THE DODGERS & WHY

I really enjoy the BYB posts introducing the staff writers who contribute to the site each week.  It’s yet another great way Casey has illustrated how Bleeding Yankee Blue is really a team in every sense of the word.  From the Skipper on down to this reformed Irish hoodlum, BYB has baseball, heart and a real sense of community and family.

Recently you were introduced to staff writer Alexis Garcia, read MEET THE BYB FAMILY: INTERVIEW WITH ALEXIS GARCIA for that.  One of the questions posed to the Los Angeles native and University of Texas alum (By the way a couple trips to the Series during her time there.  Impressive to say the least.) was how could she convince me to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a chance.

Here's that exchange:

BYB: Mike O'Hara, a fellow BYB writer hates the Dodgers.  Can you convince him to give them a shot?

Alexis Garcia: Mike, I would say hating the Dodgers is about 95% of being a Dodgers fan!  Some of my best memories of going to games was jeering that bum Kevin Brown while stuffing Dodger dogs in my face. We have the money, we have the talent, we have the best weather in the country, and yet we still manage to choke in the off-season. We develop some of the best talent in the league only to trade it away for players past their prime.  It is this frustration of constant under-performance that unites all of us Dodgers fans! Also, we have Vin Scully.

It’s been fairly well documented that I am in no way, shape or form a Dodger fan.  I have said, and will go on saying, that I’d rather hear the cheers on Yawkey Way and all over Bean Town than to see them happy at Chavez Ravine.  Crazy?  Not to me.  It’s a long story, but I will explain so that you can understand why I “dislike” the Dodgers so much…I swear it’s not just an East Coast vs. West Coast thing.

First of all, the Dodgers hurt my feelings.  That sounds childish, doesn’t it?  Well, that stands to reason.  I was merely a small child when the club that left Brooklyn beat my Yankees in the World Series.  I sat on the floor of my folks’ bedroom and cried.

The Yankees weren’t a baseball team to me, they were superheroes.  They couldn’t lose…could they?  How did Reggie let me down?  Who was this Penguin guy?

And could someone please get Lasorda off my TV screen ASAP! I carried that anger with me for years.  It kind of subsided during time in grade school.  I started to resent the Mets more…actually I resented my friends who jumped ship and started wearing Strawberry jerseys because the Yanks weren’t exactly the toast of the town any longer.  I also NEVER allowed them to live it down when they wanted to come back to the Bronx in the mid 1990s.

Now, you’d think that I’d forget why I disliked LA so much over time, but as my Grandfather would say, “Only 2 creatures walking this planet that never forget.  An elephant and an Irishman.” He was 100% correct.  My feelings for the Dodgers were just hibernating.  They would wake with vigor after I graduated college.

I’m an actor.  I moved to Los Angeles, as so many in “The Biz” do, with my game face on.  LA does have great weather.  It is a trip to go to the market and notice that you are in the checkout line behind Jennifer Aniston, and it’s as if she is just any other person…though incredibly beautiful and pretty nice to boot.

She was very friendly when I placed the rubber divider on the conveyor belt so that her rice cakes and humus didn’t get mixed in with my Guinness, cold cuts, Guldens Mustard and Beefsteak Rye bread.  Los Angeles is pretty much as you’d expect to be honest.  The people are sort of different.  They march to the beat of their own drum.  I met a lot of great folks out there.  When I got work it was a great time, but it also is a lonely town.  Now that shouldn’t reflect on the Dodgers…but I allowed it to.  That is not fair and I know it now.

I went to see my first Dodger game the weekend I moved out West.  The Boys in Blue hosted the Pirates.  I got to see that the Ravine is a great ballpark.  It was before so of the recent renovations.  The bullpens are still the worst in the league, but there aren’t any bad seats.  You can get a great look at the game no matter where you sit.

Dodger Dogs?  That is an ENTIRELY separate chapter in this story.  My conclusion is LA fans KNOW that the Farmer John product is awful, but refuse to give in to that knowledge.  LA does have a “little brother” complex about New York’s hot dog and Pizza Empire.  FACT.  Here’s a hint Dodger Concession Director.  Have Pink’s supply the dogs.  They ain’t Nathan’s, but it’d be a step in the right direction.

