Very nice indeed. What happened to the pad's pen? Bums were feasting.

Nothing makes postgame traffic disappear like a fireworks show after the game!

Ha, we don't know our man, and no one reads SI anymore. In the Baseball Preview issue in looking at the Yankees, they note that twice last season Torre used Petitte as a reliever on his throwing day. They go on to say that perhaps the Yankees should do more of that this year to protect their young arms in the bullpen. (Do we have any of those?)

I loved how patient the Dodger hitters were tonight. Hopefully it's a sign of more to come.

Oh, and Battlestar Galactica: It's fracking back, baby, and off to a great start too!

Tony Jackson just reported that Billingsley will pitch Tuesday, changing spots with Loaiza.

More than anything for me, I might have overreacted because the unexpected use of Bills brought back not so fond memories of the Bizarre game and his last unexpected relief appearance. Probably being overprotective of our ace-to-be.

Just back from Arizona. Left some time after my meetings to drive up to northern Scottsdale to hike around Pinnacle Peak. Scottsdale is like Beverly Hills spread out over an enormous desert valley, surrounded by some raw, volcanic mountains. The hike was incredibly beautiful -- perfect weather, desert flowers everywhere. The locals use this hike as their jogging track. I couldn't believe how many women with obvious breast implants were out hiking in this beautiful spot--wearing pricy sweatsuits and iPods.

Anyway, heard the tail end of the game after landing at LAX. I'm so encouraged by the Dodgers' patient at-bats. In this division, that's your only protection against all the great pitching -- to wear 'em down, to force them to make mistakes, to wait for that one hittable pitch that they have to throw. Hopefully, they'll remember to do that tomorrow against Cy Peavey.

Although it may have seemed like I was freaking out over Billingsley, I wasn't. It was more bemusement at the ridiculousness which continues to ensue from that one erroneous weather report. I don't think the Dodgers are in bad hands regarding the handling of pitchers. (I do, however, reserve the right to revise that opinion when Scott Proctor pitches seven games in eight days in August.)

Since he's right-handed, Peavy will have to spend all day staring at Mariano Duncan coaching third. I hope Mariano has some good antics prepared.

Kuroda! Very, very nice.

I'm sure someone has noticed this but I just gotta say, I hope the date the story was posted had something to do with this. Because I can't explain this: http://tinyurl.com/2sy2bj

Say, did anyone notice that Mike Montgomery is going to coach Cal?

The worst part about being an East Coast Dodger fan is missing all the fun last night although I really enjoy reading about it in the am. Followng the game thru DT comments is great though not nearly as fun as doing it in real time.

I know it's early but I am really encouraged by what I've seen so far this year.

Kuroda Makes Like Maddux

"No thanks, Hiroki. I'll just shower over here by myself..."

12

I'm an "old East Coast Dodger fan" too (since 1965) and I agree - it's not as much fun as being there but it is great to have the DT comments to read in the morning. It certainly gives you way more than our local newspapers. I'm looking forward to seeing the Penny-Peavy matchup in a day game.

Yes it's early, but beating the Padres the game after a loss and the day before Peavy pitches is a good sign. FWIW, I think we will see LaRoche later rather than sooner. It seems like we are too often given overly optimistic recovery times for injuries. Though DeWitt is doing great so far, it sure would be nice to have a healthy LaRoche.

"Andy LaRoche, healing from thumb surgery, had a near-catastrophe while shagging in left field during batting practice when he collided with a ballgirl going after a line drive. Neither was injured."

http://tinyurl.com/3o726m

We've only played 4 games but it's cool waking up & seeing the Dodgers 1/2 a game up & in 1st place in the NL West.

The Dodgers beat the Padres impressively.
The Lakers came from behind to beat Dallas.
Cal finally hired a decent coach.
The Yankees, Giants and Angels all got pummeled. The Red Sox lost too.

Last night was a really good night. I hope there's still good karma left out there for UCLA today.

15 LaRoche is quickly becoming an accident waiting to happen. Just make sure the next time there's a rain delay, keep him far away from the tarps to prevent him pulling a Vince Coleman.

Another East Coaster who spends his Saurday mornings watching the MLB archived game from the night before. Terrific performance by Kuroda, and it was good to see Martin drive in the go-ahead runs.

