Grand Canyon Dodgers

Things have changed since Vero Beach 1948.

According to Carrie Watters and Rebekah L. Sanders of the Arizona Republic, the cost of the new Glendale, Arizona spring training facility - Camelback Ranch - has jumped to nine figures.

Glendale's spring training complex for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox is on track to open in February. But the cost, originally pegged around $80.7 million, sits closer to an Arizona Republic estimate of $115 million, with an additional $40 million for nearby infrastructure.

The facility's price jump came with additions such as stone façades on buildings, pools in the clubhouses, the shape of the facility's manmade river, and rising costs such as cost of materials and code compliance issues, according to the city and builder. Of that $115 million, the teams will chip in $7.2 million. ...

* * *

Nearly three years ago, we learned that former Dodger minor leaguer Mike Nixon had traded his glove for a spot on defense with the Arizona State football team. Nixon, now 25, last night scored one of the Sun Devils' record-tying four defensive touchdowns in a 34-9 victory over UCLA.

According to this Jeff Metcalfe story in the Republic, Nixon got a $1 million signing bonus from the Dodgers that lured him away from ... UCLA. Nixon was a third-round pick in the 2002 draft, chosen 420 players ahead of Russell Martin (as this year-old recap of the 2002 draft by Diamond Leung of the Press-Enterprise indicates).

Here's an excerpt from a 2002 Scout.com brief on Nixon:

Nixon told AZCentral.com that he made the decision to give up his football scholarship with no regrets. "I'll miss it, but I'm not going to look back at all," he said. "I made my decision. If I have a bad game, I'm not going to think maybe I should be playing football. It won't be like that."

Sometimes, regrets are for the best.

* * *

Angel Berroa is a candidate for Oddity of the Year honors. (Thanks to Dodger Thoughts commenter D4P for the link.)

* * *

Branch Rickey with his grandson in Vero Beach, 1948. All three of today's photos are from the Life magazine online archive and were taken by George Silk.

Comments

[Bob Timmermann]

1.  If I heard Sean McDonough correctly last night, he said Nixon's problem in the minors was that he was poor defensively.

But he didn't appear to be hitting the cover off the ball:
http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=10499

[Tripon]

2.  http://sportsblogs.latimes.com/sports_baseball_dodgers/2008/11/the-morning-aft.html#more

Brian Kamenetzky responds to the latest Dodgers comments with an eloquent response.

[Strike4]

3.  Jim Healy would have been a happy man after reading the following quote in today's Times. Jimmy Clausen, on the Notre Dame football team performance this year, "We've been consistent here and there."

[Bob Timmermann]

4.  3
That LA Times article was written by a former Times intern who writes for the Notre Dame student paper.

I guess having a Chicago Tribune reporter cover it would have cost too much.

[Eric Enders]

5.  Before clicking on the link I assumed the oddity was simply Angel Berroa making it back to the majors and holding down a job. I'd forgotten about the ball-in-the-shirt trick.

[Tripon]

6.  Is Berroa banking on the Dodgers bringing him back?

[Bob Timmermann]

7.  The American banking system is more secure than Angel Berroa banking on anything.

[68elcamino427]

8.  Reelly enjoy going through those Life archives. One of my favorite shots is one of Roseboro looking at Campy while listening intenly. The intensity in John's eyes is telling.

[D4P]

9.  Berroa's hoping to get bailed out again by the Ned.

[Bob Timmermann]

10.  I'm guessing today Eric Enders is a big Baylor fan. Eric Stephen is rooting for Oregon. I'm just rooting for chaos.

[D4P]

11.  To which bowl is the 4th place Pac-10 team likely to be invited?

[Tripon]

12.  11 Sun Bowl? If you think both Oregon St. and USC are going to BCS bowls.

[Bob Timmermann]

13.  If both USC and OSU are in the BCS, then the 4th place team would go to El Paso for the Sun Bowl.

But bowls can trade teams around.

It's not really "4th place team", but rather "fourth pick."

