The Dodgers made their first significant change to the right-field scoreboard at Dodger Stadium in my lifetime of going to games. Underneath the clock, the old board had lineups across the top half - player numbers and positions for both teams, but no names. Across the bottom half, above the numbers of the umpires, ran the score by innings. A column on the right side provided Ball/Strike/Out counts, announced whom an error was on, and in recent years, for some reason counted what number stolen base a player had.

The new board serves the same functions but is a much more flexible version of what existed previously. Instead of numbered lineups for both teams, you are given names with the numbers and positions - alternating for whichever team is up. In addition, a batterÕs updated season totals are provided, protecting you from the whims of the left-field scoreboard department, which always seemed more interested in telling us where a player went to junior high school than what he had done in the current game or season.

The new board also offers some low-level animation, such as player signatures appearing with each different batter, which I find unpretentiously enjoyable.

The biggest change with the new right-field scoreboard ... well, I hate to make a big deal out of this, but the lights are orange. Which for me, makes me think immediately of the scoreboard at an old place a certain rival played ... Candlestick Park. Am I wrong about this? Did anyone else go to the game Monday and have the same feeling?

As you may already have heard, the Dodgers have also added two scoreboards along the outfield fences for out-of-town scores. They also feature the orange tint, but otherwise blend in rather nicely. I do wonder how both player and scoreboard are going to react when one goes crashing into the other in pursuit of a fly ball. IÕd like to think theyÕve taken safety precautions on both ends, but given the complaints about the rubberized warning track that was installed a few years ago, I canÕt be so sure.