From my understanding, this unusual Topps product was not suppose to officially be out until June, but packs appear to be showing up all over the place. Heck, even David Brown of Big League Stew founds some packs at a local Dick's Sporting Goods and couldn't help but make an impulse buy.
These are 3 inch cartoon-ish looking vinyl figurines of 28 of Baseball's biggest stars, and two Dodgers are included in the set - Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp.
Below is an example of a pack and the Adrian Gonzalez figurine.
And below is the Matt Kemp version. At first glance, they both appear to identical, but notice the placement of the gloves. They also have slightly different smiles.
According to David Brown, packs include one figurine and will cost about $6.99 a piece. Also, there appears to be numerous variations available. I recently saw a Pablo Sandoval figurine that is dressed like a panda. See that here. I am not aware of any Dodgers variations at this time.
In October, Dylan Hernandez of the Times did link Gonzalez with Kemp —
who had labrum surgery last winter — but nevertheless, people seem to
remain surprised that Kemp is having power issues at the start of this
season. In 2011, Gonzalez hit one home run in April — the same as Kemp this year.
He leads all rookie pitchers with 1.0 WAR, and is tied with the thus-far sensational position players Evan Gattis and A.J. Pollock. Sunday night, Hyun-Jin Ryu
completed six innings against the San Francisco Giants, and though he
took a loss, Ryu induced weak contact from a line-drive team. If the
national audience was paying attention, they saw perhaps the best rookie
in the league.
I don't like reading this at all. One time Dodger, Otis Nixon has been arrested after police found drugs in his car, via Mike Oz at Big League Stew. I've always liked him as a player and had hoped that he had been able to get past his demons. The story suggest that the drugs may have belonged to his son. Nevertheless, drug addiction is an extremely difficult disease, and addicts need and deserves every opportunity to get better. I hope as time goes on more understanding minds prevail on this issue. I firmly believe that addicts should be treated for addiction instead of incarcerated (and having the proverbial keys thrown away).
Following up on Pedro Guerrero managing the Admirals, a Carolina man who may be the biggest Guerrero fan in the world recently sent him 1,300 versions of his cards to keep and give out to fans, via Matt O'Donnell at the San Jose Mercury News.
Lasorda also participated in a special Food Court Wars tasting event. The Food Network show stopped at Dow Diamond Monday to tape a segment for its Food Court Wars show expected to air in October. The show will award the winning restaurant free space in a mall food court … in this case the Midland Mall.
“I’m 85, so I’ve eaten a lot of meals … a lot of great meals,” Lasorda said. “I guess I’m an expert. But to me, any meal is a great meal.”
Jon Rosen of the LA Kings Insider (the official team blog) has a bunch of bullet points detailing the future hockey game at Dodger Stadium.
Via Chisun Media, "MLB's Choo, Ryu Appear in Korean Baseball Film."
Following up the news that Kings hockey would be played at Dodger Stadium in 2014, I thought I would add that tonight is Game 4 of the first round playoffs between the Kings and St. Louis Blues.
I will be there ready to scream and cheer in my usual section - Section 315. After watching two straight loses on the road for the first two games of the series, it was great to see the team eek out a victory on Saturday. The games has been as close and tight as I imagined. In fact, they border on exciting and nerve-racking at the same time.
In three games a total of only 7 goals have been scored by both team combined, and I suspect tonight's game will be another low-scoring affair.
So, please cross your fingers and cheer on with me.
Back in April I had written about the likelihood that a hockey game would be played at Dodger Stadium next hockey season. Well, it is now official. The NHL has made an official announcement today. Via a NHL press release:
The 2012 Stanley Cup® champion Los Angeles Kings will play host to the Anaheim Ducks in a regular-season NHL® game outdoors at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014, at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET, the National Hockey League announced today.
Part of the previously-announced 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series™, a group of games planned for outdoor locations next season, the event will be the first outdoor regular-season NHL game played in the U.S. west of the Mississippi River, the southern-most outdoor NHL game ever and the first-ever in California.
“With their meeting in the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series, the Ducks and the Kings will write the next chapter in the exciting story of NHL hockey in Southern California,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “At a venue that represents so much glorious sports history, this match-up of Stanley Cup champions will raise our outdoor initiatives to bold new heights. We know the game will be a treat for our fans, and we thank the Ducks, the Kings, Coors Light, Dodger Stadium and the Los Angeles Dodgers for bringing it to life.”
Sign up for info here:
Further
details on this special NHL event, including national broadcast
information and specifics on ticket opportunities for the season-ticket
holders of each team, will be released shortly. Fans interested in
receiving more information on ticketing, news and special offers around
the event should register at www.NHL.com/2014LosAngeles.
For a fan like myself who loves both Baseball and hockey, this is very exciting news. Also, as a Kings season ticket holder, I'm hoping we get priority seating for the event.
“Dodger Stadium has been home to many unique and special moments over the past 51 years,” said Los Angeles Dodgers President Stan Kasten. “We'll add another first in 2014 when the Dodger Stadium infield turns to ice as we host our first National Hockey League game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks.”
Kings President of Business Operations, Luc Robitaille had this to say:
“This is a credit to our fans and the amazing support they have shown to us and the NHL these past few years. This will be a sporting event like no other that has ever been seen in Southern California and we are proud to be a part of it.”
For those wondering about whether an outdoor game in Southern California is even possible, keep in mind that the Kings played an exhibition hockey game in Las Vegas in 1991 in the summer heat, and the rink held up fine.
Below is a video of the announcement from the NHL.
Has Dee Gordon returned to the form we all saw when he first came up to the Dodgers a couple of years ago? Let's hope so. Pic above is Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2013.
Maybe he was just implementing what he learned over the last two seasons
or maybe he was driven more by being passed over for a call-up the
first time Hanley got hurt. Maybe it was both. Whatever the case may be,
Gordon’s first 100-plus at-bats at Triple-A Albuquerque said, “I’m done
with this level, can I come back up now?”
This might be the dumbest idea I've read. Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports suggest that the Dodgers should acquire the services of Mike Scioscia by trading to the Angels some prospects. Wha....?
Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts, "Ground beef: Giants score 33% more runs than Dodgers, credited with 100% more grit."
Via the Shorpy photo blog, "Washington baseball, 1924." The broadcasting cage at Griffith Stadium
in the early days of commercial radio. Harris & Ewing glass
negative.
Manny Mota, Lefty O’Doul and Eddie Feigner were elected upon receiving
the highest number of votes in balloting conducted during the month of
April 2013 by the membership of the Baseball Reliquary. The three
electees will be formally inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals in a
public ceremony on July 21 at the Donald R. Wright Auditorium in the
Pasadena Central Library, Pasadena, Calif.
Take a look inside the new Dodgers clubhouse with Jerry Hairston as his
teammates share their thoughts on the Dodgers-Giants rivalry.
Back by popular demand will be Panini's Father's Day in-store hobby shop promotion. At participating card shops throughout the country, Panini has made available to them some limited edition packs to give out to customers just for stopping by.
For its 2013 Father’s Day offering, Panini America has created a 44-card
base set that includes 22 Rookie Cards devoted to all four major sports
that are sequentially numbered to 499. But it’s the nostalgia-rich
insert lineup that likely will generate the most buzz from longtime
collectors. From Team Pinnacle (15 cards) to Studio (24 cards) to Museum Collection (nine cards) to the continuing Elite Series,
there’s a distinct throwback feel to Panini America’s 2013 Father’s Day
set that will remind many collectors (fathers, sons and daughters
alike) of their fond collecting roots.
There will also be randomly inserted autographed and memorabilia relic inserts cards, as well.
If you are an older collector then you are probably familiar with the card designs Panini will be using. They harken back to the days when the hobby was on everybody's mind. The featured pics are of Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw on the old 1991 Donruss/ Leaf Studio design. Panini will make more preview pics available as we near Father's Day.
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