Blog Kiosk: 9/27/2016 - Dodgers Links - AGon Won his Bet and More Vin Scully

I just love this photo of our rookie shortstop and MVP candidate Corey Seager taking batting practice within the bowels of Dodger Stadium. 

"It's Time For October Baseball," indeed.

The photo was shared yesterday afternoon by NikeLA on twitter.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1951 future baketball Hall of Famer Bill Sharman was a prospect for the Dodgers.  On this day he was thrown out of the game, along with 14 other teammates, for "bench-jockeying" after a close play at home.  He would never get a chance to play a Major League game, and thus became the only player to be ejected from a game without ever appearing in one.  In 1961 Sandy Koufax struck out seven Phillies batters to pass Christy Mathewson's National League record for strike outs at 269.  Mathewson struck out 267 batters in 1903.  In 1993 Mike Piazza broke the Los Angeles Dodgers record for home runs at 34.  In 2000 the Team USA Baseball team, skippered by Tommy Lasorda, beat the overwhelming favorites Cubans ballclub to win the gold medal in the Olympics.
• Happy Birthday, Vicente Padilla and Jon Garland!

Blog Kiosk: 8/31/2016 - Dodgers Links - Puig, Newcombe, Kershaw and Last Nights Rain Delay

After waiting over 2.5 hours they finally postponed last night game due to rain, so both teams will face off against each other in a doubleheader today.  The first game will be at 12:10 PT with Ross Stripling pitching for the Dodgers and Tyler Anderson pitching for the Rockies.  The second game is slated to begin at 5:10 PT with Rich Hill pitching for the Dodgers and Jeff Hoffman pitching for the Rockies.  This is the Dodgers first twin-bill of the season.

In commemoration of last nights rain out I made the above two fantasy Baseball cards using the 2007 Topps Baseball card design and photos shared by the @Dodgers on twitter.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodger History:  In 1950 Gil Hodges became the fourth Major Leaguer to hit four home runs in a single game.  He also tied a Major League record for total bases in a game with 17.  In 1959 Sandy Koufax struck out 18 Giants batters to establish a new MLB record for strike outs in a nine-inning game.  In 2010 the Dodgers traded for pitcher Jon Garland.
• Happy Birthday, Hideo Nomo and Tom Candiotti!

Blog Kiosk: 3/1/2012

Beckett shared some preview images of 2012 Topps Heritage. See them here. Above is a Matt Kemp "New Age Performers" insert card.

• Steve Lyons promises to be much more active on his new twitter account: @SteveLyons12.
  
• Brandon Lennox at True Blue LA ranks the top 200 Dodger prospects.
  
• Check out Will Carroll's Dodgers Team Health Report 2012 at Sports Illustrated, here. 3B

  Juan Uribe
  Uribe was terrible last year, but much of it was done fighting through a sports hernia. This wasn't a good signing, but if he's healthy, it might not be so bad. Then again, there's still some downside in him as well, since he's only had one good, healthy season.

• Emma at CrzBlue's Dodger Blue World put together a great tribute to Dodger Stadiums 50th Anniversary.
  
• Ramona Shelburne at ESPN writes about Dodger bat boy Francisco "Chico" Herrera and his invitation to tryout for the Dodgers.

  “Jon Garland and I were playing catch in the outfield,” Herrera said. “He was hurting at the time, but he could still play catch and he’s like, ‘You really do have a good arm. When are you going to try out?’”
  
  Try out?

• Check out this great interview at Panini with Deion Sanders- video included. He reminisces that he often wonders what could've been if he had just stuck with Baseball only. I often think the same thing about him and Bo Jackson.
  
• Ryan at Chaos and Kanji provides a tour of Prince ChiChibu Memorial Stadium and Museum in Japan.
  
• Greg Aronowitz visited the 2012 New York Toy Fair. Check out his report.

2011 Topps Gypsy Queen: Dodger Base

I just picked up my bounty from a recent Gypsy Queen group case break I participated in last week and I'm as happy as a clam. I'll post the big "hits" I got later on- they are pretty damn good, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here are the Dodger base cards.

I have to add that I really like the look of these cards. The drawings are great, and some of the inserts aren't too bad either. The backs are lacking in substance- I wish they added some stats (or maybe a cartoon) to fill out the reverse. As you can see there is only a short biography. As always, click on any of the pics to enlarge.

