Brutal...

Being in love is a beautiful thing. Having a partner in life, someone to cross the chasm of loneliness with, share stupid inside jokes with, fight with & make up with is an awesome & fulfilling feeling. I've been single for a hot minute, but I'll never forget that whimsical feeling of knowing that I belonged to someone...
All that sappy crap being said, when a relationship goes south, it can go one of two ways.. My last ex and I are still great friends, yeah it was painful but there was & is a lot of love there... The one before him? Nasty... Probably the worst breakup I've ever been through. It just got ugly... I won't go into the gory details, because that's not what this post is about.
Breakups & divorces are hard enough.... Divorcing when you're a billionaire & a high profile owner of a baseball team is something else entirely. Imagine having your entire life & lifestyle blasted all over the tabloids, every person who cared to read a newspaper knowing the most intimate details of your life...
It's gotta be brutal, and while I'm a sensitive gal, I'm having a hard time finding any sympathy at all for the McCourts.
Dodger fans knew this divorce was going to get ugly, but I don't think any of us saw it getting this bad. Cutting corners with security, driving up food & parking prices, not going after big market players, letting firecrackers on the Dodgers go by the wayside (Randy Wolff, Orlando Hudson)... Fans boycotting the stadium, Frank having to take a loan just to pay the payroll? Ludicrous!!! This is the Los Angeles Dodgers for crying out loud!! The franchise of Sandy Koufax, Tommy Lasorda... The first team to break the color barrier & this man has damn near run it into the ground..
So Selig stepped in and took over & Dodger fans couldn't be happier. Today's getaway game was a small crowd, however, 4,000 walk up tickets were sold.. That's folks who decided, last minute, to catch a game on a Thursday afternoon. Those that did were treated to a nailbiting gem starring Casey Blake, our ace, the young Kersh & the beast.. Matt Kemp.
I feel bad for the McCourts. I really do, they were married for upwards of 30 years and to have that go so bad & so publicly has got to be bloody awful. I'm sure they have both lost their minds, but embezzling money from the Dodgers ti finance the divorce is unacceptable. Not having a chief of security and tighter restrictions on fan behavior, ultimately causing a man to get beaten damn near to death... Is unacceptable.
Frank & Jamie got greedy. The love of money is the root of all evil & drives people to do insane things... So we'll see how this plays out. I'm sure it's going to be a rocky road & I'm sure Frank will try to sue... That's kinda what he does. But when he bought this team, he signed a binding document saying that he wouldn't. Other owners have tried & failed & Frank will fail too.
It's the end of an era in LA LA Land... But a better one is on the horizon :)
Like any other blue-blooded irrational Dodger fan, I have nothing but faith.
And hey, them bums are 2 & 0 since Selig stepped in!!!

My Dream Weaver

I love Jeff Weaver... I'm not ashamed of this & I catch a lot of hell for it but I just don't care. Weave is my guy & there are those (Some of them related to me :)) that hate him more than I love him & again... I don't care. I'm super bummed that he's still out there as a free agent. With our relief pitching looking the way it does, my feeling is that we need Weave...

A Simi Valley boy with a mess of blond hair & a mean face, the guy is alllll heart...
He's been with seven different teams since coming to the majors in '99. A bit of a head case at first, the guy would give up a home run & let it rattle him. I'm not a pitcher, I'm not a baseball player & I have no IDEA at all what it takes to pitch a baseball game.

He threw the game of his life with the Cardinals. Game 5 of the '06 series, he threw 8 innings giving up only 4 hits and 1 earned run...
And then? To the Mariners & then back to the minors & then back to the Dodgers. He got the win in in Game 1 of the 2009 NLDS against the Cardinals .
The next year, he made the roster as a reliever. He made a couple starts last season. One against his little brother :) and July 5th of last year, when John Ely got into a bit of trouble. Weave came in and held the Marlins to no runs at all... However, the Dodgers bats couldn't catch the deficit that Ely gave up...

Here's what I know, when I see his 6'5" lanky frame lumbers out to that mound, I get excited. Last year at the Tigers/Dodgers game, he came in to relieve John Ely in the 7th & I flipped out... I stood up screaming & yelling & full of joy that I would get to see him pitch.

He's a solid middle reliever, he's good to come in and clean up a mess & set up for a closer. I think he'd be great closer actually, it seems to be that he's got the mentality to be a closer.

I miss him. I miss seeing a true gamer on the mound, that ratty blond hair & his thick gold or silver chain around his neck. I love anyone with a baseball heart & to me... That's what he is... A true player with a baseball heart. I keep wishing for Weaver.. I'm watching the Cards destroy us right now & wishing more than anything that Weaver was on the bump. We're getting shelled right now because the Cardinals are teeing off on Cromier. Jeff is/was amazingly good at getting out of a bases loaded situation with no damage.

So, until something magical happens, I will sit and pine & wish for Weaver :)

Time To Weigh In....

The Dodgers and Giants rivalry is one of the most storied and fantastic rivalries in all of sports... I was born hating the Giants. I've always despised them, I didn't figure out why until I was a little bit older & by then it was too late. It used to be really bad... Like, I couldn't be friends with someone who was a die-hard fan of that team... A few years back, I was dating a guy who lived in SF, we argued about baseball & it all came to a head when he called me a heartless Dodger fan... Heartless? Me? This coming from a man who was a fan of Barry Bonds... & I'm heartless.... Needless to say, that didn't last long :)
Today, it's a little bit different... I have fun with it.. Do I despise the Giants? Absolutely! Was I sick to my stomach when they won the World Series? You betcha!!! I was rooting for the Rangers like I was a lifelong fan... I was devastated that the Giants won... A few things kept me warm.. One, it was their first WS win since moving to California in the '50s.. My guys have 5 :) And Two... Everyone says the NL West is the worst division in baseball... Welp, the worst division in baseball won the Series... Now what?
Today, I have a plethora of Giants fans in my life... I work with a bunch of them, heck, I got my foot in the door at my awesome job because I was waiting on Giants fans every day for almost 2 years... Today I have fun with it. Today my smart aleck friends photoshop pictures of Giants gear on me & put it up on facebook... & today I laugh at it :) It's fun... It's supposed to be...
I haven't written or said much about what went down on opening night because I wasn't sure what I wanted to say. I've read a lot of editorials that blame everyone, The Dodgers, Frank McCourt, the City of Los Angeles, Beer... but let's place the blame where it should lie.. at the feet of these 2 cowards who did this awful & terrible thing... And it exists, everywhere. Not just at Dodger Stadium, but also at every other stadium in the country... The Giants serve the beer in cups that say Beat LA on them. I heard a rumour that they do this when not even playing the Dodgers... Giants fans hired a plane to fly over Dodger Stadium on opening day with a banner that read"BEAT LA" to which the Blue Birds replied GIANTS SUCK :) Yay for chanting...
It exists... on both sides, but it's time to take a step into the real world... Last season Clayton Kershaw got suspended for hitting a batter, he was retaliating against the Giant pitcher that hit a Dodger.. this is what they do. Let them do it. Let the players battle it out... I go to games with my Dad & my 82 year old grandmother, families bring their kids... Couples go on dates. There's no more beautiful place than Dodger Stadium when the sun is setting & the boys are winning. Baseball is fun, rivalries are fun... All this guy did was go to a game wearing a jersey in support of his team. I'm sure it got rowdy in the stadium & I'm certain that these two idiots had too much to drink. While I'm deeply saddened by this event & my thoughts and prayers are with this young man & his family... I'm glad that this incident is getting so much attention.
It's time to stop this insanity. When I lived in San Diego, I went to every Dodger/Padre game that I could decked in Dodger Blue from head to toe & people talked trash to me & anyone that knows me knows I gave it right back :) I loved going to Charger games. However, I would never go to a Charger/Raider game because of all the disorderly crap that happens. There's always fights. Booze infused testosterone pumping fights...Calm the frik down! It's a game!! It's supposed to be fun...
When did going to the ball park mean going to a war zone?! We have the right to feel safe in our surroundings... I pray to God that this man makes a full recovery & I know that these idiots will be brought to justice...
But maybe, just maybe, some good can come out of this... Maybe with all the attention that this is getting, people will start to wake up... I've talked a lot of trash & held my own when it comes to baseball... I've covered a co-workers desk in Dodger printouts after a sweep, I will do it again too... But I would never ever ever ever resort to violence... This isn't the first time that there has been unnecessary fan violence at my beloved ball park, but hopefully... We've seen the last of it..

Opening Day....

I've been so excited all day long!! Completely distracted and barely able to focus... I woke up with a flutter... IS it Christmas? Is it a National Holiday? No!! It's better than all of that!! It's opening day!! The one day a year where all teams are in first place :) It's a new year... A new season.. A time when anything can happen and anything usually does...
I'm currently at home with my Dad & my Grandma... Three generations of irrational Dodger fans watching the game... We're in the bottom of the 7th in the middle of an epic pitching duel. I wouldn't expect anything less from Clayton Kershaw, our young ace and Tim Lincecum... The freak with the hair...
Some defensive mishaps have caused my heart to race & listening to the announcers talk about the drama of our ownership & the Dodgers being in financial straights is giving me anxiety... How can the Los Angeles Dodgers be in financial arrears? How is that even possible with one of the most lucrative clubs in all of baseball? Greed!!! It's time for Frank McCourt to do the right thing and sell this team. Ownership issues trickle down to the clubhouse & while we may tell ourselves different, we know it's true...
The sun is setting over Chavez Ravine & I wish I was there.... Going into the top of the 8th.. Kershaw is done leaving a 1 run lead for Kuo...
Can we do it???
Not throwing 4 straight balls like Kuo just did... Late inning walks will kill ya every time.
In the bottom of the 8th Kemp draws a walk, getting on base for the 4th time.. Steals second like the Matt Kemp I know & love... Big James hits a double & now we've got a little bit more insurance against the dreaded Giants...
Big JB comes in to try & shut the lights out here... Nice play by Loney for out number 1...
96 pitches... 9 strikeouts & 1 walk for young Kersh.... The young ace gets the win!!
Ball Game!!!!
I'll take it!!!Man alive!!! What a nail biter this one was!!! This is what baseball is all about.. Rapid heart rates, good base running solid hits...
Opening Day... Way to open the season... On a win... Against the Giants...
I know that we're not going 162-0, but work out some of these kinks & we've got ourselves a season!!!

I can't imagine anything sweeter :)

Getting Closer...

As opening day draws near... I can't help but be excited. Right now my Dodgers look like a ragtag bunch of misfits... and oddly, I'm okay with that. Starting the season with a bench clearing brawl (Thank you San Diego... Stay Classy), some injuries and much to my chagrin, no Jeff Weaver.
There's folks who hate Jeff Weaver as much as I love him, but I can't help it. The guy is all heart, he's got the soul of a gamer and gnarly attitude and I flip out every time I see him step on the bump.
I'm an emotional and often times irrational Dodger fan. I don't think about the business side of the game, I'm heartbroken when my favorite guys leave Blue Heaven for greener pastures.. Eric Karros, Paul LoDuca (dumbest trade ever) and Shawn Green. I have no interest in the business side of things and while I'm happy about free agency because it gave players the control of their careers, what started as a good intention has turned into a travesty.
These guys get to play baseball for a living!! I can't imagine anything better!!
Gimem a day dreamer in right who comes through in the clutch and hits the long ball...
Gimme a middle reliever with a snarl on his face and a frik ton of movement on his pitches...
Gimme a closer with ice water in his veins...
It's time... We're ready....
Let's go Dodger Blue!!!!

Big League Weekend

Every Spring in Las Vegas, we have Big League Weekend, when a few big league ball clubs invade our fair city and play a split squad Spring Training game. It's a fun chance to see major league ball players for a few innings as well as getting a gander at the future :) Last year, my Dodgers got smoked by the Reds... I think Joey Vatto hit a grand slam or something crazy & it was an awful windy & cold night.
This year's was a much better experience,! I didn't get to see my two favorite guys, Dre was in AZ battling against the White Sox & Casey Blake was hurt, but it was a fun day nonetheless.. Any day at ANY ball park is a great day. Except that we lost.
We lost to the Cubs in 10 innings. I watched Matt Kemp strike out with the bases loaded and got hammed up at 2nd base... Maybe my fears about bad baserunning are legit...
I know Spring Training is NOT ABOUT WINNING... I know that in my head, but in my baseball beating heart.. it's a different story altogether..
Dee Gordon was looking good at short and Raffy was dirty by the second inning, which is just the way that I want him to be...
Big James Loney looks great as first & I think we saw just about every pitching prospect that we have in the Dodgers organization... All in all it was a gorgeous day, and got me even more pumped for the regular season.
Baseball is baseball, I love it any time & any where... But Big League Weekend.. it ain't nothin like the real thing!

Back To Basics..

I started writing this blog because I love baseball... And over the last few months I've gotten away from that.. well,.. Well because there hasn't been baseball to write about.. I've been super focused on football and boys and haven't paid much attention in the off season to the one sport that I hold most dear to my heart.. Baseball..
I have a running bet with a friend of mine that if the Dodgers are over .500 at the All Star Break, he'll take me to lunch/dinner.. The same rule applies if my boys have a winning season. I have nothing but faith that I'll have two tasty meals in my belly courtesy of said friend :)
Spring training is well underway and my beloved boys in blue sit at .500. With two wins coming VIA Clayton Kershaw & John Ely.. Both kids.. all heart. Nothing makes me happier than this time of year & for some reason that I have yet to put my finger on, I'm more pumped about this season than I have been in seasons past...
Maybe it's because I feel something different.. A new skipper.. Donnie Baseball seems to have a great rapport with the team. Matt Kemp and Rhi Rhi broke up, so I'm hoping that he remembers how to run bases this year & Dre is all shined up completely healed from his freak finger injury that ailed him last season... Hopefully, their terrible owners will do what's right & sell the team.. Mark Cuban anyone? But more than that, I hope my guys can leave all that crap in the front office where it belongs.
Before the first pitch is thrown the umpire shouts Play Ball.. Not Work Ball.. So let's go!!! Sit in the sunshine, enjoy a Dodger Dog.. Spit seeds and delight in the wonderful drama that is baseball..
Go Dodgers!!!!