Dodger Baseball

Baseball Roots-Dad's Experience

Major League Baseball has been my favorite sport for my entire life. It was my father's sport and the dominate sport when he was growing up. He played long after marrying mom and even played in his 40's for the fire department team. During his younger years, he was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies and even invited to come out to a "tryout" for a couple of days. He and one other guy were invited to move on to the next level and join the minor leagues but he did not pursue this any further. The tryout took place at the stadium and he said he was not hitting too well, nor was anyone else. The pitcher was a former major league pitcher, a talented these young guys had never faced. Dad said he switched to the left side of the plate and hit well, including some home runs. He also played in many leagues in the area including on a team with Birch Bayh, later to become a US Senator, (his son, Evan is currently a US Senator).

My Baseball Experience

I played baseball growing up but was not the ball player dad was. I think one of my limitations was my size, I was so much smaller than the other kids my age. I began playing softball in college, (intramural), and continued to play on may work teams and currently still playing today. See "Softball" for more on my softball career. I have been an avid softball player since childhood playing on as many as three teams, both fast and slow pitch, consuming as many as four games a week. Throw in some practice, and you can see, it was a huge part of my life.

Cincinnati Reds Games with Dad and Zeke

Growing up in Indiana, Dad and one of his firemen friends, Zeke Leidiger, both big baseball fans and a wealth of knowledge about the game and the old days, took me to see Cincinnati Reds games back during the Big Red Machine dominance in the 70's. This was one of the most memorable things of my childhood. I thought how great it would be to live in a big city and go to see baseball games without driving for three hours. I am so appreciative of dad taking me to these. So, now that I am in LA and have been a season ticket holder for many years, I have made a dream become reality. I frequently think of the old trips with Dad and Zeke, keeping score and them talking to me about players, the game, and giving me one of the most memorable events of my childhood. We saw the LA Dodgers many times playing the Reds, with Tommy Lasorda as the manager. The Reds and the Dodgers fought for the Western Division year in and year out through this era.

Dodgers Era-Season Ticket Holder Since 2005

I am a Dodger Season Ticket holder, typically attending over 50 of the 81 home games a year. I live only minutes from the stadium and with many routes to get in that others don't know about, I can leave my house and be in my seats in 30 minutes. I can watch the last out and be home in about 25 minutes, (it is downhill on the way out). I don't park in the stadium and therefore avoid the parking lot mess getting in and out.

Dodgers 2010

Dodgers Spring Training 2010

Players signing autographs, a Dodger tradition.

Cleyton Kershaw

Hioki Kuroda

Vicente Padilla

Eric Gagne's return to the Dodgers, he never made it past Spring Training, and retired from baseball.

The Dodgers opened their new spring training facility in Arizona in 2010, moving from Vero Beach, FL.

Sammy in Dodger Poncho!

Dodgers hosted the Yankees this summer, three fun games in LA!

Dodgers 2006

2006 was a very good season for the Dodgers. They tied the Padres in the regular season but since the Padres won the series against the Dodgers this season and since the second place team would be the wild card entry, no one game playoff was necessary and the Padres officially took the Division and the Dodgers took the wild card, which put us playing the New York Mets in the Division Series. The Mets took the first two in New York and the final game was in Dodger stadium on Saturday, October 14, 2006.

During this season, the Dodgers had some noteworthy occurrences, they had a losing streak shortly after the All Star Game break that turned out a 12 out of 13 game loss streak, then immediately followed by a 17 out of 18 game winning streak, it was phenomenal The season seen the introduction of some really good rookie talent mixed with some of the games best veterans but it was this that killed them, the veterans were struggling with injuries and a tough season end and the rookies were just rookies in the critical games at the end. Next season!

Dodger Game-Post Season 2006-Dodger season ticket holders get the option to buy the entire post season and get the same seats we had for the regular season. Unfortunately, the Dodgers only had one home post season game this year.

The celebration at the stadium for game 3, (the only post season game at Dodger Stadium), was insane, unlike any other game in the regular season. We arrived early and stayed through the final out. Below is a video that captures some of the energy at the stadium.

Some still shots of the Game 3 NLDS: