Martindodgers55team

Pre-game 3 Nonsense

2006-10-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

I don't want to jinx it, but lets just say that The Gambler's heroic shut down of ESPN's The NY Yankees (tm). last night has my blue and orange heart all a flutter. The A's are downright nasty, but the Yankmes always seem to gain strength with every playoff series victory. So I've got no problem with seeing the Spankee's eliminated today--I'd be lying if I said this wouldn't ease the Metsies route to World Series glory. A Yankers exit will do nothing to cut down various national broadcast team's usage of the word "Jeter," but at least every Yankme-worshiping story will bring a smile to my face when I realize that Bernie Williams is watching somewhere on a couch much like my own.

So off I go to Dodger Stadium to watch The Human All-Star Break try to pitch on too much rest after a family related distraction (marriage problems?). Going to see the game live, I figure, will spare me the pain of listening to ESPN or Fox's national team of village idiots; Joe "This is a different Kenny Rogers" Morgan especially. We can't forget the Sept. 10 Shea Stadium beating the Dodgers gave Trachsel for 2 2/3 innings, but maybe the pitcher we love to hate can pull out some rare magic, or maybe the Mets will score 6-8 runs to offset the inevitable 5 Trax will give up. If Trashy can't get it done, tomorrow never knows--word is that either Ollie (Golly) or the MainMan will take the mound, and it could get dicey. These Dodgers have been streaky all year, and Kent can still get it done, so we can't get ahead of ourselves--the Mets must not let these guys off the mat.

Besides Drew's mad dash into the catcher's glove and Furcal's wait-and-see attitude on Franco's double-play ball, the difference in this series has been the teams' ability to overcome injuries. The Mets thus far have been able to overcome their crushing rotational injuries while the Dodgers have been hurt badly by theirs. Add Nomar to the Blue pile today. Lying Left hand specialist Joe Beimel's antics can't help the atmosphere in a clubhouse that is already filled with felons and jerks. But anything can happen.

Go Mets!!

Take Me Out to the Stitch 'n Pitch

2006-08-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

What a great idea! Here's what it says on the link:

Stitch 'n Pitch brings together two American traditions--Baseball and the Needle Arts. Come to a ball game and knit, crochet, embroider, cross-stitch and needlepoint. Sit among friends, family and colleagues and cheer on your favorite Baseball Team. This event is for ANYONE who has an interest in the perfect double play — NeedleArts and Baseball; beginners, intermediate and experts are all welcome. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, Thursday, August 10, 2006.

Dodger Stadium Rug

The National NeedleArts Association has put together this schedule for stitchers to get together in public. They are offering tote bags, prizes and other giveaways for those that register ahead of time.

Another plus for this event, is that you'll be able to visit the renovated Dodger Stadium in historic Chavez Ravine. Ahhhh...Chavez Ravine....that's a whole 'nother story! The story of how a once cohesive and lovely hillside village was torn down for home development but ended up becoming a ballpark. A movie by Jordan Mecher was released last year all about this story. Ry Cooder wrote songs about the old neighborhood. The movie and the CD were based on Don Normark's photographs of the area in 1949.

"Chavez Ravine" - Photo by Don Normark - 1949

So, the Stitch 'n Pitch sounds like a fun event and I will definitely go. However, being in Chavez Ravine has always been bittersweet for me. I'm a native Angelina and I hate to see parts of my City destroyed. Some people say change is progress. Some people say change is destruction. I say, don't forget how and why the change occured, so that we won't make the same mistakes again.

Game 118: Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants 1:0 (10 innings)

2006-08-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a game! These are the types of games I like. The close, nail-biting pitching duels! I like it even more when the Dodgers are involved and are the victors.

Russell Martin stepped it up to lead the 10th inning by hitting a walk off homer. The Dodgers beat the lowly Giants. Greg Maddux was superb. He threw just 68 pitches in eight innings. It was truly a showdown of starters as Jason Schmidt matched Maddux by putting up zeroes for eight innings as well. I always love it when the Giants bullpen comes into the game. They suck, and have a knack for giving up runs.

Takashi Saito earned the win, improving to 5-2 on the year after intentionally walking Barry "Steroid Boy" Bonds with one out and nobody on in the top of the 10th, then retired Moises Alou and Shea Hillenbrandt.

The NL West-leading Dodgers have won 15 of 16 games. The three-game sweep was their first against the Giants at Dodger Stadium since September 1989 and it kept their lead over San Diego at 1 1/2 games.

The Giants have dropped 16 of 19 and 13 of 14 on the road. They are a season-worst nine games under .500, and have slipped 7 1/2 games off the pace.

Maddux was at his absolute best, throwing just 68 pitches (50 strikes) and retiring his last 22 batters after giving up singles to two of his first three batters. He did not walk a batter. Maddux's string of outs began with Steroid Boys' vicious liner back to the box, which Maddux snared and turned into a double play with Ray Durham unable to get back to first.

This was the first matchup between a pitcher with 300 or more wins and a cheating batter with 700 or more home runs.

Some thoughts:

1) I understand his age and all, but why in the world take out Maddux? He hadn't allowed a base-runner since the first inning! And if you bring in a PH for him, why not keep the PH in afterward? I'm sure James Loney could have taken Julio Lugo's spot.

Take Me Out to the Stitch 'n Pitch

2006-08-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

What a great idea! Here's what it says on the link:

Dodger Stadium Rug

"Chavez Ravine" - Photo by Don Normark - 1949

6-6-6 ~ Baseball Style And other strange happenings from the ...

2006-07-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

6-6-6 ~ Baseball Style
And other strange happenings from the Diamond

With tongue firmly in cheek, I give a Hat Tip to Fourballs.com

With the date 6-6-6- almost upon us, I decided to jump in the ol' wayback machine and find one of my favorite Baseball/Sign Of The Coming Apocalypse stories. And while I was at it, I also stumbled across a story of the homo-hijacking of America's Pastime.

Fear Strikes Out, Along With Beelzebub

What happened at *yech* Dodger Stadium on June 4, 1990? Just another chapter in the eternal struggle between good and evil, that's all.

With runners on second and third and two outs in the top half of the second inning, Mets’ shortstop Tim Teufel stepped to the plate to face Dodgers’ pitcher Jim Gott. Teufel quickly got ahead in the count 2-and-0, but Gott came back with three hard fastballs for the strike out, getting his team out of the early jam.

While many in the crowd at Dodger Stadium that day simply cheered for their team’s success on the field, four German tourists sitting in the upper deck wiped beads of sweat from their brows, knowing that the world was safe from Lucifer once again…at least for now.

(For those of you who don't Sprechen ze Deutsch: The word “Gott” means “God” and “Teufel” is “Devil” in German)

And while we're talking about the weird goings on in the world of baseball, I offer up the following...

Johnson and Wang Receive Honor

The sodomite publication, Out Magazine named New York Yankee Pitchers Randy Johnson and Chien-Ming Wang as their Inaugural Co-Athletes of the Year. Out Magazine which claims they present “Gay Culture Defined”, claims they are trying to expand their scope into the world of sports.

“Sports magazines have been doing this for years. We figured it was time gay guys stopped worrying about Broadway and started paying attention to sports like other men. Sports are what define the modern man, and believe me, we are all about the modern man”, said Out Magazine editor Thad Harper.

Out Magazine delving into the world of sports is not surprising, however the decision to honor Randy Johnson and Chien-Ming Wang was. Wang, who spent a significant amount of time on the disabled-list and Johnson, who had an off year by his standards, were both surprised to learn that they had been honored. Harper defended his magazine's decision.

“We love them. They are totally our favorite players. We put it to a vote, and nearly all of our readers said they loved Johnson and Wang. The only person who didn’t vote for them was this guy from Rhode Island, and we’re not even sure he really is a guy.”

University of Connecticut Sophomore Rudy Gay is the early favorite to win the 2006 Award.

It's been a BLUE world.....

2006-07-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

Dodger blue, that is!
I've been to 2 of the last 3 games...
Tuesday was blanket night so I HAD to go...I have this habit of collecting their blankets because that's one of their greatest giveaway.
This year's wasn't as great as the one from 2 years ago, but the blankets are always still really nice.
That was a great game.
Lotsa offense, eventually scored the winning runs in the bottom of the 8th....
and since they scored 10+ runs, I scored free Hooters wings.
Which I didn't have a chance to pick up...

There was a crazy ass fight that night too.
The three guys next to me were being assholes and pissing everyone off around us....
Next thing I know, they were going at it with a guy in the next aisle.
And then next thing I know, I feel beer being splattered onto me.
And more beer being thrown at them.
And then peanuts.
And more beer.
Geez, what a waste of superexpensive stadium beer.
I have to admit it was pretty hilarious though.
That was the most drama I've seen at a game so far....
but only at Dodger stadium. Yep.

Went today because we got free tickets from the school.
So a bunch of us newspaper folks grabbed some up and showed up.
Day game and nobody there and it was hot....
Although when we got there it was right around the 7th inning stretch.
Yeah, bad. Oh well.

So here I go with some pics -

{may 9}
"stadium lights"

thought the lights directly behind me looked kinda cool with an angle....i totally manipulated the color on this one. i felt like playing with it and i did more and more to it....it kinda has an artsy feel to this now, i kind of like it!

{may 10}

No, you're not seeing an error message. But I was bad and I skipped it. First off, I forgot to take my camera. Second of all, I didn't take anything on the webcam. Third of all, I was way too exhausted to take any pics of anything once I got home. So you get this cute lil graphic I made....

But I will give you a bonus from Tuesday

Another super color-corrected one. And another pic of random things at Dodger stadium. Why all these random pics? Because I have 21093812094829034829038409238409284092 pics of Dodger stadium and sunsets at Dodger stadium that I figured I didn't need anymore. Although they DID redo their seats into these pastel-colored things. Kinda funny. Yeah these used to be very blue. Now they're a pale turquoise.

{may 11}
"blue heaven on earth"

Okay, yeah. Stadium view. But these free tickets were in the outfield, so it was a different perspective, mmkay?

Other things going on in my world -
- I dropped my philosophy class. I wasn't really going to it anyway. I was always staying home to play with my Hambly or scrap or just do other things....and so. yeah.
- I've been feeling extremely uncreative lately. Have had no energy to scrap! mehhh.
- Uh, I guess I don't have much else going on huh? lol

Booth movement and some major college football news.....in MAY

2006-07-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

So because they no longer have the rites to Monday Night Football, ABC is pooling their resources to put together a major college football primetime package beginning this season with Notre Dame at Georgia Tech.

The goal is to pair some of the top match-ups of the season in this package, and get the "big named" teams their primetime slot. Among the teams featured, Notre Dame will be on three times, against Tech, Michigan State and USC (and maybe again in the Rose Bowl if they fall there), Ohio State is featured twice, Michigan twice, and USC three times.

(Editors note: The highlight for me personally is that October 14th game with the Alma Mater extracting revenge on Mecheatagain at Beaver Stadium. Finally we get them at University Park for the first time since 2001. Go ask THE Ohio State's Troy Smith how much he enjoyed last year's primetime game at the Beav. Oh, and your homegrown referees won't save your ass this year either.)

But the package itself is a great idea, it's the first time that network television will carry a college football primetime series, and the weeks where there is a dual broadcast, the other game will be picked up by either ESPN or ESPN2 meaning you get three primetime games likely in one weekend.

ABC is smart in the sense that they have picked college football "cash cows" USC, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan to lead this new adventure and they are also going with a 12-day selection package too, meaning that games from November 11 on, they will select the games they will air 12-days before hand. Good choice, this way, much like the NFL Flex schedule they can get the best match ups from the conferences they choose to air.

ABC is also carrying the Rose Bowl (only) during the BCS, so they keep some of the traditional Rose Bowl teams like Ohio State, Michigan, and USC close to the vest in the hopes that maybe they can land a match up with any one of those three in their lone BCS game. Remember the other three BCS games move to Fox beginning this season.

There are other movments in the college football world as well.

NFL Network will air the Insight.com bowl beginning this year, this to go along with their airing of live regular season NFL games for the first time. That, plus they will take the top five games from each week and re-air them in full, it's the network broadcast too.

Keith Jackson announced his retirement weeks ago, so ABC will scramble to fill his shoes and the booths are being switched around right and left. Brent Musberger will work with Bob Davie on the ABC Primetime game, Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge (who moved from CBS) will do the ESPN primetime game, and former ABC'er Gary Danielson takes Blackledge's roll as lead analyst on CBS' coverage of the SEC this season. This means that (my idol) Brad Nessler and Bob Greise will be the lead afternoon team on ABC and they will keep Gary Thorne on the other game during the afternoon (Since Mike Tirico is now the MNF guy)

All we know about Fox's coverage of the BCS is that Thom Brennaman will call one of the games (the title game, maybe the "Plus-one" game?) and the rest of the crew, analysts and all will be named later. You could stay in house and get guys like Joe Buck or Troy Aikman, but it might be wise to go outside and get someone else. As long as it isn't the guys they use on the Fox Sports Net studio show during Saturday telecasts, it'll be OK. But Fox definitely has the shallowest of broadcasting talent pools, specifically when it comes to play-by-play and college sports.

Those changes are inline with what the NFL booths look like with Greg Gumball moving back to play-by-play, James Brown jumping from Fox to CBS and Michaels and Madden jumping to NBC, Collonsworth and Bryant Gumball jumping to NFL Network.

It just goes to show that the booth movement is almost as crazy as free agency in other sports.

Dodgers Stadium

2006-05-08T01:58:00.000-07:00

Retired Mobility Opportunities Via Education (MOVE) Administrator Linda Bidabe received the 2004 E.P. Maxwell/J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award from EP (Exceptional Parent) Magazine and Major League Baseball on Aug. 6 at Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles. Bidabe was escorted onto the field by U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and Worldwide Commander of all Navy SEALS (Ret.) Ray Smith, board director for EP Magazine. Smith then presented Bidabe with the award at home plate prior to the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. Afterwards, Bidabe, daughter Tanya Fulghum and grandchildren Nathan and Lauren were seated in VIP loge box seats to enjoy the game as guests of the Dodgers.Each year the Maxwell/Schleifer award recognizes an individual for continuing and significant contributions to the disabilities community. Since 2002, Major League Baseball has collaborated with EP Magazine reaching out to sports fans to promote awareness of the 54 million Americans with disabilities, their families and caregivers.Bidabe was a special education teacher for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office in Bakersfield. She created the MOVE program that teaches people with severe motor disabilities to sit, stand and walk while participating in real life activities throughout the day. Prior to MOVE, students with severe disabilities spent all day on beanbags and had no opportunities to move and enjoy a more full and abundant lifestyle in their homes, schools and communities.

Dodgers Stadium

2006-02-26T20:45:00.000-08:00

Dodgers Stadium, in Los Angeles, California, has been the home of the Los Angeles Major League Baseball team since 1962. It was also the home of the Los Angeles Angels between 1962 and 1965.