Noooooooooo! -- Disney Buys LucasFilms (and Star Wars Franchise)

I'm not sure if this is good news or not.  Nevertheless, I went here to press the magic button. 

Disney has agreed to buy LucasFilms for $4B... that's $4,000,000,000.00.

Via Josh Wilding at ComicBookMoview.com:

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney stock on October 26, 2012, the transaction value is $4.05 billion, with Disney paying approximately half of the consideration in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing.

I guess the only good thing about this is that we will definitely see more Star Wars movies/television shows in the future.

Kathleen Kennedy, current Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will become President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, working directly with Disney's global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Ms. Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant. Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future.

UPDATE:
Don Iger and George Lucas make an official announcement, via youtube.

Video Link:

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Kershaw Has Bieber Fever- Teammates Make Fun of Him

Clayton Kershaw is a great pitcher, but his musical taste needs some work.

This happened last night. 

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Clayton is a Bieber-Maniac!  So, being the good teammates that AJ Ellis and Blake Hawksworth are, they decided to publicly make fun of him on twitter.  Check out the ribbing below.

It starts out with Ellis and Hawksworth poking fun at each other, but it soon escalates.

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After getting a little weird, they decide it's time to bag on Kersahaw.

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For some reason, I wouldn't doubt it.  Photo of Ellis' link is below. 

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2012 Leaf Metal Draft Baseball & Valiant- Dodgers Prospects Including Yasiel Puig

I just came across these Leaf Minor League Baseball card sets, and to be frank, I know very little about them.  Apparently, they released two different sets recently: Leaf Metal Draft and Leaf Valiant.  They both also appear to have similar checklist.  The main differences appear to be that they look very different form one another, and the Valiant set is scarcer overall.

Usually, I'm not a big prospect collector, but these two sets have me intrigued.

Why, you ask?

Well, these sets include the first Baseball of cards of Dodgers Cuban sensation Yasiel Puig!

Below is the Puig 2012 Leaf Metal Draft Baseball card with autograph.  BTW, all of the cards in both sets are autographed.

BA-YP1 Yasiel Puig SP

Here is the reverse of the card.

And here is the redemption card for the above Yasiel Puig cards that came in packs.  As you can see, a collector would get this in a pack and can redeem them for a yet unknown number of Puig autographed cards.

Here is a redemption for a Puig Valiant card.  Unfortunately, samples of the card have yet to hit the market. 

Yasiel Puig's remarkable stats from his first season in American Baseball are below.


The only other Dodgers in the two sets appear to be the Dodgers first and second draft picks in 2012.  If I missed anybody, please let me know.

BA-CS1 Corey Seager

Above is the Corey Seager's Metal Draft card, and below is his Valiant card.

Corey Seager's stats are below.

BA-JV1 Jesmuel Valentin

Above is the Jesmuel Valentin's Metal Draft card, and below is his Valiant card.

Check out Jesmuel's stats from his first season of professional Baseball below.

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Collection: 1998 Dodgers Police LAPD Baseball Card Set

Following up on my series of post focused on Dodgers LAPD police sets throughout the years, here are scans of the 1998 LAPD Police set.  To see those other police sets I have featured go here. As you may have noticed, I have skipped the 1997 set because it has somehow evaded me.  One of these days I will add it.  Unfortunately, that may take longer than expected.  Although these sets are far from scarce, they do not come up for sale very often since they don't sell for more than a few bucks a piece.

Below is a look at what the reverse of the cards look like.

As you can see, these cards were once a part of an uncut sheet.  I have (as carefully as I could) cut them apart in order to put them into sheets.  Click on any pic to embiggen.

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Some Winter Dodgers News- Billingsley, 3 Declined Options & Either on the Trading Block

We are not even a week after the end of the World Series and the Dodgers already are starting to make some news.  Here is a brief rundown on some recent events.

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Via Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times, we hear that Chad Billingsley is doing alright.  Yesterday, Chad pitched to some batters as was pain free.

Billingsley touched 94 mph with his fastball and threw an assortment of pitches, including his four-seamer, two-seamer, curveball and changeup. Billingsley threw 35 to 40 pitches.
This was Billingsley's second time throwing off a mound since he was injured. The first time was Friday.

"Very, very promising," Stewart said.

"Chad is a pretty subdued guy, but he was as excited as he could get."

Hopefully, elbow surgery will not be in his near future.

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The Dodgers declined 2013 options on Juan Rivera, Matt Treanor and Todd Coffey, via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA.

All I got to say is I'm gonna miss Misty May-Treanor.  Her association and constant rooting for the Dodgers was a bright spot in a otherwise miserable season.  I understand the Dodgers desire to bring up Tim Federowicz (T-Fed) as the backup catcher.  Still, can't we find a way to keep her and Matt in the fold?

(Pic Link: Orlando Sentinel)

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This was probably the most surprising news of the week.  Well, maybe not too surprising. 

Via MLB Trade Rumors, Buster Olney of ESPN tweeted that the Dodgers would consider trading Andre Ethier.

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Andre has always had the potential to be a huge superstar.  Unfortunately, he has shown that he is rather streaky at the plate, and just can't seem to hit against left-handers.  Via MLB Trade Rumors:

The 30-year-old Ethier hit .284/.351/.460 with 20 home runs in 2012. Despite that production, there would be many deterrents for teams that show interest. Ethier struggled mightily against left-handed pitching, triple-slashing just .222/.276/.330 against southpaws.

Maybe the recent rise of Yasiel Puig has the Dodger thinking that he has a future in the Dodgers outfield sooner rather than later.  Do the Dodgers look to resign Victorino for the short term as a placeholder for Puig, while trading Andre for a starting pitcher of a higher caliber?  After all, Puig looks like he'll compete for a spot in a year or two, and trading Andre now might garner a larger return than trading him later.  As for the other outfield spots, I think we all know that Matt Kemp isn't  going anywhere and Carl Crawford is just not tradable at this point in time.

Here is my Ethier White Whale card as he shows off his glum face

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Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 10/29/2012

Clayton and Ellen Kershaw accept the 2012 Roberto Clemente Award yesterday evening.  "(The Clemente Award) means more to me than any individual award I could ever achieve."  Pic via twitter @Dodgers.

• I guess there was some rioting in San Francisco after their championship win.  Check out the twitter hashtag #SFRiots for the lowdown.  While on Haight an impromptu band formed and played for happy fans.
• Jackie Robinson's daughter will be joining the Board of Directors of the Dodgers, via Bill Shaikin at the LA Times.

Sharon Robinson said she hoped the involvement of Dodgers ownership would help the Jackie Robinson Foundation secure funding for additional college scholarships as well as for a planned Jackie Robinson Museum in New York.

"We don't see it as a sports museum," she said. "We see it as a civil rights museum."

• Both Clayton Kershaw and Andre Ethier are finalist for a Gold Glove, via a Dodgers press release.

Ethier, 30, ranked second among National League right fielders with a .988 fielding percentage, committing just three errors in 146 games (142 starts) in right field this season. Ethier’s streak of 282 games (276 starts) from July 10, 2010-July 25, 2012 without an error was the second-longest active run among non-pitchers in baseball behind only Franklin Gutierrez and the second-longest errorless run by a Dodger outfielder behind only Brett Butler’s 306-game run from 1992-94.

Kershaw, 24, completed his second consecutive errorless season and has not committed an error since Aug. 1, 2010, a span of 76 games. The Texas native led the Majors with 11 pickoffs and has either led or tied for the National League lead in pickoffs in each of the last three seasons since 2010.

• Steve Dilbeck at the LA Times takes a look at "The Early Promise of Paco Rodriquez."

The take: You have to wear shades. Taken in the second round of the draft, Rodriguez — who we learned very quickly likes to go by Paco and not Steven — it’s been remarkably smooth sailing thus far.

He never appeared intimidated, around the club or on the field. Young, hard-throwing, left-handed relievers with nice command are rarer than a speechless Tommy Lasorda.

If he stays anywhere near on track, it’s difficult to imagine he won’t be back with the team next season at some point. Someone to look at down the road as a potential closer.

• Former Dodger Talk host, Ken Levine will be singing copies of his new book at the Grove in West Hollywood from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM tonight!  Go to his blog for more info.
• I just noticed this.  Sports Propaganda Art has a new print featuring Adrian Gonzalez in a Dodgers uniform.  Go here.  See it at right.
• Former Kings defenseman Jack Johnson lays it all down in his recent blog post concerning the NHL lockout.  You go, Jack MF'n Johnson!  

The concept that the owners are trying to dismantle existing contracts that they in good faith offered, signed, and committed to is appalling, unprofessional, and disgraceful. I negotiated my own contract, without an agent, with the confidence and belief that the owner offering me that contract operated by the same convictions and principals as I do. During the summer, the players offered to play through negotiations and the owners locked us out. We want to play hockey! Where is the honor? I’m ready to play and uphold my end of the deal!

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