A smattering of boos, but mostly cheers …

… for Andruw Jones when he came to the plate for the first time to lead off the second inning here in the ballpark where he became a star over the past 11 seasons. But they cheered really loudly after he struck out on three pitches … By the way, here’s a LaRoche update:

Dodgers third baseman Andy LaRoche appears on track to return in early to mid-May.
LaRoche will leave Sunday for Vero Beach, Fla., and a two-day stint in extended spring training. He said the tentative plan is for him to test his surgically repaired right thumb by getting about 18 at-bats in two loosely structured games there, then begin a minor-league rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Jacksonville, probably on Wednesday. He is slated to begin playing third base on his second day there.
Rehab assignments for position players are limited to 20 days, suggesting LaRoche will return no later than sometime on a six-game trip to Milwaukee and Anaheim beginning May 13.

Oh, and they added about three rows of premium seating directly behind home plate on the field level, dramatically cutting down on the foul ground here. I’m told Turner Field now has the shortest distance in the N.L. between home plate and the backstop. The old backstop was flush with the front of the dugouts, but the new seats jut forward from the dugouts. … Oh (again), and Don Mattingly is here for his first scheduled in-season visit. He’ll be with the club through the Cincinnati series, just observing the hitters and offering his input. He threw some BP before the game tonight.