It's Time for...Josh Rawitch to Collect His Reward

Damn you, Derrick Hall. We should have known when Hall left the Dodgers in 2004 for greener pastures in Arizona, he was going to leave a trail of breadcrumbs from Los Angeles to Phoenix for his favorite employees. The Snakes' gain is Dodger bloggers' loss, yet it's hard not to feel anything but gratitude and warmth for Josh Rawitch.

Rawitch is a super-nice guy, but that he survived multiple Dodger regimes is also a testament to his canniness. He didn't create Blogger Night to wow us (although that happened too). He used it as an opportunity to introduce us to the Rawitch Fairness Doctrine. Write what you want; I know I can't change that, he said. But at least consider the team's point of view.

Then came his ballsiest move, at least in the social media arena: giving bloggers media credentials. Rawitch trusted us not to make (complete) asses of ourselves in the Vin Scully Press Box, and gambled that access to the team would give us a perspective beyond our myopic fandom. It worked, at least for me: observing players before and after games, interacting with journalists, treating Dodger Stadium as a workplace instead of a playground.

So enjoy the desert, Josh, and be thankful, Diamondbacks bloggers. Who knows if the Dodgers' new VP of Communications will change things up, but I'm grateful I was a Dodger blogger during Rawitch's tenure. For me, being a blogger is being a fan, and I'm a little more of both thanks to Josh Rawitch.

SoSG as Dodgers Media: The Experience, In Photos (Part 2)

Continuing from Part 1, here's more photos from the August 29, 2011 Dodgers victory over the Padres, which I covered as Sons of Steve Garvey media:  

 

This is far as I got into the Padres' dugout.  I probably could have gone right in, but I didn't for some reason.  Maybe next time.  

 

That said, it was close then these two, who were sitting behind home plate.  

 

Remember how Busch Stadium had that nice brick and the bas-relief Cardinal behind home plate?  Yeah, ours (which hawks Fleece Blanket Night, performance tires, and an Asian tourist destination) leaves a little bit to be desired.  

 

The previously unoccupied Owners' Box (see Part 1) now has gifts. What a waste of spend.  

 

While Jon Chapper and Joe Jareck hang out in the dugout, the crowds start filing in.  

 

Here's Don Mattingly signing autographs from the dugout.  This crowd is relatively benign relative to the hordes on the other side of the dugout.  

 

Mattingly was very patient.  

 

The Padres were shooting Blanks that evening.  Imagine that.  

 

Here's some more iconic heritage photography from the hallways behind the dugout, en route to the clubhouse.  

 

Turn the corner, and here's where the Dodgers store the groundskeepers' rakes.  

 

This heritage shot of Jackie Robinson always brings me chills.  

 

In the concourse hallway leading from the spine of the stadium to Dodgers' clubhouse, they have all the retired numbers' jerseys under glass.  

 

Here's the mid-digit ones.    

 

And the high-digit ones.  

 

Close up on Jackie Robinson's jersey.  

 

And here's a spot to which the current Dodgers can aspire.  

 

Proof that I did not break my streak of 7,542 consecutive games attended having had at least one beer.  

 

On my way back up to the press box, I popped back out at field level to spy the view from the common peoples' seats (at least, the wealthy common people).  

 

Here's Howard Levine, long-time Dodger Stadium usher, who sang the national anthem and God Bless America the prior night.  Personally, his Las Vegas act-styled routine was a tad bit excessive for my tastes, but at least he hit the notes well.  

 

This night, the national anthem singer was slightly prettier than Howard Levine.  

 

Here's another shot of the anthem singer, from the press box.  

 

Finally, It's time for Dodger Baseball.  Man, when one gets there early for the press events, it takes a long time for that Time to arrive!  

 

More Jackie Robinson, from the press dining room at the back of the Vin Scully Press Box.  

 

And more Jackie.  

 

Multiple Valenzuela sightings!  

 

Around the seventh inning, the free Dodger Dogs get there.  Free Dodger Dogs.  Three words which are just magic.  You can also see my set up: MacBook blogging, iPad on MLB Gameday, media guide at my side.  Oh, and the Dodger Dog.  

 

Post-game, right after the lights in the stadium went out.  It was almost eerie seeing the place so un-electric.  But I suppose I should ahve been accustomed to this scene after this year's sorry attendance levels.  

 

Joe Block and Josh Suchon, not too busy to smile.  NOW Suchon smiles, at least.  

 

I passed on the coagulated nacho cheese, but did help myself to a couple of spare Dodger Dogs.  

 

The view down the Club Level corridor: empty.  

 

And, my last shot of the club level corridor, with the Dodgers' history exhibit up.  This was my last shot of the evening.  

Again, thanks to Josh Rawitch and his staff for a great time covering the game. I'm crossing my fingers that there will be more of these opportunities next year!

SoSG As Dodgers Media: The Experience, In Photos (Part 1)

Back on August 29, I was lucky enough to occupy the Blog Spot covering the Dodgers-Padres game as Dodgers media (the Dodgers won, 4-1). In the news of Josh Rawitch's departure to the Diamondbacks at season's end, the opportunity to cover a game from the Vin Scully Press box has become all that more cherished; I'm not sure if future PR administrations will continue to invest in blogger relations like Rawitch did.

But before I forget all the memories, here are some of the photos of the experience:

The media entrance, up on the top deck. They make the journalists park in the hinterlands, which is probably why so many journalists are in such great shape.

Batting practice, in the early afternoon stages.

Nancy Bea Hefley and her organ sit at the far end of the press box, up the first base line. Here's the legendary organist's spot before she arrived.

Dodgers doing calisthenics up the third base line.

The obligatory Sons of Steve Garvey from the "Vin Scully Press Box" shot. At this stage, someone else was occupying my blog spot, but I didn't have the heart to kick that guy out. Just yet, that is.

The next thing I did was get down into the dugout, as Mattingly had started his pre-game media session already. Amy Summers of the Dodgers' PR was kind enough to escort me down into the clubhouse through the tunnels.

Walking down into the dugout, the walls are adorned with inspiring shots of the Dodgers' heritage.

Here's Mattingly, with Josh Suchon on his left (looking a bit like a nightclub bodyguard, I might add), and that's Dylan Hernandez on his right.

Not that this is the Ken Levine Fan Club or anything, but that's Levine in front in the striped shirt. KEN LEVINE!

Levine turns away (cries).

There were a couple of groups and parties down on the field pre-game; sponsors, and people who had won contests, and stuff. Here's Justin Sellers, interfacing with a young kid.

All of these field-access VIPs were taking pictures from outside the dugout. But I was IN THE DUGOUT! Yeeeeeaaaaaaah!

This was ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne, chatting up Justin Sellers' father, Jeff (also a big-league player). I didn't want to interrupt Shelburne but I did get a wonderful conversation with Jeff Sellers later; he was really nice.

J.A. Adande was hosting a USC Journalism School group and he got Tony Gwynn Jr. to come over and shoot the bull.

More Gwynn and Adande.

The Owners' Box, empty. How fitting.

Steve Lyons brought his father along to the game. Here he is thanking Amy Summers for helping set him up with seats.

"Thanks, Amy!"

I saw Ken Gurnick (in red) walk over and talk to these sartorially excessive dudes. Turns out they were from CAA, and I think one of the guys might have been Andre Ethier's agent and/or James Loney's agent (plus some well-dressed CAA underlings), since both Ethier and Loney came over to talk with the Zegna-shirted crew. I didn't hear much of the conversation but I imagine they were discussing the merits of french cuffs and brass collar stays.

"I don't know, man," said Loney, "french-cuffed shirts are hard to pack in a Ghurka carryon."

0-for-30 smells something like this.

Loads of empty seats! Just kidding, this was before the game. Actually, I thought it was funny how all of the stadium staff was just hanging out pre-game in the shade.

Ethier comes over to debate two- or three-button suits.

"I think I need at least three opinions on my knee, don't you?"

The Padres' Glenn Hoffman, infamous holder-of-Dodgers-runners-at-third0base (while a Dodgers 3B coach, under Jim Tracy), talks with Jeff Sellers. SEND HIM, HOFFY!

Dave Roberts (standing with mlb.com's Ken Gurnick), always a great guy to see. I know his career highlights were with the Red Sox, but I always liked him and rooted for him while he was a Dodger. I got the chance to meet him for a second and he was very polite.

"Dave, let me show you my C-3PO impression."

I'm not going to clog up more of your RAM, so I'll publish Part 2 with more photos from the August 29, 2011 game later.