Blog Kiosk: 5/24/2014 - Dodger Links - Ellis, Kasten and Pete Reiser

Puigy Bear, pic via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2014.

• Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, "A.J. Ellis ties obscure, quirky MLB record."

I’m confident, if not completely sure, that Ellis is the first catcher ever to get three assists in one inning on strikeouts that required throws to first.

• Via David Brown at Big League Stew, "Odd report: Stan Kasten, Ruben Amaro are candidates for commissioner."  I do not want Stan to leave the team.  I feel that he's one of the smartest executives in the game, and would prefer he remain Dodger Blue.
• I hadn't thought of this analogy, but it seems apt.  Via Harold Uhlman at Think Blue LA, "‘Pistol’ Pete Reiser - The Yasiel Puig of the ’40s."
• Check out this scouting report on Erisbel Arruebarrena, via Chris Blessing at RotoScouting.com.  He's got a great glove and plus bat speed; unfortunately, his swing needs some work.
• True to the Blue shares some pics and autographs he got from the Dodgers Old-Timers game a couple of weeks ago.

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2014 Panini Prizm Baseball - The Dodger Insert Cards

Following up on yesterday's post featuring the Dodger base cards to Panini's 2014 Prizm Baseball card set, I now show you the Dodger insert cards that are available.  Next week, I'll have picks of most of the autographed cards that are available.  Go here to check out my past post on this set.

Of special note, there is a Mike Piazza card as a Dodger.  See it below.

Diamond Dominance Set Checklist

#10 Clayton Kershaw                                 #27 Mike Piazza

Fearless Set Checklist

#1 Yasiel Puig

Intuition Set Checklist

#1 Clayton Kershaw                                 #6 Hyun-Jin Ryu

#17 Zack Greinke

Top of the Order Set Checklist

#5 Carl Crawford

There is also an autographed Clayton Kershaw USA Baseball card.  I will have a photo available of it in Monday's final post on this set.

USA Baseball Set Checklist

#9 Clayton Kershaw

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Blog Kiosk: 5/23/2014 - Dodger Links - Kings Defenseman Matt Greene Laments Not Having Time Warner to Watch his Dodgers

Chone Figgins is an on-base machine.  His current on-base percentage is at a career high .452; primarily because he has walked in nearly a quarter of his plate appearances.  Considering that he hadn't played ball all of last year, he has been surprisingly good as a reserve player.  Photo above is from his opening at-bat last night via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2014.

• LA Kings defenseman and resident Dodger fan, Matt Greene doesn't have Time Warner either.  Watch the press interview, here (it's at the end - at about the 8:25 mark), where he mentions that he can't watch his Dodgers. (BTW, you know he's a real fan because he proudly wears a well-worn Dodger cap)  Via a tweet from Jill Painter Lopez of the LA Daily News:

.@lakings defenseman Matt Greene wore dodgers hat to presser. Asked if he watches dodgers on offday, he said: "I would if I had time Warner"
— Jill Painter Lopez (@jillpainter) May 22, 2014

• Tony Blengino at FanGraphs writes, "Quarterly Report: Yasiel Puig is Really Good."

His 2014 numbers are even better than last year’s, which were believed by many to have overly fueled by BABIP. What makes Puig tick, and how good could he eventually get?

• Via Ron Cervenka of Think Blue LA, "Kershaw give Dodger fans a scare after being hit by BP ball."

“I was staring right at him when it happened,” said longtime Dodger fan Will Isabella. “Afterwards he came over to where a group of us were standing and he signed two autographs. I asked him if he was alright and he just smiled and then walked away.”

• Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider takes a look at Clayton Kershaw and his pursuit of a no-no.

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Bye Bye, Miguel Olivo - Twitter filled with Olivo Jokes

As the saying goes, "don't let the door hit you in the rear end."

Following up on the incident from a couple of days ago, that resulted in immediate surgery for Alexander Guerrero, the team has officially cut ties to catcher Miguel Olivo.  Per a Dodger press release that is short and direct:

Today, the Los Angeles Dodgers released catcher Miguel Olivo from their roster.

The Dodgers now have 39 players on their 40-man roster.

As you likely know, a scuffle broke out on Tuesday in an Albuquerque Isotopes game between teammates Miguel Olivo and Alexander Guerrero.  Words were said, fist were thrown and a catchers mouth made contact with an infielders ear.

