The Trolley Dodger

Saw the headline “Dodgers need to play the Angels’ brand of ball” linked in one of the RSS feeds for latimes.com. My brows knitted into a frown as I clicked.

I should have known. Now that the Lakers are done, and not counting occasional distractions like Candace Parker dunks and Baron Davis sightings, the Dodgers will become the main target of the LA Times one-two punch: Plaschke and Simers.

So my question is: when Plaschke inevitably breaks yet another Return key, does he have it repaired, or does he just buy a whole new keyboard?

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

Via Bronx Banter

LA Phil Presents - July 4th Fireworks Spectacular: A Ball at the Bowl with the LA Dodgers – Wednesday, July 2 - 4, 2008 at the Hollywood Bowl

Featured Artists:

• Los Angeles Philharmonic
• Randy Newman, special guest

Have a ball on the 4th of July with America’s favorite pastime! The Dodgers celebrate their 50th Anniversary in Los Angeles for this great American extravaganza with our very special guest Randy Newman hitting it outta the park. Enjoy classic baseball music, visuals, plus appearances by Dodger greats and the Bowl’s dazzling fireworks spectacular!

Log on to HollywoodBowl.com for tickets and information.

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.

First of all, the Dodgers beat the Indians, so we were already in a good mood. But whatever the final score of the game, the food was surprisingly tasty, and the buffet lines seemed to move along apace with few delays– rice and beans, carne asada tacos, quesadillas, various condiments.

Water, juice, and soda were gratis (with harder beverages available for purchase) which was a blessing considering the heat. It was a hot day out on the Loge Terrace, but there was shade to be found, and the excellent and entertaining mariachi band kept everybody distracted. I only caught that they were from Bellflower, so I’ll try to track down their name later.

Once Nomar appeared, everything ground to a halt while he welcomed the crowd, but even a superstar can only distract people for so long from good food. ;)

He got pulled aside for a TV interview, but then wound up standing in the hot sun for a long time, giving all 250 fans and others the opportunity for a photo with him, including all of us:

Trolley Dodger and Nomar. Everybody got one of those manila envelopes with a cool autographed photo.

Nomar and Mrs. Trolley Dodger, aka Denyse. :)

Nomar and my stepson, Hans.

Nomar and Hans’s friend Jason, who has been a huge fan of Nomar’s since he was a kid — we treated him to the day as a 21st birthday present. I don’t think he stopped smiling all day. :)

I was happy to see the mariachi band got fed as well. :)

And speaking of the band, here they are posing with the host.

After all the photo opps, interviews, and whatnot, Nomar finally got to get his own plate of food (accompanied by a gaggle of pro and amateur photographers taking pictures of him serving) then at last join some folks who I believe were family members.

I was struck especially by two images that I didn’t take pictures of:

First was an older woman approaching for her photo with Nomar, asking how he was feeling and telling him they had been praying for him.

Next was just before I walked up for my photo. Denyse had stepped aside, and a little boy ran up, seemingly worried. Nomar bent over to greet him. The little one said, “We have to leave now!” Nomar told him, “that’s okay, buddy,” then gave him a big hug and posed with him for photos.

Anyhow, thanks to Nomar and the Dodgers for putting on this charity event. It was a blast, with a lot of families attending, lending the afternoon a casual party atmosphere. Everything seemed to go smoothly and without a hitch.

From one of my favorite photo blogs* yesterday came this cool shot of Sandy Koufax icing his arm after a game in 1965 (click to view larger):

* The awesomely titled “If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger, There’d Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats”

LA Kings Derek Armstrong tossed out the first pitch a few days ago at Dodger Stadium, and here’s the video from the Kings website:

And while we’re on the subject, the Kings announced that coach Marc Crawford is not coming back next season.

Andre Ethier has posted the first review at his “Dining with ‘Dre” blog, on “Shabu Hachi”, a Japanese restaurant in Santa Monica (website). I was happily surprised to find a full-blown review with photos that would do any blogger proud. ;) And the ultimate test for any food blog — does it make me hungry? — succeeded.

I have a hard time imagining Dodgers back in the day writing restaurant reviews for the Times.

This part was very funny:

As I sat and looked at all these great vegetables being cooked, I was thinking to myself that this alone could be a great meal. (If you didn’t just catch the sarcasm, now you have. I am a true meat eater and crave a heaping helping of it for almost every meal. I pretty much do not consider it a meal unless there is meat involved).

The Daily Mirror blog has yet another cool historical Dodgers moment, today from June 1st, 1968 (a mere 40 years ago). Don Drysdale was going for an NL record five shutouts in a row, and to add to the fun it was against the Giants:

The Giants loaded the bases with no outs. Drysdale hit Dick Dietz with a 2-2 fastball, seemingly the end of the shutout streak. But umpire Harry Wendlestedt said Dietz didn’t try to get out of the way and called the pitch a ball. After Manager Herman Franks was thrown out in the ensuing and inevitable argument, Dietz hit a shot fly to left and the runners held….

As usual, Keith Thursby included a shot of the original Times sports page with the whole story. I love that headline at the top: “Franks Disputes Record, Calls Umpire Gutless”.

From Tony Jackson

Dylan Hernandez, Diamond Leung and I got a few minutes with Ned Colletti in the tunnel after the game. Said he might be getting close to acquiring a veteran utility infielder who could better plug the gap while Furcal is out, or if Furcal is out again later in the season.

Esteban Loaiza for Wilson Betemit anyone? ;)

In my RSS feeds just now came this gem from the Dodgers on MLB.com:

“Relive the 1988 World Series”.

The Los Angeles Dodgers 1988 World Series Collector’s Edition Boxed DVD Set gives fans an opportunity to relive their past and witness some of the greatest moments in baseball history. The Oakland Athletics, featuring the emerging Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco — otherwise known as the “Bash Brothers” — were heavily favored over Los Angeles. However, as Vin Scully put it, “the impossible happened.”

The seven-disk boxed set, originally priced at $69.95 but now available for $51.95 at the MLB.com shop, includes more than 17 hours of footage. It features the Dodgers’ memorable National League Championship Series against the Mets, which set the stage for their title heroics. During the NLCS, Mike Schmidt delivered “Inside Pitch” scouting reports throughout the games. The overwhelming enthusiasm of fans at Shea Stadium in New York and the superb commentary provided by ABC’s Sports Presentation opens up a door of memories.

I guess on another night, this might be something I’d be excited about, but after the three straight losses in which one run was scored, after yet another beautiful pitching performance squandered, this one by Derek Lowe, it seems an ill-timed announcement. It’s hard to get excited about 20-year-old memories, boxed set or no, when the 2008 season is so shaky.

Somebody will point out that we’re only four games back of Arizona, which is all well and good, except that we should be in first place right now. Somebody else will say that it could be worse; at least we’re not the Padres or Rockies. I repeat: we should be in first place right now. We have injuries, yes — so does everybody.

This isn’t giving up by any means — I’m sure it will all work out for the best. I’m just saying it was way easier to skip watching the Dodger game and instead watch The Abyss on Fox Movie Channel. Great flick. Feels like an appropriate name.

And like the end of the movie, I’m sure tomorrow will dawn brighter as we rise out of the depths. Besides, we have some great pitching. Right? ;)