The Trolley Dodger

Tony Jackson, writing on ESPN.com, “Tom Schieffer is cryptic and transparent”:

Although [Tom] Schieffer was sent here by Selig to get to the bottom of this complex financial labyrinth, he is a baseball man at heart. As a former Texas Rangers team president who also owned a limited partnership in the club at the time, he gets what all of this is supposed to be about. When Schieffer walked into the press box before a recent game to pick up a scorecard and a game-notes packet, a media colleague of mine thought it was noteworthy enough to tweet about it, the colleague pointing out that he had never, ever seen McCourt do such a thing.

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.

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?

Awful news about Tony Jackson, Dodgers beat writer, getting laid off by the Daily News. It’s difficult to comprehend there only being two beat writers covering the team now.

Like Diamond Leung, also let go recently, Tony is too talented not to get a gig somewhere. He did some TV work on ESPN last year, so maybe he can parlay that somehow.

Best of luck, Tony.