I have posted once or twice, but I read your post everyday since last season. Keep up the outstanding work Jon.
I love the Dodgers I'm 28 I played baseball my whole life and now coach at the high school level. Ever since I was 12 and convinced my dad if we got cable we could watch more Dodger games and switched to Satellite when cable didn't want to air FSW2. I watch the Dodgers almost everyday and was really frustrated last season with grittle. I am looking forward to this season but I expect to see pierre for about the first month until Torre has had enough. I am holding on to a little bit of hope that Ned does the unthinkable and trades Pierre for and overpayed third baseman.
You have good rules and good posters I'll chime in from time to time.

My first Dodger game was in 1970. I had caught baseball fever the year before, at the age of 9, because the Mets were clearly doing something astounding. At that inaugural game Ron Santo hit a home run and the Dodgers lost. But I was hooked, and followed the team religiously from that point on. Painful memories of being back east for college in 1977 and 78, surrounded by gloating Yankee fans in the TV room. I now live in San Luis Obispo, have two kids who play ball at the Little League and Girls Fast Pitch Softball level, and continue to follow the Dodgers rabidly. Thank god for the internet and this web site in particular. You do great work, Jon, and provide sustenance for hungry fans who come looking for scraps during the hard winter.

I've posted a few times recently, but this'll be my first year. I grew up in LA and became a Dodger fan in 1981, probably after going to a Fernando game with my Dad & his friends. Not only would they sell out the stadium, it seemed like thousands more would come to listen to the game on the radio in the parking lot, and just have a party there. Those were exciting times.

Now I live in the Bay Area. I've been posting stupid things about baseball on the internet since 1991.

I'm surprised that I didn't see this coming, but I'm feeling a bit of loss as the Dodgers leave the Grapefruit League.As an east coast fan it means starting those 10pm starts a bit earlier in the year and for ST checking the box later in the day.
Anyway, its nice to hear some new voices.
I'm excited for Jon and wife, its easy to remember what bringing a new chil home is like.

Thats a typo-child.

I read every day but the comments are so good they usually cover all the bases. I grew up in New York a Pirates fan. After Clemente died, I didn't root for anyone for a while. My parents were divorced, I came to Los Angeles with my mother and gradually started to root for the Dodgers, but there's always been a bit of distance there. Hi Satchmo!

4 "its easy to remember what bringing a new chil home is like. "

Ain't nothing like it, from what I'm told >;) (welcome to Toaster all, from BB!)

I'm a Dodger fan living in Arizona, and while I'm sad that another piece of Dodger history is being placed in the file cabinet of memories - Vero Beach - I can't help but be excited that next year they'll be 10 minutes from my home. Anyway, I've been reading DT for two years, posted twice, and love this resource. Well done, Jon. And I have to say, like Jon, we're on baby watch as well. My wife and I are expecting our first during the next few weeks. But the child and I have an agreement, no arrival on March 31 or April 7 (the Dodgers come to AZ, for the Snakes home opener).

Great idea, Jon. This is a thread that needs a bump every know and again.

I'm not new, but can I say that I like those big poofy clouds you get on the rare humid day in Los Angeles? I can picture them beyond the bleachers at Dodgers Stadium up against the San Gabriels in the twilight.

I post very occassionally. My love for the Dodgers comes from my Dad and the Garvey-Cey-Lopes-Russell-R. Smith etc. Dodgers. I was a 7-year old starting to really understand baseball in the 1977 World Series so my love for the team was cemented.
I got Fernando's autograph during the 1981 season on a game ball when the Dodgers played in St. Louis. Ended up getting the ball signed by Garvey, Cey, Lopes, Baker, Smith, Lasorda, Russell, Sax, Welch, Reuss, Pena, Stewart and others.

Well, I've probably only posted a few times over the past 2 years or so I've been reading the site. I'm probably most infamous for thinking we should get the 2003 AL ROY for our team remembering him as he was, not as he is. That's what ignoring a trip to bb-ref will do for you!
Anyway, I live in AZ, but grew up in FL and had several opportunities to see the Dodgers in Vero. I hope to get out to some games next Spring, but enjoy seeing the games the Dodgers play against AZ.
I grew up liking the Dodgers because my Dad was a Dodger fan.
My favorite type of cloud is anything stormy. Big cumulonimbus clouds.
Anyway, thanks for providing a place to learn, to discuss, and to revel in a team we all love.

6 Thanks. I'll try to hold back on some of my wit and brilliant insights. I never thought that I was intimidating noobs.

hi, my name is casey and i'm a dodgerholic

Been reading for about eight months or so but I think this is my first time commenting. The blog is great, especially for those of us that aren't in LA and rarely have the opportunity to see a Dodger game. I grew up going to farm league Dodger games in Montana as a kid and naturally became a lifelong fan of the franchise.

Ive posted occasionally and love some of the insight. Im 24 and started really getting into the Dodgers about the time that Piazza was heading out the door. I obviously havent seen much winning or much losing... more of the 82-88 win seasons as I recall.
Insight here is part of the reason why I dont get 2 papers anymore. I found myself getting more and more upset at some of the pointless articles related to the Dodgers over the years and find reading what goes on here to be a relief that im not alone. Im glad to see us producing our own starters now and every day I pray Pierre voids his own contract.

I only occasionally post but I've read the thoughts here every day or so for the last three years. Great site.

I'm a grad student for 10 more weeks, and then I'll be a newly-licensed teacher looking for a job. Should be fun!

what, no "welcome back" for long-time commenters?

spring is in the air, and i didn't realize until now how ready i am for baseball season to start.

I'm new to this site as a poster, but I've read it for a year or so. I find myself agreeing with Jon more often than not and overall this board seems to have top quality posters.

I've been a Dodger fan since the mid-70s, and by the time I could read well, I've been reading boxscores every morning. 1977 was the first year I followed closely and I have ever since. You might be able to guess who my favorite player of all time is. I own a weekly newspaper in Ripley, Tenn., and a few years ago Denny Cey was trying out with the USA Baseball team in a town about an hour away and I tried to schedule an interview with the Penguin. I found out the next day I did have an interview set up, but they cut Denny the day before and he and his father left. Haven't forgiven USA Baseball for that.

I made my first trip ever to Dodger Stadium last year and enjoyed the Jackie Robinson game. It was everything I ever dreamed of.

Keep up the good work and go Dodgers!

I've posted a couple of time over the past 2-3 years, but I read this site just about everyday. It's the 1st or 2nd page I open up in my browser in the morning. Being on the east coast, I'm pleasantly surprised at how early the comments get going (this post for example...what time do you wake up Jon?)

I was actually born and raised in the Bay Area, but fell in love with Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey when I was a kid. And then there was Fernando and 81!!! Even my mom was a fan. Plus Johnny LeMaster and the cold angry fans at Candlestick did nothing to sway me. Thirty years later and I'm a bigger Dodger fan than ever - all thanks to this site.

2008 should be a great year!

I'm new enough, I guess. I'm 24, going to graduate school at UCLA in the fall, and I just got a shipping confirmation e-mail for my DT shirt!

This isn't my first time commenting, but it seems like it since I haven't commented in quite a while. I guess I'm still a little intimidated by the incredible amount of knowledge here and it's rare that I have something that great to add. This seemed like a great opportunity to have another go at it...especially with the season right around the corner.

I've been a Dodger fan all my life, from my grandpa to my dad and down to me, but I'm sure I'm a bigger fan than both of them ever were. I'm 26 now and I really started closely following the Dodgers, but also baseball in general, after I went away to college, probably in part because I was trying to hang on to my childhood but also because I rediscovered my love of the game through fantasy baseball and the fact that I had a lot more time. The magic of 1988 is still pretty fresh in my memory being that it was the first time I got to stay up to watch the end of a game and that's how it turned out.

I'm in awe of Jon and all the Toaster bloggers. My left-brain quite enjoys the musings here as well as other blogs that I'm sure the commenters here frequent as well, but I'll still listen to the useless banter on the XM MLB channel or wherever else since I'll also take whatever I can get. I can't wait for this season to start and while I'm happy about the successful semi-youth movement the Dodgers are having, I'm probably even happier that the Giants are going to be so horrible.

I've been reading for a couple years now, ever since I discovered the joys of watching a game on MLBtv and following along on DT. I'm originally from LA but grew up in Kentucky, inheriting my dad's Dodger allegiance along the way. Now I live in NYC and routinely stay up until 1 am watching Dodger home games. In terms of great blogging and a fantastic community, DT is tops.

Hi my name is mark, I have been reading Dodger Thoughts since before you came over to the Toaster (can't recall what the previous host site was), I must have posted maybe 10 time between the two sites, mainly questions though, this place sure has grown.

Anyway I consider this to be one of my must read sites, so thanks and keep up the good work.

-schoffle

Oh and congratulations Jon I can't recall if this is your first, but I believe that is not, either way I am sure it will be a blessing and look forward to seeing some pictures and reading about the event, I myself have a 16 month old and I am expecting our 2nd in October (playoff baby, maybe).

23 - I'm also in NYC and routinely watch on MLBtv until 1am...I was contemplating getting Extra Innings this year, but you reminded me that it's really enjoyable watching online and following the comments simultaneously.

Like the 4+1 game!!!

Hey guys, name is Bob, and I've been a Dodger fan for most of my life. I grew up in Vero Beach, and was only exposed to the Dodgers from 2nd grade until graduation. My parents (and family) are Yankees fans, and my grandma still have a love/hate relationship with my baseball allegiance because she grew up in Brooklyn when the Bums were the Bums. I've never been to Dodger Stadium, but I catch as many games as I can at Coors Field (yea, Im stuck in the Rockies). Anyway, love this blog and check it every day. Sad to see the boys leave Dodgertown - Vero will never, ever be the same.

