Matt Kemp Signing in Scottsdale on Monday

Here is a special notice for those of you who will be in Arizona this week for some Spring Training Baseball. Each evening from Monday to Friday, a Baseball star will be stopping by a Arizona Oakley Store to chat, sign autographs and launch the 2012 Oakley MLB Flak Jacket XLJ performance eye wear. Details are available here. They will only be signing items provided by the store, so don't bring your own stuff. You will have the option of either having a MLB/ Oakley player poster or Oakley Wilson Baseball to have signed.

Our very own Matt Kemp will be at the Oakley Store in Scottsdale on Monday signing autographs from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

Matt Kemp
Monday, March 5, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Oakley Store - Scottsdale Fashion Square

7014 E. CAMELBACK RD.

Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 941-4932

Here are details about the other stars:

Howie Kendrick
Tuesday, March 6, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Oakley Store - Arizona Mills

5000 S ARIZONA MILLS CIR

TEMPE, AZ 85282
(480) 491-0541

Justin Upton
Wednesday, March 7, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Oakley Store - Scottsdale Fashion Square

7014 E. CAMELBACK RD.

Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 941-4932

Nelson Cruz

Thursday, March 8, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Oakley Store - Arrowhead Towne Center
7700 W. Arrowhead Towne Center
Glendale, AZ 85308
(623) 334-6889

Pablo Sandoval
Friday, March 9, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Oakley Store - Tempe Marketplace
2000 E Rio Salado Pkwy
Tempe, AZ
(480) 966-0261

Dodgers Notes from Spring Training- Day 11

AJ Ellis takes part in 2012 Read Across America for some local Arizona kids, via twitter @Dodgers.

Throughout Spring Training the Dodgers PR department sends out helpful daily notes from Camelback Ranch, and I am happy to pass them along.

(Clayton Kershaw signing for Fan Fest, via twitter @JessRosales1)

• FUN FEST: The first-ever Camelback Ranch – Glendale Fan Fest was a rousing success today with more than 3,000 fans in attendance for the Dodgers’ and White Sox’s autograph sessions and batting practice. While the autographs were the main takeaway from the day’s event, those who stayed for Dodger batting practice were treated to additional souvenirs as the hitting group of Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, James Loney and Juan Rivera deposited well over a dozen baseballs onto the outfield berms. The only unfortunate incident on the sun-filled morning was when shortstop Dee Gordon was hit by a bad-hop grounder in the mouth, which required stitches on his upper lip. Gordon is not expected to miss any practice time due to the injury.

• ALMOST GAMEDAY: At 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, the Dodgers will play a four-inning intrasquad game on the minor league fields featuring pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Chris Capuano, Stephen Fife and Will Savage. Kershaw, who will start on Opening Day in San Diego and the Dodgers’ home-opener on April 10, will make his first “official” start of the Cactus League season on March 9 against the Rangers in Surprise.

(Kemp goofs on Rubby De La Rosa, via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers)

• START ME UP: The Dodgers held their annual On Sale event at Dodger Stadium this morning with fans enjoying the festivities which included music, trivia and contests, hosted by Vic “the Brick” Jacobs from AM 570 Fox Sports Los Angeles. Opening Day tickets are still available on Dodgers.com and prices on many advanced individual tickets for the 2012 season after Opening Day have been reduced as much as $20 per ticket.

• IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY: The Dodgers would like to wish a very happy 36^th birthday to catcher Matt Treanor! Treanor was signed as a free agent this offseason after spending the 2011 campaign with the Royals and American League-champion Texas Rangers. Treanor, who grew up in Garden Grove and attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, is entering his ninth big league season after originally being selected by Kansas City in the fourth round of the 1994 First-Year Player Draft.

(Spring Training Fun during Fan Fest, via Jon SooHoo/ LA Dodgers)

• HALL OF FAME HAPPENING: On March 3, 1997, Special Advisor to the Chairman Tommy Lasorda received a call in Vero Beach, FL from Teddy Ballgame, Ted Williams, letting him know he was to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Lasorda is now enshrined in 17 Halls of Fame.

