Here’s Levi answering our own JT Tessler at the Team Radioshack training camp.

According to the Dodgers Media Guide, here are the Dodger Stadium rainouts:

• 4/21/67 vs St. Louis Cardinals
• 4/12/76 vs San Diego Padres
• 9/10/76 vs Atlanta Braves
• 9/11/76 vs Atlanta Braves
• 5/8/77 vs Philadelphia Phillies
• 5/9/77 vs Philadelphia Phillies
• 8/17/77 vs San Francisco Giants
• 4/15/78 vs Atlanta Braves
• 9/5/78 vs San Francisco Giants
• 4/11/82 vs San Diego Padres
• 8/18/83 vs New York Mets
• 9/24/86 vs San Diego Padres
• 4/19/88 vs San Diego Padres
• 4/20/88 vs San Diego Padres
• 4/21/88 vs San Diego Padres
• 4/11/99 vs Colorado Rockies
• 4/17/00 vs Houston Astros

Totals by month:

• April: 9
• May: 2
• June: 0
• July: 0
• August: 2
• September:4

There was only one rainout between 1962 and 1976. There were three rainy weeks responsible for 7 of the 17 rainouts. More than half of all rainouts are in April.

Four games were postponed in 1992, because of the Los Angeles Riots.

No, I don’t want to bring my kids to sing or hear MTV-raised “fans” who should know better sing

“A singer in a smoky room
The smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on”

within earshot of Vin Scully’s sage wisdom.

No, I don’t want to hear about loser skanks from “South Detroit” dreaming about “finding emotion” when I’m at Dodger Stadium. I don’t understand why the song is even popular in Detroit because it’s about seeking to LEAVE Detroit. But like most people too innumerate to understand that a trillion is a million million, most people really don’t think much about the songs they sing and their meaning.

Even more pathetically, the new inning starts before the chorus with the tiltle of the song and the only three words from the lyrics that might have anything to do with baseball, “don’t stop believin’” are sung. The song UTTERLY FAILS at even getting to the base of an inspiring crescendo to lift fan and player spirits.

Feh. I want to paraphrase Tom Hanks and scream “There’s no Journey in baseball!” At least there shouldn’t be.

Take a look at our “best baseball rally songs” and vote or add your own suggestion.

“Don’t Stop Believin’”
“Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)”
“We Are Family”
“Another One Bites the Dust”
“God Bless America”
“Dirty Water”
“Hava Nagila”

But it was great to see Joe Torre letting Chad Billingsley (who couldn’t buy a strike through nearly 80 pitches in the first 3 innings) find his groove, get two key hits to catalyze the offense and win the game against the first place Mets.

You’d have been proud of me responding to a jerk Dodger fan 3 rows behind me who was yelling in the first inning at the ump: “Some of us LEFT New York to get away from people like you.” I got laughs from everyone within earshot and the idiot cooled off quickly. Indeed, many of us New York expatriates have grown to love hearing Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” after a hometown win by the Dodgers, or that other LA team.

You know how y’all assume the writer of these rankings is completely biased against your favorite team? Well, let me come right out and say it: I friggin’ hate the Dodgers, because Ned Louis Colletti Jr. is too stupid to live. There is no reason, rational or otherwise, to give up two prospects for Casey Blake when you’ve got an equal and possibly superior third baseman (Andy LaRoche) right under your nose. This frustrates the hell out of me, so I can only imagine how L.A. fans feel about it. … Matt Kemp has walked 11 times in July and nudged up his OPS into the .800s. It’s finally happening. … Let’s wait until Clayton Kershaw faces a real major league lineup before beatifying him, OK?

I love the Dodgers because they’re my hometown team, but it hurts to see the team incapable of rising 2 games above .500.

Although I realize that Mike is likely to show up in the Hall of Fame wearing a Mets cap, its hard for True Blue Dodger fans not to claim him for ourselves. Every Dodger knows the Ballad of Mike Piazza, and it speaks to everything that was great about the Dodger family, and everything that went sour in the FOX era.

Mike Piazza was born to a Dodger family. As Tommy Lasorda’s godson, he was raised on little jars of blue baby food and dodger dogs. When it was time for Mike to make the jump to the big leagues, the Dodgers brought him home in the 62nd round of the 1988 draft as a favor to Tommy. Like any good fairy tale, the almost unwanted foundling turned out to be a true prince. An all around nice guy and team leader, Piazza put up stats unrivaled amongst major league catchers.

But every fairy tale needs to have its wicked witch. In our story, the evil witch wore a grey suit with a FOX logo. When the O’malley family sold the Dodger franchise to FOX, the corporate suits tried to run it into the ground. One of their first, and worst choices was to dump their team leader Piazza. Not only did they drop him, but they did it months early, behind their GM’s back and below market. We’ve been told that Piazza cried when told that he’d no longer be bleeding Dodger Blue. A lot of fans cried that day too, those that didn’t spat and cussed and cursed the evil FOX Suits.

After years of wandering in the desert, a broken, losing team with no spirit, no loyalty and no sense of what it once meant to be a Dodger the team was finally dumped off on an untried and untested parking lot guy from Boston. Step by step over the past couple of years, that parking lot guy has shown LA that he understands what the Dodgers were, and how they can climb back to greatness.

The McCourt era Dodgers have stayed away from buying flashy hired guns, and instead have opened the clubhouse to young kids and workhorses with heart. The Dodgers feel like Dodgers again.

Which brings us back to our fairy tale ending for the Ballad of Mike Piazza. The Dodger’s should bring Mike back and put him in Dodger Blue this season. Do it after the break when teams step up their rosters, or even better, do it tomorrow while Gary Bennett is on the DL. Russell Martin needs to rest his knees every once in a while anyways. Give Mike a chance for a last grand tour, and let the NL fans thank him and send him on his way. It might help win a few games, but it will certainly help win back the old Dodger Soul.

Ex-Yankee catcher? Ex?!? Made me think of some x-rated expletives! Thurman Munson never played for any other team. When he died in an airplane crash he was the captain of the Yankees. He died a Yankee.

A better and more accurate title could and should have been Yankee catcher’s memorabilia goes to auction.

Did Abraham Lincoln become an ex-President after he was assassinated? He died in office. JFK was NEVER an ex-President.

EXTON, Pa. (AP) — Thurman Munson’s World Series rings, MVP trophy and the uniform that the former New York Yankees catcher wore for his final home game before he died in a 1979 plane crash will be auctioned off in connection with this summer’s All-Star game at Yankee Stadium.

“There could not be a more appropriate place to offer the collection to the public then New York City on the occasion of the final All-Star game to be played at Yankee Stadium,” Munson’s wife, Diana, said. “Thurman so loved that stadium and the fans who shared his many years with the team.”

Also part of the July 14-15 auction are Lou Gehrig’s warmup jacket dating to the final game of his streak of playing 2,130 consecutive games, the ball from Babe Ruth’s 712th home run and a bat used in a game by Jackie Robinson.

The Munson collection consists of more than 140 items, including a custom-made Mercedes-Benz convertible and a replica World Series trophy made for him after the Yankees’ 1978 title.

“My three children and I have held on to some items of great personal meaning to us but the time has come to share the collection with the public who so adored Thurman as a player with the Yankees,” Diana Munson said. “Along with thousands of Yankees fans, we have so many fond memories of Thurman and the memorabilia items help to tell the story of his life.”

Neyer does a spectacular forensic study in his new book “Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Legends“ of a story I read years ago about Thurman Munson and repeated as recently as two weeks ago at my office.

In a nutshell, the story goes that Munson is annoyed that a sportswriter writes that rival Carlton Fisk has two more assists to lead in that defensive category. In the next game, Munson proceeds to drop called strikes and throws out the batter at first base. He does this enough times to pass Fisk in assisted putouts.

Neyer goes on a forensic journey to determine when the game happened. Read on.

Still doesn’t change my mind that Munson was by far the superior catcher and leader.

On a tangent, there’s a story about a rabbi (see next to last paragraph) called the Chofetz Chaim. Early in the 20th century the rabbi is taken to court in Europe. An attorney describes the rabbi and about the many legends told about him, some even involving miracles. The incredulous judge motions the attorney for a sidebar and says “You don’t really expect me to believe all this, do you?” The attorney replies “No, your honor, but they don’t tell stories like that about you and me.”

This tells me that legends do orbit the legitimately legendary, from saintly rabbis to those who wear the tools of ignorance.

Dear friends and family, I’ve put this on my Amazon wish list. Wink wink nudge nudge. Another disclaimer — I’ve already written here about Munson being my favorite player.

Way to go, Troy. You put fanatic in the word fan.

The trap I fell into was thinking of starting pitchers and began thinking of 15, one pitch per batter for 5 innings in a rained-out game. Then someone at my office said 1, a reliever comes in in a tie game with 2 outs in the 9th inning, gets the batter out, and the home team wins in a walk-off in the bottom of the 9th.

At the office today we were discussing Los Angeles Dodger Joe Beimel’s one-pitch win over the Florida Marlins. Scott Proctor relieves Hideki Kuroda and retires the first two batters with a ground out and a strikeout. Proctor is relieved by Joe Beimel who gets a pop-out for the 3rd out and left the game. In the top of the 9th, the Dodgers score 2 runs and Takashi Saito gets the save, retiring all three batters including two K’s.

In theory, a reliever could come in to pitch in a tie game in the 9th with 2 outs and a runner on base, pick off the runner before throwing a pitch and then the home team scores a run in the bottom of the 9th. That would be a win with no pitches.

Has it ever happened?

I am trying to dig up stats on 1-pitch and theoretical 0-pitch wins. Please comment.