It’s now official – Vin Scully has announced that he will return to the Dodgers to broadcast their 2011 season. Scully has been signing one-year deals the past few years in order to give him flexibility in his retirement plans.

“I’m just honored and humbled to continue my association with the Dodgers, which has been a major part of my life,” said Scully. “I’m as thrilled as our fans that Vin will be returning,” said Dodger Owner Frank McCourt. “He is not only the greatest broadcaster of all time, but also a wonderful friend.”

Steve Dilbeck had a great write-up on the L.A. Times Dodgers blog that I’ve included in its entirety below. It brought a smile to my face and I wanted to share it with our readers.

Home is wherever Vin Scully is on the air; a scary moment turns celebratory as he announces his return
August 22, 2010 | 12:28 pm
And then, a giant sigh of relief.

A day that had seemed so ominous suddenly filled with an explosion of happiness.

Vin Scully is coming back.

Back to fill our summer evenings, to anchor a troubled franchise, to give us that one familiar, warm verbal embrace.

I have never been so happy to be so wrong about a gut feeling in my professional career.

Vin said Sunday he was embarrassed for any anguish he had caused with fans over the past day because he had left his decision oddly hanging for a night. I don’t understand the mechanics of it — if it was just going to be announced in a morning press release, why not just announce it Saturday and avoid all the Southland hand-wringing? — but right now it doesn’t matter.

What’s matters most is, Los Angeles’ greatest living treasure will return for at least one more season.

“I found in the deep recesses of my mind that I did not want to sever the relationship,” Scully said.

That’s a relationship with the team that goes back 61 years, and every season since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958. That’s a 52-year relationship with Los Angeles. That’s iconic.

It has to be hard to walk away from. Maybe Vin was going to, too, and then at the eleventh hour changed his mind. Selfishly, you want him to be with the Dodgers forever. But he’s 82 and long ago earned the right to do whatever it is that makes him happy.

And happily for Dodgers fans, this still makes him very happy.

“I just love it so much,” he said. “It’s like a very good marriage. I found when push came to shove, I just did not want to leave. My wife understood it, God bless her. She said, ‘If you love it, do it.’ So I love it and I’m going to do it.”

So the Dodgers win. Their fans win. Baseball wins. All of Los Angeles wins.

And, for at least one more season, we can all exhale.

– Steve Dilbeck

Time to rest easy Dodger fans!

Alex, Ron Cey, Chris

The Dodgers get it. I’m not sure that there is another organization in professional sports that gets it the way that VP of Communications Josh Rawtich and the Dodgers get it. 

What the Dodgers “get” is how to engage with bloggers and members of non-mainstream media outlets to expand their outreach into conversations that are happening across the internet. 

Josh and his staff reaffirmed this position when they hosted the third annual blogger night at Dodger Stadium on Monday, July 5th in a luxury suite behind home plate. As with past events, there was a steady stream of Dodger dignitaries that stopped by to engage with the bloggers in attendance, including Dodgers GM Ned Colletti.  Colletti stayed for an hour after commenting that his visit last year ‘felt rushed’ and that he was impressed by the level of questions and discussion at past blogger engagements. 

Ned Colletti

Colletti wasn’t the only front office visitor that the 14 blogs who were in attendance had a chance to meet: Assistant GM Kim Ng, Dodgers legends “Sweet Lou” Johnson and Ron Cey and Dodgers President Dennis Mannion all dropped in for a considerable piece of time to listen and respond. 

Dodgers President Dennis Mannion

The list of blogs represented was also impressive, including many of our favorites, such as Dodger Thoughts, True Blue LA, Sons of Steve Garvey, LA Dodger Talk, and Vin Scully is My Homeboy, just to name a few. These guys were engaged and made the most of their time with Colletti and the others, while also taking time to stay on top of the game that was going on (something Chris and I weren’t able to do nearly as effectively). 

Chris and Sweet Lou

Following are a few thoughts and nuggets of information that were of interest to us: 

Pitching and the Trade Deadline 

Both Colletti and Ng were clear that pitching is their top priority as the trade deadline nears. They didn’t seem to be particularly focused on starting pitching or relievers, but it was obvious that both character and consistency were at the top of their list of traits they were looking for. Ng and Colletti split duties here, and either one might be involved depending on who has an established relationship with the key individuals (player, front office, agent, etc.). 

Digital Media is Growing for the Dodgers 

Chris and I had a great exchange with Josh Lukin who is the Director of Digital Marketing for the Dodgers. Josh started ramping up the digital marketing efforts for the club a few years ago while working on more traditional marketing efforts, but now dedicates most of his time on social media. It’s clear that Lukin is very interested in pushing the envelope in the digital space and leveraging Twitter and Facebook in particular to drive promotional efforts, deliver news and generally get folks more engaged with the Dodgers online. We talked about his recent promotion where he rewarded members of the four new Dodger email clubs with the opportunity to purchase standalone game tickets to the Yankees series before also sending a Twitter broadcast with a similar offer to the team’s followers. Lukin said the ROI on Twitter, Facebook, and SEA engagements have been very strong and that we could expect the Dodgers to do more in this space. 

Continued Blogger Support For Home Games 

The Dodgers are continuing to support a select set of Dodger Blogs with shared credential access to home games – something that MLB and other teams have been very slow to follow-up with on their own. Public Relations Supervisor Amy Summers told me that blogs now cover roughly 30-40% of the home games at Dodger Stadium and that weekend coverage is at almost 100%. She indicated that the Dodgers organization was very pleased with how the program has worked thus far and we discussed the “storytelling” aspect of blogs as compared to traditional journalism. 

Blogger Camaraderie 

Most of us who have been blogging about the Dodgers have met one another a few times over the past three years. What’s most impressive is the sense of mutual respect that runs through the group. Each blog really is unique and has its own slant or type of storytelling, which differentiates it from the others and removes any sense of competition. When we all get together at outings such as this, we share stories, trade insights and generally enjoy one another’s company. It’s a refreshing change from how blogs from other teams or sports interact with one another and something that just seems to have developed amicably. 

Overall, it was a great night in Chavez Ravine. I even saw team photographer Jon SooHoo in the parking lot getting set for a fireworks shot while perched at the top of a ladder (his image is shown below). I’m looking forward to next year’s event and the continued dialogue with both the team and my fellow bloggers in the second half of the season. 

Fireworks at Dodger Stadium - Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers

…Ethan Martin.

The Inland Empire 66ers have been steadily tinkering with Martin since he made the move to single-A in California under the guidance of veteran pitching coach Charlie Hough. Martin’s outings this year have gone one of two ways…either spectacular or crap. Not a lot of “so-so” in Ethan Martin games this year.

This past Thursday was no exception, except that Martin was very, very spectacular – pitching a 3-hit shutout while walking only two and racking up 9 Ks in the process. This was on top of six shutout innings from his previous outing. If that’s not enough, Martin worked in a change-up into his repertoire on Thursday (he already has a solid fastball and curveball) after the 66ers took a 4-run lead that seemed to bolster his confidence more.

So Will Martin really get his shot to break out in 2010? My guess is no. Here’s why:

 
The Dodgers are not the Arizona Diamondbacks. They have lots of depth when it comes to pitching and they know it. Their winter development program shows that they are taking a measured approach to exposing their top prospects to the organization and have the patience to do the level of grooming they believe is necessary to get true long-term value out of many of these players.

Depth

Logan White’s interview with Tony Jackson back in January shed some interesting light on how the Dodgers are looking at these guys.

“We actually have 15 guys who are 95-plus with good deliveries and mechanics,” White said. “Now, I know how attrition works, and all 15 of them aren’t going to pitch in the big leagues. But I guarantee you that five or six of them are all going to be ready in the next couple of years to push each other for jobs. When that happens, it’s going to be tough to figure out who makes the team and who doesn’t. I can honestly tell you we have guys who have better deliveries, better arm action and probably better stuff than [Chad] Billingsley and [Jonathan] Broxton had at the same age.

“That next wave is coming, and we have some strong position guys coming, too.”

Ned Colletti

Ned can be very stubborn when it comes to managing his prospects. He is generally reluctant to trade them away for current major-league prospects. Ely is showing he can add to the pitching rotation in more than just as a stopgap for the team and the overall performance of the team in May has the Dodgers contending for first in the NL West on a continuous basis. Quite a stark change from a month ago. Colletti simply isn’t under any pressure to move guys up through the minors in a rapid fashion.

Single-A Ball is Not AAA Ball.

Let’s face it – Ethan Martin might look good in San Bernadino, but Single-A ball (even advanced Class A) is far from the “almost ready for the majors” or “can’t quite fit on the 40-man roster” scenario that defines AAA ball. Martin’s performance thus far indicates his capabilities are developing but stability is an issue. I’d guess that we might see a move up a class to AA Chattanooga if the stars align and the Dodgers look to move up some folks to cover the hole left by Ely. Also, as Martin increases his pitch type he’s bound to have a few outings where he gets shelled in the name of development (I doubt that change up is ready for prime time after only one strong outing).

