We took him to his first Dodger game last season and missed the first inning because it was autograph day. He got Kenny Landreaux and Tommy Davis to sign his first autograph book. We then took our seats (very generously provided by our good friends who work for the front office) and watched Greg Maddux pitch 8 perfect innings of baseball. And then to see the game won by an extra inning homer!! Not a bad first game. Of course his mom is a Giant's fan...so even more pleasure for daddy to start the baby out as a Dodger fan.

We'll go back this year to a couple of games (and especially some Galaxy games). I think baseball is a great fun activity for families. I know this could raise the ire of folks here, but I wish there was less advertising at the game. :-) What really bugs me though is sports casters or talking heads who swear on the air. The coarseness of sports talk radio makes me think twice before having it on on the car. I've come to like Joe MacDonald but during the Clinton years he playued some truly inappropriate material in what was billed as a sports show.

Anyway, thanks for this thread Jon.

One thing I'd love to know is how parents have shared special Dodger (and local sports) events and activities with their kids. I think I'll take my son to the stadium on some off day just to sit in the stands and take it all it. I always love doing that.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JMcxIZiO1qQ

In 2001, I was seven years old. At the start of second grade each of us was assigned a cubby to keep our lunch in and a hook to hang our coat on. My cubby and hook was number 15.

That year, my family went to a game during the first week of the season. Kind of bored, I asked my father which player wore number 15. He came to the plate and my father told me he was left handed and jewish--just like me. Three pitches latter my new favorite player hit the first home run I remember seeing. After that I started following the player who hit before and after my favorite player, although my dad never had a nice thing to say about the guy who hit before no. 15. Then I followed two players before and after him and so on until I knew the whole team. That was the season I became a baseball fan.

The Dodgers are still my favorite team but the Diamondbacks are a close second. I have to admit I was very mad at the Dodgers last year for trading him but at least my favorite player still comes to Dodger Stadium a lot.

LAT's daughter

The kids are now 2 and 4, so the games are still more about the food than the field, but they look forward to going.

[Adam is 9, Emma is 7.]

Ah, the innocence of youth...

Shall I tell this kid the truth?

It also always struck me that Shawn's an all-around good guy. I supported the trade, and still do, although in hindsight, I wonder, but I always wished he could have still retired a Dodger. But he just isn't productive with the bat anymore.

I don't know if anyone on the team really fills the place Shawn had as resident Mr. Nice Family Guy. Lowe's the carefree party dude; Penny's the over-competitive knucklehead; Kent's well, Kent's just Kent; Martin's another LoDuca who isn't as much of a media hound; Kemp strikes me as having the charming swagger of a potential superstar; of all our players, I wonder if Loney might end up the most like Green in temperament--another soft-spoken (at least, that's how Loney struck me in the few times I've seen him interviewed) lefty with a smooth stroke, but whose swing is considerably shorter than Green's was.

Anyhow, I for one miss Green's peak years with us--it's a shame to see a player like him decline as precipitously as he did, due to the injury.

WWSH

A few years later we ran into Shawn in the parking lot. A few scary old male autograph hounds seemed to be chasing him to his car. He shrugged them off, but my sister had the guts to walk up to him with her ticket stub and he stopped, asked for her name, and signed it for her. It made her entire life.
I think she slept with that stub under her pillow for a while, though she wouldn't admit to it.

And regarding Dodgers with his temprament: I've interviewed most of the guys on the team, and I'd say Ethier is similar in that he's kind and gracious, but not the most outspoken guy in the world. Loney is soft spoken too, but that might simply be because he's the new guy. All the Dodger kids are humble and kind, which is a very and rare lucky thing.

Can anyone clue me in on a famous #28, past or present?

(I know Bob will post a full list in about 20 seconds.)

p.s. I would have Jake post about the Dodgers, but he hates them just to spite me. My lawyer is considering remedial action as we speak.