Blog Kiosk: 6/3/2013 - Dodgers Links

"It's Kersh-Awesome Baby!"  Check out Dick Vitale with Clayton Kershaw, pic via @Dodgers on twitter.

• Stephen Fife is expected to pitch today, in place of ailing Chris Capuano.  Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.

It will be the second consecutive game in which the Dodgers need to promote a Minor Leaguer as an emergency replacement for an injured starting pitcher. On Sunday, Matt Magill took the loss, filling in for Hyun-Jin Ryu, who has a sore foot.

• Congrats, Elian Herrera.  Via a tweet from the Isotopes GM John Traub.

• Via Josie Becker at True Blue LA, "Walter O'Malley's 1957 minor league purchase: A pictorial essay".
• Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts puts together another must read, entitled "Saviors".

Seven years ago, Kemp was Puig – the raw kid with talent to burn and lessons to learn. Puig, like Kemp did when he hit the majors at age 21 in 2006, has a hugely bright future. But anyone putting their faith in Puig will almost certainly at some point need a level of patience that many fans have denied Kemp whenever he has struggled, no matter how much he has done for his team. 

• Via Jeff Passan at Yahoo Sports, "10 Degrees: Will Carlos Quentin get comeuppance sooner than later against the Dodgers?"  Stoking those fires, eh?

"We will get him," he said. "It may not be next time we see him. It may not be the time after that. It may not be two times after that. But we will get him. I promise."

Baseball has a very long memory. One former player loves to tell the story about holding a grudge for a decade, letting it fester, exacting his vengeance with a strategic elbow to the groin on a takeout slide and walking away from the doubled-over second baseman saying, "That was for 10 years ago."

• Via Josh Vitale at MLB.com, A 111-year old fan visits Yankee Stadium and chats about Baseball.  This man remembers shaking Babe Ruth's hand.

"I shook his hand and he said, 'My greatest admirer, my youngest admirer,'" LaPallo said. "I remember that like yesterday."

• Here's a funny video.  During a Collegiate NCAA Baseball tournament game in Fullerton this weekend a big husky invaded the field for his 15 minutes of fame.  Check it out here at Beer Mug Sports.  Oh... And, Go Titans!!!  CSU, Fullerton won that game, 1 to 0.
• Wow.  Via Tony Mangia at The Other Paper we find out that Pete Rose pulls $1Mil a year signing his autograph in Las Vegas.

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Welcome to the Blue, Yasiel Puig!

Here comes the big kid from Cienfuegos, Cuba.

He stands 6' 3", weighs a linebacker-like 245 lbs and is 22-years old.  As you may recall, Yasiel Puig signed a free agent contract with the Dodgers on June 28, 2012 for a mind-boggling $42Mil over 7 years after defecting and establishing residency in Mexico.  At the time, many folks wondered, "wha...?"  After all, Puig was an unknown and it seemed foolish to throw that kind of money at a kid, who by virtue of his defection, hadn't played much Baseball at that time.

Nevertheless, I think most fans liked that the Dodgers brass appeared to be following through with their promise to rebuild the farm system - even if the money spent at the time appeared foolish.  Thankfully, Puig took the bull by the horns and showed why he was valued so highly. 

After signing he was quickly sent to the Arizona Fall League and demolished the ball.  Then, Puig appeared in 14 games for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and continued to impress.  After the 2012 season, Yasiel had minor surgery in his right elbow for a staph infection, then opted to play Winter League Ball in Puerto Rico to push along his development.

During Spring Training this year he continued to kill the ball as he hit .517 in 27 games.  Puig slammed 3 home runs, knocked in 11 RBI's and recorded a OPS of 1.328.  As the season began he was sent to the Dodgers AA team, Chattanooga Lookouts.  While there, he batted .313 with 8 home runs and 33 RBI's in 40 games.

Yasiel Puig figures on starting for the Dodgers tonight.  In case you're wondering, Puig will wear #66 in his Major League debut tonight.

(twitter link)

Welcome to LA, Puig!

BTW, although the excitement of having this kid in LA is obvious, it cannot be overstated that you should not expect him to be Superman.  He still has a way to go before anyone can anoint him the "next big thing".

(pic link: Dodgers tumblr)

Here are some videos of Puig at bat.

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Here's a home run bat flip by Puig

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2013 Topps Archives - Dodgers Base Cards

One of the more popular Topps Baseball sets of the year was released last week.  It is the 2013 Topps Archives set.  This set pays homage to past vintage Topps sets that most of us still love and adore.  This year they borrow the designs from 1972, 1982, 1985 and 1990. 

Check out all of the Dodgers base cards below.

1972 TOPPS

#6 Adrian Gonzalez                                  #10 Matt Kemp

#17 Hanley Ramirez

1982 Topps

#86 Jackie Robinson

1985 Topps

#130 Clayton Kershaw

1990 Topps

#163 Hyun-Jin Ryu                               #182 Andre Ethier

Fan Favorite Short Prints

#219 Dave Lopes

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Is Puig Coming? Yes... Yes He Is!

