Dodgers Players And Coaches Sign Autographs For Tornado Relief

I attended "Viva Los Dodgers" Day at Dodger Stadium today. They had all the usual festivities, mariachi bands, dancing, raffles and giveaways. The Dodgers also raised funds today for tornado relief in the southern states. Many players and coaches signed autographs for the fans in attendance. For a $5 donation, you were able to get one autograph. The whole event was spearheaded by Dodger reliever Lance Cormier, who is originally from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, one of the hardest cities hit by the tornadoes.

Some of the other Dodgers who appeared were: Manager Don Mattingly, Pitching Coach Rick Honeycutt and players Clayton Kershaw, Jonathan Broxton, Matt Guerrier, Chad Billingsly and Marcus Thames.

Tommy Lasorda was there too, taking pictures with the fans and the 1981 World Series trophy. Jim Campanis was also there, as the original schedueled autograph alley signer.

I got there early, and headed straight for the Don Mattingly line. The line moved quickly. I had Donnie sign his 1987 Donruss Yankees card.

Don Mattingly

Next was Rick Honeycutt. I had him sign a ball. I wasn't paying attention, and he signed the ball with Sharpie. Oh well.

Rick Honeycutt

Next was Clayton Kershaw. Surprisingly, his line only took about 15 minutes to get through. Marcus Thames was signing at the same table and they let us get both signatures for the $5 donation. I had Kersh sign a card and Thames sign my hat.

Kersh

Marcus Thames

I got in the Tommy Lasorda line next, but missed him by just a few people. I wasn't too upset because I've met Tommy before. As I walked away, I ran into Dodgers photographer Jon Soo Hoo.

Jon Soo Hoo

At that point, the game was about to begin and people were heading to the stadium. Jim Campanis was still there signing,so I got in his line. He was very nice. He signed a card and my hat. He also took a picture with me and let me wear his World Series ring.

Jim Campanis

I had a great day today. I hope the Dodgers raised a lot of money! Thanks to Theresa for everything today. It was nice seeing Simon, Jason, Javier, Gustavo and Joseph. If I missed anyone, sorry. And thanks to Vin Scully Is My Homeboy for all the info on today's event.

Dodgers Win Four Straight And Other News

Dodgers win four in a row. Clayton Kershaw pitched another gem. He outdueled Cy Young candidate Ubaldo Jimenez, going 6 innings, while giving up one run on 5 hits and two walks and striking out six. His only blemish was a second inning homerun he gave up to Todd Helton. Kershaw finally had his first 1-2-3 first inning of the year.

The Dodgers offense keeps rolling as they scored six runs tonight. That's four games in a row now that the Dodgers have scored five or more runs. The offensive hero tonight was the Beard, Casey Blake, who hit his fifth career grand slam tonight off of Colorado reliever Matt Belisle. That gave the Dodgers a 5-1 lead, and they wouldn't look back. Matt Kemp knocked in one more run in the ninth inning as the Dodgers went on to win 6-2.

In other Dodgers news:

The Chicago White Sox file a waiver claim on Manny Ramirez.
Ted Lilly is the latest Dodgers player to be placed on waivers.
Frank McCourt gives 40,000 Dodgers tickets to LAPD officers.
The Dodgers will celebrate team photographer Jon Soo Hoo for 25 years of service.
Joe Torre's wearing an "In Beard We Trust" shirt from theLFP.com. You can order a shirt here.

Matt Kemp Autograph Fail

A couple of weeks ago, I heard that Dodger shortstop Rafael Furcal would be making an appearance at the Verizon Wireless store in the City of Commerce on Saturday, August 21 from 12:00-1:00. I was pretty excited about going to the event and getting my Rafa bobblehead signed.

Well, Friday night, the Dodgers announced that Furcal had canceled, and that Matt Kemp would be taking his place at the event. I was happy to meet Furcal,  but once I found out my favorite player would be there instead, I got real excited.

So, I got my 2009 Matt Kemp bobblehead, and drove down to Commerce. I left late, and I knew it was gonna be crazy. My friends Albert and Chris and Linda were already down there holding a spot. They got there four hours early and were over 300 people back. I knew there was a good chance I wouldn't get to meet Matt, but I decided to at least give it a shot. So I waited it out.

There were two lines to meet Kemp. The first was the regular line that we were in. The second was a VIP line. Anyone who made a purchase in the Verizon Store was moved into the VIP line, and would meet Kemp first. Albert and Linda made purchases, so they went right to the VIP line.  Chris and I waited with the rest of the crowd in the blistering heat.

Earlier, while walking up to meet my friends, I bumped into Roberto from Vin Scully Is My Homeboy. It was nice to finally meet him in person.We chatted for a little bit. I've got to say, Roberto may be the most dedicated Dodger fan I've ever met. He was one of the first people in the line.

Kemp got there on time. The crowd went crazy. The line moved at a snails pace. Twenty minutes after Kemp started signing, Albert and Linda showed up with their signed baseballs. They told us that ten people were going in at a time, and that Matt was signing very slowly. I knew I wouldn't get the autograph. But I stuck with it.

While waiting, a woman fainted in line. The fire department showed up and took her away in an ambulance. It was very hot out there, and the line was moving slowly.

1:00 rolled around and I was still about 150 people back, and there were at least 200 more people behind me. At around 1:05, the crowd started to run towards the front of the store, and that's when I knew Matt was leaving. And I was right. No Matt Kemp autograph for me. He got into the back seat of an SUV, and they drove off. He waived out the window to the crowd, and that was it. Some people booed, but for the most part, it was very calm.

While walking back to the car, we ran into Dodgers photographer Jon Soo Hoo. He was nice enough to take some pictures with us. I am a fan of Soo Hoo's work, so it was it was a nice little surprise at the end of a long, hot, disappointing day.

Me and Jon Soo Hoo

Chris and Albert with Jon Soo Hoo

Once again, I want to say that these player appearance need to be longer. There are fans standing in line for hours just to meet their favorite baseball players. One hour of signing is ridiculous, especially for a player as popular as Matt Kemp.