Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Weekend Autograph Opportunities: DodgerFest at Frank & Sons - 10 Different Players

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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There's really only one thing to pay attention to this weekend, and it's the Dodgerfest event being held at Frank & Sons on Saturday.  Go here and here for information.  Click on any flyer below to embiggen.

Ten current and former Dodger players will be in attendance.  Even a former Raider football player will be there. 

Autograph Appearance Times:
  • Don Newcombe - stage time:  11:30am - 1:00pm 
  • Maury Wills - stage time:  1:00pm - 2:30pm
  • Wally Moon - stage time: 11:30am - 12:30pm
  • Reggie Smith - stage time:  2:00pm - 3:00pm
  • Ron Cey - stage time:  1:30pm - 2:30pm
  • Rick Honeycutt - stage time:  10:30am - 11:30am
  • Steve Yeager - stage time:  10:30am - 11:30am
  • Charlie Hough - stage time:  10:00am - 11:00am
  • Juan Castro - stage time:  10:00am - 11:00am
  • Alex Wood - stage time:  11:00am - 12:00pm
Special Guest:
  • Fred Biletnikoff - Raiders Super Bowl XI MVP - stage time:  1:30pm - 2:30pm
Frank & Son Collectible Show
19649 San Jose Ave
City of Industry, CA 91748

Trayce Thompson's Walk-Off Gets Him an 2016 Topps Now Card


Another great Dodger moment gets a 2016 Topps Now Baseball card.  Go here to check it out and order.  BTW, this is the fifth card featuring a Dodger so far this season.  You can go here to check out the others.

As you surely know by now, Thompson hit a walk-off pinch-hit home run last night to win the game for the Dodgers.  It was his fourth homer of the season and probably the most impactful bomb he's hit in his career so far.  He had said this about it, per Doug Padilla at ESPN:

Blog Kiosk: 5/11/2016 - Dodgers Links - Maeda, Puig and Trayce Thompson


Exciting!  Thrilling!  The crowd jumped out of their seats and roared.

Locked into a tie, Dodgers outfielder Trayce Thompson, the youngest son of former Laker star Mychal Thompson, came up to the plate with two out and proceeded to knock a 2-2 pitch into the left field pavilion for a walk-off home run.  (Watch it here)  Via Jack Baer and Anthony DiComo at MLB.com:
"It was a fastball," Thompson said. "Their whole entire bullpen, their whole entire pitching staff has amazing stuff. I just try to keep it simple against them. Just look for a heater, keep it simple and square it up. It was a fastball over the plate that I was able to handle."
Per Doug Padilla at ESPN:
“I don’t know how he did it,” Seager said. “He took two heaters and still battled back and ended up swinging at the first thing that doesn’t bounce. That’s awesome. It’s an awesome moment.

“He’s calm as hell. It’s unbelievable. He didn’t even have any jitters after the game. It was like as if nothing happened right there. It was special. A lot of people, their motors are going fast. His just wasn’t. No heartbeat at all.”
The Dodgers really needed this win.  Best yet, starter Alex Wood put in a great performance.  Wood went 6.1 innings in the no-decision; giving up four hits, two runs (one of which was unearned) and striking out nine.  On Wood, Mets manager Terry Collins said this:
"That's the best I've seen Alex Wood pitch," Mets manager Terry Collins said.
Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016Go here to check out more pics from Jon from yesterdays game.  Below are more links to check out:
  • This Day in Dodgers History: In 1963 Sandy Koufax would throw his second no-hitter of his career against the Giants.  He had a perfect game going into the eight inning when he walked Ed Bailey on a 3-2 pitch.
  • Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Jose De Leon rests with arm soreness for Oklahoma City."
  • Via Brad Lefton at the Wall Street Journal, "Sixty Years Ago, the Dodgers Toured Japan and Changed Baseball Forever."
“Up until then, defensively, Japanese baseball was reactionary, not anticipatory,” (Sadaharu) Oh said. “For example, the Dodgers preached to anticipate the bunt and charge in with the pitch. That kind of thing was unheard of in Japan. They taught the infielders how to move in tandem with the pitcher and play a more team-oriented defense. It completely changed the way we defended.”