Los Angeles Dodgers

Ethier, who sat out the series finale in Milwaukee on Wednesday, is back in the starting lineup for the Dodgers on Friday, batting fifth and playing right field against the Cardinals.

The Dodgers welcome the Cardinals to town for a weekend series. Friday is the first of 20 games in 20 days for the Dodgers, their longest stretch of the season without a day off and the longest streak allowed by the collective bargaining agreement.

Dodger Stadium is the third oldest stadium in Major League Baseball. It's easy to forget, as fifty some years isn't a whole lot of time but it's true. Wrigley Field and Fenway Park stand as testaments to war era inner-city stadiums built to fit within city block constrictions and with low capacities. LA had their own such stadium in their own Wrigley Field. However, when coming west O'Malley wanted the stadium of the future. Freeways were the future. In 1962, Los Angeles' freeway system was just coming into the modern age. via media-cache-is0.pinimg.com However, it wasn't just freeways. O'Malley was still old school enough to know that a stadium had to be built centrally, at the confluence of freeways. It's why a freeway out to Flushing Meadows wasn't enough to make him stay in New York. LA had just such a system. You can see on the Dodger's 1962 Souvenir Yearbook, the opening year of Dodger Stadium, that one of it's selling points was the freeway system which gave access to the stadium from all points in LA, San Bernadino, and Orange County. I've shared this program map before. My favorite part about it is the color coded freeways with flags saying the names of the different freeways. Because the freeway system was also something folk were trying to get the word out about. Also, it shows why LA people refer to the freeways with "the". Because before they were numbered, you could take the Harbor Freeway, the Pasadena Freeway, the Hollywood, the Ventura, the San Bernadino, the Santa Ana, or the Golden Gate to Dodger Stadium. via www.lamag.com My new find is this map issued by AAA showing the state of freeway construction in Los Angeles in 1962. You're gonna need to click to see the larger version, and even then there's so much detail on the map it can be hard to read. The important takeaways for me are just how piecemeal the whole system was built. As funds became available, sections were added on. Now we have the simplicity of "the 101" but back in the day through Hollywood was the Hollywood Freeway, then at the bend it's the Ventura Freeway. Driving around you'll notice that both names are on the signs. There are a bunch of names that the DS program leaves out as they don't connect to Dodger Stadium, but are used to get there now. The west side of LA is served by the San Diego Freeway, which at that point only went as far as the Long Beach Freeway. By August 1964 it would reach Cypress and it was only budgeted to connect to the Santa Ana and on to San Diego. The Santa Monica hadn't been constructed yet, and it was only under construction as far as La Cienega. The Riverside Freeway went as far as the Santa Ana, and it wasn't budgeted yet to reach the Harbor as it does now. My main takeawy from this map is just how ambitious the plan was. This is as extensive a freeway system as other cities had subway systems. At the time they didn't see gridlock or the smog it would create, planners simply saw the future. It was a future so grand Walt Disney built Autopia in his Disneyland so kids could pretend to drive on the vast highway system of the future. Rockets, submarines, and freeways. Dodger Stadium stands as a testament to life in 1962, not just baseball. It was a world not concerned with intra-city transit through a densely populated area. It was a world that wanted to see an entire region as one interconnected area. Yeah, and it doesn't work during rush hour. Still, someone dreamed this crap up. Dodger Stadium is the third oldest stadium in Major League Baseball. It's easy to forget, as fifty some years isn't a whole lot of time but it's true. Wrigley Field and Fenway Park stand as testaments to war era inner-city stadiums built to fit within city block constrictions and with low capacities. LA had their own such stadium in their own Wrigley Field. However, when coming west O'Malley wanted the stadium of the future. Freeways were the future. In 1962, Los Angeles' freeway system

I am often astounded by the quality of memorabilia that is found on eBay and sold by HYEE Auctions. They are definitely not your run of the mill eBay seller. For this holiday weekend they have a huge collection of vintage photographs and original negatives for sale and I thought I would take moment to highlight some of my favorites. I suggest taking a moment or two to check out everything they've got before they close because I think the Baseball fan in you will be very happy. Check out the great Christy Mathewson in this 1922 Underwood & Underwood press photo as he peers through a sheet of Christmas Seals Stamps. Mathewson was the Hall of Fame ace of the NY Giants staff and was nicknamed "The Christian Gentleman". (Auction Link) HYEE Auctions also has a large group of original negatives originally taken by famed Baseball photographer George Burke. Below, Lou Gehrig sits with a young girl who hopes to get his signature on a ball. According to the auction description, Gehrig visited Comisky Park in Chicago in 1934 as part of a marketing campaign set up by Goudey Gum Company in sponsorship of the "Knot Hole Club". (Auction Link) From the same event as above, Gehrig poses with a large group of kids. (Auction Link) Here are the hands of a legend. This is Satchel Paige in this circa 1960's Miami Herald press photo. (Auction Link) * Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes * * Like Dodgers Blue Heaven on facebook * * Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *

Thanks to Lane for the following tip... From Metrolink - Nobody likes fighting freeway traffic. Take Metrolink to the rivalry game, instead, for only $7 round trip—including riding the Dodger Stadium Express shuttle to Dodger Stadium and back. That’s cheaper than paying for parking. Metrolink will offer special train service from Oceanside to L.A. Union Station for the May 27 and 28 Angels versus Dodgers baseball games at Dodger Stadium. Trains will return 45 minutes after the game ends. This special train service is made possible by support from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee. Meet Jay Johnstone and Bob Boone at different metrolink stations. Click here for more info.

