We Hardly Knew You, Tony

via Rotoworld and confirmed through MLB.com, Tony Abreu is the "Player to Be Named Later" portion of the Jon Garland trade. That's too bad. I always thought he had a good bat and would have fit in nicely had Orlando Hudson decided to go elsewhere this coming Winter.

Oh well. A minor sacrifice for a big playoff push. We still have our finest prospects staying within the organization.

Photo- 1966 Dodger Stadium

A big thanks to Bob Wong. Above is a random photo from 1966 featuring the Dodgers at batting practice.

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:

Whose Jersey Is This Anyway?

A couple of days ago an eBay auction closed on an item that is very rare. The only problem, though, is whose jersey is this anyway?

Below are pics of a vintage 1959 Los Angeles Dodgers jersey with the number #22 on the chest. It appears to have all of the telling signs of a real game jersey. The stitching is right and the tags are real. Not only that, the front stitching refers to a "Warner" as the wearer of the shirt. My questions is, who is that? Anyone know?

Could this be a coach, or a minor leaguer who never quite caught on? If you know please pass it along.

By the way, this vintage jersey sold for a healthy $1,036.00.

eBay Auction Link: 1959 Dodger Jersey Warner:

Card of the Week: What Are Ya Doin' Tim?

Tim Wallach has a long and storied history in Southern California. It all began in the late 70's as he was a standout for the Cal State Fullerton Titans Baseball team. In 1979 he won the Golden Spikes Award which goes to the best college Baseball player of the year. He was subsequently drafted by the Expos and would spend most of his career north of the border. Later on, though, he came back home and played for both the Dodgers and Angels from 1993 to 1996. After retirement he became the Dodger hitting coach for the 2004 and 2005 season. Today, he currently manages the Dodger AAA club- Albuquerque Isotopes.

The card above is this week's "Card of the Week". It is Wallach's 1992 Topps Stadium Club card of him in a pose unexpected on a Baseball card. He appears to be ready to launch the Baseball like it is a shot put. Why? I don't have a clue.

Blog Kiosk: 8/30/2009

See, no reason to worry. We are back on track. My hair is not turning gray.

• Here is another great custom card from The Custom Card Blog. Billingsley on a 1982 Donruss design.
• Jo Anna volunteered at the ThinkCure! telethon and has photos to prove it. Check it out.
• Charlie Haeger in a new custom Goose Joak original card. He has become my new pitching hero.
• My good friends, Rob and Nancy, recently went to Disneyland and posted a trip report complete with pics on MiceChat. Below is my favorite photo of all- complete with a mellow Yoda. Oh yhea, I apologize for the Angels hat. I guess there is no accounting for taste. The funny thing is that he grew up in LA County and became a Angels fan, while I basically grew up in Orange County and remain true to the boys in Blue.
• Here is a great article about Chan Ho Park and his transition from starter to reliever in the Phillies bullpen. It all came together for him during a West Coast swing through LA.
  
• Bob Lemke shares a new discovery- a 1952 Ponca City, Oklahoma Dodgers Class D Minor League Baseball cards made by Globe Printing.
• Rob L gives a nice rundown of the evolution of the Baseball in the 1800's at the Net54Baseball message board.
• Get your own torture team cards here. Get one complete set for free. (Hat Tip: A Cardboard Problem)
• Upper Deck interviews Andrew Long, creator of the "Packs to the People" video box break series. He puts together the best video box breaks around. See them here.
  
• Former Vikings football player, Onterrio Smith, has his infamous Whizzinator being auctioned off (Randball). Apparently, it was confiscated at an airport and would presumably be used to pass a drug test. (Hat Tip: Deadspin) Go to the links to get to a picture of it. I would have posted it, but it just ain't appropriate looking and is definitely NSFW.
  
• World Champions and Tommy was a catalyst.

  I told them that if they all get on one end of the rope and pull together that they could pull the rest of the teams with them.

  The 16 and under Team USA won the gold medal. Read more about if from Tommy Lasorda's World.

YouTube Link: takapaiki: