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

The next homestand starts tomorrow against the Milwaukee Brewers, 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.

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Friday, July 10 at 7:10 PM
SNLA / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Tonight's game starts at 7:10 PM.  Auto gates open at 4:40 PM, and stadium gates open at 5:10 PM.  It is Friday Night Fireworks, so fans will be able to go down onto the field after the game to watch the spectacle. The theme for the evening will be 70's music.  Go here for information about future firework themes.

The first 40,000 fans in attendance will receive a Special Olympics World Games commemorative Pin.  Prior to the game, the Special Olympics Unified Relay Across America will culminate at Dodger Stadium.

Local musician and lyric soprano Gretchen Anderson will perform the national anthem as part of Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium. Pregame entertainment will also include DJ Adam in the right-field plaza and a strolling magician in the left-field plaza from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Dodger alumnus Lee Lacy will sign autographs in the left-field pavilion from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• The Military Hero of the Game is U.S. Coast Guard and Marine Corps Petty Officer Second Class Brian Escamilla.
• 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 Friday include a Kenley Jansen autographed photo, Yasmani Grandal autographed baseball and Howie Kendrick autographed Dodger jersey. The auction will end at 8:45 p.m.

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

Saturday'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 Juan Uribe bobblehead.  See it on the left.

Anderson da Silva, mixed martial artist and former UFC middleweight champion will throw the first pitch. Sophie Simmons, daughter of rock legend Gene Simmons, positive body image activist, fashion designer, actress and singer, will perform the national anthem.

Pregame entertainment will also include pop band Everett Coast in the left-field plaza, singer Michael O. in the right-field reserve level, DJ Adam in the right-field reserve plaza and a strolling yo-yo artist the left-field reserve plaza from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Dodger alumnus Billy Ashley will sign autographs in the left-field pavilion from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• The Military Hero of the Game is U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Eric Quintanar.

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Sunday, July 12th at 1:10 PM
SNLA / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Sunday's game starts at 1:10 PM.  Auto gates open at 10:40 AM, and stadium gates open at 11:10 AM.  The first 15,000 ticketed kids 14-years old or younger will receive a Kids' hamper.  Check it out on the left.

Viva Los Dodgers will be at the historic 76 station beginning at 11:00 a.m. and will celebrate Cuban Heritage. Viva Los Dodgers will feature  photos with fans from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. with All-Star catcher Yasmani Grandal. Outfielder Alex Guerrero will take photos with fans from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Outfielder Yasiel Puig will greet fans on stage at 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and take part in a Q&A session alongside reliever Paco Rodriguez.  musical entertainment will be provided by The Arsenio Rodriguez Project and Buena Onda. Dodger scout Mike Brito will also partake in a meet and greet with fans at 12:00 p.m.

Also exclusive to Viva Los Dodgers will be the Cuban Dog.  The Cuban Dog features a quarter-pound all-beef hot dog topped with ham, pulled pork, Swiss cheese, yellow mustard and pickle chips and will be available at Viva Los Dodgers while supplies last.

Cuban music mogul and 19-time Grammy award winner Emilio Estefan will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.  The Dodgers will present a community hero award to the Gavina family at Viva Los Dodgers. Gavina Coffee, a Cuban-owned business, has been a coffee tradition in Los Angeles since 1967. Cuban-American Alejandro Mayorkas, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, will throw Sunday’s honorary first pitch.

Singer, actress, R&B Divas L.A. star and “X-Factor” finalist Stacy Francis will perform the national anthem.

Dodger alumnus Derrel Thomas will sign autographs in the left-field pavilion from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

• The Military Heroes of the Game are U.S. Army E-7 Nicholas Cottrill and U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Pastor McGill.
• 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 Sunday include a Don Mattingly autographed photo, Orel Hershiser autographed baseball and Justin Turner autographed Dodger jersey. The auction will end at 2:45 p.m.

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A Rarity - 1860 Brooklyn Atlantics Base Ball Card at Heritage Auctions

Not exactly related to the Dodger franchise... But, close enough.

After all, the very first Dodger team in 1884 was named the Atlantics in honor of his historic team.

Featured here is a extremely rare CDV of the 1860 Brooklyn Atlantics Base Ball Club available thought Heritage Auctions during their National Sports Collectors Convention auction.  It is thought to be the only pre-Civil War Baseball team card.  Per the auction description:

Seminal artifact ranks with the most significant mementos of the sport's infancy ever to surface in the collecting community, quite possibly the only team baseball card to be printed before the first drop of blood was spilled in the American Civil War. The subject is the Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn, considered the first Champion of our National Pastime, as well as the sport's first dynasty. The Atlantics served as a founding member of the sport's first organized league, the National Association of Base Ball Players, and held the Championship from 1859 through the war-shortened season of 1861 before finally surrendering supremacy to archrival Eckford of Brooklyn in 1862.

The ball players featured are said to be Folkert Rapelje Boerum, catcher; Matty O'Brien, pitcher; John Price, John Oliver and Charlie Smith in the infield; Dickey Pearce, short, and Hamilton, Peter O'Brien and Archibald McMahon, in the outfield. 

It is also noteworthy that Dickey Pearce is credited with inventing the bunt (I had written about Pearce previously, here), and that really is Boerum's real full name.  BTW, the card was passed down from generation to generation by the family of Archibald McMahon, an outfielder with the club, and comes directly from them.

