Coliseum Picture Wrap-Up

Thanks to everyone for sending in their pictures from last weekend's historic Coliseum game. Historic, you say? That's right, say the Dodgers:

The Los Angeles Dodgers can now lay claim to setting the Guinness World Record for the "Largest Attendance At A Baseball Game." Saturday’s crowd of 115,300 for the charity fundraiser with the Boston Red Sox at the famed Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum toppled a Guinness World Record that had stood for more than 50 years.

Guinness World Records officially confirmed the number [Monday], which breaks the previous mark of 114,000 fans, set in December 1956, during a baseball game between Australia and an American Services team for the Olympic Games in Melbourne, New South Wales, Australia.

On to the pictures! Here's a shot of the press box, courtesy of Ernie Silva:

Mike Kanaly was kind enough to send in a boatload of pictures and a first-person account of the festivities. Some highlights:

One funny thing that happened: Kareem threw out the first pitch, and the ball fell about 10 feet short of the plate, and rolled to the catcher. Everyone boo'd. He then grabbed another ball, and "SKYHOOKED" it to the catcher.

Really comical.

Also, usually i'm not a fan of the Wave at games either, but that was the craziest thing i've ever seen. The vertical height of the wave coming at you was really out of this world. The players in both dugouts started doing it too. Really cool.

And congrats on those sweet autographs, Mike! Here are some of Mike's snaps, starting with one of the Dodgers' 1981 and 1988 championship trophies:

Pre-game:

The Goodyear blimp:

Getting closer...:

Memorial flyover for Brent Lovrien, the firefighter killed in last week's Westchester explosion, and Anthony J. Guzman, injured in the same blast:

Game on:

Thanks, Ernie and Mike! Excellent stuff!

Coliseum Exhibition Game, from Left-Center Field

Oh, what a night; Frankie Valli would be pleased. Left-centerfield looks amazingly short from this angle.

Thanks to the fan who sent in this shot, from SoSG!

Dodgers Win Red Sox Series, Yet Most Fans Paid to See Them Lose This Weekend

DODGERS 8, RED SOX 0

Dodgers' Spring Training record: 11-18-4

Only in L.A. Does This Make Perfect Sense

Former Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is flanked by actress Pamela Anderson and actor Billy Crystal as they watch the Red Sox and Dodgers' exhibition game at the Coliseum in Los Angeles Saturday.

AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian

Dodgers Lose Coliseum Slugfest

"It is a meaningless game that is so full of meaning." —Vin Scully

RED SOX 7, DODGERS 4

Dodgers' Spring Training record: 10-18-4

Bills Rebounds in Win Over Red Sox

DODGERS 3, RED SOX 1

Dodgers' Spring Training record: 10-17-4

SoSG Needs Your Help for the Coliseum Game

Talk about stars aligning. The staff of SoSG has a horrible problem in which all of us, for different reasons, will be out of town or taking vacation on March 29, so none of us will be able to attend the Dodgers / Red Sox game at the Coliseum on Saturday.

One of us will be on the east coast. One will be in the midwest. One will be at the Phoenix Regional cheering on UCLA. One has a wedding. One has a bar mitzvah. One will be recovering from an emergency appendectomy (and he doesn't even know it yet, which is going to be quite a hoot!). And the final Son is too addicted to Guitar Hero III to leave the house (much to his mother's dismay, as she'd like her basement back).

So here's where we need your help. Please, please send us your pictures of the event and we'll post what we can, with our usual snarky commentary. If you want to send your take on the event as well, we'd appreciate it and might even publish a quote or two. Everything submitted might be published on the blog. Just follow the link on the sidebar, under "Email us".

Thanks, o' faithful SoSG reader, we appreciate it. And hve a great time at the game; we wish we were there with you...

Coliseum Exhibition Game to Set New Dodger Parking Price Records

According to the Dodgers' own press release, parking around the Coliseum around the USC campus will cost $25, a $10 increase over Dodger Stadium parking prices last year.

Parking on the USC Campus will be available at five gates. Lots open at 8 a.m. with each slot costing $25.

• Gate 1 – Enter at Exposition Blvd. and Watt Way (just East of Menlo Blvd. on north side of Exposition Blvd.)
• Gate 3 – Enter at Figueroa Blvd. and McCarthy Blvd. (across from Radisson Hotel on west side of Figueroa Blvd.)
• Gate 4 – Enter at Jefferson and Royal (immediately East of Hoover on south side of Jefferson)
• Gate 5 – Enter at Jefferson and McClintok (just East of Vermont on the south side of Jefferson Blvd.)
• Gate 6 – Enter at Vermont and 36th Street (across the street from Togos on the east side of Vermont)

Hopefully Frank doesn't get any more parking-rate-increase ideas for the regular season.

To be fair, the Dodgers are also offering free parking at Dodger Stadium and a complimentary shuttle service before and after the game (reservations recommended at (323) 224-1507).

And, they even suggest some public transportation ideas via Metro. Hmm, what a novel idea, public transportation options!

Dodgers' Tie-rrible Spring Training Continues

DODGERS 2, ANGELS 2

Dodgers' Spring Training record: 9-17-4

Juan Pierre Not Protected In The Lineup

At least, that's what I can glean from reading this New York Times piece, the eleven-thousandth article on the Dodgers' exhibition game vs. the Red Sox in the Coliseum. (That's right, the Red Sox. The RED SOX. The more we say it, the more great Charlie Chowda ads we get!!!)

But back to Pierre. Shades of Adrian Beltre, Juan is playing without a cup:

The Dodgers are celebrating the 50th anniversary of their move to Los Angeles by crashing for a night at the Ping-Pong parlor that put them up for their first four seasons. Some 92,000 fans will fill the gargantuan seating bowl; another 20,000 or more will pay simply to stand and mill and gawk. The players will enter majestically in uniform through the fabled stone arches beyond right-center field, see the Little League left-field line and be overcome with ... um, emotion?

“This is what they’re going to see,” Charles Steinberg, the Dodgers’ executive vice president for marketing and public relations, said last weekend as he surveyed the ridiculously tall net in left and the misshapen field’s other goofiness. “They’re going to walk in and be like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ”

Juan Pierre thought someone was. Pierre, the Dodgers’ probable left fielder (rather, deep shortstop), said he did not believe the dimensions when he was told of them a few weeks ago. He gradually feared for his safety.

“I’ll be like 180 feet from the hitters, and those Boston guys hit the ball pretty hard,” Pierre said. “I might have to wear a cup.”

Maybe Boston will field an all-right-handed lineup?

Kershaw Dazzles Again, Dodgers Tie Again

DODGERS 3, BREWERS 3

Dodgers' Spring Training record: 9-17-3

Ethier Still on Fire but Dodgers Lose Again

ROYALS 10, DODGERS 9

Dodgers' Spring Training record: 9-17-2

Coliseum Exhibition Game Promises Moon, Stars

A week-long celebration surrounding the Dodgers' exhibition game against the Red Sox at the Los Angeles Coliseum is highlighting a number of famous Dodger legends, including Wally Moon, Duke Snider, and Don Newcombe, among others. Moon, for one, is especially stoked:

And Moon, the left-handed hitter who became a celebrity in a tinsel town of celebrities for his knack of turning the Coliseum's cozy left-field porch into an opposite-field ally, may even take a crack at launching another of his signature Moon Shots.

"Some lady with the Dodgers called to ask what size I wear now, so I guess they're gonna get me a uniform," Moon said. "I don't mind taking a shot at it. ... I just wouldn't run around the bases after I hit it."

Moon is 77. He is a baby among the Coliseum-era Dodgers who will be the centerpieces of a remarkable weekend-long celebration organized by the club, which informally kicked off Monday with a series of conference calls with these resonant echoes out of the past.

The full list of Dodger legends can be found at the link above. This game is turning out to be quite the event--charity fundraiser, defending World Champion involved, and possible attendance record...what an evening!

Chadley Still Shaky as Dodgers Lose to Rockies

ROCKIES 8, DODGERS 2

Dodgers' Spring Training record: 9-16-2

Lowe Sharp in Loss to Angels

ANGELS 4, DODGERS 2

Dodgers' Spring Training record: 9-15-2

Park Finally Touched, Andruw Homers in Loss

DIAMONDBACKS 9, DODGERS 8

Dodgers' Spring Training record: 9-14-2

Kemp, Furcal Homer; Penny Strong

DODGERS 8, WHITE SOX 2

Dodgers' Spring Training record: 9-13-2

Kershaw Gets 3-Inning Save, Ends 7-11 Gag Streak

DODGERS 2, MARLINS 1

Dodgers' Spring Training record: 8-13-2

Syrupy? Sure. But Still Kinda Cool

earlier: Why One Shouldn't Read The Last Paragraphs First, Dodgertown's Final Days Brings Tears, Syrupy Journalism

photo by Sam Wolfe/AP

Ethier Continues Torrid Spring Pace

ASTROS 12, DODGERS 10

Dodgers' Spring Training record: 7-13-2