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LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers came home Tuesday night,
but Don Mattingly didn't need to be inside the walls of Chavez Ravine to know
something felt different.
He could feel it in Arizona, where a sense of anticipation and good feelings
stretched from the stands to the field and back again. A new season means new
hope.
It's that way every spring, but for the Dodgers, there's a deeper meaning. New
owners are going to take control of the club soon, and that's enough to
brighten the day.
"The energy is definitely different," Mattingly, the Dodgers manager,
said. "There's definitely a different vibe going on. You felt it the first
day of spring training — just the fans in the stands, a different thing going
on.
"But at the end of the day, if we don't put up wins, the vibe's not going
to be that great."
The vibe wasn't so good last season. This past winter, the buzz belonged to the
Angels, who handed massive contracts to Albert Pujols and pitcher C.J. Wilson
and made it clear that Angel Stadium is the place to be this summer. In fact,
season tickets have increased by 5,000 since those two were signed.
Frankly, there is no comparing the Angels and Dodgers. On paper, the Angels
have a more imposing lineup top to bottom and a stronger starting rotation.
More than one baseball prognosticator has picked them to march straight into
the World Series.
The Dodgers are a work in progress. But they're off to a good start, at least
as far as their ownership goes. Magic Johnson is the popular front man for a
group that paid $2.15 billion to buy the operation, a figure Mattingly called
"pretty amazing."
Magic wasn't in the house during Monday night's 4-1 Dodgers victory, but that's
understandable. The US Bankruptcy Court won't rule on the proposed sale until
April 13, so until it happens, Magic and team president-in-waiting Stan Kasten
will keep low profiles (although it was rumored Kasten was on the premises).
Meanwhile, the Dodgers and Angels are ambling toward their regular-season
openers, the Dodgers on Thursday in San Diego, the Angels one night later at
home against the Kansas City Royals. Meanwhile, the two LA teams split the
first two games of their three-game exhibition series. The finale is Wednesday
afternoon.
The Dodgers recieved four shutout innings from starter Aaron Harang, Juan
Rivera had three hits and Matt Kemp, after striking out five times in his first
six at-bats of the series, lifted a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning for the
Dodgers' first run.
Angels starter Ervin Santana yielded one run in five innings, but the bullpen
struggled after he departed. Reliever Hisanori Takahashi started the sixth and
surrendered three runs in one-third of an inning before he was pulled.
Bobby Abreu started in left field for the Angels and was 1 for 3, leaving his
spring average at .127. The veteran said he continues to feel an uneasiness
about his role with the team.
"For the last 15 years I knew I would play right field every day," he
said. "This year, I feel like I'm fighting for a job. ... I try to stay
positive. Every time the opportunity comes to play, I try to do my best, no
matter what."
Both teams will trim their rosters to 25 on Wednesday.