With the recent rash of injuries to hit the Dodgers starting outfield, there has been much speculation regarding the possible promotion of Cuban slugging sensation Yasiel Puig.  Heck, now that we have both Kemp and Crawford out of the lineup there is no doubt a need to bring somebody up.  Well, earlier today there was some circumstantial evidence, via the Times Free Press of Chattanooga, that would lead one to believe that Yasiel's promotion was a certainty.

Chattanooga Lookouts outfielder Yasiel Puig left AT&T Field in street clothes late this afternoon, furthering speculation that he is being promoted to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Puig was seen receiving congratulations from teammates in the clubhouse before today’s game against visiting Mississippi. Lookouts manager Jody Reed declined comment before his team took the field, and the Dodgers have yet to announce a transaction regarding Puig.

Now we find out that Puig is in fact coming to LA.  Via a tweet from David Vassegh of Fox Sports LA, we find out that it has just been made official.

I think we all have been eagerly awaiting for this moment.  Heck, maybe a little bit of youthful exuberance might be what we need to get us out of our funk.

Hat Tip: JP Hoornstra on Twitter
Pic Credit Above: Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2013

Here is the official press release from the Dodgers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers today optioned right-handed pitcher Matt Magill to Triple-A Albuquerque and announced that they will recall outfielder Yasiel Puig from Double-A Chattanooga tomorrow, when the club opens a 10-game homestand against the San Diego Padres. Puig, who will be making his Major League debut, hit .313 with 13 steals, 12 doubles, three triples, eight homers and 37 RBI in 40 games with the Lookouts, leading the Southern League with a .313 batting average and a .599 slugging percentage and ranking among the league leaders in steals (T-10^th), doubles (T-5^th), triples (T-7^th), home runs (T-4^th) and total bases (88, 6^th). The 22-year-old was hitting .373 (19-for-51) with runners in scoring position for Chattanooga. Puig, who was signed as a free agent on June 29, 2012 out of Cuba, batted .517 with five doubles, two triples, three homers and 11 RBI in 27 Cactus League games with the Dodgers.

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Sunday Dodgers Videos: Crawford, Soccer at Dodger Stadium and 16-year Od Dodger Prospect Julio Arias

Here are this Sunday's Dodger videos below.

This is a great video montage of a fans day at a Dodger home game this past Sunday.

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If you haven't seen this already.  Here is Carl Crawford's phenomenal catch from Thursday.

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Below is the official announcement regarding the soccer games that will be played at Dodger Stadium later this year.

The LA Galaxy will play at the iconic Dodger Stadium for the first time in club history on Saturday, August 3 when they take part in a doubleheader at the stadium as part of the Guinness International Champions Cup. The doubleheader will feature Premier League side Everton, Italian Serie A champion Juventus and nine-time European champion Real Madrid of Spain, in addition to the two-time defending MLS Cup champion Galaxy. For more on this tournament, visit http://www.lagalaxy.com/ICC

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Watch 16-year old Dodger prospect Julio Urias making his professional debut below.  It is just a look at the very first batter he faces.

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Blog Kiosk: 6/1/2013 - Dodgers Links - June Issue of Dodgers Magazine & Puig Getting Called Up?

Check out the cover for the June issue of Dodgers Magazine.  It features Matt Kemp and his recent encounter with Joshua Jones at a game in San Francisco.  It also talks about Kemp recently hosting Joshua for a game in LA.

• Via Josie Baker at True Blue LA, "Elysian Park before Dodger Stadium: A cartographic history".

We've heard many times the story of Chavez Ravine, that a small Mexican community was forced to vacate their homes so that the Dodgers could build this cathedral to baseball. My goal with this piece isn't to go into any of the stories involved, I just wan to see what the maps show.

• Here is the 6th edition of the Dodgers Playbill featuring Maury Wills and Tommy Davis on the cover.  It will be given out starting on Monday.   See it on the right.
• What's this?  Via David Brown at Big League Stew, Josh Beckett's numb fingers could lead to early retirement.
• Ryu is questionable for Sunday's game, via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.

Hyun-Jin Ryu said he "doesn't know" if he will make his scheduled start Sunday for the Dodgers because of lingering left foot pain... "Considering how much it hurt that evening, it's healed faster than I thought," said Ryu, who continues to receive treatment for the bruise. X-rays taken of the foot were negative.

• The hits keep coming.  Carl Crawford left Saturday's game early due to a hamstring strain, via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA.
• As a result of the news above about Crawford, there has been some speculation about a possible call-up of one of our prized prospects, via a tweet from Bill Shaikin of the LA Times.

(twitter link)

• JBox at Gaslamp Ball tells us about, "A tale of revenge from Tony Gwynn about Curt Schilling."  Be sure to listen to the audio.  It's awesome.

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