Here are a few shotsfrom throughout the weekend for your enjoyment:

And for even more celebrity photos from the weekend series, check this out.

Photo credit:  Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2010 (“Entourage” cast photos) and Jill Weisleder/LA Dodgers

In the meantime, I wanted to call attention to Dodgers season ticket holder, and fellow blogger, Alyssa Milano’s site, Touch ‘Em All, and her ode to Opening Day, which I particularly liked:

Spring has returned. The Earth is like a child that knows poems.
 -Rainer Maria Rilke

Yes. Oh, yes. I love this time of year. The days are longer, the pollen is in the air and there are little buds of future flowers everywhere you look. For the past few years and every year at this time, we have a couple of ducks (I think they may be married but I don’t know for certain) that fly into my backyard daily and take a bath in my pool at around 4 p.m.

Spring has sprung! And with the promise of all these amazing gifts from nature, comes the reminder that Opening Day soon will be here.

Even the drama of the McCourts’ divorce can’t bring down my baseball spirits. Because even though I obviously want my team to do well, this is the one time of the year that it’s not about my team winning or losing. It’s about walking into my home stadium, after months of a cold winter, and relishing in the hope of a new season.

The buds will bloom. The gates will open.
The frogs will chirp. The bats will crack.
The birds will fly. The balls will soar.

And for this time, right now, before any loss or statistic is recorded, my team… is the best in the league.

And don’t think Alyssa doesn’t know her Dodgers.  She recently spoke to ESPN about the upcoming season and makes it to about 40 games a season:

“There is no better place to be than in the ballpark in your town,” she said. “It’s a sensory experience.”

“I haven’t been thrilled about the starting rotation for years. You have to have good pitching to win a championship,” Milano said. “I haven’t told management my thoughts. But I blog about it and pray someone in the front office will be reading!”

And, of course, Alyssa’s passion for the Dodgers bleeds over into her *Touch* clothing line, designed for the ladies who love baseball in your life.  An Easter gift, perhaps?  At the very least, I’m sure you all will enjoy the pictures (check out the link to see more)!  BTW, I’m not sure why she models so much Phillies gear on the site, but I’m willing to overlook this.

Photo Credit: Touch ‘em All

The Black Eyed Peas Show the Dodgers the Love

The Black Eyed Peas are showing the Dodgers the love with a new billboard on the Sunset Strip.  The majority of the group grew up in LA and are fans of the club.  Personally, I’d love to hear them record a song for the Dodgers showing their love for the team.  We need an anthem for the playoffs, right?!?  I know, I know, that’s what “Don’t Stop Believin’” is for.

Ok, back to the billboard.  From the official Dodgers press release:

“The Los Angeles-based group is featured on a “This is My Town” billboard, part of the team’s advertising campaign that celebrates Dodger fan loyalty and conveys the message that Dodger fans can be anywhere in the World of
Dodgertown.”

Let’s go Dodgers PR team…get the Black Eyed Peas to record a song about this team!

Celebrities at last night’s Dodgers-Rockies game at Dodger Stadium included Paul Walker, John C. Reilly, Arsenio Hall (all pictured below), James Van Der Beek and even Linkin Park drummer Rob Bourdon.  Unfortunately the Dodgers did not shine as brightly as the stars in attendance…they lost 3-0 on a two-hit shutout to even the series 1-1.  But hey, there’s always tonight!

Photo Credit: Juan Ocampo/LA Dodgers

Looks like Lauren Conrad brought the Dodgers a little luck as well!  Following are a few photos from the pre-game festivities.

Lauren Conrad Throws Out the First Pitch Against the Phillies

"The Hills" star Lauren Conrad with Dodger Brad Ausmus

 

"The Hills" star Lauren Conrad with Dodgers CEO Jamie McCourt

Photo Credit: Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers 2009

Before the Dodgers dropped a game to the D-backs 3-2, Shawn Johnson donned a Dodger Jersey and threw out the first pitch (in flip flops no less) to Casey Blake…who is apparently a big fan of Johnson’s.

Photo credits: LA Dodgers

And while the streak is nice, one of the things that I like most about it is that it has fans caring more than they normally do about Dodger baseball in early May.  It was cool to be at the game tonight.   The Kardashian girls threw out the first pitches….Larry King was in the house (giving yours truly a knowing head nod outside the suites)…and Jon Weisman from Dodger Thoughts was there too!

Tonight was also the Dodgers second annual Blogger Night at Dodger Stadium and the turnout was fantastic.  I’m estimating that there was nearly double the attendance of last year, with all of your favorite blogs representing, including Dodger Thoughts, the Sons of Steve Garvey, True Blue LA, Dodger Dugout, The Trolley Dodger and Blue Heaven,  plus some blogs new to the Dodgers scene (or maybe just to me) like LAist (who knew they were this into the Dodgers?), isportsweb.com, Baseball Savvy and Bleacher Bums.  If I left out your blog, drop me a line!  Let’s just say that the Dodgers are building a nice community here based out of respect and mutual admiration.  There is some fantastic writing going on here – check it out.

