Why did it seem so inevitable that this would be the result of their "improved" system? As a friend of mine said this morning, why didn't the Dodges just say we're charging $15 this year, period. Make whatever changes you think will help but don't insult us by saying you're going to fix the parking situation and the extra money is to help do so.

Edwin looks good so far. Got squeezed on at least one 96 mph fastball.

Regarding parking, I'll ride my bike or walk from Sunset.

I feel like I kinda got tricked into raising my hand when asked if I had nothing better to do.

The Drays off to an early lead -- good for Mr. Jackson.

my housemate: what are you doing?

me: watching the devil rays game.

my housemate: why? you are a Dodgers fan

me: because edwin jackson is pitching.

my housemate: who?

me: He was one of my favorite prospects and the dodgers traded him and i think it was a bad move and i think he will be good.

my housemate: get a life.

I am also a person who still believes in Edwin and I am hoping he has a good season this year.

5 - Hey, he's the one with enough time to ask you what you're doing. I say, he needs to get the life!

He is throwing 95 mph right now.

7 - heh.

Jackson has 15 pitches through his first inning. Good so far...

Sammy had a decent enough spring, but he doesn't look that different from what I saw on the Orioles. He surely shouldn't be hitting this high in the Rangers' lineup.

Yow. Jackson has used only (around) half the pitches McCarthy has through two. Nice.

And how wrong is it that Jon's father and brother went to opening day while jon, who's voice is becoming one of the most important on the subject of the Dodgers- all based on his being a fan, didn't?

5
At least you're watching a major league game this time...

I came here for some Kemp/Schmidt updates and everyone is talking about Edwin Jackson.

Bizzarre!

12 - I knew this job was dangerous when I took it, Fred.

14 - There were some Kemp/Schmidt updates in the previous thread.

I'm having a hard time keeping all the DRays trades straight.

Did Ned trade Jackson and Chuck Tiffany for Danys Baez...?

17
yes

18
Wow, that's ridiculous all over again.

17 - And Lance Carter!

I remembered there was someone else who stunk. Totally forgot Carter, which is a good thing.

20
I forgot the All-Star!

Ugh.

Well, it's not like the current team is dying for Edwin Jackson, but, golly, we sure should have gotten more for him than that. A hitter from the D-Rays would have been more okay - y'know, maybe Jackson involved in a trade for Carl Crawford or somebody.

What a heist. I guess Baez looked good at the time?

Sigh.

Jackson has reached at least 97 on the Gameday gun.

I have a question that I would get answered by DirecTv if I could- but I can't.
When FSN Prime Ticket says they are broadcasting a Dodger game in HD (as they did yesterday), they are not doing so on the same channel. So where, if anywhere, can this be found?

Bob, since the conversation in the last thread got LAT'd, I wasn't saying that Bill Plaschke defended the signing of Juan Pierre. I meant that he didn't really say anything about it, which was very telling for a man who has tended toward complimenting The Mustache whenever possible, and that his silence on the subject was deafening. Not commenting on the signing was, to me, a condemnation, since the man wastes no time in applauding everything The Mustache does.

My basic point was that criticism of Pierre has begun early, and that is a result of bloggers, not mainstream journalists. I think more than a few Dodger Thoughts posters probably agree. When Josh Rawitch makes it a point to defend Pierre, when Bill Shaikin writes a Saturday article on statistical analysis...These things reflect the growing power of the Philosopher King and others. That was my only point.

Jon, just make sure to use your powers for good, not evil. Well, 75% good, 25% evil.

Has anyone read of the McCourts or anyone in the Dodgers organization apologizing for the handicapped people with placards/license plates being denied access to those spots?

Re: Parking.
So, which VP takes the fall for an infrastructure-related disaster this time?
It wasn't too many years ago the team redid the lower-deck seats, only to find out on Opening Day that many fans now had obstructed views. That VP was canned - and rather soon after, IIRC.

Speaking of Jackson, in case anyone missed Tony Jackson's update, this is all good:

"Matt Kemp is day to day with a bruised right shoulder, which is a lot better than being out four to six weeks with a dislocated one. He wasn't going to start tomorrow night anyway. Jason Schmidt is fine (dehydration) and won't miss a start. But the biggest news of the day is that Rafael Furcal is targeted to return on Friday night against the Friars. He'll begin a two-day rehab assignment for single-A Inland Empire at Rancho Cucamonga tomorrow. He'll DH tomorrow and play SS Wed., then be re-evaluated."

