Dodgers Blue Heaven

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Sunday Dodgers Videos: Hockey Rink at Dodger Stadium, Kershaw and a Story About Meeting Tommy

Here are this Sundays Dodger Videos.

Watch this phenomenal time-lapse video from the Dodgers of the NHL Stadium Series hockey rink being built at Dodger Stadium.

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Listen to Clayton Kershaw talk about his new seven-year contract and the responsibility to be one of the best in the game.

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Then, Clayton Kershaw sat down with Pedro Gomez of ESPN to discuss signing the largest contract in MLB history for a pitcher.

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Listen to Chris Pine tell a funny story about meeting Tommy Lasorda as a child on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

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Saturday, January 18, 2014

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

Following up on yesterday's post featuring the Dodgers' base card within Panini's 2013 America's Pastime Baseball card set, I thought I'd follow-up on this Saturday morning with the various insert cards you can find. See them below. Starting Monday, I'll share the autographed and relic cards in the set.

Decades

#12 Mike Piazza

Barnstorming Brilliance

#BB2 Jackie Robinson #BB4 Roy Campanella

Invincible

#3 Jackie Robinson

Prime 9

#4 Jackie Robinson

Standing O

#11 Clayton Kershaw

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Blog Kiosk: 1/18/2014 - Dodgers Link - Kershaw, Ethier and Arbitration

Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kenley Jansen were seen running through Dodger Stadium yesterday as a part of their workout, pic via @Dodgers on twitter.

Sweet Lou Johnson, Derrel Thomas and Dennis Powell will participate in the 29th Annual Kingdom Day Parade in South Central Los Angeles on Monday, January 20th. They will be riding in the Dodger fire truck. The parade, in recognition of Martin Luther King Day, will be broadcasted on KABC-TV and is southern California’s largest King Day celebration.
Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider has an entire rundown of the Dodgers press conference from ysterday morning announcing the new 7-year extension for Clayton Kershaw.

Colletti: “It’s tough to have in our mind to have the best pitcher in baseball, the youngest best pitcher in baseball, and tell him we’re not going to do what others have done for others.”

Via Dave Cameron at FanGraphs, "Clayton Kershaw, Contract Modeling, and Inflation".
Mike Petriello (Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness), Dustin Nosler (Feelin’ Kinda Blue), Daniel Brim (Blog To The Score), and Chad Moriyama are joining forces to start a new blog called Dodgers Digest. It will officially launch on Monday. You can follow the new blog on twitter, here.
Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider tells us that Andre Ethier will make a guest appearance on a Disney XD show called "Lab Rats". The date when this will air is currently unknown.
Tim Brown at Yahoo Sports writes about the one pitch Kershaw is still working on to master - the changup.
Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Kenley Jansen, A.J. Ellis exchange salary arbitration figures with Dodgers".
I found this very fascinating. John Shrader and Joshua Suchon put together a 5-part documentary on social media and its effects on reporting Major League Baseball. Go here to check it out. They speak with numerous reporters who cover the Angels and Dodgers, and talk a bit about how they use social media.

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Friday, January 17, 2014

Check Out Some Nomo Videos

In honor of Hideo Nomo's election into the Japan Hall of Fame, I thought I would collect and share some great videos featuring him. Sit back and enjoy

On March 13, 1996 Nomo struck out 17 Marlins in route to a 3-1 win. Watch all 17 below.

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And if you're aching to watch an entire game from the Dodgers past, then why not Nomo's first no-hitter on September 17, 1996 at Colorado. IN COLORADO! I never would have believed it was possible to throw a no-no there if I hadn't seen it. You can also watch his 2nd no-hitter as a member of the Boston Red Sox here.

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Here's a fun video of Nomo high-five'g a bunch of young fans at the 1995 All Star Game.

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Here's a tribute video of Nomo created by the Dodgers for his bobblehead day last season. Watch him throw out the first pitch, here.

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This Mornings Press Conference was All About Kershaw - New Contract Extension Announced

To the surprise of no one, the press conference held at Dodger Stadium this morning was scheduled to formally announce a new contract extension for Clayton Kershaw. As I'm sure you know by now, Clayton and the Dodgers came to an agreement for a 7-year extension in the amount of $215 million.

The breakdown of this deal was shared by CBS Sports reporter Jon Heyman on twitter a couple of days ago.

2014: $22m ($18m signing bonus, $4m salary)
2015: $30m
2016: $32m
2017: $33m
2018: $33m
2019: $32m
2020: $33m

Also, after year 5 Kershaw can opt-out of the contract. If he continues to pitch like he has, I would expect that this is a likely event.

From a Dodgers press release:

"It is an incredible privilege to be part of the Los Angeles Dodger organization for another seven years," said Kershaw. "L.A. has become a second home to me and my wife, and I'm excited for the opportunity to represent the city for a long time to come. I am particularly grateful to our team's ownership and front office for believing in me. With this contract comes tremendous responsibility, not only as a pitcher, but as a good steward of the resources given to me. To whom much is given, much is required. Ellen and I are excited to take an undeserved blessing and, Lord willing, make a difference in the lives of others. I'm humbled by this recognition and looking forward to a new season, and hopefully, a World Series championship for the city of Los Angeles."

Ned Colletti adds:

"There are great players and pitchers in the game," said Colletti. "And then there are those who are truly special. Clayton is not only among the elite of this era, but the perspective he and Ellen bring to their lives in helping others is equally remarkable. We have been honored to have the Kershaws as part of the Dodger organization and we are honored to have them as a part of the Dodger family for years to come."

Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider released a story just a moment ago that features Clayton Kershaw speaking with reporters via a speaker phone this morning. You should check that out, here. Below are some quotes.

“During the season, it’s always hard to think about that stuff,” Kershaw said on the phone from Texas with reporters. “I didn’t let myself think about it too much. Once the offseason started, I always kind of had the feeling it was going to work out.”

and

“I don’t think there’s a negative,” Kershaw said. “I think it’s how you look at it. Obviously, there’s gonna be a lot of expectations as it should be, if your salary’s out there and you’re one of the top players in the game, you’re gonna be expected to be one of the best players in the game. That’s fine with me. I look forward to those expectations and look forward to trying to live up to them.”

BTW, his teammates (and former teammates) came out in great support of him.

From Hanley Ramirez:

Congratulations @ClaytonKersh22 THE BEST IN THE GAME! Well earned and deserved. I hope you left me a little bit haha pic.twitter.com/zWgJGaoMa8
— Hanley Ramirez (@HanleyRamirez) January 17, 2014

From AJ Ellis:

Big winner today......me. I am blessed to catch best in the game for foreseeable future God willing. Congrats Kersh!
— AJ Ellis (@AJEllis17) January 15, 2014

From Matt Kemp:

Congrats 2 the best pitcher in baseball and great teammate @ClaytonKersh22 on his deal!
— Matt Kemp (@TheRealMattKemp) January 15, 2014

From Nick Punto:

congrats Kershaw's I'm so happy for u guys @ellenkershaw @ClaytonKersh22
— Natalie Punto (@MsShredderpunto) January 15, 2014

Oh... And what did Clayton do to celebrate?

Well... Ping Pong with friends, of course (via @Dodgers on twitter).

"Had some buddies over, played some ping pong, and grilled out." -@ClaytonKersh22 on how he celebrated his extension. Of course.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 17, 2014

Pic at the very top via Jon SooHoo and Patrick Gee/LA Dodgers 2013.

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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