Player Appearance: Matt Kemp

I found out earlier in the week that Matt Kemp would be making an appearance this weekend. I've made two previous attempts at getting Kemp's autograph in person, and had no success either time.

The first time was at a scheduled Macy's appearance in Northridge last year, which Kemp pulled out of, and was replaced by Clayton Kershaw. The second attempt was on August 21 of this year. That appearance was not organized very well and became a complete disaster. I had missed out on a Kemp in-person autograph for the second time.

Today was different. The event was held at The Plant, which is a giant Living Spaces in Van Nuys. Kemp was scheduled to appear from 10:00am to 12:00pm. After finding out he would be signing for two hours, I became a bit more confident that I would get the autograph. But I still had my doubts. Matt's a popular player, and his appearances get crazy. Luckily, Van Nuys is 10 minutes from my home so I didn't have to travel far.

I got to Living Spaces and met up with Greg from Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle.  My buddy Tom showed up later. I also got to meet a few other people,  Eric, Richard and little Aaron. Great conversation kept us all occupied while we waited for Matt to show up.  We were about 255 people back. We knew that because of the wrist bands they handed out. The first 250 people got pink wrist bands, the next 250 got green ones. We were in the second group.

Well, Matt got there on time. The line moved into the store right away. They were letting ten people in at a time. As usual, they told us one signed item per person, and no pictures with Matt.  When we got to the front of the line, we saw people taking pics with him. Huh? OK, so we could take picture with him. Cool.

When it was my turn, I got my homerun-saving Matt Kemp bobblehead out and handed it to him. He asked where I wanted the signature, and which color Sharpie I wanted him to use. I told him on the hat with silver Sharpie. Then I built up the courage to ask him for a picture, and he said yes. Matt's my favorite player, so I was real nervous.

At the end of the day, this event turned out to be a great success. The staff at Living Spaces were very nice and organized.  I got what I wanted, an autograph and a picture. I also got to hang out with some great Dodger fans. I can't wait for the next Dodger event.

Bobblehead News

Some bobblehead news and notes on a quiet Monday night:

Reminder, the Dodgers will only hold TWO more Twitter Tuesday contests this season. They've been giving away Matt Kemp Gold Glove bobbleheads and Andre Ethier Silver Slugger bobbleheads all season long. Maybe they will offer those up as prizes these next two weeks. We'll have to wait and see.

Greg over at Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle was one of the lucky Twitter Tuesday winners this season. You can read about his Matt Kemp Gold Glove bobblehead here.

Al Yellon, managing editor at SB Nation Chicago, shows us some of the more unusual, interesting and offbeat bobbleheads given away over the years, including a Dottie Key Rockford Peaches bobblehead, Ryan Theriot's fisherman bobblehead and my favorite, the Player To Be Named Later bobblehead.

A perfect tribute to baseball transactions everywhere, "PTBNL" has as generic a face as you could possibly imagine, although this bobblehead technically isn't a "Player TO BE Named Later; he's actually "Player WHO IS Named Later."

After 41 years as the Chicago White Sox organist, Nancy Faust will retire at season's end. This past Saturday, she was honored with a bobblehead, which was given to the first 10,000 White Sox fans in attendance. As a Dodger fan, I'd love to see long-time Dodgers organist Nancy Bea Hefley honored with a bobblehead one day.

And in non-sports related bobblehead news, a 14 year-old Brooklyn boy has created the worlds largest bobblehead. Standing 16 feet tall, the bobblehead, which started out as a Jerry Seinfeld look-alike but has since taken a more general male form, took more than a year to build out of PVC piping, chicken wire, fabric papier-maché and springs.

This is what happens when you're really, really bored.

LA County Fair's Dodger Day: Garvey and Sax Autograph

Thursday, September 9, was Dodger Day at the LA County Fair in Pomona. Four former players appeared at the event, Steve Sax, Maury Wills, Steve Garvey and Fernando Valenzuela. These events always get crazy, but I know that it's a lot crazier when Garvey and Fernando appear. I knew I had to get there as early as possible. My mission was to get Steve Garvey to autograph his bobblehead.

The appearances began at 4:00 pm, with Steve Sax signing first for an hour. They would continue every hour after that for one hour at a time. Maury Wills was at 5:00, Steve Garvey at 6:00 and Fernando at 7:00.

I arrived at the fair at 1:15, hoping it would be early enough. I'm always very late to these things. Well, I was early enough. There was only one line when I got there and I was about 30 people back. Security told us that we would have to get back in line once we got Sax's autograph. THERE WAS JUST ONE LINE? This had disaster written all over it.

The front of the line when I got there

Standing in line, it's always fun to chat with the people around you, and I did meet some nice people waiting for Steve Sax. I can't remember all of their names, but a couple of them said they read the blog. COOL! They all had some nice Dodger stories to tell.

Once 4:00 rolled around, the line moved quickly. I noticed there was a second line forming off to the side. I asked them what they were waiting for. Some people were waiting for Garvey, some for Fernando. OK, so this is where I'm gonna go once I get the Sax auto. Well, I finally got to Sax, and he was very nice. I told him I was huge fan and he said thanks. He signed my 1982 Fleer rookie card for me.

Once I got the autograph, I went to that secondary line people were waiting in. I was about 40 people back, so I was in good shape for Steve Garvey. Maury Wills was next, but I was there to get Steve Garvey's autograph. While waiting, I met some more great people. The first person I met was a man named Bruce. You can read Bruce's Dodger Day experience here. He had some nice stories to tell. While I was chatting with Bruce, a couple of guys stepped into line and started talking to Bruce, I figured they were related. They weren't, they had just met each other waiting for Steve Sax. So, who were these guys? One was Greg from Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle and Memories of Kevin Malone. He recognized me from the site. The other was a nice guy named Eric. We chatted for a while, then things got chaotic. Security had to do something with the second line of people that had formed. So, they formed three seperate lines, one for each of the remaing players. Why didn't they think of this earlier?

I jumped into the Steve Garvey line. Waiting in the Garvey line I met more poeple, with more stories to tell. This is what the fans do to pass the time. Looking to the left, there was a huge line starting to form for Fernando. I didn't want any part of that. I was sticking to my mission, Garvey then go home.

Garvey showed up on time, and the line started moving. I've got to admit, this was one of the good things about the event, they moved the line along nicely. I got the bobblehead out. Once I got to the front of the line, that's when Fernando showed up. The crowd went crazy. But I was there for the Iron Man. Once it was my turn, I handed him the bobblehead. I told him to sign the helmet. Then I started telling him I was a huge fan, and that it was nice to meet him. While I was blabbering away, I noticed he was signing the base of the bobblehead. I asked him if he could please sign the helmet. He said sorry, then went on to give me an additional signature right on the side of the helmet. I got two Garvey autographs on one bobblehead! Nice. Mission accomplished.

As I was walking away, Eric asked me if I wanted to wait for Fernando. I took one look at the line, and said, no. There were at least 1,000 people in line for Fernando, if not more. That's when I knew it was time to go home.

Overall, I'd say I had a good day. I got 2 of the four player's autographs. I was there for Garvey, so getting Sax was a bonus for me. I met some nice people too. It was also nice to meet Greg from MoKM in person. That's the second Dodger blogger I've met now, Roberto from Vin Scully is My Homeboy being the first.

Dodger Bloggin'

Tonight's Dodger loss was painful. The pitching was atrocious. Carlos Monasterios was a mess. But Ramon Troncoso replacing Monasterios in the fifth inning was the Dodgers undoing. Tron couldn't even retire one batter in what turned out to be a seven-run inning for the Red Sox. I don't even understand how Joe Torre can keep bringing Troncoso into games. Actually, I do understand. He loves to destroy bullpen arms. It's sad.

Let's see what's going on in the world of Dodger blogs:

Speaking of Joe Torre destroying bullpen arms, theLFP.com shares the cover of Joe Torre's next book with us, "The Art of Bullpen Management"



Blue Heaven shares another great auction item. It's a game-used Dodger batting helmet once worn by slugger Pedro Guerrero. What's so special about this helmet? Nolan Ryan hit Pedro in the back of the head which left a huge crack in the helmet. The helmet is also signed by Ryan and Guerrero.

There have been a few good Dodger autograph appearances over the last few weeks. KempKershaw over at Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle shares his John Ely meeting with us.

Matt Kemp has been struggling lately. Memories of Kevin Malone wonders if there is any reason to start worrying about the Dodgers star center fielder.

Roberto over at Vin Scully Is My Homeboy is in Boston with the Dodgers. He's been giving us the details of his east coast trip. He's sitting in Section 36 if any other Dodger fans in Boston were curious.

Speaking of Section 36, Boston Red Sox blogger, Section 36 writes a segment called "Visitor's Views", where he asks some questions to a fan of the visiting team at Fenway. Since the Dodgers are in Boston, he contacted me, and asked me a few questions. Of course I was kind enough to answer. You can check that out here.

Dodger Bloggin'

Should we be concerned with all the walks Clayton Kershaw gives up? KempKershaw at Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle takes a look at the numbers.

Evan, the go to guy in Albuquerque, recently had a day out with the Isotopes. Check out New Mexico Fan's story and pics.

Blue Heaven has got another great Dodger ebay find. Here are vintage Steve Sax and Fernando Valenzuela shirts. These shirts bring back some memories.



From Vin Scully Is My Homeboy, a King Kong sighting at Dodger Stadium: