Shohei Ohtani was the center of attention at the first two games the Dodgers played in Tokyo.
Tomorrow, the 2025 season of Dodger baseball starts … without me there in person. It’ll be the first Opening Day I have missed in over a decade.
But I’m OK with that. I enjoy watching from the comfort of my couch, and I’ll be there Friday for the World Series Ring Ceremony and a game against the Tigers.
I’m going to try to keep score for all the games. I did it for the Tokyo series, albeit from the recorded replay I watched the following morning. (I tried to stay up until 3:10 a.m., but those days are behind me.)
So tomorrow, when Opening Day kicks off our Repeat Season, we go into the series with a 2-0 record, having swept the Cubs at the Tokyo Dome. A good start on the way to another World Series Championship!
This is a screenshot of my fella and me at the game Tuesday (Sept. 10). We never get on Dodgervision. (I think the cameras can’t reach as high as the top row of the Top Deck.) So this is the closest we get to reveling in our fandom.
I only have five more regular home games to enjoy as a Season Ticket Holder. I’m planning to get the most out of them.
Wednesday (Sept. 11), it was Max Muncy Bobblehead Night, and the third baseman delivered a booming homer in the first inning! It was the 4th round-tripper and the 5th run of that opening frame, and it seemed like the Dodgers had it made. Pitcher Bobby Miller’s sloppiness — giving up 2 runs with 2 outs — in the top of the inning didn’t matter anymore. We were ahead of the Cubs, 5-2, to begin the evening.
Two innings later (third inning and third at-bat), designated hitter Shohei Ohtani singled in 2 more runs. The Dodgers had a 7-3 lead without breaking a sweat.
Unfortunately, the Blue Crew has become somewhat adept at blowing big leads this year. And that’s exactly what happened in the fifth when Miller imploded, serving up a single, a walk and a 3-run homer to former Dodger Cody Bellinger, now Chicago’s right fielder. Reliever Daniel Hudson compounded the problem by walking the first two batters he faced and then dealing a run-scoring single to make it 7-7.
The next three innings, our bullpen made it seem like we actually have a good pitching staff. Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia and Evan Phillips retired 10 batters, with just one little walk by Vesia to spoil the perfect performances. In the meantime, we had scored 3 more runs, capped by center-fielder Tommy Edman‘s 2nd HR of the night (4th in 2 games!), making it 10-7.
Cue the fright-factor! Craig Kimbrel lookalike (not a good thing) Michael Kopech came out to close, accompanied by some god-awful country dirge music (like we’re supposed to think he’s tough and drives a truck because the bass line is so heavy). Kopech proceeds to pitch like Kimbrel, too, walking the first 3 batters to load the bases and bring the go-ahead run to the plate.
OMG! This cannot possibly be happening! Not again!
OK. It didn’t.
After the guy on 3rd comes in on a sac-fly, Dodger catcher Will Smith threw out Seiya Suzuki at 3rd on a double-steal attempt, and then Kopech managed to strike out the final batter, former Dodger Michael Busch.
SIDE NOTE: I prematurely celebrated the enlightenment of the Right Field scoreboard operator. The idiot who doesn’t know that the 4th ball of a walk is not a strike must have been on vacation the past couple of weeks. He (or she) is back with a vengeance! Last night, when Kopech walked the first Cub batting in the 9th inning, the pitch count read, “STRIKES 1 – BALLS 3.” I kid you not! Where is Jim Bouton when you need him?
Piewalla's Dodger Blues 