Dodgers Blue Heaven: Michael Young

Showing posts with label Michael Young. Show all posts

Monday, March 13, 2017

2017 Donruss Baseball - The Rest of the Dodgers' Insert Cards

Here is a last look at the Dodger cards found in packs of Panini's 2017 Donruss Baseball cards. Below are the 1983 Retro Variations, Signature Series, Diamond Collection relics, New Breed autographs, Promising Pros Materials relics and signatures, Significant Signatures, The Rookies and the Recollection Buybacks. Go here to see all my post on this set.

Retro Variations 1983

#17 Clayton Kershaw

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Monday, March 03, 2014

2014 Donruss - The Dodgers Base Cards

I didn't think I'd like this set, but I do. Heck, I think the design perfectly encapsulates an old Baseball card brand that remains well regarded and loved by collectors today. Even without MLB/team logos, I believe it is the early leader as one of the better looking card sets of the year.

Last week, Panini America dug up the Donruss brand and issued a brand new set for the 2014 season. It includes Diamond King drawings, Rated Rookies (unfortunately, no Dodgers), a base card design reminiscent of their 1987 card set and inserts that hearken back to yesteryear.

In this post, I share all of the Dodgers base cards to the 2014 Donruss Baseball set. Check them all out below.

BTW, the Diamond King card of Yasiel Puig below is a part of the base set, but is short printed. I am uncertain how scarce it really is. Also, as always there are numerous parallel cards available; including press proof, season and career stat line embossed cards.

Diamond Kings

#4 Yasiel Puig

Base Set

#69 Clayton Kershaw #92 Adrian Gonzalez

#133 Hyun-Jin Ryu #147 Matt Kemp

#152 Zack Greinke #157 Hanley Ramirez

#163 Michael Young #170 Yasiel Puig

#176 Carl Crawford

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Blog Kiosk: 2/12/2014 - Dodgers Links - Joe Black, Kenley Jansen and Dee Gordon

Steve Garvey shared a great pic of the time he went on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, circa 1977, on twitter.

Cooperstowners in Canada shares a great vintage photo of the 1954 Montreal Royals (a Dodgers farm team) and a story on former Dodger Joe Black.

Black told Kahn that it wasn’t until he was 11 that he fell in love with baseball. He didn’t own a real baseball, so he taught himself to pitch with a sponge ball. As a kid, Black cut photos of Lou Gehrig, Met Ott, Paul Waner, Paul Derringer, Charlie Gehringer and Hank Greenberg out of the newspaper and glued them into a scrapbook.

Via Richard Durrett on ESPN writes a story on Michael Young's thoughts about gay professional ballplayers titled, "Wouldn't be an issue".
Are you wondering what former Dodger athletic trainer Sue Falsone is doing these days? Go here to find out. (Hat Tip: JP Hoornstra on twitter) BTW, JP also lets us know that Stan Conte has taken over as head athletic trainer for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers and Kenley Jansen agreed to terms for a new contract, and avoid arbitration, via @BillPlunkettocr on twitter. Not a bad compromise, eh?

No arbitration for #Dodgers this year. They reach agreement at $4.3 million on one-year deal with Kenley Jansen. He asked for $5.05m
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 11, 2014

Via Mark Saxon at ESPN, "The Search for Answers: Yasiel Puig".
Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Gordon adds weight, ready to compete at second base".

"I eat six meals a day," he said. "I've done this on my own. I just want to be stronger. I was nervous that it would slow me down, but I played in Puerto Rico and I saw that nothing happened to my speed. That was a relief. And I'm hitting the ball with more authority."

Josh Tucker at Dodger Insider shares some great .gifs, "Yasiel Puig takes flight".
Via Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times, "Hanley Ramirez says he wants to be 'a Dodger for life'"
Via Dustin Nosler at Dodgers Digest, "Report: Dodgers to sign Cuban SS Erisbel Arruebarruena" He's a slick-fielding Cuban middle infielder.
For those interested, here is a listing of the only Olympic hockey games worth watching - at least from the perspective of a Kings fan, via Jon Rosen at Kings (Monarchs) Insider.

