PITTSBURGH—Based on their April schedule, it almost seems as if the Dodgers are based in Brooklyn again instead of Los Angeles.
They open the season Monday in Pittsburgh, then return to the Eastern time zone to face Cincinnati, Washington and New York later in the month. All four series represent the Dodgers’ only appearance in those NL cities this season.
Concerned about the unpredictable weather, manager Joe Torre wonders why the Dodgers are playing 12 games so far east so early in the season.
He remembers the Indians being forced to move games against the Angels to Milwaukee after having a four-game series against the Mariners snowed out in April 2007. The Mariners and Indians also scrambled the rest of the season to make up the snowed-out games.
“I would not have chosen that (to open in Pittsburgh),” Torre said. “I think it’s dangerous, really. You only make one trip. And if you lose games, then it becomes a real hardship.”
Coincidentally, Torre is on the major league scheduling committee.
“You open your mouth about scheduling, then you realize that there are a whole lot of people a lot smarter than you are,” he said. “When you realize what goes into the scheduling part, so far as weekends, it’s a lot more complicated than my mentality can handle. So I shut my mouth.”
At least the forecast for the Dodgers’ three games in Pittsburgh this week is favorable, with partly cloudy skies and mid-70s temperatures predicted for Monday’s opener.
Torre understands why teams in warmer-weather cities and those that play in covered stadiums shouldn’t always get to open at home.
“You can’t keep opening up on the West Coast and have all the teams in the cold-weather cities opening up on the road all time,” Torre said. “I can understand that part of it, too, because it’s not fair to the fans.”
