Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 11/13/2012 - Onelki Garcia, Koufax & WiFi at Dodgers Stadium

Topps unveiled some preview pics on twitter of their upcoming Five Star Baseball set that is officially coming out this Wednesday.   Check out the above Sandy Koufax dual-autographed booklet card that they shared.

• Check out the very first pic of Mark McGwire in Dodger Blue, via twitter @Dodgers Jon SooHoo.  Also, be sure to check out Jon's Dodgers photoblog.  He has a bunch of recent pics from the organization meetings yesterday, Kershaw's Golf Tournament and the Veterans Day batting practice.  Go here.
• Chad Moriyama shares a short interview he had with Dodgers prospect Onelki Garcia.
• Robert Edwards Auctions shares a pic of a rare Jackie Robinson pennant that will be for sale in their auction next year.  They hold only 1 auction a year, and it always has the best material.

• Bill Shaikin tweeted some great news yesterday.

(twitter link)

• Carl Crawford is expected to be ready for Opening Day, via DJ Short at Hardball Talk.
• GCRL takes a look back at a 1971 Dodgers schedule.
• AEG (owner of the Kings, Galaxy, and the Staples Center) and eBay announce a global partnership, via Sports Business Digest.

If you are ever wondering what it looks like when two behemoths of industry decide to enter into a partnership, look no further than yesterday’s partnership between AEG and eBay Inc. The multi-year partnership, which spans across multiple eBay subsidaries and multiple AEG venues will begin in 2013.

• John Thorn writes about Baseball in Black America in the late 1800's.
• Sports Illustrated takes a look back at the 51 sports athletes to make it into The Simpsons.
• Watch Angry Bird's Star Wars

Video Link:

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Hunt Auctions: Willard Mulling Drawings of Leo Durocher & the Brooklyn Bum

Hunt Auctions is having a very busy month.  They had two different auctions running at the same time, and both of them are closing this week.

Still ongoing is their monthly internet sports memorabilia auction that closes tomorrow, and it includes an original Willard Mullin drawing that I had to share here.  See it below.  It is from 1948 and was published in the Sporting News.  It features Dodgers skipper Leo Durocher, who was recently reinstated as the manager of the ballclub.  He is drawn fielding a bunch of questions from eager reporters in his first press conference, but answers back with a "No Comment."  I guess he didn't get the memo that a press conference was for answering questions.

(auction link)

This is an original drawing that was in Hunt Auctions 9th Annual Louisville Slugger Museum auction that closed just a few days ago.  It is thought to be a Willard Mullin original, but has not been signed.  Nevertheless, I must say it has quickly become one of my favorites.  That mischievous look gets me every time.

(auction link)

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Meet Your 2013 Dodgers Coaching Staff

All of the news the Dodgers have been generating this off season has me excited.  I just can't wait to see what transpires over a full season of a Kasten/Guggenheim/Magic ownership.

With that said, say hello to the 2013 Dodgers coaching staff.  These are the folks who lead us.  As Ned Colletti said,

“All of these men have a passion for teaching and coaching.  They provide a vast array of experience and are well-respected with a proven track record.”  

He loves to lay it on thick, doesn't he?

Anyway, here they are:

Don Mattingly – Manager (third season)
Chuck Crim – Bullpen Coach (first season)
Trey Hillman – Bench Coach (third season)
Rick Honeycutt – Pitching Coach (eighth season)
Davey Lopes – First Base Coach (third season)
Mark McGwire – Hitting Coach (first season)
Tim Wallach – Third Base Coach (third season)
Ken Howell – Assistant Pitching Coach (first season, sixth on staff)
John Valentin – Assistant Hitting Coach (first season)
Manny Mota – Coach (34^th season)
Steve Yeager – Coach (second season)

There really aren't any surprises, eh?  Ken Howell moves up to be the Assistant Pitching Coach, and Chuck Crim is now the Bullpen Coach.  John Valentin comes in for his first Dodgers season as an Assistant Hitting Coach after spending last year with Albuquerque.  Of course, we all knew that Mark McGwire would be our main Hitting Coach.  For some detail about each individuals credentials check out the original Dodger press release, here.

So, there you have it.  Welcome your 2013 Dodgers coaching staff.

The pic above is from Jon SooHoo/ 2012 Dodgers.  It is of the entire Dodgers organization.  See more pics, here.

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Collection: Some Vintage T205 Brooklyn Dodgers Baseball Cards from 1911

I thought I'd take a look at my vintage card album and scan a few oldies.  Here are some T205 Brooklyn Superbas (Dodgers) cards.  These are little tobacco cards that were inserted within packs of various brands of American Tobacco Company products in 1911.  

