Escape from Dodger Stadium... Snake Plissken where are you?

Heading to the Angels/Dodgers game tonight at Dodger Stadium.

Check list for tonight’s game:

Jersey √
Hat √
Eyes in the back of my head √
Pepper Spray √
“W” √

More Friday fodder....

So.. .the bad guy they caught in Santa Monica and returned to Boston wasn’t Frank McCourt?

If I see Snake Plissken in the stands tonight, I’ll know things are about to get interesting… It’ll be time to “Escape from Dodger Stadium”

Turns out Eric Gagne was ahead of his time when he played "Welcome to the Jungle" when he came out to close.

I wonder if I'll see McCourt at the freeway off ramp with his "need money for payroll" sign

Tonight is BYO Fireworks night – McCourt can’t afford the fancy kind. (I might need to stop and buy some sparklers)

Question… Dodger Dogs = Hot dogs or police dogs?

Instead of “Take me out to the ball game” in the 7th inning, the Dodgers will have Michael Buffer announce… “Let’s get ready to rumble” instead.

Oh this will be fun….

Torii Hunter's record speaks for itself

Torii Hunter isn’t the kind of guy who chooses his words carefully and in my opinion that’s a good thing. Hunter speaks candidly. He doesn’t rehearse his words or run them through a multitude of filters like Alex Rodriguez tends to do.

What you see is what you get. Hunter is refreshing. He’s fun and extremely likeable.

When you ask him a question; you tend to believe he’s answering you as honestly as possible. Why? Because I get the impression he doesn’t have anything to hide. He just speaks his mind.

So, when Hunter referred to Latin American players as “imposters” in a roundtable discussion for USA Today it didn’t occur to me that he was being racist. No way. In fact it wasn’t until I was listening to Jeff Biggs on AM 830 this afternoon that I realized it was even an issue. Biggs was commenting on the firestorm that had taken place during the day and like me, found the whole thing out of whack. According to Biggs, some bloggers were really lambasting Hunter. Not sensible bloggers mind you; but bloggers looking for a story where there really isn’t one.

Now, I haven’t taken the time to look up any of those blogs and I’m not about to. Quite frankly I wouldn’t have any reason to read what they have to say. You see if you are out to make Torii Hunter look bad, you’re only going to make yourself look foolish.

That’s right – foolish.

I remember reading the headline at some point today, but didn’t stop to analyze it. Why would I? This was Torii Hunter. I’m certain that Hunter didn’t use that word with malice or any kind of hurtful intent. That’s not who Torii Hunter is. I don’t have a personal relationship with Hunter, but I’m absolutely positive he didn’t mean any harm what-so-ever.

Hunter has revealed enough of his personality and character to the public over the years for us to form a valid opinion of him. Hunter is a top notch guy and a fine human being.

I don’t need to read a blog that’s going to try and convince me otherwise. Instead, I went to his blog and found all I needed to know.

Here’s part of what Hunter had to say:

“What troubles me most was the word "impostors" appearing in reference to Latin American players not being black players. It was the wrong word choice, and it definitely doesn't accurately reflect how I feel and who I am.”

Hunter continued, “What I meant was they're not black players; they're Latin American players. There is a difference culturally. But on the field, we're all brothers, no matter where we come from, and that's something I've always taken pride in: treating everybody the same, whether he's a superstar or a young kid breaking into the game. Where he was born and raised makes no difference. “

Again, I don’t have a personal relationship with Torii Hunter. I’ve only interacted with him as a fan few times over the years and yet, I get the impression that Hunter is as real as it gets. It’s absolutely insane that anyone would think that Hunter is a racist.

He admitted to using the wrong choice of words. In a follow up interview today with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, he said “"I'm not going to apologize. I told the truth. I'm sorry if I used the wrong choice of words.”

This is where I’m sure things will get interesting because judging apologies has become a new Olympic sport. I’m sure some people are going to read that and go off again. Judging apologies has become the thing to do these days. We saw this when Mark McGwire tried to apologize. A lot of people got on their high horse to tell McGwire a thing or two. It was ugly and it was sad.

In Hunter’s case – he’s not even apologizing for his opinion; he’s apologizing for his choice of words. Good enough for me.

Look Torii Hunter’s record speaks for itself. If you take the time to look at what he’s done in the community you’ll get a sense of what kind of man Hunter really is.

Again, if you’re trying to make Hunter look like a bad guy; you’re barking up the wrong tree. Torii Hunter is simply a fine human being, but like the rest of us he is human. He used the wrong word. He admitted it. End of story.

Twenty six days until opening day.

No more Nomah

In other news today Nomar Garciaparra signed a one day contract with the Red Sox. He did this so that he could retire as a Red Sox. Rumor has it that Scott Boras said that he could have negotiated a two day contract if he was Nomar’s agent. It’s also believed that the Dodgers offered a one hour contract, but was outbid by Boston.

