OPENING DAY LINEUP

 

2002
	Name	Pos.
1.	Roberts	CF
2.	Izturis	SS
3.	Lo Duca	C
4.	Green	RF
5.	Jordan	LF
6.	Beltre	3B
7.	Karros	1B
8.	Grudzielanek	2B
9.	Brown	P

After starting off the season 0-3 and being outscored 24-3 by their longtime rivals at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers would finish with a 92-70 record, a 6 game improvement over the previous 2 seasons, but missing out on the wild-card by 3 games to the hated ones.  It was still an exciting season for the Blue Crew as Shawn Green would have another big year at the plate belting 41 homers, 4 coming in one game at Milwaukee while tying a major league mark for total bases in a game with 19 .  2002 also saw the emergence of Eric Gagne as the teams closer, setting a club mark with 52 saves.  This would also be the season in which his consecutive saves streak would begin.

 I am happy in the fact our key players avoided salary arbitration as they were able to settle on one or two year contracts.  I am happy that Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier have signed on for two years.  As for what happens after 2012, only time can tell.  I would like for the current group of Martin, Kemp, Ethier, Loney, and Broxton to remain with us for a long time.  This has been a fun bunch to watch, the most enjoyable group of Dodgers to watch since the '04 team, and this core group is still on the rise.  And of course, in this day and age of free-agency, we'll be lucky if we keep even half the team after 2012.  I see Matt Kemp going  30/30 this year, ( I said the same thing last year and Matt was 4 home runs away from making me look like I knew what I was talking about ) , I see  Russel Martin coming back to form and hitting .280 with 20 plus home runs, I see Chad Billingsley bouncing back from his 2nd half meltdown from last year and winning 15 plus games this year, I also see us walking of with  ' Dre Ethier again and again.

    As for 4 walk-off homeruns ?  Hitting a walk-off homer once a year is hard, twice even harder, anything after that and one has to wonder why he's even pitched to.  Then again, if our lineup continues to be a force to be reckoned with, the opposition may not have much of a choice but to pitch to 'Dre.  But I dont see another 4 walk-off home runs in 2010.  ( The 4 walk-off homers tied a MLB record last season ).  However, I STILL want 'Dre up there in the clutch from the 9th inning on.  I see 'Dre repeating his 30 home run 100 rbi feat.  His batting avg. dropped 33 points last year, which of course went unnoticed because his power numbers and rbi totals went up from '08 ( 20 homers to 31, 77 rbi's to 106 ) so I guess that would be the trade-off, and not a bad one if you ask me.  Also unnoticed is that in '08 he played in 141 games where as to last season he played virtually the entire season, 160 games.  So, as to what I see on 'Dre's plate is for hime to raise his average above .280 while maintaing his 30 home run 100 rbi total.  ( I know, I sound to critical, but it's only because I think he can do it, and knowing how Andre expects a lot of himself, sometimes too much, he may have an even higher bar than what I've stated here. ) . 

I still want to see some depth added to our bench.  One of the keys to a successful season is bench depth, especiallly when 162 games are being played in a season.  And as for our 5th starter, now that we've re-signed Vicente Padilla, I am going to go out on a limb here and say that James McDonald wins the 5th spot come April .  McDonald certainly has the stuff to be on the 5 man rotation, and after being demoted early last season to work on command issues, I think Jimmy Mac is ready to prove he belongs. 

And in my perfect world of Dodger baseball, I see Broxton getting another chance at Philly in the LCS to redeem himself after saving 45 games in '10 and over 56,000 blue clad fans loudly singing in unison I LOVE L.A. after J-Broc strikes out Utley-Victorino-and Howard in Game 7 of the LCS .  And of course, as I said, that's in MY PERFECT WORLD.  Stay tuned.......

Here is something that may be of interest to you and I think you should check out.  It's the Florida Marlins blog from Iraq, as they visit our troops.

Marlins Visit the Troops: Iraq 2010

Get an inside look into the Marlins' first ever trip to Visit the Troops! Chris Coghlan, John Baker, Fredi Gonzalez, Larry Beinfest and the Mermaids will be visiting our Armed Forces in Kuwait and Iraq from January 24th to February 1st. Check back for daily blog updates. You can keep track of everything that's going on during our visit to Iraq by going to marlins.com/troopsvisit.  

You can check it out @ http://marlinsvisitthetroops.mlblogs.com/

I think it's great what these Marlin players are doing.  I may not agree with our stance on the war, but to have our ballplayers showing the troops that we care about them is a great thing for them to do.  As for our troops, you are one of the many reasons why we Americans can live in a country where we have the right to agree to disagree.

And finally, a huge THANK YOU to Mark Loretta, who has announced his retirement.  15 years and a career .295 hitter, we will always remember you for that ONE BIG HIT.  I still feel the top deck shaking......

The fact that the Dodgers have avoided arbitration by agreeing on one or two year contracts with several players, including Kemp, Ethier, Martin , Billingsley, Loney, Kuo , and Sherrill, is a good thing.  At least we know they wont be holding out from Spring Training.  Now if we can only shore up the back end of our rotation and solidify our bench.  Unfortunately Joel Pinero is out of the free-agent running, having been picked up by our neighbors down south.  Perhaps right now, our hope in terms of the back end is to , AGAIN, hope that Russ Ortiz can be another one of those reclamation projects that holds his own until July, and hope that James McDonald can prove he's ready to fulfill the role as a starter.  And of course, perhaps come the non-waiver deadline in July, find another ace from a team out of playoff contention and work out a blockbuster trade.  And of course, all this is just hope.  I stated it before and I'll state it again, we're not that far away from our first fall classic trip since '88.  No one in the NL West has really done much to improve themselves, the Giants may have the best starting pitching in the division and maybe the league, but their lineup still doesnt match up to ours, The Rockies, we'll see if they can continue their run from last season, they may be the biggest threat.  Arizona has formidable pitching, but like the Giants, some offensive issues.  And the Padres, though they showed signs of life at the end of the season, may still be a year or two from seriously contending. 

OK, switching gears, here are my picks for this weekend

AFC TITLE GAME

Colts over the Jets

The Jets have shut up all doubters ( Including this one ) who said they benefited from playing two playoff resting teams during the final two weeks of the season, one which included a road win at Indy, preventing the Colts from an undefeated season.  However, Peyton Manning did not play in the 2nd half, and he should be able to take apart the vaunted Jets defense this time around.  Colts 24 Jets 10

NFC TITLE GAME

Saints over the Vikings

Both these teams are coming off impressive wins and this game should feature a lot of offense.  Saying that, I'll go with the home team here as the Saints win a close one on their way to their first big dance, thwarting Favre's chance to lead the Vikes.

Saints 37 Vikings 31

And finally, more of my pics from last year, from the month of June

From the field level, 6/8/2009 Padres vs. Dodgers

Casey ( Blake ) at the Bat...... And there's Big Dre in the dugout observing

Another Dodger win !!!!  I LOVE L.A. !!!!

My buddy Art and his kid Angel, 6/27/2009.  This was Angel's first baseball game, and he's still talking about it.  Something tells me he'll be going to more.  WELCOME TO OUR TOWN !!!!

DODGERTOWN !!!!  THIS IS OUR TOWN !!!!!

Here I am, by the Mariners on-deck circle after the game.  ( Hey, the Dodger on deck circle was packed.  And hey, wouldnt you want to stand on the on-deck circle that Ken Griffey Jr. stood on less than an hour ago ? )  And speaking of Junior....

KENNY GRIFF

One of the best outfielders to play the game.......

Here again is Art and Angel, with my buddy Josh, before Angel got to run the bases

Yet 'Dre was far from through in '09.......

The standings as of 6/27/2009

 

Before I share some more pics with you, I thought I'd share this with you from the LA Times Forum. 

" The Dodgers could lose thousands of season-ticket accounts this year, even after back-to-back appearances in the National League championship series.

The Dodgers sold 23,900 season tickets last year, club president Dennis Mannion said today. They have sold 20,700 so far this year, he said, with customers facing a Friday renewal deadline.

"My concern is the number of unpaid accounts that haven't canceled," Mannion said at baseball's quarterly owners' meetings in Phoenix.

He noted that fans are holding onto their money as long as possible, given the tenuous economy. He cannot yet say how many fans are giving up their seats, because of the economy or otherwise.

The Dodgers have yet to sign a major free agent this winter -- and they let Orlando Hudson and Randy Wolf go without offering them salary arbitration -- but Mannion said the Dodgers have not been flooded with complaints about the team's offseason inactivity.

"I can honestly tell you we're not seeing any density of phone calls about the composition of the team," he said. "We've got largely the same ballclub we had coming back.

"It's the economy. We have a very interesting baseball team. We have plenty of star power. We have star power on the rise."

Mannion also said the Dodgers would impose a premium on single-game ticket prices for 28 popular games, including those against the Angels and New York Yankees. The Dodgers have frozen prices on season tickets but have yet to announce prices for single-game tickets."

-- Bill Shaikin in Phoenix

source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/01/dodgers-could-lose-thousands-of-seasontickets-accounts-this-season.html

Whatever the reasons, even as a partial season-ticket holder, it is hard to go to all 15 games that I get tickets for every season.  And now my Silver Slugger Plan has now been bumped up to 21 games, thus more money to spend, especially after the holidays.  Of course, there is the Triple Crown package, 14 games, all_Sundays, which definately work great for me and would probably work the best for most of you as well since Sunday's are a popular " free day of the week ".  One caveat, Opening Day is not included in this package.  But for the most part, I would have to agree that the dropoff in season ticket sales would have to do with the economy because in seasons past when expectations were not quite as high, season ticket sales usually hovered around 23,000 .  Of course, Dodger fans always turn up in droves come summer time and last seasons total attendance of over 3.7 million certainly reflected that. 

In other news, the Blue is close to signing Matt Kemp to a 2 year deal and are pushing for mutliple year contracts for Ethier, Loney, and Broxton.  I still maintain that we still have not seen the best from them yet, especially Dre and Matty.  Now if we can just get some starting pitching.......C'MON BLUE, WE HAVE A CHANCE TO GET BACK TO THE WORLD SERIES, THE REST OF THE NL WEST ISN'T MAKING MUCH MOVES TO IMPROVE THEIR BALLCLUB, ALL WE JUST NEED IS TO FILL UP KEY SPOTS, YOU KNOW, A STARTING 2ND BASEMAN, A COUPLE OF STARTING PITCHERS, AND SOME BENCH HELP, AND I REALLY BELIEVE WE CAN PLAY DEEP INTO OCTOBER.  THE LAST TWO YEARS HAVE ONLY WHETTED OUR APPETITE FOR MORE, THE ONLY OBSTACLE REALLY LEFT TO OVERCOME IN THE NL IS PHILLY, OUR ROADBLOCK THE LAST TWO YEARS !!!!!  AND THEY SIGN HALLADAY IN THE OFF-SEASON !!!!!  

Having said that, i'm still not in panic mode, YET !!!!

OK, having got some thoughts off my mind, here are some more pics from last season

 

Good to be back at The Ravine

 

Guillermo Mota entering from the LF Pavillion

 

Gone too soon.....RIP Nick Adenhart ( 1986-2009 )

Presenting our nations colors.....

A record Dodger Stadium crowd....

A feat not accomplished by a Dodger since Wes Parker in 1970

 

The start of 13 straight home wins by the Dodgers.....

 

Matt and JP during pre-game warmups.  Note the pink bats on Mothers Day

 

Tie a Pink Ribbon for Breast Cancer Awareness

'Dre, Matt, and JP

'Dre

Another Dodger win, 5/19/2009 vs. Mets

 

Time to celebrate !!!!

We would sing this a lot this year !!!!

 

Waiting anxiously for the opening of another exciting season of Dodger Baseball.  This would be my first Opening Day away from Dodger Stadium.

Here with the rest of the Friar and Dodger fans waiting for the Opening of a new season

 

PreGame Fireworks

Taking a break from the office to catch the action

Jonathan Broxton

Our closer, Jonathan Broxton.  Bid Bad John had a good season, as he would save 36 games for us, but......Oh what we would do for that one save that eluded us in the NLCS.....OH JOHNNY.....

Randy Wolf

Randy doing some long toss.  Randy would be our workhorse this year, having perhaps his best season in his career.  Too bad we couldnt retain him in the off-season.