18
Let's not have Repko and LaRoche in the field at the same time either.

Hu's got a OPS over 1? ;)

17 I'll continue to beat the drum that there are lots of Dodgers fans who are also Angels fans, so one of those things doesn't belong.

22 I think your in the minority. Halo fans made me sick when all of a sudden I saw them everywher in 02'. Before that I never saw a halo fan.

Logan White is a genius he put his reputation on Kuroda man was he right!!

The madres aren't as good as they think hopefully we take down Peavy tonight. Go Blue!

23 Same thing with any franchise that goes years without winning and then suddenly wins big. I've been both a Dodgers and Angels fan since 1976.

22 - I'm not sure about that. I don't know any Dodger fans who cheer for the Angels, and how could you cheer for both teams?

23 - totally agree, going to Dodger games in Anaheim was 50/50 on fans until '02, now Angel fans are everywhere. Actually similar to Padre fans in that sense who came out of the woodwork briefly in 96 then big time in 98

If I had to guess I'd say more than 50% of Dodger fans also root for the Angels.

I'm more AL agnostic, but follow both the A's and Angels equally.

26

Sorry, Eric. I'm in the other 50%. I usually don't care if the Angels lose. I certainly don't root for them.

Exception: 2002 World Series (had more to do with the opponent)

23 Nope, I kind of agree with Daniel. There was never a reason to dislike the Angels growing up. Most everyone I knew rooted for both teams. The Angels we're pretty likable with no really polarizing players.

Well, except Doug DeCinces who didn't give me an autograph after I waited patiently for 7-8 minutes as a 10 year old. That was a big deal to me back then.

Guess which team leads the NL in walks.
Take a bow, Mike Easler.

25 - We've had this debate several times. Dodger Thoughts officially endorses the Angels, and we have many fans of both teams - certainly there's no rush of flee when the Angeles lose.

4

Rule #1 violation.

Not that I care too much. But you know, there are times when I really really want to AT LEAST get away with a euphemism, and in situations far more emotional than discussing a tv show...but I restrain myself, as most of us do.

(Boy what a little twit I am this morning.)

Things might have changed a bit though after Moreno and interleague play came into be. And the who name change to Los Angeles. I haven't lived in So.Cal since then. My memories are mostly of Gene Autry, Reggie, Don Sutton, Brian Downing, Early Devon White. I could see how things have changed.

I think there has been some enmity towards Angels fans from Dodgers fans lately because the Angels are actually competitive now. There was certainly no hate toward the Angels when they were a sad-sack franchise for many years. Now the teams are fairly evenly matched, and in fact many years the Angels have been better, which may be hard for some Dodgers fans to deal with.

I think it's great. It's quite easy to root for both teams when they almost never play each other. My gut would be completely twisted if they ever played each other in a World Series, but I would still love to see it.

32 - My memories go a bit further back. We were always their big brother and shared Chavez Ravine with them. Dean Chance was a big favorite and Daddy Wags as well (patterned my batting trigger on his in Little League).

I also think many Dodger fans resent the whole "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" fiasco.

35 And yet if they had never changed their name the very first time, they would be the Los Angeles Angels today, much like how NY teams have moved to NJ.

I rooted for the Angels as my AL team growing up...mostly out of pity, then I rooted for the Angels hard during the '02 World Series for obvious reasons.

The bandwagon post '02 fans are annoying, but not as annoying as the "LA Angels"....I hate watching the ESPN ticker and seeing Los Angeles and having to wait that split second to realize that it's the Angels. Plus, the Angels billboards all over L.A also bug me. I used to like the Angels, and I stillfollow them, but there is more negativity now.

I can honestly say that whatever affections I have for the Angels would vanish if there was ever a freeway series. Then, knowing myself, I'd probably become part of the 50% that reviles them. I'm sort of really "wacky loyal" that way.

25 ...and how could you cheer for both teams.

Because it's not a true rivalry.

Besides, Californians are too mellow to bother mustering true hate, a la East-coasters. Hate takes effort, a bitter will. It tastes alot like the salt pebbles they throw down on the streets back east in winter. They don't have that here.

My disdain and bitterness is almost solely reserved for the black and orange team from SF.

Strange that his game was so much like a Maddux game because Maddux is the first name that came to mind when I saw the picture of Kuroda they used on dodgers.com. He's making Japanese Greg Maddux Face in that photo.

There might be a lot of Dodgers fans who are also Angels fans, although I suspect that number is far less than 50%. Forgive the anecdotal evidence, but I lived in Southern California for almost 30 years, and the only place where I've ever encountered people who root for both teams is in corners of the Internet, like here. I don't think I've ever met a dual fan in RL.

Not that I'm one to cast stones. At the NCAA level, I root for Cal and UCLA, and also USC to a lesser extent. (I draw the line at Stanford, though.) However, I wouldn't go on a Bruins message board and tell people not to say mean things about the Trojans or Bears because there might be fans with multiple loyalties present.

So Loiaza vs. Dan Haren on Monday, eh? Color me underconfident. I believe that game will be the debut of Chan Ho Park in about the 5th inning.

Tuesday holds more promise, however.

36 - yeah, but they played in Los Angeles then...

My uncle and father both recount that when Drysdale was announcing for the Angels, he would repeatedly talk about the lack of fundamentals the team had. From their recollection he would get flabbergasted by mental errors in their play that happened too frequently.

36 - I actually resented the first name change and this was compounded when they decided it would be convenient to change back!

I've lived in Los Angeles my entire non-college life, and I almost never run into people who dislike the Angels. Usually, they're agnostic.

Anyway, game thread is open up top.

I know we've had this conversation before, but if we're keeping score again: I root against the Angels (though I have no problem having people root for them here or be excited if they do well) goes back a ways, although the more recent Arte Moreno attitude about taking over Los Angeles didn't help my feelings about them, either. But I have this probably irrational dislike for anything Orange county (not people per se, and I have friends and family who live there) but the place itself I find awful in so many ways. It's like Long Island, a once beautiful place that was ruined over time by development and people. I also took a lot of abuse from Angel fans growing up who did hate the Dodgers (insecurity perhaps?) which didn't help either. And that sort of Disney-esque atmosphere that was found a few years ago. That world series was a hard one for me, since I loathe both teams but ultimately I did root for the Angels, because the other option was even worse.

But that's just my own quiet personal thing about them. And I do like some of their young players, who are fun to watch.

43 - An interesting wager would be on who had thrown more innings by the end of Monday night, the third or the fifth in the rotation.

40 That's how I feel, although I give 50 percent of hate to the Giants (I just do, it's not logical) and the other 40 to the rest of the NL West and 10 to whoever ESPN is pimping out of control that year. So far it's the cubs.

Likewise I leave 1 percent for a random AL team to root for..this year it's the Royals. The other 109 percent goes to the dodgers. lol

28 I'm related to Doug DiCenses! He's like a great uncle or something like that through marriage.

I don't dislike the Angels per se, I just don't root for them nor care how they do. For me, the LAA thing bugs me a bit, and I take a lot of grief from in-laws and college friends (all Angel fans), all from OC who are always talking about what a dump Los Angeles is, etc. Not enough to dislike the team, but enough to simply not care. I was certainly cheering for them in the 02 WS though. And I agree about their likeable players, plus I'm sure most of us still like Mike Scioscia.

For me personally, it's too hard follow/root for two teams. I have two in college (SC and Illinois) since I went to one for undergrad and one for grad - that's difficult.

49 - If I'm picking a random AL team I'm going with Toronto if they keep wearing those blue 80's throwback uniforms every week.

I was a Broklyn Dodger fan and I was a big fan of the Pacific Coast League and Steve Bilco et al. Later I enjoyed having the Yankees visit LA to play the Angels. Then the Angels got lost and seemed to open the season with a new set of players every year for what seemed like years.

When the Dodgers lost themselves for most of the last two decades, I could picture Dodger Management suffering when the Angels were in the World Series and I enjoyed that picture very much.

There is no Dodger Angel rivalry so I would just as soon have the Angels win as not.

Here I am, contemplating another FOX Dodgerless Saturday. There are a couple of long shot possibilities; Sometimes, with no apparent rhyme or reason, I get blacked out for proximity to New York, but the Mets game is in Atlanta. Fortunately there is a good chance of rain there. Unfortunately, I would probably get the Detroit game instead.