Dodgers vs Angels Recap

Freeway series!! YEAH!!

I love it when the Dodgers and Angels face each other, besides the rivalry against the Giants, this is the one I enjoy the most . . . . mainly because I can travel to Anaheim and support my Dodgers at the opponents stadium. But this time it was our turn to host our SoCal neighbors!

Game 1 (6/11/12)

I got there early because I wanted to get autographs due to the 10 day rest I had from games because the Dodgers were on the road.

It was a good start, rookie standout Elian Herrera came over to sign autographs for fans and lucky me that I had the ticket stub from his debut game (May 15 vs. Arizona). I asked him if he could put the “MLB Debut” inscription, but he said it would take more time and he wanted to sign for as many fans as possible. So this means I’m going to carry it for a while, until he signs the inscription.

Something happened at BP that made me very happy, Dodgers 2B Mark Ellis was back on the field with his teammates. The fans that were there received him with a big ovation, which he thanked. He had limited participation, but it was awesome to see him again after him suffering that terrible injury against the Cardinals that will keep him out of action for 2 months.

What do you think of Matt Kemp’s kicks? I think they look great: RED, WHITE & BLUE!

Jerry Hairston Jr. trivia, part 2. After an unsuccessful try by the fans to win a baseball off of Jerry’s trivia in the last homestand, Hairston gave them a second shot. Actually a fan was the one to formulate the question and they still didn’t win it . . . . all of that for a ball? Yes! You would be amazed what other people do for one.

Another player that’s on the DL that was back at the Stadium after a while without seeing him was Justin Sellers, the kid wasn’t signing autographs at the beginning of the season . . . but he wasn’t going to bat or catch that day, so he went over with the fans and signed that day. I asked him when he would come back and he said that he hopes that in a pair of weeks.

While trying to catch BP baseballs, my friend Alex from Dodger Adventures spotted Magic Johnson. He was next to a guy with a Dodgers #32 jersey, are you ok with people doing custom made jerseys with that number and the “Johnson” last name? Remember, that number is retired by the Dodgers to honor one of the best pitchers in the MLB: Sandy Koufax.

I wasn’t going to do “aisle 27” that day, but I decided to give it a shot when I saw that Kershaw was near the area where some players signed. I was in line for the second group, but ended up being the first person of group #3. At the beginning I was bummed, but it was a blessing in disguise. Group #2 was sent out after only 5 minutes and that meant that I had premium positioning in case of any players coming over to sign. Kershaw walked by and just waved, but guess who came over? BEAST MODE!! A girl that was celebrating her 16^th birthday screamed at him and he kindly went over, took a picture with her and signed autographs, my friend Josh from Dodgerbobble convinced me that it was way better to get my Sports Illustrated cover autographed instead of the 8x10 I have of Matt Kemp:

Kenley Jansen & Jerry Hairston Jr. stopped by to congratulate the girl and take a picture with her, I want to thank her because she’s the reason why Kemp stopped by, and here she is with Jerry:

So, I saw that Magic was there so I decided to try and get him sign the SI cover that I already had Kemp on. Fortunately Maury Wills was outside the press box talking to some of his friends, I patiently waited for him to finish his conversation and asked him to sign this photo I took with him the day he signed me a “DS 50 Anniversary” ball:

It was Jaime Jarrin tribute night, so he was very busy . . . but he always finds time to sign for fans.

What do you guys think about this Angels/Dodgers T Shirt this lady was rockin’? Personally I don’t like it! Root for one team or the other!

One of the celebrities that I often spot at Dodger Stadium is Mr. Larry King, this time I immediately spotted him because I was waiting for “Magic”. There were a couple of fans with baseball cards that he signed; I just went for a picture with him.

5 minutes before the game started Earvin Johnson started walking towards the elevator to watch the game at his seats. He took a picture with a family and signed like 3 autographs, the security staff that was escorting him kept saying: “He’ll sign on his way out”. So, I had a mission . . . . getting his auto on his way out!

The LA Kings won the Stanley Cup, huge roar from the fans at the Stadium!

Another marriage proposal . . .

Well, Mr. Johnson left his seats at the end of the 6^th inning . . . I rushed towards the level he normally exits and waited outside the elevator, but the weird thing is that he headed towards the opposite side of his office. I deduced that he would come back and waited there for a while, exactly 1 inning later he came back and signed for a lot of fans and took pictures, he autographed the SI cover for me & I was the happiest guy at the Stadium!

4 hour game, sharp! Booo! We lost!

Game 2 (6/12/12)

I didn’t have in my plans to go early to this game, but something happened in the office that made me end up preferring being at the Stadium than at the office.

