Brian Wilson Will Officially Wear Dodger Blue Tonight

Word came down early this morning that the Dodgers will officially activate Brian Wilson.  For the first time, he will join the team in Miami as an official Dodger.

Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports provided an early notice on twitter.

Source: #Dodgers to activate Brian Wilson today.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 19, 2013

Going back down to Albuquerque will be Scott Van Slyke.  With the MLB roster expanding to 40 players on September 1st, I suspect he''ll be back in a couple of weeks.

Per a @Dodgers tweet:

#Dodgers today reinstated reliever Brian Wilson from the 15-day disabled list and optioned Scott Van Slyke to @AbqTopes. #GotHeem
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 19, 2013

The Dodgers will be going with 13 pitchers on the roster, for the time being.  This will hopefully alleviate any concern the club has about overusing the bullpen.

Pic above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2013.

Per a Dodgers Press Release:

The Los Angeles Dodgers today reinstated right-handed reliever Brian Wilson from the 15-day disabled list and optioned outfielder/first baseman Scott Van Slyke to Triple-A Albuquerque.

Wilson, who will wear jersey number 00, did not allow a run in four rehab appearances between Triple-A Albuquerque (3) and Single-A Rancho Cucamonga (1), striking out three, while allowing only one hit in 4.1 scoreless frames. The 31-year-old was signed by the Dodgers on July 30 and was placed on the 15-day disabled list as he continued his recovery from 2012 Tommy John surgery.

In 315 career games with the Giants from 2006-12, Wilson was 20-20 with 171 saves. The New Hampshire native has limited opposing hitters to a .238 batting average during the course of his career with 340 strikeouts in 320.0 innings. He last appeared in a Major League game on April 12, 2012.

Van Slyke, who appeared in his fourth stint with the club this season, is batting .252 (26-for-103) with six home runs, seven doubles and 16 RBI in 38 games for Los Angeles.

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2013 Topps MLB Chipz - The Dodgers

Topps recently released their newest Baseball product.  It is called MLB Chipz, and as the name suggest they are poker chip sized disc featuring a photo of a player on the front.  They are supposed to used for some sort of game, but I have no idea how it's palyed.  At the very bottom of this post is a pic of the game board.

Only two Dodgers are in the set:  Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw.  See them both below.  There are several different parallel Chipz's available; including "glow in the dark" Chipz's.

Matt Kemp

Clayton Kershaw

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Blog Kiosk: 8/19/2013 - Dodgers Links - Greinke, Nolasco, and Wilson to be Activated Soon

Ryu and Puig greet a couple of kids in the visitors clubroom in Philadelphia.  Pic via Jon SooHoo/ LA Dodgers 2013.  See more pics from yesterday here.

• ICYMI: "Are Skunks the Dodgers Good Luck Charm"
• "Zack Greinke Getting By Without His Best Pitch," via Mike Petriello at Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness.
• Dodgers on Rampage through West," via Murray Chass.

“We had guys who started slowly,” Kasten said. “We also had injuries. That’s not an excuse; everyone has injuries. But we had a carousel of injuries. Every week we had a guy injured and we lost him for a week or two. Once we hit a rhythm with most of our guys on the field we played the way we thought we could play. We finally had a steady, stable lineup on the field.”

• Josh Suchon writes on his blog (Out of Ink) about the PCL realignment and how it affects the Isotopes and Dodgers.
• Ken Gurnick at MLB.com tells us that Ricky Nolasco was named after Rick Monday.

"So when I got traded to the Dodgers, my dad got all crazy," said Nolasco, who starts for Los Angeles on Sunday. "It was kind of surreal. And cool. My first day with the team, I got interviewed by Rick, and I sent my dad pictures. He was excited. My dad always talked about Rick Monday."

• "Brian Wilson will be activated “in a day or two”, via Drew Silva at Harball Talk.
• Left Field Pavilion shares a bunch of pics he took while attending a Dodgers/Phillies game in Philadephia.
• Dodger Penguin had a very busy Saturday.  He travelled all over the Southland to get some Baseball autographs.  Here he gets Jose Altulve, then Dennis Martinez, and finally Steve Yeager at the Sports Authority. 
• Via Bill Plaschke at the LA Times, "The setup men for a gimpy Gibson’s immortal World Series homer: A grown batboy, a lost slugger and an old scout remember their roles in Kirk Gibson’s game-winning homer in the 1988 World Series."
• "Panini America Previews the On-Card Autos Coming to 2013 Hometown Heroes Baseball," via Tracy Hackler at The Knights Lance (Panini's blog).  Check out the Davey Lopes card below.

• Via Maury Brown at the Daily Gammons, "The Blame for PEDs in Baseball Begins with You".

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Sunday Dodgers Videos: Uribe, Adrian Gonzalez and a Story About a Kid Getting a Season Pass to Ebbets Field

Here are this Sunday's Dodger Videos.

Listen to the recollections of David Eden of how he came to have a season pass to the owner's box in Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, 1929.

Video Link:

Magician Jason Latimer, who's appearing at Club Nokia on Sept. 25, shows Jerry Hairston Jr. and Juan Uribe a new hidden-ball trick.

Video Link:

ICYMI:  8/13/13: A young Dodgers fan takes a photo with Juan Uribe before the game, then tags him off third to recreate the hidden ball trick.

Video Link:

DodgerFilms captures the Dodgers "Starting 4" warming up before a game.

Video Link:

Gary George of IVNews interviewed Adrian Gonzalez in the Dodger clubroom after a win against the Rays, last weekend.

Video Link:

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Dodgers Win Again - 10 In a Row

Oh, Boy!

The Dodgers win on the backs of 8 stellar innings from Clayton Kershaw and a 3 run jack by Juan Uribe in the 9th inning.  Of course, those latter runs wouldn't really matter since Kershaw was so great, but it was very helpful in keeping our bullpen fresh.  Instead of bringing in Jansen to finish off the game, the Dodgers had the luxury of using Brandon League to mop things up. 

We have now won 10 straight games, and 42 games over the last 50.  Not since the 1942 Cardinals has a club played a better stretch of 50 games in the Majors. 

Below are some more interesting stats:

• This is the first 10-game winning streak for the Dodgers since 2006, when they won 11 straight.
• They haven't lost their last 17 series.
• Since the All-Star break they are 25-3.
• They are 19-1 in their last 20 road games.  The previous team to win 19 of 20 road games was the 1916 New York Giants, according to STATS.
• The Dodgers have also won 6 straight in Philadelphia.
• Collectively, Dodgers pitching has thrown 27 straight scoreless innings.
• This win was the 16th shut out for the Dodgers - this leads the Majors.
• Clayton Kershaw won his very first game against the Phillies in his career.
• He also lowered his league leading ERA to 1.80 - nearly half a run lower than the next starting pitcher.
• Kershaw also leads the National League in strike outs with 182.
• He has now gotten into the 8th inning 6 times this season - 3 more than any other starting pitcher in the Majors.
• Over the last 20 games, Dodger starters have gone 14-1 with a 1.84 ERA.
• With Uribe's home run last night, he now has hit more home runs this season than he has over the previous 2 seasons as a Dodger.

There is certainly a lot to celebrate.

(.gif via Dodgers tumblr)

Pic at the very top via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2013.

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Blog Kiosk: 8/17/2013 - Dodgers Links - A Fantasy Brian Wilson Dodger Card, Mitch Poole and Mattingly Knows Streaks

Since Dodger photographer Jon SooHoo shared some recent pics of Brian Wilson in Dodger Blue I had to make my own fantasy Baseball card of him.  Check it about above.  Unfortunately, I didn't have any horizontal card templates with me, so I went with what I had.  I used a 1987 Topps design and a photo by Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2013.  Check out more pics from Jon here.

• ICYMI: Scott Van Slyke has been recalled to the Dodgers; Dee Gordon has been optioned back to Albuquerque.
• Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA interviews the Dodgers Clubhouse Manager - Mitch Poole.

"In the morning when I get here, I’m pretty much helping my crew sort things out for that day. We’ve got some towels and things that need to be folded still, we’ve got mail that comes in that we’ve got to pick up and deliver, I’m doing some errands… getting toiletries and stuff together for the bathroom. I used to have to get all their food together but now I have it all brought in by truck. I actually have a chef now who does all the cooking so all that’s taken care of. Any odds and ends we need to get, like today I was picking up razor blades and stuff for them to shave with."

• Tony Jackson of Dodger Scribe shares a photo of Hyun-Jin Ryu from when he was in high school.
• "Breaking down Yasiel Puig's season," via Kenton Wong at ESPN.

The most impressive part of his game, though, may be a tool that isn't physical, but mental -- his ability to adjust. Let's take a look at his season so far in segments. 

• MLB Social shares a great Dodgers graphic about the Dodgers phenomenal winning streak.
• "Kanye West gets booed by fans at Los Angeles Dodgers game," via Rachel Maresca at the Daily News.
• Via Bill Plunkett of the OC Register on Sulia:  Mattingly knows winning streaks.

“I played on a team in high school that won 59 straight games so I want to win every day – and I think it’s possible,” Mattingly said when asked if the Dodgers’ historic numbers have begun to amaze him. “Today’s gone. We’ve got Kershaw going tomorrow. We’ve got a chance to win tomorrow. You get caught up in the numbers – you’re not supposed to win like this. You’re not supposed to do it. 

“In my mind, you can win every night. Sometimes you get caught up in saying, ‘Oh, we’re not supposed to be doing this. This isn’t supposed to happen.’ … Not necessarily.”

• Eye on LA Sports shares his evening at Dodger Stadium that includes plenty of Dodger autographs.

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