Kings Hosted Dodger Pride Night - Those 'Dodger' Kings Jersey's Sold for a Bundle

Last Night the LA Kings hosted their annual 'Dodger Pride Night' at the Staples Center, and like always I was there to take in the festivities.  And by the looks of it, there were plenty of other Dodger fans there too.

(pic via @LAKingsIceCrew on twitter)

Dodger Blue was everywhere.  I saw Dodger jersey's, Dodger caps and even Dodger themed winter beanies - or touk's, as Canadians call them.  Better yet, the Kings Ice Crew donned their best scantily clad Dodger uni's.  Also, Dodger infielder Justin Turner was on hand to drop the opening puck to start the game.  You can watch the puck drop here.  As you can see in the photo below, the Kings gave Turner a jersey of his own.  The Kings player on the left (#23) is Kings captain Dustin Brown and on the right is former King and current Florida Panthers captain Willie Mitchell (#33).  BTW, Mitchell was part of the two recent Kings Stanley Cup Championship teams, so he was given his championship ring from last season last night and received an rousing applause from the fans during the game.  He was a fan favorite.

(pic via @Dodgers on twitter)

What has also become tradition on 'Dodger Pride Night' are Dodger themed warm-up jerseys worn by the Kings.  As you can see in the numerous photos below, the Kings came out for their pregame skate wearing Dodger Blue and I think it's fair to say that Dodger fans in attendance swooned.

Those jersey are magnificent, glorious and beautiful.  And short of committing felonious acts, I would do almost anything to own one.  Unfortunately, as you will soon surely understand, my pocketbook did not agree with that sentiment.

As a part of the evenings events the Kings auctioned off those wonderful jerseys in support of their charity, the Kings Care Foundation, and it garnered values that were out of this world.  Like, record breaking!  Firstly, take a look at my photos from the Kings pregame skate below.  Click on any pic to embiggen.

As I mentioned above, the above jerseys were auctioned off for charity.  Below are a few pics of them neatly stacked in the concourse. 

Like in past years, I decided to make an attempt at purchasing a jersey.  Unfortunately, I was blown out of the water before I could even place a bid.

I was feeling confident as I strolled down to the area where the jersey's would be displayed during the first intermission.  I had figured I would chase a jersey from one of the lesser known players since they would surely be more affordable.  So, I placed my sights on recently signed defenseman Jamie McBain.  I came up to the counter and realized that bidding would be conducted solely online, so I asked one of the Kings employees about that process.

It was then that I was told that the McBain jersey was already up to $875.  Wha....?  The cheapest jersey at that time was for Andy Andreoff - $825.  Oy Vie!

Surely, this couldn't be true, but it was.

Before the second period of that evenings game got underway, most of the jersey's up for auction had already eclipsed last years prices.  So with that, I was priced out and forced to go home without one of these beauts. 

Just to provide context, Jarrett Stoll's jersey (#28) sold for a bit under $700 last season.  During this auction if sold for $1,650.  Heck, the cheapest jersey sold last night was for $1,024, and it was for Brayden McNabb.  Below is a screen grab of the final prices for last nights auction.  Click on the pic to embiggen. 

No doubt, the Kings Care Foundation took in a bunch of needed funds.  Good for them, but not good for me.

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Weekend Autograph Opportunities: Football Spectacular at Frank & Sons

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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The Football Spectacular signing event is happening this coming Saturday at Frank & Sons in the City of Industry.  Go here for information, or here (at Hall of Fame Sports.com).  Emmitt Smith, Howie Long, LaDainian Tomlinson, Marcus Allen, Greg Townsend, Odis McKinney and Charles White are scheduled to make an appearance. 

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Blog Kiosk: 11/19/2014 - Dodger Links - Some Odds and Ends

Last night was Dodger Pride Night at the Staples Center for the LA Kings game against the Florida Panthers.  Dodger standout utility infielder Justin Turner was at the game to drop the opening puck and the Kings wore those fantastic 'Dodger themed' jersey's last night that were auctions off for charity.  As you can see above, the Kings gave Turner his own jersey, pic via @Dodgers on twitter.  Go here to check out more photos of the evening from the Dodgers.  Later this afternoon I'll put up my own report from the game; including some photos I took and a peek at the jersey auction that garnered huge dollars.  BTW, I was once again shut out and didn't win a jersey.  Boo! 

Below are some links to check out:

• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Where Dodgers pick in 2015 MLB Draft first round."
• Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, "Yasiel Puig ends Japan series on high note."
• The Dodgers added more folks to their front office.  Via a Dodger press release:

The Los Angeles Dodgers today announced the front office additions of David Finley as Vice President, Amateur & International Scouting, Galen Carr as Director of Player Personnel, Jeff Pickler as Special Assistant, Pro Scouting & Player Development and Jack Cressend as Pitching Crosschecker.

The press release provides more detailed background information about each person.  Go here to check that out.

• Via Harold Uhlman at Think Blue LA, "Dodgers likely to protect three from 2014 Rule 5 Draft."
• Via David Cycleback at Sports Collectors Daily, "Looking at the Photos of George Grantham Bain."  He is a noted Baseball photographer during the early 20th century.
• Night Owl Cards does yeoman's work.  He shares photos of every Dodger card that can be found in Kellogg's 3-D Baseball card sets from 1970 to 1983.  Awesome!
• Panini's 2014 Classics Baseball is officially released today.  Go here to check out some recently opened packs at Panini's blog.  Below is a sample pack that includes a Yasiel Puig insert card.

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