Vero Beach Farewell: March 17

The tentative 2008 Dodger Spring Training schedule:

Thu Feb. 28 vs. Atlanta Braves, Vero Beach 1:05 p.m.
Fri Feb. 29 @ Atlanta Braves, Orlando 1:05 p.m.
Sat March 1 @ New York Mets, Port St. Lucie 1:10 p.m.
Sun March 2 vs. New York Mets, Vero Beach 1:05 p.m.
Mon March 3 vs. Baltimore Orioles, Vero Beach 1:05 p.m.
Tue March 4 @ Washington Nationals, Viera 1:05 p.m.
Wed March 5 @ New York Mets, Port St. Lucie 1:10 p.m.
Thu March 6 @ Boston Red Sox, Fort Myers 1:05 p.m.
Fri March 7 St. Louis Cardinals, Vero Beach 1:05 p.m.
Sat March 8 @ St. Louis Cardinals, Jupiter 1:05 p.m.
Sun March 9 vs. Boston Red Sox, Vero Beach 1:05 p.m.
Mon March 10 @ Baltimore Orioles, Ft. Lauderdale 1:05 p.m.
Tue March 11 vs. Florida Marlins, Vero Beach 1:05 p.m.
Wed March 12 vs. Washington Nationals (ss), Vero Beach 1:05 p.m.
Thu March 13 @ Houston Astros (ss), Kissimmee 1:05 p.m.
Fri March 14 vs. St. Louis Cardinals (ss), Vero Beach 1:05 p.m.
Sat March 15 @ Washington Nationals (ss), Viera 1:05 p.m.
Sun March 16 vs. Florida Marlins (ss), Vero Beach 1:05 p.m.
Mon March 17 vs. Houston Astros (ss), Vero Beach TBA
Tue March 18 @ Florida Marlins (ss), Jupiter 1:05 p.m.
Wed March 19 OFF DAY
Thu March 20 vs. Chicago White Sox, Phoenix, AZ 1:05 p.m.
Fri March 21 @ Arizona Diamondbacks, Tucson, AZ 1:05 p.m.
Sat March 22 vs. LA Angels of Anaheim, Phoenix, AZ 1:05 p.m.
Sun March 23 @ Colorado Rockies, Tucson, AZ 1:05 p.m.
Mon March 24 @ Kansas City Royals, Surprise, AZ 6:05 p.m.
Tue March 25 @ Milwaukee Brewers, Phoenix, AZ 1:05 p.m.
Wed March 26 OFF DAY
Thu March 27 @ LA Angels of Anaheim, Anaheim 7:05 p.m.
Fri March 28 vs. Boston Red Sox, Dodger Stadium 7:40 p.m.
Sat March 29 vs. Boston Red Sox, L.A. Coliseum TBA
Sun March 30 vs. Boston Red Sox, Dodger Stadium 1:10 p.m.
(Schedule subject to change; (ss) Denotes split squad game; all times listed are local)

Still under consideration by Major League Baseball is a two-game series between the Dodgers and Padres on March 15-16 in Beijing, China.

Dodger pitchers, catchers and players rehabilitating from injuries are scheduled to report on Feb. 14 and have their first workout on Feb. 15. Position players will report on Feb. 19, with the first full-squad workout on Feb. 20.

* * *

Have the Dodgers played an exhibition game in February before?

Comments

[Ken Arneson]

1.  So is the China trip off?

[Bob Timmermann]

2.  Perhaps the China games aren't listed because they don't expect anyone to buy tickets.

[Howard Fox]

3.  nice 10% bump in ticket prices....

[Eric Stephen]

4.  1
I believe those are split squad games; part of the team will be in FLA, part in China.

[Howard Fox]

5.  and the Coliseum game is extra....

[Wilbert Robinson]

6.  ごろ = goro = groundball

フライ = furai = flyball

[Bob Timmermann]

7.  The Dodgers used to play an exhibition game against USC every year before heading to Vero Beach in February.

They also played an exhibition on February 7, 1981 against UCLA to dedicate Jackie Robinson Stadium.

[Ken Arneson]

8.  I might be in Tucson for the March 23 game, and I think Mark Donohue might be, too. A Toaster jam, if anyone else is tempted.

[still bevens]

9.  I think I will definitely be in AZ for the 3/20 game and then some.

[LogikReader]

10.  Let's send the PVL half to China.

Hmm, wait a minute, we don't have a PVL "half" any more. What a great offseason this is...

