2013 Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw got the win for the Dodgers in the first game of the 2014 season, a 3-1 nipper over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Australia. / Photo by Associated Press

Geez, Louise! As if a 1 a.m. start wasn’t bad enough, by the time the weather delay was over, first pitch happened at 2! I made it through the first inning, and then conked out, but I did rouse just in time to watch Scott Van Slyke’s two-run dinger. Nice start to the season, a 3-1 win.

While Van Slyke went 2-3, including aforementioned homer and a double, I was dismayed to learn that most of the other regulars (Uribe, Puig, Ethier, Ramirez and Ellis) had 0-fers, a bad sign for our offense, but I’ll chalk it up to jet lag. New guy Justin Turner, playing second base, got one hit, Adrian Gonzalez slugged a double, and Clayton Kershaw helped his own case with a single.

I valiantly struggled to stay awake long enough to watch Kershaw’s 6⅔ innings, but it was weird watching baseball while the rest of the Valley slept. In the end, it sounds like everything after the two-run fourth inning was a snoozefest anyway, so I’m glad I managed to catch some Zs and didn’t end up a basket case today.

So, that’s one down, 161 to go. Yay! Baseball is back!

Well, there’s much to be excited about, and even more to be disgusted by. Here are the pros and cons of Dodger baseball this season, as I see them:

Pro
Clayton Kershaw is a wondrous pitcher and a good-hearted person who should make every Dodger fan just a little bit prouder.

Con
Brandon League is still on the roster. Someone needs to face the fact that he should no longer be playing the game.

Pro
Vin Scully will once again be the man behind the mic on Dodger TV broadcasts from home games and away games west of the Rockies.

Con
Hardly anyone in L.A. will be able to see those games because of the greediness of Time Warner Cable and the Dodgers’ management.

Pro
Poor people and those in areas that can’t get Time Warner Cable will still be able to listen to the games on the radio.

Con
I’m assuming Charlie Steiner is still calling the plays over the airwaves. One classic that never gets old: “Swing and a miss! That’s one ball and no strikes.”

Pro
The new baseball season starts a little after midnight tonight with a matchup with the hated Arizona Diamondbacks in Australia.

Con
The season opener is in AUSTRALIA! So the first pitch here in the Pacific time zone is at 1 a.m., meaning I’ll be up until 4.

Pro
I caved from my boycott and got season tickets, because there is every reason to believe they will bring it home this year.

Con
I caved from my boycott and am a little ashamed of myself for succumbing to my lifelong love of Dodger baseball and buying season tickets from Mr. Potter (a.k.a. $tan Ka$ten).

Now, now, before I get another call from Dodger middle management telling me what a good guy he is, read this quote from the L.A. Times Business section today: “As for the lack of games on free television hurting financially strapped fans, Kasten said most people now consume television via pay TV. ‘It is just a part of modern business.'” That’s like saying, “Fuck the financially strapped fans.” In other words, “We don’t care about financially strapped fans, because they aren’t going to give us any money anyway.”

All about the moolah with those guys.

Oh, and on this new SportsNet L.A., the Dodgers advertise a link to ineedmydodgers.com, which asks us fans to put the screws to their cable companies so they will bend over and let TWC do anything they want.

This quote from the same L.A. Times article sums up my sentiment about that exactly: “I don’t care if the Dodgers start with a 25-0 record, I’m not going to call DirecTV and ask that they please carry the station,” said George Newberry of San Pedro, who has been following the team since 1958. “I see this as nothing but greed from Time Warner Cable, and the Dodgers are contributing to it.”

OK. So that being said, I am really excited about watching the first game of the 2014 season tonight at a house where I know they have Time Warner Cable. I have to travel for it, but Kershaw is on the mound, so it will be worth it.