The first home run is priceless?
No. Not a long shot.
Eric Saldana and Alex Espinoza sat in the field-class quarter 125 at Petco Park in the right-field foul on Friday night when Dodgers rookie second baseman Alex Freeland stepped into a sweeper started by Padres to start pitcher Yu Darvish.
“I’m on my phone,” Saldana said. “And I looked up and I thought, ‘Yo, the ball is coming.’ I stretched out my arm.
Saldana said it was his first time getting a ball, fair or foul, though he didn't attach too much to the souvenir when Dodgers officials came out to sit in their seats and asked for it.
The requirement is due to this being Freeland's first professional home run.
Saldana would be happy to be obliged in one situation.
“I asked for a (signed Shohei) Ohtani Ball,” said Saldana, who lives in Anaheim. “They said no.”
Both men are former Angelenos and they are loaded in Dodgers gear that doesn't help.
Espinoza fights back with something easier than getting Ohtani's autograph.
“I have three daughters,” said Espinoza, who lives in San Diego. “I said we would take a eldest son.”
Anyway… The Dodgers offer a bat and ball signed by Freeland.
“Anyway,” Saldana said. “It's not a bad thing. The bat looks super nice, unused, like it's straight from the store.”
OL'Ball Games
By the way, after the game, Saldana must pick up the bat and the ball after safety. It seems that fans cannot be trusted during the game.
Dodgers fans can only blame themselves.
For explanation, let's go back to the past thirty years and go to Dodger Stadium. The St. Louis Cardinals played in town on August 10, 1995. It was ball night and sent souvenir baseball to the 14,000 fans in front.
referee Jim Quick Behind the plate, a few phone calls were made with the Dodgers or their fans.
In fact, the Dodgers' first baseman Eric Karros and the right fielder Raul Mondesi It is popped up at some point. Dodge Manager Tommy Lasorda Also came out to argue and got heavy.
The Dodgers fans (ignoring not to throw objects on the field) responded by littering the fields with baseballs.
The game was stopped once, clearing hundreds of balls from the field. Then the second time. Then there was a third, leading 2-1 in the ninth inning with St. Louis.
At that time, it was declared confiscated and the Cardinal was handed over to victory. This is the first time in 16 years that the Grand Slam was confiscated. There has never been another since.
Major League Baseball (MLB) decided that the ball should be distributed after the game is over to avoid similar situations in the future.
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts should be called Ghostbusters. (Kirk Kenney / San Diego League – Lipenghui)
did you know?
An interesting feature on the Petco Park video board is the little nuggets about their pictures and statistics for each player. For example:
Dodge Shortstop One Mookie Betts Please read: “2023: Rent an Airbnb just in case the ghost rumors at Team Hotel are true.”
For Padres Third Baseman Manny Machado: “Lead the National League with 213 hard hits (95 mph).
For the Dodgers' first baseman Freddie Freeman: “Growing up in Fountain Valley as a fan of Angels.”
For Paders First Baseman Luis Arraez: “His 93-game three-point shooting percentage has been second in the Grand Slams since 2019 (Freddie Freeman, 95).”
For the Dodgers' right fielder Teoscar Hernandez: “His favorite character in Marvel comics is Captain America.”
Then the Dodge Catcher Will Smith: “Play baseball at the University of Louisville (2014-2016).
Yawner.
How about that… “Never filmed a comedian Chris Rock. ”
Relatives of competitors
Padres fans wear it in the fourth inning on Saturday night's fourth inning Fernando Tatis Jr. Jersey and Dodgers fans wear Cody Bellinger Both hit fists Ramon LaureanoTwo singles and Jake CronenworthThe sacrifice of the flies.
What is this, the painful enemy becomes good?
In fact, this is a relative of the competitor.
San Diego's Erik Contreras Wearing a Padres jersey. Jesus ContrerasErik's uncle is in Dodgers Blue.
Despite their affectionateness in public, that doesn’t mean there is no trash conversation in recent days.
Eric smiled and said, “He came from Mexico just to see the Dodgers lose.”
It was a sweet reward after the Dodgers swept Los Angeles’ Padres last weekend in Los Angeles, and predicted more Dodgers domination in Petco Park.
Carlos Lucero of Long Beach wore his homemade Manny Machado T-shirt. (Kirk Kenney / San Diego League – Lipenghui)
clown
Dodgers fans, thousands of fans blocked Petco Concourses and represented a large portion of fans in the stands.
Hundreds of them were eliminated in current and former players’ Dodgers jerseys.
Then there is a guy wearing a Dodgers hat, wearing a T-shirt, depicting a Padres player in clown makeup.
“It is Manny Machado,” Long Beach Carlos Lucero explain. “I always thought he was a clown. Playing dirty. So I had to wear this.
Lucerro said he didn't even reduce Machado's slack when he played for the Dodgers in 20 ##.
“I don't like him,” Lucerro said. “We had a good team at the time and he always had things he was pulling, and when he was in Baltimore, he was always dirty and stuff like that.”
“I thought people like it,” Lucerro said. “Even Padres fans. They think it's fun.”
Really? It sounds like a clown remark, brother.
Separate thoughts
The stock market rose to an all-time high Friday, with the Dow closing price at 45,631.74. It has increased by 7.6% since the beginning of the year.
If only one person can invest in parking futures in the city center.
Road parking rates in the “Special Event Zone” near the stadium jumped to $10 an hour on September 1, when the Padres returned to Baltimore's next Holmet. This is 400% more than the current one-hour rate.
Anyway, it doesn't mean there are a lot of open spaces. It seems the closest open street parking is a mile from the 100 block of Ash Street.
Original Published: August 22, 2025, 9:46 pm PDT