Friendly Encounters: Fernando Valenzuela and Dodger Bobble

This is a weekly series featuring friends who have met celebrities.

Joshua Kohl is the creative baseball fan behind DodgerBobble, a cool website dedicated to the Los Angeles Dodgers, bobble heads and baseball.  While the site hasn't been updated in a long time, there is so much baseball goodness still to be found there.  I love this site.
Fernando-Mania hit in the summer of 1981.  Fernando Valenzuela eventually cooled off, but still had an excellent 17 year career in the majors, mostly with the Los Angeles Dodgers.  He will always be a beloved part of the Dodgers history and community.
It seems perfect that Josh was able to meet Valenzuela.  While he might not be the greatest Dodger of the last 35 years (Mike Piazza?) he is one of the best and possibly the most recognizable.  He is destined to be a lifer, almost like a team mascot.
Josh is a big baseball fan.  Meeting the legendary Valenzuela had to be a thrill.  I know the feeling.  Congrats on getting this icon!

Joshua Kohl and Fernando Valenzuela in Los Angeles, CA-March 2011.

Friendly Encounters: Mark Gubicza and Dodger Bobble

This is a weekly series featuring friends who have met celebrities.

Joshua Kohl is the creative baseball fan behind DodgerBobble, a cool website dedicated to the Los Angeles Dodgers, bobble heads and baseball.  While the site hasn't been updated in a long time, there is so much baseball goodness still to be found there.  I love this site.
I love the picture below.  Former pitcher Mark Gubicza was a solid pitcher for the Kansas City Royals for 13 seasons.  He pitched one final year with the Anaheim Angels.  More specifrically, he pitched 2 games (4 2/3 innings) for the Angels.  Yet, there he was at an Angels Fan Fest.
I didn't even remember that he pitched for the Angels.  Given his short stay there, I forgive myself for that.  This is exactly why I love the picture.  There is Joshua, a big fan of the Dodgers, with Angels alum Gubicza.
Gubicza with the Angels is why "Cards That Never Were" was created.  Topps did not get Gubicza with the Angels, but Dodger Bobble did!

Mark Gubicza and Joshua Kohl in Anaheim, CA-April 2012.

Friendly Encounters: Ice Cube and Dodger Bobble

This is a weekly series about friends who have met celebrities.

Dodger Bobble is actually Joshua Kohl, the man behind Dthe DodgerBobble site, which is dedicated to the Dodgers, bobbleheads and baseball.  While it hasn't been updated in a few years, there are still tons of great pictures and stories available to peruse.

For this Friendly Encounter, I am throwing a curveball and not featuring Josh with a baseball player.  This time I am featuring his picture with Ice Cube.

Josh refers to himself as "dorky" in the captian.  Hey, next to the ultra-cool Cube (no pun intended), we all look dorky.  I just want to know why Cube has more Dodgers clothing than Josh.

Joshua Kohl and Ice Cube in Los Angeles, CA-October 2013.

Friendly Encounters: Josh Kohl Meets Jerry West

This is a weekly series about my friends who have met celebrities.

It's dreary and my mind wanders to sunny times and baseball.  Few things represent those two things better than the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Few thing represent the Los Angeles Dodgers better than a great site called DodgerBobble, run by Joshua Kohl.
I have featured Josh here many times already.  As the site name would indicate, there are a lot of bobbles to be found on DodgerBobble, but there is much more.  There are Dodgers baseball cards and Dodgers player appearances.  There is also a lot of other cool stuff, not necessarily related to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Such is the case with a player appearance Josh and his buddy Tom attended.  They met basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West.  West is one of the first names I remember from my youth.  He is also rumored to be the man depicted dribbling in the silhouette NBA logo.  This is one cool Friendly Encounter, but I encourage you to read the whole story on his site at Player Appearance: Jerry West.
I always appreciate Josh's willingness to share his pictures.  He gets a lot of west coasters, who I would never get.  I also look forward to his continual coverage of all things bobble.
For a fun time, check out all of Josh's stuff at DodgerBobble.com.

Joshua Kohl, Jerry West and Tom in Los Angeles, CA-November 2011.

Friendly Encounters:Dodgerbobble Meets Dee Gordon

This is a weekly series about friends who have met celebs.

Josh Kohl is a frequent contributor to Friendly Encounters. Josh is the creative juggernaut behind Dodgerbobble, a site dedicated to "the Los Angeles Dodgers, bobbleheads and baseball". Josh also attends many player appearances. Fortunately, he shares those stories here!
Last summer, Josh met Dee Gordon, a rising star of the Dodgers. Gordon is also a second generation player (you know how I love those). I also especially like Gordon because he is on my fantasy team and I am hoping for an excellent season from him.
The Gordon appearance was an interesting tale, which included free pizza! You can read all about Josh meeting Dee Gordon here.
Josh does a great job with Dodgerbobble. I hope you check it out and see for yourself.

Dee Gordon and Josh Kohl in Anaheim, CA-Summer 2011.

Friendly Encounters

This is a regular series about friends who have met celebs.

It's been a few months since we last featured Joshua Kohl of DodgerBobble.  As always, he has been busy with attending player appearances, following the Dodgers and showcasing the newest and coolest bobbleheads.  DodgerBobble is a great site and a daily stop of mine on the internet.
Last June, Joshua met Shawn Green, one of my favorite former players.  Green was signing his new book, The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 mph.  Joshua also brought a few other goodies hoping Green would sign them, which he did.  It's always an extra treat when you can get a couple other things signed at a book signing.  You can read Joshua's full report and see more pictures by clicking here.
As always, I appreciate Joshua sharing his picture here.  There will be more of Joshua here in the future, but until then, go to DodgerBobble.com to check out his great site.

Joshua Kohl and Shawn Green in Glendale, CA-June 2011.

Friendly Encounters

This is a regular series about friends who have met celebs.

Joshua Kohl of the DodgerBobble site has appeared here a couple times.  He has been seen with Tommy LaSorda (legendary Dodgers manager) and Billy Ashley (a one time hot Dodgers prospect).  Today, Josh will be shown meeting Bill Russell, a long time part of the Dodgers organization.
Josh's DodgerBobble site is full of all sorts of great Dodgers stuff, especially bobbleheads and player appearances.  Josh is a great fan and likes meeting Dodgers players past and present.  He always posts a great report with nice pictures of the meetings.  Such was the case when he recently met Bill Russell, one-fourth of the legendary Dodgers infield of the 70's.
I always liked Russell. Russell had nearly 2000 hits (1926) all with the Dodgers.  I am not sure of the exact rank, but I think that is pretty high for a player with only one team.  I would have loved to have Russell playing on either side of Chicago, yet he was the fourth best infielder in the great Dodgers infield of the 70's.   He later had a stint at managing the team.
You can read Josh's full report on meeting Russell here.  Don't stop there though.  Check out the rest of his blog.  It's full of great baseball stuff, especially Dodgers stuff.

Joshua Kohl and Bill Russell in Sherman Oaks, CA-May 2011.

Friendly Encounters

This is a series dedicated to my friends meeting celebrities.

The last time I featured Joshua Kohl of DodgerBobble he was pictured with Tommy LaSorda.  That makes two Dodgers legends.  LaSorda was the long-time manager and personality and Kohl is the creator of DodgerBobble, a fantastic site "dedicated to the Los Angeles Dodgers, bobbleheads and baseball".  Both of them just scream "Dodgers"!
A few weeks ago, Kohl and his family attended Dodgers Night at a Los Angeles Kings game.  New Manager Don Mattingly dropped the first puck (and donned a Kings jersey for a future Celebrity Jersey Card post here).
Also in attendance was Billy Ashley, a one-time hot prospect for the Dodgers.  Ashley played parts of six seasons with the Dodgers, but never achieved the predicted stardom.
I love the idea of mixing sports like hockey and baseball.  I think it's great marketing and great fun.  Thanks for Joshua for sharing this and check out his site when you get a chance.

Joshua Kohl and Billy Ashley in Los Angeles, CA-January 2011.

Friendly Encounters

This is a series dedicated to my friends meeting celebs.

Joshua Kohl writes DodgerBobble, an interesting blog about the Los Angeles Dodgers, bobbleheads and baseball. Recently, he had attended Opening Day, where he met some of the more notable members of the Dodgers organization. He shared the experience with his readers a while back, but today, he is allowing me to share it here as well.
Joshua met Tommy LaSorda, Ned Colletti, Kim Ng and others. He also witnessed a few pre-game ceremonies. Then he saw a great Opening Day victory by the Dodgers.
Obviously, Joshua had a great time and it makes a great story with great pictures. You really should read it all on his site and check out the rest of DodgerBobble, too. For now, I hope you enjoy the picture of Joshua and LaSorda. Thanks to Joshua and DodgerBobble for sharing this.

Joshua Kohl and Tommy LaSorda in Los Angeles, CA-April 2010.