Blog Kiosk: 12/7/2011

Don Mattingly meeting with the press during the Winter Meetings (pic via @Los_Angeles_Dodgers Lockerz)

• Here is the transcript from the interview featured above.
  
• Why am I getting that sinking feeling McCourt will try to screw us one last time. Via Bill Shaikin at LA Times.

  Reporting from Wilmington, Del. — Frank McCourt must divest himself of the Dodgers and their stadium by April 30 but has sole authority to decide whether he keeps or sells the parking lots surrounding the stadium, according to the terms of his sale agreement with MLB.

• Business Week takes their own look at the agreement between MLB and McCourt, and the current bankruptcy case.
  
• Kershaw's agent in no rush to sign long term deal, via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.
  
• Maybe this would be for the best. "Best Owner for the Dodgers Could Be You and Me," via Chris Erskine at LA Times.
  
• Vintage Sportscards brings up a story I had never heard.

  Frustrated by years of disappointments -- both on the diamond and from the gate receipts -- the St. Louis Browns were ready to move to another city...Los Angeles, California.

• Coolest hockey jersey ever! Puck Daddy features a chain mail San Jose Sharks fan-made jersey.
  
• On this Pearl Harbor Day I though I would post this radio broadcast of the Brooklyn Dodgers Football Club game that was interrupted with news of the Pearl Harbor attack.

Video Link:

Rawlings 50th Anniversary Dodger Stadium Baseball for 2012

For the 50th Anniversary of Dodger Stadium Rawlings has produced a brand new Baseball exclusively for use at all home games for the 2012 season. Check out a picture of it below, courtesy of their twitter and Facebook page. I love the design. It's simple, yet with the Top Deck very noticeable, it is unmistakably Dodger Stadium. Catching a foul ball this coming season will garner a great prize.

(pic Link: @RawlingsSports)

HYee Auctions: Some Great Dodgers Collectibles

One of the premier sellers of high-end and high-quality sports memorabilia on eBay has just put up their recent finds for sale. As always, HYee Auctions does not disappoint. Check them all out here. There are photos, pins, cards, and odd-and-ends. Check out some of my favorites below.

Vintage photos are fairly common on eBay, but how about an original vintage negative featuring the fastball grip of our very own Sandy Koufax. Originally taken in 1955, it was photographed by Fred Morgan of the NY Daily News. As the auction description says, it is truly one-of-a-kind. Notice the clarity of the photo. You can literally see every nook and crevasse of his hand. Check this item out here.

(Auction Link)

Just Pee Wee being Pee Wee. This is a 1940's era International News press photo.

(Auction Link)

It's hard to believe this guy could be a pro sports mascot. It's so depressing. Of course, Brooklyn had a strange kind of humor. Anyway, here is the famous Emmett Kelley in his classic "Bum" outfit taken in 1954.

(Auction Link)

Here is a 1950's era PM10 pin featuring Roy Campanella. This is a scarce variation pin

utilizing the same portrait and white background but with no shoulders (in addition, the more common version of this pin has the player name in a clearly defined white box). They are distinguish as two different pins in pinback expert, Paul Muchinsky's standout 586-page book, Baseball Pinback Buttons (catalogue numbers R-57 and R-58).

On top of that, it features a great mini catchers glove attached at the bottom.

(Auction Link)

Blog Kiosk: 12/6/2011

Here's an item you don't see very often. This is a 1961 Wilson Meats premium photo of Frank Howard. Found on eBay. Below are todays links:

• Jamie Hoffman has been claimed off of waivers by the Rockies, via Tony Jackson at ESPN.
  
• Here is Baseball America's Ranking of top 10 Dodgers prospects.
• John Sickels at Minor League Ball provides his top 20 Dodgers prospects.
  
• Hall of Famer Pat Gillick has been approached by several bidders and declares his interest in joining the Dodgers once a group has been picked, via Steve Dilbeck at LA Times.

  Gillick said he has been approached by prospective bidders for the Dodgers but said he would not align with any potential ownership group. Once a new owner is selected -- and if that new owner is interested -- Gillick said he would consider a position as president of baseball operations.

  "It would be something that I would take a look at," Gillick said Monday at baseball's winter meetings in Dallas.

• The camera used for principle photography on Star Wars in 1977 recently sold at auction at $625,000.00, via Deadline.com.
  
• Wow. Here's an old story I had never heard before. Topps was sued by a couple of collectors for false claims about card scarcity. Topps lost. Story via ESPN.

  According to an eight-page newsletter released by Topps and distributed to hobby dealers, there were supposed to be no more than 150 gold refractor cards of each player in its 1995-96 Hockey's Finest and 1996 Baseball's Finest sets. The fact that the two had collected more than were supposedly made threatened to devalue their investment since prices were based on the company's claim of scarcity.

• Do what Collector's Crack did and buy a piece of the Packers. Shares are for sale for the first time since 1997.
• Gary Livingston lets us know that he did a photo shot with Kings forward Dustin Brown and his family for an upcoming release of The Fourth Period.
  

Harang'd

With confirmation coming from all circles, it now appears that our five man rotation is set with the signing of Aaron Harang to a reported two year $12Mil contract, via @Jon_Heyman.
I'm trying to stay calm, but Mike at Mike Scioscia's Traggic Illness already analyzes what is plain to see. Harang's comeback was a bunch of bunk. For confirmation read what Mike writes in the link above, then look at some statistics pulled out by Baseball Musings that shows how we were bamboozled. Last season, in the year called Harang's great comeback, he pitched much more often at pitcher friendly Petco Park than on the road. A further review confirms that his downward slide has not abated. Below is from Baseball Musings:
Those road and home splits do not give me much confidence. Although, he did blank us in his one start in LA, so there's that to be happy about. Of course, he won't be facing our lineup this coming season.

Oh well, all I can do is sit here and exclaim, 'Welcome to the Blue, Aaron!' Below are his complete stats from Baseball Reference.


*************

Since we are at it, I now expect the Dodgers to go after the slimmer Dmitri Young- who now appears ready to play.

eBay: An Vintage Koufax Pocketknife

Here is a great vintage 1960's era pocketknife featuring Sandy Koufax found on eBay. It has two blades and a belt clip on the reverse. It doesn't seem very functional, but it sure looks cool. I believe these were originally sold at stadium concession stands at Dodger Stadium and through their mail order catalog. Over the years I've seen this show up from time to time, and they always sell at a reasonable value. This particular item just closed at a price of $37.98.

(eBay Auction Link)