Cubs Series Starts Friday - Stadium Giveaways, Pregame Info and Other Stuff!

The next homestand starts Friday evening against the Chicago Cubs. Below are some odds and ends for this upcoming homestand.

The Chicago Dog will be available for this homestand only against the Cubs at the Extreme Loaded Dog concession areas located on the field, loge and reserve levels. It features an all-beef hot dog on a poppy-seed bun, garnished with a dill pickle spear, tomato wedges, green relish, spicy brown mustard, diced onions, sport peppers and celery salt.

The tenth 2016 issue of the new Dodger Insider magazine, featuring Yasmani Grandal 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 26th at 7:10 PM
LHP Mike Montgomery vs. RHP Bud Norris
SNLA / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Welcome to the Blue, Carlos Ruiz!

As much as I want to lament to loss of AJ Ellis, I do want to take this moment to welcome veteran catcher Carlos Ruiz to the Dodgers family.  As you may have heard, the front office just traded one veteran catcher for another.  AJ Ellis has been sent to Philadelphia for Carlos Ruiz.  Per a Dodgers press release:

The Los Angeles Dodgers today acquired catcher Carlos Ruiz and cash considerations from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for catcher A.J. Ellis, minor league pitcher Tommy Bergjans and a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Charles M. Conlon Collection of Vintage Photo Negatives to Close this Weekend

Of all the auction listings I've seen over the years I can fairly say that this lot ranks as one of the best to ever become available.  Featured at Heritage Auctions (Auction Link Here) is the finest collection of vintage Baseball photographs (actually original glass plate negatives) to ever hit the market.  In fact, it is a treasure trove of Baseball history that is unmatched, and it would be a shame if it did not end up in the hands of an civic institution or museum.

2016 Panini Immaculate Baseball - Dodgers Relic Cards, Part I

Take a moment to check out a handful of the Dodger relic cards found in packs of 2016 Panini Immaculate Baseball.  Featured below are the Immaculate Swatches, Jersey Numbers, Immaculate Hats, Immaculate Standard at Bat Knob cards.  Go here to check out all of my previous post on this set.

Immaculate Swatches

#5 Leo Durocher                                #8 Pee Wee Reese

Blog Kiosk: 8/25/2016 - Dodgers Links - Sborz, Ryu and Rich Hill's Debut

That was one heck of a first game.

After nearly a month of waiting (Rich Hill's trade to the Dodgers happened on August 1st) the 36-year old left-hander finally got onto the mound as a Dodger starter... And boy, did he impress.  Per Jack Baer and Chris Haft at MLB.com:

"Everything felt solid. Mentally, I felt great, body feels good," Hill said. "Something that I've emphasized throughout the entire season in Oakland and carried over here into L.A. is just stay within the moment, a pitch-to-pitch approach and really just making sure you execute each pitch."

Overall, Hill threw six shutout innings by weaving in a loopy and deceptive curve with a fastball that caught most batters by surprise to best the Giants, 1-0.  He struck out only three hitter but walked none on 81 total pitches.  As for the offense, that came on a solo shot by Justin Turner in the fourth inning off of Johnny Cueto.

"It's a cat-and-mouse game every time. He's one of my favorite guys to face. I know how competitive he is. I was with him with the Reds. You're always guessing whether he'll go quick or slow or with the hesitation. Every time we face each other, he does something to make me laugh and he laughs back at me. I always look forward to it."

Photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016.  Go here to check out more pics from yesterdays game by Jon and Juan Ocampo.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History:  In 1964 Sandy Koufax recorded his 50th career victory.  He beat the Reds, 7-2.  In 2012 the Dodgers completed a blockbuster trade with the Red Sox to get Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto.