Padres Series Starts Friday - Player's Weekend - Stadium Giveaways, Pregame Info and Other Stuff!

The next homestand starts on Friday against the San Diego Padres. Below are some odds and ends for this upcoming homestand. Here are some important links:

• 2018 Broadcast Schedule
• Parking Information 
• Special Events Schedule
• Promotions & Giveaways Schedule
• Silent Auction Schedule 
• Friday Night Fireworks Schedule 
• Viva Los Dodgers Schedule
• Dodger Stadium Express / LA Metro  

This weekend is the second annual 'Players Weekend' throughout the Major Leagues. All teams will be wearing special uniforms with unique nicknames on their backs and have the opportunity to wear and use uniquely colored cleats, bats and other equipment. Each player will also have the opportunity to recognize someone who was instrumental in his personal development, or a baseball player who inspired him, on a jersey patch on his right sleeve (see that patch on the right). Check out the Dodger duds for this weekend below. Anthony Castovince at MLB.com provides more detail about this event here. This unique happening coincides with the Little League World Series championship in Williamsport, PA. Go here for the 2018 list of Dodgers' nicknames, via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.

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Friday, August 24th at 7:10 PM

TV: SportsNet LA, SNLA Spanish

Radio: AM 570 LA Sports, KTNQ 1020

2018 Topps Now - #630 - Buehler & Flaherty Youngest Duo to Strikeout Nine in LA

Do you know what's worse than losing?

Having a Topps Now card issued that not only features your player, but also makes note that your team lost.

That's what we have here. Featured is the Dodgers' newest 2018 Topps Now card and it celebrates the fantastic pitching performances by yesterday's rookies starters -- Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler. They both stifled the opposition. Flaherty struck out ten, had a no-no through five innings and allowed just one hit -- a Joc Pederson homer in the sixth. Buehler struck out nine Card's, allowed only three hits and gave up no runs. Unfortunately, Walker's efforts was not enough. Per Rowan Kavner at Dodger Insider:

“Walker did everything he could do,” Roberts said. “You could see the emotion there in the seventh inning. He emptied the tank.”

Blog Kiosk: 8/23/2018 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

Buehler was fantastic last night, and I don't think it's hyperbole to say that he's on his way towards becoming an ace. Kenley Jansen, on the otherhand, hasn't been right since coming back from heart issues experienced in Colorado. Per Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

"Life sometimes is a fairy tale," he said. "Everything was going well. Just got stopped with A-Fib [atrial fibrillation] and here I am. Just got to figure out how to get out of this mess." 

Jansen hesitated, then sidestepped a question about any lingering side effects from his condition or the prescribed medication. 

"Sometimes, you just got to go through it, no excuse. You would never hear that from me," he said. "Feel good or not feeling good, no excuse, just tough it out. Last two days weren't my days. Be ready Friday. I just need one game, I'm very confident I'll get it back."

Once again, I mean to distract with a pic featuring Chase Utley and his three kids (that happens to also include Kike Hernandez), via Juan Ocampo/2018 Dodgers at Dodger Insider. Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1958 Gil Hodges hit his 14th career grand slam. It set a new National League record for grand slams in a career. BTW, Don Drysdale also walloped two solo homers during this game. In 1989 Tommy Lasorda had Expos mascot Youppi! ejected from a game in Montreal during the 11th inning. The mascot was causing too much noise by jumping on top of the Dodger dugout roof during the 22-inning game. You can watch Youppi! get tossed here. BTW, the Dodgers defeated the Expose, 1-0, on an home run by Rick Dempsey in the 22nd inning.
• Happy Birthday, Red Downs, Phil Page, Lonny Frey, Dale Mitchell & Casey Blake!