Blog Kiosk: 4/25/2012

Panini unveiled more preview picks of their upcoming 2011 Limited Baseball set that is coming out soon.  See them here.  They showed off a couple of Dodgers autographed prospect cards of Justin Boudreaux and Pratt Maynard.

• Here's an excellent update from Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts on the progress of some Dodger prospects in Albuquerque with the help from Albuquerque sports reporter Christopher Jackson.

Sands and the Topes’ coaching staff are confident he can turn things around, but lordy, that boy seems stubborn. They tell him “lay off the first pitch” and he goes up and swings away from the start.

• Go to LFP and check out the Dodger Video that's posted up.  It's incredible.
• Chad Moriyama thinks the MLB should ban plate collisions and takeout slides.  I wholeheartedly disagree.  I might accept banning home plate collisions, but takeout slides are an integral part of the game.  The idea that a man running towards second base should not be allowed to break up a potential double play is ludicrous. 
• GCRL shows off some recent "Through The Mail" autographs of some Dodgers.
• Kevin Nelson at Sports Collectors Digest writes about, "The Importance of Nisei Baseball in Japanese Internment Camps."
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Jersey (from GasLamp Ball) recently visited Dodger Stadium and has a post up to prove it.
• Sports Collectors Daily picks out 5 of the best vintage Baseball card investments.
• As expected, LA Kings goalie Jonathon Quick has been nominated as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy that is given out to the leagues best goalie, via Kings Insider.
• Check out this soon-to-be released animated graphic novel called "Bottom of the Ninth" that was created by Ryan Woodward.  It looks great.  Link here.  A preview video trailer is below.

YUP!  Always dreamed about this when I was a kid….an ANIMATED graphic novel!!!  Took me 40 years to realize this dream, well…40 years of dreaming – 4 insane months of animating, drawing, drinking caffeine, and acting like a 10 year old again.

Video Link:

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen- Dodgers Base Cards

This was probably my favorite Baseball set from last year.  Topps Gypsy Queen is back again in 2012, and it blows away my expectations.  It's just a great looking set. 

It was officially released last week, so there has been plenty of banter about it already.  Heck, just about every collector blog out there has already posted about it, so I figured I should too.  After all, I don't think there is anything to dislike about it.  The design is flawless, and the painted look of the photographs adds a vintage feel to the cards.  This makes sense since it is fashioned after a card set originally produced in the 1880's.

Below are the Dodgers base cards within the set.  Furthermore, both Kemp and Kershaw have "short-printed" variations seeded in packs.  Examples of those are below.  As always, parallel versions exist for each card; including mini parallels.

18 Jackie Robinson

31 Ted Lilly

38 James Loney

44 Matt Kemp

 (On the Left is the Normal Version, On the Right is the Short Printed Card)

 

46 Chad Billingsley

124 Dee Gordon

 135 Clayton Kershaw

 (On the Left is the Normal Version, On the Right is the Short Printed Card)

 233 Duke Snider

290 Sandy Koufax

Blog Kiosk: 4/23/2012

Above is a preview pic Clayton Kershaw's 2012 Bowman Chrome card, via Beckett.  This set is to be released on Oct 17th.

• Be sure to check out Gary's newest card creation, Pee wee Reese, for his Infinite Baseball Card Set.  His biographies are still the best I've read on the web.  On top of that, his card creation features Pee Wee in a Louisville uniform, but he was kind enough to forward to me his creation of Pee Wee in a 1940 Brooklyn Dodgers uniform.  See it to the right.
• Kim Christensen at the LA Times takes a look at Mark Walter- the true Buyer of the Dodgers. 

"Decent" is one word often used to describe Walter, 51, the chief executive of Guggenheim Partners, a financial services company that manages more than $125 billion in assets. He's also private, unassuming and almost studiously unflashy.

• True to the Blue recaps Paul LoDuca's recent signing at Frank & Sons.
• This season 2nd edition of the Dodgers Playbill (which are given away free to fans) features Don Drysdale and Maury Wills.  

• The very first bobblehead (out of 10) of the season will be given out this coming Saturday.  It also features Drysdale and Wills.

• For a different look at the 2012 Baseball season check out "162 Pixels."  It includes 60 pages of Baseball statographics.  Chckout the very cool Dodger graphic they sent along to me.

Kings Win!!!!!!

Holy Moly!  Did that really happen last night?  Please forgive me if my Dodger blogging has been lacking of late.  I've just been suffering from an ailment called Kings Fever and I got it bad.

Last night, the Kings took a big step towards their first Stanley Cup with a series ending overtime victory over the President's Trophy wining Vancouver Canucks.  This was a monumental victory that was sparsely predicted by the experts, but not very surprising when you consider the parity in the conference, the excellent defensive scheme of the Kings and the "lights out" play of our star goaltender Jonathon Quick. 

On to St. Louis as we face off against the Blues in Round Two.

As a wrap up check out this great review of Sunday's hockey action as presented by Hockey Night in Canada.  They start off by taking a look at the Kings victory.

Video Link:

Here are some pics from the game found on the web.

This if from Brad Richardson's game tying goal from early in the third period.

(Pic Link; yfrog)

SI shared the this photo of Jarret Stoll's game winning goal in overtime.

(Pic Link)

And here is a video of Stoll's goal.  This video also includes the greatest tradition in sports- the series ending hand shake.

Video Link:

Collection: Russel Martin SPx

I just thought I would quickly put up another autographed certified card from my collection.  Here is a 2005 Upper Deck SPx card of Russell Martin.

I just love the design of these cards.  The backgrounds have a marble-like appearance that allows the player photograph to just "pop" out.  The only thing that would make it better would be a on-card auto, but I won't complain much.  It looks just fine the way it is.

Blog Kiosk: 4/19/2012

Here's an early peek at the Orel Hershiser Bobblehead, pic via twitter @Dodgers.

• The Albuquerque Isotopes present to Tommy Lasorda his 1972 PCL Championship ring, via MLB.

  As part of the 'Topes' pre-game home-opener celebration on Friday night, General Manager John Traub and team President Ken Young surprised the Hall of Famer by presenting him with the ring he so richly deserved after leading the Dukes to a 92-56 record and the team's first title as the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1972, it was not customary for Minor League teams to award championship rings, a slight rectified in a stirring tribute to a man who has meant to so much to Triple-A baseball in Albuquerque.

• Will opponents pitch around Kemp? Matt answers that question, via Jim Peltz at LA Times.

  Kemp was asked whether pitchers can still throw around him, giving Kemp little to hit and possibly walking him. "They can't," Kemp replied.
  "It definitely helps that I have Dre hitting behind me," Kemp said of Ethier. "Juan's protecting Dre also, so we've got protection in the lineup now."

• Here is a new Dodger Blog called "Think Blue LA."
• The LA Times takes a look at the development future of Dodger Stadium.
• Roberto has some info at Vin Scully is My Homeboy on a Dodgers bus caravan for the games against the Giants in San Francisco in July.
• Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts writes about "The Overshadowed Andre Ethier."
• Will the Steinbrenner's sell the Yankees? Business Insider reports that it may be for $3Billion to $4Billion.
• If you thought NHL Playoff Overtime hockey was crazy, then check this out. A girls minor hockey league game in Toronto went 12 full overtimes to win their game, via Puck Daddy. That's not a typo. I said 12 overtimes!
• Staying with hockey, check out this winning streak. The Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League finished up their regular season with 28 straight wins! Via PilotOnline.com.