Blog Kiosk: 5/16/2015 - Dodger Links - Ethier, Dodgers' Hello Kitty Plush Doll and a Fan Ejection?

Here is a fantastic vintage press photo taken by International News, dated March 1, 1954, that I ran across on eBay.  It features several Dodger greats getting some needed practice before the season starts.  After having an impressive rookie campaign the season prior, Junior Gilliam looks to be showing a couple of pitchers how to slide.  After all, all reports I've read indicate that Gilliam had a high Baseball-IQ, and just naturally seemed to understand every part of the game.  Below is what is written on the caption attached to the reverse:

SLIDE, JUNIOR, SLIDE--Vero Beach, Florida.....Second baseman Junior Gilliam slides in under the watchful eye of Field Director Al Campanis at the Dodgers training quarters as pitchers Don Newcombe and Joe Black watch.

Below are some links to check out:

• Via Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA, "Dodgers announce rain-delay ticket offer for May 25-27 Braves series."
• ICYMI: Kenley Jansen has been reinstated from the DL and reliever Daniel Coulombe has been options back to AAA, via a tweet from @DodgersPR.
• Via Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times, "Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier is playing like old self."

"It's frustrating, but not everything's going to go good and go the way you want it to be," he said. "You have to grind through things. You're going to have ups and down, not only in the course of the year but in the course of your career. You have to figure out a way to ride them out and keep fighting and keep finding a way to improve and make adjustments."

• Here's an early peek at the Hello Kitty plush Dodger doll that is being given away to fans on Wednesday, July 8th against the Phillies.  Check out the Dodgers promotional schedule here.
• Benjamin Hill at Ben's Biz Blog recently visited Historic Dodgertown and shared a bunch of pics.  Check them out here.
• I wonder if this could potentially be big news for Dodger fans; especially to those who have been locked out due to the cable situation?  Via Timothy Burke at Deadspin, "Judge Grants Class-Action Status To Sports TV Blackout Antitrust Case."  Jon Brodkin at Arstechnica also writes about the lawsuit in more detail.
• This is for the Baseball history buffs out there.  Via Rich Mueller at Sports Collectors Daily, "(Masnori) Murakami to Return to U.S. for Autographs."  Masnori was the first Japanese born player to appear in the major leagues, and he has just finished a new book on his experiences.
• Via David Seideman at Forbes, "Weighing The Risks and Rewards of Investing In Today's Vintage Baseball Card Boom."
• During Thursday's game at the bottom of the ninth inning the home plate umpire is seen moving towards the fans behind him and looked to be motioning at a fan.  The initial reaction by most is that he tried to have a fan ejected from the game; which is rare but certainly within his purview.  I spent some time trying to find out about the incident and came across the below post on reddit, here.  It appears that the flash used by a fan was the problem.  DodgerFilms makes note of the incident at the 10:13 mark in this video here.

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2015 Panini Prizim Baseball - The Dodger Base Cards

Panini America's Prizm Baseball card set is back and now you can check out all of the Dodger base cards below.  Go here to see a complete checklist. 

The Prizm set is a super-shiny silver-like set.  Unfortunately, scans of the base cards often look much darker than they really are.  So, don't be mislead into thinking that the backgrounds of these cards are as dark as the photos below suggest.

There are only seven Dodger players in the base set.  Check them all out below.  BTW, I included pics of a couple of the parallel cards that can be found - just because I think they are really cool looking.

#19 Adrian Gonzalez                             #46 Clayton Kershaw

An Early Peek at Some Upcoming Bobbleheads: Puig, Koufax, Jansen and Uribe

I thought I would take a moment to share some of the pics I've run across of several upcoming Dodger bobbleheads.  Above is the Yasiel Puig "diving catch" bobble that will be given away to fans on Wednesday, July 29th against the A's, and below is the Sandy Koufax bobble with the old stadium scoreboard in the background that is being given out on Thursday, August 13th against the Reds.

On the left below is the Juan Uribe bobblehead and on the right is the Kenley Jansen bobble.  These will be given out on Saturday, July 11th and Thursday, June 4th, respectively.  You can check out the Dodgers promotional schedule here.

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Blog Kiosk: 5/15/2015 - Dodger Links - Dodgers All-Star Game Caps and Don Mattingly

The rain sure did put a damper on last night's game.

As I found out this morning, they resumed the game after initially being delayed during the Rockies at-bat in the sixth inning.  Unfortunately, the sparse crowd that was still in the house were not rewarded for their persistence and devotion.  Instead, they were witness to the ninth inning heroics of a batter I had just dropped from my fantasy Baseball team.

Carlos Gonzalez, who has been terrible so far this season, whacked a go-ahead three-run home run to lead the Rockies over the Dodgers, 5-4.  Via Ken Gurnick and Thomas Harding at MLB.com:

"I was watching Garcia coming out of the 'pen, and he was throwing a lot of fastballs," Gonzalez said. "I was waiting to see a good fastball. It finally showed on a 2-1 count and I was able to take advantage and hit the ball over the fence."

The recently shell-shocked rookie reliever Yimi Garcia gave up the dinger.  Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

Mattingly: "He's a young guy with a lot of success and now two times out he's gotten hit. So, you don't know if, being a young guy, or any guy. But the guy didn't get here by having a bunch of success and then giving up."

This is just one of those games that you've got to just forget.  In fact, the only thing that has me vexed is the thought that maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to drop CarGo from my fantasy team.  Should I immediately get him back before one of my competitors snags him away, or is this season a lost cause for him?  I dunno.

The photo above was taken by Jill Weisleder/LA Dodgers 2015.  Go here to check out more pics by Jon from last night's game.  Below are some links to check out:

• Via Joel Sherman at the NY Post, "Why Don Mattingly is doing his finest Dodgers work."

I hear the work he has done with pitching coach Rick Honeycutt with the Jansen-less pen has impressed the bosses who will decide his fate. They like that he has given younger/unproven guys such as Yimi Garcia, Pedro Baez (who injured a pectoral muscle Wednesday and is now on the disabled list) and lefty Adam Liberatore significant roles, and appreciate how he has built confidence with the group and dealt with the unknown.

• Color me a bit surprised, via a tweet from Dylan Hernandez.  I also understand that Mattingly has pledged to not argue replay calls again, but I hardly believe that:

League called Dodgers to say they messed up replay call, Mattingly said.

— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) May 14, 2015

• Here's a sneak peek at the Dodgers 2015 All-Star cap.  As you'll notice, it is reminiscent of the old-timy caps worn during the early days of the game.  They are referred to the "pill box" caps.  Check it out on the right.  Click on the pic to embiggen.  (Hat Tip: u/DrSteveBruleDDS on Reddit)  BTW, you can check out the hats for the other teams here.  UPDATE:  Ha Ha!  Looks like I got fooled on this one too.  Via Patrick Coffee at AdWeek, the "pill box" styled All-Star game cap seen on the right is an elaborate fake.
• ICYMI:  Pedro Baez has been diagnosed with a right pectoral strain and has been placed on the 15-day DL.  Reliever Daniel Coulombe has been called up to replace him.

Coulombe, 25, made his only big league appearance of the season on May 5 at Milwaukee and has posted a 1.59 ERA (2 ER/11.1 IP) in nine games with Oklahoma City this year, including seven consecutive scoreless appearances since April 15 (9.0 IP). Coulombe saw his first Major League action last year, appearing in five games with the Dodgers as a September call-up, and was selected by the Dodgers in the 25^th round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of Texas Tech University.

• Olivera is coming!  Via a tweet from Jon Heyman:

Hector Olivera is expected to arrive in L.A. tonite. once there he'll take physical, then finalize deal. #dodgers

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) May 14, 2015

• Mike Piazza had some nice things to say on twitter about Giancarlo Stanton's home run over the left field pavilion roof:

Loved watching @Giancarlo818 bomb last night. Brought back memories, looked like similar pitch I hit, tough to drive fast ball That high.

— Mike Piazza (@mikepiazza31) May 13, 2015

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You Too Can Join in Kershaw's Challenge!

For several years Clayton Kershaw has been donating money to Kershaw's Challenge based upon how many strike outs he has throughout the season, and he continues that tradition today.  Best yet, fans can also join Clayton in doing the same thing.

Continuing a relationship with GiveStep.com, fans can pledge a certain dollar amount for each strike out Kershaw throws this season.  For instance, a $1.00 pledge (based on last year stats) would mean a $239.00 donation to Kershaw's Challenge.  Go here to find out more or to sign up.

UPDATE:  BTW, you can donate as little at a penny ($0.01) a strike out if you like.  Remember, every cent counts.  Sign Up Here.

Via a press release:

“We are so grateful for everyone’s efforts in 2014 and making Kershaw’s Challenge such a success,” said Clayton Kershaw, co-founder of Kershaw’s Challenge. “Along with our partnership with GiveStep.com, we look forward to another successful year in 2015 and making a difference not only here locally but around the world.”

Kershaw's Challenge is a non-profit group put together by the Kershaw family.  This years funds will benefit CURE International’s hospital in the Dominican Republic, Mercy Street in Dallas, Arise Africa orphanage in Zambia and an Foster Care Intervention program with the Dream Center in Los Angeles.  You can check out the Kershaw's Challenge website here.

BTW, you can also help out Kershaw's Challenge by checking out their store page here.  There a bunch of great t-shirts to check out.

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A look at the 1984 Topps Dodgers "Encased" Cards

Just when I thought I knew everything about Baseball cards from the 1980's something comes along to knock me off my perch. 

I recently became aware of a not-so-well-known variant/proof/prototype/test issue of the 1984 Topps Baseball card set.  It is commonly known as the "encased" cards, and if you look closely at the portrait found on the bottom left in the photos below you'll know why.  On the normal card the players head overlaps the black border.  In the "encased" version the portrait stays within the square.

From what I understand these cards are scarce and command a premium.  They were never inserted into packs, so you won't find them in any of the stack of cards you have at home.  Instead, they appear to all come from uncut sheets that were subsequently removed from the presses at Topps. 

It's unclear to me if these sheets were given away, sold through the back-door or possibly sold later on by ToppsVault on eBay.  Although, it appears that all three scenarios are possible.  In either case, an enterprising collector decided to take these sheets, recognizing their uniqueness, and had them cut-up into Baseball cards themselves. 

There appears to be some debate as to whether these are proofs or test issues.  Frankly, I could care less about that.  What I do know is that a Dodger collector should be looking to add these little strange issues to their collection. 

BTW, there are only 66 different cards that are "encased" and this represents a single sheet of cards.  All cards are blank backed.  There are also three Dodger players to chase after:  Greg Brock, Steve Sax and Fernando Valenzuela.  Check them all out below.  I have paired an "encased" variant with the normal card on its right.

Greg Brock

Encased Prototype/Proof                           Normal Base Card 

Steve Sax

Encased Prototype/Proof                           Normal Base Card 

Fernando Valenzuela

Encased Prototype/Proof                           Normal Base Card 

Below is a peek at an uncut sheet of "encased" cards found through Net54.  If you look closely the photos used for the Steve Carlton card features Greg Mathews, and the Greg Mathews card uses a pic of Steve Carlton.  Click on the pic to embiggen.

(pic link: ALR-bishop on Net54)

Hat Tip: The Tim Wallach Collector

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