2015 Panini Immaculate Baseball - The Dodger Base Cards

Panini's high-end Immaculate Baseball set came out last week, and it's filled with a bunch of Dodger autograph and memorabilia cards.  Go here for a complete checklist.  As you likely now, the set is unlicensed by MLB, so team logos are nowhere to be found.  A box cost about $200 and consist of only one pack of six cards.  You are guaranteed that five of those cards are either have an autograph, memorabilia piece or both.

Below are pics of all the Dodger players found in the base set.  The "Rookie Materials Autograph" cards are numbered as if it's a part of the base set, so I have included it below. 

#2 Clayton Kershaw                                    #17 Yasiel Puig

Blog Kiosk: 8/31/2015 - Dodger Links - Scully, Kendrick and a Cuban Sleeping Near Dodger Stadium

I'm certain this is not news to any of you.  Vin Scully will continue with the Dodgers for the 2016 Baseball season.  Per a Dodger press release:

“I talked it over with my wife, Sandi, and my family and we’ve decided to do it again in 2016,” Scully said. “There’s no place like home and Dodger Stadium and we look forward to being a part of it with all of our friends.” 

It'll be his 67th season with the franchise.  On a sad note, Vin also said that next season may very well be his last.  Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA:

"I would say realistically, and I don't want any headlines, but I would say realistically that next year would be the last year," Scully said. "How long can you go on fooling people? I would say, 'Dear God, if you give me next year, I'll hang it up."

The photo above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015.  Below are more links to check out:

• Wha...? Via Adrienne Bankert at ABC7.com, "Cuban baseball player sleeps outside Dodger Stadium in hopes of making his dreams a reality."  This is either the most absurd thing ever, or Loah Linares is brilliant.  I'm leaning towards absurd.

"If I didn't know how great a baseball player I know I am, I wouldn't be here trying to show off my skills to somebody," Linares said.

Watch the youtube video below featuring Linares.  I can't help but think we're all being trolled.

Video Link:

• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Dodgers notes: Howie Kendrick needs extra time, the plan for 3B, Corey Seager."

"Howie has kind of plateaued a little bit, where he can run 90-95 percent but isn't yet all the way there," manager Don Mattingly. "We were kind of hoping he'd be playing baseball by Sunday, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. So it's probably a few extra days for Howie."

With regards to Seager, Mattingly acknowledged that he's though about him coming in to play 3rd base.

• Via Mike Petriello at Dodgers Digest, "A.J. Ellis Picking Up The Slack For Yasmani Grandal."
• I got a good laugh at this.  Via Sax at Sons of Steve Garvey, "Angels Announce New "No-Hit The Dodgers Night" Promotion For Sept 7 Game."

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Giants Series Starts Tomorrow - Scheduled Autograph Sessions, Pregame Info and Other Stuff!

The next homestand starts tomorrow evening against the San Francisco Giants, and several former Dodgers are scheduled for an autograph session with fans.  Below are the scheduled autograph opportunities and other odds and ends for this upcoming homestand.

They are offering a BBQ Pulled Pork Dodger Dog this homestand, a world-famous Dodger Dog topped with smoked BBQ pulled pork and Levy’s tangy BBQ sauce. The BBQ Pulled Pork Dodger Dog will be on sale at the Think Blue BBQ located in the left-field plaza.

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Monday, August 31st at 7:10 PM
TBD vs. LHP Brett Anderson
SNLA / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Monday's game starts at 7:10 PM.  Auto gates open at 4:30 PM, and stadium gates open at 5:00 PM.

Lakers rookie guard D’Angelo Russell will throw the ceremonial first pitch.

Multi-Grammy award winning, multi-platinum recording artist, producer and actor T-Pain will perform the national anthem acapella. T-Pain has a newly released single “MTSW” as he prepares his highly anticipated fifth RCA studio album “Stoicville: The Phoenix” which is scheduled for release in November. In addition to music he was in this year’s blockbuster film “Fast & Furious 7” and currently stars as a judge on MTV’s hit dance competition show “America’s Best Dance Crew: Road to the VMA’s.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) will play host to 1,000 California Masons and their friends and families. As a result of a friendly fundraising competition among the region’s lodges, athletes in LADF’s Dodgers RBI program will receive nearly 2,000 baseball gloves for their 2016 season. The California Masons will present the check on field to Carl Crawford, a former RBI player, and they will throw the first pitch. 

