Blog Kiosk: 2/5/2014 - Dodgers Links - Puig, Guerra and the Dodger Owners by the Sparks

Yasiel Puig will be on the cover of the newest edition of ESPN Magazine; out this Friday.  Pic via @DodgersPR on twitter.

• Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, "Jackie Robinson Day autographed jerseys up for bidding".  Go to the auction here.
• Via Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider, "Don’t forget Javy Guerra".

“We have a great pitching staff, a lot of bullpen arms,” Guerra said. “It’s going to be tough to crack this team, but I’m up for the challenge. It’s a great opportunity and a great time to be a Dodger.”

• The Derrel Thomas Foundation will be hosting its 2nd Annual Positive Image Awards in Jurupa Valley, CA.  Go here for more information.  The charity dinner is on Thursday, February 20th, and it will celebrate outstanding members of the community.  (Hat Tip: Roberto Baly at Vin Scully is My Homeboy)
• Emma at Dodger Blue World expresses her desire for game tickets issued by the Dodgers.  I think it's overwhelming that fans want their ticket stubs.
• Via Ramona Shelburne at ESPN, Magic Johnson, Mark Walter, Stan Kasten and other Dodgers' partners have purchased the Sparks.
• Via Lyle Spencer at MLB.com, "Forgotten pioneers: '63 Dodgers made huge impact: Season marked first time a predominantly black lineup lead team to World Series title".
• Well.  Well.  Eli Manning and the NY Giants may be selling off fake game-used memorabilia, via a story by Kaja Whitehouse at the NY Post.  A memorabilia dealer was indicted on federal charges related to selling fake memorabilia, but they were subsequently dropped as a result of certain revelations (likely related to this lawsuit).  Remember, there have already been prosecutions and serious jail time for numerous other dealers of fake sports memorabilia.  That dealer in question is now suing the Giants and Eli.

If true, this is severely screwed up, and fraudulent.  These folks were willing to let a guy go to jail to cover up their greed and malfeasance.  Fans and collectors paid big money and premium dollars for stuff they thought were real. BTW, this could prove to be a big issue for Steiner Sports since it appears they may have placed too much trust in the Giants.

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SportsNet LA Launches on February 25th

The channel Dodger fans have been waiting for is about to go live.  Starting on Tuesday, February 25th, SportsNet LA launches as the 24/7 home of the Dodgers.  Per a Dodgers press release, they:

will take fans behind-the-scenes of the team and offer in-depth access into the organization, providing an immersive experience with never-before-seen content and thousands of hours of comprehensive Dodger programming.

Here is what you should expect:

• The revolution will be televised.  All Dodgers Spring Training games will be on television; except for two split-squad games. That's 22 total Spring games.
• Vin Scully will call the inaugural game telecast on Wednesday, February 26 at 12:00 PM PT. 

"It is an incredible honor to have the remarkable opportunity to call the very first game on the Dodger network," said Scully. "The Dodgers' new ownership group has done a wonderful job assembling a team to make SportsNet LA what every Dodger fan deserves, a television network just for them. I'm humbled to be a part of it."

• A live daily studio show will air at 7:00 PM during Spring Training, and will be called "Access SportsNet: Dodgers".

The show will be hosted live from the SportsNet LA studios in El Segundo, CA with contributions from the SportsNet LA on-air team live in Glendale, AZ. John Hartung will lead the program, alongside longtime Dodger announcer Charley Steiner and Dodger legends Orel Hershiser and Nomar Garciaparra, with contributions from recently-retired Dodger Jerry Hairston Jr. and experienced baseball reporter Alanna Rizzo. "Access SportsNet: Dodgers" will deliver an hour of comprehensive coverage of the team, highlighting the behind-the-scenes access of the new network, while providing fans with the latest information, updates and team features.

• Another show will be called "Backstage: Dodgers", per @SportsNetLA on twitter.   It'll air every week during the season, and provide a behind-the-scenes look at the team.
• Glenn Diamond, a sports TV producer and five-time Emmy Award winner, will produce Dodger games.  He has 31 years of national Baseball production experience.

Unfortunately, Time Warner has yet to receive a go ahead from other cable or satellite networks, so there is a threat that you may not be able to watch - unless you have Time Warner already.  So, the next few weeks should be interesting as things heat up. 

I would expect a loud and visible campaign to start very soon.

(pic via @SportsNetLA on twitter)

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2014 Topps Baseball Series 1 - Some Dodgers' Insert Cards

Continuing with the parade of Dodgers' cards within the 2014 Topps Series 1 set, I now bring to you the various inserts that are available (save the relics and autographed cards).  Go here to see all of my previous post featuring this set.

Below are the silk inserts.  They are numbered to just 50 copies each.

Silk Cards

#SC-78 Hanley Ramirez                        #SC-79 Hyun-Jin Ryu

#SC-80 Yasiel Puig                             #SC-81 Zack Greinke

#SC-82 Adrian Gonzalez

Upper Class Insert

#UC-8 Sandy Koufax

The Future Is Now set is just phenomenal looking.  The photo editing done nicely captures the intensity of the game.  BTW, there are both autographed and relic cards available for both Ryu and Puig.  I'll have pics of those up in the next day or so.

The Future Is Now Insert

#FN-15 Hyun-Jin Ryu                       #FN-16 Hyin-Jin Ryu

#FN-25 Yasiel Puig                              #FN-26 Yasiel Puig

Pedro Martinez looks so goofy in the card below.

Before They Were Great Insert

#BG-11 Sandy Koufax                        #BG-13 Pedro Martinez

1989 Topps Minis Die Cuts

#TM-1 Yasiel Puig                            #TM-2 Clayton Kershaw

#TM-7 Sandy Koufax

The below Code Cards is this years digital offering.  There are specific codes on the reverse that you use online.  You can win exclusive cards and parallels, coin cards, autographed cards, memorabilia, baseball game tickets, and your own Topps baseball card.  For more details about this go here.

