March 11th, 2014 at 6:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka There seems to be mixed feelings about the upcoming 2014 MLB opening series between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks to be held at the Sydney Cricket Grounds on March 22-23.
Games abroad are nothing new to Major League Baseball. They have taken place in countries like Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea and even Australia. But the big difference between those past games and the upcoming Australia series is that nearly all of those previous games abroad were exhibition games that did not count towards the regular season standings. Ironically, many of those past games abroad involved the Dodgers and history has shown that it usually took the team several weeks to fully recover from those trips.
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Do you think kicking off the 2014 MLB season in Australia is a good idea?
- No (80%, 41 Votes)
- Yes (20%, 10 Votes)
Total Voters: 51
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The famed Sydney Cricket Ground has undergone $193 million in renovations in part to facilitate the 2014 MLB opening series between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.
(Photo courtesy of Sydney Cricket Ground Trust)
Recently, Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke was hammered in the media for saying that he wasn’t the least bit excited about the upcoming trip to Australia. Greinke’s comments were clearly taken out of context by the media. He was not badmouthing Australia or its great people, he was merely saying that from a pure baseball standpoint the games were not conducive to trying to win a World Series title because of the physical hardships of the 15+ hour flight (each way) and the subsequent jet lag – not to mention the interruption that it is causing with the Dodgers spring training. Unfortunately, most media outlets conveniently omitted Greinke’s comment that the trip was good for baseball and for the respective franchises.
Greinke’s recent comments about not being excited over the upcoming Australia trip were blown way out of proportion by the media. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)
Both games in Australia will be televised on the Dodgers new SportsNetLA channel with Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully at the mic. The games will air locally at 1:00 AM and 7:00 PM (PDT) on Saturday, March 22 because of the 18-hour time difference.
Posted in 
Its stupid RT @Think_BlueLA: Opinion Poll – The Australia Trip: http://t.co/5YyyIPlwno #Dodgers #Dodgerfam
It’s a good idea for the Australians, their tourist industry, and fans of all teams other than the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks.
…especially the other NL West teams.
I have decided to watch both games that Saturday. I’ll try to stay awake for the first game which starts at 4:00 AM, my time. I remember staying awake for I believe games against the Padres, a few years ago, if I remember right from Korea. I’ll watch the games on MLB Network.
Then I’ll try to get some rest, like everybody else, before watching the second game at 10:00 PM.
This is such a bad thing for both teams. I honestly feel it will be close to June before this team recovers from this trip. Everything is just to damn rushed this Spring. Biggest question of all…..Kershaw! Is it the pressure of owning the largest contract ever signed by a major league pitcher? Or is it the fact that this Spring is so totally rushed for this stupid ass trip? I don’t know, but I don’t like it at all!
I understand the disruption in ST and all that and the long flight thing. It might take some time to make up for the missed ST time although every now and then we hear suggestions ST is too long.
I just don’t see how it will take all that much time to recover from the trip. These are conditioned athletes so how could it take six weeks or so to recover?
I don’t like the timing of this trip but I don’t see how it could blow the team out of the water. If so it does the D’Backs too. It is the missed ST that I might see as an issue not the actual trip.