• MAJORING IN THE MINOR: Minor league pitchers and catchers reported to Camelback Ranch today two days ahead of their first workout on March 5. All other minor leaguers report on March 9 with the first full-squad workout taking place on March 11. The farmhands will hope to repeat their success from last season, when six of the Dodgers’ seven minor league affiliates ended the season with winning records and the teams’ cumulative .543 winning percentage (414-349) was the second highest among Major League clubs behind only Texas’ .565 mark (431-332). In addition, four of the seven clubs reached the postseason with the Rookie-level AZL Dodgers winning the Arizona Summer League championship.

• A CASE OF THE MONDAYS: The Dodgers open up their Cactus League season as the designated visiting team on Monday against their Camelback Ranch neighbors, the White Sox. Chad Billingsley will get the start for Los Angeles with RHP Nathan Eovaldi, RHP Fernando Nieve, LHP Wilfredo Ledezma, RHP Angel Guzman, RHP Ryan Tucker and LHP Scott Rice in relief and right-hander Philip Humber taking the hill for Chicago. The Dodgers open their home slate on Tuesday with LHP Ted Lilly on the mound against the Giants’ Barry Zito.

A Look Back at the Impact of the Koufax & Drysdale Holdout

When thinking about the large salaries ballplayers receive today it's important to remember the road that lead to it. Last Night, Bob Costas at the MLB Network took a look back at one incident that played an important part of that future- the Sandy Koufax/ Don Drysdale contract holdout in 1966.

Wes Parker on the significance:

I think owners did become more aware of the fact that players were starting to stand up for their rights.

Maury Wills thoughts:

Let me go back to 1962. I was the MVP in the National League that year. [I thought] I got them now. I’ll go in and get me a raise. Maybe I can buy the wife a new car. All I wanted was a Ford station wagon for her. I came out of there in ten minutes happy I was still on the team.

Author Jan Leavy, writer of Sandy Koufax: a Lefty's Legacy:

I can’t think of another instance, before or since, where two stars of this magnitude held out together in unison.

Curt Flood didn’t come for another three years and [Andy] Messersmith and [Dave] McNally was a number of years later, but this was the beginning. This was the revolutionary moment.

See the video below.

Video Link:

Blog Kiosk: 3/3/2012

Dodgers Hall of Fame Broadcaster Jaime Jarrin poses with his grandson, Dodgers Minor Leaguer Stefan Jarrin, via Jon SooHoo/ LA Dodgers.

• Roberto at Vin Scully is My Homeboy highlights a new Dodgers book coming out called "The Official Visual History of the Dodgers" and it looks glorious.
  
• From Dan Primack at CNN Money: What Private Equity Wants With the Dodgers.
• Matt Kemp has basketball on the mind, via his twitter.
• The Dodgers sign two players from their most recent open tryout, via Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness.
  
• Per Roberto at Vin Scully is My Homeboy, Pedro Guerrero will be managing a Mexican Summer League team in Tiajuana.
• BTW, Kershaw will start both the season opener and the home opener, via Tony Jackson.
• Baseball Mussings is at the Sloan MIT Sports Analystics Conference and has a series of reports here, here, here, here and here.
  
• This is a must see. Back in 1975 Topps held a Bazooka Bubble Blowing Championship that was immortalized in a Kurt Bevacqua card a year later. Well, the Topps Archives has a story about the final resting place of "bubble meter."
  
• From Tom Bartsch at SCD, "Court News: Card Manufacturers Continue Trend of Being Named in Lawsuits."
  
• Are you curious about the legendary T206 Honus Wagner card? Check out Cardboard Connections story behind it.
  
• This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.
  

Video Link:

Collection: Ron Cey Fleer Greats Autographed Card

Following up on the Ron Cey autograph card I shared yesterday, here is another one. This is a 2002 Fleer Greats card. The best thing about this card is on the reverse. Check out the little red figure on the top right, below. I like to imagine it's Ron Cey making a diving catch on a liner down the third base line.