[Tripon]

14.  Would you rather go to the Holiday Bowl, or the Sun Bowl?

[Bob Timmermann]

15.  With all due respect to Mr. Enders, nobody wants to go to El Paso.

[D4P]

16.  Yeah. They didn't call it "El Stayo", or "El Hangaroundo".

[Gagne55]

17.  So if Oklahoma and Texas Tech both win, who wins the division. H2H is tied in that situation. Does it go by W% of conference opponents?

[Gagne55]

18.  Comparing schedules, Texas Tech and Oklahoma had the same conference schedule. Texas played Colorado and Missouri instead of Kansas St. and Nebraska.

[Gagne55]

19.  Colorado and Kansas St. have the same conference record. Missouri and Nebraska have the same conference record.

[Bob Timmermann]

20.  17
The tiebreaker is higher ranking in the BCS.

[trainwreck]

21.  UCLA's futility even makes it on DT.

[Bob Timmermann]

22.  I found the UCLA-ASU game somewhat humorous after a while.

[bhsportsguy]

23.  Baylor's place kicker is on Eric's list.

[Bob Timmermann]

24.  There's no renegade feed of the Baylor-TTU game.

[bhsportsguy]

25.  21 The sad reality is that the best UCLA QB on the field next week maybe Rick Neuheisal.

[Eric Stephen]

26.  I can't remember the last time USC was on ESPN. It may have been the game at Nebraska a few years back. Either that or the game at BYU in 2005.

[trainwreck]

27.  25
Rick's plan to have all the recruits come for USC weekend is going to be a very bad mistake.

[Eric Stephen]

28.  I wonder if Plaxico Burress secured a guest appearance on the next season of CBS's "Worst Week."

[oshea2002]

29.  26 - Oregon State this year, ASU last year.

FSU is so inept on offense, it's making me sick. Whatever slim BCS hopes we have are washing away in the Florida rain. Ponder is terrible.

[Bob Timmermann]

30.  27
Sort of like trying to recruit guys for the Army by offering them a trip to Baghdad.

[Bob Timmermann]

31.  29
C'mon you saw Kevin Craft play last night!

[oshea2002]

32.  31 - I'm not sure who the worst QB is in D-1. Craft, Jarrett Lee at LSU, and Chris Smelley at S. Carolina are all in the discussion.

[Eric Stephen]

33.  29
See how successfully I've blocked out the OSU game? :)

I was thinking the thanksgiving ASU game was ABC but I think you're right.

[bhsportsguy]

34.  30 Actually, I don't think it matters, there was not a recruiting bonus when UCLA won in 2006. And most recruiting experts say that 18 year olds always think that they can change things once they arrive at college.

[oshea2002]

35.  With UF up big (I would like to point out that with UGA going down, UF hasn't beaten anyone of relevance this year), the path to the NC will have to go through the Big 12. If Baylor can hang on here v. Texas Tech, it's a start. I hate Mizzou's chances v. Texas though.

[trainwreck]

36.  34
The bonus came in the following class. All those guys committed early.

[trainwreck]

37.  35
I have been saying that about Alabama all year and I said their best win would mean less when GT beats Georgia.

Down with the SEC!

[68elcamino427]

38.  Since the days of Red at UCLA has there been ever been a bigger gap between USC and UCLA on the football field?

Would it require a real miracle for UCLA to beat USC in the football game this year?

Ring "The Bell"!

[Bob Timmermann]

39.  32
Ronnie Fouch and Kevin Lopina make those guys look Joe Montana clones.

[D4P]

40.  Joe Montana clones

White guys who can neither run nor throw...?

[Bob Timmermann]

41.  An unranked UCLA team has only defeated a USC team in the top 5 twice: 1959 and 2006. Both were low-scoring games, 10-3 and 13-9.

UCLA would need another game with a score like that to have a prayer. However, the 1959 and 2006 Bruins were a lot better than this year's squad.

[oshea2002]

42.  Recruiting also follows on field results in the next class.

[oshea2002]

43.  meant always, not also.

[oshea2002]

44.  41 - This is the first time I can ever remember thinking we have no chance of losing either of the ND or UCLA games. ND has some talent, but they are so poorly coached.

[oshea2002]

45.  Baylor now up 28-14 on Texas Tech in the 3rd, so much for the last week an the 9,000 three-way tie arguments.

[trainwreck]

46.  The best scenario that could happen to UCLA is if Weis is fired and Carroll goes to coach the Niners.

[oshea2002]

47.  46 - and then to replace Carroll, we hire Weis.

