Why I Love Baseball, Part 10

There's no clock in baseball.  Baseball games end when they're good and ready.  In the NBA, most games are going to have 48 minutes of action.  Some will have 53, 58, or any solution for y to the equation y = 48 + 5x where x is a non-negative integer (the greatest value for x in NBA history was 6, I know, you were told there'd be no math).  Football and hockey games have 60 minutes of action unless there's overtime.  I love that a baseball game doesn't depend on a clock.  A baseball game has nine innings, each inning with two halves, and each half inning has three outs.  Excluding games that are called due to rain once the game has become official (after four and a half innings), a game might last eight and a half innings, it might last nine innings, or it might last 19 innings.

The game last night between the Angels and A's went until 1:41 in the morning on the west coast.  That's 49 minutes before I woke up this morning.  If the Dodgers had been involved, I probably would have fallen asleep around 2:00 Eastern.  But if it was a big game at the end of the season, I probably would have stayed up for the whole thing and then slept for like an hour.

I remember the Mets and Cardinals playing 20 innings three years ago.  The good thing about that game was that it was on a Saturday.  I definitely didn't watch that whole game, but I probably watched at least the last five innings.  The Mets used 24 of their 25 players.  Mike Pelfrey (normally a starting pitcher) got the save.  National League games are much more fun because you get double switching and you can end up with the pitcher's spot in the order at a very random spot.  When you get a game like that, you just have to figure out who can do what for your team until the game is ready to end.  You might end up with guys playing positions they aren't used to playing and position players pitching.

I've said that Bud Selig has been mostly good for baseball.  The worst thing that he did as commissioner was not get a grip on the steroid problem in baseball earlier than he did.  The second worst thing he did was ending the 2002 All Star Game in a tie because the teams were out of players (besides Ryan Braun being a cheater, that's the other thing I thought about when I went to Miller Park).  You know what happens in baseball if the teams are out of players?  They keep playing until somebody wins.  Baseball games take care of themselves.  They don't need Bud Selig or a clock to tell them when the game is over.

There's something to not caring about the clock.  My whole life revolves around the clock.  I get up at 5:30 during the week.  My school day starts at 8:00 and goes until 3:00ish.  I schedule my evenings and weekends around the start times of sporting events.  But this summer, I don't care what the clock says.  I'm looking forward to not caring about what time it is (other than the start time of baseball games).  It will be nice to not have to care about the time for two months.  And that's the way baseball always is.

One Year Later

I started the blog a year ago.  The original idea was to blog about what I'd be doing for a year without a job.  Of course, I started a little early.  Then I got a job, so I decided to keep the Year of Jim going for an indefinite amount of time.  So let's review of some things I've done and some updates to some previous posts.

I wanted to get to as many states and baseball stadiums as possible.  I got to four new states in the last year (Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, and Wisconsin) and I saw 15 baseball games in 10 different stadiums (seven that I hadn't been to before) in the last year.  There's a good chance that I'll never go to Wyoming again, so I'm glad I crossed that off the list.  I could see going to Arizona, Colorado, and Wisconsin again at some point.  I recently ranked the stadiums.  Since then I was at Miller Park, which I have ranked 13th of the 17 stadiums I've been to.

In my first blog post, I mentioned some things I was definitely doing and some things that I hoped to do.  I hoped to see Notre Dame play in Ireland, go to the entire Big East Tournament, and go to 2013 Opening Day.  I made it to Ireland, which was my first trip out of the country.  I went to Opening Day in Los Angeles and it was awesome.  I couldn't go to the entire Big East Tournament because of work, but I got to four games.

I went to four football games including the National Championship Game and 11 basketball games including the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  The National Championship Game was obviously disappointing, but I'm glad I went.  I don't know if I'll get to go again because the next time Notre Dame gets there, planning it could be very difficult with only a week or a week and a half to figure out arrangements with the College Football Playoff starting with the 2014 season.  So hopefully Notre Dame gets back in the final season before the playoff and I can get to the National Championship Game in the Rose Bowl in January 2014.  As for the NCAA Tournament, I'm glad I did it once, but part of the fun of the tournament is sitting on the couch and watching as many games as possible.  I did get to see a big upset, but it wasn't the one I was hoping for.

Last May, I posted about the Sam Adams summer variety pack and how disappointing it is every year.  They made some changes, including taking my suggestion of a blueberry beer.  I had to do the side by side taste test featuring the reigning champion of blueberry beers, Blue Point Blueberry Ale, taking on the challenger and favorite, Samuel Adams Blueberry Hill Lager. Your winner, and still blueberry beer champion of the world, Blue Point Blueberry Ale!  It was a stunning upset.  I was planning on bumping Blue Point Blueberry Ale from my Beer Power Rankings in favor of the Sam Adams Blueberry Hill Lager, but Blueberry Ale holds onto its spot.  The other changes to the Sam Adams Beers of Summer pack were positive.  Porch Rocker came out last year, but was added in the variety pack this year.  It's a lemonade beer, which is good and definitely belongs in the summer pack.  Little White Rye is the other new addition and it's solid.  But between the disappointment of the blueberry and keeping Belgian Session (it has to be the worst Sam Adams beer I've had, it's like the beer is angry at your mouth), it's still not worth it.  I still have one Belgian Session to drink and I'm not looking forward to it.  I drink by mood, so I'll drink that if the Celtics get eliminated from the playoffs.  I'm not giving the summer variety pack another try next year unless they get rid of the Belgian Session.

But some good news for Sam Adams, their Summer Ale remains undefeated.  I bought a six pack of Goose Island Summertime after hearing good things last year.  It's fine, but it's no Summer Ale.  I've tried summer beers from Sam Adams, Harpoon, Brooklyn, Blue Point, and Goose Island (I might have forgotten something also), and Sam Adams Summer Ale has won the championship every summer.  I would rank the Brooklyn Summer Ale second.

And I mentioned my Beer Power Rankings.  I included Brooklyn Pennant Ale '55 even though I had never had it before.  I needed to fix that.  It's staying in my rankings and jumping Coors Light for the number 9 spot.  It's nothing special, but it has my favorite name of all the beers that I drink.  Whenever I finally get to enjoy watching the Dodgers win the World Series (hopefully this year), that's definitely what I'll be drinking to celebrate.

So where do I go from here?  I'm a little frustrated because I can't really figure out what to do.  I have to get to some games in some stadiums that I haven't been to yet, but I don't have anything planned right now.  I think I'm going to England this summer, but I haven't booked the trip yet.  Hopefully I'll get that taken care of and then I can start to figure out what else to do.  I would really like to get to Gettysburg and Cooperstown this summer.  Also, the Long Island Ducks have been around since 2000 and I've never been to a Ducks game.  I want to go to one this summer.  In the fall, I'd like to get to at least three Notre Dame games, including the game at Cowboys Stadium.  Perhaps I could include a trip to the George W. Bush Presidential Library in that trip.  And I want to get to an Islanders game at Nassau Coliseum before they move to the Barclays Center.