Clayton Kershaw

Ace of the future ?

40 Years of Padres Baseball.  Check out that young, sleek ballplaya on the lower right.  It's Tony Gwynn !!!!

Matt Kemp doing long toss between innings.  I had predicted that he would be go 30/30 and he was 4 homeruns away from making look the part of a genius.  The scary part about THIS BISON..... His best is  STILL yet to come from this potential 5-tool player.

MANNY ! MANNY ! MANNY !  In his place in MANNYWOOD SOUTH !!!!  His 50 game absence would not slow the Blue Crew one bit.  Here's hoping he can give us one last great hurrah in '10.

A familiar sight.  This would be the first of close to 95 of these this year ( Save for an occasional walk-off, 6 coming from D-R-E !!!! ).  The Dodgers would win 4-1, defeating the  soon to be ex-Padre Jake Peavy.

My buddy Josh and I celebrating the Blue's first win of the season

Mr. Padre himself, or a statue of him anyway, Tony Gwynn

Good Night, San Diego.........

OK Dodger fans, something I've been meaning to do for the longest time, gather together my all-decade Dodger lineup, with reserves included.  Just a disclaimer here that this is MY LINEUP that I put together, and like MLB Netork's Prime 9, this is up for debate.  So without further delay, here goes.....

 

THE STARTING 9

1. Rafael Furcal SS

 

One of the more versitale shortstops the Blue has had in a while, Furcal, when fully healthy, is one of those rare SS's that has a good mix of speed and power combined with a strong arm.  Also one of the best "slap bunters" in the game too.

2. Matt Kemp CF

 

Perhaps maybe the most gifted Dodger this decade.  The scary part is that we STILL haven't seen the best of him yet.  At the beginning of last season, I predicted that he would be a 30/30 guy, and he was 4 home runs from making look like Drei the genius.  Because of his offensive prowess that keeps improving, Matt may be one of the more UNDERRATED outfielders in the game. 

3. Andre Ethier  RF

In many ways, when the Dodgers traded outfielder Milton Bradley to the A's for their young and talented prospect Andre Ethier, the Dodgers essentially got a steal.  In his 4 years here in L.A., Andre's home run totals has gradually increased , including a career high 31 home runs and 106 RBI's.  But what really has caught the eye of Dodger fans, and baseball fans as well, is his ability to come through in the clutch, as witnessed by his 9 walkoff hits in the past 2 seasons, 6 of them in '09 , 4 of them being some Dodger fans prized souvenier.  And if the opposing team isnt Walking ( Off ) In L.A., Andre can still be counted on to come through in the clutch, as Cy Young Award winning pitcher Tim Lincecum would find out.  On 8/12/2009, with the Dodgers trailing 2-1 in the top of the 9th and Furcal the tying run at 2nd , after fouling off several pitches, 'Dre would line a 2-2 Lincecum fastball to right field, plating Furcal and tying the game, much to the dismay of the locals ( Or should I say, to the glee of us blue clad fans who made the trip up north.....) .  Though the Blue Crew would lose in the 11th inning on ironically, a walk-off home run by Juan Uribe, preventing the Blue from sweeping their rivals, Andre, whether it be home or in a hostile environment, has shown that with the game on the line, he's the man you want at the plate.  Keep this up 'Dre, and you may have as many walk-offs as Kobe has buzzer beaters !!!!  If there's just one thing I would like to see 'Dre do, it would be to stop battling his worst enemy, himself.  Yes 'Dre, even though you've admitted as much, and even though most Dodger fans and the media who cover you know this, you gotta stop being hard on yourself.  You're a ballplaya, on your best year, your gonna fail 7 out of 10 times.  Relax 'Dre !!!!  But hey, I guess it's that high expectation he expects of himself thats earned him a reputation as our Mr. Clutch. 

 

HEY ANDRE, TOSS ME A BASEBALL !!!!!

HEY DRE !!!!