Cheers and Go Blue!

Bob

I post occasionally, not often. 3rd generation Dodger fan, my grandfather growing up in Cherry Hill, NJ back in the Brooklyn days. He elected to raise his family in Pasadena, with my mom the only of the 5 kids who really took an interest in baseball. I started following baseball when my family moved to Arizona in the mid 80's where the Dodgers were the local team, with the games broadcast on radio and even some televised games on local TV. My mom finally got fed up during the Fox years and adopted the Diamondbacks, but I've remained loyal. My favorite cloud is the protagonist from Final Fantasy VII.

Greetings!

I'm 23, born and raised in Arizona, but have been working in Sacramento for the past year. I root for the Dodgers because my father's from Brooklyn, and I was already 14 when the D-Backs came to town.

Jon, thanks for the first site I look at every morning when I get to the office.

Hey Vishal, good to read you. Where you been?

Welcome, new posters! Though I've been around here for a couple of years, like SaltinWound 6 I tend to leave the commenting to others who do it so well. I am here multiple times each day - Jon runs a great, high-quality site.

OT - I Told Ya So. From Gurnick's Dodgers.com article: "The location of Garciaparra's microfracture ....makes this injury hauntingly similar in location to that suffered by former Dodgers outfielder Jayson Werth."

We'll be hearing about this all year long. Hurry up, Andy!

23 , 25 It's great to hear from fellow NYC Dodger fans. There's nothing like showing up to work groggy because you stayed up past 1 am watching Dodger baseball the night before.

Rob Neyer endorses Hu as the opening day 3B in his blog today, referencing and quoting Jon's article from yesterday:

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=neyer_rob ($$$)

I came across this site about four years ago, but never really got all the inside jokes (I never watched Arrested Development) within the community, so I have stayed away from commenting much. I think I have less than 10 posts through the years. I stop by, read the post, and check out a few comments. Usually there is a couple hundred there already.

I have been Dodger fan my whole life, so I don't know what really brought me to them. It's just one of those things that happens. I like blue, so why not? Oh, and my dad is a Dodger fan and I suppose he exerted a small amount of influence on my life during my younger days.

My defining moment of Dodger fandom came in 1989 when I was in a forest fire prevention commercial with Kirk Gibson that was taped on the field at Dodger Stadium before a game. I met Manny Mota, Mickey Hatcher, and - of course - Gibson, who was a God in LA at that time.

Now, I am a 29 year old in advertising/communications living in Kansas City.

The first Dodger game I went to was in 1966. Our CYO group sat out in the right field pavillion. To bad it wasn't all you could eat back then because our bus load of kids from the barrio would have had quite a feast. As an eleven year old kid from the east side who had never ventured past the Sears store on Soto st, looking inward at the rising four decks of Dodger Stadium from the outfield was really something special. Osteen was pitching that night and I remember being somewhat disappointed that Koufax or Drysdale wern't on the mound instead. "Who's this guy Osteen?" I kept asking my older brother. Ron Fairly was in rf for the Dodgers that night and some red headed guy (Rusty Staub) played right for the Astros. The Dodgers won easily and I've been a loyal Dodger fan since. Next weekend my brother and I are going to the game at the Coliseum and this is what makes the Dodgers so special to me. That no matter what goes on in our lives year after year, we can always come back to the enjoyment of going to a Dodger game.

This is a great site Jon. All the info I need to keep up with the team and enough view points to keep it fresh.

Welcome all!

3 We'll let ya know if we do a Dodger Thoughts North (SF) gathering again this summer. Vishal will come up with some sort of hazing ritual. Just go along with it.

Should be easier to get tickets to games at SBC Park this year. ;-)

After years of scanning the internet for Dodger news & reading various message boards, I finally ran across DT this offseason. Now I just come here, and when new news is posted it's linked here. Great to read thoughtful views from other Dodger fanatics.

I grew up a Dodger fan in LA, watching the '80's Dodger homegrown infield, being a young teen in '88 thinking I could get used to winning like that.... Hmm, still waiting. Every year I start out thinking this is the year... Picturing Pierre coming off the bench late, pulling a Dave Roberts circa '04! Pierre for pinch-runner, could be the move that gets us into October!

Live up in the Bay Area now, surrounded by Giants fans, still proudly wearing the blue!

Great site here with insightful posters, thanks to Jon, your moderating skills are unparalleled on the web!

19 -- Ceyheyjay, nice to see you over from the Big Blue Wrecking Crew board. I hope you will post here as the spirit moves you.

Vishal introduced me to the site a few years ago and I've been reading pretty religiously ever since. Don't get around to contributing too often but that's okay.

Also, HI VISHAL! Daniel and I were talking about taking another road-trip up north this year, so I'll keep you posted.

32
I must be getting cynical, because when I went to that link I was expecting to see a headline of "Hu's on Third?"

Thankfully, that was not the case.

But, Rob credited Jeff Weisman. I'll have to email him. I expect Mr. Neyer's inbox to be flooded post haste!

39
Perhaps the piece is credited to the yet unborn Weisman son and his name is going to be Jeff.

I am pretty sure I found this site via a google search, and I have never looked back.

Some of my favorite memories at Dodger stadium have been going to games with my Little League team (sitting in the far outfield of the reserve section), seeing Martinez pitch the perfect game against, being at the 4+1 game, and the best in my mind was a double header against the Padres with my dad and brother on Father's day. Fernando pitched in one of the games, and we heckled Tony Gwynn a lot.

I am always amazed that my dad would put up with the traffic from the South Bay to get to Dodger Stadium or Paulie Pavilion for games at 7pm. I don't know if I would have the same patience, but I imagine having a kid share in your passion will make you go through quite a lot. I will soon know, since our first is due May 12th. I plan to take him to his first Dodger game this summer.

35 funny, I was going to suggest DT North gathering at PBell. I'm over in Modesto, so it's not too far. Being in Modesto we now have the Modesto Nuts formerly the Modesto A's. The Nuts are a Co Rockies team.

I have been a Dodger fan all of my life having grown up in SoCal. I moved to NYC about a year and a half ago and have been checking this site daily to get my fix of Dodger's news. I am a grad student at NYU getting my masters in education (social studies).
I want to thank Jon for the blog and all of the commenters for their insights.

42 Well, we'll have plenty of nuts at SBC Park, too, to make you feel at home. We should definitely have a northern outing this summer. (I can't believe it's going to be that long before the Dodgers play up here. That's nutty, too.)

21 Sporky

going to graduate school at UCLA in the fall

What field, Sporky?

44 what is sad is I'm this close and still haven't been to the new park. I hear it's a little more "wine and cheese" than the stick. I always feared for my life at that place.

Hi, I'm an infrequent poster and still marvel at how often people here post. I'm somewhat addicted to this blog but am constantly looking over my shoulder at work to read Jon's posts and the comments. I have been a Dodger fan since 1989 when my parents moved the family from Indiana to Orange County and have fond memories of my Dad taking us to Dodger games in 1990. I've been working in the non-profit field, first working at a small community based organization and now at a larger philanthropic health foundation (in our regional office in San Diego - our LA headquarters has a view of Dodger Stadium!)

I just got back from a week at Vero Beach with and am even more excited for the season!

46

I remember going to a game at Candlestick in Dodger blue...I was very afraid at the time.

I was also scared at the park I went to last night north of the 210 off of Fair Oaks. I don't know if I will be going there at night anymore.

I am a Dodgers fan living in NJ. I have been a Dodgers fan since they played the A's in the World Series in 1974. I rememer coming home from grade school and watching them.
I am a die hard fan, and remember listening to their games on AM radio wherever I could get reception. I remember getting the Pirates, Reds, Cubs, Phillies, and Mets stations on the radio.
I now subscribe to the MLB Extra innings package to watch all of the games they cover. My body has gotten used to staying up past midnight to watch thru the 6th inning on most nights.

I'll jump in. I'm a native of Baldwin Park, in the San Gabriel Valley. Stanford Alum (Go Cardinal!) and Michigan for grad school (go Blue!). I work as an Archivist/Librarian for UC San Francisco, which is a great place to live, except for the all the Giants fans. But every time I stress out about Pierre/Ethier and the Dodgers 3b situation, I just think, "thank God I'm not a Giants fan." Giants fans are very demoralized and suffering from a post-Bonds hangover. I'm not too sympathetic.
I attend most Dodgers/Giants games so if any DT posters make it up for the games I'd love to connect. It's always fun to wear Dodger gear in San Francisco and I love the solidarity of fans in the enemy's house. The Giants fans at Phonecompany Park are so much nicer and yuppified than the ones at Candlestick were. I've yet to have a battery thrown at me.
Keep up the great work Jon and everyone.

48 It's always cold, so even if I wear a Dodgers t-shirt, I end up wearing a sweater over it or something. I don't have any Dodger sweaters, but maybe for this season's norcal DT meet(s), I'll bring a Dodgers hat.

Hi all,

I think I found the sight when Vin Scully mentioned it on KFWB for the first time maybe four years ago. I've been reading every day since. My only DT claim to fame is being half of what I think was the first mother-son double post on DT. I used to post as tomb-- which is just my name "tom b". It was about a year before I realized it also meant a place to keep dead people. I have since decided to go with other, less conspicuous initials.

You're the best Jon!

Thomas

48 there is no way I would wear Dodger gear at the stick. At the very least I would expect to be covered in beer by the time the game was over. I remember taking my wife to a game there when Darryl Strawberry was briefly with the Gnats. I was freezing. Fights were happening all around us. Beer was thrown. Luckily we escaped unscathed.

I can't find a desktop ticker to track the games on any of the major sites. Has anyone else had any luck with that?

I actually found this site through DodgerMath a while ago and have been reading it ever since. I'm primarily a hockey fan (I write for a little hockey blog) but I've gotten used to following the Dodgers when the Kings inevitably fail around March.