[Indiana Jon]

48.  30 That actually works. Army and National Guard recruiting has actually been up in recent years, with both services exceeding recruiting goals. There are still patriotic people in this country.

[Benjamin Miracord]

49.  Has Rosenthal reported that the Padres are close to trading Peavy straight up for Jered Weaver of the Angels? Someone told me that at a football game last night.

Has anyone at DT wished our esteemed announcer a happy 81st birthday? Happy birthday, Vin Scully, if you're reading this. (Happy birthday even if you are not.)

[Bob Timmermann]

50.  48
So people are joining the Army instead of playing the O-line for UCLA?

I knew it!

[Bob Timmermann]

51.  Texas fans now need to root for Oklahoma and then Missouri.

[Eric Enders]

52.  51 No way. We root for Oklahoma State. An Okie St. win would send Texas Tech to the Big 12 championship but the Longhorns to the national championship game.

[oshea2002]

53.  Well, lets go Beavers!

I think Texas' better shot is OU loses, then Tech loses to Mizzou. I think that still gets them in, especially if Oregon wins. Missouri is simply not capable of beating OU, so I think Texas needs to cheer for something else.

[Eric Enders]

54.  53 The beauty of it is that if OU loses, the Big 12 championship game becomes meaningless. Tech could beat Mizzou and it still wouldn't matter; the Longhorns would be in.

[bhsportsguy]

55.  Well we now know that whomever wins the SEC championship will be part of the BCS title game.

Missouri's loss at home does not bode well for whomever they play in the Big 12 title game and probably whatever Big 12 team that does not go to the title game will still be ranked ahead of USC so even if Missouri wins the automatic berth, the other one loss team will go ahead of USC.

[bhsportsguy]

56.  53 There's a good shot that Utah could move ahead of USC in the BCS standings this week.

[Samhain]

57.  27
According to some at BRO, Neuheisel/Chow are trying to sell recruits on the idea that they will play as true freshman if they are good; in that context being helpless against USC is theoretically not a bad thing.

The problem is that not many kids may buy into that. Or to a secondary selling point of an invitation to be part of turning the program around.
I might commit for immediate playing time as a recruit, but not being part of righting the ship...

[oshea2002]

58.  54 - I think most likely they probably would be then. I'm not 100% sure though, alot could change, especially if USC and Tech both win their conferences. As other teams lose, computer advantages that Texas has will narrow. I think what would help Texas is that certain people will want Texas #2, while others will say it should be Tech or USC, a conf champ. But if they both win, they may split votes. I think an Oregon win here and a Tech loss to Mizzou would seal it for Texas though. This conference champ argument won't apply to Penn State since everyone hates the Big 10.

[Eric Enders]

59.  55 Do we? There is still a scenario where Florida wins the SEC and the NCG is OU vs. Texas.

[oshea2002]

60.  55/56 - USC has been hurt in the computers v. Utah and the Big 10 teams b/c they've only played 10 games. Right now they have 3 less wins then Utah. That will flip after next weekend. Also, the loser of Bama / UF is likely to fall behind USC, but still above Utah.

[oshea2002]

61.  59 - the voters will never allow that. Florida will be the #1 team in both polls after they beat Bama next week, and while the Big 12 teams have computers advantages that I guess whoever is #2 in the polls could pass UF, whoever is #3 certainly won't. I saw that article, but once Bama and UF both won huge today, that scenario I think went out the window.

[Bob Timmermann]

62.  To be precise, Missouri didn't lose at home. The Border No Longer a War Football Game is played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

[oshea2002]

63.  I think the bottom line for Texas is that Mizzou simply has no chance v. OU. If OU is gonna lose before their bowl game, it will only be tonight. So therefore I think they need the Pokes to pull it off tonight.

[Jon Weisman]

64.  49 - Last year I did. I missed it this year. It's Ross' birthday too.

[trainwreck]

65.  Alright, time for some basketball.

Forget this football stuff. Not our forte.

[Bob Timmermann]

66.  Oregon State really likes running the fly sweep. Or else the Versus guys just like saying "fly sweep."

[oshea2002]

67.  66 - w/o Quizz they are gonna run that all night.

[Marty]

68.  My guess is USC doesn't cover tonight.

[Indiana Jon]

69.  63 While I would agree with you that Missouri has no chance against Oklahoma, others here will correct you and say that in a game with any two teams from major conferences, there is a 1 in 40 chance of the bad team winning. With Missouri somehow ranked, they claim that it's a much higher probability.

[Indiana Jon]

70.  Notre Dame looks real good so far tonight. That may change after kick off though.

[Bob Timmermann]

71.  "A rare miss for Justin Kahut..."

He was 14 of 20 on field goals and had missed a PAT the week before.

[D4P]

72.  It's just not right that Duck fans have to prefer finishing behind USC rather than tied with them.

[Indiana Jon]

73.  I just heard the story of how Texas Tech found their kicker. What a great story.

[Bob Timmermann]

74.  Clausen has set the standard for Craft next week on how soon to get picked off.

[Bob Timmermann]

75.  I'm officially jumping off the Oregon State bandwagon.

So long and thanks for playing OSU.

[Bob Timmermann]

76.  Mike Bellotti seems shocked that his kicker could get called for a horse collar tackle.

[D4P]

77.  ESPN Gamecast is telling me that Mark Sanchez completed a pass for 4813 yards to Damian Williams for a touchdown.

[D4P]

78.  ESPN Gamecast is also reporting the following:

Matt Evensen kickoff for 59 yards returned by James Rodgers for a loss of 460 yards to the Oregn (sic) 30. Oregon penalty 515 yard personal foul accepted.

[trainwreck]

79.  Which brand has the best reputation for making good LCD TVs?

[D4P]

80.  Oregon with a mere 359 yards of total offense in the first half.

[preacherroe]

81.  Let me shill for the SEC. I hate Alabama with a passion ,being an Auburn fan(said with a paper bag over my head). I expect Florida to beat down the Tide and play in and likely win the NC game. On the other hand if Alabama beats Florida, I have to admit they're for real and have a chance at capturing the old Bama magic.

[Bob Timmermann]

82.  Yahoo gives Oregon 358 yards.

[Bob Timmermann]

83.  Could be a bad day for orange-hued OSUs.

[Bob Timmermann]

84.  Sanchez completed two consecutive passes that netted -15?

[D4P]

85.  Oregon sure can run the football

[D4P]

86.  Now at 445 yards of total offense, in the first half.

[Bob Timmermann]

87.  The good people of Corvallis will love spending the holidays in San Diego.

And now we'll get to see Ohio State in a BCS bowl! Woo hoo!

[Bob Timmermann]

88.  I don't think Mike Riley has a decided schematic advantage.

[D4P]

89.  I stepped away briefly when the Ducks took a 30-10 lead, and came back to a 37-10 lead.

[Bob Timmermann]

90.  37-17.

[Andrew Shimmin]

91.  I'm prepared to project that USC will win this football game.

[D4P]

92.  I stepped away briefly when the Ducks took a 37-10 lead, and came back to a 37-17 lead.

[D4P]

93.  The good people of Corvallis will love spending the holidays in San Diego

Don't the good people of Eugene get the Holiday Bowl...?

[Bob Timmermann]

94.  It depends if the Sun Bowl doesn't want to have Oregon come two years in a row.

Or if UCLA doesn't beat USC.

You can stop laughing now.

[Icaros]

95.  Golden State Warriors score 64 first-half points against the Knicks, and give up 82, a Madison Square Garden record.

[Jon Weisman]

96.  It was looking good for a while, but it now appears that UCLA will allow more than 30 points for the second straight night.

[Andrew Shimmin]

97.  Notre Dame's lineman tried to do the thing he saw BC's guy do this afternoon, hurdling an offensive lineman.

Didn't work.

[Bob Timmermann]

98.  At least one of the orange OSUs is playing well today. One of them appears to have a defense.

[Andrew Shimmin]

99.  I think this is the first SC game I've watched this year. Their defense is really fast.

[Andrew Shimmin]

100.  Their punt returner is pretty fast, too.