Dodgers Final Homestand - Autographs, Future Contest, Twitter Prizes

The Dodgers started their final home stand of the 2011 season on Monday, September 12th.

3 games against the Arizona Diamondbacks (9/12-9/14)

4 games against the Pittsburgh Pirates (9/15-9/18)

3 games against the San Francisco Giants (9/20-9/22)

Since Kershaw is having a Cy Young season, I figured it would be great to go watch his last two starts at home. I found tickets for field level right by the bullpen for only $10 and jumped on the deal. I don't normally sit in the Field Level because of how expensive they are, but since they were cheap it was a great choice.

Autographs
I went with a couple buddies of mine and arrived at about 4:45 pm to try for some autographs. I wasn't able to get any of the Dodgers position players since they were all in the clubhouse during the Diamondbacks batting practice. I met up with Josh (Dodgerbobble), and he told me that the bullpen usually signs  before the game starts. They arrived during Kershaw's bullpen session and began signing for about 10 minutes.

I was fortunate enough to get 5 relievers on my mini helmet.

John Ely

Matt Guerrier

Nathan Eovaldi

Josh Lindblom

Javy Guerra

I asked Scott Elbert for an autograph but he was only signing baseballs. I missed out on Kenley Jansen but got Javy Guerra, who I was hoping to get.

Clayton Kershaw got his 19th win of the season but was ejected for throwing at Gerrardo Parra in the 6th inning. I think Kershaw would have got the complete game shutout since the Dbacks couldn't do anything against him. MLB released a statement saying that they weren't going to suspend Kershaw and he'll most likely pitch on Tuesday against Tim Lincecum. That is also UCLA Night at Dodger stadium.

Future Contest
I went to the game last night since I had a voucher for free tickets and this was the only game available. It was USC Night and they gave away Dodger hats with the USC colors. Dana Eveland had his worst start since being called up earlier this month. He gave up a 3-run homerun to the opposing pitcher. The Dodgers lost 6-2.

I'm going to give away one of these hats sometime during the USC football season. So make sure you're a follower of my blog if you want a chance to win a hat.

Twitter Prizes

The Dodgers launched Social September, a month-long initiative that engages Dodger fans online, in-stadium and at home.

It's already been a great two weeks for me. During the road trip in Washington, the Dodgers twitter wanted fans to ask questions that would be answered on television. Since they were facing Stephen Strasburg, I thought it would be cool to ask a question about him.

My question was chosen to air on KCAL9, but there was a small problem. They spelled Roy Halladay's name wrong. That was pretty neat to see while I was watching the game.

On Monday, the Dodgers had their first giveaway of the homestand. I was watching Monday Night Football at the time of the contest, but switched over to the Dodger game to see that they were about to have their contest.

This is one of the greatest things I've won on twitter. I'm going on the field to watching batting practice! I'm taking my dad with me and I'll be taking a lot of pictures. It's going to be next Wednesday against the Giants.

I also won one more contest yesterday, but this time it was from Javy Guerra, the Dodgers closer. The last Viva Los Dodgers event is being held this Saturday from 2-6pm before the Dodgers take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Guerra will be signing autographs along with some other Dodger players from the past.

I'll be going to the UCLA vs. Texas game at the Rose Bowl in the afternoon, so i'll probably head over to the stadium after the game. Maybe i'll try for more autographs on my mini helmet. Javy is giving away more tickets on twitter later today and tomorrow.

Thanks to the Dodgers for making social media awesome this month.