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2008 Season

Dodger home record: 39-30 (.565)
When Jon attended: 5-3 (.625)
When Jon didn't: 34-27 (.557)

1991-2007

Dodgers at home: 745-600 (.554)
Jon attended: 293-233 (.557)*
Jon didn't: 457-374 (.550)
* includes road games attended

2008 Payroll Worksheet

Current Roster with Estimated 2008 Salaries
(updated March 28)

Most figures are estimates (some are wild estimates) but will be updated as information comes in. Corrections welcome.

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Starting Pitchers (5)
$12,300,000 Hiroki Kuroda
$10,000,000 Derek Lowe
$9,500,000 Brad Penny
$7,000,000 Esteban Loaiza
*$500,000 Chad Billingsley
Total: $39,300,000

Bullpen (6)
$2,000,000 Takashi Saito
$1,925,000 Joe Beimel
$1,125,000 Scott Proctor
*$500,000 Jonathan Broxton
$500,000 Chan Ho Park
*$400,000 Hong-Chih Kuo
Total: $6,450,000

Starting Lineup (8)
$14,100,000 Andruw Jones
$13,000,000 Rafael Furcal
$9,000,000 Jeff Kent
$8,500,000 Nomar Garciaparra
$8,000,000 Juan Pierre
$500,000 Russell Martin
*$400,000 James Loney
*$400,000 Matt Kemp
Total: $53,900,000

Bench (6)
$875,000 Gary Bennett
$600,000 Mark Sweeney
$424,500 Andre Ethier
$391,000 Delwyn Young
$390,000 Chin-Lung Hu
$390,000 Blake DeWitt
Total: $3,071,000

Disabled List
$12,000,000 Jason Schmidt
*$400,000 Tony Abreu
*$390,000 Andy LaRoche
Total: $12,790,000

Also Paying ...
$1,000,000 Brett Tomko
$750,000 Odalis Perez
$540,000 Yhency Brazoban
$500,000 Randy Wolf
$487,500 Jason Repko
$135,225 Rudy Seanez
$100,000 Mike Lieberthal
$50,000 Ramon Martinez
Total: $3,562,725

Working total: *$113,268,725

*Rough salary estimate

The 2008 Dodgers

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Shrine On You Crazy Diamond
2007-01-18 22:33
by Jon Weisman

The Baseball Reliquary Shrine of the Eternals released its 2007 ballot this week. How many of these names do you recall with fondness, and how many make you realize you still have more to learn about the game's history?

Hank Aguirre
Lee Allen
Emmett Ashford
Eliot Asinof
Billy Bean
Yogi Berra
Zeke Bonura
Chet Brewer
Rocky Bridges
Jim Brosnan
Bill Buckner
Helen Callaghan
Charles M. Conlon
Steve Dalkowski
Darren Daulton
Dizzy Dean
Ed Delahanty
Eddie Feigner
Lisa Fernandez
Rube Foster
Ted Giannoulas
Jim "Mudcat" Grant
Pete Gray
Ernie Harwell
Willie Horton
Bill James
Dr. Frank Jobe
Sherry Magee
Effa Manley
Oliver Marcelle
Roger Maris
Dr. Mike Marshall
Gene Mauch
Tug McGraw
"Nuf Ced" McGreevey
Fred Merkle
Bobo Newsom
Phil Pote
Dan Quisenberry
Ted Radcliffe
J.R. Richard
Hal Richman
Johnny Sain
Rusty Staub
Casey Stengel
Luis Tiant
Fay Vincent
Rube Waddell
Sol White
Don Zimmer

I tell you, of all the names on that list, the one that still gets to me the most is J.R. Richard. I don't think I ever felt more hopeless for Dodger bats than when they faced J.R. at his peak.

Pete Gray, for me, will always call to mind "Strange But True Baseball Stories," which I read and re-read constantly as a kid.

Mostly, it's just a fun list, one that you can just enjoy rather than hassle over.

Follow this link to photos from the 2006 induction, and read this excerpt below from the press release for more information about the Shrine.

The Shrine of the Eternals is similar in concept to the annual elections held at the Baseball Hall of Fame, but differs philosophically in that statistical accomplishment is not a criterion for election. Rather, the Shrine's annual ballot is comprised of individuals – from the obscure to the well known – who have altered the baseball world in ways that supersede statistics.

