Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Bye Bye Odalis

As I'm sure you all know, the Dodgers just completed a trade with the Kansas City Royals. Odalis Perez, Julio Pimental, Blake Johnson and cash for Elmer Dessens. It seems a little lopsided, especially if those rookies turn out to be better than serviceable relievers, but any deal that rids us of the albatross we call Odalis Perez is a good thing. Furthermore, I like Elmer. He's not going to make or break the season, but he'll give us some good games without all of the negative drama.

19th Century BB Photos from A. G. Spalding Collection

I just added a new link under "Collectibles" along the right side. It is for the New York Public Library online digital gallery featuring the A. G. Spalding Collection of Early Baseball Photographs. This is some great stuff. Rarely will you see such a large collection of vintage pics in one place. Notable players include Harry & Sam Wright and Henry Chadwick.

Gallery Link:

Hat Tip: VBC Forum 54

27th National Sports Collectors Convention

Tomorrow is day one of the 27th Annual National Sports Collectors Convention in Anaheim, California. I can't wait. The last time it was here was in 1996. I'll be heading over to the convention center on Wednesday afternoon for the VIP Club reception and Sneek Peek. I'll be sure to take plenty of photos. Former Dodgers Jay Johnstone, Bill Russell and Ron Cey will be in attendance signing autographs. Also, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Los Angeles Rams Roman Gabriel will be signing as well.

My biggest disappointment is bound to be the lack of Dodger representation. The Angels will have their own booth at the event (they even have a Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim day where they will have special events and activities), but the Dodgers will not be there. What's up with that? The largest sports collectibles convention in the country and the Dodgers couldn't muster up a display to welcome the legions of Dodger fans who might attend. It's in your backyard. I shouldn't complain too much though. I'll be too distracted with the hundreds of tables and dealers showing off their stuff.

National Link:

Give Me Rain!

It is very difficult to write about the Dodgers right now. I don't know what to say. The Dodgers aren't hitting well, they aren't pitching well and we can barely play our positions. As a result, we lost another tough one yesterday evening. Andre "The Giant" Ethier hit 2 homers, Russell Martin is solidifying his stature as one of the leagues best young catchers with two hits and 2 RBI's, and the unbelievable 36 year old rookie Takashi Saito pitched 2 scoreless innings. Unfortunately, none of these factors would help us win this evening. We came close, but not close enough. This 2nd half slump has me wishing for rain. Lots of rain. We need a string of rainouts to save us from the heat of the sun and chill from the Dodgers play.

Update:

Below is a video of the rain in St. Louis at Busch Stadium this weekend. It was so strong that it pushed a trash can over several yards and knocked a women off her feet.
This was captured by a cell phone... These storms caused a lot of damage at this game and around St. Louis, even knocked out the windows of the broadcasting booth.
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YouTube Link:

Hat Tip: Crooks and Liars