In case you missed it: We’re gettin’ close, folks

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By Jon Weisman

Like the saying goes, “It’s Opening Day somewhere …”

• Dylan Hernandez of the Times explores why the Dodgers and Diamondbacks are in Australia in the first place, talking to Paul Archey, MLB’s vice president of international business operations.
  

  “We’re not going to know the benefits of this game on Sunday night,” Archey said. “It’s long term. It can be generational.”

  MLB was paid by a promoter to open its season in Sydney, but Archey said that wasn’t the league’s motive for coming. “This is not about money,” he said. “This is about the future. It’s about developing the market for bigger business and it’s about developing the market for more players.”

  MLB has opened regular seasons in Mexico, Japan and Puerto Rico. What makes Australia different is that baseball doesn’t have a large fan base.

  The Dodgers were also involved in MLB’s last venture into a nontraditional market. That was in 2008, when the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres played a two-game exhibition series in China.

  Archey views that trip as a success. MLB now has 11 television partners in China, where it funds three youth academies and a 60-school intercollegiate league.

  “None of this existed prior to that game,” Archey said.

• You’ve read all about the players fighting jet lag. Now, here’s a guide for us game-watchers on how to handle the sleep challenges for the 1 a.m. season opener, from Mark Newman of MLB.com.  Again, I see no mention of how to handle my son’s 9:30 a.m. birthday party after the game.
• Brian Wilson gets cricket, writes Ben Horne of the Sydney Morning Herald.
• A.J. Ellis shared a day in the life from the Australia trip with Michael Chammas of the same paper. I’m ignorant, so I had to Google “a long black with milk.”
• Did you know the Diamondbacks have won seven straight Opening Day games? I didn’t until I read this stats piece from Mark Simon at ESPN.com. The Dodgers have won three in a row.
• Also of note: Clayton Kershaw has a 2.31 ERA in his past seven starts against Arizona — and one win to his credit.
• Team Australia, which led the Dodgers 2-0 late before losing, shut out Arizona, 5-0.
• $36 hot dog, anyone?
• Chad Billingsley has passed another milestone in his rehab, facing a real-life batter (in this case, Matt Kemp) in a 15-pitch session, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com. Sanchez adds that Billingsley is on track for his first outing in a minor-league game April 6.
• Kemp then doubled and homered in a Triple-A game against the White Sox.
• Here’s another piece picking the Dodgers to win the National League West and maybe more, from Marc Normandin of Sports on Earth.