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Thursday, February 06, 2014

2014 Topps Baseball Series 1 - The Dodgers' Relic Cards

How about some relics?

Here, I show the various Dodgers' relic cards that can be found in 2014 Topps Baseball Series 1. Go here to see all of my previous post featuring this set. I'll have pics of most of the autographed insert cards tomorrow.

BTW, there is a Clayton Kershaw "In the Name" Relic (ITN-CK) card, but it has yet to show up. It is a "1 of 1" letter patch card.

Trajectory Relics

#TR-DS Don Sutton

#TR-MY Michael Young

#TR-YP Yasiel Puig

The Future Is Now Relics

#FNR-HR1 Hyun-Jin Ryu

#FNR-HR2 Hyun-Jin Ryu

#FNR-YP1 Yasiel Puig

#FNR-YP2 Yasiel Puig

Before They Were Great Relics

#BGR-PM Pedro Martinez

Postseason Performance Relic

#PPR-CK Clayton Kershaw

#PPR-HR Hanley Ramirez

#PPR-YP Yasiel Puig

#PPR-ZG Zack Greinke

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Friday, January 31, 2014

2014 Topps Baseball Series 1 - The Dodgers' Base Cards

There are now Baseball cards available to usher in the new year, and I've got pics of all the Dodgers' base cards to prove it.

There are 13 Dodger cards in the 331 card base set; two of which are League Leaders cards featuring Clayton Kershaw. Also of note are the Topps All-Star Rookie Cups emblazoned on the Ryu and Puig cards.

As you may already know, there are a whole bunch of short-printed variations in the set. In fact, I count at least 11 different Dodger variations, and there may be more yet to be uncovered. I'll have pics of all known available Dodger variations up soon.

In the meantime, check out the base set below.

#6 Josh Beckett #40 Hyun-Jin Ryu

#72 Michael Young #111 Mark Ellis

#113 League Leaders (Kershaw, Fernandez, Harvey)

#142 Zack Greinke #173 Brandon League

#193 Ricky Nolasco

#197 Onelki Garcia #204 Adrian Gonzalez

#294 League Leaders (Wainwright, Zimmerman, Kershaw)

#314 Hanley Ramirez #331 Yasiel Puig

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Blog Kiosk: 1/31/2014 - Dodgers Links - Jansen has the Best Cutter, Young Retires and Paco's Delivery

Maury Wills and the Dodgers visited Operation Gratitude yesterday as a part of the Community Caravan. He along with several other Dodgers assisted in assembling care packages to be sent to US troops overseas. The pic above is via @Dodgers Juan Ocampo/LA Dodgers on twitter. The photo below came from the Operation Gratitude's twitter. Go here to find out more about Operation Gratitude.

Dodger Low-Down has the story about a young Dodger fan in northern territory who was bullied by some orange colored Baseball fans for wearing Blue on Halloween. Well, the Dodgers recently responded by sending her a care package of goodness. Check out the story here.
Stuart Wallace at Beyond the Boxscore writes, "First and worst: Split-finger and cut fastballs of 2013". Kenley Jansen is regarded as having the best cutter for a right-hander in Baseball.
Via JP Hoornstra at Inside the Dodgers, "Michael Young will retire rather than return to Dodgers". I wouldn't be surprised to see him sign a 1-day contract with Texas just to retire as a Ranger (GM Jon Daniels has already indicated a desire to do this).
Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Dodgers get good news from pitching minicamp: Billingsley could be ahead of schedule in rehab; young arms impressive".
Listen to Kevin Kennedy and David Vassegh talk with Ned Colletti on Wednesday's Dodger Talk.
Via Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider, "Paco Rodriguez’s inspirational delivery". It has been reported that Mark Mulder's return to Baseball was as a result of watching Paco pitch.

“Out of everybody who plays baseball, he’s looking at my mechanics, and I think it’s an amazing honor just to be in talks with him,” Rodriguez said. “I can’t wait till Spring Training. Hopefully I’ll get to sit down and just talk about it, talk about baseball and his experiences — good and bad.

The Dodgers officially announced their digital ticket system for season ticket holders last night; strangely after I wrote a short blog post slightly lambasting it. Ken Gurnick at MLB.com has more info about the change. I still think it sucks, and if given the option I would want paper tickets. Also, I understand the Angels tried this a couple of years on a volunteer basis, and no fan opted for it- none!
Ryan G at Chaos and Kanji writes, "A Japan Women's Baseball League Primer - My First Game in Sendai". If you can't tell, I really love this blog. And, how can you not? I love Ryan G's photos featuring Baseball in Japan. Here is today's post of his visit to Tokyo Dome to watch the Giants play.

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Monday, January 27, 2014

Blog Kiosk: 1/27/2014 - Dodgers Links - Community Caravan, Michael Young and Kershaw's Cy Young

KISS! If you haven't seen it yet. Here are Jon SooHoo's photos from the Stadium Series. BTW, you can see my pics here.

The Dodgers Community Caravan starts today. Ron Cey, Kenny Landreaux, Matt Luke and Dennis Powell who will visit Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA). Clear Channel Radio will be broadcasting live as part of a radiothon fundraiser benefitting CHLA. The radiothon will be co-hosted by Dodger alumnus Eric Karros. Dodger alumni will also take photos and sign autographs for patients and their families in support on this event. See a Dodgers press release here.
Christina DeNicola at MLB.com writes, "Dodgers' Rodriguez seeking redemption in 2014".

"Trying to stay strong through the whole year," Rodriguez said. "Last year, I thought I prepared well enough, but at the end I might have gotten a little tired and I didn't pitch as well as I wanted to. I felt like I had to work a little harder just to get to that point where I can last a whole season."

Via Dylan Hernandez on twitter, Mighael Young still deciding what to do. He also follows up with a story at the LA Times, "Michael Young deciding between retiring and returning to Dodgers".

Michael Young still undecided if he will play this year or retire. Young said that if he plays, it's "a safe bet" it will be for #Dodgers.
— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) January 27, 2014

Via Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA, "Clayton Kershaw – Baseball’s anti-rockstar".
Matt Snyder at CBS Sports puts together a, "All-Time Single-Season Team: Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers".
Nick Diunte at Baseball Happenings tells us that former Brooklyn Dodger Charlie Osgood recently passed away. RIP, Charlie. Nick has an extended story about Osgood, here.

Charlie Osgood, pitcher of one game for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1944, passed away on January 23, 2014 in Tewksbury, Mass. He was 87.

Osgood made his debut at the tender age of 17 when baseball was rapidly losing players to the World War II draft.

Via Craig Minami at True Blue LA, "Dodger prospects chat with Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus".
Jon Rosen at LA Kings Insider shares some photos from the Kings minor league affiliate Manchester Monarchs game featuring them wearing a vintage Kings "Burger King" uniforms.
Clayton Kershaw received the Cy Young Award on Saturday. Watch Sandy Koufax introducing the Dodger ace below.

Video Link:

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Friday, January 17, 2014

2013 Panini America's Pastime Baseball - the Dodgers Base Cards

I believe this is the very last Baseball card set of 2013 (save one set I failed to report about that I'll be getting to shortly). Featured here are all of the Dodgers base cards to Panini's 2013 America's Pastime Baseball card set. I will feature the inserts, relics and other autographed cards next week.

America's Pastime has an unusual base card checklist. The first 175 cards feature current and retired ballplayers. The red border cards are numbered to 125 copies, gold bordered at 25 copies, green bordered at 10 copies and black bordered cards have just 1 card available. There are 9 Dodgers in this portion of the set.

The next 74 cards (#176 to #250) feature rookie cards and some memorabilia cards.There are 2 Dodgers here.

The next 25 cards (#251 to #275) are Rookie Autographed cards. There are two Dodgers here.

The next 26 cards (#276 to #311) are Rookie Booklet Autographed cards. As you can see below, the Puig card does not include an autograph. Three Dodgers are represented in this portion of the set.

The next 25 cards (#312 to #336) are National Treasures Autographed cards. Again, the Yasiel Puig is not autographed. The Ryu card can only be found through a redemption card.

Since these relics are sequentially numbered with the non-autographed cards, I decided to include them as a part of the base set.

#7 Brian Wilson #22 Matt Kemp