Goodbye to Vero Beach... Possibly
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Dodgers bid farewell to Dodgertown (maybe)
VERO BEACH, Fla. -- Carl Erskine played the national anthem on a harmonica. Tommy Lasorda made a speech. And then the Dodgers said what may be their final goodbye to Dodgertown after 61 spring-training seasons today by losing to the Houston Astros, 12-10.
Plans call for the Dodgers to move their spring training base to Glendale, Ariz., next season, although construction problems could delay that and the team could return for a Vero Beach encore in 2009.
Because of the uncertainty, Monday's festivities were somewhat muted. There were no commemorative T-shirts for sale and tickets were still available at the box office shortly before game time. But that didn't brighten the day of many of the fans saddened by the Dodgers' decision to relocate closer to Los Angeles.
"It's St. Patrick's Day. I'm Irish. And I've never felt so little like celebrating in my life," said Clifford Bombard, a Dodgers fan from Virginia who was born the same year the Dodgers started training in Vero Beach. "It's a little bittersweet. I understand why they're going and all that stuff. But I'm still going to miss the heck out of them."
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If the Dodgers make it back to Vero Beach in 2009 I will do all that is within my power to make a trek down the coast for one last time... there's just so much history there, and I really hate to see them leave.
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Say 'Dodgers' and people know you're talking about baseball. Say 'Braves' and they ask, 'What reservation?' Say 'Reds' and they think of communism. Say 'Padres' and they look around for a priest.
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Goodbye to Vero Beach... Possibly
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