Brewers Series Starts on Thursday - Autograph Guest, Pregame Info and Other Stuff!

The next homestand starts on Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers.   Below are some odds and ends for this upcoming homestand; including a couple of veteran Dodgers' coming out to sign for fans on Sunday at Viva Los Dodgers.

The Milwaukee County Stadium Dog will be available for this homestand only against the Brewers at the Extreme Loaded Dog concession areas located on the field, loge and reserve levels. It features a quarter-pound, all-beef hot dog topped with fried cheese curds and county stadium secret sauce.

The sixth 2016 issue of the new Dodger Insider magazine, featuring Corey Seager on the cover, will be available at Dodger Stadium.  (see it on the left).  The Dodgers merged their previously separate Playbill and Dodger Insider magazines into one publication (at least 80 pages per issue) with a new edition available each homestand.  They are distributed at auto gates (one per vehicle) and via Fan Services for those who use alternate transportation. 

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Thursday, June 16th at 7:10 PM
RHP Junior Guerra vs. LHP Scott Kazmir
SNLA / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

2016 Topps Series 2 Baseball - The Dodgers First Pitch Cards - Cotto, Thompson and Lamar

Officially released today is Topps 2016 Series 2 flagship Baseball card set.  I hope to have pics of all the Dodgers cards soon.  So stay tuned.  See a complete checklist here.  In the meantime, check out the three "First Pitch" cards from Dodger Stadium. 

Since 2015 Topps has honored numerous illustrious ballpark guest with their own Topps Baseball card.  Past stars include Jessica Alba, Kelsey Grammer and Jeff Bridges.  This time we have a card for a boxer, a musician and an actor from one of the greatest movie franchises of all time.  Check them out below.  I have also included a video of their pitches.

First Pitch

#FP-11  Miguel Cotto

During a late August series against the Padres boxer Miguel Cotto came out to greet fans at Viva Los Dodgers then threw out the first pitch before the game.  The afternoon was also Hispanic Heritage Night at the stadium.

Weekend Autograph Opportunities: Manny Mota at Hollywood & Highland

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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Dodger legend, Manny Mota, will be meeting and signing autographs for fans at the Grand Opening of the Dodgers Clubhouse Store at Hollywood & Highland on Saturday, June 18th.  Go here for information.  Store is located on Level 3 next to Hot Topic.

Dodgers Clubhouse Store
Hollywood & Highland
6801 HOLLYWOOD BLVD
HOLLYWOOD, CA 90028

I should note that the Hollywood & Highland event page says that Mota will be signing from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, but the below tweet from the Dodgers says it's from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.  I have no idea which is the correct time.  All I can say is that I think it's best to get there early.

Per a tweet by the Dodgers:

Meet Manny Mota from 2-4pm on Saturday at the grand opening of the #Dodgers Clubhouse store @HandHCenter. @NewEraCap pic.twitter.com/QbGyeLVnAi

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 14, 2016

UPDATE: Kike Hernandez will be in Long Beach on Saturday.  Go here for information.

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Blog Kiosk: 6/15/2016 - Dodgers Links - Puig, Venable and Kenta Maeda

Oh noes!

In a season filled to the brim with injuries seeing Kenta Maeda crumble on the field after being struck on his right knee was distressing.  My immediate thought was, "what else could go wrong?"

At the start of the sixth inning Paul Goldschmidt lined a comebacker that was recorded at an exit velocity of 95 MPH.  Unable to catch it on the fly, the ball struck Kenta just below the knee.  Obviously in pain, Maeda still had the presence of mind to grab the errant ball and throw out the All-Start first baseman to record the first out of the inning.  Soon thereafter, he fell to the turf and writhed in agony.  Per Doug Padilla at ESPN:

"He's feeling better actually now," Roberts said. "It was something with a nerve that just lit him up."

"What I know for sure is that it didn't hit the bone," Maeda said through a translator. "But I wasn't able to put any strength or flex it at all, so I was a little bit in shock."

Fortunately, x-rays later on were negative and only revealed a very bad bruise.  Per Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

"It's hard to tell at this point, but I will reevaluate [Wednesday]," Maeda said through his interpreter. "My hope is to make the next scheduled start. What I know for sure is it didn't hit the bone, but I wasn't able to put any strength or weight on it and I was kind of shocked. Among all the hits taken in the past, it hurt the most. "

I don't know if this team could have survived another major injury to its starting rotation.  So I think it's fair to say we dodged a bullet.  BTW, the Dodgers were victorious over the Diamondbacks, 7-4.  They slugged four home runs; including a pair by Joc Pederson.

Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016.  Go here to check out more pics by Jon from yesterdays game.  Below are more links to check:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1938 Johnny Vander Meer pitched his second consecutive no-hitter, beating the Dodgers at Ebbets Field.  He had no-hit the Braves four days prior.  In 1951 Buzzy Bavasi made his first trade as the Dodgers GM.  He received Andy Pfako, Johnny Schmitz, Wayne Terwilliger, and Rube Walker in exchange for Bruce Edwards, Joe Hatten, Eddie Miksis, and Gene Hermanski. In 1996 the Dodgers turned their first triple play in 47 years.  It was against the Braves in the first inning.
• Happy Birthday, Brett Butler and Dusty Baker!

Welcome to the Blue, Will Venable!

This news came out of nowhere.  I know the Dodgers had been without a left-handed bat off the bench since they DFA'd Carl Crawford, but I didn't expect them to fill that void through free agency.  I figured they'd look from within and bring up infielder Micah Johnson or even longtime minor league veteran/journeyman Corey Brown.  Instead, the Dodgers signed former Padres outfielder Will Venable.  Per a Dodgers press release:

The Los Angeles Dodgers today announced the signing of outfielder Will Venable (#25) to a one-year contract.

The 33-year-old has a .251 career batting average with 81 home runs and 307 RBI in 955 big league games during eight seasons with the Padres (2008-2015) and Rangers (2015). The left-handed hitter has appeared at all three outfield positions, with 555 career games (385 starts) in right field, 322 games (252 starts) in center field and 91 games (52 starts) in left field. Venable opened the season with the Phillies’ Triple-A Lehigh Valley club, batting .205 with seven doubles, two homers and 19 RBI in 41 games prior to being released on June 10. Venable was originally selected by the Padres in the seventh round of the 2005 draft out of Princeton University.

To create room on the roster, the Dodgers optioned catcher/infielder Austin Barnes to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Barnes has gone 2-for-19 with an RBI in 10 games with Los Angeles this season.

A Final Roundup of Dodger Draftees from Round 3

I thought I'd finish of my series of blog post on the 2016 Draft by passing along a complete list of Dodgers draftees.  As you know, this past Saturday the Dodgers, as part of day three of the draft, selected 30 more players.  Per a Dodger press release:

On the draft’s third and final day, the Dodgers picked eight players with California ties in University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Lincoln (CA) High School pitcher Dean Kremer (14th round), Golden West College and Fountain Valley (CA) High School graduate Dillon Persinger (17th round), California State University, Long Beach pitcher Chris Mathewson (19th round), University of California, Santa Barbara pitcher James Carter (21st round), University of Southern California and Santa Barbara High School graduate Jeff Paschke (22nd round), Texas Tech University and Yuba City (CA) High School graduate Chandler Eden (25th round), Santa Clara University catcher Stevie Berman (31st round) and Chabot College outfielder Cal Stevenson (36th round).

Berman is the son of former UCLA infielder Gary Berman, who was drafted by the Phillies in the 38th round of the 1986 First-Year Player Draft. Darian Tubbs, the 16th round draft pick and an outfielder from the University of Memphis, is the son of former big league outfielder Greg Tubbs, who played for the Cincinnati Reds in 1993.

Overall, the Dodgers appear to be happy with how the draft went.  Via Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider: