Kevin Brown against the Expos on Wednesday: six innings, three hits, no walks, eight strikeouts, 69 pitches.

Yes, it's still Spring Training. No, this doesn't mean he is going to be sound all season. But with a spring ERA of 0.56, you don't hear anyone these days questioning Brown's decision to arrive in Vero Beach after most of his teammates - and the questioning was pretty ferocious last month. What will the Thursday morning papers have to say about this? Will they recall the doubts of February, or will they stay silent?

In February, I took the time to point out that though Brown was not late for Spring Training - but then added that given his recent injury history, maybe he needed to be as early as the rest of his teammates. So for the time being, I deserve my little share of crow.

In the spirit of hoping for the best for Brown and the Dodgers, I'll start eating now. I'll spit it out if fortunes reverse somehow (like if he wakes up Thursday with a sore back).

Turnover

I decided to track each of the spots from the 2002 Dodger roster and see what happened from Opening Day through September 1, when rosters expanded.

Pitchers (11)
Andy Ashby
Kevin Brown
ÉBrown went on disabled list April 15, replaced by Guillermo Mota
ÉMota optioned to Las Vegas, Brown reinstated April 30
ÉBrown went on disabled list May 27, replaced by Brian Corey
ÉCorey placed on disabled list June 4, Mulholland reinstated
ÉMulholland traded to Cleveland July 28, replaced by Paul Shuey
Kazuhisa Ishii
Hideo Nomo
Odalis Perez
Giovanni Carrara
ÉCarrara placed on disabled list August 15, replaced by Brown
Omar Daal
Eric Gagne
Terry Mulholland
Éwent on disabled list May 11, replaced by Jeff Williams
ÉWilliams optioned May 25, replaced by Dennis Springer
ÉSpringer designated for assignment May 29, Orosco reinstated
Jesse Orosco
ÉOrosco went on disabled list May 16, replaced by Mota
ÉMota optioned July 28, replaced by Victor Alvarez
ÉAlvarez optioned August 2, replaced by Kevin Beirne
ÉBeirne outrighted to Vero Beach August 26, replaced by Mota
Paul Quantrill

Catchers (2)
Chad Kreuter
ÉKreuter placed on disabled list June 28, replaced by David Ross
ÉRoss optioned to Las Vegas July 12, replaced by Kreuter
Paul LoDuca

Infielders (8)
Adrian Beltre
Hiram Bocachica
ÉBocachica traded to Detroit July 25, Tyler Houston comes in trade with Milwaukee
Alex Cora
Mark Grudzielanek
Dave Hansen
Cesar Izturis
Eric Karros
Jeff Reboulet
ÉReboulet placed on disabled list July 21, replaced by Mike Kinkade

Outfielders (4)
Shawn Green
Marquis Grissom
Brian Jordan
ÉJordan placed on disabled list August 24, replaced by Jolbert Cabrera
Dave Roberts

Of the 25 Opening Day slots, 17 saw no turnover during the season. Ten out of 15 position player slots stayed the same, and seven out of 11 pitchers.

Of the eight slots that saw turnover, four of them had only one roster move. There was one slot with two roster moves, another with three, another with four and another with five.

Overall, the Dodgers used 35 players for the 25-man roster: 17 pitchers in 11 slots and 18 position players in 14 slots.

ThatÕs a pretty steady roster in my mind. Of course, what separates my website from better ones is that IÕm not taking this a step further, and doing an exhaustive study to compare this turnover to that of other teams.

One conclusion I will draw: Dodger regulars stayed remarkably healthy last year. No starter went on the disabled list until Jordan took his sabbatical August 24.

HereÕs how it went in 2001. Because hitters were replaced by pitchers and vice-versa, IÕm not dividing the roster by position:

Terry Adams
Mark Grudzielanek
ÉGrudzielanek went on disabled list June 12, replaced by Jeff Williams
ÉWilliams optioned to Las Vegas August 1, replaced by Mike Trombley
Eric Gagne
ÉGagne optioned to Las Vegas June 12, replaced by Jeff Branson
ÉBranson optioned to Las Vegas June 28, replaced by Grudzielanek
Hiram Bocachica
ÉBocachica went on disabled list July 13, replaced by McKay Christensen
ÉChristensen sent to Las Vegas July 15, replaced by Gagne
Tom Goodwin
ÉGoodwin went on disabled list July 21, replaced by Christensen
ÉChristensen optioned to Las Vegas August 15, replaced by Bruce Aven
Andy Ashby
ÉAshby went on disabled list April 18, replaced by Luke Prokopec
ÉProkopec went on disabled list August 9, replaced by Goodwin
Tim Bogar
ÉBogar went on disabled list April 5, replaced by Phil Hiatt
ÉHiatt optioned to Las Vegas April 26, replaced by Dave Hansen
Paul LoDuca
ÉLoDuca went on disabled list May 2, replaced by Brian Johnson
ÉJohnson optioned to Las Vegas May 12, replaced by Adrian Beltre
Chris Donnels
ÉDonnels went on disabled list May 21, replaced by LoDuca
Luke Prokopec
Éoptioned to Las Vegas April 10, replaced by Kevin Brown
ÉBrown went on disabled list June 4, replaced by Donnels
ÉDonnels outrighted to Las Vegas July 20, replaced by Aven
ÉAven optioned to Las Vegas July 28, replaced by Bocachica
Gregg Olson
ÉOlson designated for assignment June 23, replaced by Al Reyes
ÉReyes designated for assignment August 25, replaced by Prokopec
ÉProkopec optioned to Las Vegas August 30, replaced by Hiatt
Mike Fetters
ÉFetters went on disabled list June 24, replaced by Brown
ÉBrown went on disabled list July 18, replaced by Dennis Springer
ÉSpringer optioned to Las Vegas July 26, replaced by James Baldwin
Darren Dreifort
ÉDreifort went on disabled list June 30, replaced by Bogar
ÉBogar went on disabled list July 4, replaced by Gagne
ÉGagne optioned to Las Vegas July 5, replaced by Fetters
ÉFetters traded to Pittsburgh July 31, replaced by Terry Mulholland
Matt Herges
Jose Nunez
ÉNunez designated for assignment May 8, replaced by Giovanni Carrara
Chan Ho Park
Jeff Shaw
Chad Kreuter
Alex Cora
Eric Karros
ÉKarros went on disabled list May 25, replaced by Jesse Orosco
ÉOrosco went on disabled list august 19, replaced by Williams
ÉWilliams optioned to Las Vegas August 28, replaced by Brown
Angel Pena
ÉPena designated for assignment June 8, replaced by Sheffield
Jeff Reboulet
Shawn Green
Marquis Grissom
Gary Sheffield
ÉSheffield went on disabled list May 28, replaced by Bogar
ÉBogar went on disabled list June 15, replaced by Karros

What a mess. Only nine roster spots held it together, compared to 17 a year later. Overall, the Dodgers used 42 players for the 25-man roster in 2001, seven more than in 2002.

So it goes both ways. The roster you see March 31 could basically be the bunch youÕll be following all season. Or by the end of the season, many of the names from Opening Day might be forgotten.

A lot of work for a pretty banal conclusion, I suppose. I guess I was just interested in the idea of how much you can dance with the guys that brung ya.