I've done a lot in the last year, but I still have a lot more to do.  If anybody wants to get in on Gettysburg, Cooperstown, or any baseball trips, let me know.

Cold Beer, Cold Baseball

I went with my dad to Dodgers-Mets last night.  It was the fourth time I've seen Clayton Kershaw in person (twice in New York, once in Washington, once in Los Angeles) and it was his worst performance in those games.  He wasn't terrible, but his pitch count got too high and he left after allowing two runs in five innings and took a no decision.  The Dodgers scored one run stranded some runners early on against Jon Niese.  Mark Ellis knocked him out of the game in the third inning when he hit him on the leg with a line drive.  My dad wanted Niese to stay in the game because he hadn't been particularly sharp, but I looked up the Mets' bullpen ERA and found out it was 5.12 going into last night's game.  With the Dodgers trailing 2-1 in the fifth, Mark Ellis tied the game with a solo home run.  In the seventh inning, Ellis hit another home run to give the Dodgers a 5-2 lead and they never looked back, winning by a final score of 7-2.  Other than Mark Ellis, it won't be that memorable of a game, but the Dodgers improved to 4-0 when Clayton Kershaw starts with Jim in attendance.

Our view from section 415

The day reminded me of the Dodger-Met doubleheader I went to three years ago (almost exactly, it was April 27, 2010).  I was really excited for my first doubleheader.  I took the train from work in Valley Stream and got there in the second inning and met my dad.  I was surprised that they were playing a true doubleheader rather than one of those split doubleheaders.  It was fairly warm that day, like high 50s.  I figured it would be colder at night so I dressed warmly, or so I thought.  I wore the jacket I would wear when it's like 40 degrees outside over a sweatshirt.  Although it was 53 when the second game started (I looked it up on my favorite app), it was a very windy night and it felt a lot colder.  My dad and I gave up on the second game (the Dodgers lost both and never led either game) and left around the fifth inning.  I never leave early.  That's how cold it was.  My dad drove me back to Valley Stream to pick up my car and then I drove home.  By the time I got home, I was still cold, and I had been in a car for over an hour.

Yesterday was kind of cloudy and low 50s all day.  It was 52 at the start of the game, one degree colder than it was for the doubleheader.  Remembering how cold that was, we were more bundled up this time.  The wind was also much less of a factor.  We also had access to the Promenade Club and went in there in the bottom of the sixth to warm up.  But we were outside for most of the game.  Although it was a long game, my dad and I stayed until the end and we were literally the only people left in our section by the bottom of the eighth.  It was the smallest crowd for a game I've been to at Citi Field (21,135, the only other game I've been to at Citi Field with less than 30,000 was last year against the Marlins with 25,446).  By the end of the game, there might have been fewer than 1,000 fans in the stadium.  It's hard to know for sure of course, but it was empty.

This gives you an idea of how many people were left at the end of the game.

During the game, I found a design flaw in Citi Field.  Our seats were in what I think is the best row of the stadium in terms of value.  We were in Promenade Gold area (400 level behind home plate) and in the wheel chair row.  Besides having a good view of the field, it's an awesome row to be in for two reasons.  First, there's plenty of room so it's easy for you to get out and you never have to get up to let somebody else out.  Second, you have to go down a few steps to get to the next row in front of the wheel chair row.  That means that when people in that row are getting up to get out, they never obstruct your view.  Behind the Promenade Gold sections, there's a little walkway and then the Promenade Club.  It had some more food and drink options than the concession stands on the concourse.  I had this burrito with pork, black beans, rice, guacamole, and salsa.  That was nothing special, but the good news was that I was able to get a Summer Ale (I will totally drink Summer Ale when I'm wearing a sweatshirt, winter jacket, hat, and gloves).  But there's a problem with the Promenade Club.  It has windows where you can look out and see the field, only you look out and you see second base and the outfield.  You can't see the pitcher or the batter (they do have TVs, but I'm not going to the ballpark to watch on TV).  I feel like they could have elevated the club a few feet and you wouldn't have this problem.  That would have meant sacrificing a few rows of seats in the sections above the Promenade Club, but if they were concerned about that, I'm pretty sure they could have found other places in the stadium to add some seats.  Unlike some of the other things that they messed up with Citi Field (the bullpens, not making it feel like the home of the Mets), I would think it's probably too late to fix that one.

Inside the Promenade Club

The Dodgers don't come to Citi Field again this year.  I don't know when I'll get to Citi Field again, but I'm sure I'll make it to another game or two there before the season is over.  Hopefully the next time I'm there it will be a lot warmer.

I sent this picture to some people with the text:  "52 degrees at Citi Field?  You know what I'm drinking."  Bobby's response:  "It appears to be a Samuel Adams Summer Ale being held in the hand of Cookie Monster"

Broadcast Team Power Rankings

Heaven has a new play-by-play man for football.  In honor of Pat Summerall, I'm giving you my broadcast team power rankings.  This is a little silly because it's hard to compare somebody that only does baseball to somebody that does basketball and football.  And this is just based on how much I enjoy each team, not necessarily on who's the best.  For example, Bob Uecker won't be on this list because I hardly ever hear him call a game.  But here we go:

13.  Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser.  John Kruk is the third guy with them now.  I haven't heard enough of Kruk on a game to have an opinion or him, but Shulman and Hershiser saved us from Jon Miller and Joe Morgan on Sunday Night Baseball.  For that, I'll always be thankful.  Joe Morgan was the worst.

12.  Gus Johnson and partner.  Gus Johnson really should still be doing the NCAA tournament.  Maybe he'll be doing some Big East basketball games with the Big East's deal with Fox.  Fortunately, we still have the Gus Johnson Soundboard.

11.  Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling.  These guys are really good and Keith Hernandez is Keith Hernandez.

10.  Dick Stockton and Hubie Brown.  As Hubie Brown might say, "Okay, you're Jim and you're writing about your favorite broadcast teams.  You know you want to include Hubie Brown, and his partner now is Mike Tirico.  But come on now, you're not going to put a guy who went to Syracuse and lives in Ann Arbor on your list so you have to pick somebody that Hubie Brown hasn't been partners with for more than 10 years."

9.  Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth.  Al Michaels is the best play-by-play guy for football.  I might take Phil Simms over Collinsworth, but his partner is Jim Nantz.  And I met Collinsworth in Ireland and he was very nice.

Me and Cris Collinsworth at Temple Bar

8.  Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson.  Mike Breen is very good at what he does.  I'm going with the old three-man team that included Mark Jackson because Jeff Van Gundy has some wacky ideas and Jackson balanced him nicely.  I like Van Gundy, but I think these guys were even better with Mark Jackson.

7.  Sean McDonough, Bill Raftery, and Jay Bilas.  I could have gone with Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery, but I went with this team because Jay Bilas is really really good at what he does.  I love Raftery, McDonough is solid, and Jay Bilas is as good as anybody that ESPN has for anything (also very entertaining on twitter).

6.  Somebody who's not Tom Hammond and Mike Mayock.  Notre Dame fans hated the old team of Tom Hammond and Pat Haden.  One thing that we didn't like is that Pat Haden went to USC.  Haden left and we replaced him with somebody that went to Boston College (not as bad as USC, but still a Notre Dame rival).  I didn't know much about Mayock other than the fact that he went to Boston College since I didn't have NFL Network (it took Cablevision 8+ years to get NFL Network, that could be it's own post).  I just remember watching Mayock's first game and being really impressed with how well he knows the game.  He's great.  And Tom Hammond is finally getting replaced on the Notre Dame games, so all is well.

5.  Al Michaels and John Madden.  I am very much opposed to gambling, but I find all the gambling angles in football entertaining.  I love the Bill Simmons-Cousin Sal podcasts and I love when Al Michaels makes gambling references during football games.

4.  Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, and Craig Sager.  Marv is the best play-by-play man for basketball.  

He should be doing the Final Four (Jim Nantz should stick to golf) and NBA Finals (Breen is very good, just not as good as Marv).  Steve Kerr is solid.  And you have to respect Craig Sager.  There shouldn't be much that's all that important for his job other than being an attractive female, but he's built a successful career entirely on wearing ridiculous outfits.

3.  Pat Summerall and John Madden.  I grew up with Pat Summerall and John Madden calling the best games on Sunday and the Madden video games (they never should have taken Madden's voice out of the video game).  You could have the video game recordings of Summerall and Madden calling a lot of games and I would enjoy it more than most broadcast teams.  I remember one year after Summerall had retired, CBS had him do an introduction for their Thanksgiving game.  Tom and I had the TV on while we were doing something.  We heard Summerall's voice and just stopped whatever we were doing.  Summerall and Madden were a part of Thanksgiving.  It's not the same without them.  John Madden was as entertaining as a broadcaster could be.  I remember one time when a fumble was being reviewed and Madden said something like, "When our forefathers started this game, a fumble was a fumble.  But now we look for reasons why a fumble isn't a fumble."  And of course, we wouldn't have had this without John Madden.

2.  Mike Gorman and Tommy Heinsohn.  Mike Gorman is good.  You probably have to be a Celtics fan to appreciate Tommy Heinsohn the way I do.  He's probably the biggest homer in all of broadcasting.  If you're not familiar with his work, think about how much Lou Holtz loves Notre Dame and multiply that by two or three.  I remember Mad Dog had him on in 2007 when the Celtics were in the middle of a 22 game losing streak.  He had nothing to say about the team.  He once compared Leon Powe to Moses Malone and that wasn't even his most ridiculous comparison.  That honor goes to when he compared Greg Stiemsma to Bill Russell (I'm not joking, this actually happened, I heard it).  The best part is that I totally think that Tommy actually believes these things (at least as long as Leon Powe and Greg Stiemsma were on the Celtics).

1.  Vin Scully.  Quite simply, he's the best.  I love Tommy Heinsohn for what he does and I love Vin Scully for being the exact opposite.  The number 1 ranking came down to who I would miss more if they retired.  I'd miss Tommy, but not as much as Vin.  Everybody associates Vin Scully with the Dodgers (and rightfully so, he's been doing their games since 1950 when they were still in Brooklyn), but Vin is very fair.  He also does everything very differently because he doesn't have a partner.  When he tells stories, he doesn't have somebody else to help him set them up.  He does everything so well.  He will get some minor things wrong (like the count or calling a changeup a curveball or something), but he's still great.  There are few things that annoy me as putting on a Dodger home game on the Extra Innings package and hearing the road team's broadcast instead of Vin (that was the other factor that gave Vin the edge over Tommy, not getting Vin on Extra Innings is more disappointing than not getting Tommy on League Pass).  He's 85 years old and I wouldn't be surprised if he retired soon.  I really don't want that day to come.  I don't want anybody else calling games for the Dodgers.  Vin Scully is the voice that I associate with baseball.

What Boston Means to Me

I'm not from Boston and I've only been there five times, but I felt the need to write my little tribute to the city.  Boston is home to my favorite basketball team, the best beer company in the country, and my favorite baseball stadium.  But when I think of Boston, these are not the things I think of first.

Of the 50 biggest cities in the country, I've spent some time in 15 of them.  Boston and Los Angeles are my two favorites.  (In case you were wondering, Las Vegas is my least favorite since I haven't been to San Francisco yet.)  For Los Angeles, it's pretty much because of the Dodgers and the weather.  For Boston, it's because of the history and my experiences there.

Let's start with the history.  As you probably know, I love the United States of America.  Philadelphia might be the birthplace of our nation, but it was conceived in Boston.  John Adams is one of my heroes.  As I've said before, I believe George Washington is the greatest American ever.  But Adams doesn't get the credit he deserves.  Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, but it was John Adams that pushed Congress to act.  Adams belongs on that same level of Revolutionary heroes with Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin just below Washington.  Even before the Declaration of Independence was written, you have the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's ride, Washington's liberation of Boston, etc.  Without everything that was going on in Boston, our nation might never have been born.

And then there are my personal memories of Boston.  I first visited Boston in 1995 when my brothers were looking at colleges.  I don't remember much from that trip other than going to Fenway Park and seeing Mo Vaughn hit a grand slam against the Twins.  As it turns out, I also saw an incredible rarity in baseball, a save in an 8-run game (baseball-reference.com is probably my favorite website).  Of my four other trips to Boston, three of them involved sports (two Red Sox games and a Celtics game).  I love Fenway Park and I had some really good times with John.  We did a day-drinking bar crawl on the Freedom Trail one time and we went to the Green Dragon Tavern (which is where the Boston Tea Party was planned) another time.  But my favorite trip to Boston was the one that didn't involve sports.  It was my first trip to Boston in 13 and a half years, John's Christmas party in 2008.  Vin was up there and Molly, Darryl, and I made the trip up.  That's most of my best friends from camp.  Since those guys started leaving camp in 2006, there haven't been many times that all five of us were together (I can't think of anything other than that Christmas party, John's wedding, and 12 Bars of Christmas).  Even though I had to put up with some nonsense from John's Boston College fan friends, that party was a lot of fun.  Vin took a great picture of me unconscious in a suit, tie, and the fake old-school Notre Dame helmet that he gave me, but unfortunately his phone couldn't send it to me or something.  I remember that we wanted to go to the Sam Adams brewery the next day, but none of us got up early enough so we went to the Harpoon Brewery instead.  John had to go back to Long Island at the end of the weekend, so John, Darryl, Molly, and I drove back together.  It's one of my favorite random weekends ever.

I love Boston.  I've said it's a city that I could picture myself living in (whereas I would never live in New York City).  Boston has been attacked.  Justice must be done.

We Need Common Sense in Baseball

I wrote an angry blog post last night as I was watching the Dodgers-Padres game.  This is an edited version of that post after learning what happened to Zack Greinke.  

Zack Greinke hit Carlos Quentin leading off the sixth inning in a 2-1 game and Quentin charged the mound.  The umpires ejected Quentin and Greinke.  As it turns out, Greinke's ejection didn't matter because he was injured by Carlos Quentin (now my least favorite baseball player other than Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez).  But why in the world was Zack Greinke ejected?  He was ejected because Quentin charged the mound.  That's ridiculous.  It's a one-run game with now outs in the sixth inning.  There's no way Greinke was trying to hit Quentin and put the tying run on base.  Because Quentin was a moron and charged the mound, they ejected the pitcher also.

Don Mattingly was great after the game.  He's right, Quentin should be suspended for a long time, but he'll probably miss less than a week.  And Matt Kemp also had a great line:  "I think Carlos Quentin went to Stanford, something like that?  I heard there's smart people at Stanford. That wasn't too smart. Greinke didn't do anything wrong. That stuff happens in the minor leagues. It doesn't happen in the big leagues."  I didn't need another reason to despise Stanford, but I have one anyway.

There was a game three years ago between the Dodgers and Giants where the Giants hit one of the Dodgers' hitters.  Both teams were warned.  Clayton Kershaw hit one of the Giants hitters and was ejected.  Now it's possible that Kershaw didn't do it intentionally and a pitch just got away from him (I really don't remember).  But either way it's stupid.  If it was unintentional, he gets ejected because the Giants' pitcher hit a Dodger first.  It it was intentional, the Giants get to hit a Dodger with no consequences and when the Dodgers retaliate, their pitcher gets ejected.

There was a game two years ago where Kershaw was ejected for hitting one of the Diamondbacks.  You can check out the video.  There was no warning.  Nobody had been hit in the game before that.  Kershaw didn't throw at anybody's head.  Maybe it was intentional based on what happened the night before, but that's baseball.  If you act the way Parra did, there are going to be consequences.

This isn't me speaking as a Dodger fan, this is me speaking as a baseball fan.  These scenarios could happen with any team.  I'm just using examples that I've seen while watching the Dodgers.  Baseball used to allow players to police themselves.  You show up the pitcher after you hit a home run and you're going to get hit.  You hit one of my guys, I hit one of your guys and it's over.  Whenever the Dodgers see Carlos Quentin again, he should get hit.  My suspicion is that there will be warnings issued at the beginning of the game.  Let Quentin take what he has coming to him.  If somebody throws at somebody else after that, then it makes sense to throw somebody out of the game.  But let's use common sense.  The only reason Zack Greinke was ejected tonight was because of what Carlos Quentin decided to do.  That doesn't make sense.

Why I Love Baseball, Part 9

Unpredictability.

The Warriors and Thunder play tomorrow.  I'll predict a score of Thunder 108, Warriors 102, with Durant scoring 30 and Curry and Westbrook both scoring 24.  That's probably not going to happen, but there's a good chance that the game will be fairly close to that.  And there's a good chance that there will be nothing at all that's surprising about the game.

In the Super Bowl, it was entirely possible to predict Ravens 34, 49ers 31.  I had Ravens 27, 49ers 24, so I was only off by a touchdown for each team.  You also could have predicted Joe Flacco would throw three touchdown passes.    I already covered in another post how you know who the hero is going to be in basketball (the star player) or football (the quarterback most of the time), but the hero could be anybody in baseball.

You can't predict baseball like that.  You might be able to predict who wins, but you can't predict what's going to happen during the game.  I went to Opening Day in Los Angeles and something happened that hadn't happened in 60 years.  Clayton Kershaw pitched a complete game shutout and hit a home run.  Bob Lemon did that in 1953 and it hadn't happened since.

Or you could see something that hasn't happened in 130 years.  Lots of baseball fans lived their entire lives and never even could have witnessed a game with a triple play that started with the catcher and had a putout at third base, second base, and first base, but it happened last year for the first time since 1882.

Or you could go to a game and see something that has never happened before.  In the history of Major League Baseball, there have been only six games that didn't have a single.  This game had nine hits without a single.  The previous record was four.  That's amazing.

Let's go back to basketball.  In the playoffs, teams will play each other in best of seven series.  A series could go seven games with all the games being pretty similar to each other.  If you replayed that Dodgers-Braves game 100 times, they would never have another game with no singles.  If you could replay the Opening Day game 100 times, Clayton Kershaw might throw a few shutouts and he might hit a home run, but it's extremely unlikely that he would do both in the same game.

Kershaw, the triple play, and no singles.  That's three incredibly unusual things that have happened with just one team in less than a year.  And you can find similar weird things with other teams.  I can't even begin to explain what happened with Chris Davis last year (seriously, you need to read that if you weren't aware of it, it's amazing).

Those are all very very random things.  But there are much more ordinary things that you can't predict.  For example, the Dodgers averaged 3.93 runs per game last year.  They had three games where they scored 11 runs.  That means they scored 279.9% of their average runs in those games.  That would be like the Knicks scoring 280 points in a game (they average 100 points per game this year so they were easy to use).  The Dodgers gave up an average of 3.69 runs per game.  So if you were predicting a score, Dodgers winning 4-3 would be a reasonable prediction, but there's a decent chance that something completely different was going to happen.  Going back where I started, Thunder-Warriors might not be 108-102 tonight, but you know it's not going to be 255-36.  Of course, that's a good thing if you like basketball (and I do), but I love the randomness and unpredictability of baseball.

My Major League Baseball Realignment Plan

The White Sox and Nationals are playing today.  Even worse, the Tigers and Marlins will play on the last day of the season.  What if the Marlins Tigers are in a race for a playoff spot on the last weekend of the season and they're playing a team from the other league?  That's just stupid.  The NFL figured this out and they now have all division games on the last week of the season.  Now that's not possible with 15 teams in each league and five teams in each division, so we have a problem.  I have a solution.

Before I get to my solution, let's get a few of things out of the way.  First, I hate interleague play.  I would get rid of it completely, but I know it's not going anywhere.  Second, Major League Baseball created this problem themselves by moving the Astros to the American League.  It was understandable since it was easier to make the playoffs in the AL West where you were competing against three other teams than it was in the NL Central where you were competing with five other teams.  Still, I would have left things alone.  But I know they're not just going to move the Astros back to the NL, so I have a plan to fix this problem of interleague play every day.  Finally, I know this isn't going to happen any time soon and one reason is that it's probably too NFL-y for Major League Baseball, but I like it a lot better than having interleague play every day.

First, let's agree that Major League Baseball is in good shape.  Steroids aren't as big of a problem as they were a decade ago and attendance is strong.  Major League Baseball's top five seasons by attendance have all happened in the last eight seasons.  The last time Major League Baseball expanded was 1998.  I think the game is in much better shape now than it was then.  And the population of the United States has grown by about 14% since that time and we're always getting more and more talent from Latin America and Asia.  So I think Major League Baseball is ready to expand.  So I'm adding 1 team to each league and we're going to have to realign into eight four-team divisions (just like the NFL).  Here are my divisions:

NL West:  Dodgers, Giants, Padres, Diamondbacks
NL North:  Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers, Rockies
NL South:  Braves, Marlins, Nationals, NL expansion team
NL East:  Mets, Phillies, Reds, Pirates
AL West:  A's, Mariners, Angels, AL expansion team
AL North:  Indians, Tigers, Twins, White Sox
AL South:  Rangers, Astros, Royals, Rays
AL East:  Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Blue Jays

Now these divisions aren't perfect.  The Rockies are kind of an outlier in the NL North, but look at the map.  Denver really isn't close to any Major League city.  Kansas City is closer to the teams in the AL North than the AL South, but somebody has to go to the South.  There might be other ways to do it.  For example, you could probably switch the Nationals and the Reds.  Or you could put both of them in the South and put the expansion team in the East.

But most important is figuring out where we're putting the expansion teams.  So I have some possible locations:

NL South (or East):  Indianapolis, San Antonio, Austin, Charlotte, Memphis, Nashville, Louisville, Oklahoma City.  All of those cities are in the 30 largest cities in the country.  I left out Jacksonville (the 11th biggest city in the country) because they can't even support a football team.  There are a couple of other possibilities also, such as Virginia Beach (39th), Raleigh (42nd), or Durham (84th).  I think I'd pick Charlotte, but whatever.

AL West:  Portland, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Boise (or Oklahoma City, San Antonio, or Austin, but that would be some rough travel for that team).  I have to go with Portland here.  It's the 29th largest city in the country.  Pete Rose is not welcome in baseball so you can't put a team in Las Vegas (I am opposed to everything that city stands for anyway).  I can't see putting a team in New Mexico.  And Salt Lake City and Boise aren't even in the top 100 largest cities in the country.

Next we have to figure out what to do with the playoffs.  I'm keeping 10 teams in the playoffs.  Now we have the Wild Card Game between the two wild cards.  With four divisions in each league, there would only be one wild card.  So I would have the wild card play the division winner with the worst record.  One thing that I like about that is that even if a team is running away with its division, it would still be competing with the other division leaders.

I don't love this plan, but I absolutely hate interleague play every day.  The best thing to do would be to have 28 teams and four divisions with seven teams each, but that's not going to happen.

I'll see if I can figure out some more solutions to Major League Baseball's problems as the season goes on.

Beer Power Rankings

In the words of Benjamin Franklin, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

Dennis suggested this and I don't know how I didn't have the idea first.  Today is National Beer Day, so it seemed like a good time to write this post.  This is going to be like the 1986 three-point contest when Larry Bird came into the locker room and said, "Man, who's comin' in second?"  If you know me, you already know which beer is number one on this list.

When I was 21, my signature move was bringing a random six-pack to a party.  It could have been anything that I saw at the beer distributor that looked interesting.  I did it mostly because I hadn't been exposed to many beers other than the cheap stuff people had at parties.  So I wanted to try different things.  These days, my taste in beer has become much more refined.  I have a pretty standard set of beers that I'll buy, so this list has been carefully thought out.

Let me explain how I came up with these rankings.  The beers are ranked on how likely I would be to buy the beer at a beer distributor or order it at a bar, not necessarily on how good I think they are.  For example, if a beer company had a really really good summer beer, it might be better than several of the beers on this list, but it's not making it because I wouldn't drink that beer over Sam Adams Summer Ale.

Before we get to the list, in the interest of full disclosure, I do own one share of stock in the Boston Beer Company.  But I own it because I like their beers so much, so I think I'm biased because their beer is so good, not because I own a very very small percentage of the company.

Let's start with some honorable mentions:

Sam Adams White Ale.  It used to be the spring seasonal.  I liked it a lot.  It might have been in my top five, but I haven't had it since 2009 probably (they switched to Noble Pils in 2010 and then Alpine Spring in 2012).

Bud Light.  I thought it was the best selling beer in the world, but the internet says it's second to Snow Beer (it's Chinese and almost all of its sales are domestic, I suspect made up numbers) since 2008.  I like capitalism, so I have to give them credit for their success.

Sam Adams White Lantern.  It's new and very good, but it's kind of similar to Summer Ale and I'm not drinking this over Summer Ale.

Bass Ale.  It's from England, but Pete tells me you would never find Bass Ale in England.  Back in the days of the Artful Dodger in 2005, this was my beer of choice.  I haven't had it in a long time, but it was my favorite option of a not so extensive list of choices at the Dodger.  It was such a dive bar.  It was great.

Sam Adams Boston Ale.  This is one of Sean's favorites.  It's a very good beer, but I don't drink it all that often.  If I did, it might be in my top 10.

And now for the top 10:

10.  Brooklyn Pennant Ale '55.  Actually, I don't know if I've ever had this beer.  But it's a beer named in honor of the 1955 World Series Champion Brooklyn Dodgers, so it had to make the list.  I need to buy a six-pack and give it a try.

9.  Coors Light.  I like to keep some good beer and some cheap light beer in the refrigerator.  Coors Light is my light beer of choice.  You have to give them credit for the ridiculousness of the whole mountains turning blue when it's cold thing.  Can't I just touch it and feel if it's cold?

8.  Sam Adams Octoberfest.  It's a very good beer, but I can't put it any higher because I'm always disappointed when I see it for the first time.  That means Summer Ale is disappearing.  I was happy to see it on tap at Mary Carroll's during 12 Bars of Christmas, though.  That was unexpected.  It's definitely the second best of the Sam Adams seasonals.

7.  Sam Adams Boston Lager.  This is where it all started for Sam Adams.  There are other Sam Adams beers that I like better, but they wouldn't exist without the success of Boston Lager.  It might be third on the list of beers that I most frequently drink at bars (behind Guinness and Sam Adams Summer Ale).

6.  Newcastle.  Bill introduced me to Newcastle.  It's the only imported beer other than Guinness that I'm likely to drink at a bar.  Bill may have fallen off the face of the earth, but Newcastle reminds me of hanging out with him back in 2005.

5.  Blue Point Blueberry Ale.  I remember the first time I had Blueberry Ale.  It was in 2005 or 2006 at John's apartment.  I just grabbed a beer, not caring which one I took.  I just saw that it was a Blue Point beer and drank without realizing exactly what it was.  Then I enjoyed the blueberry deliciousness.  For now, it's on the list, but that might change in the near future (stay tuned).

4.  Sam Adams Irish Red.  I don't think I've ever seen it on tap at a bar, which is unfortunate because it's an excellent beer.  Sam Adams has some beers that are similar to each other, but Irish Red is pretty unique.  Very good stuff.

3.  Guinness.  I probably drink more Guinness at bars than anything else.  I also make a point of drinking Guinness the night before Notre Dame football games and also to celebrate victories.  I hope to be enjoying a Guinness on Tuesday night for the women's basketball team.  Getting to the Guinness Storehouse was probably second on the list of things I needed to do when I was in Dublin (behind only going to the Notre Dame-Navy game).  And Irish car bombs (despite the horrific origin of their name) are fantastic.

2.  Sam Adams Chocolate Bock.  It's chocolate, it's beer, it's amazing.  I've only seen it in their Winter Classics variety pack.  I'm not a fan of the Winter Lager at all, but it's totally worth having to drink two of those to be able to enjoy the Chocolate Bock.  I wish it was available at bars or in six-packs.

1.  Sam Adams Summer Ale.  You knew this already.

Happy National Beer Day!

Ryan Braun Cheated

We must never forget that Ryan Braun cheated.  I was originally just going to go to two Dodger games and then come home.  Then I realized that if I have to fly all the way across the country, I might as well stop somewhere and cross another stadium off the list.  So my choices of stadiums that I hadn't been to yet for Wednesday were Houston, Minnesota, Toronto, Tampa, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Oakland.  Geographically, Milwaukee made a lot of sense. It's a little more than halfway home.  This was one case where a retractable roof was good.  I didn't have to worry about weather for the game.

So I was in Milwaukee for my third baseball game in three days.  I don't think I had ever done that before.  I've done two days in a row.  I once did three games in four days (a Saturday game and a doubleheader on Tuesday), but I don't think I had been to three games in three days.

I got to the stadium about an hour and 45 minutes before game time.  The gates didn't open until 90 minutes before game time, so I walked around the outside of the stadium.  They had statues of Robin Yount, Hank Aaron, Bud Selig, and Bob Uecker.  I think Yount is the best Brewer ever.  Aaron is the best Milwaukee player ever.  I assume that the Bud Selig statue is for owning the team and not for his time as commissioner.  I would say that Selig has done more good than bad for baseball.  He took too long to handle the steroid problem, but other than that, he's been mostly good.  And Bob Uecker is a legend.  He was outstanding in Major League, another one of my favorite movies.

He's not as good as Vin Scully, but that's like saying Hakeem Olajuwon wasn't as good as Michael Jordan.  Still great, just not the best.

I walked around for a little bit when I got in the stadium.  I went in the bleachers in right field as the Rockies took batting practice.  I think only one home run came all that close too me.  Oh well.  I completely my lap around the lower concourse and then went up to the next level where I was sitting.  I was in front of the press box and just barely off to the first base side of home plate.  Another great view of the game.

I was a little closer than I was the night before in Dodger Stadium.  But the corners of the outfield were obscured whereas I could see the entire field with nothing obscured when I was a little bit higher at Dodger Stadium.

I was a little unsure of who to root for.  On one hand, the Rockies are a division rival of the Dodgers.  On the other hand, the Brewers might be more likely to be competing for a playoff spot with the Dodgers.  The determining factor was that Ryan Braun is a cheater who cost Matt Kemp the MVP award two years ago.  Braun is now my least favorite player in baseball.  I was rooting for the Rockies.

It was Juan Nicasio for the Rockies against Wily Peralta for the Brewers.  The game had a little bit of everything:  four home runs, two guys thrown out at home, and Carlos Gomez making a fantastic catch to take a home run away from Carlos Gonzalez.  It was probably the best catch I've ever seen in person.  I didn't do much applauding during the game.  I applauded for Gomez's catch.  I applauded the second time a runner was thrown out at home until I realized Ryan Braun made the throw and then I stopped (the first time, I was on the concourse with a beverage in my hand, I saw the play, but I couldn't applaud).  And I applauded when John Axford came into the game because he's a Notre Dame alum.  Unfortunately, Axford was terrible.  He pitched two thirds of an inning and allowed five hits, two home runs, and three runs.  The game went from 4-3 to 7-3 with Axford in there in the ninth and the Rockies held on to win in the bottom of the ninth.

So where does Miller Park rank on the list of stadiums that I've been to?  I'm putting it 13th.  Not bad for a stadium with a retractable roof.  I don't like indoor baseball, but I'm putting it ahead of Coors field.  With the temperature in the high 30s, having the roof closed was a good thing.  I was wondering how they determine whether or not the roof is closed.  I know the NFL has a rule about that.  It appears that Major League Baseball does not.  My answer is that the roof should be closed when the weather is bad for the sport being played.  Rain, snow, and cold are not bad weather conditions for football.  The roof should be open, but the NFL rules do not allow it.  If it was up to me, the roof would only be closed for football when the temperature is above 75 degrees (that is bad weather for football).  For baseball, the roof should only be closed for rain, snow, cold, or extreme heat.  When I was in Phoenix and it was 109 degrees, the roof should be closed, but 90 degrees is not bad weather for baseball.  I checked the Brewers website and their policy isn't too bad.  They close the roof when it's below 60 degrees (I might change that to 55 degrees, but whatever), when it is raining, or when there are high winds.  There's no mention of closing it when it gets hot.  So that's good.  If you go to a game in Milwaukee during the summer, the roof is probably going to be open.  That's not true in Phoenix or Miami.  Also, Miller Park had some pretty good food options.  After a Dodger Dog and a Brooklyn Dodger Dog the previous two days, I didn't want to have a hot dog again.  I saw a sign for a concession stand that had mac and cheese.  There were three different types:  beer and brat, buffalo chicken, and jalapeno popper.  I didn't know which one to get, but when I got to the concession stand, that problem was solved.  Instead of picking one, you could get the mac and cheese trio which was a one-third sized serving of each instead of picking just one.  They were all good, but I probably liked the buffalo chicken the most followed by the beer and brat.  And the other good thing about Miller Park was that you could hear Bob Uecker's broadcast as you walked around the concourse.  One negative was that the scoreboard did not have the pitch count.  Now I think teams care too much about the pitch count these days, but it is an important part of the game today whether I like it or not.  It was nice to know how low Clayton Kershaw's pitch count was on Opening Day at Dodger Stadium.  You don't get that at Miller Park.

Mac and Cheese Trio

I'm partial to the Presidents Race at Nationals Park, but the Brewers might have been the first team to do this.  My section won 50 cent sausage coupons because Chorizo won.  I didn't collect my coupon.

So yeah, Miller Park was pretty good.  I have it ranked first of the retractable roof stadiums that I've been to (there are still three that I haven't been to yet, I wouldn't be surprised if Safeco Field was better).  If I was in Milwaukee again and the Brewers were in town, I'd go to another game, but it's definitely not a stadium that I'd make a point of getting back to.  And I crossed Wisconsin off the list of states to visit, but I would definitely love to get back and get to a Packers game someday.  Lambeau Field and the Rose Bowl are the only football stadiums that I would make a point of seeing.

Dodger Stadium Tour and More

After Opening Day, we had another day of fun in Los Angeles.  We started by driving to Palos Verdes, where my dad lived in 1962 and 1963.  We found the house where he lived and the school that my uncles went to.  My dad was in high school and his school no longer exists.  Palos Verdes was right on the ocean and looked like another awesome place to live.  We met the current owner of the house where my dad lived.

This was pretty close to where my dad lived.  Who wouldn't want to live in southern California?

After that, we were off to Dodger Stadium again.  My dad hadn't been in California in 38 years.  He hadn't been to Dodger Stadium since 1963.  The last time my dad was in Dodger Stadium this year, the Dodgers won the World Series that year.  The last time I was in Dodger Stadium, Clayton Kershaw won the Cy Young and Matt Kemp should have won the MVP that year, but some guy on steroids won instead.  So if history is any guide, this is going to be a great year for the Dodgers.

We took the 11:30 stadium tour.  It was the same tour guide that I had two years ago, but there were a lot more people this time.  So the last tour was better.  We got to see a little more and we got to go in the Dodgers' dugout.  The tour starts on the top deck.  I had noticed the outside of the top deck was a lot different.  One change was displaying all the retired numbers for the Dodgers outside the top deck.  Inside it seemed pretty much the same.  The tour guide pointed out tables that were added for people to eat on the concourse and that some seats were removed to make more room for wheelchairs.

After the top deck, we took the elevator down to the press box level.  We got to sit in the Vin Scully Press Box.  It was a big booth for writers next to the booth where Vin Scully calls the game.  We had to take two elevators down there because there were so many people.  While we were waiting, I think I saw Sandy Koufax walk by.  I didn't get a chance to ask him if he thinks Flanders is a big jerk.

From there, we went down to the Dugout Club.  These are the most expensive seats in the stadium that aren't luxury boxes.  They weren't part of the original stadium.  They were added in starting in the late 1990s.  There's a cool inside area and that's where they keep all the Gold Gloves and Cy Young Awards and World Series stuff.  All of that was really cool.  I got pictures of the Cy Youngs for Sandy Koufax (just one of them), Orel Hershiser, and Clayton Kershaw.  Then we got to sit in the Dugout Club seats.  You'll see Hollywood types and Magic Johnson and Tommy Lasorda sitting down there.  You're as close as you can be to the field, but I don't think those seats are that good.  You're down so low that you don't have a great view of the action.  I think the first row on that level is a particularly terrible view.  We'll come back to this thought.  But after this part of the tour two years ago, we got to go on the field (warning track only) and in the Dodgers' dugout.  That was my favorite part of the tour, but unfortunately we didn't get to do it this time.

The World Series trophies and bats.

This was from the second or third row of the Dugout Club.  I don't think it's that good of a view of the game.

Then we went back to the press box level and went to a luxury box.  On the way, the tour guide pointed out some pictures that were hanging up.  He talked about the papal mass in 1987 and said that the Dodgers won the World Series the next year.  He suggested inviting a member of the clergy back because the Dodgers haven't won the World Series since then.  I'm in favor of that idea.

John Paul II was the best.  We need to get Pope Francis to say a mass at Dodger Stadium.

And that was the end of the tour.  Before we left, we went to the team store.  Two years ago, all of Dodger Stadium was sold out of Clayton Kershaw stuff and the only Matt Kemp stuff they had wasn't in my size (it really was a third class operation with Frank McCourt owning the team).  That wasn't a problem this year, so I bought some stuff and got a 5% discount for having gone on the tour.

From there, we had to figure out what to do with some time to kill.  We thought about going to Universal Studios, but I looked up the tickets and they were $80 for 1 day and we didn't have that much time anyway.  So we ended up driving around a little bit and then going to Pinkberry.  My dad likes Curb Your Enthusiasm and frozen yogurt, so I had to make sure we got to Pinkberry.  There are two on Long Island, but they're not anywhere close to us.  Maybe soon they'll expand.  I tried a sample of the key lime and chocolate hazelnut.  The chocolate hazelnut was particularly good, but I went with salted caramel.  Good stuff.

We need more Pinkberries on Long Island

After going back to the hotel to relax for a little while, we went to the game.  I had a Brooklyn Dodger Dog, which was more expensive and not as good as the regular Dodger Dog.  We were in the second row of the reserve level and right behind home plate.  I think Vin Scully was right below us.  I mentioned that I thought the Dugout Club seats weren't particularly good.  What is the best seat in the house?  I think the play-by-play guys have the best seat.  They're right behind home plate and elevated a little bit, but not way up high (unless you're at Nationals Park, their press box is too high).  I think that's a perfect view of the game.  Nothing is obscured and you have great depth perception at that height.  Also, at Dodger Stadium you get a great view of the mountains in the background when you're higher up.  You don't get that down low.  Think about other sports.  The play-by-play guy in football is going to be at an elevation near the 50 yard line.  During my first year at Notre Dame, I was about five rows off the field around the 5 yard line.  It was cool because the visiting recruits sat right in front of us and it's great when the action is near you, but it's a terrible view when the action is far away.  The play-by-play guy is going to be up high in hockey.  Basketball is the only sport where the play-by-play guy is right near the action.  And basketball is a little different because it has by far the smallest playing surface of the four major sports.  But even then, the players can be so big that you might have a hard time seeing what's going on (I think I remember Bill Simmons mentioning that after he did some color commentary on a game for ESPN a few years ago).  So yeah, I think I had a great seat for the game on Tuesday night and it only cost $22.  Being a little lower might have been even better, but I thought I was pretty close to having the best seat in the house.

I'd say this is a much better view than being in the first row at Dodger Stadium.

After a great game on Opening Day, the Dodgers didn't have it on Tuesday.  Hyun-Jin Ryu made his Major League debut for the Dodgers.  He gave up a 10 hits, but only allowed one earned run in six and a third.  Unfortunately, two errors by Justin Sellars led to two unearned runs.  The Dodgers couldn't hit Madison Bumgarner, who only gave up doubles to Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis in eight innings.  My dad and I did a very Los Angeles thing and left with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to make sure I would get to the airport on time to get to Milwaukee (my dad flew home the next day).  We didn't miss anything and the Dodgers lost 3-0.  Terrible game, but it was a great trip to Los Angeles.

They had these for all the Cy Young winners.  I did not get a picture of Eric Gagne's (he was a cheater).

Magic Johnson is the tall guy in the blue and white jacket and Tommy Lasorda is in this picture also.

Opening Day, Magic Johnson, Sandy Koufax, and Clayton Kershaw

I've always wanted to go to Opening Day.  This was the third time in the last four years that I was on Easter Vacation for Opening Day.  I had thoughts of going to see the Dodgers the last two times I was off, but it didn't happen.  Both times would have been road games.  In 2010, the Dodgers opened in Pittsburgh.  Last year, they opened in San Diego.  I didn't go and this worked out perfectly for me.  I got to San Diego and Pittsburgh last year, so I didn't miss out on those stadiums.  And I got to see the Dodgers on Opening Day this season at Dodger Stadium against their biggest rival.  I had another reason I wanted to be there.  Before this week, I had only been to Dodger Stadium when the team was owned by Frank McCourt.  The last game I had gone to was almost empty because of a loosely-organized boycott against McCourt (which I gladly would have participated in if I lived in Los Angeles).  It was great to be able to applaud Magic Johnson to thank him, Mark Walter, Stan Kasten, etc. for saving the Dodgers from McCourt.  It also turned out to be the best experience I've ever had at a baseball game.

My dad and I started the day by going to the Santa Monica Pier.  It was kind of cold, but it was still cool walking along the pier and then going down on the beach and looking out at the Pacific Ocean.  I sent a picture to Kyle and said, "Why in the world do you not live here anymore?"  His response:  "It's really an excellent question that I don't have a convincing answer to."  Kyle, a southern California native, has lived in New York, Philadelphia, and New Hampshire since he graduated from Notre Dame.  So yeah, I'm completely in favor of my friends moving to southern California.  Then I would have somebody to visit in southern California.  And we could go to Dodger games.

Southern California is not home for me, but I would be so happy if it was home for one (or more) of my friends.  I'm totally serious.

After Santa Monica, we went to Dodger Stadium.  The game was sold out, so we got there early.  I had a Dodger Dog, which was excellent.  We were in the top deck, but only one section over from being directly behind home plate.  The Dodgers did a great job with all the pregame festivities.  They did a very cool unveiling of the new scoreboards in left and right field.  My brother Sean did the Dodger Stadium tour during the offseason and heard that Dodger Stadium used to have the world's largest standard definition TV.  Well, that's gone.  The scoreboards have been replaced with HD scoreboards in the original and unique hexagonal shape.  But when we walked in, they had graphics on the scoreboard to make them look like they used to.  The left field scoreboard was showing standard definition video and the right field scoreboard was just a scoreboard with no pictures.  Then they had a video that went over the history of the scoreboards at Dodger Stadium.  After that, they changed the pictures on both boards to HD pictures and it was really cool.  Then the Blue Man Group performed, which was pretty good.

Dodger Dogs are different from any other hot dog I've had.  And they're really good.

Then it was time for the pregame introductions.  The biggest ovations for the Dodgers were for Vin Scully (he's the best, listen to him whenever MLB Network is carrying the Dodgers' broadcast and enjoy), Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, and Magic Johnson.  Then we had the national anthem with the giant American flag in the outfield.  It was very well done.  Then we had the ceremonial first pitch.  This might have even topped the queen's first pitch in The Naked Gun (I know I mentioned the movie in my post ranking the stadiums, I love that movie, it's probably my favorite of all time).  Magic Johnson took the mound and got ready to pitch to Orel Hershiser.  Then Don Mattingly came out from the dugout to make a pitching change.  Sandy Koufax came out of the dugout and got the biggest ovation of anybody (to that point, anyway).  It was great to see the greatest left-handed pitcher in the history of baseball back on the mound to get the season started for the Dodgers.

National Anthem on Opening Day

Magic Johnson, somebody else, Orel Hershiser, and Sandy Koufax pose after Koufax threw out the first pitch.

When the game finally started, it was the best left-handed pitcher in the game today on the mound for the Dodgers.  I went to five Dodger games in four different cities last year and the only time I saw Clayton Kershaw was when he was used as a pinch hitter to lay down a bunt in extra innings against the Mets.  He's my favorite current player.  A little background:  I have seen Kershaw pitch in person twice before.  I saw him in the Dodgers' first game at Citi Field in 2009.  He didn't allow a run and got the win, but he only lasted 6 innings because of a high pitch count.  I saw him go 6 in Washington.  He gave up 2 runs and left in position to get a win, but he got a no decision thanks to a blown save by Jonathan Broxton (the Dodgers won in 13).  Then in 2011, I went to two Dodger games against the Rockies in Los Angeles.  Kershaw didn't pitch in either. When I was stranded in Los Angeles because of Hurricane Irene, I considered going to see Kershaw pitch on a Monday night against the Padres.  I didn't go, and Kershaw pitched a complete game and only allowed one run.  I missed a great performance by Kershaw, but I got to see the best performance of his career on Monday.

Matt Cain started for the Giants and pitched very well.  He didn't allow a run, but only went six because of his pitch count.  Cain was good, but Kershaw was better.  He only allowed four hits and I don't think the Giants ever had two runners on base at the same time.  After eight outstanding innings, Kershaw was due to lead off in the bottom of the 8th.  I figured that on Opening Day with the score tied, you shake his hand and say "Great game."  Nope.  Kershaw came out to hit.  On the first pitch, he belted a home run to center field.  I admit I had my head down when the pitch was thrown.  But I quickly looked up when I heard the ball hit the bat and watched it sail over the fence.  Dodger Stadium went nuts.  Dodger fans don't have a great reputation, but the stadium was probably louder than anything I've ever experienced in New York.  The Dodgers added three insurance runs, but Kershaw didn't need him.  He finished off the Giants in the 9th and got the shutout.  It was the first time since 1953 that a pitcher had a complete game shutout and a home run on Opening Day.

My dad and me after the game (notice how full the stadium still was).  This picture was taken by an Australian woman who spilled beer on me.  It was an accident and she and her husband were very apologetic.  They offered to buy me a beer, but it was after the seventh inning and beer sales had been cut off.  I couldn't be mad.  I really really like Australia and Clayton Kershaw was having his best game and it was an amazing Opening Day.

Nobody left early and traffic leaving the stadium was terrible.  It took us more than an hour to get out of the parking lot and then there was Los Angeles rush hour traffic.  I didn't care.  I just had my best experience ever at a baseball game.