Blue Jays Series Starts Tuesday - Stadium Giveaways, Pregame Info and Other Stuff!

The next homestand starts on Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays. Below are some odds and ends for this upcoming homestand. I will update this should new information become available. Below are some important links:

• 2019 Broadcast Schedule
• Parking Information 

• Special Events Schedule

• Promotions & Giveaways Schedule

• Silent Auction Schedule 

• Dodger Stadium Parking / Transportation 

• Dodger Stadium Express / LA Metro  

Please note that the Dodgers are embarking on a new culinary experience at the stadium. Fans can find the LA Feeds Blue Chef Series located in the right field plaza that will feature a special Chef Series pop-up concession stand. This homestand will feature foods from Boo's. More information is available at the bottom of this post.

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Tuesday, August 20th at 7:10 PM
Clayton Kershaw vs Sean Reid-Foley

TV: SportsNet LA, SNLA Spanish

Radio: AM 570 LA Sports, KTNQ 1020

Welcome Back to the Blue, Russell Martin!

This morning we all got a bit of news regarding our open catcher position, and it has nothing to do with the Marlins. Instead, we find out that an old friend will be coming back home. According to Canadian Sportsnet journalist Arash Madani, Russell Martin has been traded to the Dodgers, via twitter:

BREAKING: Per MLB sources, the Blue Jays are trading Russell Martin to the LA Dodgers.

More to come...

— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) January 11, 2019

And now we have official confirmation of this from the Dodgers. Below is from a press release:

The Los Angeles Dodgers today acquired catcher Russell Martin and cash considerations from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Andrew Sopko and minor league infielder Ronny Brito.

Welcome to the Blue, John Axford!

We all knew the Dodgers were looking to add a reliever. We just didn't expect it to be John Axford. As you likely know by now, in addition to the trade deadline deal that brought us Brian Dozer earlier today, we are also adding right-handed reliever John Axford from Toronto. In exchange we sent the Blue Jays a right-handed prospect named Corey Cropping.

Welcome to the Blue, Jesse Chavez!

The Dodgers are very busy today.

We have just gotten word of another Dodgers trade and this time they get a right-handed reliever to join the bullpen.  Per tweets from Ken Rosenthal and Joel Sherman, Southern California native Jesse Chavez is now be a Dodger.  Dodgers starting pitcher Mike Bolsinger will go to the Blue Jays.  Per Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider:

Chavez, who turns 33 on August 21, has a 1.28 WHIP and 4.57 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 41 1/3 innings this year for Toronto. The previous two seasons, he pitched mostly as a starter for Oakland, with a 3.83 ERA from 2014-15.

Texas Skirmish Overlooked by Topps Now - So, I Made My Own Fantasy Cards

Topps Now had gained a fair margin of success recently.  They sold a boatload of Bartolo Colon home run cards a couple of weeks back (8,826 to be exact), and you had to figure that yesterdays incident in Arlington would garner similar interest with fans.  After all, a set marketed as up-to-date with the previous days top events would have to make note of the brawl between Jose Bautista and Rougned Odor.  Right?

Wrong!  Instead, Topps wimped out.  And in doing so, are arguably missing out in the most "meta" event of the season.  Social media was awash in all kinds of memes yesterday, and a Topps Baseball card highlighting it would have been a huge publicity booster for them.

Instead, we get a trio of other cards, as you can see from the screen-grab above from their daily email.

I suppose we really shouldn't be surprised. I'm sure MLB wouldn't want something like this gaining any sort of steam, and a vendor like Topps is certainly fearful of an corporate backlash.

Fortunately, I'm too small a fish to be noticed, so I spent a little bit of time this afternoon making my own fantasy Baseball cards to memorialize the fight.  Check them out below, and if you're so daring you can print them out and trade them with your friends.

1960 Topps

Blog Kiosk: 1/6/2016 - Dodgers Links - Honeycutt, a Singing Kershaw and Maeda Issues

RMY has their newest vintage sports photograph auction up and it includes the above 1930 ACME press photo from Opening Day at Ebbets Field.  On this Tuesday afternoon we see the teams (the Robins/Dodgers in the foreground and Phillies in the background) lined up on the field just after the raising of the nations flag.

