Dodgers FanFest Autograph Tickets Go on Sale Tomorrow - Friday!

The Dodgers fourth annual 2016 FanFest is right around the corner and now you can properly plan for the day.  They have just announced the full schedule for the days activities; including the player autograph sessions.

The FanFest will happen "rain or shine."  Although, some events may be curtailed should the weather be too poor.  It will be on Saturday, January 30th from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.  You should have already downloaded a "FREE" admission ticket.  If you hadn't go here (link here) to do that.  Parking gates open at 9:30 AM and it is free, as well.  You will enter either through the left or right field plaza gates at 10:00 AM.

There will be photo opportunities in the Dodger dugout and with the World Series trophy.  The LA Dodger Foundations (LADF) will host its second annual Yard Sale with one-of-a-kind Dodger items for budgets of all sizes; including jerseys, T-shirts and more. There will also be a Mystery Bag Fundraiser where fans can purchase an official Major League baseball autographed by a current or former Dodger for a $40 donation and autographed jerseys for an $80 donation, while supplies last. Proceeds benefit the programs and charitable giving of LADF.

I've attended the past three FanFest's and shared a bunch of photos from those days (these post also include numerous links of post from other bloggers).  Check out the below links to check them out.  Below that are details about the player autograph sessions.

• 2015 Fan Fest
• 2014 Fan Fest
• 2013 Fan Fest

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FanFest autograph tickets officially go on sale on Friday, January 22 at 12:00 p.m. PST.  You will need to go here (www.dodgers.com/fanfest) to get tickets.  This is also where you will go to get tickets for the various VIP Experiences; such as meet and greets, Q&A sessions, pitching lessons, batting lessons, Vin Scully press box tours and Dodger clubhouse tours. BTW, each voucher ticket cost $25.00.  That's a $5.00 increase from last year.

The scheduled FanFest autograph sessions are as follows and subject to change (link here):

10:10 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Session 1

Line 1: Scott Van Slyke and Jharel Cotton
Line 2: Orel Hershiser and Yimi Garcia
Line 3: Nomar Garciaparra and Micah Johnson
Line 4: Jerry Hairston Jr. and Brandon Beachy

11:10 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Session 2

Line 1: Yasiel Puig and Frankie Montas
Line 2: Fernando Valenzuela and Carlos Frias
Line 3: Zach Lee and Chris Hatcher
Line 4: Shawn Green and Ross Stripling

12:10 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Session 3

Line 1: Kiké Hernandez and Dennis Powell
Line 2: Pedro Baez and Kenny Landreaux
Line 3: Brandon McCarthy and Mickey Hatcher
Line 4: Chase Utley and Bill Russell

1:10 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Session 4

Line 1: Justin Turner and Josh Ravin
Line 2: Dave Roberts and Bob Geren
Line 3: Steve Yeager and Zach Lee
Line 4: Ron Cey and Kenley Jansen

2:10 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Session 5

Line 1: Adrian Gonzalez and Austin Barnes
Line 2: Scott Kazmir and Chase Utley
Line 3: Brandon McCarthy and Bill Russell
Line 4: Maury Wills and Adam Liberatore

3:10 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Session 6

Line 1: Joc Pederson and Trayce Thompson
Line 2: Dave Roberts and Bob Geren
Line 3: Yasmani Grandal and Hyun-Jin Ryu
Line 4: Steve Yeager and Kenley Jansen

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VIP scheduled sessions at FanFest are as follows and are subject to change (link here):

Clubhouse Tour

Take a peek inside the Dodger clubhouse on this exclusive tour. Highlights also include visiting the Dodger bullpen, looking at the Dodger weight room and batting cage, stopping in the Dodger interview room and viewing the MVP, Cy Young, Silver Slugger and Rookie of the Year awards. Tours are available at 10:15 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:15 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 2:45 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and last approximately 30 minutes.

Press Box Tour

Take a tour of the Vin Scully press box and call your favorite play in Dodger history from Vin Scully’s booth. Fans will be able to watch a memorable play, make the call and have their commentary recorded by AM 570 LA Sports. Tours are available at 10:15 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and last approximately 30 minutes.

