It does feel great that the Dodgers ended their losing streak.  Four games.  It seemed to last forever.  Last night, they finally were able to upend the Cardinals.  Everyone was right.  When my team finally won, it was exhilarating.  Thanks Jane, Ginnie, Virginia, Julia, for the support and also the wonderful guys from mlblogs.  I was becoming more and more depressed.

Kuroda-san pitched a good game.  He should have had the win.  It looks like the opening day pitcher is back.   When he retired for the day and Mota came in, the score was 3-2 Dodgers after a fantastic double by Raffy Furcal which drove in substitute catcher Brad Ausmus and pinch hitter Juan Pierre.  Mota allowed a homerun by Rick Ankiel which tied the score and sent the game into extra innings again.

The hero of the game was my Matty Kemp.  He singled,  driving in Casey Blake and Andre Ethier.  The final score was 5-3.  It prevented a sweep by the powerful Cardinals.

One thing about my Dodgers is that they don’t give up.  They have heart.  When even the announcers have given up hope, they still are fighting on. 

It makes me feel helpless that they are on the road and all of us fans are here in the LA area.  I think they needed us there to cheer them on.  My Dodgers love their fans.  They have said that many times.  They know we support them one hundred per cent.  We bleed Dodger blue.

I look at them as my family.  I go to all the home games so I see them quite a bit.  I have talked to them, laughed with them, cried with them.  I celebrated the Western Division Championship with them.  I shook Joe Torre’s hand the day they won.  I have been hugged by Matty Kemp.  Andre Ethier flashes a special smile when he sees me. James Loney looks at me with recogntion.  Yes, they are my family.  The good news is we have a new family member George Sherrill from the Orioles.  We did have to trade two fantastic prospects but I think that Sherrill will be a great addition.  I had been afraid that one of our core team would be traded.  The trade deadline will not come soon enough for me.

I am counting the days until they return to Dodger Stadium on Monday.  My friend Marynell is on a trip to Nicaragua for 10 days so I will be missing her.  I know she won’t be able to follow the Dodger games there.  It will be a bit strange not to be texting her or talking to her during the games. 

I am very happy for the Padres fans for the fantastic 3 game winning streak.  I know my friends Kaybee and Hyung Young are celebrating!  Finally.  I knew that they would break out of their slump.

Somehow even with all these Dodger losses, they remain the team with the best record in baseball.  That mark is a bit tenuous to say the least with Jane’s Yankees breathing down their necks.  The Dodgers still hold a 7 game lead over San Francisco and an 8 game lead over Colorado in the Western Division which will decide Postseason. 

Tomorrow they begin their series with the Atlanta Braves.  Tonight I am on night 4 of my 7 night stretch working.  I feel pretty good, not too tired.  I figure by night 7 I will be more than ready to have a night off.

I will try to post pictures later today on this blog.

Everyone have a great day! 

I have come down to earth finally.  The Dodgers have lost three games in a row.  Last night they got clobbered by the Cardinals.  I had forgotten what it was like to love a team that loses.  I have been spoiled by their last minute heroics.  They always seem to pull a rabbit out of a hat and come out on top.  But the last three games, they were not successful. 

I am trying to get some rest but it is difficult since I am working 84 hours this week.  I suppose that is the penalty to pay when you love the Dodgers as much as I do and want to go to every home game.  That 84 hours translates into 7 12 hour night shifts.  I work from 7:30 PM to 8:00 AM.  Often I go home dead tired and too weary to sleep much.  Then I get up and do it again.  They say you can never catch up on lost sleep.  Well, I am working hard on being the best I can be for the next homestand coming up. Only a few days to go.

I am spoiling myself.  I got baseline seats for the first 3 games of the homestand. I am ready to take some more closer than life pictures.   I am celebrating the fact that our Andre Ethier was chosen the NL player of the week.  Yay Andre.  He definitely is playing better now that Manny is back.  I am a little worried about Manny’s sore hand.  I know he hit that grand slam homerun.  But I know that he is still hurting since his bat has been somewhat quiet.

The Cardinals have been very tough.  I hope that our guys can eke out a win tomorrow.  I don’t want to get used to them losing.  At least everyone lost yesterday including the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rockies. But. the Padres won.  Yaaay Padres.  There you go Kaybee and Hyung Young.  Your guys did good. The Dodgers remain on top of the pile for now.  It’s getting further and further into the season:  there is August and September which will be over in a blink of an eye, then post season.  I am already planning on buying postseason tickets.  I will be able to buy some for Marynell who wants to come too.  I totally plan on going to the World series.   I think the Dodgers have a shot at it.  But first, I hope the Dodgers can get out of this series with one win.

I thought I would end this entry with a few pictures I took during the last couple of games  I miss my guys.

That long walk from bullpen that the pitcher, catcher and pitching coach make to homeplate and the pitchers mound always gets me excited. 

Here is Guillermo Mota, one of our bullpen.  He usually works out  in front of me before the game. 

Here is one of my favorites Matty Kemp

Our NL player of the week Andre Ethier ready for anything

Andre again checking those cuticles

I alway watch the bullpen hard at work before the games catching those bp balls.  They look alert and interested, don’t they?

This is my usual view of Manny during a game since I sit front row field section by the left field foul pole.  In the background is Matty Kemp ready to make another spectacular catch.

 

Thanks everyone for looking at my blog.  Have a great day.

I confess that I am not vey good at writing after a loss.  I was quite depressed after the Sunday loss.  I think that I was a bit tired since I was up for more than 36 hours before I actually saw a bed. 

I sat through the game a bit sleepy.  One of the ushers accidentally woke me up by saying, “Oh this is where you are sitting today.   You are always sitting in a different place.”  I must havee jumped ten feet thinking she said, “Oh this is where you are sleeping today.”  My usher Ernie made sure I was well hydrated bringing me big cups of ice water.  It was extremely hot as is usually true during the day games.  I sat in the shade as usual giving up my front row seat gladly.  I did stay down there long enough to have a chat with my security person on the field.

Me:  Hi, here I am

Him:  Oh, I thought you would be comatose today

Me:  I actually am sleepwalking today.  Everything is a big cloudy. By the way I think I am too tired to run on the field so you don’t have to watch me too closely today.

The game yesterday was depressiing to me also because Jason Schmidt did not pitch as well as he did the last outing.

I really like Jason.  I have watched him out on the field faithfully practicing and throwing for two seasons.  It is very sad he is not the same pitcher when he was at the top of his form.  It is also sad because Joe and Ned will be seriously looking for another SP.  I am afraid of the cost.  There are many rumors out there which to me are frightening.  They include Clayton, Bills, and James Loney in the trade.  Of course no one admits to the rumors.

Before the game I was glad to see Kuo walking to the bullpen.

Apparently he was activated today with poor yoyo Blake DeWitt going down again.  I wonder where he has all his stuff.  Probably in a suitcase.

I have to thank my friend Linda for standing in line for 5 hours to get the above ball signed for me at a Broxton signing.  In return I gave her the recent Dodgers Magazine with Vinny on the cover and also I took pix of her beloved Randy Wolf.  Linda was busy with things probably as important as a Dodgers game.

Uh, hi Randy, you are lucky Linda isn’t here or you would have to see the Wolf Hat again!!

Here is a nice shot of Randy without his cap.  I hope he had his sunscreen on.

Here is a pretty nice picture of Russell for Rosie who kinda likes the Russell guy.

I love this picture of Andre posing with some fans which he doesn’t do often and also smiling.  This picture is for Nellyjune since it looks like I am dedicating my pix to people today.

This is a pic of Kuroda-san who is I guess for me since he is one of my people.  He had a decent game but the bullpen kiind of imploded.  Not his fault.  I still love him.  He smiled at me and threw me a ball while I ducked for cover.  I still have PTSD from being hit by that line drive foul ball so any baseball scares me unless iit’s in a nice plasttic cube. 

