Collection: A Steve Sax Archives Autographed Baseball Card

My happiest memory of Steve Sax was watching him cheer like a madman as Kirk Gibson rounded third base after his walk-off home run in the 1988 World Series.  He came to home plate with the rest of his teammates, and found himself hoping like a bunny as Gibson approached.  He literally had to restrain himself from hugging the World Series hero before he scored the winning run.  It was hilarious to watch.

As you may already know, Steve Sax has recently returned to Baseball.  It was announced in Mid-December that he would be the Diamondbacks newest 1st base coach.  Via Steve Gilbert at MLB.com:

"I can't even put into words how happy I am," Sax said. "This is like a dream come true. I've been thinking about this for a number of years."

Featured here is a 2003 Topps Archives Archives autographed card of Stave Sax.  It uses the 1983 Topps vintage card design.

Here is a MLB.com video announcing Sax's signing as the Diamondbacks new coach.

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Below are his career stats, via Baseball Reference.


Here is another great video featuring Steve Sax.  This time, Vin Scully introduces the fans to the Dodghers newest "Boy Wonder" in 1982.

"Oh, to be 22 and a Dodger!"

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Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 1/3/2012

The Kershaw's and some friends just arrived in Zambia for the opening of Hope's Home- a children's orphanage they started and is funded by Kershaw's Challenge.   Go here for the story from the Dodgers PR blog.  Also Kershaw's Challenge blog also has a complete story, here.

On Thanksgiving, the Zambian government approved the first 8 kids to move into Hope’s Home. These children are experiencing running water, electricity, flushing toilets and sleeping on a mattress for the first time in their lives. More importantly, they now have three house mothers who provide three meals a day, administer HIV medications and just simply, care about them.

Check out other Dodgers related stories below.

• Evan Bladh at Opinion of Kingman's Performance tells us about watching Roberto Clemente at Dodger Stadium when he was 9 years old.  Clemente had a 5-hit game.
• Christopher Jackson at Examiner.com provides a Dodgers Winter League update.
• The Dodgers Winter Development MiniCamp will be held next week in Arizona.  13 Dodger prospects have been invited to attend.  Ken Gurnick at MLB.com has the news; including a list of all of the players.

This will be the sixth year of the minicamp, which is designed to take the best and brightest of the farm system, accelerate their Major League arrival and aid acclimation to what they will encounter when they get there.

Among earlier participants are Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen. Vice president of player development De Jon Watson's minicamp also allows club officials to get a line on each player's conditioning prior to Spring Training and to tweak flaws in a pitcher's delivery or a hitter's swing before the start of the real camp, where the player is focused on making the club.

They receive coaching on baseball skills, but also are instructed in aspects of Major League Baseball that should be essential but often are overlooked, from media relations to security issues to interaction with fans and the importance of community outreach.

• Paul LoDuca, on twitter, is running a contest that includes free admission tickets and free autographs from him in relation to the SoCal Baseball and Sports Collectors Expo on the weekend of the 11th through 13th of January.  All you have to do is tweet a favorite memory.  Go here for info.
• AJ Ellis is one funny guy on twitter- not that he isn't funny in real life.  Actually I wouldn't know.  Anyway, he responded to a Steve Dilbeck article that took a look at Dodgers' New Year Resolution

A.J. Ellis: Snarl at bloggers who ask dumb postgame questions.

(twitter link)

• Saturday, January 26th is the 4th Annual SABR Day!  Go here for a listing of events happening around the country.
• A Reddit thread by KustomDeluxe shares a pic of current renovations at Dodger Stadium.  Notice the big hole in the field level area for the new clubhouse area and the scoreboard in the distance.  Main source is via DodgersBeat on facebook.

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Take a Look Back at 2012's Walk-Off Dodger Victories

(pic via Jon SooHoo/ LA Dodgers 2012)

Other than the fact that the Dodgers didn't make the playoffs, they had an otherwise remarkable season in 2012.  They finally kicked to the curb an owner the city grew to loath, we made inroads towards revitalizing a sinking farm system, and made some giant trades and free agency pick-ups that keep fans hopeful of a better tomorrow.  To add to the good feelings felt in Los Angeles, they even rewarded faithful fans with numerous walk-off victories that kept us riveted. 

From my count, the Dodgers recorded 10 walk-off hits and 2 walk-off walks in 2012.  BTW, that tally is far from a record- the Yankees had 17 walk-off wins in 1943.

In commemoration and celebration of an incredible year in Dodger walk-offs, I thought it would be fun to take another look at the 12 nail-biting victories.  See videos of each one below.  It is listed from most recent to oldest.  Also of special note, AJ Ellis was the king of the walk-offs in 2012.  He was responsible for 3 walk-off victories.

10/1/12: Elian Herrera lines a pitch off Marco Scutaro's glove and into center field for a single to score the game-winning run in the ninth.

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9/15/12: Juan Rivera's liner goes off the glove of Daniel Descalso, allowing Elian Herrera to score as the Dodgers walk off with a 4-3 win.

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AJ Ellis hits a walk off single against the Padres: 9/3/2012.

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Here is Adrian Gonzalez's walk-off double from 9/2/2012.

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Here is Hanley Ramirez's walk-off single from 8/15/2012 against the Cubs.

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Matt Kemp blast a walk-off 2-run homer against the Phillies on 7/18/2012.

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Dee Gordon, remember him, hits a walk-off single against the White Sox on 6/17/2012.

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He does it again.  Here is AJ Ellis' walk-off 3-run homer against the Astros on 5/26/2012.

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AJ Ellis has a walk-off walk against the Cardinals on 5/18/2012.

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Matt Kemp belted a walk-off home run against the Nats on 4/28/2012.

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Dee Gordon hits a walk-off single against the Padres on 4/15/2012.

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Andre Ether starts off the Dodgers walk-off parade by getting a walk-off walk against the Padres on 4/13/2012.

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A Collection of Johnny Podres Autographed Baseball Cards

Johnny Podres was the man that helped the Dodgers win their very first World Championship.  If it weren't for his efforts the vaunted Brooklyn Dodger club of Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider may have disappeared into the annals of history.  For that reason, he is often lionized along with other great Dodger pitchers- even when his stats show that he was similar to above average hurlers like Rick Rhoden or Kevin Appier.

So, it shouldn't be surprising that Johnny Podres is oftentimes a very popular insert in modern Baseball card sets.  Featured in this post is a collection of 6 different certified autographed cards in my collection.  Above is a 2005 Donruss Greats autographed card.  Directly below is a 2004 Topps Finest Moments card.

Below is a 2005 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia autographed card numbered to 150.

A 2004 Upper Deck SP Prospects triple autographed card featuring Podres with Odalis Perez and Scott Elbert is below.  Numbered to only 25 copies.

 

Below is a 2005 Team Topps autographed card.

 

Last but not least is a 2002 Topps Super Teams autographed card of Podres.

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Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 1/2/2013

Happy New Year!  Pic via twitter @Dodgers.

• Emma at Dodger Blue World pays tribute to the Dodger players who passed away in 2012.
• The Kershaw's and some friends have just headed out to Zambia to check out Hope's Home - a children's orphanage sponsored by Kershaw's Challenge.  Read it all here.
• Steve Dilbeck at the LA Times put together a great list of Dodger New Year Resolutions.
• Check out From the Ravine's Extra Innings podcast as they discuss the potential lineups for both the Dodgers and Angels.
• Topps recently unveiled a preview uncut sheet of Baseball cards on twitter that includes a sneak peak at some cards for Matt Kemp, Sandy Koufax and Jackie Robinson.  See the pic below.  I believe these cards are a part of an insert set for their upcoming flagship Baseball card set.

(twitter link)

• An old friend report:  Delwyn Young is drawing interest from MLB teams, via Chris Cotillo at CLNS Radio.com.  He had double hernia surgery in June.
• Eric Stephen at True Blue LA is doing yeoman's work.  He is writing individual biographies of every member of the 1988 Dodgers.  He started off with Kirk Gibson yesterday, and Tim Belcher today.  I wonder if he'll include former Dodgers GM Fred Claire in his biographies.  I find his formation of that team to be one of the more interesting stories of that championship club.
• In this recent edition of putting the cart before the horse:  Bae Joong-Hyun of the Korean Joongang Daily wonders if the Rookie of the Year award is possible for Ryu.

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Dodgers Blue Heaven's Top Post of 2012

With 2012 now in the books, I thought it would be fun to highlight the Top 10 post on this blog.  On a side note, I hope you've enjoyed visited as much as I've enjoyed writing this blog. So, here it goes- from the top post on down:

• Happy Birthday, America!  7/4/2012 

I found it strange that this was the top post of 2012.  I think it has something to do with the American flag that's posted up (thereby getting significant hits from google, as a result), or a short snippet from the movie Sandlot.

• Dodgers Should Sign Jenn Bown of ESPN - She Can Swing the Bat  6/25/2012

This post was nothing more than gratuitous.  It features an attractive lady who just happens to be wearing a Dodger cap while taking some batting practice.  I find it funny that the top two post of the year have to do with patriotism and a scantily clad lady.

• Matt Kemp Signing in Scottsdale on Monday  3/3/2012 

This was a Spring Training signing event.  If you know of anything planned for this Spring in Arizona please pass that information along.

• Wanna See the Stanley Cup?  It'll be in Hermosa Beach on Monday  6/22/2012 

Here was another event listing - this time of the Stanley Cup.

• Woo Hoo!  Dodgers Win!  7/1/2012 

This was a very brief post that was more of an exultation after having to go through a 7 game losing streak in late June.

• Go King Go!!!  4/18/2012

If there is one thing I'll remember most about 2012 it is the Stanley Cup Championship run by the Kings.  Wow!

• "I See You" - Explained by Vin Scully  7/29/2012

Vin Scully proves once again that everything sounds sweeter when he explains it.

• Vinny is Taken  9/18/2012

Office hijinks at its best.

• Wow!  Watch Kershaw's Perfect Game from High School!  2/22/2012

Who wouldn't want to see our staff ace pitching some prep Baseball?

• Collection: Vintage Baseball Leather Postcards  7/2/2012

You just can't beat early-20th century Baseball memorabilia,

Honorable Mentions:

There were also plenty of post that didn't reach the Top 10, but I thoroughly enjoyed writing.  See some of those below.

• An Incredible Jackie Robinson Painted Glove and Interview with the Artist - Sean Kane  11/28/2012

Sean Kane's artistic work ranks as one of the best I had seen all year.

• A Giant Suspended for PED - Should We be Surprised?  8/15/2012

Any time I can stick it to the Giants, I will.

• The 10 Best Dodgers Baseball Cards of 2012  12/28/2012

As an avid collector, I had waited all year to write this.  Check out my 10 favorite Dodgers cards of 2012.

• From Half Way Across the World Dodgers Cathcer, Matt Treanor, Cheers on His Wife, Misty May  8/2/2012

The 2012 Olympics was a special time for the Dodgers, and witnessing the love and support the team and husband, Matt Treanor, provided was awesome.

• Done Deal.  Dodgers sign Misty May, er... Matt Treanor  11/15/2011

Although this post was actually written in 2011, it easily outpaced any other post I wrote in 2012. It garnered over 50,000 hits - which is huge for this little blog.  The reason for this is obvious.  Misty May was a star performer in the Olympics in 2012, and well... this post can be deemed a little risque. 

Again, thank you for visiting this blog over the past year, and I hope you come back and visit in 2013. 

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