Upcoming Appearance: Justin Sellers

Meet Dodgers Infielder Justin Sellers for an in store autograph signing. 

DATE & TIME:

SATURDAY OCTOBER 6TH, 2012
12:00PM - 1:30PM

WHERE:
Westfield Promenade Mall
All Star Collectibles
6100 Topanga Canyon BLVD
2nd Floor Store # 2330
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Store Phone: (818) 710-0513


If you have any questions concerning this event or you wish to pay for your tickets in advance, email Derek @ sales@mvptradingcards.com or call (818) 518-0989

Dee Gordon Bobblehead Now Available At BobblesGalore.com

Dodger shortstop Dee Gordon is off the DL and back in Los Angeles. Last night the speedster had a key steal in the Dodgers 4-3 victory over the Cardinals. Hopefully he does more of that in the stretch run here. 

Since Dee is one of my favorite Dodgers, I was happy when BobblesGalore.com and Forever Collectibles announced that they would be releasing a limited edition bobblehead of his. You can get that bobblehead now at BobblesGalore.com by clicking here. Remember, they're limited to 144 and each one is individually serial numbered.

All 49 Dodger Stadium Bobbleheads From 2001 To 2012 (Video)

On August 30, the Dodgers gave away the tenth and final bobblehead of 2012. That brought the all-time count of Dodger Stadium bobblehead giveaways to 49. Below is the video of all of them including the giveaway dates.

 
Sorry about the lip smacking.

Remember,  you can find the list of all 49 bobbleheads in the sidebar of the blog as well.

Hideo Nomo Garden Gnome Night, Yasiel Puig & Ken Griffey Sr

So I made another trip up to Bakersfield for a Blaze game last night. There were two reasons I went. One was to get the Hideo Nomo garden gnomes they were giving away and the other was to to try and get Yasiel Puig's autograph. Puig is the Cuban Defector the Dodgers signed to a $42 million contract a couple months back. He was promoted to the Dodgers single-A affiliate Rancho Cucamonga Quakes two weeks ago from the Arizona League and I wanted to get his auto before the California League's season ended.

When I arrived at Sam Lynn Ballpark, the first thing I did when I got the box for my garden gnome was open it up to check it out. I was worried the Hideo Nomo garden gnome was gonna be silly looking like the Josh Hamilton bobblehead they gave away in July. When I got it out of the box I was shocked. This thing was actually pretty nice. It looked a bit like Hideo and the quality was good. Nomo played for the Bakersfield Blaze in 1995 when they were an affiliate of the Dodgers, so it has the old school Blaze logo on the gnome hat. 

After looking at the gnome, I went to get autographs from the Quakes players. I was joined by my buddies Franz and Rob and we patiently waited for Puig. While getting autos from all the other players, we noticed there were only a few minutes left before game time and Puig hadn't shown up. That's when we found out he wasn't in the line-up and he was going to rest that day. He didn't even suit up and take the field with the rest of the team. We were disappointed, but we figured we'd wait until after the game to try and get him. 

The waiting paid off. Puig signed for the small group waiting for him outside the stadium. He was a real nice guy and signed everything that was put in front of him. Hopefully we'll see him in a Dodger uniform next year manning left field. After we got  Puig, we headed to the car to leave and we ran into the Blaze's manager Ken Griffey Sr. He signed for us as well, so it was pretty successful trip.

Me and Puig

I got one Puig sig on a ROMLB and one on a Cal League ball

Griffey Sr

I want to give a big thanks to the Autograf Hound, Rob for helping me out in Bakersfield. I can't wait to go back next season!

Vin Scully Bobblehead Night

The Dodger bobblehead season finally come to an end last night and they saved the best for last. The one and only Vin Scully gets bobble number ten in the Dodger Stadium Greats bobblehead series. Presented by Farmer John, this bobblehead was given to the first 50,000 fans in attendance. 

When I arrived at the stadium, I noticed that the Dodgers opened the parking lots early, which seemed to be a good thing. Many people got to the stadium early, and I think it helped, at least it did on the Loge level, where they opened the gates at 5:20. My wife and I separated, and she said it was chaotic up on the Reserve level. My final destination was the Right Field Pavilion and that line moved very quickly. 

Before the game started the Dodgers honored Vin Scully, who was on the field with his grandchildren, with a beautiful video tribute.Then Vinny came to the mound to throw out the ceremonial first pitch to Don Mattingly. When he got to the mound he did a wind up like Sandy Koufax, but he didn't throw the ball. He did however walk the ball to one of his grandchildren who then passed the ball down the line to the next grandchild and so on until it got to Don Mattingly.It was a great moment. Then one of Vin's grandaughters, Mackenzie Luderer, sang the Nation Anthem. As far as the game, the punchless Dodgers lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0. 

I love this bobblehead. I think it might be my new favorite.

I'm really happy this was the last bobblehead of the year. Getting to the stadium super early and dealing with all the people at Dodger Stadium is a lot of work and very stressful. Doing it ten times was too much. I hope the Dodgers can reduce the bobblehead number next season.

Fernando Valenzuela Bobblehead Night

On Tuesday, August21, the Dodgers gave away Fernando Valenzuela bobbleheads to the first 50,000 fans in attendance. Presented by State Farm, this bobble was the ninth in the series of ten Dodger Stadium Greats bobblehead series. The Dodgers played the Giants that night and lost 4-1.  Before the game, the Dodgers honored Fernando with a video tribute on the Jumbotron and then he threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

This is one of the stranger looking bobbleheads the Dodgers have given away. It commemorates the no-hitter Fernando pitched on June 29, 1990. Fernando wore glasses at the time, big gold glasses! Now, the bobblehead's gold glasses are a bit exaggerated, but that's the cool thing about it. Other than that it's pretty damn plain. 

As most of you know, this is the fourth Fernando bobblehead the Dodgers have given away since they started handing them out back in 2001. If you ask me, it's enough. Yes, Fernando is a huge part of Dodger Stadium's 50 year history and he needed to be represented somehow, but they could have paired him up with Jaime Jarrin, who was somehow left out of the Stadium Greats Series after calling games in Spanish for the Dodgers for 54 years. In my opinion, this Fernando bobble was just another money grab by Frank McCourt, and I hope the new ownership group doesn't have to resort to these kind of tactics. Putting a good product on the field and winning will get people into the stadium and it looks like they've already begun doing that.

Meeting Hideo Nomo

After a two week hiatus, I've decided to get back to the blog. I have to admit, the break has been nice. I probably would have taken more time off had it not been for the Fernando Valenzuela bobblehead giveaway on Tuesday, which I'll get into later this week, and the encounter with one of my idols, former Dodger Hideo Nomo, on Wednesday. 

The 90's weren't the best years for Dodger fans, but we did get to see some great players. Hideo Nomo was one of those players. I tell my kids about him all the time. In my opinion, Nomo is the greatest Japanese pitcher ever, so when I got a tip from Facebook friend Juan that Nomo would be in Compton, I got real excited. 

So what exactly was a legend like Nomo doing in Compton, California? Managing a Japanese 15-U baseball team. Nomo's team played against an American MLB Urban Youth Academy team that was managed by former Angels pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa. There were two games being played that day, one at 3:00, which I couldn't attend because of work, and another at 7:30.

I drove down to Compton with my good friend Mike from Nomo's Sushi Platter. He's the biggest Nomo fan I know and I'm sure he was more excited than I was. When we arrived, we ran into only one other person we knew and we were very surprised by that.We expected other autograph seekers to be there, but it was mostly parents of the kids in the stands. After taking a walk around the stadium, we spotted Nomo in one of the dugouts and decided to sit nearby. Let me tell you, we were all very nervous, but when Mike saw him in there he went for it! He asked him for an autograph. Hideo told us one minute, and he was true to his word. He called  us over and signed for us. He even took pictures! 

After getting the autograph, we could have left, but we decided to stay for the game. It was a pretty good game too. Both teams look like they have some future professionals. After the game, there was a nice closing ceremony in which all the players got medals. Hideo and Hasegawa even signed some more, which I took advantage of because I didn't know if I would ever get the opportunity again. 

This was one of the greatest days I've had as a Dodger fan and as an autograph collector. Thanks to Juan for the information. I had a great time! I also want to give a shoutout to my friends David from David's Autograph Signings and Benson. Glad you guys got the auto!