Clubhouse

From phoenix Some thoughts between naps, feedings and calling for some someone to change their diapers on Torii Hunter , Chad Billingsley , Jonathan Broxton , Jason Repko and Mike Scioscia . THE GREAT thing about spring training and visiting the 3-month old twins here, it prepares you to deal with some of the Dodgers. Take Twin No. 2, a real chubba-bubba, no way can you get peep out of her. Think Broxton — you can get more out of the chair that sits in front of his locker than Broxton, the chair at least moaning every time he sits in it. As for Twin No. 1, nothing makes her happy.

He is the undisputed team leader of the Angels now that veteran pitcher John Lackey is gone, the player who commands the most respect on the field and in the clubhouse, but center fielder Torii Hunter feels a little uncomfortable attaching that label to his chest. "I don't want to say I'm the leader," Hunter said upon arriving Monday at Tempe Diablo Stadium. "Maybe I'm a Shaolin monk." Once the laughter among reporters interviewing Hunter subsided -- it took a while -- the 11-year veteran and nine-time Gold Glove Award winner was asked where he had heard such a term.

On the golf course, a little undercounting is not unheard of as players shave a stroke or two from this hole or that one to make their score more bearable back at the clubhouse. But at the tiny clubhouse in Brentwood, two employees of a golf course operated by the Veterans Affairs Medical Center have made the biggest score of all, authorities say: by undercounting greens fees and concessionaire profits and pocketing thousands of dollars. The two have been fired and are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to theft of government funds from the popular links.

When the Texas Rangers learned two months ago that Vicente Padilla would no longer pitch for them, several players exchanged handshakes with General Manager Jon Daniels in the clubhouse. Second baseman Ian Kinsler even reportedly said, "Congrats." Padilla spurred a different kind of clubhouse celebration Saturday at Busch Stadium. The castoff with a reputation as a bad teammate was among the most popular Dodgers during the fizzy festivities that ensued after a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 3 of the National League division series.

The journey from a small town in Nicaragua to Busch Stadium was a long one for Vicente Padilla . So long, in fact, that Padilla said it compelled his mother to make her first trip to the United States in three years. Padilla's mother will be among the spectators when Padilla takes the mound today for the Dodgers, who will be looking to complete a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League division series. "I never dreamed of this," said Padilla, who will be pitching in his first playoff game in 11 major league seasons.

On the far end of the Dodgers' clubhouse, the vote was unanimous. The most important at-bat in the Dodgers' 3-2 come-from-behind victory wasn't that of Ronnie Belliard , who tied the game with a two-out single. Nor was it the one taken by Mark Loretta , who drove in the deciding run. The honor was bestowed on the two-out, nine-pitch walk by Casey Blake that put men on first and second. Then Belliard drove in the tying run. "The hero of this game was Casey Blake," Belliard said.

The hours leading up to the game were spent huddled around a couple of television sets in the visiting clubhouse watching college football, one group of Dodgers watching Michigan beat Notre Dame and another watching UCLA's upset of Tennessee. About the only player who wasn't pointing or saying something to one of the high-definition screens was Manny Ramirez, who walked into the clubhouse, bat in hand, and said to no one in particular, "I don't watch football." Ignored, he walked in silence through his cackling teammates to his locker.

Stopped by Angel Stadium on Tuesday night because I thought it would make a nice backdrop while watching the Dodgers game on TV. The Dodgers are so much more interesting than the Angels, the Angels players handcuffed and muzzled by their manager, a foregone conclusion every year they're going to win in a subpar division and then lose to the Red Sox in the playoffs. I had some time to kill waiting for the Dodgers game to start, so I visited the Angels' clubhouse to see whether anyone had developed any charisma the last few months.

Seattle third baseman Adrian Beltre came to the plate last Tuesday against the Angels for the first time since missing three weeks because of a severely bruised right testicle, the result of a bad-hop grounder. His walk-up music on the Safeco Field sound system? An excerpt from Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite." It took one guess to figure out the culprit behind the gesture. "Would I do something like that?" Ken Griffey Jr. said, feigning mock indignation before breaking into a wide, toothy grin.

Scott Van Slyke can't remember the first time he entered a major league clubhouse. But he knows he wasn't much bigger than a ball bag when it happened. "I was born, basically, in a clubhouse," the 23-year-old Dodgers minor league player said. "I've always been around baseball." Same with Koby Clemens, who has a video of the first time he played at Boston's Fenway Park. "I'm like 4 or 5 years old, running down the line," the Houston Astros minor league player said. "There's priceless moments like that.