4. Jeff Kent   2B

Say what you want about Jeff Kent.  Yeah, he may have come off as being surly, and yeah, he may have said some things about the teams youth movement, and YES, he may have even said some not-so-kind things about one of the biggest legends here in L.A., Vin Scully.  But you cant ever question Jeff Kent's work ethic.  Kent is the type of player each team needs at least one of, a blue collar, no-nonsense type.  Kent would finish his final 4 years of his career in Dodger Blue batting no lower than a .280 average in his final season of 2008.  Again, say what you want about him, but he was one of the teams classic workhorses.

5. Gary Sheffield    LF

You can say what you want to about Gary Sheffield as well, since he was so demanding of a trade prior to the 2001 season and finally got his wish at seasons end.  However, the only player whom we really got any value out of the ill-fated Piazza trade, did give us back to back seasons in '00 and  '01 of 100 RBI seasons while also belting 36 and 43 home runs.  Man, a starting outfield of Sheffield in his prime playing with  Kent and Ethier today ? 

6. Shawn Green    1B

OK Dodger fans, I know what you're thinking.  How could I put Shawn Green as first base over Eric Karros.  Simple, because he did play 1st base in '04 for a full season, he qualifies as a candidate as my staring 1st baseman for my  '00s All-Decade  team.  I mean, c'mon people, I already have Andre Ethier out in right field, the only other position Green played was 1st base, a position he had no prior experience at prior to '04.  And besides, why would you want to leave his bat out of the lineup.  In 2001 he hit an L.A. Dodger all-time high of 49 home runs, following that up with 41 home runs in '02.  And who could forget his 4 home run game against the Brewers while scoring a major league record of 6 runs in a single game.  His power numbers tailed off in '03 and '04 but he still drove in 85 plus RBI's in those seasons.  Many Dodger fans ( including this one ) have said that Andre Ethier and Shawn Green bare many resemblences, you know, left handed power hitters with sweet swings who can be really streaky or really cold with sometimes nothing in between.  The only differnece between 'Dre and Shawn, 'Dre shows his emotions, Green was a cool cat, and at times, set the fans the wrong way.  But hey, 'Dre and Shawn in the same lineup cant be bad.  And finally, on a rather personal note, Green had one of the coolest at-bat songs during his days donning Dodger Blue.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSbBvKaM6sk

Nothing like hearing 50,000 fans yelling WOO-HOO as he comes to the plate

7. Adrian Beltre   3B

Beltre's best season as a Dodger, and perhaps in his career to this point, came in 2004 when he would belt a NL leading 48 home runs before testing the waters in free agency, landing in Seatlle and playing in another not-so-hitter friendly ballpark.  Has had 3 consecutive seasons from '06-08 with home run totals of 25, 26, and 25.

8. Paul LoDuca     C

The heart and soul of the Blue Crew in the early part of this decade, many never forgave DePodesta for trading him away to the Marlins . 

AND THE STARTING 5

9. Hideo Nomo, Kevin Brown, Chan Ho Park, Derek Lowe, and Odalis Perez.

This was one I had a little more difficulty putting together and may possibly be the most debated.  And I'm sure you're wondering why I put Odalis Perez in there.  Here is my reasoning, I would want at least 1 left handed starter in my rotation.  And I'm sure you're asking why I didnt put Clayton Kershaw in the mix.  He hasn't been in the rotation long enough to really establish himself , YET.  Once he's fully developed, he may make next decades all-decade team as my starting southpaw.  Now as for the rest, they were all workhorses my favorites being Park and Nomo ( And not because I'M ASIAN !!!! )  Park would lead the Blue in K's in '00 and '01 and Nomo, in his second go 'round with the Blue minus the fanfare, was a huge workhorse himself.  Kevin Brown would show flashes at times, even winning the league ERA title in '00, and Derek Lowe was more than just an innings eater.  To bad he never cared about the fans here, claiming we we're too laid back.  (  Yeah right, ask any Giants fan whose donned their Halloween colors in the LF Pavillion )

As for the Reserves

Russel Martin- A perfect backup to an earlier LoDuca, whom he would eventually succed.

Juan Pierre - Just went out and played the game, and we all remember, an admireable " fill in " for Manny

Dave Roberts - Would be another late-game replacement for Manny.  Was sorry to see him go to in '04, but glad he got his ring.