#4, Jackie Robinson

#15, Matt Kemp

#35 Pee Wee Reese

#59, Duke Snider

#66, Sandy Koufax

#87, Clayton Kershaw

#123, Ted Lilly

#183 Rafael Furcal

#237 Roy Campanella

#257 James Loney

#273, Chad Billingsley

#292, Andre Ethier

#310, Jon Garland

2011 Topps Heritage: Dodger Base Cards

Here are the Dodger base cards to the 2011 Topps Heritage Baseball. As always, there are numerous parallel short printed cards (examples are located below). Please note that the Chrome Refractors are available for only 100 different players in the set, and only 3 Dodgers have this parallel (Kuroda, Billingsley and Loney)

#5 Clayton Kershaw

#9 Juan Uribe (one of the worst photoshop jobs, ever)

#43 Dodgers Team Card (Oh yhea! This card is gorgeous.)

#108 Matt Kemp

#109 Ted Lilly

#174 Jon Garland

#197 Casey Blake (Black Border Parallel Variation)

#217 Don Mattingly

#280 Hideki Kuroda (Chrome Refractor Parallel Variation)

#297 Jonathan Broxton

#340 Chad Billingsley (Green Chrome Refractor Parallel Variation)

#358 Andre Ethier

#375 James Loney (Orange Chrome Refractor Parallel Variation)

#401 Matt Kemp & Andre Ethier

#444 Rafael Furcal

#461 Russ Mitchell

#495 Rookie Parade Kenley Jansen - gotta love the floating heads!

Dodgers Decline Garland's Option

(Photo courtesy of Jon SooHoo/ LA Dodgers)

We get word today that the Dodgers have declined Jon Garland's 2010 mutual option. Read about it here.

That's too bad. Garland has always been a dependable innings eater. Since 2002, he has never pitched less than 191 innings. Hopefully, the Dodgers can find some way to ink him to a new deal.

Blog Kiosk: 9/13/2009

• Follow Orlando Hudson on Twitter- right here.
  
• I love the name of this new Dodger blog, Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle, with the catch phrase of "All Dodgers. All The Time. Minus the Plaschke."
  
• Chicago Lawyer Magazine examines the 1919 Black Sox scandal and lays out the groundwork for a "reasonable doubt" argument while questioning the veracity of some of the facts in the book "Eight Men Out." (Hat Tip: TS O'Connell)
• Night Owl Cards makes a couple of custom Alyssa Milano cards, but expresses consternation at her new husbands team allegiance. The card below uses the 1986 Topps Baseball design
• Bob Lemke has been making custom cards for years that are based on the 1955 Topps Football All-American set. Check out his creations here in his album. My favorite is the Steve Garvey below. There is also a great Jackie Robinson card- so check it out here.
• Go here to see, probably, the last of the new editions to the 2009 Goose Joak custom cards of the Dodgers from GCRL. Garland, Thome and Belliard are featured.
  
• I like these cheerleader insert cards.
• Just awesome. The Custom Card Blog unveils 3 custom Flint Tropics cards, from the movie "Semi-Pro", that borrows its design from the 1976 Topps ABA card set.
• That is something to brag about. The Upper Deck blog shows off the T-Rex tooth card.
• In a stroke of brilliant marketing Sidney Crosby of the Penguins visits a season ticket holder with the Cup.
• Here is a preview clip from ESPN Films 30 for 30 Project documentary called "King's Ransom." It's all about the Gretzky trade to LA.
  Publish Post

YouTube Link: miikeeed:

Thome... Garland... Really?

Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated is saying we just got Jon Garland from the Diamondbacks and Jim Thome from the White Sox. Wow! If true, this is quite a move. I wonder who we traded.

Update:
Vin Scully has just confirmed it! Thome is a Dodger for a player to be named later! That's something else. Wow!

This is a aggressive move. Will he be playing some first base? Platoon with Loney? Our designated big bat off the bench from the left side?

Update 2:
Vin now confirms that Jon Garland is a Dodger. No word on what we traded for Garland.

Update 3:
Denver Post also confirms the Garland trade and adds that the Rockies got Jose Contreras. Also, they speculate that Arizona was looking for a grade B prospect in return for Garland.

Update 4:
Jon says, from the Chicago Tribune, that we traded Class A ballplayer Justin Fuller ans cash for Thome. As Jon wrote, "a pure giveaway." Smells like the Manny trade. Instead of giving away a clubhouse problem like the Red Sox, the White Sox shed some salary. After all, picking up Peavy and Rios was not cheap. Chicago also traded pitcher Contreras to Colorado.

Update 5:
AZCentral says

"The Diamondbacks are paying the rest of Garland's salary. That is, whatever is left this year plus whatever the option amount ends up being. He has about $1 million left this year, meaning they are kicking either $2 million or $3.5 million into this deal."

With Arizona pitching in some sizable money expect a decent prospect to be going their way.
Hat Tip: Twitter:Dodger Thoughts: