Ryan Garvey gets drafted by the Phillies

Congrats to Ryan Garvey (Steve's son) on getting drafted by the Phillies in the 15th round of the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft. It'll be interesting to see if he signs with the Phillies or follows his college commitment and attends USC.

Click here to view a video of him on MLB.com showing his pre-draft workouts.

Click here to read an article on Philadelphia's local CBS TV station's website about the Phillies drafting Ryan.

Bark in the Park 2011



My wife and I attended the Dodgers second annual Bark in the Park on May 28th. Just like the first time I attended,  it was a well run event. Among the highlights was making a lap around the field, having my wife take a picture with Steve Garvey and taking to Steve about his son Ryan's high school baseball team. The one lowlight was that the stadium caught on fire and the choking smoke led to half of the top deck and reserved level being evacuated.

I'd note that Ryan Garvey's Palm Desert High School baseball team made it to Dodger Stadium to play in California's Southern Section Division 4 finals but ended up losing to Southern California powerhouse Bishop Amat 7-0. It'll be interesting to see where he gets drafted this week since he already has a commitment to USC.

That said, here are some pictures of the event that show Dodger Stadium from the field level.

Steve Garvey leading a "Pup Rally" prior to the game.

The start of the pre-game lap around the warning track at Dodger Stadium.

A shot of Diamonvision during the lap around the field. Ironically, Steve Garvey was on the screen.

Looking in from center field.

Close up shot of the Dodgers digital screen that's part of their outfield wall.

Here's a look inside the Dodger Bullpen through the outfield wall.

The Dodgers bullpen through the outfield gate.

The far end of the Dodgers dugout heading towards the locker room.

The Dodgers dugout. Plenty of interesting things in the trainer's medicine chest.

Last year when I attended this event the Dodgers were already on the field.

Steve Garvey, my wife and dog behind home plate.

My wife and dog posing right behind home plate.

The visitors dugout at Dodger Stadium.

My dog, Chloe, making a new friend.

The visitors bullpen at Dodger Stadium.

Chloe sitting in my wife's lap in the all you can eat right field pavilion.

Here's a view from our seats of the game. Andre Ethier is playing right field.

A shot of the smoke from the fire on the top deck at Dodger Stadium.

The entire Top Deck and Reserved levels were evacuated on the first base side.

Interestingly, the game was never stopped.

Jerry Sands and a Dodger Dog

One of the local card shops in my area had Dodgers' rookie Jerry Sands signing at their shop today. My wife and I decided to stop by since we're going to be attending tonight's second annual "Bark in the Park" promotion at Dodger Stadium tonight.

While there, I had Jerry sign a few items for me (i.e. ball and photos) but the big highlight was having him sign my dog Chloe's Dodger jersey which he had fun doing.

Not suprisingly, Jerry said signing a dog was a first for him.

If you look closely, you can see Jerry's finace in the photo on the far left.

Jerry brought his fiance to the signing and my wife being the female that she is struck up a conversation with her. She was super impressed with how nice both Jerry and his finace were. Once we left she filled me in on all the details of her girl talk (most of which I don't remember other than they're getting married in November).

 All in all, it was an enjoyable start to our family Dodger Day!



Ryan Garvey hopes to follow in father Steve Garvey's footsteps and play at Dodger Stadium

Here's a feel good story from the LA Times about Steve Garvey's son Ryan. He's a power hitter that's already committed to play at USC next year (pending the 2011 amateur draft results). His #1 ranked high school baseball team from Palm Desert, California is three playoff games away from playing at Dodger Stadium.

Here's hoping he makes it.

Boogying with the 1986 Dodgers

The Dodgers played the Padres tonight in San Diego and (as I'm writing this) the game has been delayed twice because of rain (which is pretty rare for any of MLB's three southern California teams). During the second rain delay, Fox Sports' Prime Ticket channel aired a program on the history of the Dodgers that was put together during their 50th season in Los Angeles in 2008 and provided a year by year synopsis of each Dodger season in Los Angeles.

When they got to 1986, they showed a snippet of a video that I have no recollection of the Dodgers ever making called "The Baseball Boogie Bunch" which is surprising because at the time I was a 17 year old Dodger fan living in Los Angeles who happened to also be very familar with music videos thanks to MTV. 

Baseball Boogie appears to be the Dodgers attempt at making a music video along the mold of the 1985 Chicago Bears extremely popular Super Bowl Shuffle. Among the Dodgers featured in this classic (sic) were: Bob Welch, Bill Madlock, Ken Howell, Pedro Guerrero, Fernando Valenzuela, Rick Honeycutt, Mike Scioscia, Jerry Reuss, Mariano Duncan, Dave Anderson and many more. Needless to say, this video is loaded with unintentional comedy.

That being said, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

Can you name the 1970 & 1975 Opening Day Lineups?

I created four more quizzes on Sporcle.


Can you name the 1970 AL Opening Day Lineups?

Can you name the 1970 NL Opening Day Lineups?

Can you name the 1975 AL Opening Day Lineups?

Can you name the 1975 NL Opening Day Lineups?


Let me know how you do

Steve Garvey as would-be suitor for Dodgers

It's been a busy news week so far for Steve Garvey.

This past Monday, news came out that I didn't want to hear in which Steve didn't garner enough votes from the Expansion Era Veteran's Committee to be inducted into the Hall of Fame which means I'm waiting at least three more years for the next Expansion Era Veteran's Committee vote to happen (the veteran's committee votes on the Golden Era and the Pre-Integration Era the next two years). Interestingly, the Baseball Hall of Fame didn't even announce how many votes Steve received other than to say it was less that eight.

On Tuesday, the LA Times reports that Steve Garvey has an investment group that wants to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers (should they become available from the fall out of the McCourts' divorce). Interestingly, Steve notes in the article that he'd take the role of managing general partner if a purchase were to happen.

Finally, I'd note two interesting eBay auctions being offered by the Topps Vault. One that's closed and one that's still live.

The first is the final negative for Steve's 1971 Topps Rookie Card.

The second is the final negative for Steve's 1972 Topps high number card.