Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Day 6 Spring Training Report

Spring Training Notes from the Dodgers:


  • DODGERTOWN U.N.: Today the Dodgers received a visit from MLB International, which was shooting video for its various worldwide programming partners. Andre Ethier, Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton, Rafael Furcal, Kenley Jansen, Trent Oeltjen and Hiroki Kuroda all took turns reading Dodger messages and tag lines throughout the morning and into the afternoon. In addition to the United States, Dodger players currently represent 10 different countries and one commonwealth this Spring Training: Australia, Canada, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Taiwan and Venezuela.

(Juan Uribe signing for the fans)
  • RALLYING THE TROOPS: Tomorrow morning, Dodger Hall of Famer and Special Assistant to the Chairman Tommy Lasorda will speak at the Nellis Air Force Base Prayer Breakfast in Las Vegas. Lasorda has delivered motivational speeches to more than 40 United States military installations around the world.

  • GLORY DAYS: Dodger broadcaster Steve Lyons was the hardest working man in showbiz today, filming a one-on-one with Dodger skipper Don Mattingly, a fielding tutorial on the art of the backhand with Jamey Carroll and most jarringly, a catching segment with Rod Barajas in which the former infielder donned the “tools of ignorance.” Lyons actually looked pretty spry blocking baseballs in the dirt while in full gear. The former FOX Baseball Game of the Week analyst is set to begin his seventh season providing color commentary for PRIME TICKET and KCAL 9 on all road games outside of the National League West.
(Dee Gordon at a photo shoot)
  • MAGIC BUS: Tomorrow morning the Baseball Tonight Spring Training Bus Tour rolls through Camelback Ranch – Glendale. ESPN Baseball analysts John Kruk, Tim Kurkjian and Pedro Gomez will be onsite to interview Dodger Manager Don Mattingly and outfielder Andre Ethier.

Blog Kiosk: 2/22/2011

Opening Day cannot come any sooner.
  • Are you in Arizona for some Spring Training games? Are you wondering were you should go for some drinks? Check out this helpful little guide from the Chicago Sun-Times. (Hat Tip: Sons of Steve Garvey)
  • Per Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts, please check out some stunning old color photos showing the effects of the Great Depression on rural/small town America.
  • Panini has a bunch of photos from this past weekends NBA All-Star Weekend in LA.
  • Did you watch the Heritage Classic outdoor hockey game this past Sunday in Calgary. Well, if you did then you witnessed Five for Fighting perform their song "Chances," and heard John Ondrasik scream out at the end, "Go Kings!" WooHoo! Check it out there at Life In Hockeywood.
  • Song A Day #780: Umble. As the title suggest, this guy has been writing and recording one song a day on YouTube.

YouTube Link:

eBay: Waterbury Dodgers Pin

Vintage material from minor league clubs can be very hard to come by. They are easily forgotten and often discarded as quickly as junk mail received daily in your mailbox. Fortunately, eBay has a way of allowing us to rediscover these long lost treasures.

The Waterbury Dodgers in Connecticut existed for only four seasons- from 1973 to 1976. Pedro Guerrero, Rick Sutcliffe, Ron Washington, Rafael Landestoy and Stan Wall, among others, spent time with the club under the Dodger banner. Another notable face to play there was Jim Riggleman. He is the current manager for the Washington Nationals.

Below is a vintage pin on eBay from the Waterbury Dodgers that has been nicely autographed by the future Major League skipper.

Oenophilist Honor Vin Scully

I know what your thinking. I put that strange looking word in the title to sound smart. Well, your right. Before this morning I had no idea that a oenophilist was a wine lover. Heck, I'm not even sure how your suppose to pronounce it.

Anyway, later on this month the Beverly Hills Wine Festival will be honoring Vin Scully. It will be on Sunday, February 27.
The event honors Vin Scully the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The mayor will be in attendance to present Mr. Scully with a lifetime achievement award and a city certificate honoring Mr. Scully’s life time achievements, dedication and contributions to Los Angeles.
Tickets are pricey, at $175.00 a piece, so you certainly won't see me there. (I'm more of a whiskey guy anyway.) But for those who kneel before Bacchus then you've got to consider checking it out.

(Hat Tip: NBC LA)

2011 Topps: Dodgers Topps 60

I'm finally following up on my previous post from a few weeks back highlighting Dodger cards within this seasons 2011 Topps packs. Check out the base cards here, and "The Lost Cards" here. This time I focus on what I think is the most attractive insert set available. To celebrate Topps 60th Diamond Anniversary they created a set called "Topps 60."

In the base set there are two Dodgers represented. Check them out below.

Andre Ethier, #T60-19

Duke Snider, #T60-44

This insert set also includes even scarcer autograph cards. Examples of the Duke Snider and Andre Ethier cards are below. Apparently, there is a Matt Kemp as well, but I have yet to see one.

Duke Snider
Andre Ethier

Of course, no insert set would would be complete without some relic pieces of game-used materials. Even more Dodgers are included here: Kemp, Garvey and Reese.

Matt Kemp

Steve Garvey

Pee Wee Reese

The best of the bunch is the below Duke Snider combination auto/relic card. They are numbered to only 50.

Duke Snider