{Dehydration?}

Just got back from opening day. We arrived about 90 minutes early through the Sunset gate. There was an unusual backup waiting to get through the gates into the park, all the way back to Sunset, but once we got into the parking lot things seemed to be pretty organized as they led us into Lot 1. We did hear rumors of nightmarish traffic jams later on, and two of of our late-arriving friends abandoned their cars in empty lots many blocks away from the park. I'm not sure if it was worse than in previous years, but there was no anecdotal evidence of it being any better than usual. After the game, exiting out of Lot 1 was again no different than in past seasons. There were three attendants standing around the single exit who did nothing more than stare off into space rather than prevent pedestrians from blocking the exit. However this at least was no worse than in previous years where there were no attendants.

26 - I think Bob determined that Plaschke was on leave during this time, working on a book project.

i couldn't see the game today but how did Schmidt look while he was in there? throwing 86 again? Also now...this offense is TRULY worrying me

29 - Thanks.

I find myself rooting for the DRays this year

32 - During the 45 minutes I saw, I thought he had good movement but occasionally missed over the plate and was then vulnerable.

30
So I guess the $5 parking increase just goes directly to Juan Pierre...?

31 I understand that, but I doubt it would prevent Plaschke from weighing in on a subject if, say, JD Drew opted out of his contract during his leave.

I'm pretty sure the man would find time to comment on that.

35 - thanks jon
36 - don't even get me started with Pierre or Gonzo (who reverted to his old self today it seems)

I got to West L.A. in about an hour using surface streets so really no difference, I do think that you have a lot of cars plus quite frankly, numerous people drinking.

I will say this, if you get to the ballpark early enough and are fortunate to park by an exit, then you are going to get out.

Not sure if opening day, a playoff game or a bobblehead give away are going to good examples of this but no complaints from me about the parking.

Now about the game... :)

Why is Sammy Sosa in a starting lineup...?

Jackson walks Nelson Cruz. This could get ugly, but given the Rangers' light-hitting offense this year, maybe not.

34 The 90 students in my Later Roman Empire class seemed unimpressed by my prediction that TB will win a world series by 2010. Maybe they'll be more impressed when the average grade on the midterm is 65.

Jackson's last 7 pitches were clocked at 97, 95, 96, 96, 95, 96, 96

42
Heh heh. That'll learn'em.

44 They refuse to learn, that's the problem.

Observations from the ballpark.

Took only a 1/2 inning, actually 2 outs to get hot dogs, you will probably hear about the Dodgers running out of beer (at least on the reserved level, though they had bottles.)

Parking, I addressed already.

Schmidt, early in the game he was throwing 81-82 on the ballpark gun, later he hit 88-89 most of the time. Aside from Atkins, the balls hit in the 4th were to right field and again, don't know if Kemp should have caught that ball for the double.

A lot of ballparks have that screen that has advertising on the outfield wall, not saying it isn't a hazard but I think the old warning track was more of nuisance.

My hunch is that the Rudy Seanez experience may be the first to end since Grady has shown that he will lose patience with a reliever faster than with almost any other position.

No one outside of Schmidt had good swings against Francis, Martinez's double had to be a mistake for him to pull it down the line, if the LF doesn't touch it, it is probably a ground rule double.

The last time we went to a game the attendants made me take my pack all the way back to my car, making me miss the first inning and a half . After the game it took us an hour and a half to get out of the parking lot. McCourt supposedly runs a parking lot business, right?

45
Those who fail history classes are bound to repeat them

Just a thought on Edwin, again, does it matter if he hits 100 on the gun if guys are still able to put the bat on it and if all it ends up doing is build up pitch counts?

49
Well, I thought we got rid of him primarily because he had lost the speed on his fastball

Well, my parking experience was by far the worst I've ever seen. I ended up in lot 10. Rushed directly to the car after the last out, then sat in the car for over an hour without moving an inch. I only escaped because some other frustrated parkers moved the cones that were blocking off the lot. Getting out of the park was extremely frustrating and it already has me wanting to avoid going to see games this year, which is pretty sad.

I got right out of the stadium after the game with no problem, but getting to the Stadium was kinda bad.

My office is literally 2 miles from the Stadium (in Atwater) so I plan on riding my bike to the game a few times this year.

Juan Pierre on pace to steal 46 bases this year...!

My hunch is that the Rudy Seanez experience may be the first to end since Grady has shown that he will lose patience with a reliever faster than with almost any other position.
Good observation. Rudy pitched well in a mop-up role, but has bombed in both high(er)-leverage appearances. If Grady can't trust him with a lead or to keep the game close, then what role does he have? The organization has plenty of other pitchers who can fit into the mop-up role, and they all have far greater upside.

49 -- So, you're saying great fastball velocity is irrelevent? A major league hitter can put a bat on a 100 MPH pitch, but he will usually have a harder time doing anything with it than a much slower fastball.

50 -- Jackson's velocity was never really a problem when he was a Dodger, though it dipped a bit when he had some back problems. Jackson struggled a lot with command in his last couple of years with us, but I didn't think that was going to be something he couldn't improve, and obviously he has improved in that area.

As you can see, there is going to be some very subjective views about the parking situation, frankly if you park in a preferred lot, getting out on a crowded day may be more problematic because the emphasis on the GA lots is filling up the lots closer to the exits to get them out faster.

I generally try to get to the games no later than 45 minutes before the first pitch but on games with give aways or other big deals, I try to get their even earlier.

Now that is probably in the minority of people going to games but from what I can tell, this system is going help people like me because we are going to end up parking near the exits.

If you are getting to the game within 15 minutes or so, this is where the parking scheme may hurt you. My next game is not going to be good test either since I am going on Sunday but I think the next two nights should be relatively fine.

55 No but Brad Penny led the league with 95 mph plus pitches but he also has problems get into the 6th and 7th innings, that is all I am saying, throwing hard as a starter is great but if all it does is cause guys to extend at bats before doing something, maybe you need to adjust something.

57 But it's not the velocity that causes that. Barry Zito throws mainly junk and he regularly is near the league lead in pitches per plate appearance.

Jackson just hit 98 on his 103rd pitch of the game

31

Yeah, that's what I meant!

I noticed cars still exiting Dodger Stadium when I left work and passed by around 5:50 pm.

My brother and I are going to this Saturday's game against the Padres. I think we'll just park outside of the Stadium and then walk up there, and save $15 and two hours of our time in the process.

We want to see batting practice and hopefully get lucky and get a few autographs. Any tips on how to do that? The game starts at 7:10p. What time should we get to the park?

Theres nothing like hearing frat guys saying jokes (friendly banter) about Beimel while he worms up in the pen.

The Dodgers lost but I had a real good time at the Stadium.

And Shawn Camp ruins Jackson's decent start.

To answer 25's question about Fox games in HD, in my system (Time/Warner Hollywood/Los Angeles) there is a channel dedicated to FSN HD broadcasts, which only broadcasts when there's a game in HD (otherwise a test pattern). In my channel lineup it's 413. There's a schedule at http://msn.foxsports.com/name/HD, at the bottom of the page. According to the schedule, the next games to be broadcast on FSN Prime Ticket HD are the series against the Giants from the 24th through the 26th.

poor e-jax. why'd he get taken out after 85 pitches and with 2 on and 2 out? seems rather unfair, especially since camp let the runs score.

oh, i guess the yahoo pitch count is inaccurate.

"A foot and a half in 35 minutes"? I could definitely be wrong (I took Algebra II in 1964), but I think that's 0.000487 miles per hour.

[23] no. he didn't. baez has never "looked good", except maybe when he looks in the mirror. or when his mother looks at him.

On Extra Innings, I'm watching Arizona-Cincinnati. Thom Brennaman has left Arizona, but now he's doing Reds games.

He is so, so, so awful.

Yet Fox thinks he's good.

though, considering what they've got in their bullpen now, i bet tampa bay misses carter and baez a little.

The Reds road caps have black bills.

I disapprove.

Strenuously.

70 But now he gets to be awful with his dad. How sweet. Brennaman and son being awful together.

The parking situation is not good however the game ended right at the beginning of rush hour which is compounding things. When we left we were forced to take side streets into downtown because getting on to the freeway was basically at a stand still.

Schmidt was throwing 78-81 (the scoreboard was calling them changeups but they weren't) at the start of the game and only hit 88-89 a few times and when he did he had no command of the pitch. Something is not right with him.

70/73 Last year I was listening to a game on Reds radio, as I did regularly. On this particular occasion, the Reds were down by one, a runner on first with one out. Adam Dunn was at the plate. The color analyst (whose name I can't remember) asked Brennaman, "Do you bunt here?" Brennaman: "Absolutely!" Dunn strikes out. "And that's why! You could have had a runner on second with two outs, instead it's game over!" For perspective, I believe this was some time before Dunn's game winning grand slam.

61 - They open up the stadium 2 hours before the first pitch and you can enter through the field level entrance in left field. If you get there early enough, you can probably catch some of the pitchers and outfielders shagging balls. They won't sign during BP but may when the Dodger session comes to an end - about an hour and 15 minutes before game time - I was able to get Brad Penny and Eric Gagne that way.

Then your next opportunity will come right before the game, around 6:45 pm. You can hang out by the bullpen and see if anyone signs there - I've seen Broxton and Saito sign - but it's hit or miss. I've seen people have more success hanging out by the Dodger dugout between sections 33 to 37. If Ethier or Nomar starts on Saturday, they will likely sign - it was part of their pre-game ritual last season. Ethier will sign a bunch, talk a bit - he's really fan friendly. Nomar not so much - usually he'll sign for about 15-20 people then go back to the dugout. Other players will come out but it'll be kind of random.

Lance Carter has two saves in six innings of work for the Orix Buffaloes. He's given up four runs for an ERA of 6.00.

75 Hmm... I botched that story. I conflated two statements separated by a few moments. Of course Brennaman's lamentation at the game's being over came after the third out. Whatever the case, I have a hard time taking him seriously.

78 - Your use of the word "conflated" exonerates you of all other crimes.

On Friday at work, I asked a patron if they were seeking expiation from me.

I later used the word obviate.

I felt really full of it.

Good Wonder Years rerun on Channel, um, 30. The ION network?

Parking story from the LA Times

http://tinyurl.com/yqybdw

Lance Carter has two saves in six innings of work for the Orix Buffaloes. He's given up four runs for an ERA of 6.00.

Weird. Almost makes the "Save" statistic sound meaningless.

Good Wonder Years rerun

My wife never watched The Wonder Years. I think we're gonna watch the series next, after we finish Futurama.

{sarcasm}
So, is Kemp officially not ready?{end sarcasm}

And if Colorado had an outfield like ours, Pierre might have scored 3 runs instead of one.

Also, everytime I saw Francis I kept thinking he looked like Orel Hershiser.

Looked like Atkins knows what David McCarty learned about keeping your hands in.

Becky Garcia, of Whittier, and daughter Desiree, 26, had arrived more than an hour and a half early fearing long lines but found the food-gathering fast and easy. Each started with two hot dogs and sodas, and then shared nachos and peanuts. Shortly after Jason Schmidt hit a 402-foot home run in the third inning, they were thinking of going back for another hot dog.

Times staff writer Spencer Weiner contributed to this article.

What channel is the Wonder Years rerun on for Dish Network?

I hope it's not the episode where Kevin has to decide between Paul and the cool kids, and he pines for Winnie.

That's a tough episode.

I just got home from the game. (You can factor in that I live 2 hours away from the stadium.)

I park in a preferred parking lot. Getting in and getting out was about the same as previous opening days. But listening to KFWB on the way home made it sound like most people were having a terrible time.

I did notice that they were parking cars diagonally on many of the stadium "streets." I've never seen that before. Also, as we made our way to the Sunset exit there were three vehicles parked in the center lane of the inner ring. I'm thinking they must have been directed to park there.

A shuttle system linking remote parking could probably be profitable for somebody.

I think that's also the episode where Wayne is really mean, and Karen disagrees with her father.

I kid. I love The Wonder Years.

Or the one where Wayne makes Kevin's life miserable, and his parents don't care. That one was rough.

90 Beat you to it.

91
I submitted it much earlier, but the tubes were bogged down.

I am really kidding. When Kevin kissed Winnie in the forest after her brother died in Vietnam was one of the memorable television moments of my young life.

Winnie Cooper is a Bruin, and that's a wonderful thing.

The Wonder Years followed by Doogie Howser was one of my all-time favorite back-to-backers

Somewhere in China, Xeifrank's ears are burning.

His lungs probably aren't having a great time either.

A shuttle system to Dodger Stadium from a remote lot requires a dedicated entrance and exit and a lane to pick people up. I don't know where that could be shoehorned into the park.

Interesting start for Matt Cain

Nothing is interesting until there are nine outs to go.

This is not Nam, Smokey. There are rules.

The Giants' Pythagorean Record has them winning roughly 27 games this year. Sounds about right.

Ahh, the optimism of the 1988 offseason:

http://tinyurl.com/2gh953

I was at this game:

http://tinyurl.com/yvo26k

Who's the guy on the right?

http://tinyurl.com/ys92vd

Name that tune:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics39/00054039.jpg

$15?
http://tinyurl.com/yr7ehz

So far my fantasy teams appreciate this Cain outing.

97 - Effectively wild.

He needs more strikeouts though.

John McCain sighting at CIN-AZ.

They're already talking about the history of Giants interestingness. This thing is gone in the next three batters.

Anyone know what cable station's airing "The Wonder Years"?

SD announcers doing everything they can to jinx Cain.

I will laugh if Cain's interestingness extends for 9 innings, with the Giants being held scoreless

We're in the top of the sixth. Not even at the interestingness threshold...Call me after the bottom of the sixth.

Cain has 88 pitches already. That does not bode well.

I hope after 72 we can all agree to call the commenter formerly known as Bob "Demi" from here on out.

As in demitasse or demi-glaze?

No way Cain finishes this game -- walking too many and 91 pitches through 5.1.

Set Condition Alpha...

9 outs till interestingness.