Martin’s interview with Chris of dodgerfan.net during the Winter Development Program was capped off by his own description of what success looks like for him this season:

“Just to go out and try to stay healthy and get my innings in and compete in every single outing I have. My main goal last year was to just compete and learn my mechanics. I think I’ve got a hold of my mechanics…they’re not perfected, but I just want to go out and put out a strong outing every single time I walk out on the mound.”

Martin’s not quite there yet, but his progress looks promising – Ned Colletti and Logan White can sleep well in the meantime with the knowledge that they don’t have to rush him towards what will hopefully be a strong career in the majors.

Casey Blake did his part as well, delivering two home runs during the course of the game (the 9th time he’s accomplished this in his career) and throwing out what would have been the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the 13th.

The Dodgers road record improved to a lowly 4-7 with the win and continued their streak of not losing three games in a row yet this season. Unfortunately, they have managed to lose two games in a row on three separate occasions (and only squeaked out a win today by the thinnest of margins).

Photo credit: Jon SooHoo, Los Angeles Dodgers, 2010.

Well, the Dodgers organization has been most hospitable again and granted the dodgerfan.net team media access to tonight’s spring training game against the San Diego Padres. We’ll be making updates to this post denoted by the time in [brackets] as well as via Twitter at http://twitter.com/dodgerfan_net. Tune in for our perspective on the evening activities and our thoughts on spring training in general.

We’ve also got a dodgerfan.net exclusive coming this weekend, so be sure to check back for what’s shaping up to be a great story on a member of the Dodgers organization celebrating a key milestone this year.

Tonight’s starting lineup:
Furcal (ss)
Johnson (RF)
Kemp (CF)
Ramirez (LF)
Blake (3B)
Carroll (2B)
Belliard (1B)
Ellis (C)
Padilla (P)

[6:36pm] – Lucas May, Jon Link, and James McDonald all optioned to minor leagues. After watching McDonald get shelled last night, the announcement seems a bit anticlimactic.

[6:44pm] – Especially interested to see how Repko performs tonight as he will be on his 3rd game in the last 24 hours. Looked very solid last night and put up his first HR of spring training today (solo shot in the 5th inning).

[7:10pm] – nice 4-5-3 double play to take us to middle of first

[7:22] – Chris (from photo well on 3rd base line) – “You see and hear WAY more from the photo wells of a Spring Training game. Just have to watch out for foul balls. ”

[7:36] – someone in the pressbox just shouted “disconcerting!” followed by the official “E-6″ over the PA up here…

[7:38] – (from chris in photo well) After Blake made that amazing play 2 end the 1st, Manny ran in smiling & yelling, “Casey Blake! Casey Blake!” Players were psyched

[7:45pm] – three bloggers in the pressbox tonight as well as a number of spanish language folks. Very diverse crowd and more chatty than I would have exepcted.

[7:51pm] – Padilla’s attempt to throw out Blanks at first would have worked if the throw (or catch) wasn’t off….Blanks slide was about two feet too short to get back to the bag.

[8:17pm] watching the Cabrera clothesline maneuver was positively priceless…and you could see it coming a mile away!

[8:23] – 6-5-3 double play to take us to middle of the 5th…can’t say the starters aren’t giving it their all right now.

[8:30] – Belliard’s HR (1st of spring) brought out the cowbells en masse.

[8:35] – Padilla’s stats just announced over PA in pressbox..5 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs (4 earned), 5 strikeouts, HR. Someone shouts “terrible!” in the box…

[8:46] – Valenzuela highlights during middle of 6th getting a lot of “woo hoo” chants to a tejano song that I don’t know…

[8:54] – Dodgers announce that 13,506 show up for tonight’s game…a new Cactus League record.

[9:00] – a while ago, when they announced that Padilla was available in the clubhouse for media, no one from the pressbox got up to go chat with him…enough said.

[9:17] – starters are beginning to get pulled and it’s middle of the 7th. Nice to see Torre stretching the crew a bit today.

[9:34] – Crowd is getting boisterous…maybe the lack of beer is fueling their comments. Van Slyke just got an earful while at the plate.

[9:41] – Lindblom looked solid tonight…more so than any other Dodger pitcher tonight. Always nice when the starters get showed up a bit in March…

Overall thoughts –

On the press box: it is incredibly tight despite being fairly wide and containing three rows of working space. You are pretty much resigned to having your knees jammed into a metal conduit that runs the power and data lines throughout the place, as there isn’t enough room for you to scoot back and still let people pass by your seat. Also, while the windows open up, they are heavily tinted and overlap one another when they slide open making it really dark for evening games (something the designer probably didn’t think about when he/she was putting it all together. One journalist sitting next to me said. “the more I spend time in here the less I like it.”

On food: the Dodger Dogs are grilled here (as they should be) but they still have to work on their supply chain management here. Thursday they ran out of polish sausages and were temp out of Dodger Dogs in the 4th inning…

On the time of the game – the evening game definitely had a different feel to it. The fans were decidedly more “adult” and it showed in all the jawing and screaming that was going on tonight. Chris actually saw Casey Blake engaging in a bit of the “jibba jabba” with Padres fans as the top of the third inning ended (from his perch in the photo well).

Roy Halladay

Payroll will likely play a big role in whether the Dodgers can land Haladay or any other top-tier pitcher this winter. There are lots of players eligible for salary arbitration this off-season, and this will likely cause the Dodgers 2010 payroll to swell beyond $100 million – a figure even higher than 2009. Even if the Dodgers can scrape together the right combination of talent for a trade, they would have to deal with Halladay’s $15.75 million salary in 2010 – a formidable figure to be sure.

Halladay has been a target of the Dodgers throughout the 2009 season. He finished fifth in the Cy Young voting with 11 third-place votes. Halladay went17-10 with a 2.79 ERA and 208 strikeouts and was the starting AL pitcher in the 2009 All-Star Game.

The Chicago Cubs have also indicated they are currently in talks with the Jays regarding Halladay. The Yankees have said they are monitoring the Halladay situation but aren’t taking any direct action in the talks.

Vin Scully

Fans are overjoyed at the news (see examples here). Many, like me, grew up listening to Vin on the radio and bringing the game to life in our minds. Now that I live in Arizona I relish getting back to the radio feed and catching up on the action while monitoring the GameTrax. Vin Scully’s ability to help bring the users in to the intracacies of the game using nothing more than his gentle voice is truly remarkable and something I feel privileged to be able to enjoy again for the 2010 season.

Thanks, Vin – hopefully the Dodgers will get you a world series berth as a thank-you gift.

Lineup
Los Angeles Dodgers
Lineup AVG AB HITS HR RBI
Rafael Furcal SS .368 19 7 0 3
Ronnie Belliard 2B .316 19 6 0 1
Andre Ethier RF .450 20 9 2 5
Manny Ramirez LF .227 22 5 1 4
Matt Kemp CF .217 23 5 1 2
James Loney 1B .316 19 6 1 1
Casey Blake 3B .211 19 4 0 1
Russell Martin C .267 15 4 0 2
Hiroki Kuroda P .000 0 0 0 0

Starting pitcher Wins Losses Winning % Innings pitched ERA
Hiroki Kuroda P 0 0 .000 0 .00

Philadelphia Phillies
Lineup AVG AB HITS HR RBI
Jimmy Rollins SS .214 28 6 0 0
Shane Victorino CF .308 26 8 1 1
Chase Utley 2B .318 22 7 1 1
Ryan Howard 1B .409 22 9 1 9
Jayson Werth RF .250 20 5 2 4
Raul Ibanez LF .300 20 6 1 8
Pedro Feliz 3B .150 20 3 0 0
Carlos Ruiz C .389 18 7 1 6
Cliff Lee P .200 5 1 0 0

Starting pitcher Wins Losses Winning % Innings pitched ERA
Cliff Lee P 1 0 1.000 16.1 1.10

I was reading the Wall Street Journal this morning and there was an excellent article on the division series there posted by Darren Everson and Hannah Karp. The writers did some good research on what often happens in these early games of the playoffs. Here are some interesting stats from the WSJ:

– In recent years, the team with the better record has prevailed only 48% of the time
– Teams with 100+ wins in a season have escaped the division series only 10 out of the last 19 times

The move to a five game series in 1995 to accommodate more playoff teams certainly has its detractors, including the Dodgers’ own Russell Martin. “It sucks,” says Martin, who remembers the sweep by the Mets in 2006. “It was so quick. It was just like a glimpse of being in the playoffs.”

Obviously, there is more to it than just statistics and a short series. For example, two of the Dodgers starting pitchers, Randy Wolf and Clayton Kershaw, lack any playoff experience whatsoever. Does the shorter series really impact them more than their lack of postseason experience? Not likely, given that both would likely only see one outing in either scenario given the prevalence of shorter series. Also, the “day game” factor is often blamed as there are considerably more games while the sun is up in order to accommodate TV schedules. Should baseball players be equally comfortable playing in the day and in the evening? Absolutely. Does the pressure to win combined with environmental issues like time and frequency of games also play a role? definitely.

Perhaps the Dodgers should be wary of the Cardinals given their superior record in the regular season and the fact that they are now seen as the underdog by many handicappers and sports analysts. One thing is for sure – this is going to be an exciting series. I have my thoughts on what it will take to win but will save those musings for another post…