Giants Win

I was hoping I would never have to write these words, but I extend a hearty Blue Heaven congratulations to the San Francisco Giants on their World Series Championship.

2010 Topps Update: Dodger Base Cards

The final Topps Baseball card product of the 2010 season is out. It is called 2010 Topps Update. Newly signed, traded for, All-Stars and rookie call-ups fill out this set. There are 16 new Dodger cards and one very cool short printed card (see that at the bottom).
There are also a whole bunch of limited insert cards you can find in packs. I'll do my best to post up pics of as many Dodgers as I can muster over the coming days.
This has got to be the best Dodger card of the year. Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese are carrying a big bat that commemorates their 1952 National League Championship. I wonder if that bat exist somewhere.

(click any of the pics to enlarge)

Bring Davey Home

Davey Lopes is now on the free market, having recently parted as the Phillies 1st Base coach, and Ken Gurnick points to LA as a possible destination. Baseball Musings discusses his worth.

The Phillies were are incredibly good base stealing team in 2010, swiping 108 bases while getting caught just 21 times. If you use 0.3 runs as the value of the stolen base and -0.6 runs as the value of a caught stealing, as Thorn and Palmer did in The Hidden Game of Baseball, the Phillies scored about 20 runs on their steals, worth about two wins. Of course, it’s difficult to separate Davey’s coaching from the talent of the players, but it seems to me two wins is nothing to sneeze at and Davey probably deserved a hefty pay raise.

Considering how bad we were on the basepaths this past season he could prove very valuable to us. The Dodgers were caught stealing 50 times- tied with San Diego for worse in the National League.

Besides, I have a soft spot for the nostalgic.

A Couple of Quick Links

(eBay Auction Link)

• Help Topps pick out the greatest 60 Baseball cards made by them in their nearly 60 years of history.
• Collectors Weekly pulls out an old photo of Chavez Ravine- before there was Dodger Stadium. Also, if you happen to enjoy checking out what other people collect, from sports to glass, then go to their "Show & Tell" section. Collectors from all over were encouraged to submit their favorites.
• Left Field Pavilion does the wonderful. He has been making incredible photo-shopped images of all of the retired Dodger players. Here is my favorite- Sandy Koufax.