It was a bobblehead giveaway game, but I was surprised at not seeing a considerably big crowd for BP. Ethier signed a multi-year deal worth $85 million, he autographed items for the fans with his son (mini Ethier) playing around him.

Tried out “aisle 27” and James Loney walked right to the area I was in and signed a couple of autographs, I asked him for a picture instead and he was cool with that.

Our Dodgers beat the Angels baby! The feeling was electric at the Stadium after Andre Ethier hit the RBI single that tied the game and Juan Rivera hit a 3 run HR to win it. Here I am, completely happy after grabbing the lead after 8 innings, yes . . . . with my “The Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles” shirt!

Game 3 (6/13/12)

Busy day at the office, due to that I got late at the Stadium. At the most there were 40 season ticket holders at BP. That helped me out when Clayton Kershaw overthrew a baseball to Chris Capuano, it landed 2 sections away from me and I wasn’t even going to run and try to get it . . . . but the ball started rolling to my direction and the temptation was too much to stay seated, I ran towards it and got it!

5:10 struck, a lot of people went to “aisle 27”, but I preferred to stay near Clayton Kershaw by the left field foul pole with hopes of him signing an 8x10 of a picture of me with him. Homerun! The reigning NL Cy Young walked towards my direction to pick up a baseball and a little girl asked him for an autograph and he started signing away for about 5 minutes, unfortunately he signed my picture with a black Sharpie that the little girl handed to him to sign her baseball (I prefer my Dodgers autos in blue). Here’s how it ended up:

The LA Kings were going to be at the Stadium, so I hanged around the tunnel the guests usually walk out of. I spotted Don Newcombe talking to some people at the owner’s box, so I had a “DS 50 Anniversary” ball just in case, luckily he walked over to the fans and told them that he would decide where to start signing and that he wouldn’t sign to people cutting in line. He signed a lot of autographs, he was about to sign my ball on the sweetspot and I felt bad but had to tell him to please sign it under the 50^th logo. He was a little bit shaky and I thought the auto didn’t come out so good, but my friend Alex told me it actually came out pretty good.

Joe Torre was back in the Stadium! I saw him at the last game of the series against the Brewers a couple of weeks ago and got his auto that day, but another signature from a future HOF’er is always welcome in my collection. I knew he wouldn’t sign downstairs, so I headed over outside the press box. He walked by approximately 30 minutes before the game started and signed many autographs, actually this autographed ball ended up looking better than the first one he signed for me:

I asked Mr. Torre how he thought that Don Mattingly was doing this year and he said that ‘Donnie Baseball’ is “doing it great”. I replied by telling him “he learned from the best” and he answered “that’s right”. Don was an assistant coach while Torre was the manager of the Yankees and Dodgers from 2004 to 2010.

Former Dodgers GM Fred Claire was in the building too, he was the GM the last time the Dodgers won the World Series (1988). Another fan recognized him and asked him for his autograph on a sweet picture he had on a book, I decided to get him on a new baseball . . . . bad thing is that my pen failed at the beginning of his autograph and it didn’t come out perfect.

A surprise guest at the Stadium was Washington Wizards PG John Wall, he went under the radar but some people recognized him and took pictures with him. I missed out on my opportunity because he had to leave towards the field where he exchanged jerseys with Matt Kemp. I asked him if he was going to be at the Drew League this Saturday and he answered that he is (he didn't end up going to that basketball game), so I’ll try to get his autograph on my SLAM Magazine cover he appears on.

I was already thinking of calling it a day, when all of a sudden Fernando Valenzuela started taking pictures with fans. I already have a picture with him, I already got that one signed, so I tried my chances this time with getting a “DS 50 Anniversary” ball autographed and he was totally cool with it. A lady asked for him to sign a baseball on the sweetspot and I noticed he got really pissed.

Pregame ceremony was awesome; the LA Kings brought the Stanley Cup to Dodger Stadium and took a picture with the Dodgers & Angels. I feel like the Angels shouldn’t have been in the picture, they’re from Anaheim!! Not from LA!! Go take pictures with the Ducks!!

I tried out to get autographs from the Kings, but their security was really tight and it seems like they took them to a suite without going next to fans that were waiting. Bailey was the only one that walked next to the fans and took pictures with some:

I think that this year might set a record for the most marriage proposals at Dodger Stadium, this time there was the traditional Kiss Cam one:

And one at the Top Deck where a guy rocked a “Will you marry me?” T-Shirt and the girl said yes!

Well, the Dodgers lost the series 2 games to 1, and the worst part is that we ended up losing the series against them at Anaheim too!! We need Kemp back, and bad!!