The Joy Of A Completed Project

Last October I went to a Steve Garvey appearance in Ontario. It was then I decided to start my third Great Infield autograph project by getting each one of them on their own baseball. I  got Garv that day,  Ron Cey on Opening Day, and Davey Lopes before a game earlier this year. Bill Russell, maybe the easiest of the four to get, had been eluding me. I missed him in autograph alley once and again at Dodger FanFest.


I was happy when I found out Russell would be signing again in autograph alley on  Friday, July 13. I couldn't wait to get up to Dodger Stadium to finish the project. When I got up there, there was just a handful of people waiting to get the signature. The one auto I had waited the longest to get, in the end only took a few minutes of my time, but it was worth the wait.

The Great Infield Bobblehead Night

Once again I'm a little late on the bobblehead night recap. I'm not sure why, but I'm getting lazier and lazier every time I go to Dodger Stadium. I bring the camera, but I don't feel like taking pictures.  Maybe it's because I'm tired from work, I dunno. 


Anyway, the Dodgers honored the great infield of Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Bill Russell and Davey Lopes with a mini quad bobblehead on Tuesday, May 29.  Just like the first two bobbleheads before it, this one looks amazing. I've got to praise the artist on this one because the details are nearly perfect. All four bobbles look like the actual player. 

Before the game started, I was getting autographs along with many other Dodger fans. Steve Garvey and Bill Russell were both signing. There were a lot of people waving the bobblehead at them both, and I saw them signing the bottom of the base. I'm not really sure where people expect the guys to sign this bobblehead because it's so small. And that's probably my only complaint about this bobblehead, the size. I really wish they made it a little bigger.

Get A Free Great Infield Quad Bobblehead

From Dodgers.com

Want to get your hands on a free Garvey/Cey/Lopes/Russell Dodger Stadium SGA Quad bobblehead?  Here's how you can get that free Great Infield bobble. From BobblesGalore.com: 


As a thank you for your business, purchase any 4 bobbleheads on BobblesGalore.com from 5/23/2012 to 6/11/2012 and you will receive a FREE Infield Quad player Los Angeles Dodgers 2012 Stadium Giveaway Bobblehead. Just make your purchase of 4 items or more, then once your purchase is complete send us an email at info@BobblesGalore.com requesting the Dodger Infield bobblehead be added to your order (DO NOT ADD THE ITEM TO YOUR ORDER WHEN MAKING YOUR PURCHASE). No charge on the Dodgers Infield Bobble and no extra charge on shipping. Any questions regarding this promotion can be emailed to info@BobblesGalore.com

Another Look At The Infield Bobblehead

Pic via @Dodgers

Just one day after releasing an official picture of the upcoming Orel Hershiser bobblehead, the Dodgers are showing us a nice hi-res pic of the Infield bobblehead, featuing 1B Steve Garvey, 2B Davey Lopes, SS Bill Russell and 3B Ron Cey. I showed a low-res pic of this bobblehead last week, but now that I have better look, I think they've done an amazing job on this one too!  From Garvey's wristband to Davey Lopes' afro to Bill Russells boyish looks and Ron Cey's mustache, everything looks right. Like I've said before, these bobbleheads are getting better and better every year.


Presented by State Farm, the Dodgers will be giving away the Infield bobblehead to the first 50,000 fans in attendance on Tuesday, May 29 when they play the Brewers.

First Look: The Infield Bobblehead

Via Dodgers April 10-15 Playbill

For those of you who made it out to Dodger Stadium this week, you probably were given the first playbill of the year, which has a beautiful black and white picture of the '62 team holding their hats over their hearts on the cover. 


I rarely read the playbill, in fact, when I get it at the front gate I usually toss it in my back seat and don't think twice about it. I had three hours to kill before the game started on Opening Day, so I actually skimmed through it. What caught my eye was on page 3, a picture of the first three bobbleheads the Dodgers are giving away this year. Of course we've already seen the Drysdale/Wills bobble, but this was the first time the Dodgers showed pics of the Orel Hershiser bobblehead and the infield bobblehead of Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell and Ron Cey.


It's a low-res picture, but from what I can tell they did a pretty good job on all of them. Check out Davey Lopes' little afro!  I know the Orel Hershiser is a full-size bobblehead, but I'm not sure about the infield. Either way, I'm very excited about all ten bobbleheads the Dodgers are giving away this season. Don't forget, that first giveaway is in two weeks!

The Joy Of Completing A Project

Back in May, former Dodger Shortstop Bill Russell made an appearance at the local Sports Authority.  It was at that appearance that I decided I was going to work on getting autographs of all four members of the great Dodger infield, First Baseman Steve Garvey, Second Baseman Davey Lopes,  Third Baseman Ron Cey and of course, Russell. I picked up a picture of the foursome, and got Bill Russell to sign.

Two weeks later, I got Steve Garvey's signature. Then in June, I got Ron Cey. The only one eluding me was Davey Lopes. After finding out he would be doing Dodger Day at the LA County Fair on September 15, I realized it falls on a Thursday, the only day of the week I have to be in the office. If I wanted to complete this project soon, I would have to go to Dodger Stadium or take my picture to Frank & Sons.

I decided to take a shot at Dodger Stadium first. Tuesday night Mrs. Dodgerbobble and I met Alejandro at the Ravine, and we headed straight for the Field level. I wasn't down there for more than two minutes, when Davey Lopes walked past me. I had no time to react, I pulled out the picture, handed it to him, and noticed I didn't have my black Sharpie. The other three signatures were in black. Lopes was signing someone else's picture in blue Shaprpie when he grabbed my pic. He signed mine in blue too.  I was a little disappointed that his auto was a different color from the other three, but I was still happy to complete the picture.

While we were at Dodger Stadium, I got a few more autographs:

Maury Wills signing my hat

Maury Wills

Aaron Miles

Aaron Miles on the hat

Clayton Kershaw signed a couple cards for me

There was some innocent flirting going on between Javy and Mrs. Dodgerbobble. Cool! 

He signed the hat.

Kenley Jansen

Mike MacDougal

Scott Elbert

Matt Guerrier on the hat

Guerrier on card

Bullpen coach Ken Howell

I had a great time that night. I completed my infield project. I got a few autographs. I heard some great Beatles tunes. Andre Ethier hit a Grand Slam, and the Dodgers won!

Player Appearance: Bill Russell

Former Dodgers Shortstop Bill Russell made an appearance today at the new Sports Authority in Sherman Oaks. He was scheduled to sign autographs from 12:00 to 1:00. I got there at 9:30, and there were about ten people already in line.

The staff at Sports Authority were very helpful. They passed out plenty of promotional items while we waited for Mr. Russell, including folding chairs with carrying cases, which made the wait much more comfortable.

12 o'clock finally rolled around and Mr. Russell showed up on time. The line moved very quickly. I noticed people were getting multiple items signed, so I figured I'd give it a try too. I decided to go with two pictures. Both pics had the record setting infield of Russell, Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes and Ron Cey. I already have individual autographs of all four players and decided it's time to get the group together. I've already reserved Steve Garvey's autograph at an appearance next week, so I know I'm half way there.

Mr. Russell was very nice, asking me where I wanted the autograph and even taking a picture with me. I wanted to thank Bill Russell and Sports Authority in Sherman Oaks for everything today. It was good seeing Alejandro and Mike and chatting with everyone else in line.

Opening Day 2011 - Dodgers vs Giants

What a day. It really felt like Christmas. I woke up this morning and all I could think about was getting to Dodger Stadium to see the Dodgers take on the San Francisco Giants.

When I finally got there, I met up with my buddy Albert, who was waiting at Autograph Alley for me. Former Dodger Bill Russell was signing. Russell got there at 2:30. He signed a card, a hat and a postcard for me and my wife. He also took pictures with us.

After we left Autograph Alley, it was time to get into the Stadium. We sat in the All You Can Eat Right Field Pavilion. The crowd was energetic, and everyone was ready for the game to start.

There were a few planes flying pro-Giants banners.  There was one banner that read "SF Giants 2010 Champions Beat LA". It was so far away, and so small that it made it very difficult to see what was written on them.

The Opening Day ceremony was very simple. Plácido Domingo's rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" was amazing. Then Fernando Valenzuela came out with Tommy Lasorda. Fernando threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and the crowd went nuts. Then, Vin Scully got on the jumbotron and told the crowd "It's Time For Dodger Baseball", and the season had officially started.

Then it was game time. Clayton Kershaw was brilliant. It was a pleasure watching the kid pitch. Tim Lincecum was pretty good too, but Clayton just outperformed him.Kershaw struck out nine in seven scoreless innings while allowing four hits and only one walk. He left the game winning 2-0.

When Broxton came into save the game in the ninth inning, there were a lot of worried fans. He ended up surrendering a solo homerun, but in the end he got the save. Dodgers won 2-1.

Everything was right in Dodgertown. The Dodgers beat the Giants on Opening Day. Even though it was hotter than hell out there,  I had a great time.


Here's some video of the Opening Day ceremony. I shot it with my phone, so the audio is a bit distorted.