June 2008
Autographs: 70′s Dodgers and Black Jack
June 29, 2008 Los Angeles and Rancho Cucamonga, California
I’m finally out on the road. The Summer should be a great time to obtain autographs. Today was a good day. I started off by going to Dodger Stadium. Before the game, the Dodgers were going to hold a 1970′s reunion autograph session. I got there early and noticed 4 guys were already there. The first group was Al Downing, Tom Paciorek, Ray Lamb, and Bill Grabarkewitz. The second group was Derrel Thomas, John Hale, Jerry Reuss, and Leron Lee. I know something about Downing, Paciorek, Thomas and Reuss. But the other fellows…well I had to google them to find out who they are! (Sorry I was born in ’79) I had just 1 item for them to autographed. I brought a mini-dodgers helmet and all 8 guys signed it. I got pictures with Downing, Paciorek, and Thomas. I already had a pix with Reuss before. All the Ex-Players were nice and everything went well. Some info on the players that are pictured. Top Left -Al Downing- He gave up Hank Aaron’s 715th Home Run. I think he is more famous of that incident than anything else. His first 9 years (1961-1969) in the Majors was with the New York Yankees. He was selected to the 1967 All-Star team. Then in 1970 he split time with the Oakland A’s and Milwaukee Brewers. After that, he went on to play 9 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His best season was 1971 when he posted 20 wins and finished 3rd in N.L. Cy Young. He finished with 123 Wins. Top Right -Tom Paciorek- Played 18 years and had 1162 Hits with stops with Dodgers, Braves, Mariners, White Sox, Mets and Rangers. He was a 1981 All-Star. Bottom Left -Derrel Thomas- The Los Angeles native was the 1st overall pick in the 1969 Amateur Draft for the Houston Astros. Then he had stops with the Padres and Giants before coming to to the Dodgers. He won a World Series ring with the 1981 team. Finished his career with 1163 Hits. Bottom right -Jack McDowell- After the Autograph Session with the Dodgers, I left. I didn’t stay for the game. I went to Epicenter, home of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Single-A team for the Angels) Nice stadium by the way. I went because Jack McDowell was going to be signing autographs. He pitched mostly for the Chicago White Sox. He was the 1993 Cy Young Winner. I gave him a ball to sign. He signed it on the sweet spot and I asked if he could write ’93 Cy Young. He was nice enough to do it. Since not alot of people were in line I asked Jack what was he up to lately ? He told me he lives in Southern California and he plays with a band called Stickfigure. Here are some pictures of the stuff I got signed.
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!
2 out of 3
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…
MLB & Dodgers Notes – June 29, 2008
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)
MLB & Dodgers Notes – June 28, 2008
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 !
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, but fans can still vote for their favorite players at dodgers.com
Bookmark it!
If you like the blog, bookmark it! Thanks 
Peace!
Roberto
L.A. Dodgers vs Unknown City Angels !
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
Time: 7:40 p.m.
TV: PRIME
LHP Chan Ho Park (2-2 2.83 ERA) vs. An
gels LHP Joe Saunders (11-3, 3.03)
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
MLB & Dodgers Notes – June 26, 2008
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
MLB & Dodgers Notes – June 25, 2008
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)
Stars & Stripes Hat
MLB announced that all 30 teams will wear special Stars & Stripes caps as part of 
“Welcome Back Veterans” initiative during the 4th of July weekend and also on September 11th. That’s awesome. Cool idea. You can buy them now on MLB Shop by clicking here. I got to get a Dodger hat. I liked how the A’s and Mariners hat came out. Just in case you are wondering about the Blue Jays hat, they don’t have the Stars and Stripes. It’s a Canadian flag. Retail price of these limited edition hats go for $ 34.99
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.
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.
With the cost of last-minute travel from the Midwest to California a little bit too prohibitive in this specific instance, Mark Buehrle was on his own with one out in the eighth inning and sitting just one strikeout away from this milestone.
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…)
MLB & Dodgers Notes – June 24, 2008
Tonight the Los Angeles Dodgers will have a 3 game series vs the Chicago White Sox.
Before the game, the Dodgers will honor Jaime Jarrin’s 50th Anniversary as a broadcaster. That’s nice to know. Jaime is a nice person. He is the Hispanic Vin Scully. People forget that he is a Hall of Famer. Congratulations Jaime. There a couple of articles online about Jaime. Dodger thoughts has a nice interview with Jaime. The L.A. Times also has a story. Talking about hispanics, I notice the other day that the current Dodger roster doesn’t have many hispanics. I remember back in the 90′s they were a bunch in the roster. Now I only see Ramon 
Troncoso (Dominican) Angel Berroa (Dominican) and Luis Maza
(Venezuela) Those 3 players haven’t even been with the Dodgers full time this year. Only Troncoso is a product of the farm system. On the Disabled List, I see names of Tony Abreu (Dominican) Rafael Furcal (Dominican) and Nomar Garciaparra (Mexican-American) Of those 3 players, once again, only 1 player (Abreu) is a product from the farm system. Que onda Mike Brito ? You got to find more talent ! Now I leave you with a Video of a clip that Troy from West Virginia was able to obtain from his famous incident in Cincinnati last week. It’s the radio version telling the Cincinnati fans that a Monster (Troy) is attacking the fans (It starts around 30 seconds) It sounds like it’s Thom Brennaman and Jeff Brantley broadcasting. “It’s a Monster, a Dodger fan, Oh boy, Police are there, he is a big big man” Hahahaha ! LMAO !
I’m out, peace!
Roberto
Martin not in the top 5 of the N.L. Votes
| RANK | PLAYER NAME | NL TEAM | TOTAL VOTES FOR CATCHERS |
| 1. | Soto, G. | Cubs | 1,497,579 |
| 2. | McCann, B. | Braves | 917,607 |
| 3. | Kendall, J. | Brewers | 773,694 |
| 4. | Molina, Y. | Cardinals | 768,685 |
| 5. | Molina, B. | Giants | 578,357 |
MLB released the updated N.L. All-Star voting results. It’s official, Dodger fans suck. What, you are too good to vote for Russell Martin ? Let me break it down for you.
Russell Martin stats as of the morning of June 24, 2008 — .315 B.A. 7 H.R. 35 RBI’s Let’s check out the stats of the other N.L. Catchers. Let’s start with the leader –
Geovani Soto stats as of the morning of June 24, 2008 — .274 B.A. 12 H.R. 43 RBI’s This is telling me that the Cubs nation is supporting their players. If you look at the Voting Results, you will see a Cubs leader in Catcher, Outfield (top 2 spots) and a 2nd place leader in 1st Base, Second Base, Third Base, and a 3rd place leader in Shortstop. I know Soto is having a nice year. But his Batting Average is low. So he has 5 more Home Runs and 8 more RBI’s than Martin but this is Soto’s first year playing full time. Why is he the leader in votes ? The answer is because the Cubs care about this. Next up…
Brian McCann stats as of the morning of June 24, 2008 — .306 B.A. 14 H.R. 44 RBI’s -To be honest, he deserves it more than Martin. He is having a great season. I’m surprised he is behind by a half million votes. Soto is going to win it easily. Next…
Jason Kendall stats as of the morning of June 24, 2008 — .263 B.A. 1 H.R. 23 RBI’s – It’s not a error. Those are his stats as of today and he is in 3rd place in votes. Lots of Brewers fans, huh ? I thought this dude stopped playing. I didn’t even know he was in a MLB Roster. Incredible ! Next !
Yadier Molina stats as of the morning of June 24, 2008 — .290 B.A. 4 H.R. 25 RBI’s – Once again, his stats does not compare to Martin. I understand there is a big Cardinals fan base. But seriously, we also have a big fan base, no ? Next…
Bengie Molina stats as of the morning of June 24, 2008 — .308 B.A. 6 H.R. 48 RBI’s -Oh great, the Molina brothers are ahead of Martin. I admitted, Bengie is having a nice year. I have a feeling he will be selected as a back up catcher for Soto to be the N.L. Catchers. Which will leave Martin out of the picture. But remember, every team has to have at least 1 player in the All-Star game. Which Dodger will go ?
The stats for the N.L. Catchers can be found here. July 2nd is the last day you can vote. Which means it will take a miracle to get Martin anywhere in the top spot.
Update: Nomar
Nomar blames his genes:
This is a joke, right ? Nomar Garciaparra says that the reason he is taking long to come off the disabled list is because he has slow healing in his genes.
Dodgers infielder Nomar Garciaparra said a genetic predisposition, one he didn’t know he had until it was identified by a Boston physical therapist with whom he voluntarily consulted last week, is the reason his left-calf strain has been so long in healing.
So blaming his own DNA ? Wow….I wonder if he got hurt yesterday while holding his annual Carne Asada event ? Well according to another Dodger Blogger, Robert Daely, everything went well. Glad to know. I found a video from the local news from the event. I wasn’t able to upload it here so I posted on YouTube and post it here. I promise I won’t make fun of Nomar anymore. I hope he comes back and help us win this bad division. I mean, he can’t be worse than Mark Sweeney, right ?
rbaly79
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