Old-Timers Game Lineups

After today's game the Dodgers are holding their newly revived Old-Timers Game. From a Dodgers press release:

Team 1 (will wear Dodger home jerseys)
Dusty Baker OF
Tim Wallach 3B
Mickey Hatcher SS/OF
Steve Sax 2B
Mike Marshall 1B
Reggie Smith OF/1B
Steve Yeager C
Raul Mondesi OF
Davey Lopes 2B
Darryl Strawberry 1B/OF
Ron Cey 3B
Eric Gagné P
Fernando Valenzuela P

Team 2 (will wear Dodger alternate road jerseys)
Shawn Green OF
Derrel Thomas 2B/C
Bill Russell SS
Ken Landreaux OF
Eric Karros 1B
Rick Monday OF
Nomar Garciaparra 3B
Maury Wills SS
Steve Finley OF
Orel Hershiser P
Rick Honeycutt P

Additionally, Tommy Davis, Charlie Hough, “Sweet” Lou Johnson, Manny Mota, Don Newcombe and Jerry Reuss will be on hand and a part of Old-Timers pre-game introductions.

So Darryl "Let it burn" Strawberry makes the cut but Paul "Fuck the Dodgers" Lo Doca doesn't?

Guess These Autographs...And Win Them!

(click image to enlarge)

We got a note from SoSG reader Gagne's Lucky Glasses:

I was going through some old baseball memorabilia and stumbled on a Dodgers program from 1992 (Strawberry and Eric Davis???). The program has 4 signatures on it and I was able to identify two of them. I thought it might be fun to have a contest to have people try and identify all four signatures. I could mail the actual program to whoever is the winner.

Great idea, GLG! First person to guess all four signatures wins. Use the comments section to leave your answer, as well as your reasoning, since, um, we don't know two of them.

We can offer a few hints if necessary. Now, fire away!

Where's His Dr Pepper Ad?

Doc Gooden is at it again. For those who've lost track of his rap sheet,

In 1986, Gooden pleaded no contest to battery on an officer and resisting arrest after getting into a scuffle with Tampa police officers. He was sentenced to three years' probation. A year later, he tested positive for cocaine and went to drug rehab for 28 days. In 1994, he was suspended for 60 days after violating Majorl League Baseball's drug program by failing two substance abuse tests. Gooden eventually checked into the Betty Ford Center, but failed more tests after returning.

In 2002, Gooden pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of reckless driving after he was arrested in Tampa. A year later, he was busted for driving with a suspended license after a traffic stop in Tampa. In 2005, he was arrested at his Tampa home for allegedly hitting his fiancee. Also that year, Gooden was accused of fleeing from a traffic stop in Tampa after being pulled over for driving erratically and reeking of alcohol. Gooden was busted again in 2006 for violating his probation after he appeared high on cocaine at a scheduled meeting with his probation officer. He spent eight months in jail for that violation.

But his newest offense is just beyond belief.

CAR CRASH

ON DRUGS

FLEEING THE SCENE

WITH HIS CHILD IN THE CAR!

It reads like this classic scene from The Birdcage NOTE: ONE NOT SAFE FOR WORK WORD IS USED AT THE END OF THE SCENE

Darryl Strawberry's cleaned up his act (so it seems) and is keeping it real on the very un-real Celebrity Apprentice. Hopefully the Good Doctor is one season of Celeb Rehab (or better yet, real rehab) away from following suit.

Weekend Browserama

Juan Pierre at this year's Sox Fest.

• Tony Jackson has written an excellent article about Dodgers Vice President and Assistant General Manager Kim Ng. Executive decisions (ESPNLosAngeles.com)
• Oh my God, why don't you start a Giants secret surgery blog and report their news on that blog. Okay! Secret surgery on Giants' Freddy Sanchez (Yahoo! Sports Rumors)
• "We are one month away!!!" (Matt Kemp's Twitter)

2010 Mets Hall of Fame inductees Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.

AP photos

Go Crenshaw!

I'm not normally a follower of high school football, but as soon as I heard about this matchup, I knew who I was rooting for. From "CIF Bowl Open Division preview: No. 16 nationally Crenshaw versus De La Salle" at MaxPreps:

This is a dream matchup really. Old school versus the newcomer. Private school versus public. Ultimate suburb versus inner city.

De La Salle and all its tradition and reputation, a six-time mythical national champion and the only school to be selected to a State Bowl game all four years – no one else has been picked more than twice – against a Los Angeles City team far more known for its basketball prowess.

There's a load of Division I talent on both squads.

They truly saved the best for last - the final game in the country to be played in 2009.

Crenshaw is the first Los Angeles City school to be picked into the bowl game and after a 34-14 victory over Narbonne the team was overcome with emotion. The season has been that satisfying for the Cougars (14-0).

Yes, Crenshaw is the alma mater of Darryl Strawberry. Want another Dodger connection? Snoop Dogg: Dodger fan, Crenshaw benefactor.

The game is tomorrow, Saturday, at 8 p.m. at the Home Depot Center in Carson. It will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet California and Comcast SportsNet Plus, webcast at KBCsports.com and on the radio at KFRC 1550. Go Cougars!

More Cougar links:

• In Crenshaw-Concord De La Salle matchup, City (Section) pride is on the line (LA Times)
• Crenshaw, De La Salle make their own history (Los Angeles Wave)
• Keary Colbert donates toward Crenshaw playoff tickets (LA Times)

The Straw that Stirred Resentment

Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis.

Ah, Darryl. If the trade of Mike Piazza symbolized the ham-fisted shortsightedness of the Fox regime in the late 1990's, certainly Darryl Strawberry's brief, frustrating tenure with the Dodgers earlier that decade was a bellwether for the last days of the O'Malley family's ownership of the Dodgers.

Back in the day, though, Darryl—who formed a "dream team" outfield with Eric Davis and Brett Butler—represented nothing but hope. (Sound familiar?) I fondly recall the man-crush both EK and I had on Darryl (thanks for the autograph, EK!). At one point I had a sweet Nike poster that pictured Darryl in the style of fruit crate label art. HOMEGROWN, it said.

Now Darryl is back in town—to plug his new book. Tim "The Hammer" Hammill, who most recently profiled bullpen catcher Rob Flippo, interviewed Strawberry for LAist. Let's cherry-pick a few choice pieces of Strawberry:

I was always concerned about the fans and had the love for fans because of what they mean to me.

Wow, you mean you really didn't mean that whole "Let it burn down" business?

The fans of New York have responded so well to me....I get so many fans in New York who will tell me that they loved watching me.

Oh. Okay.

[Hammer:] What was your initial reaction when you realized you had the opportunity to come home and play for the Dodgers?

[Strawberry:] I thought it was great. I thought LA would be great for me, coming home and all. I also think that it was the biggest mistake I made in baseball. I'm pretty much a New York guy. I was accustomed to New York baseball fans and New York media. I think in LA, baseball was a little different for me, coming from New York. I was so used to the intensity level that the fans in New York have, in LA it was a more of a laid back atmosphere. They come late and leave early. That's not the case in New York.

What an entirely original sentiment.

Want to meet Darryl, like Roberto from Vin Scully Is My Homeboy did last night? He'll be at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena tonight at 6 p.m.

Fun facts: Did you know Darryl played for the Giants? It's true:

Elsewhere: Darryl Strawberry Chronology (SI.com)

top photo courtesy of HarperCollins