I keep waiting to find out that the Dodgers and the media have just been messing with we fans and Juan Pierre isn't actually going to start over Andre Ethier. Nice try, guys, but next time make it a little more believable.

54

I've only seen it for plans you have to pay for ..."indsider" type stuff

I love this thread. I think all of you should post a lot more.

Jon, when is the baby due? The 22nd? Did I dream that?

I comment here a lot, but I wanted to say my favorite kind of cloud is any cloud I see out the window when I'm in an airplane, even though it is fun to say nimbostratus.

45 Public health (epidemiology, specifically).

57
I think they are inducing labor today.

I love the thin clouds that reflect the sunset when I look towards the Rose Bowl on Walnut.

Outstanding Kershaw article:

http://www2.sbsun.com/sports/ci_8630337

60

That was the rumor...I hope his wife likes Basketball

Hey, my name is Ian and I have been a Dodger fan for many a years. I was 8 in 88' and we were all across the street at the neighbors house helping them paint the inside of the place and Gibson hit his famous shot. Everyone went nuts and paint went all over the place. That did it for me. Before the FSN broadcasts, I used to listen on the radio at night or read the box scores the next morning while eating breakfast before school. My uncle and I go to a lot of games. I sometimes just take the subway and go by myself after a stop at the shortstop.

I got into this site because I had a roommate who was playing drums for a band. They were practicing at our place one night last summer and I had the game on of course. The guitar player guy (one of you's on this site) and I got into a Dodger conversation in which I was probably telling you that the Dodgers were killing me again this year. The guitar player guy then told me about "Jon Weisman's Dodgerthoughts, you should check it out." So I did and here I am.

wow, six years in the blogosphere and I'm still amazed by the number of lurkers at any site; but especially at the big ones.

welcome all, don't be shy when the real games start.

I think I found this site from The Hardball Times, shortly after the infamous Penny-LoDuca trade. I've been around ever since, with occasional school-related sabbaticals.

This is my first post here, but I have been lurking here since stumbling upon this sight while looking for some analysis of the Jackson / Tiffany. Since that time DT and True Blue LA have really enhanced my enjoyment in follwing the Dodgers... So thanks for the commentary and forum

I used to post here way more often, but I post very infrequently now. I still read every day, but I just don't want to repeat what everybody else is saying.

After reading through posts yesterday and today, I think we should temporarily call this place Baby Thoughts. My wife and I are expecting our first in June. He already has a few Dodgers outfits!

I'll chime in. I discovered Dodger Thoughts about two and a half years ago, and like everyone else it is the first thing I check every morning. Thanks to everybody for making this such an informative and entertaining place. It's crazy, but Dodger Thoughts has changed the way I watch games. Minutes after the 4+1 game had ended, all I could think about was going into work the next morning, turning on my computer, and reading what everyone had to say. I feel like I know all you guys, and I want to say thanks again, especially to Jon for having the best Dodger web site.

56 - Yeah, I found the ESPN one. It's not working for me though. Nice way to treat your Insiders.

I think I found Dodger Thoughts (when it was on the old site - AllBaseball?), Steve's Fire Jim Tracy, and the Fifth Outfielder all around the same time. Saved me from the dreck on the ESPN message boards (present company excluded, if anyone around here frequented that board).

fantasy question
R,H,HR,RBI,SB,BB,K,TB, AVG, W,L,K,HR (given up), ERA, WHIP
this will help me determine if i should make the trade.
Which 4 would you rather have?
A- Glaus 3B, Sizmore OF, A. Jones Util, Peavy
B- Braun 3B, A. Jones OF, Thome Util, Hamels

I just clicked on to the CBS link and now I am watching the game live. Don't know how that happened but it rocks

37
Canuck, it's good to hear from you again. I know this doesn't fit this topic, but just something I'm trying to find out and since you are so up-to-date on minor league things, maybe you know.
Is Chuck Tiffany done? He's not on the Rays 40-man roster any more and he hasn't pitched in almost two years. Just curious.

A

Hi all,

It's very rare that I'll comment here, but I generally read through every comment, every day. Because of Jon's great writing, this is the first Dodger site I go to in the morning, evening, whenever, and I think my "R" key is a little worn because of all the great threads and the insights the regular commenters bring. I just never have much to add, and when I do, I'm usually scooped (often by Bob) a few posts up anyway, so I guess I'm officially a lurker. I like that it's sometimes Parents Thoughts, Movie Thoughts, TV Thoughts, Misc. Thoughts, too, and I especially enjoy hearing from all the Dads out there since the wife and I are expecting our first (a girl) in late-July. My Father-in-Law (who wrote the essay "Vin Scully: Artist" that Jon linked to a year or two back) really got me thinking more about the statical aspects of the game, and this site has provided an invaluable (and ongoing) education.

Anyway, thanks for all the great posts and comments. I really do treasure this site.

54 Are you on a Mac? There are several widgets to choose from on Apple's website. If you're on PC, sorry, I can't help you except to say that you could have Gameday open.

71
I would take Sizemore, Braun, Peavy, and Hamels.

Oh nm, I would go with A.

If you go to the boxscores at ESPN and click on the watch this game tab for CBS sports it will take you to a waiting room. Do nothing, and it will eventually start playing the game for you

By the way, "Lurker" is such a creepy term. Can we come up with something else?

I don't remember how I stumbled across Dodger Thoughts, but I believe it was through Baseball Think Factory, which was called Baseball Primer at the time. I want to say it was 2003 or so.

71 - I would take A. I'm not entirely convinced that Braun is going to repeat his year from last year. Sizemore is a good buy low candidate, and Peavy is a better bet than Hamels.

Jones, Thome, and Glaus are probably interchangeable given those stat categories.

80 I think "lurker" is a pretty good term. I mean, I always feel like I'm eavesdropping on other people's conversations when I read this site.

Plus, I'm usually reading it through the window over cargill's shoulder.

Welcome all. And just between you and me, if we limited comments to people who bring something new to add, there would be a lot less posts around here.

I think I came on at the end of the 2005 season aka Jacksonville Thoughts but I have been a pretty regular reader/poster since then.

49 Its amazing what a fanatic fan with an AM radio will put up with, although Extra Innings has mostly closed that era. Up in western Mass. I clearly remember getting NY, Pittsburg, Cincinatti, and Philadelphia, but couldn't quite get Chicago. Some nights the reception was horrendous. Of course I learned that various die-hard fans had their favorite spots (usually hill tops) to park their cars for better reception to a particular station

Xavier is not looking good and Georgia really wants this

Hi,
Mother of nbjr here, checking in. I'm fifty-fi..cough cough. I grew up on Long Island an avid Mets fan: after George Harrison, my biggest crush was Eddie Cranepool. My Dad would take us to Shea Stadium for games, and I got to sing "There's no place to go but up." Dad was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan as a kid, and never forgave them their move west. So when I came out here in 1977, I brought his grudge with me, and stayed loyal to the Mets, even as my son became more and more crazed about the Dodgers. One day, about seven years ago, I woke up and thought,"Hey! I've been clinging to Dad's resentment for decades, loyally supporting an inconsistent, exciting, infuriating, crazy-making team three thousand miles away, when I could loyally support an inconsistent, exciting, infuriating, crazy-making team right here in L.A., AND get to watch actual games in an actual stadium!" Ding! Done. Now I'm the proud owner of a 15 game mini-pack, two dodger thoughts t-shirts, numerous bobble-heads along with other embarrassing paraphernalia, and a big crush on the Golden God. I read this blog obsessively, and post very sporadically. My last post was about the Losing of Lurch, and I actually got a mention from Jon above the banner, so to speak, which got me so excited yet freaked out I decided to quit while I was ahead. Until now. So thanks, Jon, and all of you who are regulars. This is way long, but don't worry, just pro-rate it over the next year or so.

My favorite cloud is a Stratocumulus.

I'm not a new commenter but I tend to lurk a lot, so here's a post to break the habit.

83 You work/study with cargill?

I'm not new, but I'd like to add to the welcomes by describing how I became a Dodger fan and found this site. The two things are not unrelated.

I've been a baseball fan for a long time. I grew up in Schenectady, New York, which has no major league club. Geographically speaking, I had four or five choices, all about three or a little more hours away. The two Canadian clubs weren't so far, but neither broadcasted its games on a channel I received regularly. Neither, IIRC, did the Mets. That left the Yankees (WPIX) and Red Sox (WSBK). Since I have a strong streak of rooting for the underdog, I rooted for the Sox. My support for them grew when I went to a university near Boston. Still, my loyalty to them was never strong. I rooted for them, but I never really followed them day-to-day.

I moved to Los Angeles in 1996 and began attending Dodger games, but I didn't become a Dodger fan until the following things happened:

1. A friend -- who posts here as JimBilly4 -- organized a Dodger season ticket group, beginning in 2004. I joined up mostly -- no, entirely -- because it seemed like a good opportunity to see a large number of games. Even though I didn't "root for" the Dodgers, I didn't oppose them, either, and this was the best way for me to see Major League Baseball. Also, this season (2004), the Dodgers hired Paul DePodesta. I'll simply say that this intrigued me and I had hoped that his ideas would meet with success... and the resulting controversy over his decisions helped bring me to the team.

2. The Red Sox won the World Series. They were no longer underdogs. In fact, as others have noted, they became Yankees Jr., even as many of their fans still thought that the Yankees were somehow different/more evil. I found my Red Sox fandom waning, quickly, after the 2004 season.

3. So now it's 2005. There is a small piece in the LA Times about the "wild boys" at DodgerThoughts.com nicknaming Brazoban as "Ghame Over." I visit the site...

