Front Row, Baby

I think if we had an “about us” section, your paragraphs about how you joined the blog world would fit nicely there.

We are now legit. It feels weird, last night it felt great

This sums up my feelings exactly. I’m extremely excited that we have the opportunity to more thoroughly cover the Dodgers thanks to their forward thinking, and over time will only enhance our blog. On the other hand, I’m insanely nervous about Saturday and I can only think “don’t screw this up.”

Thanks to the Inland Empire 66ers, I have a credential for the 2009 season, and so far it’s been a wonderful experience in the two games I got to cover. Their staff has been helpful and informative, and I only regret I didn’t get to see Schmidt’s second rehab start on Sunday. I get to sit in the press box with a few of their media staff as they keep score and keep track of pitches. If you ever wanted to know how the MILB.com box scores and game logs are updated, each team calls a central office in New York (I believe) at the conclusion of each inning and dictates the play-by-play. It’s fun when keeping score because on a close play (hit or error) you can look down a few boxes down for the official scorer who will signal his call on the play.

It was weird the first night in San Bernardino because the only two reporters there to cover Schmidt’s first rehab start were me and a freelance reporter. We got to interview Schmidt during the game, after he came out, and since there were only two of us I actually got to participate in the exchange. By the time the game ended, the freelance guy left and I got to interview Charlie Hough one-on-one, which was great.

The best part for me so far in covering the two minor league games was when I arrived in the press box for the second game, one of the staff members came up to me and said, “that was a nice recap of the Schmidt game.” That was a cool and surreal moment.

I knew we were on to something as a blog when I wrote my Mother’s Day story. In the past, I would email the link to something I had written to a bunch of friends and family, just to increase our traffic, but more importantly to make sure people I know got to read what I wrote.

I didn’t even tell anyone about the Mother’s Day story; all I did was hit publish. I got more emails from friends and family — including from those on the less computer-savvy side — that day than for anything I ever wrote. People are reading the blog, that’s for sure.

I started commenting on DT and quickly discovered my writing skills were inadequate for the level of discourse taking place

That pretty much sums up how I felt when I first starting visiting DT, though I felt my baseball knowledge wasn’t quite up to par over there. Frankly, I used to participate at DT more when the topics veered off to NCAA football or something else non-baseball related. I don’t go to DT as much any more (for a few reasons- though I still think it is an excellent blog) and I feel like I’ve got a niche here now. I comment alot here, the game threads are a blast, and I continue to learn more about baseball. My arguments are not fully formed, which is to say I still find myself learning from the opinions of others here and keep an open mind. These blogs really push you to defend arguments, people challenge one another. That’s what so great about this medium—- especially if you have measure in place to avoid mindless commenting/trolling.

As for SB Nation, this is officially my 1,566th comment. That is insane!

We need to create a glossary since we use terms that many mainstream users have no idea what we are talking about. In that Glossary not only should we explain what the stat means but why we would use it. On Monday night I explained a few terms to my niece because she mentioned that Brendan’s work was Greek to her. With the increase in members I don’t think we can assume everyone is familiar with the concepts we have been working with over the last few years. Even OPS for someone who has only read the back of baseball cards for their stats is a new term.

Per David Lennon of Newsday:

Watching him take ground balls right now during early drills, he hasn’t kicked one yet. Sandy Alomar Sr. is standing about 10 feet away from Murphy, helping him with instruction, and Manuel is overseeing the workout from in front of the dugout

I’m happy for you.

Lineup- Hudson is playing
Mets

Reyes SS

Castillo 2B

Beltran CF

Wright 3B

Murphy 1B

Church RF

Castro C

Pagan LF

Hernandez P

Dodgers

Pierre LF

Furcal SS

Hudson 2B

Ethier RF

Martin C

Loney 1B

Paul CF

Blake 3B

Weaver RHP

Great post Phil and can’t wait for Eric’s follow up from his saturday visit. I’m hoping to try to get credentials for one game in the following homestand god-willing.
vr, Xei

But most of them dealt with Simpson’s episodes. :)

Anyway congrats on all the success for the site.

What was the internet access like in the press box? Can you actually live blog from there? Do you have to bring your own laptop in? Thanks.
vr, Xei

After finishing up school in Northern California in December and being a dodger fan from a far(MLB TV), I stumbled across TBLA in March. I have gained so much insight from the great articles, stats, and just random conversations in the Game Threads. I came here looking for some insight into the squad during spring training and now I cannot get enough. I am happy for your success and I look forward to seeing where it takes you guys in the future!

Makes you wonder where the future of sports is going though. Could you see a team offering a press pass to a hobbyist 20 years ago? 30? 40?

I wonder if I should text him Laker updates.

But I think when Diamond and Tony were laid off, he knew he needed more outlets for the Dodgers.

Also, they had the space in the press box.

The Mets had eight beat writers in the press box according the beat writer next to me. A Nat game would probably have an empty room. Ken Levine and Josh Suchon sit in the 2nd row. I would not recognize them other then their distinct voices.

The Dodgers do such a great job on creating the pre/post game reports they could simply post them in the paper and people would eat them up. Now that we are getting a portion of them it cuts down on the research we used to have to do and provides some up to the minute cool stuff that I didn’t really see Tony, Dylan, or Diamond using very much but maybe I just missed it because I didn’t read them very often.

look like in late October?

Busy and you can bet the blog spot will be gone

FYI – the Clippers winning the lottery was getting more buzz then the Laker playoff game. That surprised me and after I butted myself into a few Clipper conversations I get the feeling the local media would love for them to succeed.

first, congrats on the new vantage point! i, too, stumbled on this blog just recently and it’s just great, though i am bewildered by all the statistical acronyms. anyway, it’s a great site and it seems like a win-win for dodgers & bloggers. imagine a real-time blog will be more interactive and add a new dimension to the game experience. enjoy!

here’s a thought for down the road…an audio podcast for i-tunes, ‘dodgers weekly’ or something. i mean, the perspectives on SB are much more involved than anything else you can get on the traditional media, and if the Dodgers are open to it, it may be worth considering.

the local news/espn highlight experience leaves plenty of room for ‘new media’ like this.

have fun on saturday!

apparently there is a podcast called sb nation sports report…the release date of all the shows is 5/20/09 and it doesn’t download or play anything. but i scrolled through several pages of amateur podcasts, there are probably 20 for the red sox, and plenty others covering teams nationwide, but nothing for LA, except the daily news robot-cast which pronounces ethier ‘eth’ ‘yer’ and ‘torre’ ‘tore.’ i think it cloud be done with a mac and a couple mics. as many people, like me, like to listen to podcasts while exercising, a podcast is really an option.

I had e-mailed Eric about the possibilities of him providing an account of his personal experience after he got a pass for the Schmidt rehab start (would still love to read it), because this is a blog after all, and personal experiences are still a big part of the blog writing and reading experience. Really great to read your reflections on your first time in the press box Phil; that was great. Your game comments from there were great too – I caught up with them later since I was also at the game, up above you in IF Reserved.

It’s interesting to note that Josh Rawitch and staff are keeping a close eye on the blogs, contacting you guys, screening (I imagine), and, in general, reaching out. That does show some progressive thinking of the part of the Dodgers front office. And since bloggers are, generally, fans foremost, this outreach aligns nicely with Frank’s fan focus claims.

I imagine it must have been nerve-wracking knowing that you were representing not only yourself, but – fairly or not – the entire blogging community with your presence, and not knowing how you would be treated by other press box denizens. I’m glad it was a overall positive experience.