Fireworks At Comerica Park Between Verlander & Weaver

Ever seen a no-hitter with a run scored? Well it almost happened for the second time in one wee but Maicer Izturis singled in the 8th inning with 2 outs.

Just four days ago, Ervin Santana threw his first career no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.

Justin Verlander made a case for the 2011 Cy Young award. He out dueled Jered Weaver and finished the game in the dugout unlike Weaver.

He shutdown the Angels and didn't allow a runner to reach second base until the 8th inning.

Jered Weaver made two mistakes. Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen hit a shot down the left field line for his fourth home run of the season. He only gave up 4 hits in 6.2 innings but recorded his fifth loss of the season.

Carlos Guillen show boated after he hit his home run in the 7th inning. He stared down Weaver and flipped the bat while walking to first base. Weaver was already angry because Magglio sort of did the same thing in the 3rd inning but that one didn't look intentional.

From Chad Moriyama:

Both teams were warned after the home run and Weaver was ejected on the very next pitch for throwing at the head of Alex Avila.

Erick Aybar lead off the 8th inning by trying to bunt for a base hit but Verlander threw the ball away and allowed Aybar to reach second base. The no-hitter was still intact because they ruled it an error. Erick Aybar later scored on a fielder's choice when the Tigers failed to get him out during a run-down.

Verlander lowered his ERA to 2.24 and won his 15th game of the season.

Starting Pitchers
Verlander: 8 IPs, 1 H, 2 BBs, 9 Ks, 2 Rs 0 ERs
Weaver: 6.2 IPs, 4 Hs, 1 BB, 8 Ks, 3 Rs, 3 ERs

Box Score: Tigers 3 Angels 2

Photo by Leon Halip/Getty Images

Dodgers Trade Rafael Furcal To Cardinals

Rafael Furcal had a no-trade protection written into his contract and he earned no-trade rights by being a 10-year veteran with at least five years on the same club. Furcal was willing to waive it in order to go play in St. Louis. {via Derrick Goold}

Furcal has had a horrible, injury-plagued season. This is how his season has been: .197/.272/.248 line in 137 at-bats. He’s 5-for-8 stealing bases, and he’s scored just 15 runs in 37 games. {via Craig Calcaterra}

At the start of tonight's game, Furcal approved the trade to the St. Louis Cardinals. {via Hardball Talk}

The Dodgers will also send cash to the Cardinals and acquire Double-A OF Alex Castellanos from Cardinals in exchange for Furcal. His numbers: .319, 19 HR, 62 RBI, .562 SLG, .941 OPS {via Dodgers}

-----------------------------------

Rafael Furcal was one of my favorite Dodgers for the past couple of years and he was also a fan favorite in LA. His defense was great to watch and he has an unbelievable arm. The injuries were starting to catch up to him. He's only 33 years old but has hit the DL four different times since the start of the 2010 season.

It was also great being able to see his hard work pay off last season when he was selected to his second All-Star game in his career and his first as a Dodger. It's a business and it's apart of baseball, so I wish him the best in St. Louis.

Dee Gordon will most likely get called back up and become the everyday starter at shortstop.

UFC Gym New Location - Torrance

UFC® GYM™ SET TO BREAK GROUND ON NEW LOCATION IN TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA

UFC Gym Torrance Opens in Early 2012; Enrollment Center Opens for Memberships August 1, 2011

 
Quickly becoming a leader in the fitness industry thanks to its state-of-the-art facilities, innovative training techniques and revolutionary incorporation of Mixed Martial Arts, UFC® Gym™ announced today that it will begin construction on its latest location in Torrance, Calif. Expected to open in early 2012, the Torrance UFC Gym will be located in the Torrance Promenade at 19800 Hawthorne Blvd. #420. It is the fourth UFC Gym location, with three other locations in Concord, Rosemead and Corona, Calif., respectively.

“We’re excited to break ground on another UFC Gym location in Torrance, California,” UFC President Dana White said. “When we started UFC Gyms, our goal was to raise the bar in the fitness industry. That’s exactly what we’re going to do in Torrance. We’re going to give residents there an amazing lifestyle experience.”

At over 40,000 square-feet, UFC Gym Torrance will feature all of the amenities seen in traditional fitness facilities, plus the cutting-edge training techniques that have helped the brand emerge as an undeniable force in the industry. With MMA programming such as Muay Thai kickboxing, jiu jitsu, self-defense classes, and team-oriented Daily Ultimate Training, as well as one-of-a-kind offerings such as a 32-foot Octagon®, UFC Kid’s Gym Fitness, Octagon Training Disciplines, and High-Octane Conditioning, UFC Gym Torrance will help members of all ages realize results like never before.

“The results people are achieving at UFC Gym are remarkable,” UFC Gym Senior Vice President Adam Sedlack said. “We look forward to providing members of the Torrance community an opportunity to “train different” and change their lives, incorporating something for everyone. From the young adult to the working professional, and everyone in between, UFC Gym provides unique training regimes for all ages and fitness levels.”

Potential members will have an opportunity to join at a reduced rate prior to the facility opening at the UFC Gym enrollment center located in suite 224 of the Torrance Promenade. For more information check out www.ufcgymtorrance.com, or call 877-2-UFCGYM. UFC Gym currently has three locations in operation (Concord, CA, Rosemead, CA, Corona, CA), with a fifth in the works, (Honolulu, Hawaii) and plans to continue its rapid expansion. For more information on locations worldwide, visit www.ufcgym.com.

UFC GYM TORRANCE WEBSITE

Matt Kemp - Fifth Fastest In NL History To 25/25 Club

In the third inning of tonight's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Matt Kemp hit a 3-run home run to center field off of Josh Collmenter.

Matt Kemp is the fifth fastest in National League history to reach the 25/25 club. The only NL players to reach 25/25 in less team games than Matt Kemp were Eric Davis, Bobby Bonds, Alfonso Soriano, and Howard Johnson. {Twitter}

This is the second time in Matt Kemp's career he's reached this mark and it's only the seventh time in Dodgers history. {True Blue LA}

Kemp now has 25 HRs and 27 SBs with 57 games left in the regular season.

Picture Credit: AP

Play For Japan - Celebrity Basketball Charity Event

Click here to view the flyer.

Play for Japan announces today that it will host a day of basketball festivities on Saturday, August 6, 2011 with all of the proceeds going to help the victims of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

"Play for Japan" will be an all-day charity basketball event held at West Los Angeles College beginning at 12:00pm. The day will begin with a coaches clinic from 12:00pm to 1:30pm that will include special guests Reggie Theus, assistant coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Rasheed Hazzard, assistant coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. A kids skills clinic will follow from 2:00pm to 5:00pm for boys and girls ages 6 to 14 years old.

The day will be highlighted with a celebrity basketball game that starts at 5:30pm, which will feature a team of outstanding Japanese-American players against current and former athletes from the NBA, WNBA, and overseas professional leagues. Some of the professionals in the line-up are Jeremy Tyler (Golden State Warriors), Lamond Murray (Los Angeles Clippers, CAL), Toby Bailey (Phoenix Suns, UCLA), Earl Watson (Utah Jazz, UCLA), Michelle Greco (Seattle Storm, UCLA), Jordan Hamilton (Denver Nuggets, University of Texas), Darin Maki (Saitama Broncos, CSU Dominguez Hills), and Natalie Nakase (San Diego Siege, UCLA).

During the halftime show of the celebrity game, there will be special performances by "We Are Heroes" of MTV's America's Best Dance Crew and DJ Phatal. Players will be available for a meet and greet following the game.

General Admission to the celebrity basketball game is $10 per person. Coaches clinic costs $40 each and kids clinic is $35 each.

Ticket reservations can be made by emailing playforjapan11@gmail.com

Donations can be made online at www.play4japan.org.

Read more: PRweb

Matt Kemp Appears on Lopez Tonight

In case you missed Matt Kemp's late night debut, he appeared on Lopez Tonight on July 28.

The Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star player explains how he went from a country kid in Oklahoma to an MLB superstar. Matt talks about this year's team, his good friend Blake Griffin, and how he almost decided to play professional basketball instead. Matt also says that the Dodgers can still make the playoffs. (haha) That must of been the tequila that he drank with George at the beginning of the interview.

Picture Credit: @SMPLonnie

Upcoming Appearance - Matt Kemp

Dodgers Center-fielder
Matt Kemp

Friday, August 26
11am-12 pm

First 200 Fans only. One Autograph per person.

Baldwin Hills metroPCS
3700 S. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90016

{Dodgers Player Appearances}

Upcoming Appearance - Tony Gwynn Jr.

Dodgers Left-fielder

Tony Gwynn Jr.

Saturday, August 13th
12-1pm

Sports Authority Store
4950 Faculty Ave.
Lakewood, CA 90712

{Dodgers Player Appearances}

Upcoming Appearance - Javy Guerra

Dodgers Rookie Closer

Javy Guerra

Saturday, July 30th
12-1pm

Video & Audio Center
1426 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90403

{Dodgers Player Appearances}

Ervin Santana Throws First Career No-Hitter

Ervin Santana threw his first career no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians. It's the ninth no-hitter in Angels history.

Ervin is the sixth Dominican player to throw a no-hitter. The other 5 Dominican players to throw a no-hitter: Juan Marichal, Ramón Martinez, José Jimenez, Ubaldo Jiménez, Francisco Liriano. (Via Beto Duran)

Ervin Santana (10 starts) had never defeated the Cleveland Indians before this no-hitter. He only walked one batter and struckout 10 batters. He gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the 1st inning. Ezequiel Carrera reached based on an error by Erick Aybar and later scored on a wild pitch.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim won 3-1.

Photo credit: (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Mailday - Kobe Bryant, Rafael Furcal & Joe Johnson

It's been over a month since my last Kobe Bryant relic. I also added 2 new Rafael Furcal relics and a Joe Johnson dual.

It's my 15th Kobe relic and my first relic from a 10-11 product. I would like to get the other production line relic which is a square relic instead of the 27.

2010-11 Donruss Production Line Kobe Bryant

#/399

Along with the Kobe, I also received two more Rafael Furcal relics. That brings my total to 15 different Furcals. The first relic has some minor chipping on the back of the card but that isn't a big deal. It's numbered out of 99 and I haven't seen any others available.

2009 Topps Career Best Rafael Furcal

#/99

2007 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection Rafael Furcal

I also won this Joe Johnson for my collection last week and finally got some time to scan it. It's an old-school dual relic with Anfernee Hardaway when they were teammates on the Phoenix Suns. The piece is apart of their warm-ups which is neat.

Times In Sports With Magic Johnson

HIGHLIGHTS

• Hosted by Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke
• Event is Saturday, July 30 at 4 pm
• Gersten Pavilion at Loyola Marymount University {Map}
• Free parking

THE DETAILSArguably the greatest point guard of his generation, Earvin "Magic" Johnson recounts his favorite “Showtime” memories and discusses his current and future plans during a special one-on-one conversation with Los Angeles Times columnist, Bill Plaschke.  Magic’s incredible sportsmanship spurred the Lakers to five NBA championships and brought a style of play and passion to the game never before seen in the history of basketball. His community outreach has made him as much of an MVP in his private life as in his professional career. This is your chance to hear his on-and-off-the-court stories and see the Hall of Famer up close and personal.

{Buy tickets}

Upcoming Appearance - Tony Gwynn Jr.

Hall of Fame sports presents Tony Gwynn Jr.

July 30, 2011

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Frank & Son Collectible Show

19649 E. San Jose Ave.

City of Industry, CA 91748

Upcoming Appearance - Matt Kemp

Hall of Fame sports presents Matt Kemp

July 30, 2011

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Frank & Son Collectible Show

19649 E. San Jose Ave.

City of Industry, CA 91748

Fernandomania Bobblehead Night

It was Clayton Kershaw's third bobblehead game of the season and it was the second time this month. He pitched a great game by going 6.2 innings and striking out six Rockies. He gave up 2 runs and the bullpen did their job. Matt Guerrier got out of the 7th inning jam and came back out for the 8th inning. Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect 9th inning to record his second save of the season.

Dodgers won 3-2 and are now half a game behind the Rockies for third place.

The Dodgers honored Fernando Valenzuela with a video that included his former teammates back in the 80s and it also showed some of his greatest moments as a Dodger. The first 50,000 fans received a Fernandomania bobblehead courtesy of Kaiser Permanente.

There was only one problem with my bobblehead. Fernando wasn't attached to the field when I opened my box. I super glued it and hopefully it will look normal in the morning.

They did a great job with this bobblehead. I believe it's the most realistic out of the three Fernando bobbleheads they have given away.

The last bobblehead of the season will be Duke Snider on August 9th.

2nd Annual Rising Stars of America All-Star Kickball Event

A couple weeks ago, I won tickets on twitter from Baron Davis to attend the 2nd annual Rising Stars of America All-Star Kickball Event. I promised Baron that I would blog about my experience. Enjoy!

The RSOA All-Star Kickball game was held at Crossroads Elementary in Santa Monica. I arrived at 12:40 pm but had to wait until 1 pm when they opened the gate for the event. There was two separate sections, playground and lunch.

Playground

The playground consist of many games for the kids, an interview station, and the kickball field. No food was allowed on the playground.

Lunch Area

The lunch area had many tables set up for the fans and VIPs to eat and hang out. The VIPs had their food station but most of them were walking around and chatting with the fans. Craig Smith (LA Clippers) and Samardo Samuels (CLE Cavaliers) sat right next to me.

Craig Smith

The food was amazing and free. They provided hamburgers, turkey burgers, hot dogs, fries, nachos, and ice cream. Pop chips had a couple of chip racks set up in various locations. There was buckets filled with water bottles and a NeuroSport stand with 5 different drinks available to choose (Neuro Sonic, Neuro Sun, Neuro Bliss, Neuro Sport, and Neuro Trim). My favorite was the Neuro Sport.

Kickball Set-Up

The field took up about half of the turf soccer field. They set up reserve seating for the family & friends of the celebrities. There was also a lounge for the Rising Stars of America kids who were in attendance. The DJ was spinning from 12:30 til the end of the event which was around 4:30.

All-Star Kickball Game 
There was an actual kickball game being played between celebrities. The game lasted a little over an hour and it was a lot of fun. There was a total of eight home runs hit by both teams. Only one minor injury when Nick Young was rounding third base, the black team threw the ball at him and he was laying on the ground for a couple of seconds but he was fine and got up on his own.

Black Team:
Pooh Jeter (Sacramento Kings)
Samardo Samuels (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Fuzzy Fantabulous (Power 106 Radio)
Dorrell Wright (Golden State Warriors)
Ben Lyons ( E! - Entertainment TV)
Michael Ealy (Movie Star)
Angell Conwell (Movie Star)
Damien Wayans (Director)
Guy Torry (Comedian)
Eva Marcille (Model)
Kim Glass (Volleyball)
Jason Collins (Atlanta Hawks)

Grey Team:
Ramses Barden (New York Giants)
Jarrod Collins (NBA)
Sheldon Williams (New York Knicks)
James Blake (Tennis)
Craig Smith (Los Angeles Clippers)
Dijon Thompson (Former UCLA Bruin)
Brandon Heath (Former SDSU Aztec)
Denyce Lawton (TV Star)
Nick Young (Washington Wizards)
Eiphram Salaam (Director)
John Wall (Washington Wizards)
Cash Warren (MVP from last year - DNP)

Ramses Barden

Eipham Salaam

Craig Smith

Dijon Thompson

Baron Davis

John Wall

Nick Young

In the bottom half of the 5th inning, Baron Davis made up a new rule to help the Black team try to comeback. There would be two pitchers rolling the ball and the Grey team had to get a total of 6 outs. The Black team were only able to score 2 more runs. The Grey team won and the Golden Boot (MVP) went to John Wall with his two home runs. His second was an inside the park home run.


Box Score

Special Appearances:

Gabrielle Union & Dwayne Wade (Actress & Miami Heat)

Candice Parker (LA Sparks)

Tina Thompson & Ticha Penicheiro (LA Sparks)

I want to thank Baron Davis for giving me the opportunity to attend the RSOA All-Star Kickball event.