Blog Kiosk: 4/27/2020 - Dodgers Links & News - Some Odds and Ends

Here's a vintage World Wide Photo print featuring Dodgers ace Sandy Koufax with Jay North - aka, Dennis the Menace. They appeared together in an episode of Dennis the Menace in May 1962 -- during 31st episode of season 3. The episode was titled, "Dennis and the Dodger." The photo is available through RMY Auctions. You can watch much of the episode on Daily Motion, here.

Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1929 Dodger reliever Clise Dudley became the first pitcher (and only second player ever) to hit a home run on the first major league pitch thrown to him. In 1944 Jim Tobin of the Braves no-hits the Brooklyn Dodgers in Boston, 2-0. In 1990 Orel Hershiser undergoes surgery on his pitching shoulder. In 2004 Mets Catcher Mike Piazza ties Carlton Fisk for most career round-trippers by a catcher when he hit home run #351 against Dodgers hurler Hideo Nomo at Dodger Stadium.
• Happy Birthday, Hi Myers, Frank Wurm & Corey Seager!

Blog Kiosk: 1/31/2020 - Dodgers Links & News - Some Odds and Ends

On Wednesday evening the LA Kings held a special ceremony to honor Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi, along with the seven other folks who passed away, prior to start of their home game against the Tampa Bay Lightening. As you can see above, Staples Center decided to black-out all of the Lakers banners and retired numbers, except for the two Kobe Bryant retired numbers. I thought it was a very classy move by the stadium.

Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1941 the Dodgers signed future Hall of Famer Paul Waner to a free agent contract. In 1972 former Brooklyn Dodger players Rube Marquard (known mostly as a Giant) and Dave Bancroft (also mostly a Giant) were selected by an Hall of Fame Special Veterans Committee for enshrinement. In 2001 an article was published in the WSJ related to the most infamous pennant race in National League history. Written by Joshua Prager, he details how the Giants team stole catchers' signs during the 1951 pennant race to help them overcome a Dodgers 13.5 game lead in the National League. You can read the original article here. In 2003 the Dodgers signed free agent pitcher Wilson Alvarez. In 2005 the Dodgers signed pitcher Scott Erickson as a free agent. 
• Happy Birthday, Hank Aguirre, Ted Power, Stuffy Stewart & Jackie Robinson!

Blog Kiosk: 1/20/2020 - Dodgers Links & News - Some Odds and Ends

Sandy got a ticket. This is hilarious. Per a descriptor on the reverse (eBay auction link):

Sand Koufax lifts a parking ticket from the windshield of the car which was given him for being outstanding player in recent World Series. Sandy appeared at a downtown restaurant in New York Tuesday to get his prize and the car was driven up on the sidewalk for the benefit of photographers. When Sandy came out he found a decoration -- which cost $15 -- on his windshield. (10/9/1963)

Below are more links to check out:

• Happy Birthday, Bill Schardt, Bill Zimmerman, Denny Sothern, Camilo Pasqual & Cecil Espy!

Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 5/5/2013

Zack Greinke had his first bullpen session on Saturday since he broke his collarbone.  Pic via twitter @Dodgers.

• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, Greinke is recovering quickly after surgery.

 Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke, who is on the 15-day disabled list, is two to three weeks ahead of schedule in his recovery from a broken collarbone after throwing a full bullpen session Saturday at AT&T Park, exactly three weeks after surgery.

• Via ESPN Los Angeles, "Remembering Fernandomania."  Here is a video  of Fernando Valenzuela looking back on his career and the "Fernandomania" craze of the early 1980s.
• This season is beyond frustrating.  Via Steve Dilbeck at the LA Times, "Dodgers rally, rally -- and then lose, 10-9, on another walk-off."
• Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts coins a new nickname for Juan Uribe- "Uribear!" Just awesome!  I want one too!
• Summer Anne Burton shares her "Every Hall of Famer" drawing of former Dodger Leo Durocher.
• CC Sabathia wore a Brooklyn Dodgers cap during a Brooklyn Nets game, via David Brown at Big League Stew.
• Rock out, Kitty!

Video Link:

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Blog Kiosk: 4/16/2013

This coming Thursday is Dodgers Pride Night at the LA Kings game at the Staples Center, and the team will be wearing the above Dodgers-styled uniforms during the pregame warmups. I'll do my best to arrive early to take photos.  Pic above via twitter @Bailey LA Kings.