[Jacob L]

11.  7 I'm pretty sure the USC game in 1976 was the first time I was ever in Dodger Stadium. I think it was free. Is there any information on those games available? When they were played, who participated, etc.?

[Bob Timmermann]

12.  11
Send me an email address you want me to send you the article to.

In 1976, USC beat the Dodgers 11-1 at Dedeaux Field and the next day they played five innings at Dodger Stadium and the teams tied 3-3.

[Improbable88]

13.  3 My tickets went up 42%. Seriously.

[Jon Weisman]

14.  From the release:

"Still under consideration by Major League Baseball is a two-game series between the Dodgers and Padres on March 15-16 in Beijing, China."

[Howard Fox]

15.  13 I believe it...different price increases for different areas...we called them

they also expect that there will be alot of existing season ticket holders moving around for various reasons...50th anniversary, not wanting to pay the increase and moving to a lower priced section, not happy about the steroid reports, whatever...

[Improbable88]

16.  15 Yeah, I could not believe it when I first opened it up.

And usually, they have sent us the season ticket holder X-mas gift before sending next season's bill. Someone dropped the ball there. Not getting the gift, as silly and inexpensive as it may be, made the price hike even worse.

Thankfully, we signed Kuroda the next day so I can at least feel that my moeny isn't only going to a fancy lounge in a section that I can't attend.

[El Lay Dave]

17.  16 Well no wonder Camille Johnston got replaced! ;)

[PDH5204]

18.  Jon, re my thinking, the same is at #171 of the AL pitching thread.

[underdog]

19.  Never mind Gary Bennett Thoughts, my Freaks and Geeks, and Simpsons, trivia quizzes are now up on Facebook!

[Wilbert Robinson]

20.  ごろ 迄 フライ 比 = groundball to flyball ratio?

[Humma Kavula]

21.  Does anybody have the buy-2-get-2-free plan? I haven't heard from the guy who organizes the full-season plan that I'm in... questions:

1) Does the plan still exist?
2) How much?

[Improbable88]

22.  21 Yeah, that's what I've got. It went from 2300ish to $3425.00

[Howard Fox]

23.  17 Camille was my gift!

[JSN]

25.  I have been reading DT since sometime in early 2004 (I think) and count myself a loyal DT member. I frequently sport my Ghame Over t-shirt to the gym. I don't post much because most of the things I would say are said much better before I even sit down at night and open up my browser.

I graduated from UCSB in 2005 and moved to Charlotte, NC (to work @ Wachovia...a once unheard of bank invading a western state near you) It's made watching the Dodgers difficult but your collective comments have filled in the gaps between box score numbers each day during the season so thanks.

Anyways, I plan to make the pilgrimage to Vero this year so was wondering if:

a) Anyone's seen when tickets will go on sale? The ticketmaster operator I just spoke with had no clue what I was talking about.

b) Any advice on what to expect in Vero? I'll be going with mostly grad students so the budget will be limited. We were thinking about roughing it at a campground. Does anyone know of one? Or any other tricks like cheap hotels in other nearby cities.

Thanks.

[Howard Fox]

24.  22 my INCREASE was 2300

[Howard Fox]

26.  21 yes, and I don't know

[Improbable88]

27.  So, in a way, no. No it doesn't still exist.

[Humma Kavula]

28.  22 Do you mean 2300ish or 3300ish? Because IIRC last year my friend said that the four seats plus parking came to $56/game. At $3425, that's $57/game (including $15/game for parking).

Unless... are the reserved-level tickets less than the loge-level? We sit in the loge...

[Improbable88]

29.  24 If your 10% increase was $2300 than, considering the huge amount you are already paying, you can probably swing it.

The 42% increase is really making it tough for me to do it this year. It is literally twice what I was paying for the 2005 season.

[Improbable88]

30.  28 Reserve. The Loge "2 for 2" are now 12.50 a seat. The increase is there, but not the 42% gut punch I got.

[Humma Kavula]

31.  29 We first bought the plan in 2004. It was $38/game for all four seats and parking included. That went up to $44/game in 2005 and $56/game last year.

$3425 / 81 = $42 + $15 = $57, unless I'm screwing something up.

[regfairfield]

32.  29 Where do you sit?

[Humma Kavula]

33.  30 Ah. Reserve.

So I have to wait and see what the increase is for Loge.

This is not going to be good.