Nomar Garciaparra- Can play anywhere in the infield.  Also can come through in the clutch too.  Best season was '06

Eric Karros - Always good to have that veteran presence on the bench, though I doubt he would care for this role

Cesar Izturis - Provided stellar defense from '02 to '05 before a major injury set him back, opening the door for Furcal.

And of course, the 'Penn

Eric Gagne- What else is there to say than....GAME OVER !!!!!!

Takashi Saito - Took over the role nicely from Gagne from'06 to '08

Johnathan Broxton - Now if only you can get Matt Stairs off you mind buddy !!!!

Hung Chi Kuo - More than just a situational lefty in the 'pen.

Chad Billingsley -  I still feel he has the stuff to be the ace

 

OK, that is my all decade team consisting of my starting 9 all the way down to the 24 man roster.  Let's hear your's, and let me hear what you would change with my lineup.  This should be fun folks.  HOW MANY DAYS 'TILL OPENING DAY ?  GO DODGERS !!!!

First off, I would like to wish everyone of you out there a HAPPY NEW YEAR .  I'm certainly glad we've turned the page to a new decade.  I hope all of you have stayed safe partying out there, especially those of you visiting here for the Rose Bowl and the BCS Title Game this Thursday.  This has certainly been a good start to the new year for this L.A. fan.  Earlier this evening, or last night, Kobe showed once again why he's LA's MVP with his buzzer beater ( UNGUARDED, WHAT WAS SAC THINKING ? )  And to bring back my favorite moment of the '09 season, MLB Network replayed Game 2 of the NLDS against the Cardinals ( Yup, the Matt Holliday game !!!! )  .  I still hear a buzz from being at the game even to this day, which only makes me want for baseball to come around soon.  And heck, we're only 2 months away from spring training !!!!  ( I guess the wait between seasons seems shorter when your team goes deep into October !!!! )  And speaking of Game 2 of the NLDS, for those of you who cant get enough of that frantic 9th inning......

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | STL@LAD Gm 2: Scully makes the call for the Dodgers - Video | ML

OK , now a look back at 2001

OPENING DAY LINEUP

2001
	Name	Pos.
1.	Goodwin	CF
2.	Grudzielanek	2B
3.	Sheffield	LF
4.	Green	RF
5.	Karros	1B
6.	Donnels	3B
7.	Kreuter	C
8.	Cora	SS
9.	Park	P

Before we reflect upon the 2001 season, when bringing up the  2001, baseball is certainly not on the top of ones minds.  When we think of 2001, we think of one of the most tragic events our country will ever suffer in our lifetime, and with many affected by the events of 9/11 it was a time for us to unite as one.  However, while we will never forget , life does go on, and baseball is just one of those facets of life that can for at least 3 hours of our lives divert our attention from the real world.

And the 2001 season was an exciting one for the Boys in Blue under first year manager Jim Tracy.  Though the Blue would finish 6 games back of the eventual World Champion Arizona D-Backs with an 86-76 record, they would be in the thick of the division race for much of the season.  Highlights from this season would include the emergence of catcher Paul Lo Duca, who would lead the team with a .320 batting average, highlighted by his 6 for 6 performance on May 28th against the Rockies.  Chan Ho Park would lead the staff with 15 wins and 218 strikeouts, and Jeff Shaw would anchor the bullpen with 43 saves.  Gary Sheffield would have another outstanding season with 36 home runs, but it would be fan favorite Shawn Green who would set the all-time L.A. Dodger mark in a season for home runs with 49.  The Dodgers would also be involved in a couple of Barry Bonds personal highlight reel as he would hit career home run # 500 in early April with none of his Jints, I mean,  Giants teammates to greet him at home plate , then his record breaking 71st and 72nd home run of the season off Chan Ho Park on the seasons final weekend.  If it's any consolation Dodger fans, the Blue ended up winning that night and knocking the Giants off of post-season play. ( And to this day, our hated ones still dont fly a World Championship flag repping their city .....) 

OTHER EVENTS OF 2001

The Lakers, led once again by the Shaq-Kobe tandem, would win the 2nd of 3 consecutive NBA Titles.  The Lakers would sweep their way through the Western Conference playoffs and if not for a long layoff between the Western Conference Finals and the Finals, may have swept the 76ERS as well.  No matter, they would take down Philly in 5, finishing with a 15-1 playoff mark.  This may have been their best team of the 3PEAT, and maybe the best of the 4 they won this decade !!!!

