July 11, 2008 Burbank, California

Today I met Joe Beimel at a Staples Location here in Southern California. He was scheduled to sign autographs at 12pm. I got there 1 hour before and I thought I was going to see a big crowd but only about 15 people were in front of me. That's cool for me. Once it was my turn to meet him, I gave him a couple of pictures for him to sign. On the table, there was a Joe Beimel Bobblehead. I assume it's the one that they will give away at Dodger Stadium on August 12 ! The Beimel bobblehead looks good. Sometimes these bobbleheads look bad and don't even look like the players. But this is one does look like Beimel. While he signed my items, I told him they did a good job with the bobblehead. He agreed. I grabbed the bobblehead from the table and asked him for a picture. He said sure and I noticed a employee looking funny at me. Probably thought I was taking the bobblehead home. Overall, cool experience. Not alot of people. Got 3 items signed and got out of there quickly. Thanks Joe & Staples I guess. :)

P.S.

I was going to ask Joe if he was going to invite Troy from West Virginia a invite to L.A. for his Bobblehead night. lol But I totally forgot.

Peace!

Roberto 

Russell is a All-Star

Bad News: Russell Martin is not going to be a N.L Starter this year. Thanks to the greatest fans in baseball (Tommy Lasorda says it) Dodger fans didn't vote for him. I'm a big Dodgers fan, but I always disagreed with Lasorda. I did vote for him but I guess not enough of people did. Martin was a starter last year and with good numbers this year, I thought he would be a easy choice for fans to select him. I was wrong. Geovany Soto of the Chicago Cubs had a fast start and the Chicago fans went crazy in voting. They voted so much that Kosuke Fukudome was selected by fans to be a starting outfielder ! What a disgrace. More on that later. Let's compare Martin vs Soto. Stats as of today. 

Martin  .305  9 HR 42 RBI's

Soto     .289 14 HR 52 RBI's

Martin is batting 14 points higher than Soto and since Martin was the starter last year and is known more than Soto, I would think Martin had a great chance to be the starter. But Soto started the month of April by hitting .341 with 5 HR's and 20 RBI's. With that hot start, the nation noticed and he got the votes. Soto deserves it. He is having a great year but I'm disapointed in Dodger fans for not supporting Martin. The good news is that Martin was selected to be a N.L. reserve.  Now, about Fukudome... Why is he a starter ? I know the fans of the Cubs went crazy, but why so much support for Fukudome ? Or was the whole country of Japan voting for him ? His stats as of today: .287 B.A. 7 HR's 35 RBI's Why is he a starter!! ? That's funny. Well not as funny like reading the Cubs media guide. According the guide, it says the way to pronounce Fukudome is "foo-koo-DOUGH-may" I thought it was Fuc*-a-dome" ?

Autograph Hunter

The N.Y. Times had a nice article about a old-time fan that got into autograph collecting back in the 1930's.  

Dodgers having great chemistry

According to Tony Jackson of the Daily News, the Dodgers are having fun.  "We're having fun," Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp said. "Everybody is pulling for each other. Even when we get (behind), our mood never drops. We know we can come back and win the game, hopefully. I think winning helps a team come together more. When you win, it just changes the personality of a team." How nice, "we're having fun" Now can you get on a winning streak and win this terrible division ?

Video Time! 

A reporter tracked down James Loney when the Dodgers played in New York last month. I guess it was done at a hotel where Loney was staying. I don't know who the reporter is. The light in the video is terrible but it's worth watching it.  

Today I met Reggie Willits. He signed the same Angels Mini-Helmet that I have been getting autographed for current Angels Players. Signing was scheduled at 11:30 am Guess where ? Yeah at a AT&T Location! I guess those Angels players are going to all the AT&T locations. lol :) I got there around 10:15 am Not alot of people were there. Then around 11 am it started to get full. Willits didn't talk much. Just signed the items and went to the next item. My Wife got him to sign 2 items. I only got him to sign 1 item. I guess I was scared since he refused to sign 2 items to another fan.

 On to the next one! Peace :)

 June 29, 2008 Los Angeles and Rancho Cucamonga, California

   (Click Pictures to enlarge)

The mini helmet that 8 players signed and the ball that Jack McDowell signed with the incription '93 A.L. CY - Jerry Reuss gave me this postcard...

Peace!

Roberto  

We almost swept the Anaheim Angels. My prediction was that the Dodgers were going to get swept. I guess I should blog just about autographs. Which will be my next entry...

Today's game vs Angels

Time: 1:10 p.m.
TV: KCAL
Derek Lowe (5-7, 4.05 ERA) vs. Angels John Lackey (5-1, 1.65)

Today's game vs Angels

Time: 7:10 p.m.
TV: KCAL
RHP Chad Billingsley (6-7, 3.64 ERA) vs. Angels RHP Jered Weaver (7-7, 4.56)

Mr. Torre, can you just play Andre Ethier every day ? Great win last night. I never thought we would beat Joe Saunders. Let's get another W !

Los Angeles Dodgers vs Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of United States of America of North America of Planet Earth.....wow, I got tired. That's the name, no ?

MLB & Dodgers Notes -June 27, 2008

Clayton Kershaw is still looking for win # 1 I'm trying to forget about losing 2 out 3 games against the Chicago White Sox. Joe Torre after the game "Today, I thought he was fine," Torre said. "He allowed two runs, that's a winnable game. He walked a couple guys, but it's all magnified when we don't score runs." I agree, the kid was a little bad but like Torre said, with this offense, it's more scrutinized. "I'm just getting by, pitching mediocre," Kershaw said. "You want command of all three pitches. Lately it's been one or two." Good luck next time Clayton. Like Tony Jackson said, it looks like it's going to be a long summer. Hopefully we can make some noise against those Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles of California of United States of America of North America of Planet Earth.

Tonights's game vs Angels

Picture of the day

Since he is starting for the Dodgers tonight, this pix goes to Chan Ho Park. Who tried to karate kick Angels pitcher Tim Belcher back in 1999 What an embarrasement. Oh wait...not as embarrasing as those Angels uniforms! (Click on pix to enlarge) Oh wait...another discovery, I just noticed Mo Vaughn is on the pix. He got a fat contract and dissapeared. By the way, I did try to find a video of this incident but I had no luck. I couldn't find it anywhere.  

City of Angels

According to Ken Gurnick we are ready for the Angels. Uhhh we are ? Angels Catcher Mike Napoli says the freeway series is no big deal. I used to say that before. I mean the Angels are....well the Angels. Our rivals is the Giants. But they suck and the Angels have been beating us alot lately. It's a big deal for me. Lots of articles on Angels Manager Mike Scioscia. The former Dodger is in my opinion one of the best managers in Baseball. It feels bad seeing him in a Angels Uniform. But like I told him before he will always be a Dodger. Read a entry (if you haven't) I had back in April when I met Scioscia.  MLB.com has a nice story about Mike. "He's one of the best in the business," says the Phillies' Charlie Manuel. "I've talked to him a lot. I'm very impressed with his approach to the game." Scioscia thinks this team could be better than his 2002 champions. "We haven't even reached our peak yet," he says. "Our lineup is as deep as it's been in the last five years." The L.A. Times compared Scioscia with other great managers, check it out by clicking here. The Daily News had a article titled "Angels revving up, Dodgers sputtering"

Prediction

I hate to say it, but I'm predicting that the Angels will sweep us. We might get a win in the series but the way our offense is going, we can't match with them. I hope I'm wrong. It would awesome if we sweep them. But how can you really predict that ?

Martin & Loney Appearance

Want to meet Russell Martin and James Loney ? They will be signing autographs at the Upper Deck store tomorrow June 28 from 11am to 1pm. It's not a free event. Between $40 and $60 bucks (depends on the size of the item) you can get a autograph in person. The Details...The Upper Deck Store at 7777 Edinger Avenue, Huntington Beach, Ca. Phone # (714) 898-8000 I'm not going since I got several items signed from them already. But if you do go, leave me a comment and tell me how it went. :) 

Vote Martin!

Remember to keep voting for Russell Martin ! Do it now ! You can vote by clicking here. Vote ! Vote ! If you haven't read this entry on why you should vote for Martin then do it now. Stadium voting for the All-Star Game ended Wednesday, but fans can still vote for their favorite players at dodgers.com

Bookmark it!

If you like the blog, bookmark it! Thanks :)

Peace!

Roberto

Today's game vs White Sox

Time: 12:10 p.m.
TV: PRIME
LHP Clayton Kershaw (0-1, 4.34 ERA) vs. White Sox LHP John Danks (4-4, 2.80)

Kershaw looking for Win # 1

Clayton Kershaw is still looking for his 1st Major League win. It might happen today. If he follows Eric Stults performance, he will have a great chance in getting it.  

Eric Stults

What a great game by Eric Stults last night. Seeing him pitch in the late innings, I was hoping for him to finish the game and he did. 4 hit shutout complete game. Well he got to finish the game with help of Russell Martin. I'm sure the Dodgers 5 runs that they got early in the game helped relaxed Stults. Knowing he had a big lead, he just needs to pitch his game. Congrats Eric!