[Improbable88]

34.  Reserve 32, row F, seats 1-4

[Bluebleeder87]

35.  25

I've never been to Vero so I can't answer your travel questions but from what I've heard one of the coolest features of Vero Beach is that you can pretty much walk up to a player & get his autograph cause they walk freely thru the fields.

[regfairfield]

36.  I'm still upset that I can't get into the top deck for six dollars anymore. I'm just hoping those don't get bumped again.

[Howard Fox]

37.  29 it was painful to see the gross balance, and the parking increase, and the extra for the coliseum game and increase for stadium club membership...everything up alot...

but I did get my gift, so at least I know where $0.49 of my money went...

[Improbable88]

38.  33 From what I have in front of me, sounds like it will now run you $65 a game.

[Humma Kavula]

39.  37 the parking increase

Wait, did parking increase again? Is it going to be more than $15?

[Improbable88]

40.  36 Top Deck will be $9 on game day now, but still just $4 for the season plan

[Humma Kavula]

41.  38 $65?!

I need to go offline before I violate rule one.

Then, when no one can hear me, I will violate it with extreme prejudice.

[Humma Kavula]

42.  38 At least tell me that that $65 includes $15 for parking. Or am I looking at $80/game?

[regfairfield]

43.  40 You know, that's actually kind of tempting. How much is parking?

[Howard Fox]

44.  parking is $15.66 per game, not including the coliseum game

[Howard Fox]

45.  even the handling fee went up 25%

[Eric Stephen]

46.  25
I went to Vero in 2006 and stayed in a Best Western about 5-6 miles from Dodgertown. I think it was under $100 a night for the room.

[regfairfield]

47.  43 And now you've talked me out of it.

[Improbable88]

48.  42 Right, including parking, unless Howard is right that parking went up 66cents a game--that will tack on another 55 bucks or so to your total tab.

[Howard Fox]

49.  my parking is $1300 for 83 games

[El Lay Dave]

50.  23 Keep close tabs on her; she had the eye for someone on DT day!

[Improbable88]

51.  49 Ouch! That would be the death knell for me. That's why I park outside and huff it in! I work off the impending Dodger Dogs in the process as well.

[regfairfield]

52.  51 Where's a good place to park outside the stadium, I've never tried.

[El Lay Dave]

53.  52 Near the Police Academy.

[Improbable88]

54.  stadium way used to be the best, but since the parking price hike last year, it no longer is my best kept secret. provided you get there 3-45 minutes early, you can always find a spot.

[Humma Kavula]

55.  48 Well, that's a relief of sorts. It's still a 16.5% increase. 16.5% not counting the extra $0.66 Howard Fox fee.

That's a 71% increase over the 2004 season.

Total playoff games: seven.
Total playoff games won: one.
Total number of outs at home plate on a double by Russell Martin: two.

I know this isn't a terribly fair way of looking at things, but my wallet, my rules.

[Bluebleeder87]

56.  52

I hear TC has a nice spot.

[El Lay Dave]

57.  53 ... on Academy Road, natch. Arrive early.

[Improbable88]

58.  *30-45

[Improbable88]

59.  55 Yeah, my tickets have gone up 100% since 2004. I guess I was getting a ridiculous bargain back then, not that I didn't appreciate it, but the people really getting screwed here are those paying $20 on gameday to sit near me. Wow.

[Bluebleeder87]

60.  I try & leave my house at least 1½ before game time when I do that I always find a pretty good parking spot OUTSIDE the stadium.

[Humma Kavula]

61.  When the whole package was $38, or even $44, per game, I appreciated the convenience of the parking pass. It's really nice not to search for a spot or go for a hike.

This past year, my wife was pregnant during the season. The pass was a necessity. Long walks were not an option.

This coming year, we'll have a stroller. I don't see my position changing... the parking pass will be a great help. But: man.

[Bluebleeder87]

62.  61

I've heard long walks in the last month of pregnancy or good for her body. Walking long distance in general is good for the body for ANYBODY.

[Humma Kavula]

63.  62 It's good for her body, yes. But if I suggested a long walk, she'd punch me in the Rule One. So it's bad for my body.

[Bluebleeder87]

64.  my dad lost one of his legs to gangrene so he had a handicap placard displayed in his truck, I use to barrow it once in a while. Hey, for sell out games it came in handy!

[Suffering Bruin]

65.  63 Been there, brother.

"How about some exercise? Or you can relax and take a load off?"

Yes, I said that in month nine. No, I'm not a very smart man.

[El Lay Dave]

66.  63 65 Things I've learned in life:

1. Never, ever argue with a pregnant wife.
2. Never, ever argue with the wife when she's a nursing mother.
3. Never, ever argue with the wife when she's the mother of a toddler.
4. Never, ever argue with the wife when she's the mother of a school-age child.
5. Never, ever argue with the wife when she's the mother of a teenager.
6. Never, ever argue with the wife when she's an empty-nester.

[Eric Stephen]

67.  Gary Bennett is one of 10 players to have an OPS+ under 100 (with 100 PA) in each of the last 7 years, joining other catchers Brad Ausmus, Rod Barajas & Damian Miller among others.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/7Xmk

Bennett's high OPS+ during the past 7 years is 66 (2001 & 2002)!

On the positive side, he is tied for the highest batting average in New York Mets history. Bennett's 1 for 1, tied with a a recently hired Dodger roving instructor, more famous for crashing into something rather than Bennett's having someone crash into him.

[D4P]

68.  66
0. Never, ever argue with the wife when you have no kids.

[trainwreck]

69.  You guys make marriage look great.

[Bluebleeder87]

70.  Rod Barajas has such a nice swing I can't believe he's that bad, Seriously, I've always liked his cut but I guess he ain't much of a hitter.

[Eric Stephen]

71.  Would it be wrong to rent a Lexus over the holidays, then wrap it in a bow, just to get a reaction from one's significant other similar to the commercials?

[scareduck]

72.  66 - Never, ever argue with the wife.

Fixed.

[D4P]

73.  Years are commonly divided into 12 not necessarily equal time increments. I've learned that there are certain portions of those 12 time increments when arguing with the wife is even worse than others.

[trainwreck]

74.  71
Make sure to put her real present in the trunk and say, "Here's your gift! I think you will be excited, it's a book."

[D4P]

75.  "Here's your gift! I think you will be excited, it's a book."

Make it a book on weight loss. She'll love it.

[Jon Weisman]

76.  Braves NRIs include Javier Lopez and Joe Borchard!

[Kingmans Performance]

77.  12 Bob, would you be so kind so as to post the USC & Dodger lineups for that game in '76?

Thanks.

[TheBigGrabowski]

78.  25 Another UCSB grad, nice.

[GoBears]

79.  I could complain that I got LAT'd in the last thread, but I'd be lying. My dangling opinifier came 2 hours after the NPUT sign, and it's not worth sullying this clean new thread. But for those interested in Wilbert Robinson's theory of the origin of "furai" to describe a non-grounder in Japan, well, rush right back. I waxed pendantic.

The Dodgers need to stop signing Japanese players so that I can resist the temptation to translate everything and get back to whining about Juan. Southerners call it "Juaning."

[Dodgers49]

80.  From previous thread:

60. Gary Bennett wore number 28 the last two seasons with St. Louis. Shea Hillenbrand wore that number with LA last year.

IIRC, Shea grabbed that number while LaRoche was at Las Vegas thereby forcing LaRoche to have to pick another number when he was called up. So the question is, will LaRoche have to yield to PVL again come spring training?

[Hallux Valgus]

81.  7 "The Dodgers used to play an exhibition game against USC every year before heading to Vero Beach in February."

I went in 1989. I got a "1988 World Series Champions" tee shirt, which I still have and is the sexiest thing my g/f can ever wear (because I was ten, and it doesn't fit me, but it looks amazing on her), There was also a home run derby, and Bret Boone was the only player on either team to hit one out.

[JSN]

82.  78 By your name and alma mater, you'll like this: Jeff Bridges took Q&A after a showing of The Big Lebowski at I.V. Theater while I was there. We brought a 10X5 foot piece of carpet and a black marker. Afterwards he was delighted with our rug so much that he signed it and spent 5 minutes drawing a huge sketch of the Dude above his signature.

[Dodgers49]

83.  59 . but the people really getting screwed here are those paying $20 on gameday to sit near me. Wow.

Were you really that bad. :-)

[Bob Timmermann]

84.  77
The LA Times didn't run a boxscore for the 1976 USC-Dodgers exhibition at Dodger Stadium, just a line score and batteries.

The starting pitcher for the Dodgers was Rick Nitz. He was followed by Charlie Hough and Ron Bryant. Steve Yeager was the catcher. Davey Lopes, Leron Lee, Joe Ferguson, Cleo Smith, and Leron Lee are mentioned as playing.