Dale Earnhardt Jr. dies from injuries suffered in a crash at Daytona 500.  He was 49

Barry Bonds sets the MLB record for home runs hit in a season with 73, breaking Mark MacGwire's mark of 70 set in 1998

Enron, at one time the worlds largest energy trader, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

And finally, the one event we will all never forget, on 9/11 , Al Qaida terrorists crash 2 airliners into the World Trade Center in New York City.  Another plane would hit the Pentagon and another crash in a field near Shanksville, Pa.  About 3,000 lives are lost to this tragic event.

Source

http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_national/decade/
 

 

OPENING DAY LINEUP OF 2000

	Name	Pos.
1.	White	CF
2.	Grudzielanek	2B
3.	Sheffield	LF
4.	Green	RF
5.	Karros	1B
6.	Hundley	C
7.	Beltre	3B
8.	Elster	SS
9.	Brown	P

The start of the new millineum would bring us some personal individual accomplishments.  The Dodgers would finish 86-76, 11 games behind the Giants, but with one less win than the eventual World Champions, the Yankees, who would win their 3rd straight and 4th in 5 years.   As for the accomplishments, Gary Sheffield would lead the team in both home runs with 43 and rbi's with 109.  Kevin Brown, whom then GM Kevin Malone had signed to a 5 year contract for $110 million, would lead the league with a 2.58 ERA, Chan Ho Park would finish with a career high 18 wins and lead the team in strikeouts with 217.  Shawn Green, who had come over to the blue in a trade with the Blue Jays that sent Raul Mondesi packing, would have a modest year himself with 24 homers.  This would also be manager Davey Johnson's last season at the helm with the Dodgers, as he would be fired after only 2 seasons running the Blue.  Many saw this coming as early as August as Malone had publicly criticized Johnson for his late game management.  Jim Tracey would come on to replace Johnson. 

As for any highlights from the 2000 season, Kevin Elster, who had not even been on the Spring Training roster, would christen Pac Bell Park, the shiny new home of the our rival Jints, ahem, Giants, by blasting 3 home runs in the hated ones home opener, en route to a 6-5 victory.  The Dodgers would also sweep the 3 game series at Pac Bell Park.

OTHER EVENTS IN 2000

The Lakers would win the first of 3 consecutive NBA  titles by knocking off the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals in 6 games.  This would be Larry Birds finals season as coach of the Pacers.

Alex Rodriguez signs the richest contract ever in sports, 10 years, $250 million with the Texas Rangers.

In spite winning the popular vote, Democratic Presidential candidate and former VP Al Gore loses the 2000 election to George W Bush.  The actual outcome is not decided until one month after the election due to disputes over the results in Florida.  One month after recounting the ballots in Florida, a Supreme Court decision rules in favor of Bush

Hello everyone.  I know I dont come by much anymore but every now and then I will find the time to share something with you.  Looking back at the 2009 season this was one of the most enjoyable seasons in quite some time.  Like many of you, this season produced many wonderful memories for me as well.  And though for the second year in a row the Phillies would be our roadblock, the '09 season still was one season to remember for our Boys in Blue.  From here until the start of the '10 season I will be sharing with you my personal memories of games I attended from the Ravine to PETCO and to AT&T and hope to hear some of your memorable games as well.  And until then , I also hope that we find a couple of quality pitchers to shore up  our pitching staff and of course some depth for our bench as well.  Without further delay, here's looking back at a great 2009 season as we look forward to finishing some UNFINISHED BUSINESS IN 2010.

