August 2010
Good luck charm or Blue Widow
You tell me. I guess my friends and I have two running jokes now. The first one is, I am not allowed to pick a favorite current Dodger. The last few haven’t quite worked out.There was Russell Martin in 2007 and 2008, which he had good years. He made the All Star team both years. After that, his numbers started going down. In 2009, Randy Wolf became a Dodger for a second time and became my favorite player PERIOD. Well, he got a ton of no-decisions but had a great year. Unfortunately, the Dodgers didn’t resign and he went on to the Brewers where he’s not having a great year. As of now, he is 10 – 9.
At the beginning of this season, everyone was asking me to pick another favorite player. When John Ely made his first start at Dodger Stadium, my friends were like, why don’t you pick him? He’s young, he’s cute, he’s a decent player. At that point, he had made only like one or two starts. I told my friends, I’ll give him a few starts before I made my mind. Well, after a month and finally meeting him, I decided that he would make a good replacement for my favorite Dodger. Sure enough, as soon as I said that, he started going down hill. He lasted about a month before he was designated for assignment.
More recently, I jokingly said I should pick Garret Anderson. No kidding, the next day I got his autograph on the photo of him and me … the following day after that, he was designated for assignment. If I didn’t already have a blog or a nickname, my name should be the Blue Widow.
Now, on the flip side, since I have been attending baseball games, my overall record is 80 – 49. Here is my win-loss record for the following years: 2006 (1-0); 2007 (11-6); 2008 (14-8); 2009 (36-20); currently 19-16 for this year.
And I don’t know how many players have hit a homerun or gotten a game winning hit or gotten hits in the game after I got a picture or autograph from them. More recently, Reed Johnson hit his first homerun for the Dodgers this week. It was the same day he signed a baseball and took a picture with me. On Wednesday, I got my picture with Jay Gibbons and he signed my team ball. He got a hit that day. Sure, the Dodgers lost, but at least he got a hit.
AJ Ellis, who many Dodger fans can agree, is probably one of the weakest bats on the team right now. On Tuesday, he signed a photo for me (and I accidentally marked him with my sharpie), and he got a hit and scored a run. He had an autograph appearance on Friday, and didn’t start till Sunday. At the appearance, he signed my scrapbook and took two photos with me. He got three hits on Sunday, the day when the Dodgers were only able to muster up 7 hits and almost half of those were AJ’s.
Saturday, Jonathan Broxton had a player appearance as well. He signed three things for me and took a picture. That night, he got a save, the first in who knows how many games.
So, you tell me… good luck charm or Blue Widow?
Big Jon (8/21/10)
Just as I was getting ready to turn my phone on silent for church last night, I got a text from Pat about Rafael Furcal’s appearance being canceled. Matt Kemp was his replacement. Since we were only going to the Verizon appearance because it was going to be Furcal, we had a change of plans. Now that Furcal was no longer signing, we were free to go to KABC’s signing.
I knew from past experience that people showed up really early for Broxton’s appearances in times past. Even though this was Broxton’s fourth appearance this year, I still expected a rather large crowd. I showed up super, super early (I won’t reveal the actual time) and there was someone already there. So, I set up my chair and got back in the car. Mike and his neice had gotten there at midnight and were camping out in their car. I got back in my car and read till Starbucks opened and then got a white mocha. The next person to show up was Alan (sp?) and that was about two hours after I had gotten there.
It was almost two more hours before the next person showed up. And it gradually growed from four people to seven! Yay! We were so surprised how little the crowd was. Even though this was his fourth appearance, and he was recently demoted from his closer role. And there were two other appearances today. Kemp in Commerce and Fernando Valenzuela at West Covina. The KABC reps started showing up around 7. Unlike the Dodger rep (just one), who showed up at the last hour at Ellis’ signing.
The great thing about this location, it was next to Starbucks and there was Noah’s Bagel right there too. We helped KABC block off some parking spaces for their vehicles and tent. The line grew gradually, but I’m sure it was nothing like the lines at the other two signings.
Jonathan Broxton showed up a little late. Then they started letting us in, taking groups of five or so at a time. Alan got a smile out of Broxton. I won’t share how he did it. But it was a rare sight indeed. He was Broxton being Broxton and didn’t say much. He signed my 2009 scrapbook, newspaper clipping from the All Star game for my 2010 scrapbook, and my team ball. Someone in line behind me called out, “I think you need a bigger baseball.” It’s got somewhere between 18 and 20 autographs on it.
I finally got a photo with Jonathan Broxton. This is the first time I’ve gotten my picture with him. Angelina went next. She had her team ball (not any specific year) and two magazines, one for her boyfriend and one for our friend Nina. Then she got a photo with him too.
Over all, great signing again! It’s always great to be at a KABC signing. I’m looking forward to my next one.
Oh yeah, I was watching him while he was signing for our group. Didn’t see him reach for a bottle or spit once while we were there! Interesting….
Here’s a recap from the previous Jonathan Broxton appearance at Sports Authority in Burbank, posted by Roberto over at Vin Scully is My Homeboy.
AJ at Hyundai
Before the trade deadline, Blake DeWitt was scheduled to sign autographs at the Hyundai dealership in Glendora. The week after Blake told us about it, and the day the Hyundai put out the ad, Blake got traded. Instead, they scheduled for AJ Ellis to sign instead.
I was excited. I had only gotten AJ Ellis at the stadium once (Photo day doesn’t quite count). Jamey Carroll was signing in L.A., but I wanted to go to AJ’s. Even though it was way over there in Glendora. I had no idea what time would be a good time to go. I know my friends were leaving for Jamey Carroll’s around 5 or so. I set my alarm, hit the snooze twice before getting up and heading out.
Since it was early still, I turned on KABC to listen to the Peter Tilden show. I’ve heard the advertisements all season about winning baseline box tickets on the Peter Tilden show. When I got to the dealership, the gate was still closed. So I parked the car and waited for someone to come and open up. I waited probably about 25 minutes before someone showed up and opened the gate. I pulled out my chair and set myself in front of the store. Good thing I got a book, because I had about 30 minutes to kill before calling in. At 7:18, I started calling KABC … and I won the baseline box tickets! Yay! And just about that time, the next person in line showed up. Just in time to see me jumping around the parking lot.
We didn’t really form a line around the front. We just sat around in a circle. They came out and handed us numbers, but we made sure we had the right order. Even though we weren’t sitting in that order. About 11:30, Simon texted me to tell me that Jamey Carroll had arrived at their signing. About ten minutes till twelve, an employee came out and had us line up in numerical order. Just as she was telling us to line up, I noticed AJ walking up. He just walked by. No one said anything to him. He got close and I said, “hey AJ!”
They let us in and AJ spotted me right away. He said, “you were the first one?” I laid out my scrapbook and he asked me what time did I get there? He guessed 7. I shook my head. Some of the employees behind me told him I was there before Jake (I think it was Jake) was. He showed up at 6:45 to open the gate and I was already waiting. He asked me if I bought a new car while I was there. I said I didn’t. He signed my book and a photo for Pat. I had some extra photos for him. He told me he had told the guys about my picture and he was bragging about it to them. I slid him the copies and told him he could have them if he wanted them. He was like, yeah! Now I have proof.
Then I got my picture taken with him. I went outside to talk with friends and I checked my photo. I saw how blurry it was! I went inside and asked for another number so I could get another picture with AJ. My friend Erika asked if I could take a picture of her with AJ for her. The lady in front of her asked me to take one too. When AJ saw me come back in and take a picture for the first lady, he asked me, “are you the team photographer?”
Edward told me AJ liked the photo AJ signed for him. He and Sandra had the only two photos that were my images. I emailed one to Edward for him, and one for me. Sandra ended up with it. When AJ saw Sandra’s photo, he was like, “hey! Here’s the partner from the other photo.” AJ had asked Edward if he had caught the ball. When he saw Sandra’s, he was like: Okay, so I did catch it. Bad form, but at least I caught it. I don’t remember what he said verbatim, but that’s pretty close.
I asked AJ if I could take another photo with him. The first one was blurry. He asked me, “was it my fault? It was my fault, wasn’t it?”
Not quite perfect, but I’ll take it! That’s as good as it’s going to get.
Afterward, I exchanged info with Eric and Sandra so I could send them the photos I took of them. And to get in touch on facebook. One of the employees came out and said, “hey #1 fan” and something else. Somehow I ended up back inside and helped the Hyundai employees take their group photo. It was quite worth getting up at the crack of dawn, even if in some people’s eyes it was just for AJ. I’ve always had a soft spot for catchers ever since I became a Dodger fan.
And the good luck is back!
Well, see, I teased my friend that today I wasn’t going to say hi to him until after the game was over. We said hi before the game yesterday, and the Dodgers lost. Today, I saw him a few times before and during the game, but I didn’t make eye contact or say hi. And guess what? The Dodgers won!!!