The Dodgers are on the road now.  I am out of sorts.  For one thing I slept a long time last night,  I always feel that I lose time when I sleep too long.  People spend 1/3 of their life sleeping.  I think I spend maybe 1/5 of my life sleeping.  It doesn’t help that I work nights I suppose.  I went out and bought a GPS device cuz I do get lost occasioonally when I stray too much.  I remember getting lost going out a different gate at Dodger Stadium.  It was the dead of night and nothing was open.  It was pretty scary especially when I heard someone was killed in skid row LA yesterday.  Everyone’s first thought is what was she doing on skid row.  Maybe she was lost like I was.  And then I always get lost going to my friend Marynell’s house and also going home from there.  I wonder why that is

Back to the game on Saturday night.  Casey Blake was the hero that night.  He was very glad since he has been in a slump  He stated afterwards that he enjoys playing with the Dodgers, he likes the atmosphere in the clubhouse.  He likes the fact that there is a different hero every night.  I always said that.

The hero of the week is our Andre Ethier, NL player of the week again.

So I willl post my usual pix of Andre out in the field for all my Ethieraholic friends.

I think it was him over there that’s responsible

Cross my heart, it wasn’t me

Okay, two outs, almost time to go home and get packed

Maybe I’d better shave before I go on the road, probably change our luck

Man, nothing else to do, maybe I’ll stand on my head.  Here we go!.

I thought it was interesting that Badenhop was ejected yesterday for hitting Orlando on purpose  How unintelliigent is it to go back to the dugout and give everyone high fives after the dirty deed.  I suppose Jeff Weaver did hit Hanley Ramirez first or was it after Russell was hit?  Joe Torre isn’t talking.  Neither am I.

Everyone have a great day or maybe a great week. I will be working 84 hours in the next week so I can be off to go to the next homestand. I may not have much time to post.   I am spending my birthday when they return doing what I love best: watching my Dodgers play ball

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So the guys say good bye and be good. 

There actually was nothing ugly but the title looked better that way.

The day was full of unexpected, sometimes not pleasant moments.  Everyone knows that I am a person who has a routine on game day.  Otherwise, bad things happen.  For example, my team loses.  Oh no, please say it isn’t so.

First, the traffic was horrific.  Lousy.  Not Friday light.  It look me over an hour to get to the Stadium.  Not good.  I only had to wait at the gate for 30 minutes. Trouble brewing.

Scott was over an hour late with my baseline seat ticket because of the aforementioned horrific traffic.  I had parked.  Now I paced in the Dodger Stadium merchandise store. He arrived and gave me my ticket.

So then I had to figure out where my best friend Marynell was so I could give her  my season ticket.  She happened to be in the wrong store on the right field side.  It was getting late, like maybe one hour before game time.  She made it to the left field side and we went in together. I was almost in convulsions because everything was in the wrong sequence.  Oh boy, it just didn’t feel right.

One good thing.  While I was waiting at the gate, I got a text from Jane Heller, my new found friend on the MLBlogs network.  She was a guest of the Dodger organization with seats in the Dugout Club.  Pretty fancy schmancy eh?  We discovered that her car was only 2 lanes away from mine.  Yaaaay.  I ran to her car and greeted her.  My heart was thumping.  Here I am with the famous Jane Heller of Confessions of a She Fan blog, popular author, and amazing person.  My first impression of her….what a warm wonderful person she is.  I am pretty good with first imprressions, something that my late Mom also was good at.  My second impression was that she is absolutely beautiful. http://janeheller.mlblogs.com 

I still had this feeling that the routine was messed up.  Being late for me is unforgivable.  I used to arrive at work an hour early.  I’ve trimmed it to 20 minutes early.   Being late makes me nervous.  Not having my routine is devestating.  I should have been a baseball player. I  ate my  food which was Chinese today.  It was a deliciousl sweet potato Kung Pao, spring rolls and broccoli beef.  The salads were the tasty Caesar salad, baby green and beet salad, and wild rice salad.  But, I did not take a picture.  Yikes, I really messed up my routine, by that time totally irreparablle.  I always take pictures of the food.  Okay I am really bumming now.

