Two For The Price Of One

The Dodgers and Fox Sports are doing something very cool today.

If you've ever wondered what a Spanish telecast of a Dodger game would be like, today's your chance to find out. The Dodgers will be presenting their usual English telecast on FS Prime Ticket with Vin Scully, but they will also be presenting their first-ever Spanish telecast over on FS West with Jaime Jarrin, Pepe Yniguez and Fernando.

Imagine, 60 years of Vin Scully on one side, and 51 years of Jaime Jarrin on the other. And for Jarrin, this will be a long overdo affair. This will be his first ever Dodger telecast.

The Spanish-cast will be a simulcast on radio on 930 AM La Ranchera in Los Angeles, with Jarrin doing the first three and last three innings of play-by-play, and Yniguez doing the middle three. Fernando will provide color for the entire simulcast.

Spanish-language graphics and commercials will also be part of the telecast.

Jarrin said he proposed the idea of a Spanish telecast back in the 1980s, but as he pointed out, things were different back then. Broadcasting rights prevented it from ever transpiring back then, but because of the availability of so many channels now through cable, the Dodgers and Fox Sports were able to make it happen this time around.

And if all goes well today, Jarrin says they hope to do this about once a month next season.

Kuroda Nearly Perfect!

One pitch. That was the difference between a perfect game and a one-hitter. What a pitching performance tonight by Hiroki Kuroda. Atlanta's Mark Teixeira broke up Kuroda's perfect game leading off the 8th inning with a double that would turn out to be the only hit Kuroda would allow. With a little help from Blake DeWitt and Angel Berroa defensively, and Nomar Garciaparra's bat, the Dodgers helped Kuroda come close to the perfecto and earn the win that pulled the Dodgers even in the standings at 44-45 atop the NL West with Arizona.

Kuroda was masterful tonight, striking out six in the one-hit, complete-game shutout for the win. He kept the Atlanta hitters off-balanced all night, mixing his pitches very well, and getting some help by the Braves who were consistently swinging at first pitches all night. Final score: Dodgers 3, Braves 0.

I've seen a lot of great pitching performances in my lifetime but this one ranks up there with Nomo's no-no in Coors Field in 1996 and Fernando's no-no in 1990, even though Kuroda fell short of the perfect game. This is the second time this season Kuroda has taken a no-hitter into at least the seventh inning. The other time ended up in a loss in May against the Astros in a game the Astros would score eight runs over the final three innings against the bullpen to complete a three-game sweep of the Dodgers.

Dodgers Get Rosey

I'm sure by now many of you know the Dodgers officially kicked off their 50th season in L.A. with their first ever float in the Rose Parade yesterday. Let me tell you as a fan what a thrill it was to see. Dodger legendaries such as Vin Scully, Tom Lasorda, Fernando, The Garv, Manny Mota, Jaime Jarrin and Wes Parker were all on-board the float, as were several current players: Brad Penny, Nomar, Saito-san (who flew all the way in to L.A. just for the event!) and James Loney, to name a few.

The float itself was pretty cool, all decked out in traditional Dodger colors. In the front of the float was a huge Dodger player swinging a baseball bat donning jersey number 50 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers in L.A. Behind this was a makeshift left field bleacher section with all the greats riding the float and a diamond-vision behind them with an announcement of when Dodger pitchers and catchers are to report to Spring Training. Back in the front of the float, on either side of the float, were four current players riding down near street level facing the crowd waving. It really was a pretty cool event.

The float was preceded by a 350-member L.A. Unified School District Marching Band, with the entire band donning the traditional blue "LA" Dodger caps!

Interesting Notes on Penny & Bonds

Jon Weisman of Baseball Toaster's Dodger Thoughts put together this interesting item on Brad Penny. In a nutshell, he notes that Penny could become the first Dodger since Fernando in 1981 to have a higher batting average than ERA in a season. Penny's ERA crawled up to 2.51 after Thursday nights efforts, but after going 2-for-3 with the bat, his average sky-rocketed to .293. He also notes that Penny, who is a leading candidate for N.L. Cy Young, is also starting to get some recognition for N.L. MVP, and that his total aggregate VORP as a pitcher and a hitter puts him in some pretty solid company among all National League players.

Weisman, who is also a columnist for SI.com, also had this interesting piece today on the Bonds home run chase, and what could happen if he breaks Hank Aaron's all-time career home run mark in L.A. this coming week when the Giants visit the Ravine.

Enjoy!