Marlins Series Starts Tomorrow - Scheduled Autograph Sessions, Pregame Info and Other Stuff!

The next homestand starts tomorrow against the Miami Marlins, and several former Dodgers' are scheduled for an autograph session with fans.  Below are the scheduled autograph opportunities and other odds and ends for this upcoming homestand.

For this series only the Extreme Loaded Dog concession will be offering a Cuban Dog that features a quarter-pound all-beef hot dog topped with ham, pulled pork, Swiss cheese, yellow mustard and pickle chips.  The Think Blue BBQ will also offer Caribbean Sticky Ribs - pork spare ribs with pineapple barbeque sauce, ghost pepper and molasses marinade and it will be served with tropical cole slaw.

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Monday, May 11th at 7:10 PM
SNLA / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Monday's game starts at 7:10 PM.  Auto gates open at 4:30 PM, and stadium gates open at 5:00 PM.  It is Cuban Heritage Night at Dodger Stadium.  Folks who ordered a special ticket package in the All You Can Eat Right Field Pavilion or Infield Reserve will get an exclusive Cuban Heritage Dodger T-shirt with your ticket.  See that on the left.  If not already sold out go here for information.

Archbishop José H. Gomez will also throw a first pitch in celebration of the 5th annual Catholic Schools Night at Dodger Stadium. Cuban-American actor, director and Academy Award nominee Andy Garcia will also throw an ceremonial first pitch. Two-time Grammy nominee Karina Nuvo will perform the national anthem. Yasiel Puig will join in the Cuba Night fun by by participating in pregame ceremonies.

Dodger alumnus Lee Lacy will sign autographs in the left-field plaza from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM Pantages will offer a “Motown the Musical” blue carpet photo opportunity in the left-field plaza.

• The Military Hero of the Game is U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Felix Fernandez Jr. of Perris. Fernandez enlisted as an Airman and during his 28 years of service, he has deployed several thousand airmen to various locations in support of Operations Desert Storm, Desert Shield and Enduring Freedom. Fernandez is currently stationed at 452 Force Support Squadron March Air Reserve Base.

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Tuesday, May 12th at 7:10 PM
SNLA / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Tuesday's game starts at 7:10 PM.  Auto gates open at 4:40 PM, and stadium gates open at 5:10 PM.  The first 40,000 fans in attendance will receive a Clayton Kershaw bobblehead.  See it on the left.

“America’s Got Talent” 2014 finalist and Sony Music Masterworks recording artist Emily West will perform the national anthem.  UPDATE:  Three-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Victor Espinoza, a native of Tulancingo, Hidalgo, Mexico, will throw the ceremonial first pitch.  He rode American Pharaoh; who won the Derby last week.

Dodger alumnus Al Ferrara will sign autographs in the left-field plaza from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. KLAC 570 LA Sports’ Petros and Money show will broadcast live from the left-field pavilion plaza from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

• The Military Hero of the Game is U.S. Army E4 Specialist Julio Ramirez of Los Angeles. Ramirez was deployed to South Korea in 2010, where he earned the Superior Unit Award for his efforts in response to the North Korean attack on a border island. Ramirez is currently stationed in Fort Irwin where he works to extend diplomatic courtesies and hospitality to foreign and domestic visiting leaders.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) conducts silent auctions throughout the season featuring more than 25 signed pieces of memorabilia from Dodger players, coaches and alumni. Auctions will take place behind the Vin Scully press box on the club level. The items up for auction on Tuesday include a Clayton Kershaw autographed photo, Joc Pederson autographed baseball and Zack Greinke autographed Dodger jersey. The auction will end at 8:45 p.m.

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Wednesday, May 13th at 4:50 PM
SNLA / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Wednesday's game starts at 4:50 PM.  Auto gates open at 2:20 PM, and stadium gates open at 2:50 PM.

American folk rock artist Lissie will perform the national anthem.

Dodger alumnus Al Downing will sign autographs in the left-field plaza from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

• The Military Hero of the Game is U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Luis Martinez of Salinas. Martinez enlisted in 2006 and in 2009 was assigned to Marine Expeditionary Force Group where he deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Martinez later transferred to 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines in Hawaii, where he completed one Unit Deployment Program to Okinawa, Japan for six months.