The good:  I was able to scoot over to the front of the baseline section and talk to one of my favorite people Andre Ethier.  He is one of the nicest players by far, the most fan friendly in all of baseball, I  believe.

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You can see his autograph on the bill of the cap.  Now I know that Andre will have good luck during the game because he always does when he signs something for me  Last time he signed something for me he had a multiple homerun game.

I decided to go back to my season seat at this point in time to see Clayton Kersaw walking to the pitchers mound with Russell.

His haircut makes him look even more like a high school student. 

Clayton pitched a pretty good game but did not get the run support.  He was not as brilliant as in his last few starts but not bad.  He ended up with a no decision.

It was pretty much the bullpen team of McDonald and Troncoso that imploded. 

There was still plenty of Manny love.  He was loving his fans today as always.  He looks like he actually likes playing baseball.

Here is another pic of Manny

A rare picture of Matty with his cap off.  This was taken right after the singing of the National Anthem.

I can’t understand the power of the Andre cap.  I put the cap on when Andre was up and he had a hit.  Maybe I should give him a pile of stuff to sign and save it up.

Here you go Rosie, another picture of my awesome security person.  I think he is lookiing at my cap thinking what good luck I brought to Andre.  Or maybe he’s looking at me thinking that maybe I will explode if I eat any more of the baseline food.  Whatever it is, he is smiling at me.

I keep telling myself that the Dodgers can’t win every game.  And I try not to blame myself.  My routine was definitely out of sync today through a comedy of errors.  I will work on it tomorrow.  It is a Saturday which means traffic will not be so heavy.  I am sitting in my season seat.  I will be alone.  Everything the way it usually is. 

I hope Jane had a great time.  She is a good sport for wanting to come see the Dodgers play.  Too bad they weren’t at their best.  Glad to report that her Yankees are getting it together and are number one.  The Rays also won.  Yaaaay Ginny.  Yaaay Evan.  And the Padres beat the Nationals.  Yaaaay Kaybee and Hyun Young.  Those wins made my evening more bearable although my guys lost. 

Two more games with the Marlins and then the Dodgers will be on the road.  They will then return on Aug 3.  How will I survive them being out of town again? 

Good night everyone. 

 

Many people say that there is a distinctive sound that the bat makes when Manny hits a homerun.  Tonight I heard it.

To start off, today was Manny Bobblehead Night.  I know, I know, I have been talking about this night for a long time.

In Tuesday nights game, however, Manny was hit on the side of his left hand which had him grimacing in pian and forced him to leave and go directly to the hospital to get xrays.  We were horrified.  Especially since we knew that last night was Manny bobblehead night. 

Manny did not start.  We saw Juan Pierre working out and stretching before the game.  We knew that Manny was day to day.  Of course we were disappointed especially those fans who had come to the game only to see Manny.  There was a sellout crowd of 56,000.  It was very crowded.

Chad Billingsley was the starting pitcher trying to get his 10th win.  In fact it would be his 7th attempt to get that elusive 10th win. 

Yes Andre, it was only one homerun thiis time.

Then James Loney hit a triple in the fourth, hitting in Andre for an RBI..

Then Bills threw a wild pitch in sixth which tied up the game

It appeared that there would be a pinch hitter for Billingsley.  Mark Loretta appeared to be getting ready to bat.  The jumbotron showed Manny in the dugout.  The crowd started to chant Manny Manny.  Then Manny started to put on his batting helmet.  By then the crowd was on their feet screaming and cheering.

It was a surprise to see Manny as pinch hitter since he was day to day, having just injured his left hand.  The crowd was loud and exhilarated. 

He got up to bat.

.I happened to take this picture of Manny as he walked up to the plate and got ready to hit.

He hit a grand slam homerun!  We couldn’t believe it.  We stood there amazed.  He hit the ball like a rocket into Mannywood.  We heard that sharp crack of the bat as he connected with that first pitch.

It was Manny’s first pinch hit grand slam of his career.  It was his bobblehead night.  He hit into Mannywood.  It was a grand slam.  Who could have scrripted it any better?

I will never forget that moment.  The crowd stood for about 10 minutes, cheering and applauding until Manny came out for a curtain call.  He said that he was glad that he hit this grand slam in LA for us fans.  There was Manny love all over the stadium.  There was even a Red Sox fan who had neutral feelings about Manny but  stood up and cheered with everyone else.  It was a special momennt, one that many of us will remember for a long time..

The Dodgers swept the Reds.  The Dodgers are now 61-34, 27 games over .500.  Jane’s Yankees are 57-37, Julia’s Red Sox are 56-39

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Matty again had a fine defensive game.

 

Russell also had a great defensive game.  He has improved in the last few weeks in hitting and defense.

Mota pitched two scoreless innings.  He has been right on the mark.

Jonathan Broxton closed the game one two three.  His toe must be ok. 

The hero of the game was Manny Ramirez who hit the grand slam homerun which broke the tie.  The final score was 6-2.

Thursday is an off day.  I go to work.  Manny can rest his bruised left hand. We can all look at our Manny Bobbleheads and remember last night.

A funny note:  They showed Manny in the dugout bobbing his head.  Apparently Matty put him up to it since it was his bobblehead night.  Well, Matty, remember your bobblehead night is in August.

Have a good day off.

 

 

It was actually a good day for the Dodgers.  They routed the Reds with a score of 12-3.  Randy Wolf had a quality start and plenty of run support..  My friend Linda seems to think it is the wolf hat that she insists on wearing when Randy is pitching.  I really don’t know.  Sometimes I’m not sure if I want her to sit near me when she wears that thing.. It is a little scary.  But then again I have my little routine I have to go through before and during the game as well.

The above picture is of Randy Wolf warming up before the game.  He seems to be more clean shaven.  Maybe that will give him his first win..

Yesterday was Jason Schmidt’s first start in two years.  He has been on DL that long after shoulder surgery and rehab. On DL for two seasons is a long time.  He did surprisingly well and did have his second win in two years.  He doesn’t have his velocity but he did get through 5 innings.  He gave up 3 runs in the first inning.  Gulp.  Not good.  I confess I started to worry about how long Jason would last. I have to coness that I did have a longer entry but I forgot to save it and lost it all.  Considering it’s getting late, I had to rewrite it but in condensed version.  Sigh, and it was the best one I have ever written.  I had to say that. 

Ultimately the Dodgers scored some runs and they won the game. Jason said that he just pitched what Russell called for.  He did say he was a bit nervous.  Pitching in the Bigs is definitely different than in the Minors. He felt fine the day after so that is good news.  .

Here is a picture of Manny before the incident.  He made some fine defensive plays last night.

I was happy to see Orlando Hudson back in the game. He did not play yesterday after hyperextending his surgically repaired left wrist two days ago.

Andre was back iin the game again afterr that injury scare two days ago. 

At least none of the injuries put anyone on DL.

Injury update:  Kuo may be back by the end of the month.  He pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in Class 2.  I would love to see Kuo back.  What a fighter

Dougie Baseball who dislocated his shoulder earlier in the season is doing extremely well and may return on August 4.  He is on rehab assignment.

 

The facts:

The Dodgers are now 26 games over 500.

The Dodgers have the best record of any MLB team

The Dodgers are 9 games in front in the Western Division

I love to say that the Dodgers are a  team of heroes.  Each of the guys take turns being the hero of the day.  That means that there is no one superstar on the team.  We have Manny Ramirez, the only real recognizable name.  Our team is made up of youngsters from our farm system:  Martin, Kemp, Loney, Kershaw, Billingsley, Broxton, DeWitt, Elbert, McDonald, the list goes on.  Then there are the chances that the management took on Orlando Hudson with his season ending left wrist dislocation from last year.  Raffy Furcal with his season ending back surgery.  We have Andre Ethier obtained in trade for bad boy Milton Bradley.  Did we get the better end of the deal.  We have Jeff Weaver and Eric Milton who were given another chance.  Belisario who came from who knows where.  Mota who returned to the Dodgers.  It is a patchwork team who seems to play well together.  It is in part because they actually have fun playing together.  They celebrate each others homeruns, hits, RBIs.  My favorite part of the game is at the end when there is a Dodger victory, the guys in the outfield give each other chest bumps, and then go on to give the others high fives, hugs, etc.  In the background you can hear “I Love LA.”  I do love my Dodgers.

Here are a few pictures I took tonight at the game

Here is Russell walking to home plate before the game.

 

Wait a minute, hold on here.  You forgot my pictures.  

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Yikes, more stretching

Okay, enough stretching Andre

Tomorrow night we will see if the Dodgers can sweep the Reds.  Hopefully Manny is okay.  It really bothers me when one of my players is hurt. So far, many injuries in the past few games but none serious.  And then Wednesday night is Manny Bobblehead night, sold out for days.  I hope Manny is well enough to at least be with the guys.

Great news.  I will be meeting Jane Heller, the famous author and writer of the number one MLBlog Confessions of a She Fan. http://janeheller.mlblogs.com.  She has written a book with the same name.   She will be a guest of the Dodgers and will be sitting in the famous Dugout Club on Friday.  It also is Fireworks night to the music of Elvis Presley.  .  Thanks to Josh Rawich who was instrumental in this fantastic opportunity for Jane and her husband  I expect a nice food writeup, Jane.

Thanks to everyone for supporting my blog.  It gives me great pleasure to write it and to read your posts.  GO DODGERS!!!

 

 

 

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Last night was the Stitch N Pitch event that I had been writing about for days.  I thought that I would do it right and actually ride in the bus with the other knitters rather than drive through that LA traffic.

It started out at my very favorite knitting store Alamitos Bay Yarn Company located in the beautiful Long Beach Marina.

We were met by a tour bus which was absolutely the most comfortable ride I have ever been in.  Nice air conditioning especially nice in the hot weather, plush seats, personal overhead lighting..  It must be like the one that the Dodgers ride in.  It definitely was nice leaving the driving to someone else.  He said his name was Dr. Iver.  We all laughed.

When we maneuvered through the rush hour traffic, I just relaxed.  There were a variety of women aboard who were very involved in knitting.  Now what did I expect..fanatic Dodger fans?  I came with two needles and a ball of yarn and left with the same needles and ball of yarn ripped out since I didn’t like the way it looked.  Oh well, I suppose that my passion is more with the Dodgers than with kniting.

We were given all kinds of gifts once we reached the Stadium which was very cool

On the left is a bag that says Dodgers on one side.  We also got a long tube that is supposed to be to put yarn in one side and accessories in the other.  On the right is a nice Dodgers cap.  Very cool gifts.

We were met at our seats by channel two weather guy Kai Goldberg who turned out to be a very nice person.  He talked to everyone about their knitting

He is a bit taller than I am.  I have turned into a huge Kai Goldberg fan.  .

I thought that it was time to go to my regular season seat.  I told a couple of my fellow knitters where my seat usually is and I told them that I would be back to catch the bus.  The seats that the knitters were given was in Reserve Level Section 36 which is on the right field side two levels up.  My seat is on the left field side, field level.  Opposite ends of the stadium.

I got to my seat after a bit of a walk since the stadium is qute large.  It took several flights of stairs and an ecalator ride down.  I found out there was someone already sitting in my seat so I should have already seen a red light.

When things start out not quite right, it usually escalates into horrible not right, at least in my expereince.  Since I took the bus, we arrived late which I never do.  Everyone knows that I have a set routine so anything out of the ordinary upsets the apple cart.  Baseball players like their set routine, we fans are probably just as superstitious.

The Dodgers started out with our SP Billingsley doing a horrendous job.  After two innings, the Astros already had a total of 6 runs.  Not good.  How many teams can come back with a 6 run deficit in 2 innings.  Right, the game is still young, it’s still early.  I knew it would be a long game.  Either it’s good Chad or it’s bad Chad.  He is our allstar but that’s his M.O.  Last night it was Bad Chad.  And either the Dodgers are all hitting or no one is hitting.  In fact, James Loney’s 12 game hitting streak hit the skids.  That’s done.  Matt Kemp did not play, Juan Pierre played center field.  i love Juan Pierre but he doesn’t have the arm to play that position.  I’m not saying that Matty would have been the factor to win the game.  Or am I??  I have said very often that Joe Torre waits too long to take a cold pitccher out.  I know he’s doing it to save the arms of our bullpen, but a 6 run lead pretty much ended the game already in the second inning.  I was already thinking of going to the bus by that time.

I should have done that.  The rest of my story is not pretty.  I have some pet peeves as everyone knows, one being those stupid beach balls.  Another are the drunks that seem to ruin the game.  Alcohol seems to change even the nicest people.

Last night was the perfect example.  I sat next to about 5 young men who introduced themelves as friends from work, a couple had gone on to work at another place, so it was a reunion of sorts.  They were friendly, talking, laughing, taking pictures.  Then they started to get a bit drunk.  A couple of the guys kept yelliing out to Manny who waved a couple of times but after a while I think he figured out that they were drunk.  One of the group was really drunk, I could tell by his slurry speech, his red face, and his actions.  The fellow sitting next to me was very polite and considerate so I didn’t pay attention to his friends.  He apologized for them and said that they were a bit intoxicated.  I was still watching the game, still hoping that theteam  could pull it off and score some runs but it didn’t look like it would happen.  By the seventh inning, I knew that it was a done deal, the Dodgers would have their second loss in a row.  After we stood and sang God Bless America. and Take Me Out to the Ballgame, I thought I would soon pack up my unique, but bulky gifts, my camera, my bag with my lunch uneaten, and go up to the Reserve Section since it was a trek.  I didn’t want to step over too many people so I was waiting for a good moment, between innings.  I decided I would leave before the eighth inning.  Wrong choice.  My friendly neighbor got up and his super drunk friend sat next to me after saying in a very inebriated voice.  She’s not your girl!  I’ll sit there.  Red light.  All of a sudden I could smell alcohol breath which turned my stomach.  I turned and kept watching the game.  He asked me if I would take a picture with his friends.  I ignored him and he kept asking.  When I turned around he grabbed me, put his arm around me, kissed me and had his friend take the picture.  It was disgusting.  He totally violated that personal space I had set up for myself.  I was in tears.  I fumbled around, gathered up my things and got up.  I left shaking and upset.  My usher Ernie ran up to me and said he saw what had happened.  He said he was waiting for the word to kick them out.  In fact three of the security team had been alerted and they were standing there waiting.  I shook my head and said it was okay.  They were actually nice guys but the alcohol had clouded their judgment.  I couldn’t ruin everyones time because one of them was an idiot.  I am still crying over it.  It was upsetting.  I understand how things get out of control and rapes happen.  If I weren’t at a public ballgame, it would have escalated into more, I know.  

Those of you who do drink alcohol at the games or anywhere else, please don’t do it in excess.  It makes you do things you normally wouldn’t do.  Alcohol hurts people.  I know I responded to Julia in my last post about how I feel about those who use alcohol in excess.  Here I am again a victim.  It ruined my night, although the loss didn’t help, and I am still feeling that helpless violated feeling today. 

So I took that trip home in the bus with the knitting ladies.  I sat quietly by myself wishing that icky feeling would go away.  One of the ladies told me she had watched me with her binoculars from across the field.  She asked me who that was that was sitting next to me.  Was he a friend? He seemed awfully close  since he was hugging me.   I looked through her and didn’t answer.   

  . 

 

I was eagerly awaiting this first game back after being away from Dodger Stadium so long.  I had special French manicure on my nails.

 

I had even worn a special new pin to commemorate both one of my favorite foods and also another super blog I am on with a group of special friends, including Joe Pierre, Fan since 53, Gary, Kevin, the Bleacher Creatures, Sammy

Everryone knows that I love gourmet food!  I can’t wait until Saturday when I will sit in the Baseline Club section again.  I’ll have to show you pictures of food again. 

