New Mexico Fan says goodbye to Trayvon Robinson with pics from his minor league stay in Albuquerque.
Check out this great story from Sports Collectors Daily about a vintage game-used bat purported to come from the late 1930's Dragones de Ciudad Trujillo National baseball team in the Dominican Republic. This club was run by that nations dictator who would certainly have killed the players (filled with plenty of great Negro Leaguers) if they had lost.
REA shares its next great find- 19th Century Peck & Snyder team cards.
As a way to distract us from the plundering of the franchise the Dodgers host the "Think Blue" Scavenger Hunt.
On Saturday, August 6, fans will have the chance to participate in a special scavenger hunt throughout Los Angeles, the Dodgers announced today. The first five fans to complete the “Think Clue” Scavenger Hunt will win two field level tickets to each game during the club’s upcoming six-game homestand (August 8-14) and will be brought down onto the field prior to a designated game to meet Dodger Manager Don Mattingly and watch batting practice.
The scavenger hunt will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on August 6, 2011. At the 10:00 o’clock start time, the Dodgers will send out via their Twitter account (@Dodgers) the locations of five special Dodger items that will be hidden throughout Los Angeles. The items will include a Duke Snider Bobblehead presented by State Farm (August 9 giveaway), a Dodgers Kids Backpack presented by Sports Authority (August 14 giveaway), a 1944 throwback jersey (Half-Price Food and Drink Day on August 10) and more.
At each location, participants will be asked to photograph themselves with an item and tweet the photo at the Dodgers Twitter account, @Dodgers, using the hashtag #ThinkClue before moving on. The first five participants to find each item, tweet their pictures and have their Tweets verified by the Dodger representative at Dodger Stadium will win.
The event will also offer fans the opportunity to meet former Dodger Kenny Landreaux and to pose for a picture with the 1981 World Series trophy.
eBay has once again become a repository of great Dodger bargains. Check out this 2003 Donruss Studio Private Signings card of Paul LoDuca. It is numbered 69 out of 75 and features a unique background that I'm pretty certain has never been used on a card. It is the Dodger Stadium Top Deck seats - one of my favorite places to sit during a game. When you are there you feel like you're literally sitting above home plate with a panoramic view of the entire stadium and field in front of you. On top of that, the seats are super cheap. Like, $6 a seat cheap. Considering this card was also had for a bargain, for $0.99, it really makes for a nice duo. An inexpensive card showing affordable seats in the background while featuring a player and a view that was far from cheap.
I gotta be honest with ya. I don't know a lot about this set. It is from a company called "In The Game," is unlicensed by MLB, and is made by a company more known in the hobby for hockey cards than Baseball. In fact, this is the companies first year at trying to make cards featuring Baseball players, and since they do not have a license there are no team logos in the design. What the set does have is a boatload of prospects cards and their autographs. On top of that, there are some pretty big "hits" that may make it worthwhile for collectors to chase. This is the 2nd series set. Check out my post about the 1st series, here.
For instance, check out the above card. It is a 1 of 1 game-used patch card of Fernando Valenzuela, and it features a 1984 Olympic Games patch. Unopened boxes go live in early August. Check out more, here, at beckett.
As I had written previously, tomorrow is LA Kings Night at Dodger Stadium, and fans who purchase tickets through a special ticket offer (www.dodgers.com/kings) would be receiving a voucher, at the game, for the above hat.
Well, a reader recently asked if the hat give-away was still in place since the above link for tickets now indicates a King themed "This Is My Town" t-shirt (see it below) instead of the hat. So, I gave a call to the PR department for an answer, and this is what I was told. Also, a big thanks to Amy for responding so quickly.
We sold out of the caps for the Kings Night promotion but still wanted our fans to be able to purchase the discounted ticket, so we replaced the cap with the My Town, Kings t-shirt. Everyone who purchased a ticket when the cap was available will receive the cap and everyone who purchased a ticket after the cap was sold out will receive a t-shirt. The vouchers that come with the ticket are marked appropriately.
So there you have it. Demand was apparently high and the hats are now sold out. Furthermore, as Roberto at Vin Scully Is My Homeboy pointed out, the Kings Ice Girls will also be in attendance. So, I though I would pass along this great video featuring the recent Ice Girls audition for the upcoming season. Go here to see more Ice Girl videos.
I don't know what it is, but I really like Hiroki Kuroda on this team and would prefer that he stay with the club. I've heard all of the arguments, and readily accept that they make more sense than my emotional underpinnings about what the Dodgers mean and who should be wearing our colors. But, when I read quotes like the one below I can't help but believe he needs to stay right here.
"My honest feeling is that I can't fathom wearing another uniform than the Dodgers uniform right now," Kuroda said through a translator. "I never thought about it, and it's really hard to think."
With the MLB non-waiver Trade Deadline coming this Sunday decisions need to be made very quickly.
"I haven't really decided on anything, so I can't really give you an answer," Kuroda said. "Today I was wearing a Dodgers uniform, and I was playing here, to win, for this team. I have a few days before the Trade Deadline, so I'm going to think about it, I'm going to talk to my agent about it, and we'll go on from there."
Peering though the Dodger bullpen window. Pic via @Dodgers yfrog.