Olivo went "full-Tyson" and now he is out of a job.

Check out my post on the incident here.

These tweets made me laugh:

Alex Guerrero's gonna be happy to hear Olivo got released. Happy to hear. Hear. This joke is about his ear.
— Vincent (@VRP723) May 22, 2014

@4lisaguerrero tasteless joke in 3,2,1: Olivo defended his actions saying "do you know how hard it is to find Cuban food in Salt Lake City?"
— LakerSteve (@LakerSteve) May 21, 2014

I heard this joke coming RT @DodgerManny58: I wonder what made Miguel Olivo so EARitable?
— _JorgeS9 (@_JorgeS9) May 20, 2014

What an idiot. #miguelolivo's probably getting an earful of criticism from the press! I bet his coach even chewed him out!
— Navid Awesome (@navidsworld) May 22, 2014

Best graphic ever!

Say it ain't so, Miguel Olivo. pic.twitter.com/GbgJ9OrAA6
— Brady Phelps (@LobShots) May 20, 2014

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2014 Panini Prizm Baseball - The Dodger Base Cards

Yesterday was the official release of Panini's newest Baseball card set - 2014 Prizim.  It is arguably the shiniest card set in the hobby today.  As you may know, Panini does not have a MLB card license, so there are no team logo's.  Of special note, there is an Eddie Murray Dodger card in the set, as well as, a Mike Piazza insert card (I'll show that later on).

Below, I share all of the Dodger base cards that can be found.  As always, there are numerous parallels available of each card; including some phenomenal looking die-cut cards.  Card #206 of Clayton Kershaw is short-printed and includes an "Outstanding Pitching Award" notation.  I assume this is in reference to him winning the Cy Young.  Does that mean not having a MLB license also means you can't use the official names of the MLB awards that are given out?  Weird, eh?

Dodger Base Card Checklist

#19 Matt Kemp                                     #24 Zack Greinke

#27 Hyun-Jin Ryu                                      #28 Yasiel Puig

#54 Adrian Gonzalez                             #82 Carl Crawford

#99 Clayton Kershaw                              #123 Hanley Ramirez

#158 Eddie Murray

Base SP Highlights Set Checklist

#206 Clayton Kershaw

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Blog Kiosk: 5/22/2014 - Dodger Links - Some Dodger Odds and Ends

Erisbel Arruebarrena joined the Dodgers last night, for the first time.  He is welcomed by hurler Hyun-Jin Eyu in the photo above, pic via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2014.

• Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider tells us of a story in Dodger Insider Magazine featuring several unknown Dodger memorabilia items.  It includes several videos featuring team historian Mark Langill describing them to us.
• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Lasorda, Hough to represent Dodgers at Draft."  The draft starts on June 5th.
• Eric Stephen at True Blue LA writes, "Steve Cilladi seized his opportunity with Dodgers."

The Dodgers have a new face in their bullpen in 2014, but he's not a pitcher. Steve Cilladi, 27, is one of the bullpen catchers, and is really a jack of all trades in his first year as a major league coach.

...

"I never really had the talent to make it to the big leagues, and I understood that after my first year," Cilladi recaled. "I just made the conscious effort to take this wherever it leads me, and just gain the valuable experience of being a minor league player and see if it turns into something afterwards."

• Via Paul Hagen at MLB.com, "Dynamic Puig continuing growth on the field."

"If you work hard, hopefully you'll have success. That's one thing I've done. I don't think I'm in awe of being in the Major Leagues now. I feel like I belong. I've done the things I need to do. When you face Major League pitching it's never easy. You have to make adjustments and that's what I'm trying to do to compete. I just love playing baseball."

• I kid you not!  Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Miguel Olivo wanted to be like Mike Tyson, without the ear biting."  Eric shares a video of Olivo mentioned this.  BTW, Miguel Olivo has been placed on the suspended list, via a Dodgers press release:

Today, the Albuquerque Isotopes, Triple-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, placed catcher Miguel Olivo on the suspended list. Olivo, who is on the Dodgers' 40-man roster, will remain suspended pending the completion of an investigation into the dugout altercation during yesterday's game at Salt Lake.

• Check out this amazing video that features one hour of San Diego surfing time collapsed, via Cy Kuckenbaker.

One Hour of San Diego Surfing Time Collapsed: San Diego Study #4 from Cy Kuckenbaker on Vimeo.

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