Furcal Is Ready To Play

This is very encouraging news.

Playing for the first time since hobbling off the field in Colorado three months ago with back and ankle problems, Furcal had four hits, two runs and stole a base in a Dominican winter league game in nearby San Francisco de Macoris.
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"I feel like I'm getting back to my game. Steal a base, bunting, running," he says. "It's tough when you've got a bad injury and you can't even stand up at home plate. I felt so disappointed with myself."

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Story Link: LA Times:

Salt In The Wound

Burning that bridge.

Indian River County Administrator Joe Baird isn’t happy with the schedule. He said he will look into the Dodgers’ plans more closely in the next few days to assure they are living up to their contract. The team will play the 10 home games required by the county, but Baird is concerned by the fact it won’t be a full team for four of those games.
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Vero Beach Mayor Tom White said he’s disappointed, but not surprised by the spring training schedule. He would like to see the Dodgers leave as friends and family and not have a bad breakup with the community, but yet Baird should make sure the team is living lives up to their obligations to local fans.
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“It is obvious they don’t have a commitment to our community, so we are pushing it (to get a date),” Baird said.

“It is like they are putting salt in the wound.”

The Dodgers last game at Dodgertown is schedule for March 17th and pretty much assures that I'll be passing on going to Florida this coming Spring. This sucks.

UPDATE: LA Dodger Talk finds within the LA Daily News a story indicating that this may not be the Dodgers last year at Vero Beach.

Story Link: TCPalm.com:

People Will Come Ray... People Will Most Definitely Come

With all of the hoopla surrounding the Mitchell Report and its' overall meaning to baseball I have just one answer.

People will come, Ray.
The one constant through all the years,
Ray, has been baseball.

America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers.
It's been erased like a blackboard,
rebuilt, and erased again.

But baseball has marked the time.
This field, this game.
It's a part of our past, Ray.

It reminds us of all that once was good...
...and it could be again.

People will come, Ray.
People will most definitely come.

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