• You should check out Jon SooHoo's photos from Jackie Robinson Night at Dodger Stadium last night.  See them all right here.
• Via Henry Schulman at SFGate, "You don’t have to be African American to owe Jackie Robinson your thanks."
• Carl Crawford wore some special shoes yesterday in honor of Jackie Robinson.  See them below.  Via Sid Ashford at Nice Kicks:

For the 66th Anniversary of this illustrious achievement, Jordan Brand supplied a few of their athletes, including CC Sabathia, Jimmy Rollins and Carl Crawford, with special Jordan 6 Rings PEs dressed in Dodger blue with Robinson’s “42″ embroidered on the heel. 

• UCLA unveiled a new mural at their Baseball stadium,via Matthew DeBord at KPCC.
• On Jackie Robinson Night Vin Scully reflected back on his interview with Branch Rickey, via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA.
• Clay Fowler at SVGTribune writes of how the "Boston Marathon explosions affect first baseman Adrian Gonzalez."

"Knowing that she was about to run in the marathon and I know that some of the guys even go and meet people at the finish line after the game, so you know, that's basically where it happened. So, you know, it's such a terrible thing." Gonzalez said. "It's definitely surreal. You don't think people have that kind of a heart to do something so bad."

• "Ryu to establish ‘HJ99’ charity fund for children," via Chun Sung-woo at the Korea Herald.
• In Dodgers roster moves, Shawn Tolleson has been placed on the DL and Josh Wall has been called up in his place, via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA.
• Matt Hurst at Out of Ink puts up an interview he had with former Dodgers Talk host and writer of a new Dodger book called "Miracle Men", Josh Suchon.

Q: What were some of the reactions from the players/coaches/organization when you told them you were writing this book and started bringing up these memories for them?
A: A lot of excitement. Almost everybody said they looked forward to reading the book and wanted me to send them a copy. Vin Scully told me that after I talked with him, that he looked forward to reading about things he’d forgotten, and that gave me goose bumps. It made me realize that I was onto something really good here. It also increased the pressure that I better deliver a quality product. If all these people from that 1988 team are excited to read the book, I better not let them down.

• New Era released a great video in honor of Jackie Robinson yesterday.  Watch it below.  It's titled, "First Changes Everything."

Video Link:

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Clayton Kershaw will be on the Cover of Sports Illustrated's Baseball Preview

 

Coming out at newstands tomorrow is Sports Illustrated's Baseball Preview, and Clayton Kershaw is featured on one of the covers.  See it above.  Click on the pic to embiggen.  They are making 6 different covers based upon region.  BTW, this is the first time Clayton has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Unfortunately, SI predicts that the Nationals will win the World Series over the Tampa Bay Rays, but they also say that the Dodgers will make the playoffs due to a wild card berth.  So, that's something to hang your hat on.


As you can see below Stephen Strasburg (2nd SI cover), David Price (2nd SI cover), Justin Verlander (3rd SI cover), CC Sabathia (2nd SI cover), and James Shields (1st SI cover) will also have their own covers.

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2012 Topps Update Baseball Cards- Dodgers Short Prints

As has been custom with Topps, there are a bunch of short printed variation cards in the set.  Some are rarer than others.  The first two Dodger variations appear to be fairly common- as numerous examples are already showing up on eBay.  I will have pics of the normal Dodger base cards tomorrow, but wanted to share these variations with you right away.  They feature some great photos and players who were traded too late in the season to be included in the base set.

US52 Clayton Kershaw - Dodgers (With Matt Kemp At All-Star Game)

US133 Matt Kemp - Dodgers (In A Suit)

The card below is actually a CC Sabathia variation card, but it includes our very own Matt Kemp.

US62 CC Sabathia - Yankees - (With Matt Kemp At All-Star Game)

These next 4 Dodger cards may be the toughest to come by.  They are players that were traded late in the season, so there wasn't enough time to include them in the normal base set.  Instead, Topps short printed them and inserted them into packs.  I suspect they may be scarce, but be weary of current eBay prices.  They are likely to be priced way too high in the early going.  Heck, there is only one Adrian Gonzalez card on eBay and it has been initially priced in the hundreds- far too rich for my blood.  In fact, all of the cards below (at least in the early going) appear to be very limited.  Heck, a Carl Crawford has yet to show up - this is kind of funny since he has yet to even show up in a Dodgers uniform (UPDATE: Carl Crawford card is now included below).

US1 Adrian Gonzalez - Dodgers

US2 Carl Crawford - Dodgers 

US3 Josh Beckett - Dodgers

US4 Nick Punto - Dodgers

For old time sakes, here is James Loney variation card.

US5 James Loney - Red Sox

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Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 8/28/2012

I too thank James Loney.  Pic via twitter @Dodgers.

• Jbox at the Padres blog Gaslamp Ball affirms that they could never root for the Dodgers- even if Adrian Gonzalez is on the team.  He shares a couple of videos; including an interview with Adrian.
• Tom Verducci at Sports Illustrated shares who he thinks are the winners and losers of the Big Trade.
• Chris Jaffe at Hardball Times marks the 10th Anniversary of Odalis Perez's Big Day.

10 years ago today, Odalis Perez had quite a day for himself. A decade ago, he barely needed his teammates to win a game – which is nice because they barely helped him.

• Jonah Keri at Grantland writes, "The Dodgers Make it Rain."

The Dodgers don't give a rat's ass about supposedly smart versus supposedly dumb ways to build a roster. They're perfectly cool with losing the dollars-per-WAR championship. And if actions and words are any indications, they don't care about any damn luxury tax either. They want to win, they have money, and they're going to spend it.

• I guess extension talks with Clayton Kershaw will begin soon.  Via Aaron Gleeman at Hardball Talk we get this choice quote from a Dylan Hernandez article.

Yeah, sure, I’m always open to talks. I’ve had a great time here. I love the guys and I love everything about L.A. I’ll be here for two more years regardless. There’s no deadline or anything, so that’s good.

• Check out this fantasy card.  Things Done to Cards creates a Tony Micelli (Tony Danza) Baseball card.  It's awesome!
• Kevin Kaduk at Big League Stew mentions that the Dodgers were also after CC Sabathia and Mark Tiexeira.
• Howard Cole shares another page from his vintage Dodgers scrapbook.
• The Other Paper makes note of a great play made during the Little League World Series.
• Vintage Sportscards shares some old Japanese Menko cards he got at The National.

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We Coulda Had CC

Back in 2008, when the Dodgers were in the thick of a playoff race, Ned Colletti picked up a veteran third baseman to get us across the finish line. It was a costly trade that sent one of leagues top catching prospects, Carlos Santana, to Cleveland for Casey Blake. Many folks hemmed and hawed. After all, we love our prospects. On the other hand, we did win the pennant, and got past the first round of the playoffs. Unfortunately, the dreaded Phillies stopped us in our tracks during the National League Championship series. If only we had a front line starter to get us over that hump.

Well, based on a report from Phil Rogers at the Chicago Tribune, Colletti was about to do just that.

According to sources, Colletti had worked out a 5-for-1 trade with the Indians that would have landed left-hander CC Sabathia in early July. But McCourt would not agree to pick up the $5.5 million remaining on Sabathia's contract, so Colletti settled for Indians infielder Casey Blake later in the month.

Man-O-Live. What could have been. Clearly, McCourt's financial troubles effecting the team go back at least 3 seasons. Sabathia concluded the 2008 season by going 8-2 with a 1.65 ERA for the Brewers. He was less effective in the playoffs, but how I would have loved to see that match-up.

Of course, not knowing who the 5 Dodgers in the potential trade makes it easy to judge this non-trade. If Kemp or Kershaw were involved then McCourt may have done right by us.

CC Would Look Good in Blue

He can hit. He can pitch. Better yet, he wants to pitch the big games. He proved last year that he has the fire and drive to lead a team to the promised land. CC Sabathia is the type of player teams coalesce around. I think we would be very happy to have him in Blue.

Apparently, the Dodgers appear to agree.

A report by Dan Graziano on NJ.com said the Dodgers are considering a six-year deal worth $110 million to 120 million, if they haven't put it in front of Sabathia and his agents Greg Genske and Brian Peters already.

What makes this even more interesting is the recent inclusion of the Giants into the race. Tony Jackson reports,

it APPEARS that the CC Sabathia sweepstakes could come down to two final teams: the Dodgers and the Giants...Anyway, we know CC wants to pitch for an N.L. club because he likes to hit. We know he just purchased a home in SoCal. And we know he wants to stay close to home. That pretty much leaves the Dodgers and Giants...So it LOOKS like that is where this whole thing is headed, provided the Dodgers don't re-sign Manny Ramirez anytime soon.

Who would you choose? Manny or CC Sabathia?

I think the potential 1-2 punch of Lincecum and Sabathia is too terrible to bear. Of course, having Manny in the lineup for a full 162 game season could easily ameliorate any discomfort I might have. After all, don't we have Billingsley and Kershaw as our potential two man tag team. With the consistent Kuroda in the mix, who should only get better with more experience in North America, I don't know if a long term deal for a pitcher is the wisest thing to do.

Thank goodness the decision isn't mine.