Friar Watch

Padres pitchers have been lights out so far this season but let’s face it, the Giants and Rockies outside of Denver don’t figure to score a lot of runs. This series should be the first real test for the staff. The Dodgers definitely have some guys who can hit and Dodger Stadium is no Petco. One positive is the Padres always hit a lot better on the road so maybe we can get Cameron and Brian Giles going.

Rather than focus on the Padres let’s take a look at what’s going on in Dodger land, courtesy of some excellent Dodger blogs:

Inside the Dodgers: Furcal is going to be activated before tonight’s game. I was hoping we’d miss him but no such luck. Apparently Furcal will lead off, followed by Pierre, Nomar and Kent. Seems kind of odd to me. Is that because he’s a good bunter? Probably doesn’t really make much difference.

Dodger Thoughts: Jon Weisman has a nice article on Jackie Robinson. It seems like the main topic at all the Dodger blogs has been the parking changes at the stadium. I’ve only been to Dodger Stadium a couple of times and the parking seemed fine, certainly better than getting out of Qualcomm after a game. Apparently the changes aren’t sitting well with the fans.

Jon also mentions Luis Gonzalez’ paltrey putout totals. All I can say there is get used to it. At least he makes up for his lack of range with a strong arm…

The inevitable media saturation coverage of Jackie Robinson weekend may lead some people to tune it out or think it’s over hyped. If you start to feel that way, do a little reading on the subject. Being the first African American in the major leagues was not like Halle Berry winning an Oscar, where all the Hollywood phonies were patting themselves on the back over their enlightened wisdom. Jackie Robinson faced hostility, hatred and violence every step of the way and endured it with stoicism and class. The downside to these type of celebrations is it tends to reduce his struggle to a few soundbites and a clip of him stealing home against the Yankees. There’s so much more to the story and Jon’s piece is a good place to start.