3a. ...where I learn that the 2005 Jacksonville Suns are loaded with talent. I start following the Suns -- even following Nate's links to the Suns' site to watch/listen to the games over the internet...

3b. It became very easy to transfer my Suns fandom to the Dodgers.

Without any of these items -- had the Sox still been waiting for a World Series, or had I not had Dodgers tickets in my pocket, or had the Dodgers not had a highly impressive group of youngsters ready to take the world by storm, and had I not been able to find out about those young players here at Dodger Thoughts -- I may not have been the OutWatcher that I became.

It's a good day to say how much I love this site.

Big love out to the 4+1 Weismans. Good luck today.

I feel like the guy watching a fun party through a window for a few years and finally getting invited in, only to find out I've been invited all along.

Anyway, I've been a Dodger fan all my life, with the exception of a few rebellious teenage years where I rejected baseball because my parents love it. We can be kind of stupid in our teenage years, but at least I didn't have to deal with the Piazza trade.

87 Have you seen some Eric S.'s posts (just kidding man).

Welcome to you and all multi-generational DTers.

I want to see the day when Jon hands the DT mobile keys to a young Weisman.

Technically I'm not a first time poster - I posted once during the Beltre trade mega-discussion (well, actually twice due to technical difficulties), so I've been reading the site since then.

Although born and raised in SoCal, I now live in NY, where there are two major obstacles to following the Dodgers
1) A complete lack of coverage (though I can tell you all about the Mets and Yankees)
2) I'm fast asleep before well before the games end.

So DT is my way of having an 'inside' scoop on my team and staying connected.

(As an aside, Gargoyles was one of my favortie TV shows of all time, so the fact that Jon is related to that show sealed the deal for me).

Thanks for keeping me in the loop everyone, even if I don't have much to add!

As if this is news. I am sure Molly can speak to this.

http://tinyurl.com/27aanr

I hope I have never misinterpreted one of her posts.

94
I just bought Live Science's book, "Fire is Hot", which included a foreword by Frankenstein's monster entitled "Fire Bad".

I'm bored. So here goes. My Nana (my hippie Mom's side) was the one that got me into the Dodgers. My Dad was a big football guy, played football at Arcadia High, Citrus CC, and NAU (for Mike Shanahan), so he never really cared for baseball. I remember I started getting into the Dodgers big time, right as those pins at Unocal 76 came out. She got me every single one, and I still have all of them. My grandfather was Chief over at LA City Fire Department, and it seemed he always had tickets to everything. He took me to Dodger games when he had free time. My favorite cloud would be a cirrus, Love was the best LA band ever, I like Bob's boring historical anecdotes, and I wish Milton Bradley was still roaming CF for the Dodgers.

Thanks, Jon. This place is the Mecca for all things Dodgers.

89 i don't believe so, i'm not quite sure what that means.

94
Just like with my Suffering Bruin anecdote about his trip to the library, there wouldn't be a comparable story for men in the library because most men are just as likely to misinterpret a bird flying past a window as a woman interested in them as much as an actual woman visiting the library.

I came here about 2 years ago because I required a venue where I could be myself without getting punched in the face.

The second reason is that barely anyone I know likes baseball, much less the Dodgers. They like to go on rants about how boring baseball is. And they end their sentences with "you know?" And I'm like, NO I don't "know". Are you hearing me, I LIKE baseball! I RELATE TO NOTHING OF WHAT YOU JUST SAID!

So I ended up here, where I can relate. Sort of.

One of the best things about this site is that it's user-friendly. It's an old fashioned forum where everyone talks in the same space.

Some other forums are divided into a bunch of different rooms, which gives the feeling of being dislocated from each other.

Honestly, those divided topic formats are so lame. You can only discuss certain topics in certain rooms? In real life sitting around with friends, say you wanna bring up Spiderman. No one pipes up and says NO! YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE SPIDERMAN ROOM TO TALK ABOUT THAT!

This format is a free-for-all and it works great with the ingenious way you can bracket numbers to recall previous posts.

You feel like you need an air traffic controller degree to navigate those other forums. Who wants to deal with that?

I found this site at the beginning of the 2005 season after looking for someone who thought the LoDuca trade was a good idea. This led me to Fire Jim Tracy and then to here. Suddenly empowered, I thought "hey, people want to hear what I think".

Now, just three years later,I co-write for arguably the second biggest non-comedy based blog about the Dodgers. Take that people from high school.

89 Sorry, attempt at a joke. Now I see why you leave that sort of thing to Bob.

99 - This is hardly the appropriate place to discuss air traffic control, Frip. You'll have to find somewhere else.

I'm another lurker. My given name is also Jon. I like Jon W.'s writing (thinking?) and analysis, and the links to other informative sites.

I started following the Dodgers as a 14-year-old in Phoenix 'cause my best friend was a fan. They had just lost the WS to the A's. I really became a fan the next few years listening to Vin Scully tell me bedtime stories most spring, summer, and fall nights, with some help from Ross Porter and Jerry Daggett. That and the fact that the team was good and interesting.

My room was in the basement and the AM signal would wander in and out. My big sis once came in and asked why I was listening to static. Many, many good memories.

For 23 of the past 30 yrs I've lived on the east coast. The internet has been a lifeline to help me keep up with Dodger happenings.

By education I'm a statistician, by profession I'm in manufacturing. Some how it seems to work.

Jon- best of luck with the new addition.

I have been posting on this site as often as possible, but the people on here know their Dodgers. I consider myself a diehard Dodger Fan, yet my friends do not want to hear about OBP or OPS stats. Considering i was born in raised in Roseville, Ca. (just outside Sacramento, now live in Santa Barbara) most of my friends were Giants fans. It only furthered my bond with the boys in blue.

That being said, I am like the a minor league prospect on this site. I had all the accolades in Dodger knowledge within my social group, but coming to this site and discussing points with other diehards, is like seeing a big league curveball for the 1st time. It took some adjusting to the knowledge of readers/posters on this site.

Ok, i won't continue to type a novel. Keep up the great work everybody.

93 Gargoyles was part of my youth! Well, for a couple years anyway. That was an awesome show.

96 I may have asked this before. When was your dad at Arcadia high? They were my school's (Monrovia) arch rivals when I went to high school in the early 70's.

Sometime today, John Sickels will be posting another article of his "Not a Rookie" series, this time on non-Prospect, Matt Kemp.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/

87 Hi LOB, it's nice to know I'm not the only mom here! I'm also a loyal Bruin who was there at UCLA at the end of the Wooden era. Go Bruins!

I've been a loyal reader of Dodger Thoughts ever since I saw a blurb about DT in the Times back in '03. I post very occasionally, usually when I find an interesting article that no one else has posted about, or to answer a question when Bob isn't around. :)

My favorite Dodger was Wes Parker, and I was there in 1970 with my free "Dodger A-student" ticket when Bill Singer pitched his no-hitter. More recently, we were there for Lima's playoff win, and the 4+1 game. But alas, we left early...

Wishing the best to Jon & Mrs Jon, and the rest of the Weisman family!

97 If you were the paranoid sort, you would be looking out your window to see what sort of telescopic line of sights exist to othe buildings.

The Red Sox landed in Tokyo, but at Haneda Airport. That airport usually doesn't take international flights unless they come from China or Taiwan. The A's landed at Narita.

Narita and Haneda are long ways apart. I had to catch a bus between the two for a connecting flight. From my perspective, it was a 5-minute bus ride. It was actually about 90, but I slept for 85 minutes of the trip.

I'd urge all the people who pause before commenting for fear they don't have anything new to add to wade right in. Two-thirds of my comments aren't really about anything at all,and the other third are about a entirely different baseball team.

Come on Xavier!

Really, Bob's last comment was about how much he slept on a bus ride between two airports in Japan. I'm thinking there are some quiet folks out there who can keep up with that.

I don't post that often, and if I do post, it's usually non-baseball related because I don't feel like I have a ton to add to the baseball related conversation. Thanks Jon though, for providing me with a place where I can catch up on everything Dodger related.

I grew up in Arcadia, listening to Ross Porter and Rick Monday on the radio most of the time since I didn't have cable tv. I think I stated before that I became a fan in 1991 at the age of 6. I remember watching Darryl Strawberry hitting a home run in a game and I got hooked on the Dodgers. I went to Berkeley for college and now I'm working in Silicon Valley designing circuits. A lot of my friends up here are mostly basketball and football fans, so it's nice to have this place to be surrounded by baseball talk. Hopefully one of these days I'll go to SBC and meet up with some of you NorCal DT'ers.

111
I will second that. I often post nonsensical ramblings about the "plus minus" Pac-10 standings, or delve into a schedule breakdown of the NBA Western Conference playoff hopefuls.

All I really add is bad puns and boring historical anecdotes anyway.

Yep, this game is getting physical

Now that Jon knows that I take cooking lessons get ready for Olive Oil Thoughts.

106 Wow, he was born in 1956 so.... Timothy Lockridge is my pops if that helps. He also has two older brothers. Patrick and Thomas (who went on to play for Wake Forest). They all played cornerback, I believe. Also there is Janis (who was friends with Stevie Nicks and graduated same year as her), Kathy, and Cecilia (your breaking my heart! for Simon and Garfunkel fans). I've got many cousins.

Hey, the NCAA tournament thread is over on the Griddle.

Where we are presently debating the merits of KFC.

115 Eric, lets talk about that Padre series, I might want to do that Sunday game.

120 Really, I need to go back there since I brought it up.

Ross Porter gave me the heads up on DT during the 2004 season. When the LaDuca trade went down I went looking for intelligent discussion and decided to check out DT.

Holy cow -- real news about that other baseball team. http://tinyurl.com/yrpum6

116 You forgot the inane cycle alerts.

Just kidding. I like the cycle alerts.

