Weekend Autograph Opportunities: Juan Uribe and Yimi Garcia

Here are this weekends autograph opportunities and events throughout the Southland. As always, be sure to check the Blue Heaven Calendar for other events (a link can always be found on the tab at the top of this page, just left of center), and always confirm with the establishment. Everything is subject to change.  Please email me with any tips about upcoming events in Southern California.  As the rest of the week progresses I'll update this post with other events (if there are any) as I become aware of them.  Also, I don't always list every event below, so be sure to check my Calendar.  I always try to favor free signing events over paying events.  Click on any pic to embiggen.

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Juan Uribe!  He'll be signing autographs at a public event for the first time this coming Saturday at Manuel's Original El Tepeyac Cafe in the City of Industry  The signing will be from 10AM to 12PM.  Go here for more information.

• $60 for small items: balls,8x10-11x17 and mini helmets
• $80 for large items: bats, bases, f/s helmets,jerseys and game used
• $10 inscriptions
• $20 Giants/Whitesox WS inscriptions

Manuel's Original El Tepeyac Cafe
13131 Crossroads Parkway South
City of Industry, CA 91746

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Dodger reliever Yimi Garcia will also be signing autographs on Saturday.  He will be at Valley Sports Cards in Tarzana.  Go here for more information.

Valley Sports Cards
19640 Ventura Blvd
Tarzana, CA 91356

UPDATE!!!: There is an important change to this signing.  They have moved the time to 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Noon.   Go here for more info.

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Blog Kiosk: 5/13/2015 - Dodger Links - Justin Turner, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Yasiel Puig

Goodness gracious!  There are so many story lines from last night's game.  I could rattle off about the fantastic start by Mike Bolsinger; who went 5.2 innings, gave up five hits, a lone home run and struck out three.  Via an AP story at ESPN:

"I just tried to put myself in a good position to stay up here," Bolsinger said. "I didn't have my fastball command that I wanted so I just threw a lot of curveballs and sliders and was able to get some groundouts."

Or, how about that home run Bolsinger gave up to Mike Stanton that cleared Dodger Stadium - only the fifth time that's ever been done.  Via Mark Saxon at ESPNLosAngeles.com:

"That's the hardest ball I've ever seen hit against me … well, I take that back. His last ball he hit against me was probably the hardest ball," Bolsinger said. "You've got to just look back and go, ‘That's awesome,' and just go on with the game."

Then there's the offensive explosion that saw the team record 21 hits to earn the Dodgers 22nd win of the season.  Via Joe Frisaro and Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

"We did a good job forcing [Haren] to throw the ball in the strike zone and kept the pressure on him," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "We did a good job of passing the baton."

But I am really enjoying the recent resurgence of the once-maligned outfielder Andre Either.  He is proving his naysayers wrong by showing that he still has something left in the tank.  Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider:

Ethier pushed his 2015 OPS to 1.021 and has six consecutive hits dating back to Monday. Ethier holds the Los Angeles Dodger record (and is tied for the all-time franchise mark) with 10 consecutive hits in August 2012.

“It’s a good feeling,” Ethier said. “You’re doing what you want to do — every at-bat, you want to get a hit. But more importantly, it’s just keeping this thing going and building off that momentum from last night.”

Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015.  Go here to check out more photos of yesterday's game from Jon.  Below are some links to check out:

• What's better than a Dodger story told by Vin Scully?  How about a story told by Vin about the great Satchel Paige.  Watch it here via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider.
• Via Eno Sarris at FanGraphs, "Justin Turner, Marlon Byrd, and an Education in Hitting." 

After years of hearing about letting the ball travel deep in the zone, and giving the ball time, and staying back, Turner didn’t quite take to the advice right away. He challenged Byrd, but Byrd got him right back. “Pull up your film from all the balls that you’ve driven, and look where your contact point was,” the outfielder told the infielder. “Even though I thought I was backing the ball up, when I looked at the balls I was driving, they were out in front of the plate,” Turner admitted. “It really started making sense.”

• Yeoman's work.  Redditor r/siber222000 translated a recent Korean article that includes an interview with Hyun-Jin Ryu regarding his recent shutdown.  Check it out here.

Q. Was it because of the pain? or was it because of the decline in fastball speed?

-It was more of an extended stiffness that lasted couple of days rather than pain which caused a bit of decline in my fastball. The second bullpen session was more uncomfortable than the first bullpen session (which he threw 25 fastballs).

• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Puig's rehab stopped after setback."  Oy Vey!

"I don't know about it starting all the way over," Mattingly said. "It wasn't necessarily good news, but I don't feel we're starting all the way over. The MRI shows a strain and we know there is one."

• Wow!  This is fantastic.  John Thorn, MLB's official historian, is sharing photos from an 1880 book about the Worcester Base Ball Club's season that includes cartoon-like engravings.  It is from the only copy known to exist, and has never been reproduced or shared with the public before.  Check it out here.  Below is my favorite.

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Remembering Eric Gagne - Game Used Save Streak Glove on Auction

Do you still smile with joy when the phrase "game over" is heard?  Did you own one of those goofy t-shirts with a fake blue beard hanging off the front portrait of our record breaking closer?  Wasn't it a marvel that for several years the most important, and most exciting, part of any game was that last inning? 

Everyone would stand.  Your voice grew hoarse with every pitch thrown.  He'd whirl and spin his right leg around as if it were one of the bats that failed to connect.  And if you were lucky you'd see a little hop after he released a pitch - that's when you knew he threw a good one.

Eric Gagne was a steamrolling locomotive - coming out of nowhere to capture the imaginations of every True Blue Dodger fan in the country.  When he strolled to the mound you knew... just knew... something remarkable would happen.  And oftentimes something incredible did happen.

For three seasons, from 2002 to 2005, he was the best closer the game had ever seen.  He recorded 84 consecutive save opportunities and became the fastest pitcher to ever record 100 saves in his career.  Eric Gagne was fantastic, and regardless of the stain PED's eventually put on him, I will always remember fondly what he accomplished in Blue.

Featured in this post is a collection of items coming directly from Eric Gagne that are currently available for sale through Paragon Auctions.  Below is his game-worn glove that he wore for much of his save streak - from save #1 to 2004.  Check out the auction item here.

It is sign and inscribed, as you can see below.

Also available are his three All-Star Rings that span from 2002 to 2004:

(Auction Link: 2002)

(Auction Link: 2003)

(Auction Link: 2004)

And since I'm in a nostalgic mood I found a fun video that memorializes his streak.  Watch it below.

Video Link:

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Blog Kiosk: 5/12/2015 - Dodger Links - Olivera, Dee Gordon and the Ugliest Dodger Cap Ever Made

This moment just warmed my heart.

Former Dodger second baseman Dee Gordon came into town for the first time since being traded over the winter and received an overwhelming standing ovation from the fans.  Go here to watch a video of it.  He has gone through many ups and downs in his short Major League career, and has seemingly persevered through it all.  Ever conscious of his failings, he did what was necessary to rework his game, and in turn was reborn into the leagues most valuable lead-off hitter.

Of course, I could give you some fancy stats that indicate that his hot start this year isn't sustainable (duh!), but that would be gratuitous and ultimately irrelevant.  The only thing that really matters is that one of the "good guys" in this league is making good, and I can do nothing but continue to root for his continued success.

The above photo was taken by Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015.  Go here to check out more photos of yesterday's game from him.  Below are some more links to check out:

• Via Mark Saxon at ESPNLosAngeles.com, "The plan for Kenley Jansen."
• Mike Bolsinger, who was pitching in AAA for the Dodgers, is now in Los Angeles (via a tweet from David Vassegh) and is slated to pitch tonight's game.  Chris Heisey has been optioned to AAA.
• Via Earl Bloom at MLB.com, "Dodgers awaiting results of Puig's MRI." 
• Here's some interesting news about a couple of recent Cuban Dodger signees, via a tweet from Bill Plunkett.  He is expected to be in Los Angeles soon to have a physical and finalize his contract.  I wonder if it is reasonable to expect either of them to wear Blue this season.

Both #Dodgers Cuban signees IF Hector Olivera and RHP Pablo Fernandez have received visas. Cleared to travel to US. Expected later this week

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) May 11, 2015

• Clearly, the ugliest Dodger cap ever made.  Via Paul Lukas at UniWatch, an exclusive look at this years MLB 4th of July caps.

This is the kind of American flag cap you’d find at a gas station (right next to the cheap sunglasses and the air freshener thingies), but with a team logo slapped on the front. It’s tempting to call it self-parody, but it feels two or three levels more absurd than that. Come on, people — have some dignity out there.

• This story at NJ.com has me very uneasy; "Jets' salutes honor N.J. National Guard but cost taxpayers."  The idea that the military/National Guard needed to pay a sports franchise to honor those who serve is a bit unseemly.  Ya know what I mean?  Do other teams in other sports receive compensation from tax payers for their "heroes of the game?"

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I don't Know What You're Doing, Van Lingle Mungo

I am afraid for you, Van Lingle Mungo... 'Cause what I see here is a frightening thing.

Featured above is a vintage ACME press photo from eBay, dated to Spring Training in 1937, of the infamous Dodger hurler Van Lingle Mungo performing some kind of acrobatic exercise over what looks like a camera tripod.  Via the caption attached to the reverse:

"BROOKLYN PITCHER EXERCISING.  Clearwater, Fla., Mar.7---Photo shows Van Lingle Mungo, Dodger pitcher, working out at Clearwater, Fla., where the Brooklyn Team is in spring training."

I just don't know what to think.  Is this some kind of newfangled routine popular with that decades guru exercise nuts?  Heck, did such a thing exist then?  Maybe this is the 1930's version of Pilates or some other crazy fad that has long since disappeared from our collective psyches. 

I'm hoping that this is just some-kind-of perspective camera trick because if it's not then those Dodgers of yesteryear were certifiably insane... Which, BTW, might explain the existence of the moniker "Daffiness Boys."  

Daffy indeed, eh?

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Blog Kiosk: 5/11/2015 - Dodger Links - Kershaw, Puig and Pederson

This might be the best photo I've ever seen of our ace pitcher.  Yesterday morning, in honor of Mother's Day, @MLB tweeted out the above pic of a young Clayton with Mother Kershaw.

Unfortunately, it didn't provide the pitcher with much luck as he sought to capture his 100th career victory for the fourth time on Sunday.  Under unseasonably arctic conditions in Colorado he appeared to be well on his way towards that victory.  Then, the fifth inning came along to ruin it all.  A series of five scattered singles and a walk allowed five runs to cross the plate.  Thankfully, the Dodgers offense came into gear soon thereafter to take home the win.  Via Ken Gurnich at MLB.com:

"Fortunately, we got the win when I didn't pitch that great," he said. "I felt OK, but I'm not getting the results again. Definitely not up to par for what I expect and what the team expects."

Below are some more links to check out:

• Left Field Pavilion made a fantastic 1954 Bowman fantasy card of Jackie Robinson.  Check it out here.
• Via Mark Saxon at ESPNLosAngeles.com, "Yasiel Puig to have MRI on Monday after aggravating left hamstring injury."

"That's what those games are for, to tell you if a guy's ready," Mattingly said. "We found out after he pulled up and felt something that he's just not ready. It doesn't mean it's a total setback or anything. From our standpoint, I don't think it's a monumental thing or it's blown up or anything."

• Via Zach Helfand at the LA Times, "Dodgers' Joc Pederson has the power, but he's still the rookie."

"I get a hard time for about everything," (Pederson) said.

The ribbing is part of life as a rookie, but also a way to ensure Pederson doesn't focus too much on home runs at the expense of quality at-bats.

• BTW, to make up for Saturday's rainout the Dodgers and Rockies will play a doubleheader on June 2nd, via a tweet from the @Dodgers:

The Dodgers and Rockies will play a day-night doubleheader June 2 (12:10 p.m. PT/5:40 p.m. PT) at Colorado to make up Saturday’s rainout.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 10, 2015

• Via Bill Plunkett at the OC Register, "Dodgers' Brandon Beachy changing his delivery to avoid more elbow problems."

“I had Tommy John once. I followed everything you’re supposed to do and it happened again. It might have been bad luck. But it didn’t make sense to me to do it all over again the same way just hoping it was bad luck.”

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