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Blog Kiosk: 5/9/2015 - Dodger Links - Pederson's Mom, Frias and the Memorial Day Caps

What an ugly game this must have been.  Featured above is an vintage ACME press photo from a ballgame dated September 2, 1951 that I saw on eBay.  On that afternoon the Brooklyn Dodgers were visiting the Giants at the Polo Grounds for a late season match.

As you can see, several Dodger players are walking off the field (towards the centerfield visiting clubhouse) during the game as fans in the outfield seats throw trash at them - no doubt added even more fuel to the already fiery rivalry.  Below is what is typed on the caption attached to the reverse:

"NAUGHTY BOYS.  New York---A group of Brooklyn Dodgers leave the bench to go to the clubhouse, Sept. 2, after being tossed out of the Brooklyn-New York fracas for arguing and heckling.  Umpire Al Barlick ordered five Brooks off the field.  Giants whipped the Dodgers, 11-2."

Oh boy!  They sure were a rascally bunch of Dodgers' back then.  After all, the "Boys of Summer" had a five game lead over the Giants with about a month left in the season, but were cognizant of the fact that the lead was as high as 13 games just a few weeks before.

Were they razing the ump for ill perceived slights, or were they aware that the proverbial wheels were falling off?

Likely both.  Players always find reasons to blame umpires for their bad times, and as you'll recall this was the year Bobby Thompson made us pay with his pennant clinching home run during the last game.  So, the wheels were falling off.

Oy Vey!  Why do I keep bringing up bad memories like this?

Below are some links to check out:

• The Dodgers and Rockies played some "Rain Delay Tic-Tac-Toe" on twitter during yesterday's rain.  Check it out here.
• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Joc's mom knows the big league ropes."

"Joc and his dad are very different, but I definitely know what will happen to Joc along the way [after] having lived it with Stu," she said. "It's harder to be the mom than the wife. With Stu, I was with him, throwing soft-toss, going to winter ball. Joc doesn't have that. But I know what he's going through."

BTW, Stu is Joc's father who also played pro ball for the Dodgers in the 80's.

• Via Carson Cistulli at FanGraphs, "Confirmed: Carlos Frias Still Has a Curveball."
• This time the Dodgers traded away a player for cash.  Via Jeff Todd at MLB Trade Rumors, "Athletics Acquire Matt Carson From Dodgers."
• Via Ben Lyons at The Players Tribune, "Real Fan Life: Tommy Lasorda."  This is a podcast interview with Tommy.
• Via Dustin Nosler at Dodgers Digest, "Dodgers’ reliance on home run for scoring evident early in the season."

What I’m saying is, the amount of runs the Dodgers are scoring with the home run is something to keep an eye on. If they’re going to be really dependent on home runs for scoring, that could come back to haunt them come playoff time. There were 57 home runs hit in the 2014 postseason and 55 in the 2013 postseason. That’s over the span of a month and with multiple teams. In the playoffs, the level of pitching tends to be much better than over the course of the regular season.

• I couldn't agree more with what Paul Lukas at Uni Watch writes here.  He discusses and expresses disgust at the uniforms and celebrations that occur on Memorial Day in Baseball.  This holiday is about remembering our fallen soldiers, and that should be our only focus on that day.  BTW, all Memorial Day caps will have camouflage brims.  See the Dodgers version on the right.
• Yeah!  I loved the Muppet Show when I was a kid (early 80's), and I distinctly remember being confused and sad when they pulled the show off the air.  Via Mike Ayers at the Wall Street Journal, "The Muppets Are Coming to Prime Time."

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Here are April's Dodger Pride Award Winners - Minor League Players of the Month

The Dodgers just announced their April 2015 Dodger Pride Award Winners.  These awards celebrate the franchises best performers in the Minor Leagues for the month of April.  This year, instead of naming a fielder and pitcher for each Minor League club they are classifying the awards into three categories: “Strong Mind Pitcher of the Month,” “Strong Mind Position Player of the Month” and “Strong Mind Teammate of the Month.”  Per the press release:

The winners of the pitcher and position player of the month are selected based on a strict statistical method incorporating several baseball measureables, including best first-pitch strike percentage, best 1-1 count strike percentage, best overall strike percentage, best walk-strikeout ratio, best swing percentage on strikes and lowest chase rate. The teammate of the month is voted on by players, coaches and staff. 

Quantification is what it's all about. Check out the winners below.

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Strong Mind Pitcher of the Month

RHP Scott Baker- Triple-A Oklahoma City: In three starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City, he went 1-1 with a 1.06 ERA (2 ER/17.0 IP) and struck out 16 against just one walk. The 33-year-old veteran was had great command, throwing 73.4% of his pitches for strikes, ranking near the top in the Dodger minor league affiliates. He would get ahead in the count against most batters he faced, throwing 70.5% of his first pitches for strikes and 66.7% for strikes on a 1-1 count. He led the Pacific Coast league with a 0.65 WHIP and a .169 opposing batting average. The right-hander earned a call-up to Los Angeles and made two starts for the Dodgers, after having his contract selected on April 26.

I am such a flake.  I had failed to make a fantasy Baseball card for Scott Baker when he initially joined the Dodgers 25-man roster a few weeks ago, so this is a bit belated.  Shown above is Baker's card featuring a photo originally taken by Dodger photographer Jon SooHoo/LA DOdgers 2015 and the 1987 Topps Baseball card design.

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Strong Mind Position Player of the Month

(Pic via MiLB)

IF/OF Jarek Cunningham - Single-A Rancho Cucamonga:  The 25-year-old infielder/outfielder topped the California League with 21 RBI and tied for second with three triples in April, while posting a .325 batting average (25-for-77) with 11 runs, six doubles, three triples and a home run in 19 games. Cunningham was swinging at 74.7% of pitches thrown for strike, while ranking second among all Dodger minor leaguers swinging at 75.0% of in-zone fastballs on the first pitch.  Cunningham posted a 14-game hitting streak from April 14-29, hitting .345 with three doubles and 15 RBI during that span. He was originally signed by the Dodgers as a free agent on Jan. 20, 2015.

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Strong Mind Teammate of the Month

(pic via MiLB)

IF/OF Mike Ahmed – Single-A Great Lakes: The Springfield, Massachusetts, native batted .290 (20-for-69) with five doubles, one triple, four RBI and seven steals in 17 games. He posted an eight-game hitting streak from April 12-20, batting .333 with three doubles and seven runs during that span. The 23-year-old was originally selected by the Dodgers in the 20th round of the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft out of the College of the Holy Cross.

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Duke Snider did some Pitching - Pitching Ovaltine

Lights, Cameras, Action!

During the Golden Age of Baseball you would often find the brightest stars of the game promoting every product imaginable on print, radio and television.  Fortunately, much of those efforts remain memorialized as collectibles from the period.  There are cardboard ad signs, pins and cards of your favorite players available for just about every consumer good on the market.  Best yet, some of the television commercials from the period can now be seen on YouTube.

Featured here is something that melds both the memorabilia aspect with an actual television commercial that you can still watch today. I recently came across an old copy of an advertising agency storyboard for a commercial that featured Dodger great Duke Snider selling Ovaltine powdered chocolate milk on eBay, and knew I had to share it here.  Check it out above and below.

The commercial features Captain Midnight, originally a radio serial superhero, giving a young lad a tour of the "Secret Squadron Hall of Fame."  The kid is introduced to such sports greats as "Crazylegs" Hirsh of the LA Rams, champion swimmer Florence Chadwick and finally slugger Duke Snider.

Unfortunately, it's tough to tell what exactly the storyboard and attached script says, but we can watch the final product via Classic TV Commercials on YouTube.  Check it out below.

Video Link:

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Blog Kiosk: 5/8/2015 - Dodger Links - Kapler on Intangibles, Puig's Rehab and Grandal's Big Day

What a monster day at the plate for Yasmani Grandal.  Yesterday he went 4 for 4 with two - three run home runs, two walks and eight RBI's.  He did most of his damage when the Dodgers were already well on their way to a victory - his two homers came in the 8th and 9th innings.  Nevertheless, it was a nice break-out for the young catcher.  Heck, it was an legendary game overall.  Per Aaron Gleeman at Hardball Talk,

– He’s the first catcher with two home runs, eight RBIs, and six times on base in a game since Walker Cooper of the Reds in 1949.