109 i was wondering if maybe the boss stumbled upon the site.

i've posted (albeit briefly) before, but thought i'd still chime in.

i emancipated myself from a cubs family when we moved to LA when i was four. one of my earliest LA memories (and memories, period) was watching nomo pitch somewhere near his rookie year.

i used to write on the dodgers at mlbtraderumors until tim (the owner) beat me to every rumor i could find. i co-own some bizarre simpsons message board, and if you search my real name on playboy.com a picture of me pops up because of it.

111 I've made one worthwhile post during my time at Dodger Thoughts, but it got me a sidebar quote. I'm a two true outcomes commenter. I either hit a 5-run home run or I hit into a season-ending quadruple play.

119 Ha, I was born in 1956 too. Ask your dad if he knew a Joel Werk, who played football at Arcadia, but was a good friend of mine when he lived in Monrovia earlier.

124
What a short reign for him.

127 Wow, another Jacob, and from a Cub family to boot.

124 So Odalis really is the ace of that staff now.

118 one of my fav channels is the food network, now in HD

129 Hilarious, I'll run that by him.

132 I've sort of been hoping they'd sign Jeff Weaver.

How sad is that?

133 Really? I watch a lot of the food network, because I love food and cooking shows, but I find myself disappointed more often than not. Far too gimmicky and personality driven. I'm a big fan of most of the old-line PBS food shows (particularly Cooking at the Academy and any Jacques Pepin vehicle). Lately I'm really into the Anthony Bourdain show on the travel channel.

I think I've read of Raider fans on this site before, maybe trainwreck, not sure. not as vocal a fan as I once was. Use to read a couple Raider blogs/forums, but nothing that could touch DT. Any suggestions Raider fans.

135 What is the rotation now?

Odalis
Shawn Hill
Mike O'Conner
Joel Hanrahan?
Beltan Perez?

136 I like the show done by Cooks Illustrated, not so much personality driven with good tips.

136 I'm a sucker for gimmicks and personalities

Everyone must read this New Yorker article about Lenny Dykstra's sports magazine start-up right now:

http://tinyurl.com/2spfbu

60 must be stressful hopefully there holding up well...

137
I have never read a credible Raiders blog. They are all filled with Al Davis Kool-Aid drinkers.

I was a really active poster last season, but a stretch in the hospital left me unable to post for a while.

I'm off the 60 day DL and happy to be back. I'll be out to see the Dodgers in AZ this Saturday!

137 I'm a Raider fan (don't hold it against me) and I usually check out raiderfans.net for intelligent Raider talk. Well, would you believe intelligible talk?

139 Haven't seen that one. I'll have to check it out. I think the one thing that bugs me the most about the food channel is the show "Unwrapped." Its free advertising for the packaged food industry, and somehow the network thinks it should be featured in prime time every night.

141
They mentioned that on HBO Real Sports when they did a piece on how Dykstra has become a stock market master.

best food network show, throwdown with bobby flay. they did lasagna the other night about 20 minutes after i ate i big dinner, and if they put that lasagna in front of my face at that point i'd have inhaled it.

136 Alton Brown's show is good. He has a strong personality, but lots of info and lots of cool cooking. And lots of love of food.

Also, all the Raider blogs feel like charging their posters money.

141 Can I read it later? Its kind of long.

138 Nationals rotation not totally clear, but likely to be:

Shawn Hill (assuming injury recovery continues on track)
Odalis Perez
Tim Redding
Jason Bergmann
Matt Chico or possibly rookie John Lannan (he who got ejected in (I think) the first inning of his first major league start for HBPing Ryan Howard and then HBPing Chase Utley, breaking his wrist).

Hanrahan has moved to the pen and been lights out this Spring.

Hi Jon and company, it's always a pleasure reading your comments. Yes, there are many of us watching from the shadows and, if I may be so bold, you guys set a pretty high standard.

Congratulations to Jon and Lex for their shiny new arrivals.

I've been reading daily now since last season's bitter end. I became hooked on baseball as an 8-year old living in Milwaukee, Wis. My parents would let me take the bus across town to County Stadium where the Braves had Hank Aaron, Eddy Mathews, Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, Frank Torre, and Joe Adcock, among other notables, and I was hooked. I would lay in bed listening to the games on my transistor radio, and the World Series win over the Yankees was the way I learned how the game should be.

I became a Dodger fan after graduating from ASU and then leaving the desert for the coast, Santa Barbara bound. I became a fan of the Blue during the early 70's Garvy, Lopes, Russell and Cey era, and remain so to this day. I've had the pleasure of passing my enthusiasm for all things Blue on to my son, and hope to make it to at least a few games this season.

Keep up the good work.

I came on board shortly after the Penny-LoDuca trade, I think, and I post from time to time, usually after Bob makes a "Manchurian Candidate" reference.

Any Best of Food Network discussion has to include Alton Brown and "Good Eats", right? The Bill Nye of cooking shows.

For me, this season is the most anticipated in my time here at DT. Can't wait for it to start.

I grew up a Dodger fan in Ventura County, and when I moved away for college in 2001, I looked to the Internet to get my Dodgers fix. I don't exactly know when or how I found this site, but ever since it's been my everyday stop for everything Dodgers. I've bounced all over the country, and this site has been an excellent source for news and analysis for an out-of-state fan. I've probably only posted two or three times, but I read every one of Jon's posts. I get into the comments when I have time, and those are just as enjoyable.

My favorite memories are of keeping score at Dodger Stadium. My dad taught me to keep score, and during the games my sister and I would tag team it - she would score the visiting team, I would score the Dodgers. Now here I am doing the same thing for a living ... I work at a Division II school in Florida as the media relations contact for baseball and soccer. I get to watch baseball games for a living - write about them, compile and analyze the stats, come up with interesting notes for our broadcasters, research our team's history, etc. I couldn't imagine having more fun in a job than I am now, other than actually working for the Dodgers.

My family came out here last week (actually flew back this morning) to see Vero Beach for the first (and obviously last) time. My parents came out last spring, but it was the first time for each of my sisters. Dodgertown is absolutely glorious. I couldn't imagine another place where I could just relax and watch baseball and be as happy as I was for the few days I've been lucky enough to be there. I'm not sure how long I'll be here in Florida, but if it's for the long-term it's a shame that I won't be able to see the team every spring.

Even on my day off from work, I still was keeping score at a baseball game. I come to this site because I love this game, and I know everyone else here does too. Thanks to everyone and Jon especially for such an amazing site.

141 I think I was able to read most of it, so Lenny Dykstra grew up to be a surburban enterpreneaur. Sounds a lot like Rex Hudler (of course with the cursing left in).

Smug, arrogant, chip on his shoulders, but successful.

155
He came off as an idiot savant in the HBO piece.

121
BH, I can't do the Sunday game at Petco. I'm running in the Carlsbad 5k -- http://tinyurl.com/3c4lqd.

I can do Friday night or Saturday though.

I liked that one show on Food Network where the guy had a real tight budget, but always whipped up something swiftly. I need help, I forget his name. I don't think it's on any more.

I gave up on the food network when Rachel Ray got popular. I also loathe Emeril.

But I like Cooks Illustrated and if they have a show, I'll check it out.

This is probably one of my all time favorite threads. THere's been some good ones, the Choi-grenade era, the CMC, philosopher thoughts, etc. The "lurker" comments are as interesting as the old-timers. It like warliy going to a party with a semi-aquaintance only to discover you know many people there and everybody's connected to everybody else. In fact, I really expect all of you to look me up when you are in Nashville and we can have our own party. (I re-upped for EI even though I'm mad at MLB's stupid blackout policy). In fact I'd start the party with what should be my at-bat intro: Dire Straits "Down to the Waterline".

PS > all you cloud-parent-library-people need to check out David Wesiner's Sector 7 (I think I've mentioned it before, but I thought it was very cool)

http://tinyurl.com/2edv8b

158 Dave Lieberman?

Hi all - I've been reading this site daily for a couple of years, but haven't commented before. I've been living in the Bay Area for the last 8 years, but learned to love the Dodgers growing up in LA.

159 Its called America's Test Kitchen, its on all the local PBS stations, on KCET it airs at 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

I guess now is as good a time as any to chime in. I can probably count the number of posts that I haven't read here over the last 4 years on one hand, but rarely actually post. I was born and raised in Hawaii (anyone else out here besides Link?), but to a mother from East LA. The Dodgers are in my blood, as my Grandma started following them when the games started playing on the radio when they moved out to LA in 1958. I left paradise to go to Cal and ended up in the Bay Area for almost 10 years and saw more Bonds milestones than I would have liked. I have been known to take half-days from work to drive down for 7:40 Friday night games (thanks to all here for the traffic tips on getting down the 5 to the Stadium!). But I am now back in Hawaii and although I can't get to MLB games nearly as easily as before, I get to watch and listen to Vinny on TV and follow along here, and that's not a bad trade-off.

This place is great, and it starts with Jon at the top, but also because of all the great commenters here. I love Pac-10 thoughts and Lost thoughts and freeway thoughts and whatever else seems to come up here. DT is a part of my day that I don't know what I'd do without. Thanks everyone, and sorry for the essay of a post.

It's almost 12, I wonder if it is now 4+1 in the Weisman family yet?

161 No, I don't think it was him. He might have had an accent. I believe it was based in New York. He would walk out of this tiny kitchen, go shopping with like almost no money, and come back and make an awesome meal.

165
I doubt that Jon is checking the blog now. But I hear some baby monitors have web browsers built into them and you can have multiple windows open.

I was born in Marin County, raised in the High Desert and now live in Virgina. My mom was born in LA and her family goes back to the 1850's in CA.

My 1st MLB game was in Detroit but my first Dodger game was at the Coliseum with my LL team. Been a fan ever since. My dad and I used to go to DS to see the Giants play (because we loved to see the Dodgers beat the Giants).

I came within 4 feet (how wide is an aisle?) of catching a Willie Mays HR in 1962 (maybe it was '63).

Koufax is my all time favorite BB player. I'm too old for that to ever change.

I love how easy it is to follow the Dodgers on the east coast now. It used to be almost impossible.

Let me add my thanks to Jon for this site. I love it, even if I post stupid comments sometimes. Hopefully it gives you a laugh.

OT for a moment.

A great light goes out: http://tinyurl.com/2x6xkj

Brilliant actor.

163
That sounds like a good show. I'll have to add that to the DVR.

161
I also liked that show, "Good Deal With Dave Lieberman". I tend to like shows that focus on the food and not the hosts (except Giada).

169
"A Man For All Seasons" is the earliest Best Picture Oscar winner I've seen. It was embarrassing during the Oscar telecast when they showed every Best Picture winner, and I kept saying "Nope", "haven't seen it", etc for the first 35 years or so.

161 I have found that some women believe her head is too big for her body. Also, I just don't think that what she wears is cooking attire but then if she wore a chef's apron, would you watch?

141

That was wacky. The writer did a great job making me feel the craziness that is Dykstra

172
Wait, she cooks?

25 year old, life long Dodger fan living in Virginia. I remember my dad getting really excited one evening when I was about 6 years old, and I came to find out when I was a teenager that night was Kirk Gibson's HR in the '88 WS. My old man grew up in Brooklyn and stayed true his Bums when they headed out west and I became a Dodger fan by default. I only have clear memories of one post season victory in my lifetime as a Dodger fan and I'm looking forward to some success over the next few years with our first legitimate manager since Tommy. I made it Vero Beach this year for spring training and can only imagine that when a Dodger fan dies and goes to heaven, it's a lot like Dodgertown. Koufax is my favorite player of all time, Eric Gagne's steroid use was a HUGE dissapointment to me, and Russ Martin is my new favorite Dodger. I think the Dodgers have 6 guys that can hit 20 HRs or more this year but I'm gearing myself up for another let down of a season, especially if Pierre is our lead-off hitter.

I have been reading the site for years and occasionally throw in my two cents.

I have been a Dodger fan all my life despite growing up Orange County. I was at game 1 of the WS in '88 (I have the tickets and the program to prove it). That night by blood officially turned blue.

This site has been so educational for me and I appreciate all the time and effort Jon and the regular posters have put into it.

168 I misread that for a moment and thought you said "you go back to the 1850sin CA." I thought, wow, he's not kidding, he's really old! Well, I think Koufax is one of my favorite Dodgers anyway, and I was born in 1970.

Okay, we're definitely going to have to do a NorCal outing to a Dodgers-Giants game this summer. Too many of us up here to not!

The first baseball game I remember was the 1989 All- Star game at Angel Stadium. Way up in the nose bleeds. I didn't care one bit as long as I had one of those sweet KTLA Channel 5 pleather gloves.

I'm a somewhat infrequent binge poster, but always read. I came to DT very much like 70 . I came to the Dodgers a little earlier.

My dad moved from Brooklyn to L.A. the same year as the Dodgers, doing movie stunt work initially. I grew up in Diamond Bar spoiled, we shared season tix a few rows behind the dugout until '89 when I left.

I did ~10 dot com years in SF before moving to Phoenix, where I'm at now. I've subscribed to Extra Innings for about a decade, but I can remember sitting in my car on top Russian Hill barely picking up the Dodgers Radio Network out of the central valley for big games.

I've never been able to get to Vero Beach in March, so I am geeked to going my first official Dodger ST game here in AZ today. (I'm not counting Vegas & those pre-season Angel series).

BTW, over this off season I got into cooking, and much prefer old PBS over the current Food Network. But the good stuff for me is in books, starting with McGee.

174 Actually, her recipes are pretty simple to do and she doesn't use acronyms like some do on that network.

171 Mutiny on Bounty (Clark Gable, Charles Laughton version) (1935) is the first Best Picture winner I watched all the way through, Gone With The Wind, Casablanca and The Best Years of Our Lives would be the next ones that I have seen the whole movie (and several times I must say).

If you like snappy dialogue, The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Citizen Kane and Casablanca have great scenes and wonderful acting.

177 Let us So Cal folks know about it, maybe some of us might come up.

172 She does remind me of a bobble head.

171 I remember watching the same thing with my wife, and she said "Yes" to about 95% of them, even the old ones, while I was pretty pitiful.

30 Bison gunned down =(

http://www.9news.com/news/top-article.aspx?storyid=88474

Howdy, I don't know how long I've been reading DT. I first started reading at the pre-Toaster site and posted a bit under spunknik. When DT came over to the Toaster I was told by the computer that it was a vulgar userid and I couldn't use it. Spunk didn't used to be a vulgar word, but oh well. I suppose I should feel some loss over Paul Scofield since Thomas More gave me this userid (hopefully less vulgar).

Anyway I grew up in LA to a non-sports family. I went to lots of games, but my family isn't really sports fans. Dodger's love has been my own thing, I guess since maybe college (Fiat Slug!). I live in Colorado for the moment, but will be moving to DC/VA in May.

Had a son last year. I made sure that he listened to as many games on MLB Radio as I could early on. Gotta start the bugger off on the right foot.

Anyway thanks all for the introductions, and thanks Jon for this excellent forum.

171
I've seen "Broadway Melody of 1929."

I have seen it so others do not have to. It's an early talkie, but it still has title cards in it. And really weird camerawork and people talking into strange objects because that's where their microphone was.

Last night I watched "Tokyo Story" for the first time. That was really good, but I didn't realize it until after it was over. You appreciate that film more after seeing the whole thing.

Any idea how many new usernames were created on the Toaster since this post went online? I would imagine most first time posters created a username a while ago, but have never posted until today. Still, I am intrigued.

It has been wonderful to read todays comments.

I asked a couple of days ago, but it was at the very end of a giant thread, and no one answered. So here goes again.

I'm grateful to Jon's posting of the Gameday links to all games (maybe not today). But I'm amazed that there seems to be no link to Gameday from anywhere at all on the mlb.com site nor any team sites like dodgers.com, nor from any game listings on the sites, nor from Live Box Scores. Nowhere.

Yes, I now know that Gameday central is at http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/#20080320. But it's very very peculiar that you can't get there from Multimedia Guide, from anywhere in any Multimedia or Audio & Video pull-down menu on any mlb site.

Naturally, they keep directing you to subscription services that cost money, like Gameday Audio and MLB.TV. But to have no link at all? Why even develop it if they're not going provide even a single link? On the main mlb.com site, in the list of current games, there's a tiny Gameday icon at the bottom icon "key", but no game actually has the clickable Gameday icon, even though all current games are in fact on Gameday.

Weird. Or am I missing something somewhere?

158 MC Safety

I believe you are thinking of Jamie Oliver (The Naked Chef)

I'm shameless (or self-confident!) enough to admit that I'll stop at Dinner Impossible! if I happen to flip by.

I realize Marty is frowning.

It's the only Food Network porn I do!

I've been a Dodger fan for as long as I can remember, just like all my brothers and sisters. When I turned 6, I got a birthday card from Steve Garvey. Not sure which of my siblings set that up, but when it came in the mail, I ran into my room to compare the autograph on the card with the one on my 1981 team photo poster (which had all the autographs printed on it). I still have the card, of course.

Two of my brothers were at Game 1 of the 88 World Series, but the didn't take me. So I watched it on TV.

My daughter is 2 (turns 3 in September). She went to 15 games with me last season, and has been asking to go to a Dodger game for the last 5 months. I keep saying, "soon". She comes up to me and says "Dodger song! Dodger song!", and then we sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", and dance around the living room. Someday, she'll have been a Dodger fan for longer than she can remember.

177 hey me too, what month were you born.

143 yeah, I tend to agree. Interested in what you think of the upcomming draft and what the Raiders should do.

190 I like that show, too bad about his pumping up his resume.

Do not spend 3 hours watching the 1936 Best Picture, The Great Ziegfeld. Enough said.

Let the lurker-outing roll on. Posted intermittently in 2003-4 and now lurk occasionally when job, 11-mo old, and grad school allow. I actually recall DT pre-Toaster. When was that switch?

Dodgers have always been a family affair especially as the Rams, Raiders, and Lakers one by one became dead to me. Season tickets since the 70's and lucky timing to attend Hershisher's game 2 in 88 and Finley's home run in 2004 truly cinched the deal.

Thank you Jon for the birth and nurture of DT and the "Thank You for Not.." guidelines which keep the site from becoming the mens room in a sports bar.

191 I don't know you but would you like two free tickets to the Sunday game against the Boston Red Sox, I will be happy to send them to you.

You are the post of the day in my book.

They are in the shade in the Inner Reserve Section right behind home plate.

188 Clicking the Gameday icon should work. There's a weird bug I noticed occassionally where your clicks actually register a little bit right of where you are pointing, so that could be your problem.

193
You can go on Netflix and just put all the Best Picture winners that are available on DVD in your queue.

"The Life of Emile Zola" was somewhat interesting. But I don't know if I have the stomach for "Cimarron" or "The Greatest Show on Earth."

Hi Y'all. First time poster--long time lurker. Can't remember my first game per se, but I'm certain the year was 1963. My dad, a proud jew, took me to many games that year primarily to witness Koufax make a mockery of opposing lineups. My dad was also kind of thrifty so we would always sit on the top deck where a ticket for both him and me would cost a combined $4.50. These days I take my own ten year old son to at least fifteen games a season. He complains bitterly though if I make him sit anywhere but field level. Went to sleep most school nights listening to Vinny's voice on the radio (God's eternal gift to Los Angeles). I think this is the year we play well into October.

