via sfgate.com

"When I decided to come back and play, I wasn't going to go into it unless I felt I could contribute, and a day like today makes me feel like I am. No one ever comes to the ballpark thinking they're going to hit three home runs, least of all me, but it sure feels good to do this on a day like today."

-Kevin Elster

On April 11, 2000, the archrival Giants unveiled their brand new, $319 million dollar stadium, Pacific Bell Park.  I've since been to this stadium, and I must say it's an outstanding park.  The stadium is located right on the water, has breathtaking views, wide concourses, and an unbelievable variety of food choices.  But on this day, the Giants were to play their first game in their new park, and it would come against the Dodgers.

Kevin Elster had been out of baseball since being released by the Rangers in July 1998.  Elster retired to build a bar in Las Vegas.  According to Jeff Pearlman of Sports Illustrated, the bar, to be named Hootie, was going to be different:

"The city needs a place where people can play live music and just jam," says Elster, an amateur drummer. Elster hopes to open Hootie within two years. "My place," he says, "is going to be very different."

Elster seemed happy to be retired, but a call from the Dodgers rekindled his passion for the game, especially to play for his old manager, Davey Johnson.  Said Elster:

I just felt like staying home, sitting by the pool and not playing baseball. I was living a normal life.

Rather than sit by the pool, Elster's destiny was to play baseball next to the Pacific Ocean.  After signing a $300,000, non-guaranteed deal, the 35-year old Elster beat out Alex Cora for the starting shortstop position to start the 2000 season.  After starting the season with games in Montreal and New York, the Dodgers headed to San Francisco to help christen the Giants' brand new toy.

Kirk Reuter started the game for the Giants, and he was staked to a 1-0, which held up until the number eight hitter, the new Dodger shortstop came to the plate in the third inning.  Elster took the first five pitches from Reuter, then slammed the full count pitch over the center field wall for the first official home run in Pacific Bell Park.

A Barry Bonds home run -- the first at the park for the Giants -- in the bottom of the inning put the Giants up 2-1, a lead that would hold up until the top of the fifth.  Dodger catcher Todd Hundley led off the fifth with a single, to bring up Elster for his second at bat of the day.  Again Elster let some pitches go by, but pulled a 2-1 pitch by Reuter over the left field wall to recapture the lead for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers' lead was 4-2 when Elster stepped into the batter's box for his third plate appearance, in the top of the sixth.  With Adrian Beltre on first base and pitcher Chan Ho Park on deck, Kirk Reuter pitched carefully to Elster, walking him on five pitches.  However, no rubber chicken was hung from the brick wall in right field.

Elster got another at-bat with one out in the top of the eighth, with the Dodgers nursing a 5-4 lead.  After working former Dodger prospect Felix Rodriguez for a full count, Elster drove a pitch deep to left centerfield, and it cleared the fence to complete perhaps the most unlikely three homer day in Dodger history.

The Dodgers held on to win 6-5, spoiling the first game in the Giants' new home.

Johnson told Jason Reid of the LA Times Elster was a key addition to the club:

Everyone talked about we'd be losing defense [with Elster starting], and I love defense, but you need someone who can swing the bat in the eight hole. This is going to open a lot of eyes around this league. Teams are going to see they can't pitch around our Nos. 6 and 7 hitters to get to our eight hole.

Elster went on to have a nice season playing semi-regularly, splitting time at the position with Alex Cora.  In 259 plate appearances, Elster hit .227/.341/.455 with 14 homers, good enough for a 104 OPS+.

Over the long haul, it's probably not a huge deal that the Dodgers won the first game at Pac Bell Park.  After all, does anyone remember that the Reds won the first game at Dodger Stadium?  Still, there's a small measure of satisfaction in spoiling the party of an archrival, and thanks to Kevin Elster, most Dodger fans can have fond memories of the Giants' current stadium.

via www.uweb.ucsb.edu

As good as Chad Billingsley has been for the Dodgers this season -- four wins in four starts with a 2.05 ERA -- the best pitcher in baseball thus far has been Zack Greinke of the Royals.

Greinke ended last season with a pair of scoreless seven-inning starts, and carried that shutout streak into last night's game against the Tigers.  After four more scoreless innings, Greinke's scoreless streak stood at 38 innings, close enough perhaps for Orel Hershiser to start to sweat.  Greinke's streak ended with two outs in the fifth, as an errant throw to third from shortstop Mike Aviles allowed Gerald Laird to score.

After the unearned run, all Greinke did was retire every batter he faced, giving him fifteen straight to end the game.  Now his ERA stands at 0.00 through 29 innings in 2009, and his streak of not allowing an earned run stands at 43 innings.  Buster Olney of ESPN.com tells us:

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Greinke is only the second pitcher in the last 55 years not to give up an earned run in his first four starts of a season. (The other was Fernando Valenzuela more than 20 years ago.)

Ahh, Fernando.  Valenzuela started his 1985 much like he did in his rookie season four years earlier.  On opening day, Fernando faced off with Nolan Ryan in The Astrodome.  The Dodgers got a run in the second inning, but would not score again on this day.  The Astros used a pair of unearned runs -- one in the third, and another in the fourth -- to make Fernando a hard luck loser, 2-1.  After his seven inning performance, Valenzuela's ERA was 0.00 but his record was 0-1.

Four days later, Valenzuela faced the Giants at Dodger Stadium.  His teammates again would score only one run for him, on a Candy Maldonado homer in the 8th inning, but this time Fernando made it hold up, pitching a complete game shutout for his first win of the year.

On April 18, Valenzuela started on four days rest at Jack Murphy Stadium against the Padres.  Fernando was again on his game, shutting out the Padres 5-0, allowing only two hits -- one to Tony Gwynn, and the other to Kurt Bevacqua.

Five days later, Valenzuela took his amazing left arm on the road to Candlestick Park.  Fernando was rolling along as usual until the fifth inning.  With two outs and runners on second and third, Dodger shortstop Dave Anderson couldn't handle a grounder by Dan Gladden, and two unearned runs scored.  The Dodgers could only muster one run, scored by Valenzuela himself on an Al Oliver double, and Fernando's third straight complete game was a 2-1 loss to the Giants.

In his fifth start of the season, Fernando was dominant at home against the Padres, striking out ten Friars while allowing only one hit and a walk through the first eight innings.  However, the Dodger offense again took the day off and entering the ninth, the game was scoreless and Valenzuela's streak of not allowing an earned run stood at 41 straight innings, an MLB record to start a season.  With one out in the ninth inning, a young Gwynn pulled a pitch over the wall in right field, ending Fernando's streak at 41.1 innings.  The Dodgers failed to score in the bottom of the inning, and they dropped the game 1-0.

Valenzuela's April ended with these stats:

Fernando easily won NL Pitcher of the Month honors, making him the first pitcher with a losing record to do so.  Tony Castro of Sports Illustrated summed up the month and showed Fernando's sense of humor:

Unfortunately, when Valenzuela takes the mound, the Dodger hitters frequently take the day off. Valenzuela the practical joker has been able to make light of it. When the drought was at its worst, Valenzuela was asked to recall the last time his teammates scored six runs for him. "They gave me five in San Diego and one in San Francisco. That adds up to six."

It was a wonderful month for the 24-year old Valenzuela, who would go on to have a great year in 1985.  He won 17 games, struck out 208 hitters, and had a career high ERA+ of 141, all while throwing 272.1 innings.   The Dodgers went on to win the division, and Valenzuela pitched two strong games in the NLCS, allowing a 1.88 ERA to the Cardinals, winning Game 1 and getting a no-decision in the Ozzie Smith Game.

It's months like April 1985 that add to the legend of Fernando Valenzuela.  When you put up a 0.21 ERA in a single month, and that's not your career low (he had an 0.20 ERA in his 5-0 April 1981), you have had a special career.

via i47.photobucket.com

Today is the 62nd anniversary of one of the greatest days in baseball history.  On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson donned number 42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers for the first time, making him the first black Major League player in the twentieth century.

Over his ten year career, Robinson was a great player.  He wielded a booming bat, was a terror on the basepaths, and played outstanding defense all over the field.  But his importance stretches far beyond what he did between the foul poles.

I can't imagine all the insults and venom hurled Jackie Robinson's way in his first few years.  He showed exemplary courage in biting his tongue, as he promised Branch Rickey, even as opposing players and fans alike called him some of the most hate-filled names in the book.  Robinson endured countless threats, and was on the receiving end of many an overly agressive slide.

Robinson wasn't alone of course in his fight.  Larry Doby and other players soon followed him into the big leagues, and Jackie's wife Rachel had to endure just as much as Jackie.  I hope Mrs. Robinson is at Dodger Stadium tonight, as the presence of such an amazing woman would lift the spirit of the game.

As a Dodger fan, I am tremendously proud that my favorite team was the one Jackie Robinson played for.  So, as you watch tonight's Dodger game and see every player wearing Jackie's number 42, take a moment and give thanks for all his heroics, on and off the field.

When Phil Gurnee asked me in December to come aboard to write for True Blue LA, I was happy to accept.  I was a reader of the site for quite some time, a fan of Phil's writing as well as the sharp analysis of Andrew Grant.

I had the pleasure of meeting Phil and Andrew, and a slew of other Dodger fans, thanks to Jon Weisman's Dodger Thoughts, a site on which I was a frequent commenter.  Writing about the Dodgers was something I did quite often through the comments of Dodger Thoughts anyway, so why not make the leap to write more in long form here?  Joining True Blue LA was a nice Christmas present.

A couple of months back, I wrote an article about Hall of Famer and former Dodger Eddie Murray, and how he became my favorite player 19 years ago.  That article was inspired by a Christmas gift from my brother, a bottle of Eddie Murray 504 Cabernet Sauvignon (I finally drank the wine the other day, by the way -- it was pretty good, but perhaps a bit too sweet).  That story was one of the cool perks of joining True Blue LA, the ability to share a story based on my love of baseball.

That's why this site exists, of course:  love of baseball, and the Dodgers.  Without the love, we wouldn't have a reason to write anything about the Dodgers, and you as readers wouldn't have any reason to read it.  Through our passion for baseball, we have developed a strong community here at True Blue LA, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

One member of our community, who comments under the name Branch Rickey, shot me an email last month about the Eddie Murray article I wrote.  I had previously met Branch Rickey, and knew he happened to be friends with Murray.  Branch Rickey's email included the following words that I will remember for the rest of my life:

I told him about your post...and he appreciated it.

The smile on my face upon reading those words stretched from ear to ear.  It reminded me why I continue to write here about the Dodgers.  I wrote something from the heart, and the man who happens to be my all-time favorite player liked it.  Wow.  High praise indeed.  Oh yeah, I also got this in the mail:

I'm not much of an autograph collector, but with this I reverted back to my childhood days of wonderment and hero worship.  We're all fans at heart.  That got me thinking:  I'd like to hear from you, the reader, about why you are a Dodger fan.  How and when did you start following the team?  Who is your favorite Dodger of all-time? Post your thoughts in the comments below.

And thanks for reading my semi-coherent ramblings about the team and the sport I love.

All-Time Lineup:  #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8
All-Time Starting Pitchers:  #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5
All-Time Bullpen:  Closer | Fireman | RHP Setup | LHP Setup
All-Time Bench:  Catcher | Utility | Lefty PH | Righty PH 

We asked you to vote and choose your all-time LA Dodger team, and you responded.  Almost 3,700 votes later, our team is here.  We have a lineup, a bench, a starting pitching staff and a bullpen.

Here is the final team:

This team is now on the sidebar, and will remain so throughout the season.  If you click on any player on the sidebar, it will take you to the individual article for the spot won by that player.

Thanks for participating, and look forward to a few fun things around the corner as we edge closer to opening day.

All-Time Lineup:  #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8
All-Time Starting Pitchers:  #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5
All-Time Bullpen:  Closer | Fireman | RHP Setup | LHP Setup
All-Time Bench:  Catcher | Utility | Lefty PH

Thanks to your votes, we have chosen 20 of the 21 players that will make up the All-Time LA Dodger team.  All that is now left is the right-handed pinch-hitter to complement Dave Hansen, the rightful winner of the lefty pinch-hitting role.

To qualify for this, each player had to appear in at least 200 games as a LA Dodger as a sub.  Here is the full list of righty-hitting subs, ranked by games played as a sub.  There were only two switch hitters to qualify using the 200 game criteria, Mitch Webster and Derrel Thomas.  Rather than add another spot on our bench, I'm lumping in Thomas with the lefties and Webster with the righties since they were respectively stronger at those sides at the plate.

Here are their stats as LA Dodgers (stats include all games with the Dodgers, not just their numbers off the bench):

Eric's Pick

I am not going to make the same mistake twice.  As much as I loved The Killer Tomato and his eight pinch homers, the pick here has to be Manny Mota.  He's not only the best hitter on this list, but is arguably the most famous pinch hitter in MLB history.

Mota had a key punch hit -- with an assist from Greg Luzinski -- in one of the most famous rallies in Dodger history , a three-run 9th inning in Philadelphia to take a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-five 1977 NLCS.  From Sports Illustrated:

The next pitch was perfect for the situation—a change-up low and outside. Mota somehow stroked it deep to left field over the head of Luzinski, who reached for it at the fence. The ball popped out of his glove, struck the fence and popped back in again. Because it hit the fence between pops, it was no catch.

I just want to point out that pinch-hitting is a very difficult skill.  In 2008, all MLB hitters collectively hit .264/.333/.416, but as a pinch-hitter batters were held to .230/.317/.347.  If you find someone who excels in the pinch-hitting role, or at least doesn't greatly suffer, that player is to be appreciated.  The Dodgers are lucky to have had two true pinch hitters in Dave Hansen and Manny Mota.

Phil's Pick

Wow, Manny Mota might be unanimous after looking at the numbers.  Those are incredible pinch hitter numbers when you figure in how many at bats he got.

All-Time Lineup:  #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8
All-Time Starting Pitchers:  #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5
All-Time Bullpen:  Closer | Fireman | RHP Setup | LHP Setup
All-Time Bench:  Catcher | Utility

Lee Lacy won the coveted utility spot on our all-time team.  We only have two more spots left, pinch hitters from each side of the plate.

To qualify for this, each player had to appear in at least 200 games as a LA Dodger as a sub.  Here is the full list of lefty-hitting subs, ranked by games played as a sub.  There were only two switch hitters to qualify using the 200 game criteria, Mitch Webster and Derrel Thomas.  Rather than add another spot on our bench, I'm lumping in Thomas with the lefties and Webster with the righties since they were respectively stronger at those sides at the plate.

Here are their stats as LA Dodgers (stats include all games with the Dodgers, not just their numbers off the bench):

Eric's Pick

There are an awful lot of good choices here.  We have the all-time leader in pinch hits (Harris) as well as the #6 man (Hansen).  Dave Hansen really dominates here in terms of quantity; he has more than twice as many appearances as a lefty pinch-hitter than anyone else on the list.   I don't hold Chris Gwynn's final regular season game against him or anything, but he just didn't hit well enough overall for me to pick him.  Ditto Von Joshua.

The smart money is with Dave Hansen, the only one here with improved numbers as a PH, but I'm going with Rick Monday here.  He was primarily a starter in both 1977 and 1978 -- his first two years as a Dodger -- but injuries relegated him to part-time duty for the final six years of his career.  He is the best hitter among this group, but there are two more key points to having him on the club:

1) Good luck burning a flag against this team

2) Nobody sitting on the bench will ever know the score of the game unless they look at the scoreboard.

Phil's Pick

Dave Hansen was a professional  pinch hitter so I'm going with Dave Hansen. Most of the other players were part time players because they were platoon players. Harris is the other real choice as a left handed pinch hitter. These were Rick Monday's triple stat numbers as a pinch hitter - 195/ .327/ .293. This is not going to make it for this team. Dave Hansen has to be the pick here because he's the best pinch hitter and because we share the same birthday.

I was at the burning flag game with my Dad and I've been surprised how big a moment people have made that out to be. The interesting part is that Rick had to run in from center field to make the save while the left fielder to my recollection just stood there until the flag was snagged, then he ran over to talk to the attempted flag burners. It happened so fast that I doubt anyone actually knew what was happening until  Rick had the flag in his hand.

The sad news coming out of Clearwater, Florida this week is truly a tragedy.  The Coast Guard on Tuesday called off the search for Raiders' LB Marquis Cooper, former Lions' DL Corey Smith, and former South Florida TE William Bleakley, and now the worst fears are being realized.

These events reminded me of a similar Florida aquatic tragedy nearly 16 years ago.  On March 23, 1993, Cleveland Indians pitchers Steve Olin, Tim Crews, and Bobby Ojeda were involved in a boating accident in Orlando, on an off day in spring training.

via LA Times

Tim Crews signed with the Indians in January 1993, after playing his first six MLB seasons with the Dodgers, including 71.2 IP for the 1988 World Champs.  Crews signed with the Indians about a month and a half after another former Dodger, Bobby Ojeda, also signed with Cleveland.  On that tragic day in late March, Crews was driving the boat with Ojeda and Olin as passengers.  Crews had a few too much to drink, and in the darkness ended up crashing into a pier.  Crews and Olin were killed, and Ojeda was seriously hurt.

The Dodgers wore a #52 patch commemorating Tim Crews during the 1993 season.

From a Sports Illustrated article from July 1993, Ojeda not only had physical pain, but emotional scars as well:

If only...sure, Crewser had had a few beers, but he seemed fine. If only the Indians still trained in Arizona, like they always had till this spring, and hadn't chosen to move to Homestead, Fla., and if only the hurricane hadn't headed straight for Homestead and demolished the complex, and if only the team hadn't stumbled into Winter Haven—just an hour from Crewser's ranch—to train. If only it hadn't rained that afternoon, and they had gone fishing in daylight, as they'd planned. If only they hadn't already been past the dock when the truck headlights flashed on the shore, the signal that Tim's buddy, Perry, was ready to be picked up. If only Crewser and Steve had slouched when they sat, as he always did. If only he hadn't slouched—goddammit, what right did he have to be alive?

Ojeda would eventually come back to the Indians in 1993, but only pitched 46 more big league innings in his career before retiring. 

I remember hearing about the boat crash when I was in high school, and it was truly a sad time for the game.  It was yet another reminder of the perils of drinking and driving.

If you want to look at the positive side of things, that Indians team was just coming into it's own in 1993.  In addition to Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, and Carlos Baerga, the Indians were loaded with young talent that would help them win the AL Central six out of seven years from 1995-2001.  Among that amazing group of young talent on Cleveland was a 21-year old from the Dominican Republic via Manhattan, who would make his major league debut later in 1993, and is due to make news on Wednesday.

Here's hoping the three missing football players are found and safe, no matter how long the odds may be.