The Trolley Dodger

Not too long now until 2009 dawns. A Happy New Year to my fellow bloggers and readers, Dodger fans all.

Here are a few blogging highlights from 2008. Here’s hoping there’s a bunch more to come in 2009!

2008 02 22: Manny and Scott Boras?

I think the word that best describes my reaction: eewwwwwww!

2008 03 09: Video: Clayton Kershaw’s Curveball

“Vin Scully gets his first chance to broadcast Clayton Kershaw’s curveball.”

2008 03 18: Video: The Final Dodgertown National Anthem

Carl Erskine, who pitched the very first game at Holman Stadium, plays the National Anthem for the very last time at Dodgertown.

2008 03 20: A new Weisman afoot

Congrats to Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts, who picked up a new member of the team this morning: a baby boy, 21 inches, 8 pounds, 1 ounce. Rumor has it he’ll be a power-hitting third baseman, which would be awesome for the Dodgers in 2027 or so. ;)

2008 04 12: Dodger bloggers are made to feel like they belong

They’ve been pooh-poohed by columnists and brutalized by reporters, but their new-media writing will benefit the team as they become complements and not the cornerstones of fandom.

2008 05 11: A Paine in the neck

“These are the times,” as Vin Scully might quote, “that try men’s souls.” It’s the first line of Thomas Paine’s essay “The Crisis.” An appropriate title for Dodger fans at the moment.

2008 05 17: Jason Schmidt rehab at 66ers

We had the opportunity to see Jason Schmidt pitch his rehab start tonight at San Bernardino. It was also Armed Forces Night, so there was a Dodger Camo Hat giveaway and several flybys from a Blackhawk helicopter. It also hovered over the outfield during “God Bless America” and the National Anthem, sending the warning track up in great boiling dust clouds and rendering the music, well, moot with the noise.

2008 06 23: Nomar’s Carne Asada Sunday

When we missed Nomar’s Carne Asada Sunday last season, I was determined to buy tickets this year before they vanished. Luckily, it worked out, and today was the day.

2008 06 23: “…the object is to go home and to be safe.”

RIP George.

2008 06 26: George Carlin talks about his Dodger memories

Carlin grew up a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, and he talks baseball memories on Kiner’s Korner in 1989.

2008 07 18: The Trolley Dodger… er, Dodger Trolley

As mentioned recently, the City of LA and the Dodgers are making arrangements to provide shuttle service from Union Station to the Stadium. More details are now available.

2008 07 26: Manny to Dodgers!

Well, I guess I need to change that question mark to an exclamation point: Manny to Dodgers! As usual, the important thing isn’t the money, the other trade pieces, the offensive upgrade, or anything else — with both 24 and the obvious 42 reverse taken what number will he wear?

2008 07 26: Casey Blake to Dodgers

And the countdown begins to Vin’s first mention of “Casey at the bat“. :)

2008 08 14: Stark raving mad

ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark has a bee in his bonnet. I use that cliché purposefully, as his latest column chastising Dodger fans for cheering Manny Ramirez sounds nothing so much as an old biddy waggling her finger at the children playing stickball too loud in the street.

2008 08 19: Baseball at Manzanar Internment Camp

A post on MetaFilter today — “Baseball in the Japanese internment camps” — reminded me that I hadn’t posted about my visit last year to the euphemistically named Manzanar War Relocation Center, now known as the Manzanar National Historic Site.

2008 09 01: More Red Sox propaganda

Let me give you another example of the Red Sox propaganda machine hard at work. Peter Gammons (I know, big surprise) posted an ESPN Insider article on Friday in which he discusses the Pedro Alvarez situation and includes some more shots at Manny.

2008 10 16: Wait ’til next year

No more Dodger baseball this season. I’ve been steeling myself for this moment since the playoffs began — not because I didn’t hope we could win, but because I knew we might not. The odds were against us.

2008 10 30: The good old days

It’s easy to glorify the past, the proverbial good old days, the golden years. Baseball, for instance — it’s easy to set aside the bad stuff whilst remembering all the good. When you’re confronted with a picture like this one from 1940, however, you start to think maybe today’s game isn’t so bad after all.

2008 10 31: Too late

“I’ve got one more year in my contract,” said Jones, now playing with the L.A. Dodgers. “Hopefully, I can come back to Atlanta. I would love to finish my career here.”