Wait, there’s more...

Word on the street is that the Dodgers tried to acquire Nomar today for two of their prospects even though Nomar was retiring (okay, the street was actually my co-worker Joe). This actually wouldn’t surprise me because it would save Frank McCourt some money. I’m just saying.

This too shall pass

It hit me today. Big Daddy Vlady is a Texas Ranger. The thought was kind of rattling around in the back of my brain, but I hadn’t really focused on it until today.

Michael Schlact, a pitcher in the Rangers organization tweeted “Coolest part of my day so far....seeing Vlad Guerrero show up to camp. What a beast!!!”

Seeing that hurt just a bit. I might have even grimaced just a tad. It just didn’t sound right.

Now, I’ve never been a huge Vlady fan; at least not of the die hard variety, but I remember how thrilled I was when the Angels signed him prior to the 2004 season. It was one of reasons Cheryl and I took the season ticket plunge. I used to tell myself all the time that I was pretty dang lucky to see a future Hall of Famer playing on my favorite team all the time.

I understand the reasons the Angels let him go. I even agree with them, but it doesn’t take away the fact that his being in Texas just seems weird. It’s like the planets are out of whack or something.

There’s also that little voice inside my head that keeps saying, “what if…” What if Vlad has a couple of monster years left in him? Heck, what if he just has one and it’s this year? How am I going to feel? To tell you the truth, I’d rather not think about it, but that voice keeps chirping.

All I know is that I’d cope with this a little better if he wasn’t in Texas. I want him to be successful, but I sure wish he was with a team outside the AL West.

This is the hardest part about being a fan in today’s sports world. Players change teams all the time. Loyalties are broken and new alliances are drawn up every day. Take Johnny Damon (you knew this was coming). As soon as he signed with the Tigers, I predicted he would say that Detroit was always his first choice. Johnny is good like that. He’s as predictable as poop in a baby’s diaper. Guess what? That’s exactly what he said.

I should be used to it by now, but I guess I’m not. (Not the Johnny Damon thing, the thing about players changing teams all the time).

The business part of baseball has changed over the years, but the funny thing is most fans haven’t changed a bit.

Think about it. Have you been following the mess up the 5 Freeway? I feel bad for Dodger fans; I really do. No fan base deserves an owner like Frank McCourt (well, except for maybe the A’s) and yet the overwhelming majority of Dodger fans won’t abandon that sinking ship.

A fan’s allegiance (not just Dodger fans) to his or her team is almost supernatural. Most people aren’t even as committed to their personal relationships as much as they are tied to their baseball team. If something goes wrong in a relationship; they bail; however, they will let their baseball team play with their emotions, rob them of their hard earned money, lie to them and do all kinds of things to make them miserable and they will simply keep coming back for more. They just won’t leave because that’s not an option.

Kind of funny, don’t you think?

The divorce rate is probably much higher than the rate at which fans switch teams. Better to leave a spouse than to be labeled a bandwagon fan, I guess.

I know my fair share of disgruntled Dodger fans, and I sometimes kiddingly invite them over to the Angels side. They give me that death stare. You know the one.

It’s like this everywhere.

Cub fans wear their fandom for the “loveable losers” like a badge of honor, but suggest they find a new team to cheer for and some will probably tell you they’d rather die.

All these thoughts came to my mind today because Schlact was excited about seeing Vald in his camp. It brought back memories and conjured up a small twinge of regret and maybe a little bit of jealousy. It’ll pass (already has), but it got me to thinking.

It’s easy to get excited about the new kid in town. That part of the game never changes; especially when they come with a reputation. Texas has the “beast” and we have “Godzilla.”

I should be more excited than I am about Hideki Matsui. Maybe I will be the first time I see him in person. I’m guessing all this probably resonates with Angel fans who wanted to see the team make a big splash in the off season.

Everyone wants to have that new car smell experience. I’m thinking we can have that with Brandon Wood, but a lot of fans think differently.

To them, Vlad Guerrero in Texas is like their neighbor getting a classic muscle car. They’re not sure they want one, but since their neighbor got one, they want something too. They look in their driveway and see a used car on its last legs (Matsui). Never mind the fact that their neighbor’s car may be a mile or two from dropping its engine (Vlad). It’s all about keeping up with the Joneses.

It would probably be easier to just switch neighborhoods, but that’s not going to happen.

This is going to be an interesting year. I’m not looking forward to seeing Chone Figgins in Seattle or Darren Oliver in Texas. I’m sure I’ll eventually get used to it. Seeing how the Angels play their division rivals 19 times in the course of a season, I’ll have plenty of time to let it soak in.

It’s just weird. This is the biggest transition year in the Angels recent history. Change can be good, but people are usually resistant to change.

Imagine Tim Salmon changing teams during his career. Or John Lackey… oh wait.

Forty one days until opening day.