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......

"Blues and Pinks at the Peninsula" by delara-photos via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr "A very, very good night for Barack Obama just got better," the LA Times said after it reported that the winner of the South Carolina Primary was on the receiving end of two Kennedy endorsements; Caroline Kennedy endorsed Obama this morning in the NY Times and Sen. Ted Kennedy issued his endorsement later in the day. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton......

The symbol of the new year is a baby, and what better baby to ask for predictions than LAist's own sports editor? Baby Adam is much more clear-headed and clairvoyant than the adult version. We're turning to the guru of Gerber, the sultan of spittle, to see what's in store for 2008 and beyond. Q: Thanks for chatting with us, but what makes you qualified? A: I may only be 9 months old, but I've......

As winds died down Sunday, firefighters gained the upper hand on the Malibu blaze that burned at least 49 homes and sent thousands fleeing. It is now 70% contained and officials expect full containment by Tuesday. The damage could run close to $100 million. Firefighters rescued a father and his 4-year-old son in a Sun Valley home that burned down this morning. The father got his wife and daughter out of the house, but,......

1. The Obvious- My parents and sister are the most important people in the world to me. They support me in every boneheaded endeavor I partake in, and believe me, there are tons. It's astonishing how many, actually. 2. My friends. Once again, totally obvious. Once again, they're totally awesome. Much love to Porter House, SLC, Shalhevet, AU, and everyone who fits into all, some, or none of those categories. World rockers, each and every......

So what has been going on in Dodger land since I last posted? Well a big hearty congrats go to Russell Martin for winning the Silver Slugger Award for National League catchers. Voted by coaches and managers, Martin led the NL catchers in hits, homers, runs, stolen bases, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. Only Mike Piazza (from 1993-1998) was the other Dodger catcher to win the award since its inception in 1980.......

On Tuesday it was announced that Dodger catcher Russell Martin is joining a fraternity of National League catchers that include Johnny Roseboro, Johnny Bench, Benito Santiago, Tony Pena and even Mike Lieberthal. Russell Martin is now a gold glove winner. Since 1957, Rawlings have been giving out the gold glove award for best fielding performance at each position. Martin is the first full year Dodger catcher since Johnny Roseboro in 1966 to win this......

Clippers 104, Pacers 89 - Like some other teams in LA, the Clippers are starting to revolve around one star (cough ... Lakers ... cough ... Galaxy). Unlike other teams, it's just temporary. Sam Cassell had 35 points, as Cuttino Mobley and Ruben Patterson were injured in the first quarter. Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston were already out hurt. What didn't hurt were Chris Kaman's 15 points and 22 rebounds ... Somehow the Clippers are......

I hesitantly went to the Dodger game against the Giants this past Friday. The only reason I went was because it was a fundraiser for my friend’s school. Thankfully the Dodgers won the game 8-3 which is a better result than the last several games I attended. But if you want me to remember anything about the game you’ve got me. Sadly the only memorable thing was seeing that High School Musical actorhomo being......

Fuck Bill Plaschke. Fuck TJ Simers. Fuck the LA Times. Fuck Grady Little. Fuck Ned Colletti. Fuck Frank McCourt. Fuck Jeff Kent. Fuck the Dodgers. When I read Plaschke’s column Wednesday morning that basically put Matt Kemp in the hangman’s noose, my blood started to boil. How does he have the unmitigated gall to scapegoat Kemp and let the veterans have a free pass just because they have “experience”? This entire mess became public......

The Dodgers squandered a good chance to gain some ground in the division and wild card races last night in a 6-4 loss against the Padres. Here the Dodgers faced starting pitcher Jack Cassell making his first major league start, and they did nothing to make him work in the first several innings. The first batter to get a three-ball count was Russell Martin in the fourth when he hit an RBI single that......

In an attempt to shore up holes in their pitching staff, the Dodgers claimed right-hander Esteban Loaiza, 36, off waivers from the Oakland A's today. ...

The Dodgers are winning. They’ve won nine of their last 13 games crawling back to 4 ½ games within the NL West lead. It looks like a rosy picture, but I’m still not buying into it. The problem is the Dodgers are merely a singles-hitting team that can only run station-to-station. Of their 1,232 hits 225 are doubles (ranked 13th in the NL), 27 are triples (tied for 8th) and 96 are home runs......

Angels 18, Yankees 9 - Garret Anderson had such a good night that he hit a grand slam -- and it wasn't even his biggest accomplishment. That honor would belong to his 10 RBIs, a new Angel record and only the 12th time anybody has been that productive in MLB history. The Angles are 6-2 against New York this year, and remain the only team with a winning record in the Joe Torre era (since......

The Dodgers hitters shortened up their swings. They were a bit more patient at the plate. They hit with runners in scoring position. And most importantly of all the Dodgers won a game! In fact Tubby got the first victory for a Dodger’s starting pitcher since July 26th when he posted a 5-4 at Colorado. Now Tubby didn’t have his best stuff. The Astros managed to get 10 hits off of him in six......

I don't usually do a pre-write for a game, but since I won't be writing about the game tonight I just needed to put in my two cents. Nomar is sent to the DL with a strained left calf which means today is the start of the Shea Hillenbrand era. Excuse me if my optimism has died like my faith in the Democrats. To further muddle things, Grady inexplicably has put Juan Pierre back......

Coming into Tuesday night’s game the Dodgers were 58-53 and the Cincinnati Reds were 47-64. The Dodgers were still in striking distance for the division title, and the Reds had the third worst record in all of baseball. It was this horrible Reds team that shut out the Dodgers. This would be the third game in the last four games the Dodgers have put up a goose egg. Count it: in the last 19......

Dodgers 6, Giants 4 - Barry Bonds didn't make any headlines on Wednesday, which was good news for Dodger faithful. Los Angeles needed an eigth inning comeback featuring a home run by Nomar Garciaparra. Nom-ahh also was one of four Dodgers with a stolen base. Russell Martin nabbed one of those bags, matching the team record of 18 stolen bases by a catcher (first set by Con Daily in 1892). For the first time this......

Seattle 2, Angels 0 - After piling up the runs against the Detroit, the Halos couldn't connect in Seattle. Kelvim Escobar pitched all eight innings with seven strikeouts in the loss. Appropriately, Ichiro Suzuki had three hits, a run, and an RBI on Japanese Baseball Night. Rivalry Week - While LA develops a split personality disorder during that "other" rivalry week (Trojans-Bruins), the city unites in loathing of the San Francisco Giants whenever the ol'......

James Loney was a star pitcher in his high school in Houston. In his senior year of high school, he went 12-1 with 120 strikeouts in 69 innings pitched. More than once this season, he has been willing to pitch if asked. As unlikely as that may have seemed a few weeks ago, it looks like it could be a distinct possibility now. In the fifth inning in Wednesday’s night 2-1 loss to the......

Dodgers 5, Phillies 4 - Los Angeles recovered from a shellacking to take the series from Philadelphia 2-1. Andre Ethier and Luis Gonzalez both hit jacks and the team got strong support from the bullpen. Russell Martin stole his 17th base, one shy of the team's all time record for a catcher. Could he be a five tool player? Devil Rays 7, Angels 2 - The Angels have lost 11 of their last 17 (including......

The National League has not won an All-Star Game since 1996. But, as a Dodger fan, there were plenty of reasons to smile....

Dodgers 9, Marlins 3 - The Dodgers took out their slump frustrations on the Marlins, avoiding what would have been the first ever sweep by the Fish in Dodger Stadium. Russell Martin put on a clinic in the final game before the All Star break, reaching home on all three of his plate appearances. He smashed a two run homer in the first, singled and scored a run in the second, and notched his third......

This may be the first time anyone has ever heard me say this, but last night the Dodgers lost and I still feel like a winner. My sheer joy was a gift from a generous benefactor who will be referred to as JC, not only because those are his initials but also because he is now holier than Christ himself. JC hooked us up with seats in the Dugout Club, which is where I......

Monday night came news that Nomar Garciapopup would be the third baseman in the near future. Who knew the near future meant Tuesday? Nomar felt he was ready for third base duties and in he went, however that wasn’t the end of it. Grady Little also moved Nomar from third in the hitting lineup to sixth. And just what did Nomar do? With Russell Martin on second and Luis Gonzalez on first with two......

As my friend put it, our long national nightmare is over: interleague play is done. Finito! And calling interleague play is by no means an exaggeration. The Dodgers went 5-10 against the AL. Though they were not at home, the Dodgers sure as hell played like they were at home in Arizona. They ended up driving the Diamondbacks back into the ground torching them 8-1. The game started like the most recent Dodgers games:......

Which team has the best record in the National League? Two teams share this distinction: the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yes, the same Los Angeles Dodgers team I ripped in my last post has the best record in the National League. Actually I take that back. This is not the same team I ripped the other day. In Friday’s 6-3 win against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Grady Little posted this......

Ducks 6, Senators 2 - Hell didn't freeze over, but Orange County did. Anaheim pounded Ottawa to win the NHL Finals 4-1 and bring the Stanley Cup to California for the first time. There's plenty being said about this on LAist, so keep reading! Twins 8, Angels 5 - One cold-weather team blew into Anaheim and came out on top. Of course, this game wasn't nearly as significant. Errors created a major subplot, with Minnesota......

Ducks 1, Senators 0 - Anaheim needed another last-second goal to beat Ottawa, but in the NHL finals they'll take any victory they can get. Jean-Sebastien Giguere was clutch in the net again, guiding the Ducks to a 2-0 series lead. The teams head to Canada for the next two games. If necessary, five and seven would be in Anaheim. But does anybody care? Dodgers 5, Nationals 0 - It's going to be a good......

With the Dodgers playing a rather boring series at the Washington Nationals, it’s time to take care of some housecleaning. All Star Voting Yesterday, Major League Baseball released the preliminary results of the first period of fan voting for the All Star Game. The fan votes will determine which position players start the game. According to the results, My Boyfriend is running a distant fourth to the fiery whoring gambler Paul Lo Duca (former......