The Trolley Dodger

Via Jordon Bastian on Twitter:

@MLBastian: Ichiro ejected after drawing a line in the dirt to show home-plate ump Brian Runge exactly where that “strike” was.

@MLBastian: Drawing a line in the sand earns Ichiro 1st career tossing – MLB or Japan. Also 1st Mariner (coach or player) ejected in 2009

UPDATE:

Video is up!

While I’m not a big fan of interleague play, I am excited to see the Dodgers play the Rangers this weekend. And it’s not just because they share the -gers suffix. ;)

My early post “Back in the day” talks about my love for baseball over the years, stretching back into early childhood. I am told we were Athletics fans when I was a baby*, but as a military brat who moved around a bit before alighting in Texas, I wound up a childhood fan of the Rangers.

The team was never that good during my fan years of the mid-70s to mid-80s, though they turned in a few close calls in the AL West. The Rangers didn’t make the playoffs until the 90s. Luckily for my childhood sports fan ego, I had the Cowboys to cheer for in the 70s.

But despite it all, if it was summer time (and the heat + humidity outside wasn’t fatal ;) I was running around the “bases” in my back yard, throwing and batting a tennis ball off a brick wall, playing as a Ranger.

I’m a recently minted Dodgers fan, circa 2002-03, and like any religious convert am something of a zealot. However, there’s still a part of me that adores the Rangers, so this weekend’s interleague series between my two baseball loves at the new Arlington ballpark feels pretty special.

However, I will still be rooting for the Dodgers to kick their butts. :)

* Being born in Northern California, thank goodness I didn’t wind up a Giants fan! ;)

At least we’re not Angels fans.

Yes, that’s Bill MacDonald and Rex Hudler. It’s apparently GAHH!!! Night at Angel Stadium of Anaheim this evening.

What an awful moment — our thoughts are with Adenhart’s family and the Angels organization.

LA Times: “Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart killed in accident”

Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart was among the three people killed in a crash in Fullerton when a driver ran a red light, an associate of the rookie player said this morning. The crash occurred hours after the 22-year-old appeared in Wednesday night’s Angels game.

With all the 50th Anniversary brouhaha this past season, it’s perhaps fitting that in this dark Dodger post-season morass there is a what-might-have-been to celebrate — Mike Scioscia, born on this date in 1958.

I wonder who Mike will be adding to his lineup cards next year. A new pitcher to replace a big hitter perhaps? Or a different big hitter that would really steam the Dodgers? Hard to say.

But in any case, and whatever the current turmoil in blue, a Happy Birthday to Scioscia.

And who knows: maybe he’ll be back with the Dodgers some day. ;)