The Trolley Dodger

The Dodgers’ marketing campaign this year plays on Vin Scully’s famous phrase to start games, “It’s time for Dodger baseball!” I still get chills every time I hear it, and the version they use in the TV commercials is especially exciting.

There’s a natural disconnect in baseball between the front office and the locker room, and depending on the team this can be a pretty wide gulf. In the case of the 2011 Dodgers, it’s as if two different movies are playing. One up in the Dodger executive offices, and one on the field. And while they’re out of sync, they’re each having an effect on the other.

Reports came out earlier today (in the midst of yet another media blitz by Frank McCourt, this time on local radio) that the Dodgers are not able to meet payroll for May. Another report says the team will be insolvent by July. If Major League Baseball hadn’t already taken over team operations, they surely would now.

Meanwhile, there’s a baseball game being played tonight. As I write this, a struggling Jonathan Broxton has just undone Chad Billingsley’s hard-fought 1-1 pitcher’s duel versus Ryan Dempster. Earlier, Andre Ethier blooped a hit to up his streak to 29 games. Jay Gibbons put together a stellar 10-pitch first at bat back.

The juxtaposition between a desperate Frank McCourt PRing all over himself on the radio today and the Dodger team fighting for a win was striking for me. An ESPN columnist last week pointed out how McCourt never mentioned the team’s performance, Andre Ethier’s streak, the fans, or anything that didn’t have to do with how MLB was supposedly stealing the team from him.

The continuing fan boycott (as evidenced by the great swaths of empty seats at Dodger Stadium), whether organized or spontaneous, shows what people believe about that.

I feel most sorry for Vin Scully, soldiering on in the press box as controversy swirls in the news media.

It’s time for a change. It’s time for truth and transparency.

It’s time for Dodger baseball. On the field, and in the executive offices.

Couple of Dodger videos posted today on the official MLB YouTube channel. Let’s see if you get chills by the end like me:

With the Dodgers home opener versus the Giants being on ESPN this year, we were worried that we’d miss out on having Vin Scully calling the game — and it wouldn’t seem like a real opener without him.

The Dodgers have sent out this press release, which is good news at least in part — we can turn the sound down on ESPN (usually a good idea anyhow ;) and up on the radio.

VIN SCULLY TO CALL OPENING DAY ON TALKRADIO 790 KABC
Hall of Fame broadcaster will handle play-by-play for six innings at his 54th Los Angeles Dodgers home opener

GLENDALE – Vin Scully, who is entering an unprecedented 62nd season broadcasting Dodger baseball, will call six innings of the Dodgers’ home opener on TalkRadio 790 KABC on March 31. Scully will broadcast innings one through three and seven through nine, with Rick Monday and Charley Steiner handling the duties during innings four through six in typical postseason format. The Dodgers take on the San Francisco Giants at 5:00 p.m. on Major League Baseball’s Opening Night on ESPN.

Scully will be calling his 54th home opener in Los Angeles, as he joined the club in 1950, eight years before the franchise moved to the West Coast.

Read the full press release on Dodgers.com

Although this does raise the question of whether the game will be in sync on TV and radio, or “enough” in sync, to be watchable.

Chris Jaffe at the Hardball Times has an article up tracing the worst endings to postseason games “10 worst endings to postseason games” — and there have been some doozies, including a couple of Brooklyn Dodger-related items in 1941* and 1947, one good, one not good at all. (Passed ball on the final strikeout, anybody?) As Vin Scully says from time to time about the old days, that’s Dodgers baseball.

* – there’s a “1971″ typo, but it’s ’41.

Browsing around the web, I happened across a great old picture of Vin Scully having a fun time:

Click to enlarge

The other gentleman is the father of the original poster, who uploaded it in a “favorite sports team thread” on city-data.com back in 2008.