There's a Topps Baseball Card Promotion at Dodger Stadium Tonight

I was helpfully reminded by a reader last night that there is a Topps Baseball card promotion at Dodger Stadium scheduled for tonight's game. It is related to National Baseball Card Day -- an annual event being held at participating card shops throughout the country on Saturday, August 12th. Go here to check out a Topps press release about the promotion. Go here for a complete checklist of available cards.

The promotion consist of two different parts.

Blog Kiosk: 8/11/2017 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

Darvish was not perfect and he was far from efficient. Still, an ace pitcher, given a less than ideal start, will more often than not find a way to win. Yu Darvish, no doubt, did that last night. Per Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider:

For the second time in as many games as a Dodger, Darvish struck out 10 batters. And despite the deep counts — nine 3-ball counts total — he walked two batters. 

“I fele like I was able to do the least job, going five innings, and I got the strikeouts to get (their) guys out,” Darvish told SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo. “I struggled to throw first pitch strikes. … It was a battle throughout the game.”

In fact, according to ESPN Darvish is only the second Dodger since 1900 to record 10+ strike outs in each of his first two starts in Blue. Karl Spooner in in 1954 is the other.

Photo above via ESPN on twitter. Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1950 the Dodgers were no-ht by Vern Bickford of the Boston Braves, 7-0. He needed only 97 pitches to accomplish the feat. In 1951 the first color televised broadcast of a ballgame is aired on WCBS-TV. It featured a game at Ebbets Field between the Dodgers and the Boston Braves. Unfortunately, the Boys of Summer lose the contest, 8-1. In 1962 the Dodgers protest the Giants tactic of wetting down the basepaths in order to slow down speedster Maury Wills at Candlestick Park. The Dodgers would lose 5-4. Giants manager Alvin Dark would forever earn the nickname "The Swamp Fox." In 1969 Don Drysdale announced his retirement from the game.  In 2015 every home team won their game -- making that a first in the live ball era with a full slate of games. 
• Happy Birthday, Bobo Newsom, Luis Olmo, Dennis Lewallyn, Rex Hudson, Mike Huff & Bubba Crosby!