Red Sox Series Starts on Friday - Stadium Giveaways, Pregame Info and Other Stuff!

The next homestand starts on Friday against the Boston Red Sox.   Below are some odds and ends for this upcoming homestand

The Boston Baked Bean Dog will be available for this homestand only against the Red Sox at the Extreme Loaded Dog concession areas located on the field, loge and reserve levels. It features an all-beef hot dog topped with baked beans, crispy bacon pieces and yellow mustard.

The ninth 2016 issue of the new Dodger Insider magazine, featuring Howie Kendrick on the cover, will be available at Dodger Stadium.  (see it on the left).  The Dodgers merged their previously separate Playbill and Dodger Insider magazines into one publication (at least 80 pages per issue) with a new edition available each homestand.  They are distributed at auto gates (one per vehicle) and via Fan Services for those who use alternate transportation.  

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Friday, August 5th at 7:10 PM
RHP Steven Wright vs. LHP Scott Kazmir
SNLA / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Memorabilia from Walter Alston's Estate at SCP Auction - Tour of Japan Memorabilia

Being skipper of the Dodger had its perks.  Not only did Walter Alston get to manage some of the more legendary players in the game, but he also had the privilege to represent the club and his country overseas.

During his tenure with the franchise Alston had the opportunity to go on two "Tours of Japan" during the offseason, and he apparently kept everything he received in tip top condition, as evidenced by the vintage pennant seen at the very top (Auction Link Here).  Above is a large pennant from the Dodgers tour in 1956.  It measures 36 3/4" and looks like it was made yesterday.  It is as pristine as you can get, and as the auction description states it must have been a favorite of Alston's.  Although, by the looks of all the other "Tour of Japan" memorabilia he took great care to preserve everything.

2016 Topps Chrome - All the Dodgers Base and Variation Cards

Topps officially unveiled their 2016 Chrome Baseball card set yesterday.  Go here for a complete checklist.  As you can see above, Kenta Maeda is seen on every box of cards.  On the left is the normal hobby box and on the right is a blaster box.

As you know, it is basically a shiny version of their flagship card set released throughout the year, so there usually isn't much new in the base set to see.  There are, however, cards of both Trayce Thompson and Ross Stripling that we haven't seen before.  No doubt, they'll be included in the Update set to be released towards the end of the season.  Also, the Kenta Maeda card in this set uses an entirely different photo then the one used in Series 2.

Since a majority of the cards in the base set are not new to collectors I thought I'd begin this post by focusing on the variations first.  For the Dodgers two cards have unique photo variations available.  You can see those directly below.

Base Image Variations

#92 Kenta Maeda  

Normal Base                                             Photo Variation                     

Blog Kiosk: 8/4/2016 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

That was truly forgettable.  Last nights game was a laugher, and unfortunately it was the fans in Blue who went to bed unhappy.

Maybe it was the Coors Field air, or the general lack of experience the Dodgers threw on the mound that did us in.  After all, it's hard to expect the best when we basically put in a couple young (and still learning arms) to pitch to a suddenly red-hot Rockies club in Colorado.  They had to know the balls would be jumping out of the park, and probably hoped we'd do similar damage to the opposition.  That came to pass, though.  Per Ken Gurnick and Thomas Harding at MLB.com:

"Those guys the last couple of days threw the ball well," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said about Colorado's starting pitchers. "You've got to tip your hat to Jon Gray yesterday and this kid today, they threw well and kept us at bay."

And our starting pitcher, Brock Stewart, couldn't figure out how to pitch in the high altitude.

"Before the game in the bullpen, everything was working, and I got in the game and everything stayed flat," said Stewart. "Just an off night, for sure."

That's an understatement.  The Dodgers got walloped by the Rockies, 12-2.  They remain just two games behind the Giants in the division race and continue to hold a two game lead in the wild-card race.  Photo above via @Dodgers on twitter.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History:  In 1941 Brooklyn Dodger Mickey Owens becomes the first catcher to record three foul popups in one frame.  In 1948 Ernie Harwell, a Hall of Fame broadcaster for mostly the Tigers, called his first Major League game.  He briefly took over for a sick Red Barber in Brooklyn's broadcast booth.