Q&A and Photo

Participate in an intimate question and answer with current Dodger players in the Dodger interview room and take a picture with them. Two sessions are available: 11:00 a.m. with Scott Van Slyke and Kiké Hernandez and 2:00 p.m. with Joc Pederson and Justin Turner. Each session will be moderated by Dodger historian Mark Langill. This experience will last approximately 50 minutes. Players are subject to change without notice. Limit one (1) photograph per person. No autographs.

Meet & Greet

Participate in a meet & greet with a Dodger great, take a photo and receive their autograph. Three sessions are available: Clayton Kershaw at 10:30 a.m., Fernando Valenzuela and Pepe Yñiguez at 12:00 p.m. and Tommy Lasorda at 1:30 p.m. This experience will last approximately 30 minutes. Dodger personnel subject to change without notice. You must bring your own camera for the photo opportunity. Limit one (1) photograph per person. You must also bring your own item to be autographed, limit one (1) per person.

Batting Lesson

Take a batting lesson from a former Dodger in the visiting team batting cage. Two sessions are available: 12:30 p.m. with Dodger alum Maury Wills and 2:30 p.m. with Dodger alum Ron Cey. This experience will last approximately one hour. Dodger personnel subject to change without notice.

Pitching Lesson

Take a pitching lesson from a former Dodger in the Dodger bullpen. Two sessions are available: 10:30 a.m. with Dennis Powell and 2:30 p.m. with Tim Leary. Plus, a current Dodger pitcher will make an appearance at each session. This experience will last approximately one hour. Dodger personnel subject to change without notice. This experience will change locations if there is inclement weather.

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A 1932 Brooklyn Dodgers Jacket at Heritage Auctions

Holy Moly.

This is fantastic.

Heritage Auctions has various preview images up for their upcoming Platinum February auction and it includes this rare circa 1932 Brooklyn Dodgers warm-up jacket said to have once been owned by All-Star outfielder Lefty O'Doul.  Per the auction description:

Extraordinarily rare garment is a white whale for the advanced Dodgers collector, as the team wore this rather staid version of the logo letter "B" on its uniforms only two seasons--1931-32--otherwise favoring the familiar Old English style that held sway throughout the bulk of their Ebbets Field residency. Our consignor reports that he acquired the jacket from "Jersey Joe" Stripp, a third baseman who represented the Dodgers for the bulk of his eleven Major League seasons. Stripp reported that O'Doul left the jacket with him at the conclusion of a shared fishing trip following the 1932 season.

Unfortunately, the jacket is far from being in great condition.  It is missing the leather sleeves, interior lining and a manufacturer's label.  Also missing is any actual physical attributions linking it to O'Doul.  Therefore, clear provenance is lacking.  Still, it's a rare example of a highly desirable style.  You rarely see the red, white and blue colors of the old Brooklyn team.

As for Lefty O'Doul, the California native spent much of his career playing ball in the Pacific Coast League, but eventually took his skills to the Majors with five different clubs over an eleven year career.  In three season with Brooklyn he slashed an amazing .340/.399/.505/.904 while coming in third place in MPV voting for his exploits during the 1932 season.  O'Doul batted a league leading .368 while hitting 21 home runs and driving in 90 runs that year.

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Celebrating #NationalHugDay with some Fantasy Baseball Cards

I am constantly amazed by the variety of "National Days" that exist.  It's mind-blowing, and a constant reminder that it's a good thing to take a moment each day to celebrate something... Anything.

So, when I discovered that today is #NationalHugDay I felt compelled to celebrate it the best way I know how - by making a bunch of fantasy Baseball cards.  Featured here are some of the creations I put together this morning

Starting at the very top is the legendary Sandy Koufax in the midst of a hug with Clayton Kershaw after defeating the Braves during the 2013 NLDS.  I'm fairly sure this was a photo taken by Dodger photographer Jon SooHoo.  I was reminded of the pic, though, by DodgersBeat on twitter.

The below card features former skipper Joe Torre embracing Manny Ramirez in a 2007 Topps Baseball card.  I grabbed the pic from an ESPN story focused on "Great Hugs in Baseball History."

BFF's!

Hyun-Jin Ryu and Yasiel Puig hug it out on the bench in the 1959 Topps fantasy Baseball card on the below left.  The photo was found thought a SportsNetLA tweet this morning.  AJ Ellis and Clayton Kershaw did their hugging on the field in the 1979 Topps fantasy card on the bottom right.  This photo was taken from a tweet by @MattDodgerBlue. 

Puig just loves to hug. So much so, I had to capture him hugging in a couple more cards.  On the bottom left is banana aficionado, Kiké Hernandez, getting man-handled by Puig on the 1982 Topps fantasy card.  This photo was from an Kiké tweet.  The card on the bottom right is a little flashback.  It featured Puig giving a bear-hug to former Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez.  This photo was from a post by Matt Monagan at MLB.com that ranks, "10 of the most huggable figures in baseball today."

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2015 Panini National Treasures - The Booklet Cards and Other Scarcities

Here is a final look at Panini's National Treasures Baseball card set.  Below are pics of many of the booklet cards.  I also provide a listing of all the other scarcities that are available; like the bat knobs, barrels and glove relic pieces.  Click this link to see all of my other post on this set.

As for the booklet cards, there are various different parallels available, and it's unlikely I have pics of all them below.  So, this is hardly a complete visual checklist.  Still, this should provide a good look at whats available.  My favorite booklet card is probably the below vertical Corey Seager card.

Armory Booklet

#4 Corey Seager (#/25)

Blog Kiosk: 1/21/2016 - Dodgers Links - Urias, Rizzo and Clayton Kershaw

Ya know what's happenin' right now in Glendale, Arizona?

Fantasy camp... And hangin' out with the fantasy ballplayers is the above motley crew of former Dodger players.  Pic above via @TommyLasorda on twitter.  BTW, Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider wrote a great piece about the current fantasy camp happenings that you can check out right here.

“The uniforms, they’re like butter,” he said. “I feel almost like I’m naked, because they’re so comfortable.”

Below are more links to check out:

• Julio Urias continues to impress.  He took MLBPipeline.com's top spot as the leagues best left-handed pitching prospect.  Via Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com:

He doesn't turn 20 until August, and he's already knocking on the door. Urias has an outstanding combination of stuff and pitchability well beyond his years. He has three plus pitches with outstanding command. The only thing he doesn't have is innings. Urias has yet to top even 90 innings in a season, but that shouldn't hold him back for too long.

• Via Amanda Howell at Dodgers Way, "Alanna Rizzo Celebrates Two Years with the Dodgers."
• Via Daniel Starkand at Dodger Blue, "Clayton Kershaw Prefers To Keep DH Out Of National League."

“I’m kind of torn. I think obviously some of the greater hitters of our game are DHs. You see David Ortiz and Edgar Martinez when you go back, and different guys like this are some of the better hitters. But at the same time, my mentality is baseball is a two-way sport. You have to be able to put a glove on your hand and go out there and play in the field to be a baseball player. I definitely would not take it away. I want the pitcher to hit. I guess my easy answer is keep it the way it is and deal with it in the World Series.”

• Jeff Pearlman recently wrote about the power of Baseball cards here.

There’s a 1980 Youngblood, for example, that’s all creased up. As soon as I saw it, I remembered finding it on the Lakeview Elementary blacktop and sticking it in my pocket. Only I didn’t merely remember. I felt it. Like, the emotions and texture of 8-year-old Jeffrey Pearlman hit me. Only for a second. But I felt it. I did.

• Via Ron Cervneka at Think Blue LA, "‘Lemonade Guy’ as big a part of spring training as the games." 

Moore is one of several lemonade vendors at the Cactus League’s most beautiful ballpark and it should come as no surprise that he was recently voted the best vendor in Major League Baseball by fans. His schtick is a simple one and it tugs at the hearts of baseball fans from across the country – “Lemonade! Lemonade! Just like grandma made!” – and it works.

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