Friday, April 12, 2013

Game 10 Game Preview: Clayton Looks to Make it 3 in a Row


Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks

Clayton Kershaw vs. Patrick Corbin
Game Start: 6:40 p.m., April 12
TV: This really sucks.  Today's game have moved channels due to conflicts.  See the pic below for info.
Radio: 570 AM (English), 1020 AM (Spanish)


Dodgers Lineup:
(twitter link)

Diamondbacks Lineup:
(twitter link)

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Blog Kiosk: 4/12/2013


Here's a nice little pic made by the @Dodgers on twitter.
  • Hilarious!  Well, maybe not so hilarious.  The day before the now infamous brawl at Petco yesterday, David Temple at FanGraphs penned a piece beseeching Carlos Quentin to learn to get out of inside pitches.
  • Dave Cameron at FanGraphs also takes an analytical look at the pitch that cause all the fuss yesterday.
For the record, last night’s pitch from Greinke was plotted at -1.504, so it is just barely outside of that sample area. It was certainly inside and off the plate, but most batters would not have been hit by that pitch.
“Like an idiot, I’m playing him back at third base again the fifth time up. He dropped another bunt down and beat it out,” said Miggins. It was a lesson learned for the young infielder. “I gave him two hits that day and he never bunted again on me because I played him even with the bag from then on.”

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    Jackie Robinson Vintage Baseball Cards & Memorabilia


    As you know, today is the official release date of the Jackie Robinson biopic "42".  So, if you are True Blue then I suggest making some time available to watch it soon.  Overall, I found it entertaining, but it's hardly a masterpiece.  That being said, I'll leave my detailed comments for my review that will come this weekend.

    For this post, I wanted to highlight some collectibles featuring Jackie Robinson from my collection, as well as a look at his more well known vintage Baseball cards.

    Since the start of this blog in 2006 I have always made it known how much of a "homer" I am for Jackie, and since I am an admitted compulsive collector it is only natural that I would seek out collectibles featuring the Hall of Famer.  My collection is wide and varied, but over the years I had already posted up many of them.  So, instead of reposting pics from my collection to share with you, I figured I would provide links to many of those old blog post.  See them below.
    Now, let's take a look at his more well known Baseball cards.  I figured there were a lot of folks out there who have never seen these vintage wonders.  FYI, there is one set of 13 cards featuring Jackie Robinson that I do not show below.  They are the 1947 Bond Bread set that shows Jackie in 13 different poses.  They are exceptionally rare and very costly, in any condition.  You can see the one card I have in the top link above and see some of those other cards from a past post here.

    As for his rookie card, I think it is clearly his 1948 Leaf card.  It is his first card to be made widely available to all.

    1948 Leaf

    Before Topps there was Bowman, and for several years they were the only game in town.  As a result, they created a couple of Jackie Robinson cards that remain highly sought after.

    1949 Bowman                                           1950 Bowman

    The Berk Ross card has quietly increased in value over the years, after once being considered a lesser set relegated to oddball collectors.  Now, it stands as one of the marquee sets of the decade.  His first Topps cards came in 1952.  It is clearly the most costly of all his cards on the market, but that has more to do (in my opinion) with this card being a part of the extremely rare "high-number" series of the set. 

    1952 Berk Ross                                          1952 Topps

    1953 Topps                                              1954 Topps

     1955 Topps

     1956 Topps

    This may be one of the more plentiful Jackie cards on the market.  These are postcard sized and were distributed through vending machines throughout the country.  Furthermore, Jackie's were printed over a period of several years, likely starting near the beginning of his career til the day he retired from the game.

    1947-1966 Exhibit

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    "That's fertilizer! "That's fertilizer!

    I had the great honor of watching the Jackie Robinson biopic "42" last night, and had a grand time.  A special guest from the Dodgers front office was in attendance, as well as other guest that made the evening worthwhile.  I will certainly put up a review soon to share with you, but at this moment only one thing blankets my mind.

    What the heck happened at last nights game?

    When I came home at about 11:00 PM I decided to head straight for bed.  In doing so, I just plain forgot to check the Dodger score.  So, as the morning comes around I found myself wondering how the team did.  Did we win?  Did Greinke give us another solid performance on the mound?

    Well, imagine my surprise when the first thing that pops up when I open my browser is a story on Yahoo written by Bernie Wilson entitled, "Greinke ends up with broken collarbone after brawl."

    "What tha .....?

    Then I saw this:

    Video Link:

    All I can say right now is, "that's fertilizer!  That's fertilizer!"

    I'm a little incensed right now, and I want nothing more than to see the Padres lose every game this season. 

    This is what I can't understand, Carlos Quentin, a guy who has been hit 116 times in his career, who has lead the league in being hit by pitchers over the past two seasons decides that Greinke, on a 3 to 2 pitch, in a 2 to 1 game, to hit him on purpose?

    Are you crazy?

    "That's fertilizer!

    Here are some words from Don Mattingly and Zack Greinke after the game below.

    Video Link:

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