I can't believe I called in sick to work to watch this utterly terrible Dodger game. The Blue Crew lost 12 to 1 to the Mets at their monthly mid-week day game today. Maine was pitching a complete game shutout into the 9th until the Dodgers managed to squeak out one run to wipe that big fat 0 off the scoreboard. Not much to say about this one. It sucked balls. A bunch of......

You can find former baseball player Jose Canseco signing copies of his latest book Vindicated today at Costco in Van Nuys Jose Canseco's first book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big was called "the worst sports book so far in three centuries" by the LA Times. Harsh words like this didn't stop Canseco's tell-all tome from opening at number three on USA Today's bestsellers list and impacting Major......

This is going to be brief. I am lucky to be alive after 3 hours in scorching 90+ degree heat, and my very last ounce of energy will be used to get these photos up before I pass out. Literally. The Dodgers started Loaiza, which is usually a death sentence but today he only gave up two earned runs! This is a huge improvement! The Rockies started Jeff Francis (0-2), who didn't throw nearly......

Tonight's Dodger game was amazing in so many ways. The emotions ran high, ranging from the elation of witnessing Matt Kemp's grand slam to top off a 10 run first inning, the fear and helplessness of watching umpire Kerwin Danley get hit in the head by one of Penny's pitches, and then the absolute anger and frustration that I personally experienced sitting in front of the most annoying fucktard ever. Sometime around the 5th......

Andre Ethier gets hit by a pitch. There are very few days in my life when I actually wish I were rich, but today happened to be one of those days. My sister scored us field level seats behind home plate, which are a world of difference from our season seats in reserve level. As luck would have it, every time someone gives me amazing seats, the Dodgers lose. Every single time I've sat......

In 1989 I was chewing on the strings of my glove while patrolling the infield for the North End Little League Tee-Ball Padres in my hometown of Bridgeport, CT. We didn't lose a game. We didn't win either - they don't keep score in tee-ball. That same year, ESPN's Buster Olney began his career as a baseball writer, covering the Nashville Sounds for the Nashville Banner. Rather than get analysis and insight on the 2008......

Photo by delara-photos via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr DID U C OPRAH 2DAY? OMG SO GR8! OOPS G2G, PPL R B-TING SUM GUY UP TTYL! Pasadena ain't your ashtray. So tonight their city council meets to vote on a massive smoking ban that will prohibit puffers to indulge in their habit in almost any public place. Hey, what's the latest on the upcoming SAG/AFTRA contract talks? Deadline Hollywood Daily has an......

For the second time this year, Improv Everywhere releases a video of them pranking the Los Angeles area -- this time they go out to a random little league game in Hermosa Beach acting like it's the Major Leagues with a NBC sports broadcase, the Good Year blimp and hardcore fans who knew the players' names along with made up nicknames (TNT!). They even went as far as holding a press conference afterwards (video......

Photo by kristi.nicole via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr One week after being subdued in his cell with a taser gun and lapsing into a coma, 35-year-old Orange County inmate Jason Jesus Gomez has died, officials announced today. Gomez, who was in jail for a probation violation, stopped breathing after officers used the taser on him during a scuffle. Say cheese: LA City Council voted today to approve a contract that will put......

Tonight's game was a hell of a lot of fun, even though it was cold and windy and we were getting dive-bombed by hummingbird-sized moths. Both pitchers (Lowe and Cain) pitched five shutout innings before giving up a few runs. Lowe took a comebacker to the lower leg to make way for Joe Beimel to come in and allow two runners to score. Troncoso make his ML debut with the bases loaded and one......

What a glorious day for baseball. Not too hot, not too cold and a bright blue sky. Well as bright as it can get in LA. In the emotional pregame ceremony, the Dodgers brought out the legendary former players starting with Duke Snider and concluding with the elusive Sandy Koufax. It showed how much Dodger fans appreciate the history of the franchise and always yearns for a team to carry on the legend. When......

After this weekend's exposition games against the Boston Red Sox (the highlight being Saturday's Coliseum game), today was the first season game of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Playing against the San Francisco Giants, the Dodgers took it home at 5-0. Today was Joe Torre's debut game as manager. Says the Associated Press: "Torre, who grew up a Giants' fan in Brooklyn, managed the Yankees to 12 straight postseason appearances, including four World Series championships before......

After Saturday night’s spectacle at the Coliseum, I came away hearing the best joke. The public announcer said, “Now batting DH, Juan Pierre.” That was an even better joke than waiting a total of five hours in line for the charter buses from and to Dodger Stadium with my severely sciatica-afflicted left leg. I may be a little grumpy today since I didn’t get home from that game until 1 am, but there are a......

Farmer John may not sell kosher dogs and there may be only on stand in all of Dodger Stadium that sells veggie dogs, but now you can at least get your Canter's Deli and have your ball game too. Via LAObserved, the Los Angeles Business Journal is reporting that local flavors will be added to a stand at the field level third base area. Besides Canter's, expect to see Mrs. Beasley’s, Camacho’s Cantina and Ruby’s......

Photo by woolennium via flickr It's March 1 and in addition to it being the first official day of spring (in Southern California at least -- cuz we said so): -- Exhibition season is on in Florida and Arizona -- Opening day is less than one month away -- Countdown begins for Malingering's photoessays on the best and worst of the '08 Dodgers (and their fans) Individual Dodgers game tickets are on sale to......

