What An Amazing Night.

When I heard Sasha was throwing the first pitch(3rd really, 2 people threw before him) at the Dodger game, the first thing I did was text my mom. The message said:

'Mom, is there any possible way we/I can get tickets to the Dodger game this Friday? Sasha is throwing out the first pitch...'

That was at 11:06 on June 3. I got this message at 1:57 the next day:

'I got tickets for all of us to go tomorrow.' ('all of us' being me, mom, sister, brother, mom's friend)

Filled with excitement, I watched the Lakers win Game 1 of the Finals later that day, already knowing that the next day would be a good one. However, I was so excited, I had a hard time trying to fall asleep. I finally fell asleep a little after....5 A.M. 

I finally woke up around 3 P.M. and just waited for time to go by. Then we left for the game. When we got there, the weather was much more beautiful than it was at home. We read it was possibly going to rain, but there was no chance with how nice the weather was that day. 

When we got into the stadium, I kind of left everyone else. I was focused on trying to find Sasha. When I found him, I took a picture from my phone, but there was no way you could find him. I sent that picture later that night to twitter and joked "Where's Sasha?"

While the rest of my family was walking to their seats, I stayed and watched from the top of the lower level seats, wanting to get close, but I didn't know what the Dodger stadium security would do, so I just stayed there. 

The funniest part was after awhile, Sasha got a glove, and started warming up with the Dodgers' ball boy. Sasha's throwing style is interesting, because it looks like he's gearing up for a big throw, and then it comes out slow. They did that for about 20 minutes. After they were done, Sasha was given his own Dodger jersey, a white home jersey with the name 'Vujacic' on the back and the #18.

When I had a chance, I went to find my seats. I talked to my mom about what was going on, and she said I could use her camera. So I went back to my spot, and just 'stalked' the situation, using the zoom on the camera to follow what was happening. 

When it came to the pitch, I started feeling chills. I spent the previous night watching videos of first pitch bloopers, so I was in this 'zone' where I felt this pressure like "Oh please don't let that be Sasha." As his name was called, the crowd was amazing. It was loud and just absolutely nits. I didn't expect that at all. With the way he's been playing lately, I was sure it would be either quiet or fans would boo. But I was wrong, thankfully. 

As he walked out, the excitement was building. He walked to the front of the mound, and then took a couple steps back to the pitcher's mound. I wasn't sure if I wanted to take a picture or not, but I got one right before the pitch. The pitch, from where I was standing had decent speed, and I didn't see Brad Ausmus'(the catcher) hand move at all, so, in my eyes, it was a perfect pitch.

After the pitch, I walked to my seat and got ready for what would be the most exciting Dodger game I had ever watched live. 

Ironically, before the game, I said that, lately, the Dodger games haven't been crowded like they usually are. Little did I know, there would over 50,000 rocking at Dodger Stadium. The energy was crazy. At one point, 'the wave' started and it was so crazy that everyone started doing it and didn't notice that Phillies' 2nd baseman Chase Utley hit a ball down the line, scoring 2 for the Phillies.

There were a lot of Phillie fans there. We were down for the entire game, so they were saying anything they could. We managed to get lucky on our 2nd run, where the ball bounced right under Phillies' outfielder Eric Bruntlett's glove, bringing Furcal home to make the score 3-2.

As the game went on, they showed a recap of Sasha's pitch and "The Bangles" singing the national anthem on the big scoreboard. When I saw Sasha's pitch from that angle, the pitch was perfect. And Sasha's reaction was the best, because not only was it excitement, it also seemed like he was relieved because of all the talk about him possibly bouncing the pitch.

The Dodgers' bullpen was the key to the game(along with some nice catches by outfielder Matt Kemp), keeping the Phillies scoreless from the 5th inning and on. When it got to the bottom of the 9th inning, a Phillie fan behind me said "Lidge will put this one in the fridge, he's gonna close it down."(Brad Lidge is the closer for the Phillies)

That 9th inning was...amazing. 2 outs just like that. Fans were about to leave. But Casey Blake kept it alive with a single, then James Loney worked out a walk. The biggest play to that 9th was the botched ground-ball to Phillies 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz, which allowed Russell Martin to be safe and put the game in Andre Ethier's hands.

Our seats were in the outfield, 1st base side, field level. When Ethier hit the first pitch into the outfield, it was right in front of us. We saw Eric Bruntlett's glove miss the ball just barely, and we won the game. I went crazy. I high-fived everyone. It was such an awesome feeling.

After the game, we were able to go down onto the field to watch the fireworks and it got crowded fast. I've been on the field once for the "Father's Day Catch" thing in 2007, and that was at daytime. This was at night-time and it was an amazing sight. Not only the fireworks, but to look up at the lights and the stadium all-around you, it's amazing. They shut down the lights and that was even cooler, because it's just a weird feeling, like "Why am I here? Why am I standing on the field of Dodger stadium, the field where so many legends have stood before? I'm not worthy, and why are the lights off?" It's a crazy feeling.

Then the fireworks went off as "Beat It"(Michael Jackson), "Panama"(Van Halen), and "Livin' On A Prayer"(Bon Jovi) played. It was the perfect ending to an exciting day. And to think, I would've never had that feeling if Sasha didn't throw the first pitch....

Also, Ethier's game-winning hit was the 2nd walk-off hit vs. the Phillies I have seen live. The previous walk-off was last year on August 12th. The Dodgers are 6-4 in games I go to, 2-0 vs. the Phillies.

Dodgers' Surprising Start Continues...

 The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their strong start to the season with a crazy May, going 20-9, it's highest win total in May since going 21-7 in 1962, all without Manny Ramirez. They also built on their lead in the National League West, leading the Giants by 8.5 games and also holding the best record in the Major Leagues.

 This month's MVP would easily have to go to Juan Pierre. Being the replacement of an all-time great in Manny Ramirez would be tough, but Juan Pierre has done THE perfect job in filling in the gap. He's easily been the most consistent hitter, batting .374 this season, which, despite not qualifying as a team high, is misleading as he's been the starter for the entire month.

 The "stinkiest" player of the month was Andre Ethier, who was easily playing as the best player on the Dodgers in April. His average fell from .306 at the end of April to .256 now. I have faith that he'll get back to where he was, but he's easily been the only one affected negatively(performance-wise) by the Manny suspension.

 The most surprising player has been...well, I'd say Juan Pierre, but its actually been the entire team. I don't think anyone saw us being the top team at the start of the year and especially after the whole Manny thing. It's been a fun season to watch so far, you just have to pray it continues. 

 The player to watch this month is Hiroki Kuroda, who is scheduled to pitch tomorrow after being put on the disabled list after his opening day start. When he's healthy, he has proven to be very good for us.....here's hoping he isn't put on the DL again. Haha.

 The games to look forward this month: From the 12th-28th, Interleague play.(12th-14th at Rangers, 16th-18th vs. Athletics, 19th-21st at Angels, 23rd-25th at White Sox, 26th-28th vs. Mariners) Always interesting, although it's kicked our butt in recent years.

My Thoughts On the Manny Ramirez News...

It was 8:52 AM, when I heard the news. I was refreshing twitter while playing NBA 2K9. I came across a post from mrquisp that said "manny is suspended." 

Not really knowing which 'Manny' it was(Pacquiao, Ramirez...), I went with Ramirez and put in "manny ramirez suspended" on google, went to news and it was the first link, Los Angeles Times. I didn't see the news on any other link, just that one. I was kind of laughing at the time because it seemed unreal.

The headline I saw was "Manny will be suspended 50 games for positive drug test." After seeing it online, I changed the channel to ESPN and sure enough, they were in the middle of talking about it. At that point, after seeing it on ESPN, it hit me. I wanted to cry, because I was so shocked.

As more and more found out about the news and more info was being said, I was posting it all over twitter, myspace, facebook, basically saying "I'm shocked.", "I'm gonna throw up.", all of that.

Then we found out the info of it being a female fertility pill. At that point, I didn't feel bad. Ya, he's suspended 50 games, and it's used as a post-steroid 'chaser', but if he passed all those drug tests before, he's clean to me. Why not? 

All signs point to him just making a mistake and getting unlucky. It was a personal thing and he was just unlucky that it happened to be on the list. 

I don't believe it'll affect him long term and I know many Dodger fans will be behind him, as we are all loyal to our players, maybe not Brett Tomko, but that's it. Haha.

I also believe it won't affect the Dodgers long-term either. Sure, they've lost the first 2 games at this point, but if they can win even 50% of the games that Manny is gone, I am fine, because I know, when Manny comes back, we'll be back to playing at a high level again. 

So, while all I read about Manny is negative, I believe they have to look at what he took, the passed drug tests of the past, his response, the doctor's mistake, the Dodger organization's response and Manny's past to make a real, thought out opinion, because all I see is the same answers. Everyone assumes it's steroids, yet they haven't even looked at the info.

So, until July 3rd, I'm pleading "Free Manny". 

Fast Start For The Dodgers

The 2009 season for the Dodgers has started off hot, with an explosive offense led by Manny Ramirez and a youthful pitching staff led by Chad Billingsley. After one month, the Dodgers are leading the NL West division by 3.5 games and they're only 1 game back of the Cardinals for the best record.

The MVP for the Dodgers, in my opinion, isn't Manny Ramirez. It would have to be Andre Ethier. With a .306 batting average and a team-high 22 RBI, which is also tied for 4th in the entire league. Ethier is my favorite player, so it's exciting to see him playing well.

The 'stinkiest' player for the Dodgers would have to be Russell Martin, who is batting .205, lowest batting average of any starter on the team. However, without Martin, we are not the same team and his presence is felt whether he's going 4-4 or 0-4, but he's been struggling all season. Many will say it's because he is tired from playing at a high level for Canada in the World Baseball Classic, which I believe is probably it. I'm sure he'll be fine as the season goes on.

Most surprising player...Orlando Hudson, definitely. I remember when he was playing for the Diamondbacks and he always used to give us problems but noticed he was never anything special outside of that. With a .337 batting average, 2nd highest on the team for everyday starters, 32 hits(highest on the team), and 19 runs(tied for 1st on the team with Manny), he has definitely been a key player for us.

Player to watch this month: Jeff Weaver. He was called up before the Padres game and did a pretty good job. I think, especially with how inconsistent our bullpen has been, he could be key for us. 

Games to look forward to: May 12-14 at Philadelphia. NL championship rematch. May 22-24 vs. Angels. Always a fun matchup.