Dodgers release first Cactus League schedule

It will start early (Feb. 25) because of the World Baseball Classic, and it will start with four away games, presumably because the new stadium in Glendale won't be ready until March 1, when the boys host the Brewers at the new complex across the street from my house. There also will be TWO scheduled off-days (March 11/18) as opposed to the traditional ONE. Also, there are only three scheduled games with the White Sox, which is rather strange when you consider the two teams will be sharing a complex. My guess is that is a hedge against the possibility that the White Sox can't get out of their Tucson lease for another year, something that is expected to be determined with certainty sometime in the next week or two. The Dodgers are the visiting team for two of those three games, meaning that if the White Sox can't move in until 2010, the Dodgers will have to make FOUR trips to Tucson next spring instead of two.

Here is the link to the schedule on the Dodgers' official web site:

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/spring_training/tentative.jsp?c_id=la