Baseball Toaster: Dodger Thoughts : Horrible News: The Wiener Factory Is Closing

Jon Weisman's outlet
for dealing psychologically
with the Los Angeles Dodgers
and baseball.

Hot from the Toaster

Bronx Banter
The Big Yawn

The Griddle
Todd Cruz, 1955-2008

The Juice
Stewart On Fire

Dodger Thoughts
Charting Jonathan Broxton

Bad Altitude
Not Happening

Cardboard Gods
Mario Mendoza

Cub Town
Take It Easy

Catfish Stew
How Green Were My '83 Athletics?

Humbug
Stupid Humbug Stat Tricks: Your basic 13-hit shutout Edition

Fairpole
Server Downtime Scheduled

Toaster Sites
Baseball Toaster
Toaster.TV

BlogAds

Archives

2008
09 08 07
06 05 04 03 02 01

2007
12 11 10 09 08 07
06 05 04 03 02 01

2006
12 11 10 09 08 07
06 05 04 03 02 01

2005
12 11 10 09 08 07
06 05 04 03 02 01

2004
12 11 10 09 08 07
06 05 04 03 02 01

2003
12 11 10 09 08 07
06 05 04 03 02 01

2002
09 08 07

About Jon

Write to Jon

Jon's other site:
Screen Jam
TV and more ...

A kind of biography
"The Meaning of the Game"

Support Dodger Thoughts

Dodger Thoughts T-Shirts
On sale through February 16, 2008

Click here to order.

* * *

The Best of Dodger Thoughts
A 325-page book featuring the top selections from this website from 2002-2005.

Click here for more information.

On Sale Now at Lulu.com

* * *

Or, just make a donation to support the site. Many thanks.

"Dodger Thoughts, like TiVo, is one of those things you can completely do without until you start using it."

- Fanerman

Dodger Sites

Dodger Resources

Non-Partisan Baseball Sites

Partisan Baseball Sites

Baseball, Among Other Things

Invaluable Resources

Less Dodgers, More L.A.

All in the Family

Ask Greg (about Gargoyles)
Anatomy of a Shovel

Other Writing by Jon on the Web

SI.com
NL West Preview
Evaluating Defense
Colletti and Depo
World Baseball Classic
Minor League Broadcasters
Slow Starts
Eric Gagne
Groundball Pitchers
Dodger Prospects
Albert Pujols
Humbled Angels
You Be the Manager
Eric Gagne II
Unreliable Relievers
Revived Angels
It's Okay To Sell
Dodger Turnaround
Andre Ethier
Padres-Dodgers Showdown
NL Final Weekend
Mets-Dodgers NLDS
Postseason ratings
NL Wish Lists
Manny vs. J.D.
McGwire Controversy
Dodger Offense
Trainers Matter

Variety
Will Arnett
John C. McGinley
Laura Dern
Imelda Staunton
SAG Awards
Ellen Pompeo
Grey's Anatomy
2004-05 Rookie Dramas
Anthony Hopkins
NATPE
Scrubs
Award Shows
Topher Grace
Ashton Kutcher
Writing on Improv Shows
Rainn Wilson
T.R. Knight
Guest Actors
Animation Guests
Joey Carson and Tennis
Donald Trump and Golf
2006 Emmys Nominees*
*Comedy Series
*Comedy Director
*Comedy Writer
*Comedy Actor
*Comedy Supporting Actor
Blue's Clues
Lizzy Caplan
Ann Donahue
CMT: Giants
CMA Awards
Little Miss Sunshine
Actor-Directors
Freshman Series
Clint Eastwood
Showrunners vs. Censors
Little Children
Breaking and Entering
Tartikoff Legacy Awards
Jackie Earle Haley
Knights of Prosperity
Office Online
2007 Screenplay Noms
Friday Night Lights
Robert Benton
ABC Fridays
Rookie Actors
Global Casting
2007 Pilot Casting
Sublime Slime

Also ...
A Season in Savannah (Stanford Magazine)
Five Questions: Los Angeles Dodgers (2005) (Hardball Times)
Rick Monday (Baseball Analysts)
Baseball's Odd Couple (Baseball Prospectus)
Five Questions: Los Angeles Dodgers (2006) (Hardball Times)
Five Questions: Los Angeles Dodgers (2007) (Hardball Times)

More Shameless Self-Promotion

Riverside Press-Enterprise

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.

More contract details here.

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

ESPN BR BP Cube Alvarez
ESPN BR BP Cube Abreu
ESPN BR BP Cube Beimel
ESPN BR BP Cube Bennett
ESPN BR BP Cube Billingsley
ESPN BR BP Cube Brazoban
ESPN BR BP Cube Broxton
ESPN BR BP Cube DeWitt
ESPN BR BP Cube Ethier
ESPN BR BP Cube Furcal
ESPN BR BP Cube Garciaparra
ESPN BR BP Cube Hu
ESPN BR BP Cube Jones
ESPN BR BP Cube Kemp
ESPN BR BP Cube Kent
ESPN BR BP Cube Kuo
ESPN BR BP Cube Kuroda
ESPN BR BP Cube LaRoche
ESPN BR BP Cube Loaiza
ESPN BR BP Cube Loney
ESPN BR BP Cube Lowe
ESPN BR BP Cube Martin
ESPN BR BP Cube May
ESPN BR BP Cube McDonald
ESPN BR BP Cube Meloan
ESPN BR BP Cube Miller
ESPN BR BP Cube Orenduff
ESPN BR BP Cube Park
ESPN BR BP Cube Paul
ESPN BR BP Cube Penny
ESPN BR BP Cube Pierre
ESPN BR BP Cube Proctor
ESPN BR BP Cube Repko
ESPN BR BP Cube Saito
ESPN BR BP Cube Schmidt
ESPN BR BP Cube Stults
ESPN BR BP Cube Sweeney
ESPN BR BP Cube Troncoso
ESPN BR BP Cube Wade
ESPN BR BP Cube Young

Selected Recent Ex-Dodgers

ESPN BR BP Cube Alomar
ESPN BR BP Cube Alvarez
ESPN BR BP Cube Aybar
ESPN BR BP Cube Baez
ESPN BR BP Cube Bako
ESPN BR BP Cube Beltre
ESPN BR BP Cube Bradley
ESPN BR BP Cube Cabrera
ESPN BR BP Cube Carrara
ESPN BR BP Cube Carter
ESPN BR BP Cube Chen
ESPN BR BP Cube Choi
ESPN BR BP Cube Cora
ESPN BR BP Cube Crosby
ESPN BR BP Cube Cruz
ESPN BR BP Cube Dessens
ESPN BR BP Cube Dreifort
ESPN BR BP Cube Drew
ESPN BR BP Cube Encarnacion
ESPN BR BP Cube Edwards
ESPN BR BP Cube Erickson
ESPN BR BP Cube Falkenborg
ESPN BR BP Cube Finley
ESPN BR BP Cube Flores
ESPN BR BP Cube Gagne
ESPN BR BP Cube Grabowski
ESPN BR BP Cube Green
ESPN BR BP Cube Guzman
ESPN BR BP Cube Hanrahan
ESPN BR BP Cube Hernandez
ESPN BR BP Cube Hundley
ESPN BR BP Cube Ishii
ESPN BR BP Cube Izturis
ESPN BR BP Cube Jackson
ESPN BR BP Cube Karros
ESPN BR BP Cube Ketchner
ESPN BR BP Cube Ledee
ESPN BR BP Cube Lima
ESPN BR BP Cube Lo Duca
ESPN BR BP Cube Lofton
ESPN BR BP Cube T. Martin
ESPN BR BP Cube Mayne
ESPN BR BP Cube G. Mota
ESPN BR BP Cube Mueller
ESPN BR BP Cube Myrow
ESPN BR BP Cube Nakamura
ESPN BR BP Cube Navarro
ESPN BR BP Cube Nomo
ESPN BR BP Cube Osoria
ESPN BR BP Cube A. Perez
ESPN BR BP Cube O. Perez
ESPN BR BP Cube Phillips
ESPN BR BP Cube Proctor
ESPN BR BP Cube Roberts
ESPN BR BP Cube Robles
ESPN BR BP Cube Romano
ESPN BR BP Cube C. Ross
ESPN BR BP Cube D. Ross
ESPN BR BP Cube Sanchez
ESPN BR BP Cube Schmoll
ESPN BR BP Cube Sele
ESPN BR BP Cube Seo
ESPN BR BP Cube Shuey
ESPN BR BP Cube Stanley
ESPN BR BP Cube S. Stewart
ESPN BR BP Cube Thompson
ESPN BR BP Cube Thurston
ESPN BR BP Cube Valentin
ESPN BR BP Cube Venafro
ESPN BR BP Cube Ventura
ESPN BR BP Cube Weaver
ESPN BR BP Cube Werth
ESPN BR BP Cube Wilson
ESPN BR BP Cube Wunsch

Dodger Thoughts Land

Plant your flag!

Thank You For Not ...

1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with

Syndication

About the Toaster

Baseball Toaster runs on some experimental software called Fairpole. It's still under development.

For more information, please visit the Fairpole blog, or read the FAQ.

Horrible News: The Wiener Factory Is Closing

2007-11-05 09:38

by Jon Weisman

I'm actually enough of a commoner to like Pinkberry, but I may have to rethink that with the news that the one and only Wiener Factory, a beloved dive from my childhood (and adulthood, for that matter), is being replaced on Ventura Boulevard by yet another Pinkberry franchise, according to Steve Hymon of the Times. (Link via L.A. Observed)

I guess I didn't see the writing on the wall - and if you've ever been to the Wiener Factory, you'll know what I'm talking about.

"The good news," Hymon writes, "(is) Kevin Lentz, the Wiener Factory's owner, says that he's knee-deep in offers from fans of his restaurant to help relocate."

Advertisement

Comments

2007-11-05 09:48:37

1. Bob Timmermann

This must be big news if you took Joe Torre off the top!

I've never heard of the place, but it's the wrong end of the Valley for me.

2007-11-05 09:51:47

2. Brent is a Dodger Fan

NOOOOOOOOOO!

2007-11-05 09:53:11

3. Jon Weisman

1 - The mid-south end?

2007-11-05 09:53:16

4. Brent is a Dodger Fan

If they relocate, will they transport the whole shack, or at least re-use the drywall?

Have they still not painted over the Mad Magazine artist's addition to the walls?

2007-11-05 09:54:38

5. Bob Timmermann

I lived in the mid-north end.

2007-11-05 10:04:01

6. Jon Weisman

I lived in the southwest Valley. I probably wasn't much closer to the WF than you.

2007-11-05 10:04:29

7. Sam DC

Say about me what you will, but this post is the first time I've ever heard of Pinkberry.

The Wiener Factory, I know from the Wiener Factory.

2007-11-05 10:12:23

8. Bob Timmermann

Going from Granada Hills to Ventura Boulevard in my day was like moving to New York.

2007-11-05 10:12:25

9. Xeifrank

huh?
vr, Xei

2007-11-05 10:23:37

10. Bob Timmermann

9
Long trip. Almost like visiting a strange new land.

2007-11-05 10:29:03

11. Penarol1916

7. Yeah, I had to google Pinkberry after reading this post. I had absolutely no idea what it was, I couldn't even come up with a reasonable guess, and never would have thought of frozen yogurt in a million years. I would have probably guessed something to do with blackberries instead.

2007-11-05 10:36:30

12. Disabled List

Hearing that the Weiner Factory is closing is good emotional preparation for me, so that I'm better acclimated to handle the eventual news of Matt Kemp's trade away from the Dodgers (if that ever happens).

They both rank about the same on the personal devastation scale. This sucks.

2007-11-05 10:44:06

13. Bluebleeder87

I'm kind of surprised NedCo hasn't talked yet.

2007-11-05 10:51:13

14. Bluebleeder87

watching ESPN, Vin Scully keeps him self in great great shape, it's really nice to see.

2007-11-05 10:54:09

15. underdog

anything else of interest, from joe's press conference? for those of us following on our crappy treos...

off subject, but, man, have you seen pics of kansas' football coach mark mangino? not trying to be a fatophobe, but the man's a house. pic on cover of usa today's sports today.

2007-11-05 10:57:02

16. jasonungar07

Did Joe wear his 4 WS rings or does he have class?

2007-11-05 11:09:20

17. Dave G

I worked for the summer in the building right next to The Wiener Factory. You could tell it was one of those really historic places, not to mention fantastic dogs. I'm kind of surprised there's no historic-cultural monument designation on it or something (as I'm sure there is at Pink's)... such a pity.

2007-11-05 11:09:30

18. Jon Weisman

New post up top.

2007-11-05 11:10:40

19. Jon Weisman

Pink's is so overrated. The Wiener Factory might not be the best, but it runs circles around Pink's.

2007-11-05 14:15:50

20. LAT

Pink's sucks. I can't believe the line around that place.

As for PinkBerry, ours is a house divided. Daughter loves Pinkberry, wife likes Red Mango and I am partial to the Big Chill. One would think that as the head of my house, the guy who is paying and the one who rarly makes a fuss we get to go to the Big Chill whenever I ask but Nooooooooo. Welcome to fatherhood.

2007-11-05 14:30:25

21. player to be named later

4 I'd forgotten about the Sergio Aragones drawing. It fits -- fit -- the place perfectly. Sigh. If a Pinkberry replacing The Weiner Factory isn't some kind of metaphor for the decline of Western civilization...

2007-11-05 15:57:46

22. al bundy

I haven't lived in LA in years. I wasn't familiar with the Wiener Factory which surprises me because my dad loved a good dog and Sherman Oaks was within our range. I grew up in Hidden Hills and Calabasas and have great memories of Flooky's on Ventura somewhere. They used to have batting cages. Good dogs though probably not great as my palate was still young. Memorable fries, though. But the batting cages...!

2007-11-05 16:51:56

23. greenchris

NONONONOOOOOOOOO!!!
I live in NYC now, it's my favorite hot dog spot, better than the ones here! I can't believe it!!!!!

2007-11-05 16:57:27

24. Jon Weisman

23 - I'm not sure it's better then Grey's Papaya on the Upper West Side, though I like the atmosphere better.

2007-11-05 17:03:34

25. greenchris

there's a gray's about 2 blocks from my house, The Factory is better...Sabrette weiners, love the cole slaw cheese dog. Any idea on the closing date? Planning on going back home for the holidays, hopefully it's still around.

To me, this is second to when Jay-Burger's closed a couple of years ago.

2007-11-05 17:09:07

26. Jon Weisman

25 - Which Gray's? I think one is worse than the other.

2007-11-05 17:14:49

27. greenchris

my bad, I confused with another Papaya spot...i'm going to Gray's this w/end and will report back

2007-11-05 19:13:13

28. Robyn

Jon, I'm so sorry. And I agree that Pink's is overrated and frankly awful.

2007-11-05 20:58:02

29. LAT

Jon you and I seem to cross paths on either side of the country. We live a mile from each other in LA and I used to live on 71st St. between Broadway and CPW, near Gray's.

2007-11-05 21:36:10

30. Jon Weisman

29 - My sister-in-law used to live on Broadway in the low 80s. When I visited there, in the late '90s, my wife gave me my first exposure to Gray's and Krispy Kreme. Not to mention H&H. It was impressive.

2007-11-05 22:01:31

31. LAbits

Not familiar with TWF, sorry, but it sounds much like the loss of Tail o' the Pup (the hot dog shaped hot dog stand) on La Cienega by the (now) Beverly Center. Of course, three home runs distance from there, at La Cienega & San Vicente, we also lost the original Fatburger location (where you had to stare down the cook to get your order taken).

Advertisement