Power Play Code Cards

#PP-27 Onelki Garcia                          #PP-39 Adrian Gonzalez

#PP-56 Zack Greinke                        #PP-100 Hanley Ramirez

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Blog Kiosk: 2/4/2014 - Dodgers Links - Hall of Famer Tim Wallach, Haren is a Kings Fan and Puig May Bat Leadoff

Looks like some of the Dodgers' crew showed up at Camelback Ranch yesterday.  They're stocking the shelves with everything they'll need this Spring.  Pic via @camelbackranch on twitter.

• Dodger coach Tim Wallach will be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.  Check out a story at the HOF website here. Congrats, Tim!

“I’m both surprised and honoured to be selected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. What a great thrill to be going in with such integral parts of the Montreal Expos for such a long time, and to join many of my old teammates and manager, along with so many people that meant so much to Canadian baseball. This is a great honour for my family and myself,” said Wallach.

• Mark Saxon at ESPNLos Angeles writes, "Catching up with Dan Haren, a Q&A".  He grew up as a Kings fan.  WooHoo!

Q. You grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. Were you a crazy Dodgers fan as a kid, or what?
A. I was just a baseball fan in general. I would go to a few Angel games, a few Dodger games. Actually, my parents had season tickets to the Kings growing up, so I would go out to the Forum all the time. We were big hockey fans, too. Having played against the Dodgers for so many years and been rivals with them with Arizona and the Angels, it’ll be nice to be on this side for once. 

• Dustin Nosler at Dodgers Digest shares his list of Top 10 Dodgers' prospects.
• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Mattingly says Puig may take on leadoff role".

Mattingly said by switching Puig and last year's leadoff hitter, lefty-swinging Carl Crawford, in the order, it would provide better righty-lefty balance, with right-handed hitter Hanley Ramirez batting third and left-handed hitter Adrian Gonzalez batting fourth.

• Spring Training is around the corner.  Matt Slatus at Dodger Insider provides, "The insider’s guide to Spring Training at Camelback Ranch".
• Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA makes note that Yasiel Puig apologized to fans at FanFest.
• Go Titans!  My alma mater, Cal State University Fullerton (CSUF), is ranked #1 in various preseason national polls.  Via FullertonTitans.com.
• Via Cory DiBenedetto at the Gammons Daily, "Negro Leagues spotlight: The Pittsburgh Crawfords".

From 1932 to 1936 the Pittsburgh Crawfords were the class of the Negro Leagues. Often referred to as the greatest Negro League team of all-time, the Crawfords had a roster stacked with talent, including 5 Hall of Famers: Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson, James Cool Papa Bell, and Satchel Paige. 

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2014 Topps Series 1 Baseball - The Dodgers Short Printed Variations

Following up on Friday's post featuring the Dodger base cards found in 2014 Topps Baseball Series 1 packs, I now show you the known short-printed variation cards that can be found.  As of this writing there are 11 known Dodger variation cards, and there is a possibility that more may be out there.  The set is less than a week old and collectors are still opening packs and discovering new cards.  If any more pop up I'll be sure to update this post.

As you can see, Hyun-Jin-Ryu, Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez and Clayton Kershaw have two variations available.  Yasiel Puig has 3 different variations.  Current print runs are not yet known.

One of the more obscure variations are the "sparkle" cards.  Topps has taken a players base card and hidden a sparkling star somewhere in the photo.  For instance, on the Ryu card a "Sparkle" can be found at the point where the brim of his hat and the Baseball in his hand meet.  Four Dodger cards have a "Sparkle" variation.  At this time, a Clayton Kershaw "Sparkle" is not know to exist, but stay tuned.  I suspect this variation exist somewhere.

Short-Printed Variations

#40 Hyun-Jin Ryu

#40 Hyun-Jin Ryu(Sparkle on brim of hat)

#204 Adrian Gonzalez

#204 Adrian Gonzalez (Sparkle on helmet)

#314 Hanley Ramirez

#314 Hanley Ramirez (Sparkle variation on wrist)

#331 Yasiel Puig (Future Stars variation)

#331 Yasiel Puig (Sparkle in crowd near his right hand)

 #331 Yasiel Puig

#400 (w/ Series 2 numbering) Clayton Kershaw

#400 (w/ Series 2 numbering) Clayton Kershaw

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Listen to Jackie Robinson's Radio Shots - A Vintage Radio Broadcast

I can't believe I hadn't run into this before.

Jackie Robinson used to host a radio show called 'Jackie Robinson's Radio Shots', and what looks like a complete archive of its recordings are available for everyone to hear.

I couldn't find much information about the show itself, so I have no idea what network it was on.  From what I can tell, it started in the late 1950's, and likely ran for a few years.  The broadcast was about 4 1/2 minutes long; including a local intro, outro and commercials.  The interview,s themselves, were edited to be about 3 minutes long.  Jackie would interview all kinds of different folks; from an US Army General to Satchel Paige.

Fortunately, a couple of folks took some of the original recordings and put it on YouTube.  Check some of those out below.  Also, the Old Time Radio Researchers Group (OTRRG) has a website that has 90 episodes available for free download and listening.  Go here to their website.

I spent all weekend listening to each one.  My favorites were his interviews with Don Drysdale, Ed Sullivan, Satchel Paige, Al Schacht and his editorial on the art of stealing home.

Wow!  This is why the Internet is so great.  There is so much stuff out there to discover.

Jackie speaks with golfer Tommy Armour.

Video Link:

Pic at the very top via Wikimedia Commons-public domain photograph.

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