It's fantastic to see the stadium dressed up for the occasion.  It's even better seeing the boys from Brooklyn all wearing their team jackets.  Best yet, we get a full view of their fantastic socks.  The color sequence for them go from blue to red to blue.  I so wish this photo was in color in order to see them in all their glory.

Below are more links to check out:

• Kershaw can't sing.  Via Kelsey at AL.com, "Watch Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw sing Alabama fight song in children's hospital challenge."

When Nick Saban and several Alabama football players were challenged to sing "A Whole New World" at a Dallas children's hospital, they gave quite the performance.

They followed up their karaoke session by challenging the next celebrity visitor – Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw – to sing Alabama's fight song.

• Via Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider, "The steady voice of Rick Honeycutt."

‘“He does such a great job,” said three-time Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw. “I feel pretty fortunate that I’ve had him for as long as I’ve had him. We’ve been working together so long. I kind of feel like he understands what helps me and what doesn’t help me. He’s able to communicate that, which is really tough to find.”

Honeycutt is often credited for the impact he has made on the Dodger pitching staff. His studiousness, ability to filter information and communicate and his desire to tackle challenges are all part of what have made him and those around him successful. They’re all characteristics that go back to his playing days.

• Have I mentioned that David Hood's prospect reports are excellent?  If I haven't, I apologize for the oversight.  He does great work and provides the exact kind of stuff I'm interested in reading when it comes to prospects.  Check out his newest report on Willie Calhoun here. 

If you’ve read this far, you can probably tell that offense is Calhoun’s calling card. The power was expected after the draft, but what surprised was Calhoun’s advanced approach at the plate and feel for hitting. Calhoun has a loose, easy swing with exceptional feel for contact. He has employed two timing mechanisms seen on film, one a toe tap and the other a leg lift, and may vary between the two depending on situation, count, etc.

• Via Minor Leaguer at Bluebird Banter, "Alex Anthopoulos reportedly joins Los Angeles Dodgers' front office."  He was the GM for the Blue Jays.

In numerous interviews, Anthopoulos had mentioned his love for scouting and personally evaluating players. His first job with the Blue Jays was as scouting director.

• Via Nicolas Stellini at Beyond the Boxscore, "Kenta Maeda's reported Dodgers contract is very strange."
• And this wouldn't be an Dodgers winter if there wasn't some concern with Maeda's health.   Via Jerry Crasnick on twitter:

Source says #Dodgers-Kenta Maeda deal is taking a while because of concerns over his elbow. Expected to be official in next day or 2.

— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) January 6, 2016

• On Maeda, per an ESPN report:

The sides agreed to a deal before the new year, but a source told Crasnick that concerns arose over he pitcher's elbow during a physical. A source told ESPN's Jim Bowden that the Dodgers also see an issue with Maeda's shoulder and that a ligament in his elbow is indeed compromised. However, the 27-year-old has been pitching with both issues.

According to a source, the Dodgers know that Maeda will require surgery at some point but feel that signing him is still worth it if they can get three or four useful years out of him.

• Panini released even more preview pics from their upcoming 2015 National Treasures Baseball set.  Check them out here.  Below are pics of an Tommy Lasorda and Corey Seager card.  This set officially comes out on Friday.

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What A Team! Dodgers Come from Behind to Win Again!

Wow!  Just, wow!  There were some fireworks tonight, eh. 

The Dodgers have now won 10 straight road games for the first time In Los Angeles Dodgers history.  In fact, the last time they won 10 straight road game was in 1954, when they were still in Brooklyn.  In case you're keeping track, the franchise record is 12 straight road wins set in 1924. 

And what a great way to establish a new Los Angeles road winning streak record.  They come from behind for the second straight game by taking advantage of a Blue Jay defensive misplay to tie it in the 9th inning.

Then, Dodger power took over in the 10th.  Mark Ellis homered with Uribe on base to take the lead.  A batter later, Yasiel Puig came up and homered for the first time since July 2nd.  To put the game out of reach, Andre Ethier doubled for the 22nd time this season to knock in a couple more runs.

Better yet, seeing a more confident Brandon League on the mound was good to see.  He has now pitched in two consecutive games during pressure situations, and has come away with two straight victories.

