Lineup and Sunday clubhouse

By Shannon Drayer

Yes, I know it is not Sunday but I don’t think I am going to be in the clubhouse tomorrow morning and today had a bit of a feel of the Sunday morning clubhouse so what the heck, every day down here is Groundhog day (or Greyhound day as I called it yesterday completely unable to come up with the right term) so you are getting Sunday morning clubhouse on Saturday.

On some Sundays in the past I liked to just toss out random observations and give a picture of what the clubouse is like on what tends to be the most relaxed day of the week. I am pretty sure no one down here a this point could tell you if it was Tuesday or Wednesday but somehow they know what Sunday is.

The music was quieter. Thankfully it appears that Felix will only be deejay on his start days. Michael Morse usually takes care of the music and he is a fantastic person to be tasked with that as he has very eclectic taste. Yesterday we got a good dose of Johnny Cash which I think was a first in this clubhouse. Today I didn’t notice what was playing as it was much quieter which is a good thing.

On the TVs there was sports of course. On one WBC highlights could be seen. On another the retirement announcement press conference of Mariano Rivera. Jesus Montero stopped and watched a couple seconds of it before heading over to the catchers row to sit down and talk with the group there. This was good to see as it was the first time I have seen Montero in the clubhouse without his headphones on. He has been present in the clubhouse but rarely stopped in any one place and never took off the headphones. You want to see your starting catcher interacting with his teammates and there could be plenty of other interactions going on throughout the day that I didn’t see but regardless, it was good to see this morning.

One other thing about Montero this week that jumped out at me was that he was in neither squads lineups on Thursday and was not catching Felix’s first start. He did however travel to Surprise with the Robbie Thompson led squad and spent the entire warmup time with Felix, Kelly Shoppach and the coaches. When Shoppach, Felix and Carl Willis made the walk from the bullpen to the dugout to start the game Montero was right there with them. After the game started he came out and warmed up all of the pitchers between innings. A solid effort on an off day.

Moving on. I discovered a change in the food room. I did not actually go in there as that area is off limits to the media but I did ask a clubbie if he would be kind enough to grab me a cup off coffee so I could warm up the cup I had back in the media room. As he was getting the coffee bullpen catcher Jason Phillips asked if I would like the Cuban Coffee. I asked if it was real and he showed me the stove top maker. It was indeed. I tried a sample and was impressed. Turns out this is a new addition that Raul Ibanez and Kendrys Morales are responsible for. If you haven’t had Cuban Coffee before it basically is a very potent shot of double strength coffee and sugar very simialr to Greek coffee if you have ever had that. Ibanez and Morales taught one of the clubbies how to make the coffee and it is now in the food room every morning. I went and found Morales sitting in his locker (litterally sitting in his locker which is a bit of a tight fit) and told him he made great coffee. Morales, who doesn’t speak much English, smiled and again asked if I liked it. I did. Communicating through coffee. Good fun.

Better fun, talking dogs. I noticed a tweet from Brad Miller this winter that showed a collie sitting by a pool. I am a collie person and it turns out so is Miller, the proud owner of Connor the Collie. Miller has grown up with collies with his parents getting the first one from a neighbor. Turns out that dog was a close relative of the collie used in a more recent Lassie movie. Some day soon I will talk baseball with Miller but first thing is first.

Last sight in the clubhouse an excited Kyle Seager who is looking forward to the possibility of playing against his brother Corey for the first time. Corey was the Dodgers first round draft pick last year. One of the more enjoyable moments I remember from last year was watching Kyle watch the draft sitting on one of the leather loungers in the visitors clubhouse in Anaheim. He was clearly on pins and needles pulling for his brother. The team had to go out onto the field for warm ups early in the round and Kyle returned right as his brother’s name was being announced. The two are close and workout together along with their youngest brother each off season.

Taking things out to the field…Casper Wells was a late scratch from the B game lineup with a stiff neck. Lineup for the A game which will take place at Camelback Ranch in Glendale is below.

Gutierrez 8
Seager 5
Morales DH
Morse 9
Ibanez 7
Smoak 3
Ackley 4
Sucre 2
Ryan 6
Garland

Ackley hitting 7th a move I am completely in favor of. Let him get comfortable and then move him up if needed.

One last note, it is pretty darn cold down here! 47 degrees!