Dodgers Opening Day: Will.I.Am

Whom do the Los Angeles Dodgers put on the mound for their Home Opener to get things started against the Arizona Diamondbacks?

Well, none other than Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas.

<---- photo: UPI/Phil McCarten

From an article at the La Times by Chris Erskine...

Out on the mound, Will.i.am was throwing out the first pitch, despite a name that annoys virtually everyone. Just imagine that planning meeting in the executive suites.

"So, whom do Dodgers fans want to see throw out the first pitch on opening day?"

"Hey, I wonder if Will.i.am is available."

"Could we possibly get him?"

Somehow they did. And the rest is his.to.ry.

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Erskine continues on...with notes from the home opener...

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Back inside the stadium, Tuesday's mostly well-behaved crowd started out tame and got rowdy over time. I catch up with one customer, the great actor Robert Wuhl ("Bull Durham," "Arli$$") as he heads to his spot in the Dugout Club.

Anyway, I ask Wuhl if he thinks the McCourt divorce has any chance of creating some sort of curse, as with the curse of the Bambino that hung over Boston, or the curse of the billy goat, which I think also involved a divorce, but that was Chicago, where they live a different and more open lifestyle.


Wuhl smiles and says "That's a strong statement," and disappears through guarded doors, into the land of Caesar salads and carved meats.

Fortunately, the Dodgers themselves don't seem to care about such controversy. The bling seems to be back in Manny's swing. Matt Kemp is taking the right routes to fly balls again -- mostly. Casey Blake and Andre Ethier provide the kind of quiet, old school leadership that winning clubs need.


BSOD 4/14/2010: Let's Get it Started
Artist: Black Eyed Peas
Released: 2003

Let's Get it Started Lyrics


Let's Get It Started, in here...

And the base keep runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and
runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and...

In this context, there's no disrespect, so, when I bust my rhyme, you break your necks.
We got five minutes for us to disconnect, from all intellect collect the rhythm effect.
Obstacles are inefficient, follow your intuition, free your inner soul and break away from tradition.
Coz when we beat out, girl it's pullin without. You wouldn't believe how we wow shit out.
Burn it till it's burned out. Turn it till it's turned out. Act up from north, west, east, south.

[Chorus:]
Everybody, everybody, let's get into it.
Get stupid.
Get it started, get it started, get it started.
Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here. Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here.
Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here. Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here.
Yeah.

Lose control, of body and soul.
Don't move too fast, people, just take it slow.
Don't get ahead, just jump into it.
Ya'll here a body, two pieces to it.
Get stutted, get stupid.
You'll want me body people will walk you through it.
Step by step, like you're into new kid.
Inch by inch with the new solution.
Trench men hits, with no delusion.
The feeling's irresistible and that's how we movin'.

[Chorus:]
Everybody, everybody, let's get into it.
Get stupid.
Get it started, get it started, get it started.
Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here. Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here.
Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here. Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here.
Yeah.

Runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and runnin runnin' and...

C'mon y'all, lets get woohoo!
Lets get woohoo! (in here)
Lets get woohoo!
Lets get woohoo! (in here)
Lets get woohoo!
Lets get woohoo! (in here) Ow, ow, ow!
Ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya...

Let's get ill, that's the deal.
At the gate, we'll bring the bud top drill. (Just)
Lose your mind this is the time,
Ya'll test this drill, Just and bang your spine. (Just)
Bob your head like epilepsy, up inside your club or in your Bentley.
Get messy, loud and sick.
Ya'll mount past slow mo in another head trip. (So)
Come then now do not correct it, let's get pregnant let's get hectic.

[Chorus:]
Everybody, everybody, let's get into it.
Get stupid. (Come on)
Get it started (come one) , get it started (yeah), get it started.
Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here. Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here.
Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started in here. Let's get it started (ha), let's get it started
(woah, woah, woah) in here.
Yeah.

Lets get woohoo!
Lets get woohoo! (in here)
Lets get woohoo!
Lets get woohoo! (in here)
Lets get woohoo!
Lets get woohoo! (in here) Ow, ow, ow!
Ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya, ya...

Runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin'
[fade]

He Wants to Make Her Happy: Matt Kemp

From Indyhiphop.com: http://indyhiphop.com/national/news-gossip/britneyb/rumor-are-rihanna-matt-moving-in-together/

Rihanna has reportedly asked her boyfriend Matt Kemp to move into her LA home.

The singer was linked with Kemp, who plays baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers, back in January when they went on vacation to Mexico together. However the pair have always said they were just friends.

A source told Star magazine,

“Matt is very happy to be moving in with Rihanna. He knew it was only a matter of time before Rihanna moved him in. He wants to make her happy. He had boxes of his things brought over in mid-March. He’s training in Arizona now, but when he’s back he’ll be at her place. He’s keeping his house, to see how things go, but they are so in love.”



BSOD: 3/31/10: Rude Boy
Artist: Rihanna
Released: 2009

Day 19: China Blue

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre (left) and vice president of the San Diego Padres Dave Winfi eld (right) pose for photos with young Chinese baseball players during a press conference in Beijing. (Photo: AP) read story at China Daily

Major League Baseball announced on 1/24/08 that the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres will be the first MLB teams to play the sport in China. Hosted by the China Baseball Association, the games will be held on March 15 & 16 in Beijing at the Wukesong Baseball Field, which will be the venue for the 2008 Olympic Games.



From MLB.com...

"Major League Baseball's international growth has been nothing short of remarkable, and we are thrilled that the Padres and the Dodgers will showcase our sport to the people of China by playing in MLB China Series 2008," Commissioner Bud Selig said. "I would like to thank the Dodgers and the Padres, the Major League Baseball Players Association, the China Baseball Association, Wukesong Group and all the parties who have made this momentous trip possible. We are greatly anticipating this wonderful opportunity."

...International ventures are nothing new for the two franchises. Most recently, the Dodgers played the Mets in a Mexico City exhibition series in 2003, and established relations in China in 1980 by building the first practice field in Beijing and funding construction of a baseball stadium, named Dodger Stadium, in Tianjin, 75 miles southeast of the capital.

"The Dodgers' ties to Asia date back more than half a century, so it's only fitting that as we celebrate 50 years in Los Angeles, we are fortunate enough to take part in this historic series," said Dodgers owner and chairman Frank McCourt. "The opportunities to expand this great game into China are limitless, and we hope this trip will solidify the Dodgers' role at the forefront of the globalization of baseball."

View a Joe Torre video concerning the games in China

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Today's Baseball Song of the Day is "China Blue" (30 second listen) in honor of the Dodgers traveling and playing two exhibitions games in China. The track is from ex-Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers, who in 2000 put out a terrific solo album titled "Electric." China Blue opens with an asia-styled guitar riff and reminds one of the long trip over the oceans and around the world to a land foreign and yet wonderfully new to us all. With the ever-expanding roster of International players into the major leagues, one can only assume that in a matter of a few short years, MLB will follow in the footsteps of the NBA and will soon see players arising out of the blue from China.


BSOD 19: China Blue
Artist: Paul Rodgers
Album: Electric
Released: 2000


To hear a sample of the song, click on the album, and on the page that appears, there are links to listen to the song.

And will you wait for me
as I cross the raging sea
and i wait for you
China Blue

And will the stars looking down
remember the sound
of your tears and the wind
China Blue

Oh the seasons may change
from the green to the gold
but my heart will remain
true to you

Save your smile for the sun
and your sighs for the moon
I'll save my love for you
China Blue

Oh the seasons may change
from the green to the gold
but my heart will remain
true to you