The Orel Hershiser 1990 Upper Deck Painting

I can't believe my luck.

I just took possession of what might be not only my favorite, but arguably best Dodger item in my collection. Featured above is the original Vernon Wells Sr. painting of Orel Hershiser that was used to create his 1990 Upper Deck team checklist card.

Over the years I've slowly become a baseball card painting/art collector -- not that I know anything about the subject.

What I do know is that art is about not only about what you like, but what moves you. And it doesn't hurt if it happens to be pleasing enough to look at every day.

Clearly, having baseball card art on the wall satisfy's all of those things.

Overall, this is my fourth card painting in my collection.

Blog Kiosk: 7/22/2016 - Dodgers Links - Justin Turner is a Beast

All hail Justin Turner!

He was a one man wrecking crew yesterday afternoon.  Justin was responsible for five of the Dodgers six runs on the day by hitting two homers against Washington ace Stephen Strasburg.

I think it's fair to say that JT is out of his early season slump.  He began the year slashing .235/.335/.343/.678 with three home runs and 16 RBI's in the first 50 games.  Via Bill Ladson and Alex Putterman at MLB.com:

"I've felt healthy all year. I don't know what was going on those first two months," Turner said. "I feel good, feel comfortable, and am obviously getting better results."

Since July 1st, over a span of the past 16 games, Turner has been slashing .323/.394/.677/1.072 with six homers and 16 RBI's.  That's definitely much better results.  Via Alex Putterman at MLB.com:

"It's a simple mindset, but execution and mechanically it's tougher to do," (Dave) Roberts said. "But he committed some time in June to get out front and elevate to the pull side, and then you've seen the slug."

The Dodgers defeated the Nationals, 6-3, and now sit four games behind the Giants in NL West and maintains a one game lead over the Marlins in the Wild-Card race.  The photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016.  Go here to check out more pics by Jon from yesterdays game.   Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodger History:  In 1966 Mets left fielder learns he is a new dad when the Dodger Stadium scoreboard relays the message, "Congratulations, Ron Swoboda. Your new son is born tomorrow morning". Cecilia Swoboda gave birth to Chipper, the couple's first child, at 1:05 a.m. eastern standard time, making it the next day on the East Coast. In 1970 Tom Haller hit the very first pinch hit grand slam in Dodgers franchise history.  It was in the seventh inning against Claude Raymond of the Expos, and it sparked an eight-run rally that eventually saw the Dodgers defeat Montreal, 12-10.  In 2005 Yhency Brazoban breaks the clubs rookie record for saves established in 1980 by Steve Howe with 18.

Collection: Yhency Brazoban SPx Auto

Here is another Dodgers autograph card from the 2005 Upper Deck SPx Collection.  It features once rising relief prospect Yhency Brazoban. 

What happened to this guy?  He came to LA by way of the Yankees as a result of a trade that sent Kevin Brown to New York in exchange to Jeff Weaver and Brazoban in December of 2003.  Yhency was a hard throwing right hander who was fairly new to the art of pitching.  He had only recently been converted from an outfielder to a pitcher by the Yankees in 2003, so he had less than a year of experience on the mound when the Dodgers traded for him.  They must have seen something special in his arm.  And for a while, they were right.  Brazoban could pitch.

He first came up to the big club in August 2004, and immediately impressed the brass.  In fact, over the last two months of that season he would enter into 31 games and record a 2.48 ERA with 27 strike outs in just under 33 innings.  That's a lot of work for an arm just getting use to throwing on the mound.  The following season, Brazoban would continue to be impressive and be a bullpen a workhorse.  He established a Dodgers rookie record that year by appearing in 74 games while saving 21. 

Then, something happened.  Early in the 2006 season he hurt his arm.  Yhency was diagnosed with an elbow injury that lead to Tommy John Surgery.  In 2007 he was back in Dodger Blue, but again went down with an arm injury that cost him the entire season.  In 2008 Brazoban worked himself back onto the Dodgers roster, but was eventually sent back down to the minors where he again found a home on the disabled list with another arm injury.  I think it's fair to say that the workload he experienced early on in his pitching career caused some problems.

Today, Brazoban continues to play professional Baseball.  After bouncing around a little bit from the Mexican League to the minors with several different clubs he was eventually sold to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan last year. 

Collection: Yhency Brazoban 2005 Team Heroes Auto

Here is another card from autographed card collection and it features the once promising reliever Yhency Brazoban. He was a tall pitcher with a blazing fastball that appeared to jump past batters with a zip. When Yhency first came up for the Dodgers he was used primarily as a setup man, but closing out games looked to be his future. In 2005 he saved 21 games. Then, the bottom fell out. An elbow injury led to Tommy John Surgery which led to more arm troubles. Soon he was released, played in the Mexican League, then with the Mets, Ranger, and Diamondbacks, and was eventually traded to the Softbank Hawks in Japan. There, he furthers his career in the Nippon Professional Baseball League.

Here is a 2005 Donruss Team Heroes autographed card.

Auto Collection: Yhency Brazoban

Where did Yhency Brazoban go? He looked so promising as a reliever. Heck, he recorded 21 saves a few years back for the Dodgers. Then, the bottom fell out. In 2006 he hurt his elbow and had Tommy John surgery. To make matters worse, he hurt it again in 2007 and later on in 2008 while in the minors. As you might expect, he was subsequently released. Fortunately, his Baseball spirit lives on. Last year he started out in the Mexican League, was signed by the Mets soon thereafter, and then signed as a free agent with the Rangers for this season. Brazoban current plays for their AAA team in Round Rock.

Here is another addition to my collection of Diamond Kings autographed cards. This one is from 2005 and is numbered 58 out of 100.
Funny thing is that I happen to have the original painting for this card. Check it out below.

Player Updates

Diamond Leung let's us know how the rest of the Dodgers are doing.

• Jeff Kent is still undecided about playing next season.
  
• Chin-lung Hu is no longer playing in the Arizona Fall League due to a strained hamstring.
• Tony Abreu is on the mend. He is starting a rehabilitation assignment in Florida.
• Yhency Brazoban will begin throwing next week.
• Jason Repko will begin working out soon.

Also, I'd like to add that Andy LaRoche and Delwyn Young are playing for Team USA in this winters 2007 IBAF World Cup Tournament in Chinese Taipei. Check out the "Countdown to the Olympics" Baseball Blog for updates about how Team USA is doing.

Team USA played their first game of the tournament today against Mexico and came out on top with a 3-0 victory. Both LaRoche and Young went 0 for 4. LaRoche was the DH and Young played leftfield, batting #3 & #4, respectively.

Story Link: Diamond Leung:

Hey, Yhency is Back

Welcome back Yhency.Above is a original painting for the 2005 Donruss Diamond King card.

Story Link: Inside the Dodgers: