Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Musically Inspired Triple Threads Dodger Cards - Ryu & Puig

One of Topps most popular brands is hitting the store shelves as I write.  It is Topps Triple Threads week, and collectors are in a  frenzy.  Folks love opening this stuff.  Overall, you are guaranteed four relics cards - two of which will be autographed in each box.  Also, one of those autographed cards will be a triple relic card.  So if you love game-used material in your cardboard then this product is for you.

It'll be a few days before I can gather up photos of all the Dodger cards, so stay tuned.  In the meantime, I came across a couple of triple relic Dodger cards worth an early mention.

As has been custom, Topps tries to find creative phrases and anecdotes to use for their triple relic cards.  In the past they used phrases like "Mannywood" for Manny Ramirez, "The Bison" for Matt Kemp and "Lefty Legend" for Sandy Koufax.  This year they appear to be using a decidedly musical theme to their Dodger triple relic cards.  Check out what I mean below.

Above is one of the Hyun-Jin Ryu Triple relic cards (there are three different phrases available).  They spelled the phrase "Smile Again," and if you remember your Ryu K-Pop lore then you'll know what that means.

As a part of a Christmas charity project in 2013, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Cube Entertainment teamed up to create a song called "Smile Again."  Ryu got on the microphone with K-Pop stars Trouble Maker and G.NA.  Watch a video of the song below.

Video Link:


One might think that the phase above, "Puig Destroyer," refers to his ability to murder the ball when he makes contact.  Fans of grindcore know better, though.

Puig Destroyer is a band that was inspired by the pure awesomeness of Puig's early start with Dodgers.  Puig hit like a monster on a mission back then.  He showed speed and finesse, as he raced around the bases like a gelding and threw out runners with the precision of a sharpshooter.  All the while he did it with a smile.  Puig was just incredible, so when a couple of grindcore veterans got together they knew what they had to do.  They formed Puig Destroyer, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Shortly after they began recording I had the opportunity to interview one of the founders, Riley Breckenridg, on this blog.  You can check it out here.  This is what he had to say about its creation:
It's silly, really. The name "Puig Destroyer" came up, in passing, during a discussion of Puig on an episode of the weekly Productive Outs podcast that I do with my good friend Ian Miller. There's an awesome grindcore band called Pig Destroyer that we're both fans of, and I said something along the lines of "There should be a grindcore band called Puig Destroyer". Nine days after that utterance, we are that band. I sent Ian the drum track for "One Man, Five Tools" the next day, he wrote a bass line for it immediately, I enlisted my good friend (and Giants fan) Mike Minnick from Curl Up and Die to do vocals, and Ian pulled Jon Howell (his bandmate in Kowloon Walled City) to play guitar. We'll have an EP done fairly soon.
So far they have release three EP's.  Feel free to visit their website here.  Listen to their very first album below.  The very first song is called "One Man, Five Tools."

Video Link:

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Weekend Autograph Opportunities: Pederson, Hershiser, Peraza, Barnes and Frias - UPDATE! Kiké Hernandez

Here are this weekends autograph opportunities and events throughout the Southland. As always, be sure to check the Blue Heaven Calendar for other events (a link can always be found on the tab at the top of this page, just left of center), and always confirm with the establishment. Everything is subject to change.  Please email me with any tips about upcoming events in Southern California.  As the rest of the week progresses I'll update this post with other events (if there are any) as I become aware of them.  Also, I don't always list every event below, so be sure to check my Calendar.  I always try to favor free signing events over paying events.  Click on any pic to embiggen.

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Here is a signing event for fans of Joc Pederson at the Glendale Galleria.  From what I understand, he'll be signing only items provided by the promoter (I think Lids) and photographs are prohibited.  It's likely they'll have some sort of card, postcard or photo for him to sign.  Go here for information.
Lids store at Glendale Galleria
100 W Broadway
Glendale, CA 91210
Hat Tip: Roberto at Vin Scully is My Homeboy

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UPDATE!!!!

Kiké Hernandez will be meeting with fans this coming Saturday at the Northgate Market in Hawthorne from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM.  Only the first 300 fans will get an autograph, so if you're planning to be there you've got to be there early.  Check out the flyer below.  Go here for more info.

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Come out to Honabach & Son's in Ontario to meet Orel Hershiser on Saturday, September 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.  This is a pay event for a signature.  Go here for information
Honabach & Son's
1614 S. Carlos Ave.
Ontario, CA

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Three Dodger rookies are scheduled to appear at Frank & Sons this coming Saturday.  Go here or here for information.  Check out the flyers below.
Frank & Son Collectible Show
19649 San Jose Ave
City of Industry, CA 91748


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Blog Kiosk: 9/16/2015 - Dodger Links - Some Odds and Ends


So, how many of you stuck around to watch the end of last nights (or this mornings) game? 

I sure didn't.  I was safely tucked away in bed.  Sure, I had the television on, but make no mistake I slowly drifted into a slumber. 

As it turns out, the Dodgers and Rockies played 16 innings and finished up their match at about 12:30 in the morning.  That's a 5 hours and 23 minutes contest.  No doubt that was exacerbated by their egregious use of the bench.  According to Israel Fehr at Big League Stew they broke Major League records by using a combined 58 players and 24 pitchers in one game.  Via Zach Helfand at the LA Times:
"In this time of year, you don’t plan on running out of guys," Mattingly said. "We pretty much ran out of guys."
At the least the weather was good... Oh, yeah... It was a misty sprinkled filled evening... Sorry, my bad.  Hopefully tonight's game is better.

The photo above is via @Dodgers on twitter.  BTW, the Dodgers "Magic Number" is now at 11 - thanks to the Reds defeat of the Giants in extras.  Below are more links to check out:
Among the 10 whose contracts will not be renewed are Triple-A Oklahoma City manager Damon Berryhill, who was named manager of the year in the Pacific Coast League earlier this month, and Double-A Tulsa manager Razor Shines.

In addition to Berryhill and Shines, Oklahoma City hitting coach Franklin Stubbs, Great Lakes pitching coach Glenn Dishman, Arizona Rookie League manager Jack McDowell, instructor Rick Rhoden, Great Lakes coach Angel Sanchez, Great Lakes hitting coach Jay Gibbons, Ogden hitting coach Darryl Brinkley and instructor Erik Bedard will not be retained.

"All our Minor League staff put forth a tremendous effort in 2015, and we appreciate all their work and dedication," said Gabe Kapler, Dodgers director of player development. "At this moment in time, we wanted to bring in some new voices in some key areas. Our changes should not be viewed as a reflection on any performance; they simply reflect that we are heading in a different direction."
On Corey Seager: “He deserves all the attention he gets. I mean, look at what he’s doing,” Schebler answered about his very close friend and former roommate. “No… no, I don’t mind being [the] under-the-radar guy, that’s fine. But yeah, he deserves everything he gets.”
  • I've wondered about this too.  Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, "Dodgers platoon a lot, but not the most."  As Jon shows, the Dodgers used the platoon far more often under Manager Walter Alston.  Heck, you can maybe argue that they don't platoon enough today.
Seven of the top 10 platooning squads in Los Angeles Dodger history came along between 1961-1971, all under manager Walter Alston. The other three came from 1990-92, under Tom Lasorda. Perhaps oddly, despite the rise of sabermetrics in mainstream acceptance, no Dodger teams outside of 2004 and 2015 crack the top 20 in platoon advantage.

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