Happy Birthday, Tommy!

Happy Birthday, Baseball Wizard.  Tommy Lasorda turns 85 today.  In celebration, check out this great 1989 Rolaids commercial featuring our old skipper.

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2012 Topps Triple Threads- Some Dodgers Relics and Auto's

As I had promised the other day, I would feature as many of the Dodger autoraphed/relic cards from the set that I could find.  Here is the first of several postings I will be putting together.  Below, I feature a general selection of cards from the set.  In future post I will focus on several individual players that have a bunch of different variations available.

First up are a couple of Relic Combo Books with Sandy Koufax and Clayton Kershaw.

TTRDC-5 Ryan - Seaver - Jenkins - Spahn - Koufax - Carlton

TTRDC-3 Verlander - Sabathia - Darvish - Halladay - Kershaw - Lincecum

Below is a Triple Threads Relic Combo card featuring Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Clayton Kershaw.  Of the 63 different combo cards available this is the only one with multiple Dodgers on it.  There are a handful of other combo cards with just one Dodger on it, so I will have those up in a future post when I feature that individual player (Kemp and Kershaw).

TTRC-14 Matt Kemp - Andre Ethier - Clayton Kershaw

There are two former Dodgers featured on the Triple Threads Legends Relics.  They are Sandy Koufax and Jackie Robinson.  As always, all of the relic cards in the set have numerous parallels with varying print runs.  The Koufax below is a "emerald" parallel numbered to 18.  The Jackie Robinson below is a "gold" parallel numbered to 9.

TTRL-12 Sandy Koufax - Dodgers

TTRL-13 Jackie Robinson - Dodgers

I do like these All Star Patch cards.  The Kershaw below is a "1 of 1" ruby parallel card.  The base model version is numbered to 9.

TTASP-33 Matt Kemp - Dodgers

TTASP-40 Clayton Kershaw - Dodgers

TTASP-50 Andre Ethier - Dodgers

This card kind of confuses me.  It is a Rookie & Future Phenom autographed relic card that is numbered like it is a part of the regular base set.  The Jerry Sands card below is #140.  There is also a Dee Gordon card that is #105, but appears to be only available through a redemption card.  I believe all of these cards are suppose to be on-card signed.

140 Jerry Sands - Dodgers

Below is a Triple Auto Relic card that has Dee Gordon in the middle, between Starlin Castro and Elvis Andrus.  This is a sticker autograph, so no redemption card needed. 

TTARC-14 Starlin Castro - Dee Gordon - Elvis Andrus

TTARC-17 Clayton Kersahw - Matt Kemp - Dee Gordon

Now here is what the Triple Threads set is known for.  Below are the Dee Gordon Triple Threads Relics with various written phrases.  All players available have three different versions available.  I will have a post on the other Dodgers in the set in future postings.

TTR-118 Dee Gordon - Dodgers

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Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 9/21/2012

How awesome is this picture.  The Space Shuttle Endeavor flew over Dodger Stadium this afternoon.  Pic via LikeAgaveF on reddit. This might originally be a @Dodgers pic from instagram- I'm not really sure.

• No!  Stop it.  Shut him down already.  There is no need to threaten his (and our) future by having Kershaw pitch again this season.  Via Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times, "Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw Throws Off Mound, Raising Hopes of His Return."
• Tom Hoffarth of the Daily News takes a look back at the Summer of Stanley.
• The Dodgers Blogs Softball Tournament is next weekend.  Go here to sign up.
• A couple of Dodgers prospects help Israel to advance in the WBC Baseball tournament, via Christopher Jackson at Examiner.com.
• Patrick Dorsey at ESPN puts together a great interview with Dodgers photographer Jon SooHoo.

"Probably my biggest problem is I shot so much film. I have filing cabinets' worth of slides, negatives, color negatives, black-and-white negatives from format cameras that I shot. It's just a very large library of stuff.

“A lot of my best stuff is on film -- which is the Joe Montana years, and Jerry Rice, and old Dodgers stuff. ... There's a lot of images that I haven't even gotten to that have been shot on film that someday, maybe, will be digitized at some point."  

Hopefully, we'll get an opportunity to see some of those.

• Brandon Stroud at With Leather brings to you the Brady Bunch's 20 Greatest Sports Moments. 
• Ballhawk king Zach Hample was kicked out of the Dodgers/Nationals doubleheader, via Deadspin.
• This is what I've been waiting for.  The Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings recently announced a special DVD that includes Bob and Jim's call from Game 6 of the Finals.  Below is a preview from that game that includes the 5 minute major penalty from the 1st period and the Kings first goal.  (Hat Tip: LA Kings Insider)
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eBay: A Couple of Jim Gilliam Personal Awards

I recently ran across a very interesting lot on eBay featuring some memorabilia from a beloved Dodger- Jim Gilliam.  As you know, Gilliam spent his entire Major League career with the Dodgers franchise- from 1953 to his untimely death in 1978.  

During his playing days he garnered Rookie of the Year honors in 1953, earned 2 All-Star berths and was a member of 4 World Championship teams.  Not considered a superstar, he did the little things that were required to win.  Gilliam played the game with the kind of intelligence unequal during his time, and the versatility that allowed him to play just about any position at a moments notice. 

During the tail-end of his career he served the Blue Crew as a player/coach in 1964 and became a full-time coach in 1967.  He had the ambition to be the manager one day, and even interviewed for the Dodgers job after Alston's retirement- Lasorda and Gilliam were the only candidates.  As history tells us, Lasorda would become the manager, but that didn't stop Gilliam from continuing to serve the team as best he could.  Til his death, he remained loyal to the Dodgers.

To this day, Jim Gilliam remains the only Dodgers number to be retired who is not in the Hall of Fame.  In September of the 1978 pennant race, Jim Gilliam fell into a coma due to a cerebral hemorrhage and died nearly a month later- the day after the Dodgers won the National League title.  Two days later the Dodgers would formally honor him by retiring number #19.  If you want to check out a great biography on the man go to the SABR website, here.

(eBay Auction Link)

Featuring in this post are two personal awards given to Jim Gilliam from the Carson Black Heritage Association and some golfing buddies.  See the eBay auction here.  Strangely, the first award (the one directly above) was given to his family after his death, which naturally got me wondering if this was real.  So, I did a little bit of research and discovered that this along with many other personal effects were originally sold in a 1981 estate auction through Goldberg Auctioneers.  See that sale here (Auction #12).  It was a part of a 5 trophy lot that sold for $207.

Since I came across the original estate sale, I thought I would feature other items from Jim Gilliam's playing days that I thought were worth a look.

Below is his 1955 World Series ring.  It has sold for $26,450 in 1981.

Below is his 1959 World Series ring.  It originally sold for $7,475.

A 1963 Commemorative World Series Bowl.  It sold for $541.

And here is a memorabilia item I have never seen before.  Below is a 1971 East-West All-Stars glass and silver plated vessel.

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Just Awesome! Jackie Robinson Movie Trailer is Out

The first movie trailer for "42" the Jackie Robinson movie is out, and it looks good.  Let's hope it's as riveting as this preview.  The film is expected to hit the big screens in April.  (Hat Tip: Steve Dilbeck at the LA Times)

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Dodgers Dream Day Raffle- Help a Great Cause While Maybe Winning Something Cool

Do you want to have the ultimate Dodgers experience?  Well, check out the raffle at Omaze.com for details on Dodger Dream Day.

One lucky fan (plus a guest) will meet the Dodgers on the field for batting practice, shadow Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten, sit in the press box for a game against the Rockies on September 28th, and get field level seats.  

All you have to do is purchase a raffle ticket.  If you don't win, don't fret.  You should know that proceeds from the raffle sale will benefit InsideOUT Writers.

InsideOUT writer’s goal is to reduce recidivism among juvenile offenders by providing youth and young adults with tools for pro-social means of self-expression. IOW offers two innovative programs: The Writing Program offers writing classes for youth incarcerated at four Los Angeles juvenile detention facilities.  The Alumni Program provides a continuum of care for former Writing Program participants (Alumni) who have been released from detention.

Raffle tickets are inexpensive and looks like it helps a great cause.  Go here for more information.

BTW, Omaze.com has a whole bunch of charitable raffles going on; including experiences with Lady GaGa, Meet the Press, a recording session with Moby, etc.  So, be sure to check them out.

Hat Tip: Sports Business Digest

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