Vin Scully, on Manager Problems

Burt Shotton and Carl Erskine.

Vin Scully, from Sunday's telecast:

Bottom of the third, one to nothing in favor of the Dodgers.

Bruce Bochy looking on, and he has been a harried manager. Those who have been close to him say that he's just about been driven up a wall, not only managing the Giants, but all the worries and responsibilities of the All-Star Game.

Quiroz, the catcher, hits one into the gap in left-center and that's going to go to the wall, and the big man goes into second base standing with a double. So the tying run is out there with nobody out.

That will bring up Gaudin followed by Torres and Scutaro.

Well, you can imagine the pressure on Bochy about what to do with Yasiel Puig. And they turned out now to have the Final Vote and there are five members: Desmond, Freeman, Pence, Gonzalez and Puig.

But way back in 1949, the Dodgers won the pennant. The manager of the Dodgers then was the All-Star manager in 1950, and his name was Burt Shotton.

And Burt Shotton did not wear a uniform. He did wear a Dodger windbreaker but he had to stay in the dugout. He wasn't allowed on the field.

It came down to Burt Shotton to pick one of two players for the All-Star Game. One, an extremely popular outfielder-first baseman by the name of Hank Sauer. They loved him in Chicago. Big right-hand batter.

The other, Duke Snider. Left-hand-hitting center fielder, destined to go in the Hall of Fame.

The pitch to the plate, and it is a little low, ball one, one and oh.

Anyway, Shotton elected to go with Snider, because The Duke had more abilities than just swinging the bat.

And Chicago was absolutely incensed. How could they not have picked Hank Sauer? I mean, they were furious — including the Cubs broadcaster.

Gaudin pulls the bat back, two and oh the count.

His name was Bert Wilson, and if you can imagine it today — you can't imagine it today. But in 1950, Bert Wilson organized a "Shoot Shotton Club."

Can you imagine? Shoot Shotton.

Two balls and no strikes the count to Gaudin. Showing bunt again, pops it in the air foul out of play, two and one.

Well anyway, it came the day of the All-Star Game at Wrigley Field, and after the batting practice, after the infield, et cetera, the field was deserted for a couple of minutes.

And up the steps of the visiting dugout in Wrigley Field stood old Burt Shotton, wearing his Dodger windbreaker and a baseball cap. He stood very deliberately and stared at the people behind home plate, who began to boo.

Here's the two-one pitch, Gaudin swings, fouls it away.

Then he stared at the people down the left-field line. And then he stared at the people in the bleachers in left. Then the bleachers in right-center. And then the people in right field. And then the people all the way down to home plate again.

With the boos going to the heavens, and finally, after making a complete circle, Burt said — as if to say to the crowd, If you're going to shoot me, shoot me now.

And when he felt there was nothing but the boos, he quietly went back in the dugout.

Here's the two-two pitch to Gaudin, and it's taken, strike three call. One away.

My thanks to Gaudin while I could tell that story.

So one away, and here's Andres Torres.

But I was just thinking, if I have a moment, I will say to Bruce Bochy, Hey, you think you have problems trying to select the All-Star team players this year? You don't know anything about problems.

They ought to tell you about Burt Shotton, circa 1950.

All right, here's Torres, struck out in the first inning....

I'm Just Going to Keep Picking at This Scab Called Russell Martin

Thurman Munson. I know! I thought it was Russell Martin too!

From "Cashman says Martin is 'Munson-like' " at ESPNNewYork.com:

Brian Cashman says that he can remember as far back as three years ago talking with his right-hand man, Billy Eppler, and agreeing that they thought Russell Martin was "Thurman Munson-like."

Over the past three years, Cashman said he called the Dodgers to try to trade for Martin. Each time Los Angeles told him that Martin was unavailable. (How interesting would that have been with Jorge Posada still firmly the catcher if Martin were brought in?) [...]

The Yankees signed Martin for $4 million and, after the most exhaustive physical Cashman can ever remember, look as if they may have an All-Star.

(Bold mine. Mine all mine.) Whoa there, Zippy Chippy. Which is more knee-jerk: the Munson comparison, or the All-Star talk? Unless every Yankees starter is guaranteed a spot in the All-Star Game. Is that how it works? I forget.

This Day in Steve Garvey History

But really, isn't every day Steve Garvey Day at SoSG? Thanks again to QuadSevens, this time for this tidbit:

1974 — Write-in starter Steve Garvey of the Los Angeles Dodgers singled and doubled to lead the NL to a 7-2 victory over the AL in the All-Star game at Pittsburgh.

Happy 35th anniversary, Dad!

Yankee Stadium Remembrances, Part 3: The Mick'

As I mentioned earlier, I do have one more story to tell about Yankee Stadium, this time based on a visit there early in the summer of 1995.

That wonderful summer, I was working in New York City, living the dream as I bumped around Wall Street with a salary that was not justified by either my work experience or intellect. The work wasn't all that challenging, and the living was easy, mostly benefited by a kind friend of mine whose family owned a spare studio located midtown, east side, and barely charged me rent. Life was so good, I often would sleep in late for an extra hour after a night of partying, opting to take a cab downtown to my job and spend an extra $10 per trip, rather than being financially responsible and squeezing onto a subway like a sardine pressing up against some guy's armpit for a half hour. Efficient days at work allowed me to enjoy the best diversions Manhattan had to offer all summer long.

And so, when I got the chance to catch an evening game at Yankee, I gathered up some friends and went.

In 1995, Yankee legend Mickey Mantle was in failing health, caused by years of hard living which corroded his liver along with the rest of his organs. Not being a Yankee fan or native New Yorker, I had read about his exploits but probably didn't share the appreciation levels of most of the other residents of Manhattan (in fact, I remember grabbing a beer once at Mickey Mantle's barbecue restaurant on Central Park South one night and my friend hilariously (and with a straight face) asked the vendor at the in-store gift shop if they had any t-shirts with any other numbers on the back besides 7).

So when Mantle's picture came up on the jumbotron, smack dab in between innings of a night game, I looked at it a little askance. Of course, being a picture of Mantle from his playing years, he appeared young and vibrant and as if he had the world at his feet, despite the scoreboard's message to "Get Well Mick!" extended across the bottom of the screen. And standing amidst a sea of drunk Yankee fans clapping and cheering for Mantle's picture (I recall this being the loudest the crowd got all night long), I remember thinking to myself how odd it was to see a mass of people mourn in unison for a player that many of them never saw in action. Mantle's situation, in which he was in need of a liver transplant (which he got later that summer), was indeed tragic, I agree. But it's not like he didn't live a full life, complete with incredible exploits and experiences that mortals like us could not even try to comprehend; in addition, his sick condition was likely self-inflicted, the result of years of partying and alcoholism. Weep not for Mantle, I thought--he has lived a good life and accomplished much.

And then, some young twentysomething kid in a short sleeved polo shirt, in an inebriated stupor, screamed with slurred words to the scoreboard (as if his image could hear and/or answer), "Mickey! You can have my liver!"

I recall looking at this drunken sot and thinking that, based on this guy's current state, such a transplant might only give Mantle another couple of weeks of prolonged life. I was nevertheless struck by his magnaminity and the conviction of his bold claim. I couldn't have been very sober myself, as I turned to the guy and replied, "Dude, it's not like a kidney. You only have one liver." (I didn't know about living donor liver transplantation, which I suppose was my fault, but I accurately surmised that he was mixing up one's internal organs.)

The guy looked at me with a blank stare. He wasn't angry, or even confrontational; it was almost as if he was absorbing this new piece of information and trying to figure out how to resolve the logical flaw and extricate himself from his loud verbal commitment. I mean, here he was, among thousands of other Yankee fans, and he had publicly announced his intent to donate a human organ without which he couldn't survive. Not that we were a temple of Aztecs about to sacrifice his body to the gods (though I thought I saw some ushers start to move slowly toward him), but even still, he couldn't go back on his word now, could he? Not when the fate of a legend like Mickey Mantle lies in the balance.

After about ten seconds of pondering my statement, his face turned to a steely glare. As sober as he could, he said, "That's okay, he can still have it. He's the Mick."

And there you have it. Can't argue with that logic, can you? Who's to say that New Yorkers aren't generous with their hearts...or even their other organs?

Mantle got his liver transplant, but died later that summer after the liver cancer had spread to the rest of his body. To this day, I am not sure whether the fan with whom I conversed that evening was the donor.

Yankee Stadium Remembrances, Part 2: Another Bad Night for Leary

"Another Bad Night for Leary," screamed the headline from the always bombastic New York Post as it recapped the Twins-Yankees game on July 6, 1992. And even though it was talking about Tim Leary, this article wasn't about mind-altering drugs. The article lamented the performance of the Yankee pitcher with the same name, who "dragged his teammates down in a 10-5 defeat."

This loss came three starts after Leary was accused of scuffing balls with sandpaper in Baltimore. "Leary is scheduled to meet AL President Bobby Brown sometime this week to discuss the incident," the article went on, "Perhaps, a stop at a hardware store on the way home is in order."

The 1992 Yankees weren't much to write home about, finishing fifth in the seven-team AL East, behind the still-American-League Milwaukee Brewers, among others (Toronto won the division and the World Series that year, beating Atlanta 4 games to 2).

And this particular game wasn't much to write home about, either. Leary lasted 2.2 innings and gave up six runs, all earned. The Yankees led 5-4 after two frames, but a four-run third put the Twins ahead for good. Danny Tartabull had a home run, and Carl Willis picked up the win.

But what did make the game interesting, at least for me, was that it was the first stop in a 11-stadium tour that I took with a friend of mine whom you might know as "Eric Karros." We both spent part of our first summer out of undergrad touring the east coast's ballparks, and Yankee Stadium was a memorable first stop in our trip.

We spent the day visiting the Statue of Liberty, climbing all the way up into the crown (the torch was off-limits), before heading up into the Bronx for the game. I seem to recall it being pretty humid that night. And besides that, I have to depend on my old-school photo albums for memories, as there was nothing else really remarkable that stood out (I have since seen about a half-dozen games at Yankee Stadium, with this trip being my first visit).

If I had any skill with positioning originals on the glass of a scanner, you would be able to tell that I had upper deck seats in row F, seat 14, for the 41st home game of the year. Game time was 7.30pm and we were there early. The shot on the bottom is from inside the dashboard of our rental car as we skedaddled into New York; I can't recall where we parked, but I do recall we beat the life out of that poor car over the next three weeks, traversing states in a circuitous path dictated by the baseball schedule.

I was decently educated in Yankee lore and had the requisite degree of reverence for the franchise, but the truth of the matter is that the stadium in 1992 reflected the team's on-field state of disrepair. Bernie Williams and Don Mattingly may have graced the cover of the Yankees' pocket schedule, but fewer than 18,000 fans cared about showing up on that July evening. The centerfield billboard advertisements touted Getty gasoline, 7-Eleven's Big Bites, and Hitachi Ultravision. What's worse, the LED scoreboard adjacent to the Marlboro Man ad had a "picture" of a smiling Tim Leary before the game that looked like it came from a Nintendo Game Boy game, with caricature features that looked nothing like a human being let alone what I recollect of Leary himself.

I don't remember much of the game, I confess. But if visiting Yankee had any magical power to augur a fun appreciation for baseball over the rest of my trip, then it definitely worked its magic on us. EK and I had a great time for the next three months or so exploring the east coast via roads between ballparks. We zipped up to New Haven CT early the next day, stopping back by New York later on in the trip, before eventually returning to the real world and, in my case, starting a 9-to-5 job just like the rest of my college grad peers.

I do have one more story about visiting Yankee Stadium (which is better than this one, but sans pictures), but I'll save it for tomorrow.

Did Someone Say "Selig Shrug"?

AP photo

Gurnick Still Bringin' the Snark

It's good to see Ken Gurnick in mid-season form. From his latest mailbag:

How can the Dodgers bring an All-Star Game back to L.A.? -- Rodolfo F., Los Angeles

All-Star Games usually go to cities with new parks. The next two games are already awarded to Yankee Stadium and Busch Stadium. I would expect Arizona, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, San Diego, Colorado and Minnesota to get one before Dodger Stadium, as well as possibly the two new stadiums being built in New York. So, maybe around 2017, give or take. Some of us might even live to see it happen.

previously at SoSG: Which Will Come to L.A. First: MLB All-Star Game or NFL Team?

2007 MLB All-Star Game Logo Reflections

I know, I'm about to compliment the San Francisco Giants' organization. I'm feeling generous.

I have to admit that I think the 2007 MLB All-Star Game logo is really beautiful. For a while now, I've admired the clean lines and Edward Hopper-like shadows of the image, with the ball splashing into the waters of McCovey Cove. The logo was designed by Michael Schwab Studio, whose work is familiar to Bay Area residents who have visited the Golden Gate National Parks. Most of Schwab's work has the same fonts, color schemes, and shadows. You can see more of Michael Schwab Studio's posters here.

Posters of the 2007 ASG logo are available online here for $200. However, though there are three shots available, and one from the same right-field vantage point, none of the posters available have the iconic ball/splash, which is a little odd. Maybe you have to get the offical logo through MLB.com (but I couldn't find it).

On a more humorous note, I also did a bit of digging around and found this logo from Toon Refugee. They've written, "The Giants and Barry Bonds are hosting the All-Star Game. Just move the game a few miles north and the next time someone “goes yard” it’s the prison yard." Nice.

ESPN Now Has To Scalp ASG Tickets, Just Like Everyone Else

Revised camera position for ESPN's All-Star Game coverage

My ESPN viewership has declined lately, inversely proportional to the expansion of SportsCenter to 90 minutes, and directly correlated with the increase in ridiculous "original entertainment" programming (read: Lifetime-like schlock, for men) and ridiculous segments like "Who's Now", which pits Kobe Bryant vs. Ronaldhino in a head-to-head popularity contest ("Who's Now"? More like "Who Cares?").

But this latest news article had me laughing out loud. ESPN has seen its 2007 All-Star Game access privileges denied after breaking its agreement to not air the All-Star rosters until after TBS, the official sponsor, had completed its selection show. You see, that's what you get for premature news ejaculation.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -ESPN won't be able to allowed to broadcast its "Baseball Tonight'' show live from the All-Star game in San Francisco on Tuesday night.

Major League Baseball limited ESPN's access this week after the cable network broke an embargo and announced the All-Star rosters before the end of a selection show on TBS.

Fox is broadcasting the game, but ESPN traditionally has moved its "Baseball Tonight'' crew from the studio in Bristol, Conn., to the site of the game. Karl Ravech, Steve Phillips and John Kruk instead will do the show this year from the studio. ESPN does have reporters on site who will file reports but will be treated like all other non-rightsholders....

TBS was scheduled to announce the All-Star rosters on July 1 during a show from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT. But an Atlanta Braves game preceding the show had a lengthy rain delay and went extra innings, prompting a delay.

ESPN reported the NL starters, including San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds, before the show on TBS aired, using a vote list mistakenly released on The Associated Press wire. The AP sent an advisory after that transmission, saying the list was embargoed until after the TBS show.

ESPN also revealed the entire rosters shortly after they were announced on TBS but before the end of the TBS show in violation of baseball's embargo.

