The Trolley Dodger

Friend of Trolley Dodger, editor of the Daily Mirror blog at the LA Times, and all-around nice guy Larry Harnisch honored for heroism. Well done, Larry!

“D.A. honors three Good Samaritans for courageous acts”

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley honored two Good Samaritans on Wednesday for intervening during a 2007 assault on a woman in front of the Pasadena police station and a young boy for assisting authorities in a separate gang murder case.

Quoleshna Elbert, 31, and Larry Harnisch, 58, a Los Angeles Times copy editor, were given Courageous Citizen Awards during a ceremony at the Pasadena Hilton. The award honors those who act at “considerable personal risk to help a victim, capture a suspect or who have testified in court.” [...]

Elbert was on her way to church when she saw a woman being beaten by her ex-husband as her children looked on from the father’s car. She tried to stop the attack by hitting him with her purse and a Bible.

Harnisch was driving to church when he saw the attack, stopped his car and intervened, putting himself between the attacker and the victim, who had been beaten unconscious. The woman survived but suffered permanent injuries.

The actions of the pair — and their court testimony — helped prosecutors convict the man of attempted voluntary manslaughter, aggravated mayhem and torture. He was sentenced to six years to life in prison.

Well played, @FakeAPStylebook and @sosgsosg! ;)

On Twitter? Follow @trolleydodger today!

Oh, and I guess it’s probably a good thing I didn’t stay home to watch the Dodgers’ opening game today. Yikes. No high five.

That bright light outdoors must mean that Spring has officially sprung and the sounds of baseball are in the air.

Yes, this is not news to most online fans, those who have been religiously following and commenting on every last organizational wiggle since the end of the 2009 season. Having been one of those bloggers and one of those fans in off-seasons past, I had to take a step back this time around. A sort of palate cleansing, if you will.

After the McCourts’ implosion news threatened to turn the 2010 baseball season into a year-long episode of Divorce Court, I took a mental step back from MLB and turned my attention to the Lakers’ title defense, the Kings’ rebuilding plan coming to fruition, World Cup 2010 preparations, and Landon Donovan’s successful run with Everton FC.

Which is not to say I haven’t been keeping up on Dodger developments.

Storylines I’m especially curious about at the moment:

• The Eric Gagné Experiment, now moved to the minor league camp.
• Just how awesomely lethal the Kemp-Ethier combo could be this year.
• Just how awesomely lethal the Kershaw-Billingsley combo could be this year.
• Whether Furcal is as revitalized as he thinks he is.
• Where James McDonald winds up pitching, and whether he’s starting or relieving.
• Is Ramon Ortiz for real?
• What’s the severity of Kuo’s current elbow injury?
• Whither Belisario?
• What’s up with Russell Martin?
• Will the revised Union Station -> Dodger Stadium shuttle stick this time around?
• What does Garrett Anderson have in the tank?

So, with my baseball batteries recharged, I can finally relax a bit, look forward to the Spring’s first hot dog at the first ball game, and feel excited about the Dodgers again. :)

Congrats!

Belated congratulations to Jon Weisman and Tony Jackson for their respective moves to ESPN Los Angeles. Not to mention blogger Bob Timmermann joining LA Observed. Much success to them all!

Finally, an especial congratulations and thanks to Trolley-favorite Nomar Garciaparra, who recently announced his retirement. Thanks for the classiness, the carne asada, and the memories.

Ever since I found the above 1968 photo of two reporters playing Scrabble in the Dodger Stadium press box, I have wondered how they pass the time nowadays, and whether that Scrabble board is still around somewhere. Lucky me, I’ll have a chance to see in person at tomorrow’s Dodgers-Phillies game, thanks to the team and their reaching out to local bloggers.

A number of folks (Sons of Steve Garvey, True Blue LA, Blue Heaven, et al.) have taken a turn this past month, and on Thursday it’s my opportunity to sit in the Vin Scully press box, go on the field, interview anybody who will talk to me, and generally attempt to stay out of everyone’s way.

I am so far resisting the urge to track down my fedora and stick a “Press” card in the hatband. ;)

More details tomorrow.

Photo: “Los Angeles Dodgers game viewed over the shoulders of two reporters playing Scrabble, 1968.” Los Angeles Times photographic archive, UCLA Library. Copyright Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library. Photo ID: uclalat1429b614_239325

A couple of years ago, when there was speculation that the Dodgers might look at free agent Barry Bonds to solve their anemic outfield power production, I wrote something to the effect that, “The day the Dodgers sign Barry Bonds is the day I stop being a Dodger fan.”

Fast forward to this morning, when I was anticipating a pleasurable write up of last night’s blogger get-together at Dodger Stadium, and here’s a news story out of left field: Manny Ramirez suspended 50 games.

I ran through the stages of grief pretty quick, not unlike Homer Simpson:

Dr. Hibbert: You can expect to go through five stages. The first is denial.
Homer: No way! Because I’m not dying!
Dr. Hibbert: The second is anger.
Homer: Why you little–!
Dr. Hibbert: After that comes fear.
Homer: What’s after fear?! What’s after fear?!
Dr. Hibbert: Bargaining.
Homer: Doc, you gotta get me out of this! I’ll make it worth your while!
Dr. Hibbert: Finally, acceptance.
Homer: Well, we all gotta go sometime.
Dr. Hibbert: Mr. Simpson, your progress astounds me!

So my first half hour went something like this:

1. Must be a joke/rumor/conspiracy.
2. That’s it, I’m done with baseball!
3. Christ, the Giants and Red Sox fans are going to be insufferable.
4. Okay, I’ll stop watching the team for 50 games…
5. That means we get a rested Manny sometime in July. Heh heh.

If the first reports are true (and as the MLB rules quoted indicate this is the case), then it wasn’t steroids, wasn’t HGH, wasn’t a stimulant, and wasn’t something along the lines of marijuana. What does that leave? A whole slew of prescription drugs that are in that gray area of being permissible, but only if you get an official exemption from MLB.

Considering Manny’s apparent lackadaisical attitude about everything except studying pitchers and hitting the ball, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that he simply spaced on doing the paperwork.* But in any case, we’ll have to wait for all of the details to come out to make an informed judgment.

Anyhow, I still want to write up last night’s blogger night, which was a blast, as was witnessing the historical 13-0 moment. (I’ve been lucky enough to be at a number of those at Dodger Stadium over the last few years.) Having a chance to chat in person with the ever-expanding and intelligent cadre of Dodger bloggers, not to mention other august personages like Ken Levine and Tony Jackson, was a privilege.

And now, I am going to go get on my roof and summerize the swamp cooler. It’s going to be frickin’ hot today.

–

* Not to fall back into stage one of grief, but I do think the timing of this is mighty suspicious, with Manny reportedly informed last night just after the record-setting win. To counter-balance that and move back into stage five, I imagine this makes him opting into that second year with the Dodgers much more likely — who else is going to take him?