Blog Kiosk 9/7/2008

8 game winning streak and 1.5 games in first place. Just when I thought all was lost the Dodgers go ahead and turn things around.

• Baseball card hobby pioneer, Lionel Carter, passed away early this week at the age of 90. In 1933 he bought his first pack of cards and never looked back. He eventually amassed one of the greatest and most envied collections in the hobby. He was noted for being a true collector as he cared little about the value of the cards. Last year, to his consternation, he sold his entire collection after being burglarized in 2006 (It sold for $1.6 million last April). Keeping his treasures at home had became unsafe.

  “I sold every one of the cards because I didn’t want anything to remind me of them,” Carter said. “They meant so much to me (after) so many years of collecting. They were just a big part of my life."

  Go here for some tributes 1 2 3 4 . Here is an interview with him from NPR.
• Only 600 fans showed up for a Marlins game this past Wednesday. Tatiana & Wax Heaven, the married card collecting duo, sound off.
  
• The 1983 Fleer Project picks up another Dodger autograph- Pedro Guerrero.
• Zach was at Dodger Stadium and has some incredible photos detailing how to snag some balls. He was also in Anaheim and San Diego.
• I had meant to point this out previously. The Trolly Dodger visits Manzanar Internment Camp and checks out the Baseball field. He also links to the hilarious Angel Berroa/ Manny Ramirez postgame interview.
  
• If you are a LA Kings fan check out Rich Hammond's full coverage of the teams "Breakfast with the GM" meeting with season ticket holders yesterday here. I was there and all I got to say is that I believe in Dean's mission to build from within.
  
• Are Baseball card price guides destroying the hobby? Are price guides even relevant anymore? Are they even accurate? Sportscards Uncensored puts it all in perspective.

I agree with the above completely. In my mind, guides like Beckett or Tuff Stuff depend on advertising revenue. Therefore, they are beholden to card manufacturers and dealers. So, I'm sure there is some pressure to make sure values are high in order to drive the market and pad their advertisers revenues.

As a collector always focus on what you enjoy, not what it is worth.

Sign This Kid Up!

With the current woes plaguing the Dodgers right right now maybe it might be fun to consider some future prospect on the horizon that we should be keeping an eye on. After all, you can never have enough young players in the system.

Via The Huffington Post, we hear about one such player. His name is Jericho Scott and he's a pitcher. Jericho throws a wicked fastball that scares his opponents. He is very good. In fact, he is too good. The kid throws so hard at 9 years old the league has decided to ban him from pitching.

The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more. When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said.
...

"He's never hurt any one," Vidro said. "He's on target all the time. How can you punish a kid for being too good?"

The controversy bothers Jericho, who says he misses pitching.

"I feel sad," he said. "I feel like it's all my fault nobody could play."

Ya know, there is something un-American about all this.

Blog Kiosk 8/24/2008

Are the Olympics over yet?

• Check out the Olympics made of Lego's.
• Michael Phelps autographed cards are selling for crazy money on eBay. The below 2004 Donruss Leaf "Fans of the Game" card is going for more than $400.00 a pop. The Upper Deck 2005 Autographed card below (limited to 10) was available only at the Hawaii Trade Conference and is already at $3,850.00.
• Cardboard Junkie shows off my favorite Olympic card set- the 1983 Topps Greatest Olympians. I know this is a card with a hockey player on it, but I can't even begin to tell you how eager I am for the season to begin. BTW, did you know that Eruzione means eruption. His winning goal in 1980 was like Mount Vesuvius blowing his top.
  
• The Inside the Park Blog shows off an early 60's Dodgers souvenir mail order catalog. I've seen most of the items before. The bobbleheads at the top are very rare and highly sought after. The pennant, ashtray, helmet and hat are readily found on eBay, but that cartoon looking toy of the pitcher is totally new to me.
• This guy knows how to catch a ball. With no glove in hand he uses the best thing he's got- a cup of beer.

Hat Tip: Lion In Oil:

Blog Kiosk 8/17/2008

Late as usual.

• Dottie Collins was a mammoth of a pitcher. In 1945 she won 29 games while only losing 10 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. In that year she had 239 strike outs and an ERA of 0.83. Last week she died at the age of 84.

  Pitching for six seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, created in 1943 to provide home front entertainment while many major leaguers were off to war, Collins dazzled opposing batters.

  She pitched underhand, sidearm and overhand; she threw curveballs, fastballs and changeups; and in the summer of 1948, she pitched until she was four months pregnant. She won more than 20 games in each of her first four seasons. She threw 17 shutouts and had a league-leading 293 strikeouts in 1945 for the Fort Wayne Daisies, when the women's game resembled fast-pitch softball.

  She was also quite a character.

  “I pitched and won both games of a doubleheader once pitching underhand,” she told Susan E. Johnson in “When Women Played Hardball.”

  “I think I could have pitched a doubleheader overhand, too,” she said. “I don’t think it would be that hard. Nowadays, the men can’t do it, but hell, they can’t do nothin’.”

  (Hat Tip: ShysterBall:)

• Erin is back with a new Dodger Blog called Robots Took My Medicine.
• That Woolly Mammoth card I wrote about several weeks ago closed last week on eBay at an astounding $1,725.00. Holy Moly! I'd take some Campanella's, a Snider, a Pee Wee and a boatload of Manny Ramirez cards for that kind of money. Heck, I could probably pay my rent on top of that.
  
• Topps just announced the inclusion of Clayton Kershaw into their 2008 Topps Finest Baseball Rookie Redemption Set.
• Check out Cards in the Attic's find of vintage T206 cards displayed on the wall in a vintage period photo.
• Fox News visits Topps. Check out the video below.

Hat Tip: Cardboard Mania:

The Professor, Part II

Apparently, the smartest pitcher in Baseball will be a Dodger once again.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Monday night that the team had completed a deal with the Padres for veteran right-hander Greg Maddux. Citing an anonymous person close to the deal, the newspaper did not know who San Diego would receive in return.

With some questions still surrounding the Dodgers pitching staff this is a good pick up that should provide some stability, if not some veteran leadership for the stretch run.

Brian Kamenetzky notes further,

While overall Maddux sports a 6-9 record, a look at the game log shows he's been pretty effective since mid-May (three awful starts skew his numbers a lot), and the three starts he's had in August have been lights out. With Brad Penny out for perhaps the remainder of the year, it makes sense for the Blue to make a move. How good a move depends a lot on the cost of acquiring the future HOFer. Assuming it's low, I can't see how adding him hurts, that's for sure. Maddux will, I assume, make his re-debut Saturday in Philadelphia, unless Joe Torre decides to jigger around the rotation to accommodate his presence.

Here is the breaking story from Dylan Hernandez of the Times.

UPDATE: MLB Trade Rumors has a full rundown here.

Dodger Autograph Notice

I just got a notice from the Dodgers PR department that I wanted to pass along.

Closer Jonathon Broxton, legendary 1st Baseman Wes Parker and one of the nicest guys in the world "Sweet Lou" Johnson will be on-hand at the Staples store in Westchester to participate in a "Back to School" shopping spree to benefit the Westside Children's Center tomorrow afternoon, Friday, August 15, 2008.

I guess they'll be racing around the store while filling up their shopping karts with some goodies for the kids. The event starts at noon and the autograph session begins at 1:00 PM. Below are the details.

WHERE: Staples #0951
8704 S. Sepulveda
Westchester , CA 90045
(310) 342-5113

WHEN: Tomorrow, August 15, 2008
12 – 1 p.m. “Back to School” shopping spree with Westside Children’s Center
1 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Autograph session open to the public