Maybe the most symbolic part of tonight was watching an elated Puig in the dugout after hitting his home run.  Watch the video here.  At about the 0:36 second mark you can hear Yasiel scream the immortal phrase "what a team!".  As you'll recall, those are the exact words that rallied the Dodgers during their last World Series Championship in 1988.

Let's hope it's a sign of things to come.

The pic above is via the @Dodgers twitter.

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Blog Kiosk: 7/22/2013 - Dodgers Links -

Check out this great photo of the very first plane owned by a MLB club.  It is a Convair 440 bought by the Dodgers in 1957.  Photo via Michael Beschloss on twitter.

• Vin Scully discusses why he has always prepared thoroughly for a game in a video provided by Comcast Sportsnet.  Check it out.
• Check out a bunch of pics from National Park from yesterday provided by a Redittor named phuckduck in imgur.
• "Matt Kemp injures ankle in win, Dodgers say no DL for now," via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA.  There is video available to view.
• Bill Plunkett with the OC Register shares some quotes from Kemp about the ankle injury on Sulia.

 "It's a little sore, a little swollen but I don't think it's that bad."
Kemp admitted the injury was a result of not running hard. He assumed the play was going to be at first base (and Carl Crawford would beat it out for a hit) and had to speed up and lunge for the plate at the last second.
"It's my fault," Kemp said. "I wasn't running hard. That's an easy hit for CC. ... CC has every right to be mad at me. He would have had another hit if I was running hard.
"The result of my not running hard is he doesn't get that fourth hit and I rolled my ankle. That's all my fault. ... I shouldn't have been in that situation."
Kemp did not have X-rays taken of his ankle and doesn't anticipate needing any.
"The biggest thing will be how it feels waking up tomorrow."

• Dodger Penguin was at the Paul LoDuca signing at Harry's Dugout and shares some photos.
• "Dodgers GM Ned Colletti doesn't see any big trades in the works," via Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times.

"When I call around teams, there's not a lot of names of position players being discussed," Colletti said. "I'm not sure if there's a market out there on the sell side."

• Expos fans came out in force to a Blue Jays game in support of bringing the game back to Montreal, via Anna Fogel at NESN.  Even Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had something to say.

I hope that the efforts of @ExposNation will one day be rewarded with a team in Montreal. #Expos
— Stephen Harper (@pmharper) July 20, 2013

• Joe Student at Busted Coverage has a copy of the room assignment list for the Cleveland Indians and it includes some hilarious pseudonyms. 
• The Giants season really is going to the birds.  Via Fox Sports, seagulls have started to invade AT&T Park.

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From Good to Bad to Worse

What a miserable past week we've experienced. It starts with a battle against our division rival, the Padres, that ends in a embarrassing shellacking. Chris Young, who must have looked like Cy Young to Dodger hitters, out-duels returning pitcher Jason Schmidt on Tuesday. Trevor Hoffman, the man who has recorded a majority of his saves against us, records his 500th Wednesday night. Then, the usually dependable bullpen falters in the last game of the series on Thursday. We get swept and move from 1st place to 3rd place in a blink of an eye.

Next comes the Toronto Blue Jays who are playing less that .500 ball. They have been the subject of rumors indicating that they may be dismantled after a disappointing start to the season. They should have been a team ripe for the picking. Instead, the Dodgers look like a minor league squad. Our offense has disappeared. Our saving grace was a walk-off homerun from Olmedo the Killer Tomato on Friday. A great individual performance from Derek Lowe was wasted in Saturday's game. Sunday's game was difficult to watch as we give up a collective 11 runs.

Jon writes,

"It is interesting that the lowest point of the Dodger season - five losses in six games - comes in transition to some new blood. I'm sure the Dodgers are feeling down, but I'm eager to see what comes. And it's not even that I expect problems to be solved overnight - the kids need all of our patience. It's just that the guys with potential are here, and I'm not one who believes that potential is a dirty word."

Jon is right, I welcome the opportunity to see all of our young farmhands on the field. These kids deserve a chance to play. Colletti's plan to field a team of aging veterans is on the verge of ruin and the only remedy is the farm system that has already paid some dividends. Let them play!

Image Link: Crescent Blues: