My Folks Went to Opening Day and All I Got Was This T-Shirt

Aprill 14, 2005

Nah, just kidding, I was there.

Took the entire BaseballSavvy.com staff, in fact. We made a day of it. From the Queso Grande himself, on down to the greenest of interns. A fine time was had by all.

Enlightened beings that we are, no one was bothered by the various changes at Dodger Stadium. Change happens. The fuss is over absolutely nothing; the place looks great. There are plenty of good seats for everyone. All that’s missing are the Bob Uecker seats (“He missed the tag, he missed the tag!!). Please, enough with the whining.

The scoreboards are a major improvement, and the one ringing the loge level is especially cool. So, there’s more advertising. BFD. It’s a business.

What, you want them to bulldoze the old place or give it a lame corporate name? Let the club make some money in the Ravine instead. There’s no down side.

A little imagination with the outfield wall ads wouldn’t hurt, though. They’re as dreary as can be, and ought to be replaced with the retro style signs in some of the newer parks.

Of course, you know what Dodger Stadium really needs? Well, two things. Those Giants-colored orange and black parking lot baseball signs? You know, the ones that have been filling up with moths since 1962. Man, those things have got to go. Right into the San Francisco Bay.

More importantly, where’s that statue of Sandy Koufax already? We’ve been propping it for a year. Let’s get with the program, huh. Show us the bronze.

Statue for Sandy Reset : In case you’re new, here’s the deal. BaseballSavvy.com and renowned sports sculptor Malcolm B. DeMille (yes, he’s related to Cecil B.) have come together to encourage the commissioning of a monument to Sandy at Dodger Stadium. A “Lefty in Metal,” if you will.

We have an e-petition with a ton of names. All you have to do is scroll down to the photo of Sandy below, and do your thing. Vote “Yes on 32.” We’ll keep the Dodgers posted…

Martha Stewart is a five-tool player…

There’s no Nepotism in Baseball : No, of course not. Just another Selig to kick around. He’s Laurel Prieb, husband of Wendy Selig-Prieb, daughter of Bud, don’t ya know. Never mind that a man has the name “Laurel,” he is the Vice President for Western Operations and Special Projects for MLB’s new Phoenix office. And guess who runs the place. Yup, Mrs. Selig-Prieb. Oh joy…

With the passing of Pope John Paul, II, and the memories of his 1987 visit to Los Angeles refreshed for so many, I thought I’d share a light item that I recalled.

The Dodgers were in the midst of consecutive 73-89 seasons, their general manager content to go to war with outfielders Jose Gonzales, Franklin Stubbs, Terry Whitfield and Reggie Williams. Oh, and Mike Marshall.

The Montreal Expos were shopping Tim Raines, L.A. fans clamored for action, and the press beat down hard on the club. But Fred Claire was steadfast. “No,” he said. “We don’t need Tim Raines; we have Ken Landreaux.”

I’m paraphrasing, but L.A. Herald Examiner’s Allan Malamud wrote something very close to this, following the Papal mass at Dodger Stadium: “See what happens when you put a big name in center field?”

Organ Donor Awareness Week : As a member of the transplant community, I proudly post an updated article on the topic, below the fold, Please scroll down and give it some thought…

Remember, glove conquers all….