 

4/6/2009 DODGERS @ PADRES

This would be my first Opening Day game at a venue other than Dodger Stadium, and with the Dodgers opening up down here, it was pretty much a no brainer that my buddy Josh and I would make the trek down south.  One of the first things that would happen as we boarded our train is that we would cross paths with legendary Dodger broadcaster Jaime Jarrin.  It's funny because we would've thought that he would have traveled with the team.  Jaime, as many of you may know, has been the Spanish announcer for the Dodgers going back to their early days arriving from Brooklyn though many of todays Dodger fans particularly those my age, probably best remember him as Fernando Valenzuelas translator during his early days with the Blue in the early 80s.  http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/AM_Route_C/1241245649505/1237405732511

PETCO Park , as expected, would be filled with plenty of Dodgers fans who made the trip down south, and a buzz could be felt amongst this bi-partison crowd as many of them would arrive in anticipation of a big season for the Blue Crew.  And the Blue would not disappoint as they would defeat the Friars and longtime nemesis Jake Peavy 4-1.  James Loney would have a couple of rbi's and Matt Kemp would launch a mamoth shot to center off Peavy in the 7th, the 1st of 26  home runs he would hit this season.  Before the game, I had predicted that Matt Kemp was going to be a 30/30 player this year.  Well, he was 4 home runs from making me look good.  The scary part, I still dont think we've seen the best of Matt Kemp , YET.........

MY GAMES ATTENDED RECORD 1-0

Next, 4/13/2009

The Home Opener against the Hated Ones

Well this certainly has been quite a week.  After winning a record 13 consecutive home games to start the season, the Nats, of all teams, are the ones who break the streak, but of course that would all pale in comparison to the news we would hear earlier in the day about Manny.  There were many things that went through my mind as I heard the news, the two being mainly shock and disappointment.  And as of this writing, the Dodgers are 1-2 without his presence, in which he was dealt a 50 game suspension.  Now of course we all could here the wolves howling out there when the Blue Crew lost their first 2 games without him, but relax, the 2 were within reach if not for a meltdown from our bullpen on Thursday night, or the fact that both the Dodgers home winning streak and Chad Billingsley was eventually going to lose his first game.  But with an outstanding performance by Eric Stults today in pitching a complete game 4 hit shutout against the hated ones, perhaps hopefully most, if not all doubts, about how the Blue will perform without Manny will be put to rest. 

WHAT I'VE LIKED SO FAR

To this point, there really has not been much flaws in our lineup all the way down to our #8 hitter, Casey Blake.  Even Rusell Martin is starting to come around.  And not enough can be said about contributions from our bench, especially Mark Loretta and Brad Ausmus, who have been more than what I could have bargained for to this point.  Loretta has gotta be what, 7 for 12 off the bench, and Ausmus , well, he's been a steady backup for Russ. 

The starting pitching has also been outstanding as well, save for a couple of rocky outings from Kershaw and McDonald.  Even Eric Stults has been a pleasant surprise filling in quite nicely for Hiroki Kuroda and Jeff Weaver has filled an nicely as well.  If Weav and Stults can continue their run and maybe give us more innings, with Billingsley and Wolf going as deep as they have been, we just may have one of the deepest rotations in the NL, something that was a concern coming into the season.  Now all we need is for our bullpen to remain healthy.  Our one guarantee from our bullpen of course, has been Johnathan Broxton.  He seems to have that " swagger " this year, like nothing is gonna get in his way, he definately is our closer this year.

WHAT I WANT TO SEE

You all didn't really think that Manny was going to completely carry the team did you ?  The Dodgers dont have the best record in baseball to this point solely because of Manny, and for them to continue their success, they are going to have to continue to receive key contributions all around, especially from our other bread and butter guys Ethier, Kemp, Martin, and Loney.  And Juan Pierre hasn't exactly disappointed off the  bench either.  Even without Manny until July 3 at the earliest, I still see a fun summer ahead for the Blue and their faithful supporters.

 

MY SLIDE SHOW FROM SACRAMENTO AND RALEY FIELD, 4/25 TO 4/26/2009

Recently I went up north to SacTown to catch a couple of AAA games at Raley Field to see the Sacramento RiverCats ( A's AAA afilliate ) take on the Las Vegas 51's ( Former afilliate of the Dodgers and now the Blue Jays AAA afilliate ) and as for my first AAA experience, it was really more than I expected.  I also went to the California Rail museum as well.  Enjoy the pics everyone

 

  http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z146/dreispics/?action=view&current=390deb77.pbw

Feel free to ask about my experience at Raley Field.

 

AND FINALLY.......

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL MOTHERS OUT THERE 1