FTN wrote:unless its raining, there is almost always BP, like 2 hours before the game starts

Trent Steele wrote:So awesome that it made me tear up. Matt Kemp is the man.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgersno ... 7796.story

The mystery of San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt, my 17th-rated prospect in baseball going into the 2011 season, only deepened this spring when he had a strong March statistically but seemed to maintain the bad habits at the plate that plagued him in the second half of 2012.

I sat down with Belt, an ardent fan of the Olive Garden restaurant chain, over lunch last week at one of Phoenix's best restaurants, the new location of Pizzeria Bianco in the Town & Country shopping center, serving the original's famous pizzas as well as fresh pasta made in-house. The conversation focused on his swing mechanics, but I admit to an ulterior motive of introducing Belt to my kind of Italian food.

As for the food, Belt was impressed by both the pappardelle alla Bolognese (a traditional red sauce with several kinds of ground or finely chopped meat) and Bianco's famous "wise guy" pizza, with local fennel sausage and caramelized onions. He remained noncommittal on his zeal for unlimited breadsticks.

Bill McNeal wrote:Taking my son to the Wilmington Blue Rocks game tonight, so I called to find out what time the gates open and if there is bp before the game. She tells be gates open at 5:35, but she didn't know if there was bp because "she isn't given that information". Ooooo-Kay then.

Watching it all, speechless, was the kid, Joshua Jones, a 19-year-old from Tracy, Calif., who is suffering from inoperable tumors in his spine and has been given 90 days to live.

Somewhere along the line, even as his strength has waned, it seems Kemp has gained perspective.

“I don't think some athletes understand how big it is to be an athlete, what they can do with just a simple gesture of shaking a kid's hand,” Kemp said. “It can make a fan's day. It can make a fan's life.”

Joshua said he was sorry he couldn't shake Kemp's hand, but his limbs are slowly going numb from the tumors. He said he wants to Kemp to know that he nonetheless felt truly touched.

“He's such a nice person,” Joshua said. “He really cares about his fans.”

Kemp shook his head. He said he's the one who has been touched.

“Sometimes I forget how much people look at you as their hero,” he said. “I forget that.”