Yasmani also had this to say, via Andrew Wagner at ESPN.com:

“It’s a new team and I want to do good,” Grandal said. “I understand that last year, RBIs wasn’t a big thing for me. I wanted to get those RBIs so I was pressing a lot. Every time I got a good hit, it was straight at guys. I guess it was a good move to change the lineup a little bit.”

The photo above of Alex Guerrero congratulating Grandal was shared by the @Dodgers on twitter. Below are some more links to check out:

• Via Gabe Kapler on his blog Kaplifestyle, "Makeup."  He addresses the desire to measure heart.

Scouting is hard. We, as an industry, simply haven’t figured out how to appropriately measure and value intangibles. We’re still learning, and I have no doubts that a clever individual will create a method to do so. Right now, quantifying those intangibles remains elusive.

• Via Brian Melley at AP, "Bryan Stow's attacker goes from smirking to begging for judge's mercy."  He ended up receiving three additional years to his eight year sentence for the federal gun charges.
• Yasiel Puig went hitless in four at-bats during his first rehab assignment in Rancho Cucamongo last night, but he did make a new friend via a tweet from @RCQuakes.

#BestFriendGoals pic.twitter.com/JQ3KIRi4VA

— RC Quakes Baseball (@RCQuakes) May 8, 2015

• The item below is absolutely fantastic, and I'm leaving it here for posterity.  Featured is a circa 1880's Baseball themed bowling pins set sold through RSL Auctions.  Per the auction description:

Probably by Selchow & Righter American - Circa 1880’s This rare and exquisite American toy was found recently at a flea market in northern England. It is absolutely mint condition and it had been stored for more than a century in its original box. It seems that the ball players have rarely strayed from the box because the lithography is as bright today as the day they were sold. This rare set of figural ten pins is particularly significant because they depict men playing baseball; a favorite American spectator sport. There are only a handful of other known sets and a couple of isolated figures. And none of those retain this extraordinary quality. This set also includes three original wooden balls that would have been rolled to knock down the figures. The chromo-lithographed label for the lid of the box shows a ballgame in progress. The graphics are nothing less than AMAZING. A second label on the side of the box reads “One Piece Base Ball, S & R (Selchow and Righter) Ten Pins”.

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A Vintage Pin from a Long Forgotten Dodger Minor League Club - the Odessa Dodgers

Collecting isn't all about autographs, Baseball cards and bobbleheads.  Sometimes it's about history and finding treasures that reflect the past.  For instance, featured above is a vintage pin from a minor league club I'm sure most of you have never heard of.  Heck, before running into this item a few days ago on eBay I had no idea this former Dodger farmclub ever existed. 

The above pin is for the Class D Odessa Dodgers of the short-lived Sophomore League.  A Class D club is akin to Rookie Ball (the Ogden Raptors) or low Single-A (the Great Lakes Loons) leagues that exist today.  The Dodgers resided in Odessa, Texas for only two seasons, from 1959 to 1960, before moving to Artesia, New Mexico for the 1961 season.  After that season the league disbanded.  BTW, the Odessa team played at American Legion Park in Odessa, and this facility still exist today.  Check out photos here.

As for any future Dodgers' who played in Odessa, unfortunately, that cupboard is rather barren.  Only one future Major Leaguer came through there, and he didn't even begin his Major League career in Los Angeles. 

His name was Dick Smith, and he absolutely raked in Odessa during the 1959 season.  He collected 24 doubles, 16 triples, 18 HR, 105 RBI, 15 SB and recorded a .332 batting average.  Later on, he was sold to the Mets (along with Norm Sherry) in 1962.  Then spent the next couple of years bouncing between the Mets and the Buffallo Bisons (their AAA club) before being traded back to the Dodgers for pitching prospect Larry Miller in 1964.  Although he failed to get a hit in seven plate appearances while wearing Blue, Smith did receive his very own Dodger Baseball card courtesy of Topps.  Check it out below (1965 Topps - #579).

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