1500 Articles and Counting!

You know what they say, time flies when you’re having fun. This is my 1,500th article at Lasorda’s Lair. Hard to believe it, but it has been over four years and counting since Stacie and I took over LL as co-editors. It’s been quite an interesting and indelible journey along the way.

We started over at our old blog (Dodger Blue Forever) in late 2009. Originally it was just a way for my sister and I to record our thoughts about the Dodgers on paper, or the internet, so to speak. We both read various Dodger blogs regularly at the time. There weren’t many back in those days. I knew that we both had strong opinions about the Dodgers and a passion to share our Dodger fandom with the world. We both had something to say. We just needed an outlet. We had no intentions of making it big at that time. We just enjoyed writing and discussing the Dodgers with like minded fans. Little did we know where this journey would take us.

When we first started writing over here in October of 2011, the Dodgers were still owned by Frank McCourt. Joe Torre had just retired, and Don Mattingly had been at the helm for his first season. Dodger Stadium had yet to be renovated, the Diamond Vision still existed. Not to mention the Dodger lineup looked vastly different from today. James Loney was at first base, Rod Barajas (Big Rod) was behind the plate. Rafael Furcal was the shortstop, albeit out with injury. Jamey Carroll, Juan Rivera, Andre Ethier, and Casey Blake were all still regulars. Matt Kemp had yet to get hurt, Clayton Kershaw was about ready to win his first Cy Young award, and Jonathan Broxton was the closer, and still fat.

Stacie just recently finished her 1000th post. It seems almost fitting that I take a look back for my 1,500th. My debut article here at Lasorda’s Lair was an article about former Dodger left handed reliever Hong-Chih Kuo. I’ve written some doozy’s along the way.

I’ve reviewed the top ten Dodger Bums of all time. I’ve given my review of the top ten Dodger Stadium moments of all time. The top ten Tommy lasorda Moments of all time were a hoot to recount.

There have been ups and downs along the way as well. Time here has been filled with happy and dark moments. Watching the Dodgers win consecutive NL West division titles were definitely happier moments. However watching the Dodgers eliminated in the postseason in consecutive years by those damn Cardinals was heartbreaking. Watching our hated rival Giants win three championships was nauseating as well.

Sep 24, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Andre Ethier (16) celebrates after defeating the San Francisco Giants 9-1 to clinch the NL West Division Championship at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

We’ve been linked at the LA Times, ESPN, MLB Trade Rumors, Dodger Thoughts, and various other online publications. We’ve been granted media credentials, and been able to sit in the Vin Scully Press Box during games. That allowed me to finally meet Mr. Scully meet mr. Scully. We’ve been allowed go all over the stadium, into the clubhouse, behind the scenes, and have met the players. We even met met Ned Colletti during blogger night. Eventually Ned and Kenny became good friends. With Ned dropping by the Lair on several occasions. We’ve built strong followings on twitter, and facebook.

There have been frustrations, twitter profanities, twitter fights, online arguments, and many Dodger events. I’ve pissed off a lot of Cardinal fans, Stacie has pissed off Giants fans as well, and we’ll probably keep pissing them off. Stacie met Orel Hershiser at the Australia opening series viewing party in El Segundo, while I met my favorite Dodger several months later in the Dodger Dugout.

Perhaps the worst moment over here was when we lost former senior writer Kenny Shulsen to illness. Not a day goes by that we don’t think about him. It still is difficult to go on without him, but we know Kenny would have wanted us to keep writing. We passed on to the next generation with the wonderful addition to our staff of current senior writer Adrian Garcia. Of course nobody could ever fill Kenny’s shoes. We miss him every day.

The best part of all of this has been being able to write alongside my big sister. When growing up together we had nothing but each other and our love for the Dodgers. We don’t just love the Dodgers because they are our team, we also have a deep family connection to the Boys in Blue. Our grandfather was a huge Dodger fan, following the club from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Our Uncle Mark attended two of Sandy Koufax’s no-hitters, including his perfect game against the Cubs in 1965. He then took us to hundreds of games growing up, instilling his Dodger pride onto us at an early age. We were born into blue.

Our dream still lies ahead though. Stacie and I have the dream of watching our beloved Dodgers win a World Series championship along with all of you. Even if the Dodgers don’t win it all this year, that’s ok too. It’s not about the goal, but more about the journey to get there.

However the one constant throughout all of this, has been all of you. You guys have been with us since the beginning. All of you have been with us through thick and thin. From the bottom of my Dodger Blue heart, I thank you.

Pitchers and catchers report on Wednesday. So here’s to another 1,500 and beyond! Another exciting season of Dodger Baseball is upon us. We’ll take another six month journey together again. I can’t wait.