Blog Kiosk: 4/9/2012

Los Angeles Dodgers Matt Kemp homers against the San Diego Padres Sunday, April 8, 2012 at Petco Park in San Diego,California. © Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers 2012.

• The Sons got it right. Read the Sons of Steve Garvey's guest post at Big League Stew detailing the "10 Best Things About Being a Dodger Fan."
  
• With this year being the 50th Anniversary of Dodger Stadium it only makes sense for there to be a compilation of top moments at the stadium. So, check out Dylan Hernandez's report at the LA Times featuring his top 10 picks.
  
• David Pinto at Baseball Musings has the news on a Jackie Robinson documentary coming to BET.

  BET celebrates the 65th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson Day with the world television premiere of “Harvard Park,” a poignant documentary chronicling how a neighborhood park in the midst of the economically devastated and crime-infested South Central LA of the 1980s became a destination for many future baseball legends. The Park provided a safe haven for many to hone their baseball skills and later give back to their community as their careers skyrocketed to the Major Leagues.

  It will premier on Sunday, April 15 at 11 AM PT/ET and on BET’s sister network, Centric at 8 PM PT/11p.m. It will be available to stream on Netflix the very next day, April 16.
• Summer Anne Burton at Every Hall of Famer draws former Dodger skipper Walter Alston.
  
• Check out the most recent interview with Vin Scully while in San Diego this weekend that centers on the team, the incoming new ownership, social media and Baseball itself at Vin Scully is My Homeboy.
  
• Matt Kemp has been MLB's Player of the Week from April 4th to 8th. From the Dodgers Press Release:

  In four games last week, Kemp batted .412 (7-for-17) while leading the Majors with six runs scored and tying for the Major League lead with eight RBI and 14 total bases. His two home runs and seven hits were both tied for third among National Leaguers, while his .824 slugging percentage ranked seventh. The Oklahoma native became the first Dodger to have three consecutive multi-hit games to begin a season since Adrian Beltre in 2000. Kemp collected hits in each of the first four games, extending his hitting streak to 16 games dating back to last season. His bat helped the Dodgers to a 3-0 start for the first time since 1999.

• BTW, be sure to watch Matt Kemp on Conan tonight at 11:00 PM on TBS.
  
• Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius points to some of the great artist sketch cards in Topps new Mars Attacks set.
  

Watch "Bloomberg Game Changers: Magic Johnson" Right Here

If you missed Bloomberg's recent documentary on Magic Johnson last week about his post basketball career as a business leader then have no fear. Bloomberg helpfully provides the complete episode (the full hour- actually 44+ minutes without commercials) for fans to watch. Check it out below. Here is a link to the video.

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Blog Kiosk: 4/8/2012

Check out this great woodcut from Loren at WoocuttingFool of Sandy Koufax. Prints are available.

• Be sure to check out Jon SooHoo's (the Dodgers official photographer) blog with pics from Opening Night in San Diego.
• "Some Things Never Get Old, Like Baseball's Purity", and Vin Scully, from TJ Simers of LA Times.
• GCRL points out a old SportsCaster card featuring a Steve Yeager ready to lay out Johnny Bench.
  
• NBC has a complete list of the Dodgers at-bat music. (Hat Tip: Sons of Steve Garvey) An example:

  Javy Guerra
  "Insane In the Brain" - Cypress Hill

• Here are some details for USC Trojan Night at Dodger Stadium on April 25th. Purchasing a USC Night special package gets you a limited edition Dodgers/USC portable speaker.
• Halo's Heaven has Part III of his interview with Cheech Marin.
  
• Panini unveils even more preview pics from 2011 Prime Cuts; including the Jackie Robinson card below.
• Check out this Fox Sports video that features Ken Rosenthal relaying some talk heard in MLB offices that name the Dodgers as this seasons "dark horse" candidate- at the 1:25 mark.

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Sunday Baseball Videos:

With the 2012 season underway I thought the video below might be fun (if not educational) to watch. "How's It Made: Baseballs."

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If you missed out on the Opening Viewing Party at Dodger Stadium, then check out this video from the event from SoCal Sports Media.

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Here are yesterdays game highlights of the Dodgers winning it in extra innings.

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Steve Garvey talks about the new Dodgers ownership.

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Game 3: Dodgers vs Padres:

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres

Saturday, April 7, 2012 at 5:35 PST

at PETCO Park

on FoxSports and AM570

(pic via instagram @Discoverla)

Dodgers Lineup:

@skinnyswag9 SS,
Mark Ellis 2B,
@TheRealMattKemp CF,
Andre Ethier RF,
@jamesloney_7 1B,
Adam Kennedy 3B,
@AJEllis17 C,
Tony Gwynn, Jr. LF,
Chris Capuano P

Padres Lineup:

Cameron Maybin 8,
Chris Denorfia 9,
Chase Headley 5,
Jesus Guzman 7,
Nick Hundley 2,
Yonder Alonso 3,
Orlando Hudson 4,
Jason Bartlett 6,
Dustin Moseley 1.

Dodgers Starter Chris Capuano will face off against Cory Luebke. Below are historical statistics for both of them.

Chris Capuano


Dustin Moseley

2012 Topps Museum- Dodgers Autographed Cards

Following up on my post from a couple of days ago, here are some of the autographed insert cards of Dodger players that can be found in Topps Museum Collection.

There are two different Clayton Kershaw autographs.

Both card are numbered to just 100 copies.

Only 25 of these Sandy Koufax cards were signed.

There are also two different Matt Kemp cards, but none of them were seeded into packs. Instead a redemption card is provided.

The card below is a Framed Autograph card of Kershaw that is numbered to only 15 copies. This is the gold frame version. A silver and black frame parallel versions are available that are even more rare. BTW, a complete checklist for the 2012 Topps Museum set can be found here.

Here is a Momentous Material Jumbo autographed card of Kershaw. I love the look of an auto paired with a patch piece. It could only be better if it was an on-card auto. Dee Gordon, Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp cards also exist.

Below is the Duke Snider Momentous Material Jumbo.

I've always wanted a booklet card. I think the below Snider auto/ bat relic book card would be just right. It is a Primary Pieces Quad Relic Autographed Booklet.

Below are a couple of Signature Swatches Dual Relics of Kershaw and Snider.