Rich Hill's Perfecto Halted when Pulled in Seventh - 2016 Topps Now - #440

Rich Hill finally gets his own Topps Now Baseball card.  Unfortunately, it isn't as grand as it could have been.  As you know, Rich Hill was in the midst of throwing a perfect game yesterday when he was, to the surprise of many, pulled after the seventh inning with a 5-0 lead over the Marlins.  As indicated on the front of the card, this marks the "Longest Perfect-Game Bid By Pitcher Removed From A Game Since 1900."

Not exactly something you want to be remembered for, eh?

Blog Kiosk: 9/11/2016 - Dodgers Links - Joe Davis, Kuroda, Buehler and Vin Scully

ICYMI: The Dodgers will be giving out a special commemorative edition of Dodger Insider magazine celebrating the life and career of Vin Scully to the first 50,000 fans in attendance on Sunday, September 25th on Fan Appreciation Day.  You can see it above.

Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodger History:  In 1998 Kevin Malone is named the Dodgers GM, replacing Tommy Lasorda.  Fans old enough will remember this one.  In 1983 RJ Reynolds squeezed home Pedro Guerrero in the ninth for an improbably walk-off victory against the Atlanta Braves.  The Dodgers scored four runs in the ninth to win.  Tommay Lasorda called his decision to call fro the squeeze his most "daring" of his career.

2016 Bowman Chrome Baseball - The Dodgers Base Cards

The newest product to hit the hobby shelves is Topps 2016 Bowman Chrome Baseball card set.  As always, it tends to focus on many of the prospects we have been reading about.  Go here for a complete checklist.

This years set includes the very first Bowman base cards for Oneal Cruz and Yadir Drake.  Hilariously, Yadir Drake is no longer with the Dodgers.  As an 26-year old Cuban signee Drake had to outperform at the lower levels in the minor right away in order to have a real shot at any Major League dreams.  Unfortunately, that did not happen.  Yadir slashed .109/.155/.127/.282 while with the Tulsa Drillers earlier this season, and was subsequently released by the team on May 27th.  Why Topps decided to give him a card?... I dunno.

Oneal Cruz, on the other hand, was sixteen years old when he signed with the Dodgers last year, and performed quite well during his first year of professional play in the Dominican Summer League.  He slashed .294/.367/.444/.811 as a seventeen year old.  BTW, this isn't exactly Oneal's first pro card.  He actually has another Bowman card found in the 2016 Bowman set, but it's an "International Signings" insert card (see that here).

Chrome Base

#25 Kenta Maeda                                      #40 Corey Seager

Blog Kiosk: 9/9/2016 - Dodgers Links - Minor League Playoff Updates and Clayton Kershaw Day

It is now officially Kershaw Day.  He'll be stepping back on the mound for the first time since going down on the DL over two months ago.  I'd like to think Clayton would return just as good as when he left, but let's get real.  We should not expect him to be a Cy Young pitcher right out of the gate.  Per Ken Gurnick at MLB.com: 

"To be off two months and not be in a competitive situation, everybody has to be conscious that he's not in midseason form," said Honeycutt. "He wouldn't be going out there unless he felt well enough to do it. At the same time, he still has not been in a competitive situation at the big league level, using all of his pitches. At that time in '14, it was the curveball that was not as good as it can be. That's not only a control pitch, it's a feel pitch and a release point."

For purposes of managing expectations, recall that Kershaw threw seven scoreless innings in his first start off the disabled list in 2014, but he then lost three of his next four starts -- including a seven-run, 1 2/3-inning disaster in Arizona -- before rewriting the record books.

I'm just happy to have him back.

Photo above was tweeted by Kiké Hernández.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodger History:  In 1948 Brooklyn Dodgers starting pitcher Rex Barney throws a no-hitter against the Gaints at the Polo Grounds, 2-0.  In 1965 Sandy Koufax threw his perfect game at Dodger Stadium against the Cubs, 1-0.  You can listen to Vin Scully's call of the ninth inning here. 
• Happy Birthday, Kaz Ishii!

Vintage Dodgers Newsletter - Dodgers Line Drives - July 1958

Here is another edition of a vintage Dodgers fan newsletter.  This one dates to July 1958, and it features several notes on not only the status of several high-end prospects, but also snippets on who they recently signed.  A big thanks to Dodgers collector Doug for passing this newsletter along.  BTW, this newsletter has been signed by Duke Snider on the top of the first page (see above-left).  Below is a listing of interesting mentions in this newsletter:

• Frank Howard had signed a free agent contract with the Dodgers just four months prior, after having been a standout on the diamond at Ohio State University, and was already pushing to be included into the Dodgers plans in Los Angeles.

(Pete) Reiser recently told a Sporting News" reporter that Howard may be only a year or two away from the National League:

"I'll tell you why, "Reiser explained.  "He's the type of player who practices under pressure.  By that I mean he practices with a purpose.  Nothing about baseball is aimless to him.  He's a real pleasure to coach."

• The Dodgers made sure to honor Laguna Beach resident Jack Norworth.  "Who's he?"  Jack Norworth is the gentleman who wrote the song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", and this year marked its Golden Anniversary.  During the July 11th game the Dodgers and Major League Baseball presented him with a gold lifetime pass to any game in the country.
• Notably, the Dodgers mention the signing of Ron Fairly, a standout with the National Champs at USC.
• The final page of the newsletter features several fantastic action photographs.

Click any pic to embiggen.

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Blog Kiosk: 9/8/2016 - Dodgers Links - Kazmir, Reddick, Seager, Garlick and Yasiel Puig

After falling back as far as eight games in late June, I am in awe of what the Dodgers have accomplished.  They were seemingly in disarray.  The Dodgers had everything imaginable thrown their way; including a record number of injuries and clubhouse turmoil surrounding an enigmatic star.  Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and a plan, no doubt hatched before the start of the season, was allowed to flourish.  Depth has been a key to this season, and along with an improving offense (the teams batting was never as bad as early indicators showed) they now find themselves with a five game lead with just 23 games to go. 

It certainly is good to be a Dodger fan right now, eh?

As for last nights game, it was doubly nice to see Yasiel Puig contribute.  He provided much of the offense needed to pull off the teams teams fifth consecutive win.  Puig hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning to help the Dodgers take the lead, and added an insurance run in the sixth inning by homering off Diamondbacks starting pitcher Robin Ray.  Per Jack Baer and Steve Gilbert at MLB.com:

"Yasiel … he can do so many great things, but I think the situational at-bat early in the game helped his confidence," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "When you can start him and have [Josh] Reddick and [Andrew] Toles, we've got some depth."

Photo at the very top via Juan Ocampo/LA Dodgers 2016.  Go here to check out more pics by Juan and Jon SooHoo from yesterdays game.  Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodger History:  In 1955 the Brooklyn Dodgers clinched the pennant; assuring a trip to the World Series.  As you know, they went on to defeat the Yankees that Fall to become champions for the first time in franchise history.  In 1957 the Dodgers and Giants face each other for the last time at the Polo Grounds in New York.  In 1967 the Mets honored Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Sandy Koufax at their stadium.