Adrian Gonzalez "Bat 4Hope" Celebrity Charity Softball Game in November

I know that thinking about the offseason is the last thing a focused playoff-bound Dodger fan wants to think about - let alone plan for.  Still, I thought this is an upcoming event worth mentioning.

On Saturday, November 7th, the weekend after the World Series, Adrian Gonzalez and Actress Eva Longoria are hosting an 1st Annual Celebrity Softball Game at Dodger Stadium that benefits PADRES Contra El Cáncer - Parents Against Cancer.  For 30 years this organization has committed to improving the quality of life for children and young adults with cancer and their families. Proceeds for the event will benefit PADRES family bilingual cancer education, quality of life and economic assistance programs.  To find out more about PADRES Contra El Cáncer go here.

Game Day will include: Free Parking, Sponsor Village, Game Merchandise sales, Silent Auction, and Celebrity Picture/Autograph Hour with select celebrities.  Advanced Tickets are available to purchase through Eventbrite, here. Each designated area is open seating and available on a first come, first serve basis so come early to grab the best seats!  Doors open at 10:30 AM.

Please purchase tickets prior to the event.  A limited number of seats will be available for purchase on game day between the hours of 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM at Dodger Stadium.

Below is the event schedule:

10:45 - 11:45 AM    Red Carpet Arrivals
10:45 - 11:30 AM    Meet & Greet:       
11:00 - 12:00 PM    Sponsor & VIP Celebrity Celeb/Player Power Brunch
All Day    Sponsor Village/Activation
10:30 - 2:00 PM    Silent Auction       
12:10 PM    First Pitch
2:10 PM    Game MVP Awards    

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Blog Kiosk: 10/3/2015 - Dodger Links - McCarthy, Greinke and Matt Kemp

Together again.

On the day Nancy Bea Hefley announced her retirement she gets with former Dodger outfielder Matt Kemp one last time for a photograph.  It's also just as nice to see the two former teammates, Kemp and Andre Ethier, together again in the photo below.  Both pics via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015.  Go here to see more pics from Jon of yesterday's game.

Although Kemp has had an fairly up-'n-down season this year he still managed to drive in 100 runs while slashing 265/.312/.443.  Certainly not a marked improvement over last years numbers, he still proved that he can be an effective hitter at the plate.  Unfortunately, his season has been cut short.  He will sit out the final five games of the year due to a sore right hand.  Via Jeff Sanders at the San Diego Tribune:

“Every time I swing, it got irritated – sharp little pain,” Kemp said after Tuesday’s game. “I wanted to keep going, but they thought it would be better for me to sit this one out.”

Below are more links to check out:

• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Wrist injury may keep Van Slyke out of postseason."
• This is fun.  Via Gemma Kaneko at Cut4, "Which Dodgers player are you? Only this quiz can determine the answer."  Apparently, I'm like Zach Greinke.

Congratulations, you're Zack Greinke! You're focused and hard-working and very, very polite. Most importantly, you have GREAT hair.

• Via Eno Sarris at FanGraphs, "Zack Greinke on Pitching Inside."  Sarris breaks down, piece by piece, the statement made by Zach below.

“I noticed that when you throw away to people, they hit the ball hard,” the Dodgers’ pitcher said, “But they get out a lot more often, too. If you come in to them, they don’t hit the ball hard as often, but somehow they find a way to get hits more often. They’re getting hits more often inside even though their better swings are away and they’re hitting the ball hard more often away. I think they hit a lot of harder fly balls but most guys don’t have enough power to hit it over the opposite field defender’s head. A 300-foot hit is an out most of the time. Inside ground balls, there are so many more places you can hit that ball. Some guys can inside out it, some can hit it up the middle, some guys can roll over it and go down the third base line. You can hit it anywhere. But the outside pitch?”

• As for who should win the Cy Young, I think Brandon McCarthy has got it right.  Check out his recent tweet below:

NL CY Young voters: no matter which of the three you vote for, you got it right. Congrats! And horribly wrong. Idiot.

— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) October 2, 2015

• For those interested, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes will be hosting a Championship Trophy Viewing Party on Thursday, October 15th at LoanMart Field.  Go here for information.
• Topps has just released a 10" x 14" poster printed on trading card stock that celebrates the Dodgers entry into the 2015 postseason.  It is stylized as a concert poster.  Check it out on the right.  It is limited to 25 copies, and a "1 of 1" version in gold is also available.  Check it out here.
• This really sucks.  I liked Paco a lot.  Hopefully, he can bounce back quickly.  Via Jeff Todd at MLB Trade Rumors, "Paco Rodriguez Undergoes Tommy John Surgery."
• I wasn't very happy when I first heard about this kind of thing happening, so I'm glad they are trying to stop it.  Via Craig Calcaterra at NBC Sports, "Congress to ban “pay for patriotism” promotions at stadiums."
• As you may know, the A's recently hired the first woman coach - Justine Siegal.  Here is an interview with her, via Kiley Kroh at Think Progress: "Baseball Is For Girls: A Conversation With The First Female Coach For An MLB Team."

Well, I love baseball. And I love coaching. I’ve wanted to be a college baseball coach since I was 16 and, at that time, a woman had never done that. Then I got to coach with the Rox, which was professional. For me, you can’t ask whether it was one or the other — am I doing it because I love coaching or am I doing it to show that it can be done? — because it’s both. I consider it an honor to be a role model and almost everything I do is in essence to show girls that their dreams can come true. But it’s not just girls that need to be shown that they have a place in baseball, it’s that boys need to know that girls have a place in baseball. And when you can be a productive member of staff, then you get the best of both worlds, which is be in the game you love, help players become better, and show the world that girls and women can be part of this game.

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