2015 Panini Immaculate College - All the Dodger Cards

This set came out a couple of weeks ago, but I've only recently been able to capture pics of many of the Dodger-related cards.  Featured here is the Collegiate (four-sport) version of Panini's 2015 Immaculate set.  This is strictly a college set, so there are naturally fewer Baseball players inside.  In fact, in the base set I pulled out only three players of note; including current Dodger infielder Chase Utley, Dodger owner Magic Johnson and former coach Mark McGwire.  As for Dodger prospects, only Walker Buehler is available as an insert.  Go here for a complete checklist.

Base (#/99)

#25 Chase Utley - UCLA                #75 Magic Johnson - Michigan State

Blog Kiosk: 12/23/2015 - Dodger Links - Turner, Alvarez and Stan Kasten

Following up yesterday's announcement that Dodger Stadium would soon have a Jackie Robinson statue on its grounds I thought I'd put up this fantastic United Press photograph of the Hall of Famer in action.  (Check out the eBay auction here)  It is from late-August in Chicago during the 1952 season.  Per the descriptor on the reverse:

Jackie Robinson got the Dodgers off to a flying start in the first inning of todays game with the Cubs by hitting a triple to right field.  Robinson slides safely into third as Cubs third sacker Randy JAckson reaches for the throw from right fielder Bob Addis.  The umpire is Lee Ballanfant.  Robinson then came home on George Shuba's base hit as the Dodgers went on to beat the Cubs 9-6.

It should come as no surprise that he was the bellwether in the game - as he was in life.  Below are more links to check out:

• Mark Saxon at ESPN shares an interview with Stan Kasten (link here).

Was [president of baseball operations] Andrew Friedman given a mandate to decrease the payroll?

Kasten: Let's go back to the start. Did you not see us make big offers? Don't pretend that's not there. What is important is that we continue the program we began three years ago of becoming more self-reliant on our own development. Over the course of time, becoming a younger team will be cheaper, but it will also be one that stays good longer. From the start, I said we don't make decisions by looking at payroll. I didn't know what it was going to end up being last year. We had to do some cleanup for the new administration. If you told me it would be the highest in baseball again next year, that might well be right. I just don't know yet. It's not the biggest consideration. The biggest consideration is putting winning teams on the field.

• Via David Hood at True Blue LA, "Dodgers top prospects 2016: No. 12, Yadier Alvarez."

Perhaps of greater interest with Alvarez is how easy his arm works to generate velocity. Alvarez has a fluid motion, though the arm action can be long, creating velocity so effortlessly. It’s that type of ease that makes many believe he will be an elite starter at his peak, needing little effort to produce plus stuff. 

• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Turner on track in knee surgery recovery."

"It feels great," he said at Friday's annual children's holiday party. "I got off crutches beginning this week, started strengthening stuff, doing cardio stuff as low impact as I could. I saw ElAttrache and he was pretty pleased with how it looked."

• Craig Edwards at FanGraphs writes about, "Joc Pederson’s Ugly Second Half."
• Via Zach Links at MLB Trade Rumors, "Latest On Kenta Maeda."  The Dodgers appear to be players for his services.
• Panini provided an early look at some of the 2015 Immaculate College cards on their blog (link here); including the Dodgers 2015 1st round draft pick card of Walker Buehler on the right.  This set officially goes live today.
• Via Joe Posnanski at NBC Sports, "Set the record straight: Even Pete Rose's career-defining record is a fake."
• This is fun.  Via Blowout Buzz, ""Five top Santa Claus cards *serious* collectors need right now."
• Blowout Buzz shares a bunch of preview pics from 2016 Topps Pro Debut; including the below Julio Urias card.  This set comes out in late-May 2016.

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