On Thursday with the enlightened press in tow, Frank McCourt broke ground at the LA Memorial Coliseum to prepare for the March 29 exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox. Although the game has been sold out, the Dodgers have added a standing room only section behind the right field fence for 25,000 more tickets. Those tickets will go on sale Saturday for $10 a piece. If that sells out that means 115,000 people......

Blazers 82, Clippers 80 - Portland blew a 14 point lead in Staples Center one night after blowing a 15 point lead on the very same court. This time they were playing the Clippers, so things worked out OK. Los Angeles managed a pathetic 29 points in the first half, but did make a noble effort in the second. Corey Maggette was hot with 32 points, but missed a big shot with eight ticks left.......

We have no idea what inspired the 1986 Dodgers to make "The Baseball Boogie", which we bring to you via our sexy friends at WithLeather. Maybe it was the previous year's "Super Bowl Shuffle" phenomena. Maybe Pedro Guerrero was so bursting with creativity that the rest of the team got caught up in his enthusiasm. Maybe they knew that they would finish second-to-last that year, so they figured they it'd be more constructive to......

So the guys are in Vero Beach now, and now my sphincter pulsates in anticipation for March 31: Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. This spring training should prove very interesting despite Jeff Kent opening his yap. Here are some story lines to follow: Tommy Lasorda will manage eight exhibition games. While Joe Torre takes a split squad to Beijing to play the San Diego Padres on March 14 and 15, Lasorda will have the remaining......

So this week, I watched pitcher Roger Clemens as he desperately fought for his name in baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown – without the asterisk. The seven-time Cy Young award winner testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on whether or not he was pwj – playing while juiced (on steroids and human growth hormone). Here’s a recap: Under oath, Clemens told the panel that he never used steroids or......

A quick Dodger note for everyone. On Saturday at 10:00am, tickets to the Dodgers exhibition game on Saturday, March 29 against the Boston Red Sox at the LA Memorial Coliseum will go on sale. This will be a special occasion helping the Dodgers kick off their season-long celebration of their 50th year in Los Angeles. As many of you might know, the Dodgers played at the Coliseum when they moved here in 1958 until......

Today marks Jackie Robinson's 89th birthday, and the Dodgers are celebrating it by educating the youngins. The Dodgers, in partnership with the Jackie Robinson Foundation, will celebrate the first "Jackie Robinson Legacy Day" at the Stadium Club at Dodger Stadium telling the story of Robinson to over 200 school children. School children from Mayberry Elementary, Atwater Avenue Elementary, 42nd Street Elementary School, Jackie Robinson Academy, and Roynon Elementary School along with Jackie Robinson Foundation scholars......

We get to call it a "Winter Storm" because it's storming and it's January, and not to overstate the obvious, but it is Winter Storming like nobody's business out there. Although the rain may have tapered off somewhat in the overnight hours, the greater Los Angeles area is bracing for another onslaught of downpours, with more high winds, flood risks, and snow. Snow? What? Huh? Yes, Angelenos, we're talking the little white specs that......

This past weekend, in the steep hills of Echo Park, there was a Christmas party extravaganza complete with booze, baseball players and bad taste. Described as "Your Parent's Christmas Party," the holiday invite explained that one must "come dressed in what your parent's once thought was their holiday best," because after all, "This is how we do it in 92." With that in mind, I reluctantly put on one of the fugliest xmas sweatshirts......

LATimes.com is well aware of the conflicts that come with contextual advertising -- no ad box appears alongside search results for terms such as "porn" or "sex," for example. But, for now at least, "freaky big, cartoon like muscles" are only a click away....

A body was found yesterday afternoon in the Angeles National Forest, off Highway 2 near Big Pines. The identity of the person has not been revealed. Now you can get all the penis-biting snake action you want on the web: the next "Jackass" sequel is set to premiere on the web through Blockbuster's new online movie service. In New Jersey, the state assembly has voted to outlaw the death penalty, "poising the state to......

For baseball fans under the age of 35, reading the Mitchell report should be like taking repeated shots to the groin without the Nutty Buddy. With 75 names and guys who get shipped all over the country, you know your idols didn't escape. Me? I grew up in NorCal. Matt Williams? He was our hero on the hot-corner. Glenallen Hill? The only pro player from the small town I was growing up in. That's a......

Former Senate Majority Leader (and current Boston Red Sox director) George Mitchell just announced the results of his 20-month, $20 million investigation into allegations of widespread steroid usage in baseball. The long-awaited, 409-page Mitchell Report (document here) identifies more than 80 current and former players as being linked to using performance-enhancing drugs. While the report casts blame on the lack of institutional control within baseball as much as the players themselves that cheated, what......

It was the day of the Mitchell Report And all through the house, Not a ballplayer was boozing, Not even Nancy, the louse The lawyers were called from Sidekicks with care In fear that St. George would soon be there. The players were all fearful on their mistresses beds, Visions of subpoenas dancing in their heads; Bud in his kerchief, and Boras in his cap Had just settled down for a post-Winter Meetings nap.......

Monday Maggie Nelson presents The Red Parts: A Memoir 7pm @ Pomona College, Claremont Rich Eisen presents Total Access 7pm @ Book Soup Sue Grafton signs T is for Trespass 7:30pm @ Barnes & Noble, 3rd Street Promenade Tuesday Sue Grafton signs T is for Trespass 6pm @ Vroman's Steve Schapiro presents Schapiro's Heroes 7pm @ Book Soup Christine Pelosi presents Campaign Book Camp 7pm @ Book Soup Deborah Landis presents Dressed: A Century......