Welcome to Opening Day
by Eric Stephen on Apr 5, 2010 6:58 AM PDT
in Dodgers Game Previews
Email
PrintA national holiday has arrived, as Opening Day is here. The Dodgers today begin their quest for a third straight playoff berth, something they have never done in their 126-year history. Here are some opening day facts and figures:
- Since moving to Los Angeles, the Dodgers are 26-26 on opening day, including 12-15 on the road.
- The last time the Dodgers opened their season against Pittsburgh was 1955. Not only did the Dodgers have a great start to that season -- a franchise-best 22-2 -- but they had a great finish as well.
- Blake DeWitt becomes the fourth Dodger since 1945 to make an opening day start at both third base and second base, joining Jackie Robinson, Jim Gilliam, and Jim Lefebvre. DeWitt is also the 10th Los Angeles Dodger to make an opening day start at at least two different positions.
- The Dodgers have seven position players starting today who also started last year's opening day, with the only difference being DeWitt for Orlando Hudson. This is the first time since 1986-1987 that the Dodgers have had seven positions players start two straight opening days, and the first time since 1978-1979 that at least seven position players started at the same positions on consecutive opening days (all eight position players started the same positions in 1978-1979).
- Manny Ramirez is starting his 17th straight opening day, the second longest active streak in baseball, behind Ivan Rodriguez, who is expected to start his 19th consecutive opening day, for the Nationals today.
- The Dodgers are 24-10 all-time at PNC Park, and have won 28 of their last 39 games in Pittsburgh, dating back to 1999.
- A few Dodgers have switched uniform numbers: Garret Anderson changed from 00 to 9, Carlos Monasterios went from 68 to 37, and Charlie Haeger switched from 37 to 49, the same number worn by fellow Dodger knuckleballers Charlie Hough and Tom Candiotti.
- Opening day starter Vicente Padilla hasn't started against the Pirates since 2005, but has a 4.13 ERA in four career starts against Pittsburgh.
- Russell Martin has seven hits in 15 at-bats against Pirates' starter Zach Duke, including three doubles and a home run. Martin is hitting .467/.467/.867 against the southpaw.
- Andre Ethier is battling a slight knee bruise, which was the reason he didn't start the final two exhibition games against the Angels. Manager Joe Torre downplayed the injury, saying Sunday that Ethier would have played in both games if it were the regular season.
- Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times gives his thoughts on the Dodgers' 25-man roster.
- Hernandez also wrote a profile of Rafael Furcal, which is worth the read if only for this quote from Furcal: "Remember, no one ever steals first. You have to get on base first." Furcal has started three opening days with the Dodgers (2006, 2008, and 2009), and has had at least two hits in each of them, with a combined eight hits in 14 at-bats, hitting .571/.625/.643.
- The Pirates have an opening day payroll of $35.4 million, the lowest in the majors, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- Steve Lyons, who will be calling the games on TV this week with Eric Collins, will be a guest on Lopez Tonight, tonight.
- The Dodgers will hold a workout at 11am on their off day Tuesday.
Here are the lineups, which feature the Pirate plan this season to have the pitcher bat eighth:
| Dodgers | Pirates | |||
| SS | Furcal | 2B | Iwamura | |
| C | Martin |
CF | McCutchen | |
| RF | Ethier |
RF | Jones | |
| LF | Manny | C | Doumit |
|
| CF | Kemp | LF | Milledge |
|
| 1B | Loney | 1B | Clement | |
| 3B | Blake | 3B | LaRoche | |
| 2B | DeWitt | P | Duke | |
| P | Padilla | SS | Cedeño | |
Check out Xeifrank's simulation of today's game here.
Time: 10:35am
TV: Prime Ticket
72 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Just as additional info:
I just checked the weather in Pittsburgh—because I didn’t want to totally rearrange my day needlessly—and it looks good for today. In fact, they’re having a near-record heat wave for this time of year (77 degrees—brutal!).
The game on Thursday looks like might be kind of dicey though.
So, it looks like all systems are go. Play ball!
Finally official
Dodgers placed Cory Wade on the 15-day DL and purchased the contract of Russ Ortiz today.
by Eric Stephen on Apr 5, 2010 7:28 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
Since yesterday was technically day one of 183 of the regular season, the Dodgers saved $3,551.92.
by Eric Stephen on Apr 5, 2010 7:43 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
the sad thing is that's probably the reason they waited a day...
Has there ever been a player better than Detlef Schrempf?
by bucknellbruin on Apr 5, 2010 8:12 AM PDT up reply actions
Looking at ESPN “expert” predictions, Jim Caple picked the Giants over the Twins in the WS. So drunk.
That might be the worse prediction I've seen
in my lifetime.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
I could make a case for that if pressed
the Cardinals are just a Pujols back injury away from 500 ball and the Reds have some upside. Votto has the ability to have a Don Mattingly type of season when Don was great.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
The Cards are super reliant on 5-6 guys
if 1 or 2 go down, they’re cooked. So a Reds’ pick isn’t that out there.
I’ve been picking the Reds to win the NL Central for like 10 years now. I’m still blown away that they did nothing with all that hitting talent that came through that organization (including Casey.) Now they have re-tooled and have all that pitching talent. Like Phil, I could see it happening.
by Michael White on Apr 5, 2010 8:19 AM PDT up reply actions
I live in Ohio and I keep telling most skeptical Reds fans that they are going to be pretty good this season. They may not take the division from the Cards this year, but I could easily see a second place finish with a real chance to contend next season.
Young Reds Pitching
Homer Bailey: 24 years old
Johnny Cueto: 24 years old
Edinson Volquez: 26 years old (on DL until mid-season)
Aroldis Chapman: 22 years old (starting season in AAA)
You can definitely see the upside in this group. Before Volquez had gotten hurt, he put together a solid 2008, and I could see Cueto and Bailey putting it all together (both power arms with decent K rates.) In terms of competing this year, I expect very little from Arroyo but I expect a nice rebound from Harang (x-FIP under 4 last season) with possible mid year additions of Volquez and Chapman. A lot has to go right for Cincinatti, but the cause is not lost.
Of course, Dusty Baker is the manager, so we’ll see how that impacts these young pitchers.
by Michael White on Apr 5, 2010 9:43 AM PDT up reply actions
Right
The dude who completely skipped the minor leagues. I have no idea what to expect from him….
by Michael White on Apr 5, 2010 9:56 AM PDT up reply actions
i appreciate
the effort in trying to sway me here on Cincinnati, but come on. They have a realistic chance to finish 3rd in the Central. No way they finish higher than the Cards or Cubs. They do have young talented players, especially starters, but they constantly find ways to lose. 9 years in a row, I think, they have had a losing record. I think they are 6-10 games behind the Brewers for 3rd. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Opening Roster Payroll - 79 Million
Not including deferred amounts for players actually on the roster.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
No Troncoso today
from the Dodgers:
Congrats are in order for Ramon Troncoso, whose baby girl Isabella was born yesterday. He’ll rejoin #Dodgers tomorrow
Matt Stairs, record setter
From the Phillies blog Crashburn Alley:
Former #Phillies PH Matt Stairs will set MLB record as first position player to play for 12 different teams. He is now with the #Padres.
I'll update the payroll worksheet later today
but USA Today has updated their salary database to include 2010 numbers. Here are the Dodgers I didn’t have:
Haeger $411,000
Monasterios $400,000 (I have $460,000 because the Dodgers paid ~$60,000 to the Mets to draft him in the Rule 5 — $50,000 of which was the draft fee)
Wade $404,500
Did anyone make a bigger jump % wise
then Monk? His family has to be pumped he made the team.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
Loney needs a little aluminium in his bat
Other than that, cool pic
by SeanMillerSavior on Apr 5, 2010 8:36 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Awesome, but I hope DeWitt realizes
his bat shares its name with this ass.
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
Manny’s bat looks to be the most pristine of the bunch, yet he wears the filthiest batting helmet on the team.
That must be some sort of superstition-type thing. In 2008, when he arrived in LA, he had a brand new clean helmet for a few days. By about the 4th game or so (or could have been second week), it suddenly appeared all mucked up and blistered, as it looks now.
The Dodgers have never opened the season in Pittsburgh
They have played the Pirates on opening day just twice, both at Ebbets Field:
The Dodgers made the World Series both years, by the way.
That’s sort of incredible. From 1890 through 1968 they were in the same division, most of which 1900-1961 there were just 8 teams, and in all that time the Dodgers never opened in Pittsburgh? There must have been some traditional opening day matchups for most or all of that time for that to happen.
I didn’t enter all of the OD opponents into Excel, but on quick glance using Baseball-Reference it seems the Phillies and (Boston) Braves were the bulk of the opening day matchups, with a healthy dose of Giants as well.
Due to the exigencies of train travel, there was a sort of east circuit (in the NL: New York, Brooklyn, Boston, Philadelphia) and west circuit (NL: Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh). Generally, when they went west, they did the whole tour. So teams must have started out in their own circuit on opening day and probably first couple of weeks.
Noon press conference by the Red Sox involving Josh Beckett. Likely to announce his contract extension.
I have class 1-4 CST. Happy Opening Day to me. On the other hand, Haegar switching to 49 just makes me smile.
by Little Blue Bicycle on Apr 5, 2010 9:04 AM PDT reply actions
Happy Opening Day
Does Easton make wood bats? I was hoping Kemp used one like from the Hardball Hard Facts skit.
Prediction
I’m going 88-74, tied with Atlanta for the Wild Card. LA wins the coin flip, Billingsley defeats Hudson in a 1 game playoff.
Thought this was a funny line
from Torre, per Josh Rawitch of the Dodgers:
Out here at PNC Park, Joe Torre spent much of the pregame media session talking about Manny Ramirez and how balanced he seems at the plate. He feels like it’s going to be a good offensive season for #99. And in Joe’s mind, he also said that he believes we’ve got enough pitching to win. In fact, the media even asked if he would tell them if he didn’t think we had enough pitching and he said, “I’d tell you ‘I don’t know.’”
Wonder if the Dodger announcers
will mention the fateful bus ride trip from last year? Over/Under: 3.5 times.
vr, Xei
This opening day lineup is not going to win a lot of games
RF David DeJesus
LF Scott Podsednik
1B Billy Butler
CF Rick Ankiel
DH Jose Guillen
3B Willie Bloomquist
SS Yuniesky Betancourt
C Jason Kendall
2B Chris Getz
MLBTV Fail
on opening day. Well done, well timed. :-/
Hope they fix it within 30 minutes.
There's no need to fear, Underdog is here! / Broncos/Dodgers/Lakers fan in Niners/Raiders/Giants/Warriors country, and damned proud of it.
having issues as well trying to listen to audio. Keep getting asked to purchase At Bat audio, which I have already done.
by Eric Stephen on Apr 5, 2010 10:12 AM PDT up reply actions
OK, finally got audio
and it’s Frosty, Heidi and Frank on the KABC feed. Fail. Fail. Fail
by Eric Stephen on Apr 5, 2010 10:14 AM PDT up reply actions
Russ and Ramon are a DFA waiting to happen and what is the over/under on when Monasterios is returned to Philly?
by Torre is a tactical genius on Apr 5, 2010 10:16 AM PDT reply actions
So lemme get this straight ...
we sign Jamey Carrol to a multi-year deal and we couldn’t do better than the Twinkies’ 5mm 1 year deal for the O Dog!?!?!? WTF IS GOING ON IN DODGER TOWN!?!??!
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on True Blue LA
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- College player makes impossible over the fence catch to save tournament game (Video)
- Security!: Camden Yards guard collides with Royals’ Mike Moustakas
- The Juice: Nelson Cruz matches career high eight RBIs, Pujols stays hot in Seattle
- Benches clear at Fenway as Red Sox-Rays rivalry heats up
- Keeping good company: Albert Pujols becomes fourth-youngest player to hit 450 home runs
