now this is the real opening day.

Not a big fan of Columbus?

Columbus at Greenville, 4:00 p.m.
http://tinyurl.com/nvh4y

i am a little concerned that i dont see josh wall or john meloan on the vero or columbus rosters.

danny muegge is pitching for jax. why you ask? i have no clue. and the webcam isnt working for me!

Webcam's not working for me either.

Vero lineup:

Paul RF
Hoffmann CF
Dewitt 2B
Denker 3B
Borders C
Bruce DH
Carter LF
Mooneyham 1B
Rohan SS
Elbert P

vb dodgers are facing mike pelfrey. tough match up.

Columbus:

Godwin CF
Rivera SS
Soto DH
Perez 3B
Sutherland 1B
May LF
Pedroza RF
Apodaca C
De Jesus 2B
Leach P

Neither Mitchell nor Locke are playing, despite their impressive seasons last year, and Pedroza and Apodaca are batting way too low

who can we email to complain about the lack of webcam feed.

What do you guys expect from Paul? He seems to be imitating James Loney's career, both are lefthand hitters, both saw their stock soar in the pioner league, both players where moderately successfull as 19-year-olds in A-ball and both players had 2nd full season ruined by injuries and poor performance. I liked Paul because he was a toolsy player that wasnt allergic to walks, but he seems more raw than Loney at the same age. How can you have plus speed and a great arm, and struggle defensively in LF? I think the one reason for optomism is the fact that many players (Loney, Guzman, LaRoche, Delwyn, Ayber and too a lesser extent Raglani and Kemp) have stuggled in their initial 150-200 ab's for Vero Beach and then turned it around. I have no idea if Paul has what it takes or not.

i dont think paul will make it. the one thing loney did even though he was struggling was make contact. Paul struggles to make contact. Maybe he can improve, but im not betting on it.

Pedroza, Apodaca, and DeJesus batting 6-7-8? You'd think they were staked with those guys batting that low. I hope Leach can beat the odds and be the soft throwing lefty that makes it.

And Jacksonville:

Abreu 2B
Hu SS
Kemp CF
LaRoche 3B
Zapp 1B
Ruggiano RF
Cresse C
Raglani LF
Muegge P

Ive never seen AJ Zapp, but I hope he looks and acts something like Zap Brannigan. That would make for a fun 2006 Jax squad. I assume he's a minor league free agent, is he any good?

i like it that the dodgers are keeping kemp in center.

Lest you concern yourself with the Giants bullpen, apparently Brian Jordan just hit a homerun off of Worrell.

13 That would be correct. As for him being any good, judge for yourself:

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/Z/aj-zapp.shtml

And Brian Jordan homered for those interested. Maybe it's a good thing Hamulack didn't come in to pitch

pelfrey has a 1-2-3 inning agains vero. dewitt grounds out to 2nd.

elbert has a scoreless inning, giving up a gb single to lf and a bb.

Elbert starts off with a single and a walk, but takes advantage of a DP to get out of the inning

Chirs berman just refered to Ramon Ortiz "little Pedro", why is he allowed to speak?

well, we know dewitt can turn the dp now :)

HU'S ON FIRST!

is their a webcast for the Suns game?

the webcast isnt working. im sad. i hope its just temporary.

Its amazing that the Dodgers still cant develop a power hitting 1st basemen.

Sutherland???
Mooneyham????
Zapp???

25 Mooneyham and Zapp aren't prospects, and haven't really been develpoped by the Dodgers

Who did Frank Robinson take out of the game for not running out a popup? I'm kinda listening to the Nats game with one ear. Sam?

Yesterday, it was Soriano.

Ramon "Little Pedro" Ortiz just singled in 2 runs against big Pedro

elbert hasnt had any Ks through 3 innings.

Leach continued from where he left off, striking out the side to start the game

i think the columbus game is available in audio from their website.

poor zimmerman, pedro is owning him.

Jesus Soto has gone deep to give Leach and the Catfish a 1-0 lead. Leach has 5 Ks in 3 innings thus far

leach should really be at vero. 23 yr old finesse pitcher facing low A hitters isnt really a challenge

miller is coming to to relieve for muegge. velocity is up 92 on the slow gun.

miller goes 1-2-3 with a K

37 Is the feed online now?

Elbert finally recorded a K in the 5th inning

elberts final line.

5IP 4H 2BB 1k 0ER

re 39

no im listening to the audio.

Luis Soto tied up the Columbus game with a double off Leach (who recorded 2 more Ks in the inning, for 7 in 4 innings)

jose gullien charging the mound!

stupid ump was holding him back.

It's a brawl! Frank is proud of his old-school team! Go get 'em, tigers!

Gagne to have more elbow surgery.

http://tinyurl.com/r4er4

gagne
http://tinyurl.com/r4er4

looks like baez will be the man!

well of course we get more injuries.

Gagne....

Well that Baez trade is looking better every day. IM guessing Sele will be called up?

the mustache man ties it up! NJ takes pedro deep.

I'm really starting to worry about the teams physicians.

Isn't it completely over when they take out the nerve? I'm trying to remember where I read that, but it seems like it was Will Carrol. Control evaporates, because you can't feel the elbow? Well, it was good while it lasted.

Frank hates Nick Johnson for killing the rally.

its time to start the youth movement.

54
Let's start by trading a couple veteran middle relievers for a couple young starting pitchers.

So if he is getting his nerve removed, does that mean his elbow will be permanently numb? Not sure that is much of a plus.

We need pitching!

hu draws a walk!

New post up top.

Wow, the 2006 squad is making the 2005 team look durable. At this rate no one will be left to play in las vegas.

Now it's time to figure out if anyone from the "April 5 Five" will head to the DL along with Gagne

I misspelled Mr. Carroll's name, but it was his article I was thinking of.

http://tinyurl.com/oraa5

"Leaving the ulnar nerve in place reduces the risk of scarring or permanent nerve damage. . . nerve damage could leave a pitcher with permanent numbness or tingling in part of the hand, a condition that would make pitching tricky."

Its time to open up talks with Baez about a contract extension methinks.

Leach has 2 pickoffs tonight. If I remember correctly, he did a nice job with pickoffs last seasons as well. He's a lefty, so he has a huge advantage, but I'm guessing he has a very nice move to 1st

Its time to open up talks with Baez about a contract extension methinks.

no its not. give him a BJ ryan type deal? no effin thanks.

62 That's fine, but no BJ Ryan-esque contracts. I'm afraid of what he'd get, something like 4 years, $25 million, which is still far too much

good news, dewitt triples for his first hit of the year.

And to complete today's rosters, Vegas:

Duncan CF
Aybar 3B
Ethier RF
Guzman 1B
Young LF
Robles 2B
Martin C
Valdez SS
Billingsley P

Jon, how do you get wind of these articles so quickly? For example, the Gagne story. Very impressive.

From Jim Callis of BA who does a column at the beginning of every year and picks the champions 3 years from now. He picks the Dodgers to play the Angels in the 2009 World Series with the Dodgers winning it all. Here is his comment on the Dodgers
"The Dodgers' fruitful drafts and international forays from the first half of the decade have created a juggernaut. Catcher Russell Martin, second baseman Blake DeWitt, third baseman Andy LaRoche, left fielder Joel Guzman, right fielder Matt Kemp, righthanded starters Chad Billingsley and Justin Orenduff, lefty Scott Elbert and closer Jonathan Broxton have Los Angeles in position to contend for years to come."