Blog Kiosk: 1/17/2010

• Check our Chris's excellent story at Dodgerfan.net about the Winter Development Program at Dodger Stadium this past Sunday. He was the only blogger in attendance and he represented us well. The Winter Development Program features some of our best minor league prospects.
  
• GCRL creates some amazing fantasy cards. Here, he makes a Jim Bunning card that never was. As you may know he briefly played for the Dodgers during the tail end of the 1969 season. Below GCRL makes a Bunning in Blue card using the Topps 1970 design.
• Olbermann sets it straight. Koufax did not do steroids. He did, though, use corticosteroids (better known as cortisone shots today) which is commonly used throughout Baseball.
• 1207 Consecutive Games shares his 1971 Dodgers Dell Stamp Book. BTW, this is a great new Dodger collector blog that has a bit of a focus on Steve Garvey.
• Here is a great story of how Mike Pitt caught McGwire's homerun #57, gave it back to the slugger and parlayed it into a college scholarship to pay for med school. Another fascinating part of the story is that the scholarship came from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. Jack Kent Cooke, as you may know, was the former owner of the Lakers and LA Kings. He also built the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood. (Hat Tip:Sports Collectors Daily)
  
• Check the Biz of Baseball's MLB Salary Database that includes some player incomes from over 100 years ago, and has inflation adjusted values.
  
• Ken Burns will be updating the wonderfully made Baseball documentary.

  He’ll update the film with “The Tenth Inning,” focusing on the player strike in 1994, the New York Yankees dynasty; the role of the game following Sept. 11, 2001; the revival of the Boston Red Sox; and the emergency of Latin American and Asian players in the major leagues; and the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

  (Hat Tip: Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius)
  
• American hockey player David Backes is on the war path. Since being named to the American Olympic team he has had fights with 3 different Team Canada players. He means business. Thanks to the Common Room for pointing this out. Go USA!
  
• The Wall Street Journal looks at sports cards as an investment and declares that it has done pretty well relative to other traditional investments.

  For 2005 through 2009, the 30 cards that make up the Sports Card Industrial Average, an index put together for The Wall Street Journal by sports-memorabilia company Beckett Media, had an average return on investment of 12.4%. Over that span, the return on the 30 companies that now make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average was an average 7.9%.

  (Hat Tip: Card Collectors Universe)
  
• Is this not the greatest quilt ever, from the Shorpy blog.

  August 17, 1937. "Joseph's coat of many colors had nothing on this unique quilt which is now being completed by Mrs. Ethel Sampson of Evanston, Ill., after six years of collecting. Parts of wearing apparel from President Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt, members of the Cabinet, diplomats and notables from all over. From Hollywood, Bing Crosby sent a tie while Mae West and Shirley Temple contributed parts of dresses. Former Emperor Haile Selassie's neckties and a linen of Windsor are also included on the quilt. Diapers from the Dionne Quintuplets are also prominently displayed."

  
• Wow. Manabu Kurita catches a world record tying largemouth bass at 22 lbs 4 oz.

Vintage Stadium Give Away

Once again eBay uncovers a long forgotten collectible. Of course, since I've never seen it before it may not exactly be as advertised. Nevertheless, it would be a pretty cool item to have on the wall.

As the auction describes, below is a vintage stadium give away (presumably from 1972) to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Dodger Stadium. It is molded plastic and measures 10 5/8" x 9". I do not see any discernible manufacturer markings on the front or back. If anybody has any info on this please pass it along.

eBay Auction Link:

Two Down, Three To Go

(pic link: Ask Francisco)

Via MLB Trade Rumors, the Dodgers have signed Matt Kemp to a two year deal (pending a physical), and avoid arbitration with Billingsley with a $3,850,000.00 one year contract.

On top of that, Ken Gurnick reports that the Dodgers are seeking two year deals with James Loney, Andre Ethier and Jonathon Broxton.

I wonder, though, why only two year deals? You would think, for pure planning purposes, you would want to stagger the number of years so you don't have to do too much during the winter two years from now. Of course, maybe this is a way to defer these contract issues just past the anticipated time expected for the McCourt divorce to be concluded.

eBay: More Dodger Auctions

Here some more Dodger related eBay goodness.

This is a rather incredible item. Unfortunately, the eBay seller does not provide much background about how it was attained so who knows if it's real. Nevertheless, it's very interesting. Below is a 57.9 troy ounce silver Baseball made by the uncle of Wes Parker and given to Wes by his father as a gift to commemorate his career. It sold for $1,036.00.

eBay Auction Link:

Don't eat this popcorn. It is over 20 years old. Below is a Tommy Lasorda endorsed bag of microwavable popcorn that was purchased for the super low price of $0.99. Wow!

eBay Auction Link:

The day before the first day of the 1949 season the Dodger Knot Hole Club held their annual "Welcome Home Dinner" for the team. It looks like everyone was in attendance; from the coaches to the players. Below is a program cover for the event.

eBay Auction Link:

Music To My Ears

(pic link: Viaspire)

MLB Trade Rumors reports that the Dodgers and Matt Kemp may have a deal.

Interviewed on XM MLB Home Plate radio last night, Stewart (Kemp's Agent) told host Jim Bowden that he and the Dodgers are close to a two-year deal for Kemp. Stewart indicated he believes the Dodgers' ownership situation limited the number of years they could offer.

It's not the greatest of lengths, but at least it's progress.

Upper Deck in a World of Hurt

News just came out indicating that a major death blow may soon befall card manufacturer Upper Deck. For the Baseball fan and collector this is major news.

Was it because Upper Deck lost its licence to produce NBA cards? How about the announcement that Topps would be the sole licenced manufacturer of MLB cards; thereby leaving Upper Deck without the business that started it all for them? Did Tiger Woods do it? (Tiger has an exclusive hobby deal with the company)

No, on all accounts.

The reason for the possible sudden death of one of the greatest innovators in sports collectibles is due to Yu-Gi-Oh! Yes, that Japanese comic that has burgeoned into a multi-million dollar industry that includes cartoons, cards, movies and video games may soon kill Upper Deck.

Upper Deck is accused has already been found guilty (only the damage assessment remains) of manufacturing counterfeit Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. In other words, after completing their contract to produce collectible cards for the franchise Upper Deck decided, in their ultimate wisdom, to turn the printing presses back on and sell Yu-Gi-Oh! cards out the back door. They made extra cards and seemingly decided to pocket all the profits.

Sounds familiar doesn't it? It's something many collectors in the know are all too familiar with.

As the story goes, back in 1989, when Upper Deck first came onto the scene, they produced a groundbreaking Baseball set that included one of the hottest cards the hobby had ever seen. Ken Griffey Jr's 1989 Upper Deck rookie card was on everyone's wish list and soon commanded over $100.00 right after its release. Then, the greedy Chief Executive Richard McWilliam, angry that he could not personally profit from the rising value of that one card, turned on the presses and reproduced the card. They were subsequently sold through the backdoor, garnering him a nice tidy profit. (UPDATE: It was also more populary known to have happened to the Dale Murphy Error Reverse Negative card. I also suspect other cards were reprinted over the coming years.)

Now, he does it again and the group that gets ripped off decides to sue. Woe is me.

Do I feel bad for them? Not at all. Unethical business practices was a part of Upper Deck from the beginning and, ultimately, it will be their end. I think the hobby, considering their past, will benefit greatly from their disappearance. The schemers and scam artist are bad for the hobby. Read a bit more about this current court action here.

Go here for even more info.