Thanks to Craig, another great spring in Vero

Now that the last home game is behind us (there is a split squad game here Thursday, but most of us, including manager Grady Little and almost all the major-league players, will be back in Los Angeles by then), I wanted to take just a minute to thank Craig Callan for another spring of great hospitality. Craig is the dutiful Dodgers front-office exec who runs this place so well and is one of the truly great people in the organization. Craig, who has lived in Vero Beach for decades, is planning to move to Arizona in time for the spring of 2009, and he is doing so without complaint. If that shows nothing else, it shows that he is totally, completely loyal to the Dodgers, and for that, he deserves kudos. This guy goes above and beyond the call of his job on a regular basis. A couple of weeks ago, when my dad and brother were visiting, he offered to take them on a personal, guided tour of the complex — something I’m sure they would have taken him up on if they had been able to stay in town longer. Anyway, for a guy who doesn’t get much public credit or notice for what he does, I hope this blog accomplishes at least a little bit of that on his behalf.