The USC starting pitcher was Charlie Phillips who was relieved by a guy named Hayes. The catchers were Wiencek and Hicks. Also playing were Doug Stokke, Rob Hertel (better known as a quarterback), and Tom Ricks.

Ricks could be Hicks and it was just a typo.

[Eric Stephen]

85.  80
I kind of like LaRoche wearing Cey's old #10 now.

Someday we'll look back quizzically at photos of Loney wearing #29 and LaRoche wearing #28 much like Yankee fans look at early pictures of Mickey Mantle wearing #6.

[Bluebleeder87]

86.  wow, Bennett's #'s look horrible leave it to Ned to get the worst possible back-up catcher.

[Bob Timmermann]

87.  86
Wil Nieves resents that!

[Benaiah]

88.  86 - It doesn't really matter who the backup catcher is, a good one might get 2-3 extra runs over a bad one, and even then the sample size is so small that a bad hitter will frequently outperform a good hitter. If Bennett is good defensively then it's fine.

[Humma Kavula]

89.  88 Except to the extent that a good backup will give the manager the confidence to rest his starter. Other than that, I agree with your point.

[trainwreck]

90.  88
Except, Bennett apparently stinks at that too.

[Eric Stephen]

91.  88 If Bennett is good defensively then it's fine.

Eric Enders pointed out earlier that Bennett has only thrown out 21.8% of attempted stealers (71 of 326), and his CERA is 4.64 career.

Also, in the last 3 years, Bennett has only thrown out 16 of 91 runners (17.6%).

[Bluebleeder87]

92.  Russell Martin is gonna be run to the ground by his arb years... anybody know if Posada was rested by Torre or did he bust a Proctor on him as well?

[immouch]

93.  86-90
i was prepared to resoundingly agree that the bennett signing is a big, fat, stubbed toe for ned's otherwise very decent offseason....but i looked at the other ml-veteran backup catchers... oi! bennett's hitting stats are shockingly strong when compared with the rest of the veteran options. even lieberthal's one (1) rbi last year isn't totally out of line with what's available.

[Eric Stephen]

94.  92
From Humma Kavula, previous thread:

Jorge Posada, games caught:

2007 - 138
2006 - 134
2005 - 133
2004 - 134
2003 - 137
2002 - 138
2001 - 131
2000 - 142

[dzzrtRatt]

95.  86 Maybe Ned lost a bet. That's the only explanation I can come up with.

If you have to hire him, at least pay him the ML minimum plus $1. At least it should be made clear that he is on the team only because we wanted the cheapest possible option.

Signing this guy reminds me of George Costanza picking up wedding invitations.

[Eric Stephen]

96.  95
So, if Juan Pierre licks Gary Bennett, he will be off the roster? :)

[Bluebleeder87]

97.  It sounds like Torre will be more reasonable then Little was. Russell Martin caught way to many games last year.

[Eric Enders]

98.  It was in Little's self-interest to play Martin more, because he was trying to save his job. Martin in the lineup gave us a better chance of winning. Grady wasn't going to be around 8 or 10 years from now anyway when it's time for Martin's knees to pay the piper.

[Humma Kavula]

99.  94 To put those numbers in some context:

'07 Padres - Josh Bard - 118 games
'06 Padres - Some guy named Piazza - 126 games
'05 Padres - Ramon Hernandez - 99 games

'07 DBacks - Chris Snyder - 110 games
'06 DBacks - Johnny Estrada - 115 games
'05 DBacks - Snyder - 115 games

'07 Giants - Bengie Molina - 134 games
'06 Giants - Eliezer Alfonza - 87 games and Mike Matheny 47 games
'05 Giants - Matheny, 134 games

'07 Rockies - Yorvit Torrealba - 113 games
'06 Rockies - Torrealba - 65 games and Danny Ardoin 35 games and J.D. Closser 29 games
'05 Rockies - Ardoin, 80; Closser, 35

You may draw your own conclusions.

[Humma Kavula]

100.  98 I have no doubt that Grady believed that to be true, but to what extent was it actually true? Martin maintained his great eye but lost some of his power in the second half last year. Would he have maintained that with another day off a week? Would Lieberthal have been a better hitter with more opportunities? Even if neither is true, isn't it worth being especially careful with the new face of the franchise? These questions have no answers....