The platform built to house "Baseball Tonight'' will be used by photographers instead.

Equally funny was the Hollywood Reporter headline, "Yer out! ESPN ejected for committing All-Star error". Guess we're about to see the debut of The Worldwide Leader in Sporting Event Perspectives from People on the Street Outside the Stadium.

AP Photo/Eric Risberg

Verducci Agrees with Dodger ASG Picks, Introduces New Name

Just who is this "Russ Martin"?

At least SI.com's Tom Verducci gave props to Brad Penny and Takashi Saito as well (what, no Peavy or Hoffman?).

C: Russ Martin, Los Angeles
Could become only the second catcher in history to steal 25 bases and drive in more than 75 runs (Ivan Rodriguez, 1999).

SP: Brad Penny, Los Angeles
Now 20-3 before the break in the past two seasons. Of course, he suffered second-half meltdown last year (6-7, 6.25) and was useless by the postseason.

RP: Takashi Saito, Los Angeles
He's having a Dennis Eckersley kind of season. Saito has walked only three batters (zero leadoff hitters, zero left-handed batters, zero on the road) and held righties to a .107 average.

MLB Conspiracy Sneaks Bonds Onto 2007 All-Star Game Starting Lineup

Alfonso Soriano must be pissed. Despite leading Barry Bonds by a comfortable margin with days to go in voting, mlb.com pulled strings to get Barry Bonds to leapfrog him for the final slot.

Bonds, nearing 43 years old and having a historic year as the left fielder of the Giants, concluded action on Sunday with 750 homers, just five behind Hank Aaron's all-time MLB mark of 755, and will be starting for the NL in his home park. He overtook Alfonzo Soriano of the Cubs in the late balloting to snare the third and final starting NL outfield spot by 122,878 votes.

So let's do the math. On June 25, Russell Martin was leading Paul Lo Duca for the NL Catcher spot. For over a month, the Dodgers had an all-out campaign focused solely on Martin to get him the final spot. And in the final three-day push, Martin got an extra 741K votes to solidify his slot.

Bonds trailed Soriano by 122K votes on June 25. With three days to go, he turned that deficit into a 120K vote lead for the final slot. This is a swing of 242K votes, or about a third as many total votes as Martin, the focus of entire campaign from the #2 most populous city in the US, received during the same time period. Highly unlikely.

Of all the votes cast in the final three days for Bonds or Soriano (almost two million votes in total), Bonds would have had to have received 56% of the total votes. This gets a little squishy because an individual could cast a vote for both players on the same ballot. But think of it this way: For every three Soriano votes, Bonds would have had to have four votes for himself.

Chicago has a population of 2.8 million. San Francisco has a population of 744 thousand, roughly one-fourth the size of Chicago. And yet Bonds outpolled Soriano. Uh-huh.

If you think Bonds legitimately got his way onto the 2007 All-Star Game starting lineup, you have got to be kidding me. MLB snuck him onto the starting lineup because it couldn't afford to have the questions surrounding a San Francisco-based All-Star Game. And I'm not the only one who thinks the fix was on.

ESPN.com didn't have Bonds on its starting lineup. But they're following the mlb line in lockstep as a wonderful, feel-good story. Yeah, right.

UPDATE: John Donovan over at si.com can't believe the vote count, either. Might there be a man behind the curtain, John? Or are you still putting teeth under your pillow?

Thank You for Voixxing for the Brad, Russell and Takashi

ESPN Supports Voixing Pour Le Russell

WIth the All-Star Game voting results announced tomorrow (July 1), all we can do is hope our voting for Dodger Russell Martin paid off with a deserved starting slot on the NL team. In the meantime, ESPN.com supports Martin's candidacy.

ESPN.com also votes for Padre Jake Peavy as the NL starting pitcher, over Dodger Brad Penny. Since the two go head-to-head at the Ravine tonight, we'll see who is the bigger gun this evening....

One Final All-Star Game Push

With three days left in voting for the 2007 All-Star Game, the Voix Pour Le Russell Campaign has done a great job to vault Dodger catcher Russell Martin to the lead for the NL Catcher spot, a spot which Martin truly deserves. His ~210K vote lead over former Dodger and current Met Paul Lo Duca appears pretty safe, though stranger things have happened; Tony Jackson's blog reports that this lead may be down to 110K votes, but that's still a pretty sizable gap. If this plays out to form, Martin will be joined by Brad Penny.

Jeff Kent is in second place for his 2B slot, which would make for some great comedy if he is also is called up to the 2007 All-Star Game in San Francisco. Nomar Garciaparra and Rafael Furcal are both safely back in third place in their respective races, and it should come as little surprise that there is no Dodger outfielder in the hunt for a slot.

I confess that I've done my part to Voix Pour Le Russell, going through all 25 slots on the online ballot before the system blocks any further voting. And I have to say, it's a fine process, and it's fun, and not even all that time-consuming--but it is not the same. It's not the same as when I was seven years old and sitting in the stands of Dodger stadium frantically punching away at the paper all-star ballots so I could stuff them in the box back in the concourse aisle. It's not the same as seeing the floor in front of your seat covered in discarded peanut shells, malt lids, and chads (back in the day when one didn't even know "chad" was a word and not a boys' name). It's not the same as seeing a friendly usher laugh and tousle your hair as he hands you yet another stack of pure ballots, with Dodgers' names just waiting to garner the votes of a well-placed ballpoint pen tip.

But the All-Star Game still remains the only All-Star Game in American sport worth watching--and the home-field advantage gimmick has nothing to do with it. It's still an honor bestowed by the fans on its favorite players (often on players endeared by name value and image rather than on-field play), and the players always seem to be appreciative of receiving such honors (except for that surly Giant outfielder, who despite being fourth in this year's outfield vote is sure to make the squad given the location of the game).

And though the online voting element does take away some of the old voting mystique, when used wisely it is a pretty effective tool to further stoke the fans' interest. Last year's "Final Vote" campaign to get Nomar Garciaparra the final All-Star Game roster slot was a fun one--I must have voted about 300 times for Nomar, who ended up getting 4,000,000 votes to win it. To put it in perspective, Carlos Beltran currently leads NL voting with 1.7M votes--so clearly the Final Vote campaign is well-received by the fans.

It would be sweet to have some Dodgers both in the All-Star Game and performing well in the All-Star Game. Voix Pour Le Russell, if you haven't already.

And throw in a write-in vote for James Loney too while you're at it!

Dodgers Not in First Place, But Russell Martin Is

(Click on the badge to VOIX POUR LE RUSSELL!)

From Inside the Dodgers:

Yes, it's true. Russell is now in first place in what has to be the quickest anyone has made up a 150,000 vote deficit ever. Hopefully will get to post more later but for now, here's the lineup. Keep up the great work!

UPDATE:

Paul Lo Duca regains some classy points. From Ken Gurnick at Dodgers.com:

Spotlight on Martin: By moving into the top spot in National League voting for All-Star catcher, Martin was surrounded by local media before the game.

The best comments, however, came from the Dodgers' previous All-Star catcher and current Met, Paul Lo Duca.

"He's done everything right. I wasn't as talented as Russell at his age, I didn't have the catching skills," said Lo Duca, who reached the Major Leagues at age 26, compared to 23 for Martin. "He's so polished behind the plate. Pitchers are comfortable throwing to him, he understands the game and he's an unbelievable offensive player.

"I just told him to get his rest, take your days off. He reminds me of myself, he doesn't want to take time off, neither did I. You get older, you realize it pays off."

And from Bill Dwyre at the LA Times (reg.):

Another bonus for the Dodgers is Martin's speed, something normally squeezed out of catchers' legs in all those hours of squatting.

"Catchers aren't supposed to do that," said Tom Lasorda, who managed more than his share over the years. "Scioscia and Piazza, they couldn't even steal a hot dog in their own clubhouse."

...Even Lo Duca said, "Russell deserves to go" to the All-Star game and said, if he had a vote, it'd probably go to Martin.

Vote For Russell! Voix Pour Le Russell!

For once, I agree with the propaganda posting that is Inside the Dodgers (MLB). Russell Martin deserves to go to the 2007 All-Star Game. And we need to get him there.

Here are the results of All-Star Game voting, as of 5/29/07 (first release of votes):

• 1. Lo Duca, P., Mets, 339,527
• 2. McCann, B., Braves, 288,491
• 3. Estrada, J., Brewers, 255,884
• 4. Martin, R., Dodgers, 198,914

Now, I'm not a Paulie-hater. But we gotta get Russell up to fill that 90K-vote gap to at least slot in at second place. For pete's sake, that guy is throwing himself over fences for our team (see the last two paragraphs in the story). The least we can do is vote him in.

Voix Pour Le Russell is now the #2 campaign of SoSG, right behind FREE JAMES LONEY (would that sound as good in French?)

Which Will Come to L.A. First: MLB All-Star Game or NFL Team?

In its 46-year history, Dodger Stadium has hosted one All-Star Game. Twenty-seven years ago.

When it closes after the 2008 season, Yankee Stadium will have hosted four All-Star Games in its 86-year history—the latest in its last year of operation, according to Buster Olney at ESPN.com:

Yankee Stadium will be the site of the 2008 All-Star Game, sources in baseball said, in the last year of the ballpark.

The new Yankee Stadium is scheduled to open in 2009, and old Yankee Stadium closed, 86 years after the ballpark was first built in 1923, and 33 years after the ballpark was remodeled on the same site in 1976. With the All-Star Game slated to be in an AL park in 2008, officials chose Yankee Stadium for the site, believing it to be an appropriate way to usher out the historic building.

The All-Star Game has been held in Yankee Stadium three times previously, the last time in 1977.

It's hard to argue with MLB paying respects to the most storied stadium in baseball history (sorry, Fenway and Wrigley), but with new ballparks sprouting like kudzu it seems unlikely Dodger Stadium will ever see another All-Star Game—even when Frank McCourt decides to raze it and build condos.

Ah, it's just as well. Tickets would be impossible to get anyway.

Introducing the All-Star Lineup for the 2003 Dodgers (if the year was 1999)

Sax recently posted about the 2007 Giants featuring several past All-Stars. This reminded me of the 2003 Dodgers, which finished in second place with a 85-77 record (stats through 2003):

Player	Pos	All-Star Yrs	Peak BA, Year (min. 502 AB)	Career BA	2003 BA
P Lo Duca	C	2003	.281, 2002	.285	.273
T Hundley	C	1996-97	.259, 1996	.234	.182
F McGriff	1B	1992, 1994-96, 2000	.310, 1999	.285	.249
A Cora	2B	n/a	n/a	.241	.249
C Izturis	SS	n/a	.251, 2003	.246	.251
A Beltre	3B	n/a	.290, 2000	.262	.240
R Ventura	3B	1992, 2002	.301, 1999	.267	.220 (LAD only)
B Jordan	LF	1999	.316, 1998	.287	.299
J Burnitz	LF	1999	.263, 1998	.251	.204 (LAD only)
R Henderson	LF	1980, 1982-88, 1990-91	.314, 1985	.279	.208
D Roberts	CF	n/a	n/a	.261	.250
S Green	RF	1999, 2002	.309, 1999	.284	.280

The pitching staff included Wilson Alvarez (All-Star 1994), Andy Ashby (1998-99), Kevin Brown (1992, 1996-98, 2000, 2003), Hideo Nomo (1995), Odalis Perez (2002) and Paul Quantrill (2001).