On top of that, Pat asked me to get two baseballs signed for someone’s kid. I said sure. One ball was for anyone and everyone. The other ball was just for Andre. I got in and Russell Martin was right THERE by the baseline. However, by the time I got to the Kiddie Korral he was already on his way to the dugout. Rats! I got the ball out and got ready to ask for whoever would stop to sign the ball for Pat. I don’t remember who was first, Reed Johnson or Loney. Honestly, I did not expect Reed Johnson to stop. Not sure if I’ve ever seen him sign. Not only did he come over and sign, he also took a picture with me 
Next up, the Dodgers ran in. I looked for Juan Castro but he headed down to the clubhouse instead of coming up. Guess he remembered me from the day before. I remembered to bring my picture this time. It didn’t work 
After all the players went in, I looked for Jay Gibbons. I had hurried to Wal Greens before heading to the stadium to print the picture of me and Jay from the day before. Sure enough, he was straggling behind. So, I held up the picture and asked Jay if he could please sign. He put his stuff down and came up. Hands shot out with pens and balls, but like Reed and the other players… he came to me first. Someone behind me asked him if he was starting today. He said no, he doesn’t start two days in a row. He’s too old for that. I told him he wasn’t too old. In fact, he started two days in a row last week. Okay, so maybe after that he realized he wasn’t ready to start back to back games.
I couldn’t believe I got three signatures on the baseball for Pat. It takes me a whole homestand sometimes to get three signatures on my team ball. And Reed Johnson nonetheless! Like I said, I didn’t expect Reed to come over. I was very excited and glad that he did. Now to get Andre’s ball signed. We went to the spot where Andre usually signs and waited for him. We chatted with some new friend Henry, Lauren, and… I’m drawing a blank. Hopefully, Lauren will visit my blog and correct my bad memory. Henry is a regular and I’m sure we crossed paths hundreds of times. Lauren said the last time they were at a game was when Nomar Garciaparra was still on the team. We shared tips and stuff about getting autographs. I saw them after the game to retrieve my silver sharpie. He had gotten two autographs on his baseball cap. I was looking at the second one, trying to figure out whose it was. He told me. I was like, what? His autograph doesn’t look like that. Then I turned the cap upside down. James Loney. Sure enough. His signature was upside down from the LA logo on the cap.
You knew the game was going to be tight. Ted Lilly was pitching and so far he’s been lights out with the Dodgers. He is undefeated in his first three starts with the Dodgers. Josh Suchon on Dodger Talk likes to say Lilly didn’t get much run support from the Cubs, and he sure isn’t getting much with the Dodgers either.
If you watched the game or saw the final, you would know that Josh sure was right. Lilly didn’t get much run support. Just two runs. And he made sure two runs was all he needed. And that he was not going to hand over the ball to the bullpen for them to mess it up. Guess who he two runs were courtesy of?
Sure enough. Former Cubbie himself. Reed Johnson! The guy I got my photo taken with earlier in the game. One of the ushers was joking with me that Reed’s gonna tell the players that they need to get their picture taken with me before a game so they can hit a homerun too. And believe me, Reed’s not the first player to have hit a homerun in the same game when I’ve gotten a photo with them. Just a lucky coincidence I say. However, my usher friend said if the Dodgers lose the next three games, it’s my fault because I’m not going to any of the other games the rest of this homestand.
Player Appearances
There will be two player appearances tomorrow. Jamey Carroll and AJ Ellis. The Dodgers have been posting an announcement on Facebook now about the player appearances. So far Carroll’s announcement has a few comments, but AJ’s already is up to almost 100. And I gotta say, probably 90% of those comments are not of the positive kind. Here’s a few.
AG: They were going to get Octavio Dotel to make an appearance, but they
were afraid he’d just keep dropping the Sharpies off the table =/
DD: Who is he and will he refund the money I’ve wasted on this team? Good grief! Dodger fans deserve better!
NC: A TRUE Dodger fan will stick with the Dodgers through the GOOD and the
BAD! It’s sad when people call themselves fans and then when the team
isn’t doing well they put the team down! Shame shame on you…
DC: Really? A.J. Ellis? Was Juan Castro busy that day? Come on man.!
EP: he still is a rookie and hasen’t been playing everyday until now but give him a break he should improve. don’t be so screwed up.
EL: Jesus look at all the folks ragging on poor AJ. Dude is just a 3rd string catcher lol lay off man!
Although if he did an appearance at a batting cage, id be impressed
FM: Ellis should be making appearances in Albuquerque where he belongs.
CL: If I throw a ball at him, will it fly right by him like the game last night???
LH: OF THE 6 PEOPLE THAT ATTEND THIS EVENT, 2 WILL BE THERE TO BUY A CAR, 2
WONT KNOW WHO THE DODGERS ARE AND 2 WILL BE LITTLE KIDS WHO THINK AJ
ELLIS IS RYAN HOWARD.
RM: Hopefully AJ sells cars better than he can hit baseballs…
CH: Who’s AJ Ellis?
Now Jamey Carroll comments
DC: baller, Jamey Carroll is an awesome utility man. He shows effort
(ahem…Matt Kemp) and is a hard worker. Hard work beats talent, but
talent does not beat hard work.
JR: dodger fans don’t give carroll enough credit for everything he has been doing for us .
CR: I am SOOOO excited!!!! I would do ANYTHING for this man!!! I LOVE HIM!!!!
(Yes, this is posted by a woman)
MN: Maybe the Dodgers can one of those “Easy” buttons and put together some wins or new ownership!
DCa: Jamey Carroll has done more than he was asked to do. If Matt Kemp had
his drive and determination, not to mention some desire, MK would be a
SuperStar. But this is for Jamey ! Thanks for playing like a Dodger
should !
Guess who’s going to have the bigger crowd tomorrow?
There were a few negative comments in Carroll’s comments, but only like one or two were actually directed at Carroll. Not like Ellis where the majority of the comments were negative, and even then it was split between management, individual players, the team, and AJ.
Don’t worry, AJ. There will be two fans there who don’t fall under the three categories that LH listed. Even though Carroll’s signing is much closer to my house, I am going to drive all the way out to Glendora to support Ellis and the Dodgers. Someone’s gotta show up and represent right?
Four for Five
So much for the good luck streak. Well, I guess that’s why you’re not supposed to mention perfect games and no-hitters while they’re going on. Once you say something, bye bye good luck. Or momentum. Or like Steve Lyons would say, the mojo.
At least I got a picture with Jay Gibbons. Sorry, I didn’t mark him with a Sharpie for luck. I accidentally marked AJ Ellis the day before. He got a hit and a run scored.
Monasterios Redux (8/7/10)
Yes, I know Jonathan Broxton was signing again at Sports Authority in Burbank (Vin Scully is My Homeboy has the recap here) and I have yet to get him this year. Even though he’s done two other appearances. I put the question to my friends. Broxton in Burbank, or Monasterios in Torrance. Well, as you can see… we chose Torrance.
I got to Torrance around 6:30. Of the four people in line in front of me, I knew 3 of them. There was Jay, who I don’t recall meeting before but he looked familiar. He said this was his fourth signing and he’s seen me at all of them. He said he knew he was at the right place when I showed up. Then there was Simon, who I met the day before. And of course, my dear friend Jo, who coincidentally was in front of me in line.
Surprisingly, the line was much longer this time around. I was gonna show up around 9:30 because that’s what time I showed up at the first Monasterios one. And there were only 10 people there. I think we had ten people by 7. By 9:30, there were probably around 20-25. Funniest thing I noticed was when a police squad car pulled up. I noticed him go across the street to the Big 5 but didn’t think anything of it … until he came back with a bag of baseballs!
At the previous signing, he showed up just on time. A little before 11, I decided to put my chair away. I was like, hey, he might be early like John Ely.
Sure enough, around 11 or so, he pulled up. Someone saw him pull in and was like, I think he’s here. He sat in the car for a bit before walking up. No one really noticed him walking up till he got closer to where we were. We started cheering him so people would know he was there.
Simon was ahead of us, and he told me that Carlos liked the picture that Simon got signed. He commented on the photo, something about, wow that’s an old photo, against the Brewers. Yeah, it was from the May series against the Brewers. Norma was getting a photo with Carlos and he put his arm around her. Just before Pat took the picture, he tilted his face up towards Norma and made a lovey-dovey face. Everyone cracked up and Norma was like, “what? what’s going on?” She thought he was doing bunny ears or something.
Again, it was a great signing! I love these KABC ones. I don’t know why, but I feel more relaxed and more excited at these. It was great making new friends. Hope to see you guys again soon.
Save #598 for All Time Saves Leader Trevor Hoffman
Last night, my dear Randy Wolf was two outs away from a two hit shut-out against the Cardinals. Bad defense by a certain outfielder led to Wolfie coming out of the game and nearly getting a no-decision. They brought in Trevor Hoffman to get the final out. He got his career save #598.
Hoffman got save #500 back in 2007. Anyone remember who the Padres were playing and who started for the other team when Hoffie got his 500th save? And who made the final out?
Looney Loney Appearance (8/6/10)
Yes, it’s almost been two weeks and I’m just now writing about it. You’ve probably already heard all about what happened.
I got there probably around 5:30ish and there were about 15 or so people in line in front of me. The line was going behind the Metro PCS store and into the alley behind it. Believe me when I say, this place was a little hard to find in the wee morning hours. I drove past it and had to turn around before we found it. Tiny parking lot. I ended up parking behind the cocktail place next to the Metro PCS.
The line kept growing and growing and growing. When Metro arrived, they had us move the line towards the front of the street so it went around the cocktail place and then back in the alley.
For those of us who were there in the wee early hours, we got some free entertainment from a man who obviously wasn’t there for the signing.
I know I have pictures somewhere. I just can’t find where I put them.
About ten till noon, the DJ on the mic started signing, Loney will be here in ten minutes. Five minutes later, Loney will be here in five minutes. My friends and I were like, are you sure? We didn’t think he’d actually be on time this time.
Sure enough… after 20-25 minutes of the DJ saying, Loney will be here any minute now, he finally pulls in. It was funny to see him wince a little with all the screaming when he got out of the car. I wonder if it was the high-pitch girls screams or the signs that said “will you marry me?” that made him wince.
Funny thing was, when we got there, I was like 15th or so in line. Maybe 20th. I didn’t count. About 11:30, this group of girls in short shorts (more like briefs) showed up and got in line. One of the Metro employees saw them and told them they weren’t there at 6:30 in the morning and needed to move. They didn’t move far. They moved like five people back in line. It was quite frustrating. I went from somewhere in the 15-20 to probably like 40-50. There were a ton of people in front of me who showed up at the last minute.
We finally got in. He signed my bobblehead on the brim this time. He signed my other one on the cap. This one is going to my cousin Joanne in North Carolina. She came to visit in 2007 at the start of my Dodger obsession and she got hooked, too. When she went back to NC, her older brother was giving her a hard time. He was telling her that she wasn’t a Dodger fan, she wasn’t a real fan. Then she started listing some of the players. His reaction? “What has Linda done to you?” Loney was her favorite player then, so when she was supposed to visit this summer, I was so excited about taking her to Loney’s bobblehead night. Well, her plans fell through and she didn’t make it. So, I got her bobblehead anyway and plan to take it to her next time I visit. Not so sure if I want to risk sending it across the country.
My friend Monique was after me and Kevin, and he saw her shirt that she was going to have him sign and said, “hey there’s my shirt!” When my friends Pat and Jo got up, he asked them, “what are you guys doing here?”
After we finished, it was time for lunch. However, because I had parked next to Metro and behind the cocktail place… not only was there an employee vehicle double parked behind me … but a cop car behind it. There was a lot of police presence there. The officer has just gotten out of his car and when he saw me looking at the cars in the lot, he asked me which car was mine. I pointed to it and he said, “you’re screwed.” It was funny how he said it.
So, we went out to lunch. Surprise, surprise, we got lost getting to lunch. On the way back to Metro, Vin Scully Is My Homeboy called me and asked me if I was still at Metro. He was getting emails and tweets about the aftermath of the Loney signing. By the time we got back, it had been long over. There were no signs of any police, near riot, or any trash lying around. They must have cleaned it up real quick. There were anywhere from 600 to 1000 people in line. No way was Loney going to sign more than 150-200 autographs. Sure, he arrived late. But, he stayed the extra half hour or so that he was late. And Loney isn’t like Broxton. He talks to fans as he’s signing. He doesn’t just sit there, not look up at the fans, and just sign. He does interact. Shame on those “fans” for their awful behavior. I know I’ve been upset at signings before, but I was usually one of the first people in line and they were telling me or people in my group that we weren’t going to get in to get our autographs.
Who knows what’s going to happen at Furcal’s signing this Saturday. The VIP list alone is already ridiculously long. Who knows if any of us “general public” people will get in. We shall see.
2000
I just checked. I’m 2 hits away from my
2000th visitor. Should I do a prize for the 2000th hit? If
you are the 2000th hit, leave me a comment about being it and
the date and time I suppose. I have no idea. I’ve never done
a contest of any sort before or a prize. I’ll think of
something. Maybe get an autograph. What do you
think?
fallingleaves02
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