: i was DEEPLY disappointed that sierra was not required to run the bases in reverse.
Up in the booth, Vin Scully frowns
A follow-up to the last post, now that it’s the morning…
I can’t believe the Dodger Stadium audio booth didn’t pull out their copy of Danny Kaye’s “D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song (Oh, Really? No, O’Malley)” — which I know they have because I’ve heard it there before — and cued it to this portion of the song…
Bottom of the ninth
Four to nothing
Last chance
Hit the button
We’re pleading, begging, on our knees
Come on, you Flatbush refugees
Original comments…
Levi: The only bad thing about last night’s game that I can see is that you got no Gagne. Comeback wins by the Dodgers suck!
Jim: I’ve seen the Dodgers four times this year, and haven’t seen Gagne, except pictured on the outfield wall at Dodger Stadium, and also as depicted on those “Game Over” T-shirts.
More dramatic than an episode of "Clubhouse"
In my last entry, I said something about drama in the baseball playoffs starting next week. Perhaps I should have mentioned possible drama in the games being played in this, the last week of the season.
I thought that Angels game last week was going to be my last baseball game of the season. But then my birthday happened, and I got two tickets to Tuesday night’s Dodger game. I gave one of the tickets to Jason. We drove to the game separately because I usually get off work hours before he does, and I wanted to arrive early to a Dodger game for once. So I’m on my way…
I ignored this sign (there used to be a Dodger Stadium entry gate straight down this street, but you can still get near the stadium this way)…
Remember where you parked at Dodger Stadium; it’s on a giant baseball…
Many people over the years have ignored the crucial “no beachballs” rule on this sign…
If this sign hasn’t been in the parking lot since 1962, it should have been…
“Think blue”? Whatever you say, Mr. Sign!
Before the game, pitcher Elmer Dessens was having his picture taken, in a bunch of different poses. For use on baseball cards, maybe?…
Somebody being interviewed before the game…
The score at the upper right is the one to keep an eye on. The Dodgers went into this game with a magic number of 4 to win the National League West, with the Giants nipping at their heels…
Why weren’t there more people at a pivotal game in the last week of the season? The Dodgers kept the right-field pavilion closed…
Jason noticed a (presumably coincidental) circle of people wearing white in the stands opposite us (in the middle of the below photograph)…
The Rockies get one early run, and then not much happens for quite a while, except for a smoggy moonrise in right field…
Milton Bradley was charged with a 2-run error in the eighth inning, causing the Rockies to lead 3-0. A fan threw a plastic bottle at him. Bradley didn’t like this, and approached the stands. To make a long story short, here’s Bradley walking off the field after being ejected, having ripped off his uniform shirt, which didn’t exactly endear him to the crowd…
Remember Elmer Dessens from before the game? He pitched the top of the 9th, keeping the score as it was at the end of the 8th, 4-0 (also, notice that a lot of people have already left)…
Bottom of the 9th, and Rockies pitcher Shawn Chacon walks four Dodgers in a row to make the score 4-1.
Tim Harikkala relieves him, and promptly gives up a double to Jayson Werth to make the score 4-3.
Then he gives up a single to Steve Finley. Two runs score. Dodgers celebrate…
I’m not sure if I believe it, but there’s the final score…
Hero Steve Finley being interviewed…
Another powerful argument for not leaving a baseball game early. The Giants also won, in less dramatic fashion, so the Dodgers’ magic number is now 3. I’m very, very happy this turned out to be my last game of the season. (I certainly won’t turn down Dodgers playoff tickets! That’s postseason.)
Original comments…
thatbob: If the Dodgers have a post season, I hope they incorporate the good luck tradition of the Rally Ejection. Milton Bradley can take off a different article of clothing in every 8th inning in which the Dodgers are behind.
I wish I’d thought of this
Back in March, a man named Michael Mahan, who has more money than me, bought the entire right-field pavilion (bleachers) at Dodger Stadium for two of the three games against the Giants the last weekend of the season. With that big a group buy, the tickets cost only $3.50 each (face value $6.00). He sold some to a broker, donated some to Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and has been selling the rest through his web site for $15.00 each.
Everyone who buys a ticket, though — and the big brothers and big sisters themselves — has to sign an 8-page contract that if they catch a Barry Bonds home run ball, they have to give it to him, and then he’ll sell the ball and later split the money with him.
The Dodgers found out about all this, and they’re a little annoyed, but there’s not much they can do; in California, selling tickets above face value is only illegal on stadium property. They also threatened to let people into the pavilion for free during the games if there is a significant number of empty seats, but Mahan says he’s distributed almost all of the tickets, so that shouldn’t be an issue.
This was all on the front page of today’s L.A. Times, but reading that article requires registration, whereas baseballrelated.com doesn’t. I think the reason this made the front page today is because Bonds has gotten near 700 home runs a little faster than Mahan predicted back in March.
I’m going to the Dodgers game tonight, but sitting in the “reserved” (third) level, behind home plate, so no Barry Bonds home run balls for me. Well, since they’re playing the Padres, a Bonds home run ball would be highly unlikely no matter where I’m sitting.
Original comments…
Jim: It wasn’t in the L.A. Times article, so I forgot to bring up Charlie Sheen buying the entire left-field bleachers for a game at Anaheim in 1996. (“Anybody can catch a foul ball,” he supposedly said. “I want to catch a fair ball.”) The Angels apparently didn’t even make him fill up the section, because by all accounts, it was just Sheen and a couple of friends sitting out there. No one was in danger of hitting any milestone home runs in that game, though, and Sheen went home empty-handed.
Levi: You know, I was just retelling that story to Luke on Monday, but I had Sheen at Comiskey Park. My mistake, I assume, since Jim is known to be mistake-free.
Dan: Jim knows(tm).