Easy Like Sunday Morning

I wonder if everyone else is basking in the glow of Clayton Kershaw's amazing performance last night, because I am the only person in the Vin Scully Press Box right now.  This is a very weird, yet oddly thrilling feeling.

I liked this postgame quote from Kershaw last night:

Its weird how baseball works sometimes. Sometimes the bloop hits fall in and it turns into a bad game real fast, and other times they hit line drives right at people and you make it through 7 innings.

I will try to find out more information on Hong-Chih Kuo's scoreless inning last night and, more importantly, his health and prospects going forward.

It looks like Darin Erstad, who left the game last night with a tight hamstring, might be headed for the DL, so says Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart.

The blog spot in the press box is in the front row, or as some like to call it, Operation Human Shield.  Its a few seats down from the visiting media, where last night Astros' MLB.com reporter Alyson Footer got acosted by a Miguel Tejada foul ball.  I have never caught a ball, fair or foul, at a baseball game, although my friend and I were this close to catching a Ron Gant home run in at Dodger Stadium in 1991.  That home run made Gant the first back-to-back 30/30 player since Willie Mays.  We'll see if my luck changes today.

Looks like Cory Wade is playing catch and long toss with Stan Conte in left field right now.

More details to follow...

UPDATE (10:40am):

Many of the players in the clubhouse were glued to the TV, watching the final few holes of The British Open.  Casey Blake was trying to stress the importance, to anyone who would listen, of a 59-year old Tom Watson being this close to a major championship.  When the bearded Matthew Goggin lined up his putt on the 18th hole, one of the Dodgers yelled out, "is that Blake DeWitt?" to uproarious laughter.

I asked Dodger Clubhouse Manager Mitch Poole is the club had to take any extra precautions to sanitize the clubhouse in the wake of Xavier Paul's staph infection, and he said the Dodgers already had a system in place to do just that.  They clean the clubhouse and spray it with disinfectant quite often, including after batting practice and after games.  There is no confirmation that they also spray after bloggers leave the clubhouse.

Dodger VP of Communications, and gatekeeper to the Dodger blogosphere, Josh Rawitch, said the Dodgers have no restrictions on any players regarding personal Twitter accounts.  Even in the wake of athletes prematurely breaking news, such as Kevin Love revealing the firing of Timberwolves coach Kevin McHale before it was announced by the team, Rawitch said the team doesn't want to intrude on the players' personal lives by imposing any such restrictions.

UPDATE (11:05am):

Further proof that Vin Scully is one of the finest people ever:  a family is here in the press box (I believe with Jr. Dodgers), but as Vin was walking by, to the media dining room, they asked him if he would take a picture with their kids.  Vin was as gracious as ever, and said, "Sure!  I never pass up the chance to take a picture with a pretty girl.  Ever."  Scully had the demeanor of a man who was truly honored to meet them and take pictures.  He acted as though he was on the receiving end of a favor, rather than the giving end.  What a treasure.

Also, there is something magical hearing that wonderful voice within 10 feet.  Chills.

Joe Torre is scheduled to meet with the media at 11:30.  More to follow...

Happy Sunday everyone!

Game Time:  1:10pm

TV: Prime Ticket

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