One of the first players I saw was Randy Wolf.  For some reason there were no Dodgers out for batting practice.  Maybe they were getting a pep talk from Joe.  It was a bit disappointing.

Later on we did see the bullpen take their traditional walk from the dugout to the bullpen.

I was happy to see Belisario among the relief pitchers as well as Broxton.  I guess Cory Wade is back on DL with a sprained shoulder and Blakey is back.  He must feel like a yoyo.

It was good to see the Dodgers again especially Manny.

I haven’t posted many pictures of Russell so here is one I took yesterday while he was tossing the ball before the game.

Andre seemed to be in good spirits before the game when he went to the fans to sign autographs.

Manny came out to the field amid much applause and cheering.  I don’t think I heard any booing.  I think the fans are just putting the past behind them and getting on with baseball. 

He seemed to be the same Manny.  He looked over toward us quite often.  I sit next to Mannywood so I am very close to him.  The picture I took was from my seat.  He seemed in good spirits, waving and nodding frequently to the fans.  There was one heckler who stood out in the aisle and yelled “Cheater.”  He seemed to be a troublemaker, always one in the crowd.  I have a hard time with hecklers whether the hecklee  (is that a word?) is a Dodger or on the other team.  It ruins the game for the rest of us.  I remember one idiot kept insulting Fukudome who is Japanese.  I finally turned to the heckler and told him that Fukudome didn’t understand a word he said and probably thought he was saying good stuff.  The heckler stopped and thought about it.  That was the end of the heckling that time.  I know TJ Slimers and Bill Plaschke had only negative things to say about Manny but I figured that sells more papers and stirs up controversy.  I wrote a heated email to Plaschke this morning because I don’t think he was very informed.  He stated that Manny ignored the fans.  I sat in the front row and thought Manny was the same as before his absence.  I suppose it is all subjective.  What is he supposed to do?  I saw him before and after the absence. He is the same.  He acknowledges his fans, probably more than most ballplayers.  Fans always call out to the players and usually the players don’t look, especially during a game.  Last night Carlos Lee was in left field.  He was heckled of course as most of the opposing left fielders are.  He was one of the few players who has responded to the spectators (I can’t say fans) by yelling at them, motioning and staring at them often during the game.  It is better to act like you don’t hear the hecklers.  They kept yelling at him “Do you want a doughnut?”  whatever that’s supposed to mean.  He kept patting his stomach.  It went on most of the game.  Annoying.  Almost as annoying as those stupid beachballs.  I plan on taking off my Dodger Dog pin and sticking any ball that comes my way. 

Anyway, the game was awful.  There were many opportunities to score, 8 men left on base.  James retains his 12 game hitting streak.  But the Dodgers seemed to be in a daze.  Maybe too much vacation.  I don’t offer much criticism since I am no coach but I have to say last night Randy stayed in too long.  Last night 3 runs was too much to overcome.  It seems either the Dodgers hit well or not at all.  Last night was one off those not at all nights.

I know I went to the game after only getting an hour of sleep in 36 hours so I felt as tired and dejected as Andre looked near the end of the game. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He looks like he’s even feeling for a pulse.

As my friend Trublu told me, the Dodgers seem to bounce back after a loss.  I know they will be fine tonight.  They have 4 games with the Astros.  There are 3 left.  GO DODGERS!! 

Tonight I will be riding a bus with other knitters to take part in their annual Pitch N Stitch event or is it Stitch n Pitch?  Anyway, I won’t have to drive tonight and will be able to stay for the fireworks.  I promise to print some pictures from my experience tomorrow.  There is a rumor that Channel 2 will be there to greet us when we get to the Stadium.  Very cool.  So I guess I better bring some knitting.

I’m making a nice warm scarf for one of my Dodgers to wear during the playoffs in October when they may be back east playing a team in inclement weather.  However it may be the Angels and Dodgers.  Who knows who the Dodgers will play.  Do I sound confident?

My reference to Manny’s Back Part II is Manny’s own reference to last night.  He still is a joker.  No matter what, he brings the other players something that makes the team looser and happier.  They are all glad that Manny is back.  I am too.  So there TJ and Bill.