Los Angeles Times

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell and opening day is one week from today. Spring training update Opening day is a week away, and there are some things to discuss before then, so let’s get to it. Clayton Kershaw: To the surprise of no one, he will...

Five years ago, Justin Turner arrived at Camelback Ranch as a Dodger for the first time and didn’t know where he was going. “I reported to the minor league side,” Turner said. “It was early. We weren’t even supposed to report yet. I was probably over there for three or four days before someone...

The central tenet of Robert Van Scoyoc’s philosophy on hitting is void of any scary modern complicated analytics, gadgetry or vocabulary. The youngest hitting coach in the majors, Van Scoyoc is, by title, the head of the Dodgers’ hitting department, and he and his colleagues share an ideology that...

Howdy everyone, my name is Houston Mitchell, proprietor of this here newsletter. Hey, opening day for the Dodgers and the Angels is one week from today. USC USC named a new school president on Wednesday, hiring Carol Folt, who most recently was the chancellor of the University of North Carolina...

Nearly a year after last appearing in a major-league game for the Dodgers, Corey Seager was back in the team’s lineup Wednesday night against the Chicago Cubs. It was not a dull debut. Batting third in the order, the shortstop drove the ball to the warning track in his first at-bat, slugged a home...

The Dodgers tie the Chicago Cubs 4-4 on Wednesday at Sloan Park in Mesa Ariz. They are 13-11-2 in Cactus League play. ON THE MOUND: Dustin May got the start and gave up his first run of the spring, and gave up three hits and a walk in three innings. The 21-year-old prospect finished with three...

The Angels lost 4-2 to the Cleveland Indians at Goodyear Ballpark on Wednesday night. The Angels are 12-12-4 in Cactus League play. AT THE PLATE: The Angels didn’t muster any offense against Indians starter Carlos Carrasco until the fourth inning, when Kevan Smith hit a leadoff single up the middle...

Clayton Kershaw really wanted to pitch on opening day. He badly wanted to extend his franchise-record streak of eight consecutive opening-day starts. He does not deny it. He appreciates his place in Dodgers history, the company he holds, what it represents. It is a badge that simultaneously demonstrates...

More than 24 hours after news broke of his record-breaking extension, Mike Trout was officially made an Angels player for life Wednesday night. The Angels announced that Trout, a two-time MVP and the club’s star center fielder, agreed to the terms of a 12-year, $426.5-million contract. The 27-year-old...

The Lakers are going to miss the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season and there is perhaps no one happier about their predicament than longtime Lakers season-ticket holder Jimmy Goldstein. If you don’t know Goldstein by name, you’ve certainly seen him courtside for years. He’s the older gentleman...

As the Uber moved from downtown Boston to the suburbs, Garrett Temple sat in a passenger seat, running an errand he never expected. It was Feb. 8, a little more than 24 hours after Memphis Grizzlies’ officials informed Temple and teammate JaMychal Green they’d been traded to the Clippers. They...

There’s a humility that’s part of the Clippers’ charm this season. Ask coach Doc Rivers about looking into the future, about trying to get everything in order for the playoffs, about taking the foot off the gas pedal, and he’s had the same answer all season. “We’re not good enough.” The latest...

Tyson Chandler was living the dream. Bought out by the Phoenix Suns, for the first time in his career he got to play for the team he grew up loving. And it wasn’t just any point in the team’s history — with LeBron James in the fold, they were surely headed for their first playoff berth in six seasons...

Drew Doughty of the Kings won’t appear on any Norris Trophy projections this season. By one statistical measure, this is by far the worst season of his career. But it says much about Doughty that he was voted the second-best defenseman in the NHL in an annual poll by the NHL Players’ Assn. Doughty...

After another session of indoor batting practice Wednesday, Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani pronounced himself close to taking swings outdoors, one of the final hurdles he must clear during his rehabilitation from elbow ligament reconstruction. “That’s my next step in the hitting,” Ohtani said...