Big props to PR Guru Josh Rawitch and his team, including Drew and Amy, for their hospitality.  Dodger fans, let me tell you, this team gets social media.  Lots to talk about in the weeks and months ahead, but let me just say now, this is one progressive communications team.  Personally, I’m very excited to be apart of it all, and I can’t thank them enough for the insight they provide to our site and others on an ongoing basis.  The value of perspective is an important thing, and it doesn’t mean we’re “selling out” when we express the Dodgers’ point of view.  Rather, it allows us to create more informed pieces of content that are still anchored in our personal opinions, but are pieces that are also balanced by the other side (whether that’s in print or not).

Anyway, tonight started out with a visit by General Manager Ned Colletti. I wish I had more to report here, but I was stuck in traffic so missed hearing Ned’s reflections on the team.  Next up was Chief Marketing Officer Dr. Charles Steinberg.  As a fellow marketer, I really appreciated this guy’s point of view and his belief in the fans to serve as the guiding light for the franchise.  More to come on Charlie in future blog posts, but he’s quickly becoming one of my favorite front office guys.  Next up was KABC “DodgerTalk” broadcasters Ken Levine and Josh Suchon.  Both guys were great, knowledgeable and very personable.  And if you weren’t aware, Ken and Josh have one of the local bloggers on every Sunday as part of their show.  The Dodgerfan.net guys have heard nothing but great things from their fellow bloggers about the experience and we’re looking forward to sharing our unique point of view later in the season!

Ok, it’s late, but there will be more posts, photos and video from tonight’s game coming tomorrow.  Thanks again Dodgers PR Team – you’re setting a great example for PR in Los Angeles and it’s fun to be along for the ride.  Now let’s go out and make it 14-0 tomorrow night!

So it’s hard to believe, but the end of December marks the one-year anniversary of dodgerfan.net.  We’ve learned a tremendous amount about running a blog over the past 12 months and are proud of what we’ve started, and, most importantly, the people we’ve met along the way.  This includes the Sons of Steve Garvey (our blogging role models) for their wit, encouragement and enthusiasm, as well as a collection of other Dodger bloggers and writers that we enjoy reading, including Dodger Thoughts, Blue Heaven, The Trolley Dodger, Robots Took My Medicine, Blue Notes and Inside the Dodgers.  Josh Rawitch at the Dodgers (the author of the other Inside the Dodgers blog) deserves a special shout out for his help, knowledge and hospitality to a couple of novice bloggers.

Faithful readers will know the ultimate highlight of the year came very early on in the season with “Blogger Night” at the Ravine, when Josh gave a few lucky Dodger bloggers the opportunity to discuss the state and future of Dodger baseball with the likes of Frank McCourt, Ned Colletti and Tommy Lasorda.  Being in the communications business, it was refreshing to see an organization like the Dodgers treat the blogging community seriously.

Other highlights included the 50th Anniversary celebration, the Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake signings, the sweep of the Cubs, the fight with the Phillies, the continued brilliance of Vin Scully, Joe Torre being Joe Torre, Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, James Loney, Andre Ethier, Russell Martin, Blake Dewitt, Tiger Woods, Troy from West Virginia…the list goes on.

Over the past year we’ve had more than 5,700 people visit the site from 60 countries around the world, so we’ve saved our biggest thank you for all the Dodger fans out there.  2008 was a great start for the Dodgers and for dodgerfan.net, and we look forward to celebrating more milestones with all of you in the years ahead.  Enjoy the new site and we’ll see you in Spring Training!

Chris and Alex

So we know that many of you are eager to see what Hollywood stars that came out to see the Dodgers in the playoffs.  According to ESPN, here’s who was in attendance for Game 3 against the Cubs (I’ll try and add some photos of these stars from the game later tonight).  Ellen Pompeo is representing the women?  Where’s Alyssa Milano?  (maybe she’s been going, but she’s not keeping her blog up to date…must be that clothing line).  Where’s Jennifer Aniston? (not sure she’s a baseball fan, but it would be great to see her there).  Come on Hollywood, we can do better than this! I expect a better turnout during the NLCS!

Stars at Game 3 included: Vince Vaughn, Ellen Pompeo, Dennis Haysbert, Pierce Brosnan, Larry King, Paul Walker, James Denton, Isiah Thomas and Eric Balfour (NOTE: I also heard Baron Davis was also rockin’ it at the Ravine on Saturday night).