Dodger alum Tommy Davis will sign autographs in the left-field plaza from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• The Military Hero of the Game is U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal David Barrera.

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Tuesday, September 1st at 7:10 PM
TBD vs. RHP Zack Greinke
SNLA & MLB Network / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Tuesday's game starts at 7:10 PM.  Auto gates open at 4:40 PM, and stadium gates open at 5:10 PM. The first 40,000 fans in attendance will receive a Justin Turner bobblehead.  See it on the left.

Turner invited a dear friend to throw Tuesday’s ceremonial first pitch, 8-year-old Luke Lang of Bellmore, NY. Luke’s first pitch will take place on the first day of national Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Luke was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (A.L.L.) on March 28, 2013 and first met Turner in July 2013 while Turner was with the Mets. This meeting marked the first time Luke was able to leave home since his diagnosis and hospitalization. Luke gifted Turner with a bracelet carrying his motto, “Losing is not an option,” and Luke was gifted with a signed bat from Turner. Since their first meeting, Luke has joined Turner at Dodger playoff games and Turner celebrated with Luke at Universal Studios one day after the Dodgers clinched the NL West. Last month, while the Dodgers were in New York, Turner surprised Luke at his Little League game. Luke will be joined by his parents, Rich and Jeannine, and brother Logan on Tuesday for his first pitch.

Dodger alum Matt Luke will sign autographs in the left-field plaza from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• The Military Hero of the Game is U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Alex R. Amavisca.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) conducts silent auctions throughout the season featuring more than 25 signed pieces of memorabilia from Dodger players, coaches and alumni. Auctions will take place behind the Vin Scully press box on the club level. The items up for auction on Friday include a Clayton Kershaw autographed photo, Kike Hernandez autographed baseball and Zack Greinke autographed Dodger jersey. The auction will end at 8:45 p.m.

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Wednesday, September 2nd at 7:10 PM
TBD vs. LHP Clayton Kershaw

SNLA / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Wednesday's game starts at 7:10 PM.  Auto gates open at 4:40 PM, and stadium gates open at 5:10 PM. 

Dodger alum Al Ferrara will sign autographs in the left-field plaza from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• The Military Heroes of the Game are U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Daniel Escobedo and U.S. Army Specialist Nichole Hartford.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) will play host to one of its education grantees, Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. 30 students and chaperones from Stevenson Middle School will be on hand for batting practice and meet and greet with Andre Ethier and will watch the game from a Dodger Stadium suite, which will include gift bags courtesy of New Balance and LADF.

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Blog Kiosk: 8/28/2015 - Dodger Links - Campanella, Puig and Joc Pederson

Check out this fantastic photo (dated 1940) of a teenage Roy Campanella (on the left) as a member of the Criollos de Caguas ballclub in the Puerto Rican Baseball League.  It was shared on twitter by Jorge Colon-Delgado.  He shares a bunch of great vintage pics that are worth taking a look at; including a 1954 photo of Don Zimmer when he played in Puerto Rico that you can see here.  Jorge also has some fantastic mics of Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Josh Gibson.

Below are more links to check out:

• Uhy-oh!  Via Mark Saxon at ESPN, "Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez, Yasiel Puig leave game vs. Reds."

"I felt it a little more than when I hurt it in Oakland," Puig said in Spanish. "... It wasn't that severe that time. Now, God willing, this one isn't that severe, either."

• Ken Gurnick at MLB.com adds that, "Adrian bruises knee, says he'll play Friday."  Hopefully, this is a crisis averted.   

"It's good," Gonzalez said. "It started to swell a little bit and we didn't want it to swell too much. Take today off and be able to play [Friday] rather than play the rest of the game not feeling good."

• Via Pedro Moura at the OC Register, "Reds star Joey Votto has advice for struggling young Dodgers slugger Joc Pederson."

Votto has heard the complaints about Pederson’s batting average. Early in his career, he cared only about his home runs and his average. Now, he cares not, preferring to focus on the direction and trajectory of the balls he puts into play, and how much he’s striking out and walking. Those are the elements he can control. He cannot fully control his average, which sunk to .255 a year ago before returning to MVP-like levels this season. And neither can Pederson.

“He’s doing so many other valuable things,” Votto said. “He plays center field, he hits for power, he gets on base, and you can’t ignore that. Nobody wants to see a low batting average, because it doesn’t reflect well, but you can’t deny the value of what he’s doing.

• Via Roger Schlueter at MLB.com, "Stats of the Day: Greinke on an historic pace." 

In his 26th appearance of the year, Greinke lowered his ERA to 1.61. Since 1968, the five-lowest season-ending ERAs were Bob Gibson's 1.12 in 1968, Dwight Gooden's 1.53 in '85, Greg Maddux's 1.56 in '94, Luis Tiant's 1.60 in '68 and Maddux's 1.63 in '95. 

• Alberto Callaspo has now officially been released by the Dodgers, via Eric Stephen of True Blue LA.
• This is well worth your read.  Via Jeff Sullivan at Just a Bit Outside, "The Superficially Underachieving Dodger Offense."

The way I figure, it comes to four things. Very slightly, the Dodgers have underachieved with men on base. They've been a bad baserunning team. They've very infrequently reached on errors. And then some of this is probably just simple bad luck. Combine those and I imagine you can account for the missing half-run a game. You at least get close. That's why the Dodgers haven't scored as many runs as you'd think.

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Cubs Series Starts Tomorrow - Scheduled Autograph Signings, Game Give Aways and Other Stuff!

The next homestand starts tomorrow evening against the Chicago Cubs, and several old-tyme Dodgers will be in the house to sign free autographs for fans.  Below are the scheduled autograph opportunities and other odds and ends for this upcoming homestand.

For the series against Chicago, Levy Restaurants will offer the Chicago Style Dog, a quarter-pound all-beef Super Dodger Dog served on a poppy seed bun with fresh tomato slices, sports peppers, a pickle spear and topped with neon green relish, diced onions and drizzled with mustard and celery salt. The Chicago Style Dog will be on sale through Sunday at Extreme Loaded Dogs locations on field, loge and reserve levels.

They will also offer a BBQ Pulled Pork Dodger Dog this homestand, a world-famous Dodger Dog topped with smoked BBQ pulled pork and Levy’s tangy BBQ sauce. The BBQ Pulled Pork Dodger Dog will be on sale at the Think Blue BBQ located in the left-field plaza.

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Friday, August 28th at 7:10 PM
RHP Jason Hammel vs. LHP Clayton Kershaw
SNLA & MLB Network / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Friday's game starts at 7:10 PM.  Auto gates open at 4:40 PM, and stadium gates open at 5:10 PM. It is Friday Night Fireworks, so fans will be able to go down onto the field after the game to watch the spectacle. The theme will be "Summer Songs."  Go here for information about future firework themes.

It is also Social Media Night at Dodger Stadium.  Folks who ordered a special ticket package in the All You Can Eat Right Field Pavilion or Infield Reserve will get an exclusive Social Media t-shirt with your ticket.  See that on the left.  If not already sold out go here for information.

As part of Social Media Night, a photo area with a @Dodgers logo step-and-repeat and an oversized Instagram frame will be located in the right-field plaza for fans to take and upload photos using Friday’s official hashtag, #DodgersSocial from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

ALL 4 ONE, a Grammy award-winning group who are celebrating 20 years together and just released a new album “Twenty,” will perform the national anthem.

Dodger alum Kenny Landreaux will sign autographs in the left-field plaza from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. DJ Adam will provide musical entertainment in the right-field plaza from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

• The Military Hero of the Game is U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Spencer Green.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) conducts silent auctions throughout the season featuring more than 25 signed pieces of memorabilia from Dodger players, coaches and alumni. Auctions will take place behind the Vin Scully press box on the club level. The items up for auction on Friday include a Yasiel Puig autographed photo, Andre Ethier autographed baseball and Joc Pederson autographed Dodger jersey. The auction will end at 8:45 p.m.

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Saturday, August 29th at 6:10 PM
LHP Jon Lester vs. RHP Mat Latos
SNLA & MLB Network / AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Saturday's game starts at 6:10 PM.  Auto gates open at 3:40 PM, and stadium gates open at 4:10 PM.

The sixth of eight Cy Young Collectors' Pin Series giveaways is this night.  The first 40,000 fans will receive an Orel Hershiser pin.  See it on the left.

DJ Adam will provide entertainment in the right-field plaza, DJ Lady Sha will be in the left-field reserve plaza, a yo-yo artist will be in the left-field plaza, and classic rock band The Trip will play in the right-field reserve plaza from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Dodger alumnus Dennis Powell will sign autographs in the left-field plaza from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

• The Military Hero of the Game is U.S. Navy Lieutenant Richard Parisi.

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Sunday, August 30th at 5:08 PM
RHP Jake Arrieta vs. LHP Alex Wood
SNLA & ESPN/AM 570 (Eng.), KTNQ 1020 AM (Span.)

Sunday's game starts at 5:05 PM.  Auto gates open at 2:40 PM, and stadium gates open at 3:10 PM.  The first 40,000 fans in attendance will receive a Dodgers headphone.  See it on the left.

It is also Jewish Community Night at Dodger Stadium.  Folks who ordered a special ticket package in the All You Can Eat Right Field Pavilion or Infield Reserve will get an exclusive Jewish Community t-shirt with your ticket.  See that on the right.  If not already sold out go here for information.

Levy Restaurants will also offer a Kosher Dog, Kosher Jalapeño Dog and a Kosher Sausage on Sunday (as well as this coming Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this homestand). All three Kosher dogs can be purchased near Tommy Lasorda’s Trattoria in the right-field plaza and in reserve level section 37.

As part of Jewish Community Day, Rabbi Avi Stewart, rabbi and cantor of the Westwood Kehilla, will perform the national anthem. Actor Anthony Anderson will throw the ceremonial first pitch.

Dodger alum Mickey Hatcher will sign autographs in the left-field pavilion from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Viva Los Dodgers at the historic 76 station will begin at 3:00 p.m. and will feature live musical entertainment by Hector Guerra and Viva Mas and a folklorico performance by the SDS Dance Studio. Dodger alumni will be on hand for autographs. Levy Restaurants offers Dodger dogs, carne asada tacos and Montejo beer for purchase at Viva Los Dodgers.  Dodger alum Manny Mota will sign autographs for fans from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• The Military Hero of the Game is U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Guillaume Meyer.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) conducts silent auctions throughout the season featuring more than 25 signed pieces of memorabilia from Dodger players, coaches and alumni. Auctions will take place behind the Vin Scully press box on the club level. The items up for auction on Friday include a Carl Crawford autographed photo, Don Newcombe autographed baseball and Adrian Gonzalez autographed Dodger jersey. The auction will end at 6:45 p.m.

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Blog Kiosk: 8/27/2015 - Dodger Links - Some Odds and Ends

You gotta like the Dodgers recent offensive explosion at the plate.  Yesterday, they hit three home runs in the 4th inning to propel the team to a 5-0 lead over the Reds.  They would eventually win 7-4.  Photo above via @SportsNetLA on twitter.

Below are more links to check out:

• Via Nick Diunte at Baseball Happenings, "How Dan Bankhead nearly incited a riot during his MLB debut." 

“See, here’s what I always heard. Dan was scared to death that he was going to hit a white boy with a pitch,” Buck O’Neil said in Joe Posnanski’s, ‘The Soul of Baseball.’ “He thought there might be some sort of riot if he did it. Dan was from Alabama just like your father. But Satchel became a man of the world. Dan was always from Alabama, you know what I mean? He heard all those people calling him names, making those threats, and he was scared. He’d seen black men get lynched.” 

• Rob Arthur at FiveThirtyEight takes a look at, "The Happiest And Saddest Fans In Baseball."  Basically, everyone starts out happy and optimistic, but that quickly devolves into fear and angst as the season winds down.
• Some prospect news.  Via David Hood at True Blue LA, "Alex Verdugo hits for the cycle in Quakes Romp."
• Via Mark Saxon at ESPN, "Los Angeles Dodgers beginning to find some bullpen solutions."

"You try to stay with those guys, knowing they have the stuff," Mattingly said. "We have some youth, but we also have a couple guys who are capable of getting hot, and that's really what we need -- for a couple guys to really get hot and allow us to put some combinations out there."

• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Ellis taking hot bat back to bench."

"My bad habit is when I have free time, I tinker, tinker, tinker to make my swing the best I can," said Ellis. "The problem with that is that I'm in between swings every time I go to the plate. I made the decision to make it simple, and I feel I really took off."

• Congratulations to LA King broadcaster Jim Fox!  Via Jon Rosen at the LA Kings Insider, "Jim Fox to be inducted into the SCSB Hall of Fame."

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