Tommy Lasorda is still finding ways to be involved with the Dodgers organization.

I thought I'd take this time to post up about something I really love - vintage Dodgers memorabilia. Check out this circa 1950's Brooklyn Dodgers doll made by the Flagg Doll Company. It stands 7" tall and appears to be in excellent shape. Heck, it even has a wooden bat attached to it with twine, and its original box. This Dodger appears to be dancing. He's got his arms up in the air and his knees bent, as if ready to boogie. Better yet, he's got some dancing shoes on. Hopefully, we'll see the current incarnation of the Dodgers feeling the same way soon. The season's been too much of a downer. The doll is available at In The Park Collectibles current auction. See it here. (auction link) * Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes * * Like Dodgers Blue Heaven on facebook * * Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *

Look, it's a thin bench! Trying to weave the narrative around the Dodgers' imploding 2013 season, Steve Dilbeck of the LA Times cites the thin bench strength as a primary liability: General Manager Ned Colletti loves those scrappy, versatile types, which would explain a roster that was set up to have Nick Punto, Skip Schumaker, Juan Uribe and Jerry Hairston Jr. as its primary backups. Except that with injured shortstop Hanley Ramirez missing most of the season so far and Luis Cruz proving worthless offensively, bench guys and players who were supposed to be in the minors are having to start. Neither Dee Gordon (.167) nor Justin Sellers (.191) have hit a lick trying to replace Ramirez. Gordon is currently in an 0-for-22 slump. If he’s going to hit worse than Sellers (now hitting .314 at triple-A Albuquerque), they might as well send Gordon back down and return to Sellers, who at least has the superior glove. Mattingly has been forced to play Punto almost every day, and fortunately for him, he’s responded better (.330, .418 on-base percentage) than they had right to hope. After a slow start, Schumaker has hit .357 in his last 12 games. But when Punto and/or Schumaker are in the game, that leaves Cruz (.096), Uribe (.229) and/or Gordon the bench. There’s nothing there to pick from. And then there’s catcher Ramon Hernandez, who snapped an 0-for-17 skid with two hits Wednesday (including a homer). Scott Van Slyke now at least gives them a hint of power on the bench, but that’s it. Impressive it ain’t. Cruz, Gordon and Hernandez shouldn’t be on a team with championship aspirations, but that is your last-place Dodgers bench. I'd agree, arguing that Gordon, Sellers, Cruz, Uribe, and Hernandez don't have any place on a major league roster, not with the way they've been playing this year. We can be patient for the subset of those that might still be maturing. But that maturing time shouldn't be done on my major-league-priced ticket.

The 5th edition of the Dodgers Playbill debuts with Dodger Hall of Fame Spanish-language broadcaster Jaime Jarrín on the cover. See it above. Fans receive the playbill when they enter the Dodger Stadium parking gates. "Appreciating the greatness of Clayton Kershaw," via Alex Kienholz at Beyond the Boxscore. Via Greg Zakwin on Yahoo, he makes the case for demoting Luis Cruz. Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA we learn that former pitching prospect Aaron Miller has been moved to the outfield. Panini shares even more pictures from the Father's Day set that will be give away at local card shops throughout the country. Ken Rosenthal on twitter shares some comments from Dodgers President Stan Kasten on Mattingly's recent comments. Interesting. Via David Lauterbach at True Blue LA, "Dodgers links: Mattingly receives support from Kasten and Colletti." I think Stealing Home of All Trade Bait, All the Time gets deep down to the crux of the issue when it comes to Andre Ethier in his piece entitled, "Mattingly vs. Ethier Round One". Mattingly didn't bench Ethier because he doesn't have any fire, it's because Andre internalizes and misdirects it. All athletes feel the emotion of the game; it's how they handle it that separates the great ones from the Milton Bradleys. This is exactly how I feel. This is excellent. This Scott Bradlee guy is a great musical composer/ arranger. Here is a 1920's style cover of PSY's song "Gentleman" Video Link: * Please follow on twitter @ernestreyes * * Like Dodgers Blue Heaven on facebook * * Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *

The Lookouts were outhit 14 to 5 on Thursday but were able to get the win thanks to some timely late hitting and a strong performance from starter Zach Lee