There are a total of 220 cards in the set, and 15 Brooklyn cards to chase after.  Two players have two cards in the set, Cy Barger and Kaiser Wilhelm.  Unfortunately, I only have 5 of them in all, so I have a long way to go before I complete my set.

So far, my collection includes George Bell, Bill Bergen, Nap Rucker, Ed Lennox, and John Hummel.  These are all common players and would typically sell between $20 to $35 a piece in their current condition.  More likely on the low end when considering how many creases are evident.

As you can see, the reverse of the cards include a small advertisement and a player biography.  Click any pic to embiggen.

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Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 11/12/2012

Take a look at the field section in rightfield at Dodger Stadium.  The Dodgers have started some work at the stadium.  This photo was tweeted by DodgerBlues yesterday.

• I am glad to read that Evan at the formerly known New Mexico Fan Dodgers blog is planning to come back to blogging in a big way.  As the only Albuquerque resident Dodger blogger, I think he can provide a different look at the Dodgers; especially our prospects in AAA. The first thing you'll notice is that he has renamed the blog to "I Bleed Blue 2" and has a new website address.  Go and check it out.
• Night Owl Cards continues with his series of the Best Dodgers Cards Ever Made, #60 - #51.
• JP Hoornstra finds Hyun-Jin Ryu's Korean team website.  It's a must see.  Here's a link for the Hanwha Eagles Baseball Team website.

(twitter link)

• Chris Olds at Beckett makes note that Panini's Cooperstown set includes the very first card of the Hall's first elected female member.  See it at right.
• Jon Paul Morosi at Fox Sports writes of the Dodgers overseas plans.

Taken together, the investments are a dramatic and welcome shift, after the divorce of former owners Frank and Jamie McCourt drove the proud franchise into bankruptcy and forced general manager Ned Colletti to work with a cut-rate budget.

“Through all our challenges internationally in the last few years, we did maintain a good group that continued to scout and continued to be prepared in the event that we had the wherewithal to get involved,” Colletti told FOXSports.com in a Sunday telephone interview. “This is very rewarding for the people who stayed with this through the tough times, when they felt deep down that we didn’t have chances to sign players.

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Dodgers International Scouting Goes into Hyper-Drive

It's becoming quite clear that the Dodgers are going to continue to expend a significant amount of resources on the international market, and it makes quite a bit of sense when you think about it.

The American first-year player draft is highly competitive, and unless you under-perform by a great deal there is no chance of getting the top prospects America has to offer.  Heck, no matter how coveted a young player is, it is my hope that the Dodgers are never in the running to sign those players.  After all, that would mean that the Dodgers hit the toilet that season (i.e. last place in the league).

So, seeing that the American first-year player draft is not likely (hopefully) to be the place we can compete for the best prospects, we instead focus our attention to the areas were we can gain an equal footing.  Heck, with the kind of financial resources we now have, the Dodgers are in the process of positioning ourselves as the most knowledgeable and best destination point for foreign born ballplayers. 

You see, there is no foreign draft to lock the Dodgers into a position behind lesser performing teams.  We can use our might to identify the best players and sign them, and the only thing that stops us from hoarding every potentially great future star is a cap on the total dollars we can spend on young foreign born players per year.  

So, we spend like drunken children internationally.  It provides one of the few competitive advantages the Dodgers have over much of the league.

BTW, the Dodgers released more news today on the international front.  They have hired 6 new international scouts to cover Europe, Cuba, Latin America, Mexico, the Pacific Rim and Venezuela.  Per the Dodgers Press Release:

The Los Angeles Dodgers added experience to their international team of scouts with the signing of Pedro Avila, Gene Grimaldi, Patrick Guerrero, Pat Kelly, Jamey Storvick and Mike Tosar it was announced by Dodgers’ General Manager Ned Colletti.

The six scouts will serve under Bob Engle, who was hired by the Dodgers on November 1 as Vice-President of International Scouting.

Colletti also announced the hiring of Josh Bard as special assistant, player personnel and professional scouts Willie Fraser and Scott Groot.  Former Dodger third baseman Bill Mueller, who served as special assistant, player personnel, will become a full-time professional scout.

The six international scouts will cover the following areas—Avila will be coordinator of Venezuela operations, Grimaldi will be coordinator of European operations, Guerrero will be coordinator of Latin America, Kelly will be coordinator of the Pacific Rim, Storvick will be special assignment scout in the Pacific Rim and Tosar will be coordinator of Cuba and Mexico.

“The experience and international knowledge these scouts possess will benefit our organization immediately,” said Colletti.

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