On a procedural level, the Shrine of the Eternals differs significantly from the Baseball Hall of Fame in the manner by which electees are chosen. While the Baseball Hall of Fame's electees are chosen in voting conducted by a closed group of sportswriters or committees, the Baseball Reliquary chooses its enshrined by a vote open to public membership. A screening committee appointed by the Reliquary's Board of Directors prepares an annual ballot consisting of fifty candidates, on which the membership votes annually. The three candidates receiving the highest percentage of votes gain automatic election.

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Comments
2007-01-19 00:32:43
1.   trainwreck
It is funny how I do not know most of these names, but I know Dr. Frank Jobe.
2007-01-19 06:43:36
2.   Bumsrap
I see names that look like umpires of the past, an AFLAC spokesman, and Zimmer gave Vin Scully a way to entertain me when he would describe Zimmer's throws to first. Apparantly, Zimmer had quite the arm. Zimmer is one of those players that when he got much older, nobody would guess that he was a player, a shortstop at that.

JR Richard, the pitcher that I would least like to experience what it would be like to see pitches from the batter's box.

2007-01-19 06:47:56
3.   Bumsrap
Tiant with runners on second.

Even he didn't know if he was going to throw to second or pitch it to the catcher until he ws perched on one leg and had to do one or the other or fall down.

2007-01-19 07:02:59
4.   Daniel Zappala
Dan Quisenberry and Tug McGraw. I loved watching both of those guys. The 1980 World Series really captured my imagination as a kid during that time. A couple of great teams to watch. Oh yeah, and Mike Schmidt and George Brett were kinda fun to watch. Had a hangup on Amos Otis too, just because of his name.
2007-01-19 07:38:49
5.   Claire Malone-Evans
Somebody needs to make a big budget movie based on the life and times of Rube Waddell.
2007-01-19 08:25:10
6.   Benaiah
D4P, since you hate Wal-Mart here is a story about how Wal-Mart and T-Mobile together managed to really screw me over.

backtobard.blogspot.com

2007-01-19 08:45:44
7.   paranoidandroid
I know the relevance of 19 of them.
2007-01-19 08:54:03
8.   D4P
6
Ugh. I say we ban together, and fight this in court. Maybe Steve or LAT would be willing to help out, pro bono...Actually, who am I kidding. Steve would probably be on Wal-Mart's side.

I've purchased one item at Wal-Mart in my life. Back in 1991, a Wal-Mart (before anyone really knew what Wal-Mart was) came to my town. I bought a watch there. It broke a month later. I never went back.

2007-01-19 09:08:52
9.   Benaiah
8 - I am on hold at legal aid right now. I just want to know if this is legal (I assume that not only is it legal, it is probably a celebrated business practice that Forbes magazine lists as one of its most profitable sectors of 2006) and if it isn't, do I have any chance of not ending up holding the bag?
2007-01-19 09:20:31
10.   D4P
9
Yeah, sounds like good ole' American Capitalism to me. The Invisible Hand is picking your pocket without you even knowing it. Our Founding Fathers would be proud. It's a beautiful thing.

PS: I also don't own a cell phone.

PSS: Moral of the story - Don't shop at Wal-Mart, and don't own a cell phone.

2007-01-19 09:26:48
11.   Benaiah
10 - I don't have a house phone and given that I was moving around the country I think you can see how a cell phone would come in handy.

I just checked and legal aid isn't free to me because I make more than 18K a year. However, I didn't last year because I was in college... maybe that is good enough.

2007-01-19 09:32:41
12.   D4P
I think you can see how a cell phone would come in handy

I guess I'll let it slide this time...

2007-01-19 10:00:22
13.   mehmattski
Fred Merckle should be a shoo-in, right? I mean, what man famous only for his Boner could possibly be kept out of an institution such as the Shrine of Eternals?
2007-01-19 10:12:30
14.   Sam DC
Great post title Jon.

Makes we want a cigar.

2007-01-19 13:39:29
15.   chazmac138
Funny how John singled out Pete Gray. I too have a soft spot for the greatest one-armed baseball player ever. I seem to remember watching a Hallmark made for TV movie back in the mid 80's with Keith Carradine (as Pete)and Mare Winnigham? as his girlfriend/wife. The name of the movie was "A Winner Never Quits".Being a 12/13 year old kid at the time, I had no idea who Pete Gray was, but I loved baseball and all things baseball, so I watched the movie. It's one of those stories that leaves a lasting impression and you just don't forget it. About a month ago it was playing on a movie channel on directv so I recorded it and made my wife watch it with me. She wasn't having it, but for me, it brought back fond memories. Thanks for letting me think of Pete Gray once again. It takes a little bit of the sting away from the 60 hour weeks I'm working at my new job.
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