Wilson Allows Dodgers’ First 2014 Loss

After a very successful trip down under the Dodgers made their US opening night match against the Padres one to forget.

The first inning went down easily for LA with Crawford and Puig both going down on K’s and Ramirez flied out to right. Crawford and Puig never looked comfortable up at the plate and only Ramirez got some good wood onto his line drive.

Hyun Jin Ryu (1-0, 0.00 ERA) was the pitcher for LA and the sophomore out of Korea got off to a shaky start. A 7 pitch walk and then a single gave the Padres a chanced with none out and men on first and second.  A strikeout would prove to be very important to get out of the inning after Hyun Jin walked Gyorko on four pitches with none looking like hitting the zone.

Terrible “Opening Day Eve” for LA

The news coming out of the LA media today was that Clayton Kershaw would be out on the 15 day DL.

The team confirmed this news a little later and said that his stint on the disabled list would go back to his last outing that was way back on the 22^nd of March in Sydney.

This news just compounded the Dodgers’ woes as they were thumped 6-2 at the hands of the Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium.

Dan Haren got the start against the Halos and gave up 2 in the first inning including 2 doubles. He stayed into the second inning and gave up 2 home runs in consecutive at bats to go 6-0 down after 6 outs.

The Baseball Memories

When I think of baseball think of the experiences and the things that go with it, everything about it just makes me want to watch and play. Have you ever put the glove up to your face and smelt the leather or the stitching on the ball? It’s the smell of the game and it’s what draws us back.

The best thing about the game in the pro level is the amount of it you can watch every year. Every single day your team will play. Pick a team and follow them, its amazing, all 162 games of the year you can watch every single day as they play at the same ball park day after day. The best bit about it though is the crowd; every day you’ll get a group of passionate supporters just waiting to see their team play.

It has a bit of everything, a bit of smashes, some speed, some strength, some strategy and some great noises so there is something for everyone. Once you watch one game you’ll be hooked on something about it; whether it’s the classic “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” that they play during the 7^th inning stretch or anything else you’ll come back for more and more.

The Week Ahead for the Dodgers

After the very successful trip down under to Australia we not need to go back to Spring Training games for the next few days.

Once the plane lands at LAX later today the Dodgers then play the cross-town rivals, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, in a three game series.

The first two games are to be played on the 27^th and 28^th of March at Dodger Stadium and the last of the series will be at the Angel Stadium the day after.

The next day is the Padres home opener and the first regular season back for the Dodgers after leaving Sydney with an 2-0 record, the best in baseball.

LA Sweep Arizona in Opening Series

There was no waiting around for weather for the Sunday edition of the MLB’s Opening Series, as the game got under way with a bang.

The Dodgers started out on the right foot when Puig singled to snap his 0-5 night in game one. Dodger shortstop Hanley Ramirez walked to move the runners around and Andre Ethier singled to score Yasiel and have him self his second RBI for the year.

Hyun Jin Ryu took the mound and lasted enough for the win with a 5 inning shut out. He had good command of his fastball and his secondary pitches were on song.

There was lots of talk before the season that Ryu would suffer a “sophomore slump” but that was not to be seen as the usually slow starting Korean came out with a one hit first inning.

Dodgers Win Historic Opener in Sydney

The 38,266 strong crowd knew they would be in for a treat and the weather didn’t disappoint.

After an hour of rain delay at the historic SCG the 2014 MLB season was underway. The clouds still looked threatening however as the tarps stayed on for a while before first pitch and another tarp being placed down on the cricket pitches in centre field.

Wade Miley faced the Dodgers for the first inning of the new season. He started off with a gem striking out Puig on three pitches and then Justin Turner to have the perfect strikeout game going after 2 batters. Hanley Ramirez ended that with a groundout to second but nonetheless it was a perfect first inning.

Clayton Kershaw got the start for LA and also started with a strikeout. He then gave up a hit on a hot grounder through the defense of Hanley and then a single that was slapped to left. He got out of the jam however and it was 0-0 after one.

Dodgers Get Set to Start Season With a Bang

The Los Angles Dodgers took on team Australia on Thursday night local time and played out a 4-2 win.

Under the lights of the artificial baseball arena at the SCG the Dodgers put on a show for the mainly empty and inexperienced Australian crowd. The Aussies had something to cheer about when they went 1-0 up in the third thanks to Melbourne Aces’ Brad harman double which led to Mitch Dening to score on a Sac Fly.

The Australian “Southern Thunder” have never been shy of upsets after beating heavyweights Cuba and Japan on their way to a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics and in 2009 the Aussies beat the Seattle Mariners in Mexico.

Common Australian Slang for the Dodgers

Here is a helpful list of things for baseball fans to say while you’re in Australia or Down Under. 

“G’Day”: A common greeting and is short for “Good Day” as in “Hello”. Example, “G’Day mate”

“Throw another shrimp on the barbie”: No one says that here, no one. We don’t even call it shrimp, they’re prawns!

“A thong”: This is a type of shoe, a flip flop is the same thing except no one calls them that here.

Dodgers Name Seats on Plane to Sydney

The team is now on the plane for the opening series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and there are a couple of surprises who fill up the seats.

The roster is as follows:

Pitchers (14): Dominguez, Howell, Jansen, Kershaw, Lee, Maholm, Patterson, Perez, Rosin, Rodriguez, Ryu, Wilson, Withrow and Wright.

Split Squad Dodgers Fall to the White Sox 5-4

Los Angeles came right out of the blocks against Chicago and Sale, scoring 2 runs in the first inning.

Yasiel Puig led off for LA and managed his way onto first with an error by pitcher Sale who couldn’t hold on to an underarm pop by the first baseman Jose Abreu. Justin Turner when blooped one to shallow right to have 1^st and 2^nd with no outs. SVS got plunked with a ball on the shin and the bases were loaded as a hard swinging Juan Uribe came p and only scored one on a sac fly with Puig sprinting home.