191
A post like that makes me wish I had children.

196 But there's no Gameday icon next to the actual games, like Yankees-Blue Jays at the moment, for example. Even though there is in fact a Gameday going on for that game. The only icon is in the "key" explaining what the icons mean at the bottom of the list (this is on the main mlb.com site). None of those "key" icons is live.

This is in Firefox 2.0.0.12 on a Mac. Same with Safari. Are live icons showing up on Windows browsers?

200 Nope. Guess they have some bugs to work out before the season starts.

191 Teach her this one next.

Let's go! Batter up!
We're taking the afternoon off!
It's a beautiful day for a ballgame
For a ballgame today!

The fans are out to get a ticket or two
From Walla Walla, Washington to Kalamazoo!

It's a beautiful day for a home run,
But even a triple's OK!

We're going to cheer
And boo
Or raise a hullabaloo
At the ballgame today.
At the ballgame, the wonderful ballgame, today!

Wow!!

Vin Scully is up today in Deadspin's "Media Approval Ratings." He's currently running at 95%, with 21 people disapproving. Lousy Giant fans.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/yravph

197 Or GreenCine. :-P Yeah, had this discussion recently with some film bloggers - some of the early Best Picture winners haven't aged well at all. Greatest Show on Earth is terrible, although it's kind of watchable in a car wreck kind of way. I'm sure some of the recent Best Picture winners won't age any better.

181 Will do, BH!

203
Derek Lowe voted 21 times.

Another good reason to have kids, from Ryan Zimmerman's online chat at the Wash Post today:

Washington, D.C.: My best moment as a fan was your home run to beat the Yankees. I'm wondering whether that moment is your biggest baseball thrill.

Ryan Zimmerman: I think it is. I have had a few other walk off hits but that was the first one I ever had and it was on Father's Day with my Dad in the crowd.

Also amusing from that chat, someone asked what they talk about during mound conferences:

"We talk about everything you can think of. The game, people/girls in the stands, what we're gonna do after the game. It's a nice break from concentrating every pitch."

http://tinyurl.com/2dbw8d

205
Bob must be a True Blue lurker.

I don't think it ever won best picture but Arsenic and Lace is one of my favorite old movies. Not sure what that says about me but it is what it is.

141 Facinating picture of Lenny Dysktra. He's pretty self-absorbed, but that's not saying anything special about an athlete. It is interesting that he's been able to turn what arguably made him special as a balllplayer (his drive) into other areas.

It IS a good idea for someone (anyone) to convince these young millionaires to do something smart and plan for their retirement, which will be coming before they know it.

Potentially very lucrative market for a big insurance company, too.

195 Sincerest thanks for the offer, but we've got a family reunion to go to that afternoon. My wife tells me attendance is mandatory.

"You are the post of the day in my book."

This, officially, is the nicest thing anybody has said to me all week. (Except for my daughter, who told me just this morning that I was a princess.)

210 Okay, contact me anyway, I have half a season of tickets and I want to do this for you, send me an email at BHSportsguy@aol.com and tell me if weekends or weeknights are better for you.

191 199 I have three daughters ages 2, 4 and 9. I was living in socal until our oldest was 4. Made sure we took her to dodger games right away no matter how inconvenient having a baby at a game was. Don't even think I had a dodger baseball cap, but made sure I got her one (pink even) and a matching dodger monkey.

Hardest part about moving away was not being able to expose the kids to Dodger stadium and the Dodgers. I'll have to make sure our trip to Disneyland matches up nicely with the Dodgers schedule.

Some of the greatest fathering moments are when my girls cuddle up while I'm watching a game and start asking about the game.

My sister is due with her first tomorrow, her husband has insisted that my soon-to-be niece wear Dodger regalia on the way home.

Sometimes, he and I can find common ground.

I'm trying to figure out how I found this blog. I think it was through 6-4-2, who I found through an Angels blog. Can't remember when I started reading or posting... I want to say I have two full seasons under my belt, and maybe a little more.

207 - and suddenly I'm reminded of the best scene in Bull Durham...

202 I like that. Especially "But even a triple's OK!" What's the tune that goes with it? (You don't have to sing, or hum. A URL link will do fine, ;-))

I became a Dodger fan when I read the Baseball Life of Sandy Koufax as young boy in the 1960s. I was in Ohio at the time. I had no particular allegiance to the Indians or Reds or, for that matter, baseball. You see, my Mom & Dad are from Ireland. My Dad immigrated here and joined the Air Force. I was born in France and lived in Ohio and Okinawa before the Air Force brought us to Arkansas, where I've been ever since. I've seen the Dodgers play in Chavez Ravine, Philadelphia, New York and, mostly, St. Louis. I've raised my 14-year-old son as a Dodger fan. I remember breaking the news to him that the Dodgers traded Piazza. His lower lip began quivering and he turned away from me, ran to his mom and cried. Jon, keep up the good work. I don't know what I'd do without this place.

By the way, have you guys already discussed this:

http://www.baseball-intellect.com/Articles/matt-kemp-bat-speed.html

Noel

202

Do they still play that as the introduction to Dodger games? Reading those lyrics brings back some good memories.

210 - Priceless.

197 - Raiders should pick Ghoulston. Al is throwing all caution (and all his money) to the wind. I hope it works out this season, because if not, the Raiders are gonna be a sorry lot for long time. They won't have any wiggle room to make up for any bad signings.

217
Yes, they still play the song.

They don't play the verse that goes:

It's a beautiful day for the ladies!
So throw all your dishes away!

218 There was an interesting piece on the Raiders picking McFadden on SI.com. Don't know that I agree. My preferences lean towards Dorsey or Ellis. Gholston wouldn't be bad though.

218 so what do you think of the Deangelo Hall pickup. I think Davis will have trouble passing up Darren Mcfadden and to be honest I am to.

If you like dialogue, check out "His Girl Friday". Howard Hawks rules.

I have commented in the past, but I like this idea as a way to get to know people better.

I'm a 28 year old female that lives in the suburbs of Los Angeles. I'm engaged to be married this July and I'm excited about that. My fiance and I dated our first few months by going to Dodgers games when I found out he was a big fan. I would sit at work looking for tickets and then call him at work and ask if he wanted to go. It was a blast.

I first fell in love with the Dodgers during the 1988 season when I went to my first game. From my name you can tell who my favorite player is. But as the times have changed I still love the boys in blue, Vin, and Dodger Stadium. I claim to be a huge fan and to prove it, I have the Dodgers signature logo tattooed on my left ankle.

I'm looking forward to watching our young and seasoned guys play. Hopefully we can do some wonderful things this year that bring grown men and women to cry, kind of like watching Kirk Gibson's home run over and over again.

Go Dodgers!

BISOTAUR

http://www.prairiegames.com/mmow/packimages/Bisotaur.jpg

223
All men on the board now inhale to make their beer guts disappear.

188 I think that Gameday is running in a development mode, and won't really be available for the public until the regular season. Its obvious that they are just updating it every inning half if lucky.
Last year when its icon was there it theoretically was updated every pitch. Of course it would freeze now and then, or the guy would suddenly put up 3 or four pitches in thirt seconds. Somebody gave out one game and from there you can often figure out the link, but I'm not sure it has much more info than the box at present.

Kemp's 'Not a rookie' post is up.

http://www.minorleagueball.com

223 I hope you saw Toy Cannon's post on True Blue L.A. on falling in love at Dodger Stadium.

http://www.truebluela.com/story/2008/2/12/121755/494

224 Awesome.

223
If you just emitted the word "engaged" you would have quickly become the new "post of the day":)
Dating at Dodger Stadium is a long honored past time.

Brand spankin' new post up top

This is my first post since for one day Dodger Thoughts became Condiment Thoughts and people were taking strong positions pro and con on mustard, mayo, and catsup (or ketchup or however CW has it spelled). I didn't realize how pro-mustard I was. Somehow I haven't posted since -- plus being on the East Coast the timing doesn't work out. Plus the wife wants me to actually do chores around the house.

I've been around here long enough to have a Ghame Over shirt, that I hope against hopelessness is not a ghost of Dodger Thoughts Past.

My strongest Dodgers memory was when my dad promised to take us boys to the Dodger game that turned out to the Koufax's perfect game...and he ended up working late, so we couldn't go. We paced around the Fisher stereo unit listening to Vin and Jerry just dying that we weren't there. 43 years later it's still a big topic among us, now far-flung across the globe.

back to the thread the other day about DT posters and their pictures. Cargill mentioned how he always pictured JW. Well everytime I think of Bob Timmermann, please forgive me, I picture him looking like Bill Plaschke.

224
I wish I had seen that 3 days ago.

223 - Welcome - As a fan that uses a name from that special year when our boys in blue last tasted the fruits of victory, I welcome you. I loved the Bulldog also, but since my wife and I attended Game 1 of the World Series and were in the 2nd row of the right field bleachers when that miracle homerun happened, I had to adopt the Gibsonhobbs moniker. It will alway be that special memory I will carry with me to my old age and into the afterlife as my favorite live sports memory. That euphoria I felt seeing and hearing the ball leaving the yard and the joy and unabashed excitement of the Dodger fans as we celebrated for an hour afterards in the stands not wanting to leave is etched in my memory bank. Bless you as we take all our fans, especially loyal female fans as we can get them.

Now, what the heck are we going to do about third base?

215 219 Found it on amazon.com:

http://tinyurl.com/29m4fr

Costs $0.99

I have been reading DT on a daily basis over the past year or so but have never posted before.

I have been a HUGE Dodger fan since I was a kid back in glory years of the mid 70's. I was sitting in the centerfield bleachers when Bob Welch struck out Reggie in game 2 of the 78 series (as a 12 year old). But I would have to say that the greatest thrill for me is that my 8 year old son has become as big a fan as I am. There is nothing like seeing his face light up with excitement as soon as we walk into the stadium. It immediately brings back 30 years of cheering on the Blue from Cey and Garvey to Matt Kemp and James Loney.