The pebble that began the avalanche of the return of my DODGER DISLIKE was the fans…there were so few 'actual' fans.  I won’t say that there aren’t true blue Dodger fans.  There are.  They are knowledgeable, invested and all and all pretty friendly.  The problem is they are outnumbered in a big way in their own ballpark.  Fact. Often it’s by fans of the visiting club.  The Mets, Cubs, Sox, Yanks, Phils and Giants all have transplants in the City of Angels and they show up.  There is also the “To Be Seen” crowd.  They don’t care who is playing; they just want to be at the party.  You know the type.  Every club has them, but LA REALLY has them.  They show up in the 4th and leave in the 7th.  They play with the beach balls.

They are on their cellphones.  They have dinner reservations at Beso.  They think Mike Piazza is still behind the plate.  They quote “Naked Gun”…a lot! “Enrico Palazzo! He saved the queen!”  Yep, that’s a good one. It’s almost as if MLB should talk to the NFL and ask, “Hey, why don’t you guys have a franchise here?” Fair? I don’t know.  But it is what it is.

The last factor in my less than favorable feelings toward all things Dodgers is the “Tough Guy” factor.  I saw it every time I went to the stadium and I went a good deal.  There are those at the game who are just looking for a problem.  It’s not about baseball, although they will be decked out in Dodger Blue.  It’s about starting trouble in the stands or in the parking lot.  The Dodgers have been absolutely horrendous addressing this issue.

The Bryan Stow incident just shed a bit of light on what happens more often than not at Chavez Ravine.  I got to see it first hand at an inter-league match up years ago.  I was at the game with some friends from back East.  We saw the Yanks take it on the chin and made our way to the car.  Almost instantly we hear the jeers.  Hey, that’s what you get.  I completely understand that.  We do it in the Bronx.  But these jeers got personal fast.  Them they got increasingly angry.  My one buddy is a bit of a hothead and I could tell he wasn’t going to stay quiet too long.  We found ourselves in outside and noticed that a handful of these Dodger fans had followed us spewing their over the top jabs the whole way.  Now two of my friends were US Marines at the time, and in this particular staring contest the other side blinked first.  We were lucky.  The situation didn’t become a problem…but it could have.

Who needs that garbage?  If you want to find a fight go to a roadhouse bar and knock yourself out.  It’s a baseball game.  We go to have a good time and watch the American Pastime.  Period.  Yeah, there is some good-natured ribbing and no one wants to see his or her teams lose, but it’s not a turf war.  It’s not and should never be personal.  The sad fact is that in almost every trip I made to Dodger Stadium, I saw all of the above.  It has made me close the book on the Los Angeles club.  I don’t like them.  I won’t ever like them.

I want Donnie back.  I love Vin Scully and respect the actual Dodger fan that suffers through the nonsense I saw.  They can’t be happy with that stuff.  I don’t like “I Love LA”.  I don’t consider LA a sports town.  The Lakers stink now…where is everybody?  And again, this is not an East Coast, West Coast thing.  I’ve been to the Bay Area.  I’ve seen games in the Great Northwest.  I’ve loved every single trip to San Diego.

The Anaheim Angeles of Los Angeles, near the 5, close to Disney, South of Knott’s Berry, down the street from that strip mall…no, the other strip mall. They are not my favorite either... I don't care for the Rally Monkeys and Thunder Sticks... trust me. But it wasn’t nearly as bad at LA.

The truth is I’ve liked some Dodger players in my lifetime.  Gibby, Butler, The Bulldog and Piazza were guys I enjoyed seeing play.  No, it’s more about that first team to hurt my feelings.  It’s about the Hollywood fans and the tough guys.  They aren’t what baseball is about and any chance that I’d give the Dodgers a chance rolled away with the credits.  Sorry, Alexis. It’s just one guy’s opinion.

Go Yankees!

** One of my Favorite Bands – Please note I do NOT want anything bad to happen to anyone in Los Angeles.  I love my friends there.   This song just has Los Angeles in the title I like Bad Religion a lot. **




  

 
--Mike O'Hara
Senior "Features" Writer
Twitter: @mikeyoh21







 
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MEET THE BYB FAMILY: INTERVIEW WITH ALEXIS GARCIA

We continue our MEET THE FAMILY Series today with another one of my favorite writers, Alexis Garcia.

Alexis started writing for Bleeding Yankee Blue last year, and while her schedule is busy, she always finds a way to deliver something great.  Alexis handles the MLB beat focusing more on MLB as a whole rather than just the Yankees.  That's because ultimately, she's a Dodgers fan.  But Alexis and I are friends, and she's a dynamic writer and so, I wanted her to write for us.

So, without any more hesitation, I bring you my interview with Alexis.  I hope all you readers enjoy this, and be sure to read our other interviews with the BYB crew as well:

• Meet Erica
• Meet Ike
• Meet Jeana
• Meet O'Hara
• Meet Steve
• Meet Suzie

Now, I want you to meet Alexis:

BYB: Alexis, I know you for a long time. Why are you so passionate about baseball?

