Opening Day Goodness

Carl Erskine, Sandy Koufax and Don Newcombe throw out the opening pitches. Looks like at least one of the three is about to be charged with a wild pitch.

Russell Martin. Just call him Home Depot because he's got hardware.

"Past becomes a present to Dodgers fans" by Bill Plaschke at the LA Times

photos by Jon SooHoo/Dodgers

Opening Day Loss!

Opening Day Win!

Game 1 Thread: March 31 vs. Giants, 1.10p; OPENING DAY 2008!

Barry Zito (0-0) vs. Brad Penny (0-0).

COMMENTS: SoSG will be at Dodger Stadium today by around 11am, field level, behind third base. Leave a comment on this Game Thread if you'd like to say hi, and maybe we can grab a $8.00 beer together and check out the all-new wider concourses (and hopefully, shiny new urinal troughs in the bathrooms!).

Penny Earns Opening Day Start

Brad Penny has been named by Joe Torre as the Dodgers' 2008 opening day starter, coming off a strong six-inning showing versus the White Sox today.

PHOENIX -- Brad Penny added six effective innings to the best spring of his career on Thursday, and manager Joe Torre then added to Penny's resume by naming him the Dodgers' Opening Day starting pitcher.

"Why not?" said Torre. "He was pretty good. Barring anything in his last start, we've sort of planned it that way and no reason not to do that."

Penny is likely to be followed by Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda. The Dodgers won't need a fifth starter until April 8, with Esteban Loaiza and Chan Ho Park the finalists. Lowe started the three previous Opening Days for Los Angeles.

The Dodgers open at home Monday, March 31, against the Giants. It will be the first Opening Day assignment for Penny, who is coming off back-to-back 16-win seasons and was the National League starting pitcher in the 2006 All-Star Game.

"I've never done it and I'm sure I'll be excited," said Penny, who allowed one unearned run in the Dodgers' 8-2 win over the White Sox. "I'll go out like a regular start, just get outs. You don't get too emotional for a start like that. I don't compare it to the World Series or a playoff."

It's cool that Brad's so pumped for it. After watching Dodger starters fail to make it to the sixth inning in the last three home openers (Weaver in 2005; Lowe in 2006; and Schmidt in 2007), I'm hopeful that this year, I can see a better starting pitcher performance...against the Giants, no less.