Early estimates indicate a potential sale price of $50,000.00, but is likely to sell for much more than that. 

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Blog Kiosk: 7/9/2015 - Dodger Links - Draft Pick Signings, Kam Uter and Pederson

I don't want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I don't want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day

(Todd Rundgren)

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

• Via an AP story at ESPN, "Don Newcombe resting at home after hospital stay."
• Via a tweet by Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, the Dodgers have just signed two of their top draft picks - Josh Sborz and Philip Pfeifer.

Dodgers have officially signed draftees @JoshuaTree_27 and @pfeifdawg22.

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) July 8, 2015

• Via William Boor at MLB.com, "Uter brings intensity from football days to the diamond."

Dodgers prospect Kam Uter had to give up his football career to begin his professional baseball career, but he didn't abandon everything he learned on a football field.

"I didn't bring my football mentality last year, but this year I'm bringing my football mentality," Uter said. "I don't care who it is [that I'm facing], in football you don't care who is guarding you, you see a big linebacker across the middle and you're not scared. I'm bringing a new intensity on the mound now and I hype myself up just like I'm in a football game. I bring a lot more intensity now."

• Four Dodger players make Baseball America's "Midseason Top 50 Prospects" list; including Corey Seager at #1.  Check out the list here.
• As you surely know by now, Joc Pederson will participate in the All-Star Game Home Run Derby.  Hopefully, he does better than our representative from last year.  Below is the announced bracket for the contest.

• Night Owl Cards shares with us "10 Awesomely Awful Airbrushed Dodgers" cards.
• Panini America is hosting a wrapper redemption program featuring limited edition cards during the upcoming National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago, and they include the Clayton Kershaw and Joc Pederson cards below.  Go here to see more preview pics.
  

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Welcome to the Blue, Chin-Hui Tsao!

This is a rather incredible feat.  A ballplayer who last played in the Majors some eight years ago will now step into the Dodger clubhouse.  It has just been announced, although anticipated all day, that right-handed relief pitcher Chin-Hui Tsao will join the club today.  Additionally, Josh Ravin also joins him.  Ian Thomas and Yimi Garcia have been sent to AAA.

Via a Dodger press release:

Tsao will be making his first appearance in the big leagues since 2007 and has gone 2-1 with five saves and a 3.86 ERA in 21 games this year with Oklahoma City. In 50 MLB games (eight starts) with the Rockies (2003-05) and Dodgers (2007), Tsao went 4-4 with four saves with a 5.40 ERA.

As you will recall, the Dodgers took a gamble on Tsao by inviting him to Spring Training this year - even while knowing about his involvement in a game fixing scheme in Taiwan in 2009 and a reported banning from the Chinese Professional Baseball League.  Still, he was said to be able to throw in the mid-90's, and that was probably good enough to give him a look.  Word is the commissioner gave the Dodgers the go ahead to sign him.

Fortunately, the Dodgers bet appears to be paying off.  He was fantastic during the Spring, and earned a spot within the Dodgers system.  Yasmani Grandal said this about him in March, via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

"First time I ever saw him," said catcher Yasmani Grandal. "He gives me a lot of options. He has a back-door breaking ball. And I didn't know he threw that hard."

In 25 appearances in Oklahoma City and Tulsa he struck out 39 batters in 30.2 innings of work.  He had also walked only five batters total.  If he maintains these kind of numbers while in Los Angeles he just might become a fixture on the club.

In celebration of Tsao's arrival to the Dodgers I made the above fantasy card for him.  I used a photo taken by Jon SooHoo during Spring Training and the 1972 Topps Baseball card design.

Below are his career stats, via Baseball-Reference:

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Dodger Goodies at Goldin's NSCC Auction

Goldin Auctions is holding their own National Sports Collectors Convention auction and it includes a couple of notable Dodger memorabilia items.  Check them out below.

Below is a large (64" x 222") three panel triptych oil painting by Andy Jurinko.  Go here to check out the auction and more details pics. As you can see, it features an afternoon game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium, and represents an actual game played on May 30, 1987.  Unfortunately, the Dodgers got shut out that day, 3-0, by Kevin Gross.  BTW, Orel Hershier started the game and is shown on the mound in the painting.  Also Luis Aguayo is at the plate and Juan Samuel is on the on-deck circle.

Per the auction description:

The painter, Andy Jurinko, a lifelong basebball fan, who died of pancreatic cancer on Feb. 14, 2011, was a noted sports artist. His paintings are in great demand by fine art collectors, have been showcased in galleries and museums across the country, including the Baseball Hall of fame in Cooperstown, Ohio, on the covers of more than 20 books, and have been featured in such publications as Sports Illustrated, The New York Magazine, Barron's and the New York Times.

I thought this next it was really cool.  Here is the Brooklyn Cyclones jersey worn by Dodger great Duke Snider when he threw out a first pitch on July 24, 2002.  It has been signed.  Check out the auction here.

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Weekend Autograph Opportunities: Pedro Baez on Thursday

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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Here's a free autograph appearance featuring Dodger reliever Yimi Garcia Pedro Baez tomorrow, Thursday, July 9th from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM at a Walmart in Baldwin Park.  Go here for information.

UPDATE:  Yimi has just been sent down to AAA, so I am uncertain if he'll be here to sign on Thursday.

UPDATE II:  According to the Dodgers twitter account Pedro Baez will take Yimi's place at Walmart.

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