Ozzie / Arizona

Ozzie Guillen on sharing a Glendale, Ariz. spring training facility with the Dodgers next year: "It's going to be a White Sox town. It's going to be black and white. Just kidding." If he really was kidding, then that's cool. If not, then I disagree. I know Arizona has alot of transplanted fans from all over U.S.A. Starting next year the Cactus League will have all of the N.L. West and A.L. West teams. Plus you have both Chicago teams, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Martiners and Texas Rangers. There are talks about the Cleveland Indians also joining the league soon. Out of all those teams, the Chicago Cubs own the state of Arizona. There are alot of Cubs fans. I went past this February to Mesa, Arizona to check out the Cubs practice and get some autographs and there was so many of Cubs fans. Guess what the fans were doing ? They were just watching them practice! There was no spring training game, there was nothing! Just practice! When I parked my car I noticed so many cars in the parking lot with Illinois license plates. You got alot of Senior Citizens that are from Chicago but come to Arizona to retire there. As of right now, the Cubs own the state. I don't know if the Dodgers will have the same effect, but I know alot of fans from Los Angeles will be driving to Glendale, Arizona to watch the boys in blue. I think it was time and they will be closer to us. Glendale will be a Dodger town! Check out the following pictures. Back in November I drove to Glendale. They had a ground breaking ceremony for the Dodgers and White Sox. Scully, Jarrin, McCourt, Steiner and others were there. It was a free public event. I will share with you some pictures that I took that day. Picture # 1 is basically all sand. Picture # 2 you can see Vin Scully helping with the ground breaking. Picture # 3 Glendale Spring Training Complex.

All-Star Statues

MLB comes up with many great items. This summer the All-Star Game will be held in Yankee Stadium, and MLB will be placing team decorated Statues of Liberty throughout New York City. There are 41 different All-Star Statues. The Dodgers have 2 of them. A Brooklyn and Los Angeles version. Cool! You can buy a mini version of those statues by clicking here. They go for $ 24.99

Vote Martin!

Remember to keep voting for Russell Martin ! Do it now ! You can vote by clicking here. Vote ! Vote ! If you haven't read this entry on why you should vote for Martin then do it now. Stadium voting for the All-Star Game ended Wednesday, but fans can still vote for their favorite players at dodgers.com

Video Time!

This is a video of Landon Heying. He is the owner of True Blue Tattoo located in Los Feliz, Ca. I'm not into tattoo's but maybe you are. I know a buddy (Raymond who would want a couple) who will visit soon :)

Today's game vs White Sox

Time: 7:10 p.m.
TV: KCAL
LHP Eric Stults (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. White Sox RHP Gavin Floyd (8-3, 3.19)

Buehrle is cheap

I have heard before there is a award for a Father of the year. I'm not sure if there is a award for Son of the year ? If there is, maybe Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle should get one. Yeah right...He pitched last night against the Dodgers. He had a great game. Well, who wouldn't have a great game against that terrible Dodgers offense ? Let's be realistic, our offense is...I have no words to describe it. But anyways, Mark pitched 8 innings allowing only 1 run. Also during the game, he was able to get strikeout # 1000 of his career. His father, John Buehrle, likes to watch his son pitch in person. He does it often and travels alot to see him. But he didn't travel to Los Angeles to see Mark pitch. Why ? Well you are aware of the high gas prices around the country, which causing inflated prices, including airline tickets. According to MLB.com, the reason John didn't travel to L.A. is because of high prices on airline tickets.

You might think that would affect the average person but not Mark Buehrle, who in his career has made over $ 28 Million Dollars and during the off-season he signed a $ 56 Million extension ! Wow, Mark, couldn't spare your own Dad some pocket change ?

Simers vs Colletti

T.J Simers interviews Ned Colletti.

Jackie gets a new plaque

Jack Roosevelt Robinson
"Jackie"
Brooklyn, N.L., 1947-1956

A player of extraordinary ability renowned for his electrifying style of play. Over 10 seasons hit .311, scored more than 100 runs six times, named to six All-Star teams and led Brooklyn to six pennants and its only World Series title, in 1955. The 1947 Rookie of the Year and the 1949 N.L. MVP when he hit a league-best .342 with 37 steals. Led second basemen in double plays four times and stole home 19 times. Displayed tremendous courage and poise in 1947 when he integrated the modern major leagues in the face of intense adversity.

More info here.

Video time!

I will leave you with a video (May 19, 2008 The Key Club/West Hollywood) of Brad Penny rocking the night life. Imagine Steel Panther, Vince Vaughn, Tom Morello (from RATM?) and other unknown people with Brad Penny on the stage. I guess Penny will miss his L.A. night life once the Dodgers ship him out of town. On around 33 seconds, Penny sings a little, around 49 seconds you can see him more clearly (he is the one with a hat)  Around 30 seconds you will see 2 guys raising their arms. I was told it was 2 Dodgers but the person that sent me this tip, didn't want to inform me who it was. I'm taking a guess...it looks like Joe Beimel and Russell Martin ? Who knows... Later! Peace!

By the way, if you like the blog, bookmark it! Thanks :) I know I was away for a long time. But I had some health issues, but everything is good. I should be blogging away from now on! Go Dodgers! (it's kind of hard saying that these days...)