Bill Shaikin wrote an interesting article in the Times on a recent result of the energy crisis - the L.A. City Council and the Dodgers have teamed up to offer bus service from Union Station to Dodger Stadium on game days.

Under the proposed plan, which would go into effect after the all-star game in July, the city would spend roughly $70,000 to support the service through surplus funds (I didn’t realize any California municipality had any of those) with the Dodgers responsible for marketing the service to its patrons. My guess is the city and Dodgers both figure that the people riding the shuttle would likely not attend games otherwise due to gas and parking charges, which significantly raise the price of an evening at the ballpark. If so, it’s a smart PR move that keeps a certain segment of fans coming to the ballpark while (hopefully) generating income for the Dodgers and the city through ticket and food sales.

Official documents shot that shuttles would run from Union Station, with two stops along Sunset Boulevard, enabling riders to connect from Amtrak, Metrolink, the downtown DASH shuttle and several city bus lines. The estimated ride time from Union Station would be 16 to 19 minutes and seems very well thought out - the bulk of riders could actually ride the shuttle without having to actually drive to Union Station!

No fee has yet been set for the shuttle, but talk is that there would be a nominal charge to ride the shuttle. If shuttles had some kind of “express” entrance and exit from Chavez Ravine, bypassing the usual lines at the parking gates, that could be a further incentive to those looking to skip the endless idling that often accompanies a trip to the stadium. No details on the setup at Dodger Stadium so far, however.

Shaikin cited some interesting facts in his article, including:
- There was a city bus line that ran directly to Dodger Stadium from 1962 to 1994, but the route was eventually cut amid budget constraints and declining ridership.
- The Dodgers tried supporting a shuttle after the demise of the bus line in 1994 for Friday night games (ironically using the same route that has now been proposed) but discontinued the route after it garnered only 400 or so riders per game.

So, can $4.50 gas and pricey parking at Dodger Stadium revive the bus to Dodger Games?

Now I’m all for voting for deserving Dodgers to make the All-Star team, but the following banner ad (running on the Dodgers’ Web site) made me pause.  Martin at catcher?  Absolutely.  Loney at first?  Eh, why not.  But Andruw Jones in the outfield?  Nomar at third base?  Look, I know this was written before the start of the season and these were the names the Dodgers probably submitted for consideration, but it’s embarrassing to the Dodgers, MLB and Monster to still be asking for votes for Nomar and Andruw.  I’m sure the Monster marketing team doesn’t have the resources to edit every team’s banner ad, but you would think that someone would have thought of this before they launched this campaign.

There’s a nice article on Vin Scully in the current issue of Variety.  One interesting tidbit from the story: Scully has broadcast more than 10,000 games over 59 years with the Dodgers.  Think about it.  59 years!  While those are staggering numbers for any career, it’s even more remarkable when you recall that it’s all with one team in two cities.  I know Tommy Lasorda gets a lot of votes when you talk about who best represents the heart and soul of the Dodgers, but for me no one compares to Vin Scully.

One last tip: if you want to hear Vin call some legendary games from the 50’s and 60’s, be sure and visit the Museum of Television and Radio in either New York or Los Angeles.  In both locations you can visit an audio/visual library and sit and listen to a selection of games they have on file.  It’s an amazing experience and will make you appreciate Vin’s talents all the more.

+

It may not be much, but I’ll take it!

Stults’s Stats:

6+ IP, 3 runs (one earned), only six hits, one walk with 5 strikeouts.

More to come…

So like many of you, I’m trying to find more information on the Dodgers 19 year-old first round draft pick, pitcher Ethan Martin.  I did uncover one piece of trivia that did disturb me: the Dodgers have not won a playoff series in Martin’s lifetime!  Yup, he was born eight months afterthe team’s last post-season series win.  How sad is that?  (A tip o’ the cap to Mark Whicker at the OC Register for that factoid…check out his June 5 article to learn more about Martin).

Given the state of our state of our starting pitching, is it too soon to think about calling him up?  Hell, the Dodgers should have had a plane on standby waiting to take him straight to the ballpark after he was selected!