Hopefully, Ned stays true to his word and keeps the Kids around long enough so that my son and others can have the opportunity watch their favorite players develop, mature and become all-stars as DODGERS!!

Just thought I would formally introduce myself. I have posted a few times in recent weeks.

Die-hard fan, late 20's, who lives in Las Vegas. I have had the distinction of being at some of the most memorable games in Dodgers history including Chan Ho giving up 2 Grand Slams in one inning to Fernando Tatis and the 9/18/06 4+1 gane. (I swear on my life about this one and I will gladly forward pictures of myself at the game and of my ticket stub to any doubters.) I have been to Vero twice (last year and this year.) And I go to as many AAA 51's games as possible. Living in Vegas, I have to get my Dodger kicks any way I can, and this site is a life-saver for me. Keep up the great work Jon and all the rest of you. If any of you want to come check out the future stars with me in Vegas, let me know.

218 - I also would prefer Dorsey, but I think they've made too many commitments to the defensive line this offseason already, including Kelly and Joseph. I wouldn't cry if we chose McFadden, but I think I'd like the final piece inthe defensive armor better. With a standout D, our offense with Russel, Fargas, Bush, Walker, Carter and Miller should be more than adequate.

220 - Can't argue with having the best secondary in the AFC. I miss Hayes and Haynes; any semblance of it would be outstanding.

226 That seems to be it, thanks.

Isn't Ellis as good as Dorsey? Seems the coaches in Oakland got a good look at Ellis during the Senior Bowl. Would love to have him, but I think Davis grabs McFadden or Gholston, or finally trades down for salary reasons.

Late to the intro party! Post once in a while, read daily. Born in L.A., Gibson homer was one of my first baseball memories, moved to Oregon in the mid 90s. Teach there now.

Hey all. First time commenter, only read this site for like a month. Seems really cool, nice work John.

Well, I turned 19 yesterday, so I'm exactly one year younger than Clayton Kershaw (I know, awesome huh!). Other similarities: We both play baseball, live in California (he will soon!), both wear Dodger hats often (haha). Differences: Hmm... He plays pro while I'm at a junior college :), he's like very big and I'm... uhh... not, and I don't think he has ever heard of me before. But yeah thats me just playing baseball trying to live a dream like the rest of us. Became a Dodger fan because I live in the bay (hence the ba in the name) and I love to root against everyone else. Also LA is just an aswesome place in general as I have family there and have been there a few times (Disneyland!). I'm hoping the Dodgers can have a good year this year (ie WS) and lets win!!!

27 - good call on Cloud Strife.

I've posted a handful of times, but I've been reading daily since late October. After the season ended, a friend & I started checking all of the links off SoSG and DT was a glowing beacon, almost straight out of the Great Gatsby.

Loved the Dodgers since I was a tyke. In my family it was Dodgers or Angels. Luckily for me, my father leaned Doyar Blue. '88 sealed the deal (Lakers & Dodgers won the double!). Since getting married, the Dodgers mean even more since I stay in most nights. I look at the calendar every day and wait for the endless parade of night games...

I must also say that I'm new to the non-traditional stats so DT has been an eye-opening experience. I try to stay out of the way and it's great learning from Jon & co. Thanks for making this my first stop to keep updated about los Dodgers, Jon!

215 219 236

For Christmas, my father-in-law gave me the Great American Baseball Box. Disc 1 is all music, and has "It's a Beautiful Day for a Ball Game", Danny Kaye's "D-O-D-G-E-R-S" (anybody who hasn't heard this, you must), and a bunch of other stuff. The other discs are clips of games, interviews, old commercials, etc.

Definite highlight of disc 4 is an interviewer asking Tommy his opinion of Dave Kingman's performance, after Kingman hit 3 homers for 8 RBI (June 4, 1976). Tommy was... upset. Lots of bleeping.

http://www.amazon.com/Great-American-Baseball-Box/dp/B000B5XZK6

Hi everyone,

Bhsportsguy introduced me to Dodger Thoughts about two years ago and I've been a regular reader ever since.

You guys and gals have a lot of great insight into the team and make the game more enjoyable.

Earliest memory of the Dodgers was sitting up in the nosebleed seats as a kid in the 70's, munching on a hot dog, and wondering how they got the infield grass so green. Back then, those seats weren't a UFC exhibition and everyone felt safe.

Just had the Dodger season ticket draft a week ago with my buddies and got my first look at the 2008 tickets. It was great!

Hmmm...had our 14 team fantasy leauge draft on Tuesday. I've got Pierzynski, Prince Fielder, Kazuo Matsui, Beltre, Tulowitzki, Furcal, Granderson, Sheffield, Andruw Jones, Damon, Ibanez, Sabathia, Haren, Jeff Francis, Lowe, Lowry, Capps, Carlos Marmol, Kevin Gregg, and Shaun Marcum. Not bad.

I collect Dodger memorabilia, yearbooks, programs, and media guides, which give a nice historical perspective to the team. One of my goals is to visit all of the baseball stadiums. So far, I've been to 10 and hope to see more, money and time permitting.

Reading the above, I'm beginning to sound like a baseball geek...

Most importantly, a big congratulations to Jon on the new addition. Thanks for doing such a great job on Dodger Thoughts. You make the long work day go by a little faster.

I don't post a whole lot and my story isn't incredibly exciting. I loved baseball when I was a kid and I've always been a Dodger fan, but I never really watched many games as my parents aren't that into sports. Then during the strike much like a lot of people I got fed up with baseball. My mom happened to be dating a guy who has a huge Kings fan so I became a big hockey fan. This is actually the story of how I became to be an Avalanche fan despite never stepping foot in the state of Colorado. I never really liked that guy she was dating and the year I started watching was the year the Avs came into existence, so I figured as a new fan I'd root for what I thought was the new team.

I ended up getting back into baseball during the great HR chase, sad to know that my former heroes were roid monkeys. I don't even remember how I found this site, saw a link somewhere. I remember at first I would see the comments that would be like 400 every day and I'd say forget that. Now I read them all, well I skim the football/basketball chat parts though.

Thanks for the invitation for us lurkers to step out of the shadows. I've read for a while now but only posted a couple of times. I became a die hard Dodgers fan growing up in the San Fernando Valley in the Steve Yeager/Mike Scioscia era (the glorious tradition of Dodger catchers is my favorite thing about the team -- probably because I was a little league backstop -- and now Russell Martin may be the best of all). Anyway, thanks a lot for the insightful and elegant writing and for providing such a great resource for Dodgers fans.

Hi all,

I only posted here a few times. Like others, I have been reading dodger thoughts for a while.

I've been a dodger fan for as long as I can remember. Grew up a Ron Cey fan. In my first live game at Dodger Stadium (I must have been in the 4th grade), we left early. We lived about an hour from the game and my mom had to work in the am. Well the Dodgers were losing by about 4 runs. We left after the 8th. Got home and found out the Dodgers scored 5 runs in the 9th.

Now I live in the bay area, but try to follow the dodgers as much as possible from up here. Right now I am a big fan of Matt Kemp (who could not be). I'm starting to like Juan Pierre. Mostly because so many people are against him (in most cases rightfully so) it causes me to really want him to succeed. I tend to be that way (i.e., Mike Davis for one, Choi for another, O. Perez in his later years, Dave Goltz, Jeff Hamilton . . . the list goes on). But, hey sometimes it works out (took a lot of abuse for supporting Davis, but who drew the big walk before Gibson's HR).

Hello, I have nbever commented here before. I am a Dodgers fan living in Buffalo, NY. I think I started to root for the team in 1981, when, at the age of 4, I watched the World Series with my mom and dad, both big Indians fans who hated the Yankees. Also, I think I really liked the name "Fernando Valenzuela." Anyhow, I grew up hating the morning paper because the west coast ball scores never made it (except on those lucky days when the box score would sneak in, but the standings wouldn't reflect it). I remember the 1988 World Series distinctly because that same October I got pneumonia and stayed home for two weeks and watched the Mets playoff series and Oakland World Series games every night, then watched them on the VCR again the next day. My grandfather also died during that run, and I remember watching a lot of those games with bleary-eyed uncles and cousins strewn around the house, resting after spending long hours in ICU with my ailing grandpa. I kind of lost track of baseball for a few years during late high school and college - girls and school and other things will do that - but I got back into the team around 2001, and I remember sitting around and thinking that Luke Prokopec might turn out well and being scared for my life when Jesse Orosco came into games. I have high hopes for this year, particularly if they let the kids play. Love this site and others like it, if stuff like this had been around when I was a kid, I would have been in heaven.

Hi all. I'm 41 and have been a resident of the city of San Gabriel all my life. My Mom, is a huge Dodger fan. Back in the 70's, she'd lug seven small kids onto an RTD and off to the Stadium we'd go. We'd get off at Olvera Street and walk up the long winding hills to the Ravine. She seriously created rabid fans in the family. The beauty of it is the love of the Blue has been successfully handed down to the next generation.

Some of the most memorable games, which I had the privilege to attend were; Ramon Martinez striking out 18 Braves, game 7 of the NLCS 1988, Dennis Martinez' perfect game against the Blue (couldn't help rooting for the guy) and the with 3 consecutive homeruns by Betemit, Kemp and Kuo on 3 pitches from John Maine of the Mets. Kuo's bat flip was the icing on the cake.

My favorite players, past and present include, Garvey, Cey, Valenzuela, Yeager, Hersheiser, Scioscia, Piazza and Martin. I have a soft spot for Nomar, as well.

During the season, I visit this board everyday. It's informative, as well as entertaining. Y'all are a hoot, thanks!