The Trolley Dodger

LA Dodgers Manager Joe Torre stops by to give Conan a special Dodger jersey, and talks about the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry, Manny, and having the best record in baseball!

So I made my way downstairs last night after the final out, taking the infamous elevator — nowhere near as slow as I was expecting based on Tony Jackson’s stories ;) — from level 5 where the press box and suites are to level 1, which is where the Dugout Club, clubhouse, and field access are. I was heading for Joe Torre’s office, where he always does a brief media post-game Q&A.

With all the fans leaving, the elevator headed up to the top before going down again. Russell Martin Sr. happened to get on the same time I did, but he was on the other side of the large car, so I didn’t have a chance to talk to him. He had a bemused expression on his face, listening to all the fans’ conversations.

Before the game, I had come down to the first level to head out on the field for batting practice. Now there was a roped-off line in front of the Dugout Club where fans were crowding, hoping for an autograph or just a glimpse of the Dodgers as they left. I walked past and through a pair of closed double doors, down a hallway to where a guard was stationed at a sort of lectern, double-checked with him that the clubhouse was open, then through another pair of double doors and another long hallway full of boxes, baseball equipment, and miscellaneous items. The actual door to the locker room was a little ways down, and I approached uncertainly.

The locker room was a lot smaller than I expected. Just beyond were the sinks and showers, and various Dodgers were here and there preparing to leave. To my right stood first-base coach Mariano Duncan, and I asked him where Joe’s office was — he pointed out a doorway nearby.

Just past it was the rack you might have seen before, with the five bats representing the five NL West teams, arranged in the order they are in the division, Dodgers currently on top. Then to the right of that I heard the familiar voices of Fox Sports West’s Michael Eaves and manager Joe Torre. Inside his office, I placed myself amidst the reporters and held out my voice recorder.

In the first audio file — joe01.mp3, 1:16 — you’ll hear Eaves asking his last question about Cole Hamels, then Joe’s answer, then one of the other media members asking about infield placement at a particular point in the game, and another answer. Torre had a cold, I believe, so you’ll hear them wish him well.

Suddenly everyone had left the office, and there I was alone with a recorder in my hand and Joe Torre sitting in front of me.

Luckily, I had prepared a pair of questions just in case I had the opportunity, so in the second file — joe02.mp3, 1:07 — you’ll hear me nervously asking him about Kershaw’s performance, then (knowing he’s a big horse racing fan and horse owner) asking for his prediction in the Belmont Stakes this weekend. Great answers, by the way. :)

I thanked him, told him I hoped he felt better, and left, heading back to the locker room in a daze.

More later.

Thanks again to the Dodgers for the opportunity last night. I had a great time, quite illuminating.

Here are some photos from the night — I will be writing some more in-depth material later today and will hopefully have some audio to share as well.

You know you’re a baseball geek when spying the infield rakes causes you to grab your camera.

On the field for batting practice.

A calm moment before the game.

Now for practice against the righty.

Joe Torre talking to folks near the dugout.

Michael Eaves of Fox Sports interviewing James Loney.

First glimpse of the press box view. The blogger seat is right there in the front row.

My vantage point for the game.

Live blogging and note taking.

Beautiful night for a ballgame, even if the result was less than beautiful for the home team.

Dodger Stadium is gorgeous even late at night after the crowd is gone.

Two runs. Eleven hits. Five Errors. A missed third base. Gaffes galore.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Mets Manager Jerry Manuel called Torre “Jim” while exchanging lineup cards.

That was the closest laugher I’ve ever seen. No wonder the Sunday Night Baseball booth crew was going off on the Mets last night.

I would not want to be in the visitors’ clubhouse tonight except as a fly on the wall. What a painful performance.

On the non-laugher side:

• Ethier 0-5, 1 K, 6 LOB
• Martin 0-4, 1 LOB
• Kemp 0-5, 5 LOB

Great job from Wolf:
7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 HR

It’s tough sometimes to describe to those who aren’t sports fans why grown men playing a game generates such passions. Aren’t there more important things in life?

As a baseball fan, though, the game becomes so ingrained with those important things that it becomes inseparable from them. Bluetopia, the new Dodgers DVD, puts a spotlight on that relationship by following a range of fans throughout the 2008 season.

The team was good enough to invite a few Dodger bloggers to the premiere in Hollywood last night, so I got the chance to rub elbows with a big crowd of folks either directly or indirectly related to the team. As Jon Weisman terms it, “While you’ll find all these people at different parts of Dodger Stadium at any given game, you’ll rarely find them assimilated as one cohesive group.”

Jon has a segment in the film as well, in which his embarrassment at getting lost on the way to stadium (you try answering questions on camera while driving — you’ll wind up in the LA River) is more than made up for by an unforgettable meeting with Vin Scully.

Players, executives, broadcasters, stadium employees, journalists, bloggers, and fans mingled before and after the film. It’s quite a surreal experience to be glancing around the crowded room and finding it full of people you recognize yet have never met. (See below for more photos.)

Bluetopia touts itself as a celebration of the 2008 season, and there was a lot to be covered in a highlights-packed year. Everything from the LA Coliseum game to the last pitch of the NLCS is at least touched on, but as director Timothy Marx said before the film started, this isn’t really about the Dodgers. The real stars of the film are the fans.

In one respect, the fan stories are what you might expect from a sports team documentary — a dying mother, a redeemed gang member, a father mourning his own father with the grand children, a boy seeing his first game. If the filmmakers hadn’t been careful, that sort of movie could easily have descended into the maudlin.

Thankfully, they did their job right, and the results are respectful portraits of the fans and their stories. That many of those featured were also in the theater for the premiere lent it a sort of family-movie feel, in a good way, as cheers went up in different part of the theater. Speaking of cheers and Vin Scully, the biggest were reserved for any time he showed up on screen. I might need to get the DVD just to hear what he said. ;)

The season and playoff highlights were cool as well, though the best parts were the behind-the-scenes stuff — players ambushing Joe Torre to douse him with champagne, Russell Martin welcoming Manny Ramirez with “Now we’ll be on SportsCenter. Boyyeee!” You can see the immediate effect Manny had on the locker room, literally as he walked into the room the first time.

Those looking for a hard-hitting investigative report a la 60 Minutes will be disappointed, but everything isn’t puppy dogs and rainbows. The 6-year-old’s first game is a loss, as is the redeemed gang member’s game. Twenty years since the 1988 win is mentioned multiple times, then the hopes and dreams of a World Series win are dashed again. Andruw Jones is shown, and a murmur of discontent ran through the audience at his first appearance.

You begin to feel almost sorry for the players having to carry the weight of all of these people: those who are dying and looking for relief, those fighting against the odds to stay on the straight and narrow, those little kids who live and die with every pitch. An entire city, millions of people, all with their own struggles and wishes, hoping against hope you will hit, throw, or catch a ball well. I know they make a lot of money to do those things, but if a guy has any empathy for his fellow humans, it must be hard to maintain your boundaries.

Yet in the end, the question of “Why Baseball is important?” is answered. Sure, it’s just a game. But it’s important because of the importance people invest in it. In other words, and as Yogi Berra might have said, it’s important because it’s important.

Thanks to Josh Rawitch and the rest of the Dodgers PR staff for the invitation. Also a tip of the cap to Son of Steve Garvey Alex Cora and the blogger from iSportsWeb whose name I missed (was it Ken Steinhorn?) — we formed a knot at the end of the blue carpet and managed to get some cool photograph opportunities. I got what might be my favorite autograph, Dodger organist Nancy Bea Hefley. :)

Sorry I missed Phil Gurnee of True Blue LA. His review is up, “BlueTopia – Were the best parts left on the cutting room floor?”

Matt Kemp

Vanessa Fayd, Matt Kemp, and Landon Heying of True Blue Tattoo

Clayton Kershaw

Andre Ethier