Alexis Garcia: I think Tom Hanks said it best in A League of Their Own—"If baseball was easy, everyone would do it."  It's the 'hard' that makes it great. I love that it teaches you failure and perseverance. The game also teaches you to be present and that is a skill that carries on through life. As a spectator, it's also a great excuse for day drinking. 

BYB: You played ball yourself. A lot of people don't know that. Tell the BYB audience about your upbringing and where you played.

Alexis Garcia: It all started when I was six years old and my mom accidentally signed me up for Little League instead of Bobbi Sox and I ended up being the only girl on the All-Star team.  After a couple years in rec leagues, I made the jump to travel ball and softball became my life for the next 16 years.  I eventually got a scholarship to play at the University of Texas where we made it to the World Series a couple times. Not bad for starting out as the only girl!

(In Photo: Brett Butler)
BYB: What players did you admire growing up and why?

Alexis Garcia: My favorite players growing up were Brett Butler and Mark Grace. I loved their quiet leadership and their mastery of their respective positions. They weren't the flashiest guys on the field, but they consistently produced and were good ball players.

BYB: Tell the BYB audience about your love for the Dodgers. When did it start for you?

Alexis Garcia: I was born and raised in Los Angeles so it was never really a question—going to games and watching the players was just something my family did together. My first real memory of the Dodgers was Kirk Gibson hitting his famous home run in the 1988 World Series—it was the stuff of legend.  It was also great growing up and having five consecutive Rookie of the Year players! And then we traded Pedro Martinez for Delino DeShields.

BYB: Mike O'Hara, a fellow BYB writer hates the Dodgers.  Can you convince him to give them a shot?

Alexis Garcia: Mike, I would say hating the Dodgers is about 95% of being a Dodgers fan!  Some of my best memories of going to games was jeering that bum Kevin Brown while stuffing Dodger dogs in my face. We have the money, we have the talent, we have the best weather in the country, and yet we still manage to choke in the off-season. We develop some of the best talent in the league only to trade it away for players past their prime.  It is this frustration of constant under-performance that unites all of us Dodgers fans! Also, we have Vin Scully.

BYB: How do you feel about Don Mattingly as the Dodgers Manager and remember, you're answering in Yankee terroitory now...

Alexis Garcia: Look, Mattingly is Donnie Baseball and he is a talented player. But sometimes I feel like he has trouble keeping control of the clubhouse. That's because we do have a lot of egos to manage after all.

That being said, I think the new front office has brought a new attitude to the club and with the trade of Matt Kemp in the off-season, I'd like to see how things go this year. The vibe in Spring Training already seems much improved.

BYB: Tell the audience about your passion for writing and how much fun it's been for you to write for BYB.

Alexis Garcia: Writing is very therapeutic for me and it's awesome to get to shut everything else out every once and a while and write about baseball.  I also love the BYB community because they are passionate about the Yankees and really get the human aspect of the game.  Sabremetrics is great, but this sport is more about people than numbers.

BYB: Name 3 players around the American League that you absolutely love watching and why?

Alexis Garcia: One player close to home that I enjoy watching is Mike Trout. It's incredible to see the numbers he puts up and he's pretty grounded.  I also really like Ichiro Suzuki. 

Again, he's a solid player with a lot of hustle. Lastly, I would have to say the entire Oakland A's team. They are like the dirty hipsters of Major League baseball.  I love watching those weirdos!

BYB: When did you first discover BYB?

Alexis Garcia: I moved to New York a couple years ago and my friend helped me discover it.  It was a great way to get updated on the Yankees scene and I love the passion and knowledge of all the staff and fans.

BYB: You've been with us for a year now? How much are you liking this family and how am I doing as the Chief? Am I a true pain in the ass?

Alexis Garcia: It's great to be part of the BYB family and get to talk and read about baseball. It's a community with a lot of heart. And Robert is the BEST EVER! My check is in the mail, right?

How about a BYB Tank Top? Boom.

Alexis, you're the best and thanks for being apart of our family.

Who's next? Wait and see...




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THE YANKEES NEVER QUIT & NEITHER DO YOU

There’s too much reporting stacked against the Yankees. It’s always been that way.  Sports writers are not supposed to be fans, they’re supposed to report, or, be a critic in order to sell newspapers.  That’s their job.  That’s why Pete Caldera is so refreshing, because while he does some of the best Yankee reporting in the business, he leaves a nugget that every Yankee fan can latch on to.  Hence, a simple sentence that I read in his Sunday edition of a piece titled Pettitte: Yanks team to beat in AL East (HERE)… writing “If the Yankees have any advantage over their division foes, it’s a healthy trio of CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda and Pettitte as they head into April.”

Stop and think about that for a second.  We’ve all been so wrapped up in the moves the Yankees DIDN’T make this off season (Suddenly we signed Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay, HERE), and we’ve been so wrapped up in the brainwashing of the NY sports media telling us day in and day out about how "old" our team is, that it will drive anyone to drink. I'm here to tell you that I don’t care about any of those reports.  I want the positive right now and that's why I highlighted Caldera's piece. Look, we are just a few days away from April 1^st… that's Opening day against the Boston Red Sox.  The season is here!  We have CC Monster, Andy and Hiroki… I feel pretty damn good right now knowing that's the top 3 of our rotation. 

Caldera goes on: “It’s the same front three that went to battle last year and ‘We came four games away from going to the World Series,’ said Pettitte, whose hopes aren’t dimmed."

Well, when you put it that way, you can't help but get excited.  It’s true, it was damn close and I am of the belief that when Derek Jeter got hurt, the walls crumbled around us. It was like the balloon deflated.  If he didn’t, I wonder if the result would have been different. We’ll never know, but I do think about it, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. 

But truth be told, we have a good club.  Sure, we have a few older guys, Like Mariano Rivera, like Ichiro, like Vernon Wells, but every team does.  Sometimes the best teams are the teams with a few veterans, and a few youngsters mixed in with the core.  It’s happened for years on many great clubs. 

I often think about our Yankee clubs and think about other teams... like the Dodgers back in 1988 with "old man" bad-knees Kirk Gibson.  Look at the Diamondbacks in 2001 with those "old timers", Mark Grace and Luis Gonzalez. That still stings by the way... but the point is, sometimes veterans who have been there before shine and age really doesn’t matter.  They are there for the big moments. Age becomes irrelevant and experience takes hold.

As it starts to get warmer in New York, I see trees blooming and baseball being played and my Yankees are days away from their run for #28.  And you know what? Reading Caldera… reading Yankees.com, or Bleeding Yankee Blue or the YESNetwork.com, you start the realize that maybe all that negative press around us isn't giving us the full story and that's why we're here. That's why you read the positive stuff on YESNetwork.com, or with Caldera.  Instead of us fans being depressed with those angry, critical editorials, get the full story! We're the Yankees... and we have a great club going into April! I believe that. Think about our team and what we have and sure, there are injuries, but every team has a few.  All you can do is suck it up, strap on the gear and grind it out.  That goes for us fans too.  

Do you think I just put my Posada Jersey in the trash after they lost to the Tigers last year? No.  I wore it bed and the next day, I wore my Yankee cap as I trekked into work.  Because one thing my Yankees aren’t are quitters… and I’m not either… and neither are you. 


In the end, we’re Yankees, be it fans or players… and we push to the limit and never quit… and this year will be no different... I swear.

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TEAM CHEMISTRY: IT'S IN THE GENES

Chemistry- the hard-wired genes of a team, the talent pool, the potential for growth- the camaraderie between players and the glue that holds the team together at its seams.  As ESPN Boston’s Jack MacMullan explained in his article Unlikeable Red Sox Flunked Chemistry, following the Boston Red Sox demise in 2011, “… People say we make too much of the value of good chemistry and camaraderie. They are wrong; it matters. When things get tough, teams with unified players step up. They rely on guys who believe in leadership and accountability — and each other — to turn things around.”

Many analysts are saying that teams like the Braves, Padres and Diamondbacks, who are being touted as this year’s youngsters, need chemistry to glue together the raw young talent.  Kirk Gibson, a young manager, may be the guy to lead the newbies in Arizona.  The Braves are looking for a player who can step in like Chipper Jones has for so many years.  The core of good chemistry is good leadership and clear expectations.

Setting expectations for a team is essential.  Otherwise, if expectations are unvoiced, unrealistic or unmet, you run into problems- many of these unearthed themselves in Boston and could be brewing in New York if egos aren’t managed properly.  Who is going to step up this year for the Yankees?  We have our veterans like Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter back, but I think it’s time for Robinson Cano to show his leadership skills and take on a deeper role in the Yankee clubhouse. 

Oakland was never expected to win last year, but the gritty team came a long way.  No big stars, no big deal.  “The 51-year-old (Bob) Melvin, a former big league catcher who grew up in Menlo Park and played at Cal, took over from the fired Bob Geren in June 2011. Melvin led the Diamondbacks to the NL West title in 2007 and also won 93 games in his rookie season with Seattle in 2003.”  (Read HERE.)

Melvin just got a contract to extension to 2016 and Oakland may have the right mix this season between frugally careful general manager Billy Beane, “modern day” manager Bob Melvin, and a young raw team that fits way under the salary cap at $59.5 million. 

But does good chemistry stem from good management and a thrifty payroll? Not exactly.  Of course we need the guys in the jerseys to mesh.  And that means, like I said before, we need people to step up, player to player and empower, motivate, and excite not just the team, but the fans too.  We want to see happy players, who are enthusiastic, who run with passion, who laugh and smile, who are edgy and fired up and who never give up.  Good character is at the route of good chemistry.  “Although the assembled talent was at first glance glittering, when the late-season malaise kicked in and it was time to roll up their Brooks Brothers sleeves and wade into the muck of an everyday slump, far too many of the big-name players turned up their noses and balked,” said MacMullen about the 2011 Sox.  He could have been saying the same thing about the 2012 Yankees at the end of last season.

So, how do we know we have the right formula this Spring to win this Fall? Will newly signed Dan Johnson mesh with Kevin Youkilis?  Will Youkilis mesh with Jeter?  Is there really beef between Joba and Youk?  Our guys need time to build new relationships and renew old ones.  And we need to give them their time and so does the media!

This is our team, like it or not, so let’s hope that they ace chemistry and not flunk it.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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CRITIQUING PASSION VS. BAD SPORTSMANSHIP

I was on Twitter over the weekend and one of the guys on there mentioned to me that ESPN’s commentators suggested that they wouldn’t be surprised if Nick Swisher got plunked the next time he came to the plate. It apparently came up in Baseball Tonight by John Kruk HERE., after all the game was televised on FOX. Now I didn’t hear it, I didn’t see it but it didn’t surprise me that it was true, and that it was John Kruk. Why would he say that? Because Nick Swisher helped bring his Yankees all the way back from a 9-0 hole to take a lead 12-9 on Saturday and he pounded his chest…not as a signal of bad sportsmanship, but as a sense of accomplishment and passion.  When I read that Tweet of what the ESPN commentators may had said, I realized they just didn’t get it and I'm surprised at Kruk, but you know what? Shame on ESPN… they’ve been in the tank for the Red Sox forever, it’s the YES network of the Red Sox, but they just incorporate other sports as well just to make it seem like they’re on the level…that’s how I feel anyway.

But back to my point... I’ll never cut down a player for achieving a goal like coming back from a 9-0 hole…EVER and that goes for any player at any time.  The Sox swept the Yankees in 4 straight games in 2004. Sure, as a Yankees fan it stung like hell, it still does, but I would expect chest pounding by the Sox. I didn’t stick around to see if that happened, I turned the TV off when I knew the Yankees had officially lost.

Now there are some things that annoy the crap out of me. For instance, if you crank out a homer to bring your team into the lead and your pointing at the pitcher as you circle the bases. You do that and you’re getting plunked, and you deserve it… no doubt about it. That’s bad sportsmanship and not only that…at that point, you’re just being a dickhead.

The difference between that example and say Kirk Gibson’s historic homer in 1988 is simple; Gibson didn’t shout at the pitcher, or point, he kept it isolated, revving his engine or fist pumping around the bases for a huge moment in baseball…a moment he knew we’d be talking about all these years later.  He knew it was big. Pointing at the pitcher, or standing in the batter’s box after a towering shot...that's ego, it’s arrogant and in my opinion, you deserve anything coming to you after that. It’s just how I feel.

It goes all the way back to Little League.  This past weekend a kid on our team yelled at another kid, “You’re out! You’re out! You’re out!” I said “You never do that to the other team…ever! If you do, you’re not playing.”  The competition starts early, you need to nip it in the bud or it unravels to moments like pointing at the pitcher or mocking them in the batter’s box. That’s not only bad sportsmanship, it’s foolish.

So yeah, a fist pump or a chest pounded when warranted… I’m on board with that. Getting excited because you just got your team a win on a walk off…I’m with you. But standing there in the box while you launch one into the seats in the first inning of a baseball game? Arrogant much?  I expect you to take the next pitch on the chin in your next at bat and believe me... you shouldn’t be surprised… that’s my take.

But make no doubt about it, John Kruk has it wrong...but why should he have it right...he now works for ESPN.

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