I took a picture of these people, who were all dressed in Braves gear, lined up outside the door to the press box after the game last night as I was waiting for the elevator downstairs. They obviously were waiting for an autograph from somebody. I asked one of the Braves writers who they were waiting for, and he said, “Probably Vin Scully.” And you know what, he was probably right, because who else would they be waiting for? The man is just huge, everywhere he goes, even with fans of other teams. And while I didn’t have time to stick around to find out, I’m betting he signed for every person, because there were only a dozen or so, and he probably smiled and greeted each one as he did so.
When I arrived here today, there already were a couple of guys waiting in that same spot.
Speaking of Vinnie, I just ran into him at the coffee pot. I filled up my cup as he was grabbing a cold drink, then one of the Japanese reporters stepped in and filled her cup, and then Vinnie said, “Is that Georgia coffee? Yeah, I’ll have some Georgia coffee.” If there is something about Georgia coffee that is supposed to be special, I was unaware of it. But I have to admit that after hearing Vinnie say that, the cup I was drinking suddenly started tasting better. You know, there really IS something special about Georgia coffee. If Vinnie implied it, it HAS to be true.
As of right now, the Dodgers are scheduled to have one of those customary off-day workouts at Dodger Stadium tomorrow, but manager Don Mattingly said he is considering canceling it.
“Those are basically eye-warsh,” Mattingly said, using the Indiana pronunciation of “eyewash” — he eventually corrected himself, but I liked it better the way he originally said it.
Anyway, what they basically are is media events. MLB doesn’t really care that much if teams actually work out, they just want the manager and the next day’s pitcher to show up for the interview room. My guess is the Dodgers will hold some kind of optional, voluntary workout on the field, but anybody who doesn’t want to come to the ballpark — except for Mattingly and Hyun-Jin Ryu, of course — will be excused.
“Do we really need to take batting practice again?” Mattingly asked, rhetorically.
The Braves, however, WILL hold a full workout, from 5-7 p.m.
On another note, there is a new development in the saga of Jonathan Denver, the Dodgers fan who was stabbed to death on a San Francisco street corner near AT&T Park last week. Now, Denver’s brother is saying HE was the one who swung a chair at Michael Montgomery, the Giants fan who is claiming he stabbed Denver in self defense. Robert Preece says he swung the chair in an attempt to protect his brother.