Blog Kiosk: 9/20/2014 - Dodger Links - Some Odds and Ends

Clayton Kershaw wasn't masterful yesterday afternoon, but he didn't have to be.  The Dodgers scored six runs before he even got on the mound to pitch the game, and fourteen runs total to overmatch the Cubs 14 to 5. 

With the win Kershaw recorded his league leading 20th win of the season, and has no doubt made an undisputed claim to this season's Cy Young award.  The photo above is of Kershaw mid-pitch at Wrigley Field, via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2014.  Go here to check out more pics from yesterday.

The Dodgers lead over the Giants in the Western Division increased to 3.5 games, and their magic number is now at six.  BTW, the Dodgers also clinched, at minimum, a playoff wild card berth.  Now, below are some links to check out.

• Via Mark Saxon at ESPNLosAngeles.com, "Dodgers skip wild-card celebration."

“It’s a great accomplishment and an honor to know you’re going to be playing baseball when the regular season is over, but we know we’ve got a big series coming up,” catcher A.J. Ellis said. “Hopefully, in that series we can celebrate something really special.”

• Via Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider, "Matt Kemp is deserving of NL Comeback Player of the Year."  I don't disagree.
• Via Mark Saxon at ESPNLosAngeles.com, "Ryu's next start could be in postseason."

“I don’t think there’s a big difference which game I pitch in, whether it’s the playoffs or the regular season,” Ryu said through an interpreter. “If I’m healthy enough to pitch, I’m going to pitch.” 

• Via MLB's official historian John Thorn, "Fame & Fandom."  He writes about some of the more famous fans to ever watch the game; including Brooklyn Dodger booster Hilda Chester.
• Via Jesse Rogers at ESPNChicago.com, "Barney relishing chance with winner."

“It was weird at first. It’s just a different atmosphere. We expect to win, and if we don’t, we don’t cry about it, we get up the next day and try to win that day. It’s kind of a fun experience.” 

• The Dodgers ranked #61 in ESPN The Mag's Ultimate North American franchise standings for 2014.  Check out the list here.  The LA Kings are ranked #5.  The Lakers are #87.  The Clippers are #59.  The Angels are #15.  The Ducks are #2.
• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Lingering soreness keeps Uribe out of lineup."

"He felt something in the same place that he's been going back and forth with for six to eight weeks," said Mattingly. "It's nothing he's not used to. He came in ready to go, but Stan [Conte, VP medical services] wanted to give him a day."

• Gross!  Via Shawn Anderson at the Hall of Very Good, "Would I Like Some Cotton Candy? No Thanks."  

Not that any of you have gone to a baseball game with me (and if you wanted to take me…I’m totally down), but I never purchase food or drink that has been paraded around the park by a vendor.  Why you ask?

This.

I swear you'll be disgusted by the photo he shares.

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We are Playoff Bound! WooHoo!

It's now official.  The Dodger will be playing October playoff Baseball.

This afternoon, the Dodgers defeated the Chicago Cubs in glorious fashion and clinched, at minimum, a tie for a wild card playoff berth.  Then, with the Milwaukee Brewers defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates this evening the Dodgers now claim an official berth. 

Of course, the "Boys in Blue" are not content with just the wild card.  They want to win the division.  So, you shouldn't expect the Dodgers to let up now. 

Per Don Mattingly via Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times:

"If you're able to do that, you've at least given yourself a chance to play when there's only going to be 10 teams left," Manager Don Mattingly said before the Milwaukee outcome. "If that's your only way, you're good with it. But you feel like winning the division is really what you're here to accomplish."

Clayton Kershaw seconded that notion, via Bill Plunkett on twitter:

Kershaw (cont): "It’d be kind of a letdown to get just the wild card ... Maybe not something to celebrate, but maybe just a pat on the back"
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) September 19, 2014

Heck, Matt Kemp has an even bigger goal in mind, via Bill Plunkett on twitter:

#Dodgers Matt Kemp on maybe clinching wild card: "We have bigger plans than that. I'd still like to get the best record in NL." 1 GB Nats
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) September 19, 2014

The Dodgers now have a magic number of seven games for a West Division Championship, and with the Giants currently losing 5 to 0 to the Padres at the time of this writing that number could drop to six.  As it now looks, the Dodgers may very well be able to secure a Western Division trophy against the Giants at home at the beginning of next week.  How great would it be to celebrate that with the Gaints watching from the dugout?

Graphic above via SportsNet LA on twitter

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2014 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball - The Dodger Base Cards

Topps just released a brand new Baseball card set and it's an minor league version of their Heritage card set they put out in March.  It is called 2014 Topps Heritage Minor League and it includes some of the best and brightest prospects in the game.  Go here for a complete checklist.  As you can see, this set borrows the vintage 1965 Topps Baseball card design.

There are seven Dodger prospects in the 200 card base set.  Check them all out below.  Of note, Jesmuel Valentin is no longer a part of the Dodger franchise.  He was traded to the Phillies a few weeks back as a part of the Roberto Hernandez trade.  Also, this will be the last time we see a Dodger prospect wearing an Isotope uniform on a Baseball card.  The Dodgers recently purchased an ownership stake in the Oklahoma City RedHawks AAA club, and will begin playing there next year.

BTW, there are Short Printed Variation cards of Julio Urias and Joc Pederson, but I have yet to see them.  I hope to have photos of those cards to share next week.

#17 Zach Lee                                      #22 Corey Seager

#55 Julio Urias                                 #76 Jesmuel Valentin

#127 Chris Anderson                                 #147 Tom Windle

#160 Joc Pederson

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Blog Kiosk: 9/19/2014 - Dodger Links - A Dodger Win from Behind

The Dodgers came in to Wrigley Field with all of the motivation in the world.  They had ten games left to play in the long season and with just a few more wins they can take the division.  Unfortunately, it took longer than desired for them to finally put their game faces on - unlike Matt Kemp as evidenced in the photo taken above by Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2014.  He joined a young Dodger fan before the game for a "selfie scowl" that I'm sure the little tyke will share with his friends.  Go here to check out more pics by Jon taken yesterday.

Things were looking bleak for the Dodgers in the early going.  They quickly fell behind to the Cubs, 4 to 1, going into the seventh inning.  Zack Greinke could not hold back the young Chicago bats as they knocked out nine hits against our second ace.  Then, the Dodger bats woke up.  In the seventh inning they knocked out three singles, two doubles, and scored five runs to take a lead they would not relinquish.  

The Dodgers 8 to 4 victory drops their magic number to 8 games and increases their lead over the Giants to 2.5 games.  Clayton Kershaw pitches this afternoons game against old friend Edwin Jackson in hopes of attaining his league leading 20th win.  Check out some more links below:

• Via Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA, "Puig makes adjustment to the adjustment."

But sometime within the last week or so somebody finally got to Puig. Whether it was Mark McGwire or John Valentin or Don Mattingly is anybody’s guess, but the message finally sunk in and Puig moved in closer to the plate – and the results have been immediate and staggering. 

• Topps has just release a retro 1969 Dodger team poster (numbered to only 99 copies) on their website.  Go here to check it out.  There is also a parallel version numbered to only 10 copies available.  The "1 of 1" version is already sold out.  Check out the more common poster on the right, priced at $29.99.
• Via Ron Shah at FanGraphs, "Dodgers’ Lefty Tom Windle Shows Power Stuff."
• Via Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider, "J.P. Howell nears single-season Dodger reliever ERA record."
• Via KTVU.com a Dodger fan was able to save the life of a young Giants fan with a bone marrow transplant.
• Via Jeff Sullivan at Fan Graphs, "Zack Greinke’s Turned Into an Actual Hitter."

But all the while, as Greinke’s numbers have bounced around, he’s genuinely improved. And he’s improved to the point where, now, Greinke might be a half-decent hitter, and I don’t mean relative to pitchers this time.

• Via All About Cards, Topps announced that the 2014 Finest Rookie Auto Redemption #1 will be Sandy Koufax.  So, if you pulled that card wondering who it might be then you are in luck. I will be sure to share a photo once they are sent out by Topps. 

Rookie Autograph Redemption

#1 Sandy Koufax

(via a redemption card)

 

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Nothing but Great Oddball Dodger Memorabilia at ITPC

If you know me then you know that I love the oddball stuff.  There's nothing like cruising around eBay in search of an unusual pin or unique porcelain statue to put on my shelf.  Those funky looking collector plates or vintage hardly-used ashtrays are my favorite kind of finds at garage sales or flea markets.  Heck, I even have a couple of children's Dodger themed dolls in my collection.  So, when something strange and great shows up in an online auction I figured I should show them here.

The current Inside the Park Collectibles auction includes this mid-50's Brooklyn Dodger World Championship doll on auction.  I've only seen a handful of these over the past decade.

I actually have one of these in my collection, but I can't display it.  Long story short, the eBay description for the doll said it had a musty smell to it (as full disclosure), but I figured it couldn't be that bad.  Well, I was wrong.  It was worse than bad, so it current sits wrapped in an air-tight plastic bag and hidden away in a cardboard box.

The doll below, on the other hand, is as mint as you can get.

(Auction Link)

This next doll is what I see in my nightmares. 

I ain't kidding... That is one scary looking creature.

The auction description claims it's from Brooklyn 1950's, but I think it's some kind of voodoo hex doll made by a Giants fan in Manhattan.  It was no doubt created to jinx our beloved "Boys in Blue."  Still, I have to seriously consider bidding on it.

(Auction Link)

This next item is not a doll, but it's just as odd.  Below is a circa 1950's cardboard visor with the famed Brooklyn Dodger "Bum" emblazoned on it.  Awesome!  If it wasn't already priced at over $100 bucks I'd be all over it.

(Auction Link)

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Blog Kiosk: 9/18/2014 - Dodger Links - Some Dodger Odds and Ends

I won't bother with a recap of Wednesday's game 'cause.... well... it was horrible... and embarrassing... and everything you might expect from a game at Coors Field.  Maybe it was the blistering 85 degree partly cloudy weather (I'd kill for that right now) or the high altitude air in Denver, but the Dodgers just did not come out to play.

That being said, let's just take a step back and enjoy the moment.  We have ten games left in the season, and as Jon Weisman of Dodger Insider noted we only have to go 3-3 in games not pitched by Kershaw or Greinke to win the division (assuming, of course, that they win those games). We are in a great position, and I firmly believe that they've got this. 

So, enjoy the photograph above of a couple of Dodger youngsters enjoying an evening out in Chicago.  Joc Pederson and Miguel Rojas got hazed along with other rookies by the Dodger veterans, and they were sure to enjoy every second of it - as they should.  Go here to check out more pics of this season hazing.  The pic above is via Miguel Rojas on twitter.  BTW, Blackhawks suck!

The Dodgers lead over the Giants is down to 2.0 games and their magic number to win the West stays at 9 games.  The magic number for a playoff spot (wild card berth) is down to four games.  Check out some more links below:

• Via Bill Plunkett at the OC Register, "Dodgers, Frias reach Rocky Mountain low."

“I look at it as one inning, honestly, and it didn’t go good,” Mattingly said of Frias’ Coors Field nightmare. “We’re going to look at the body of work and he doesn’t have a huge body of work. He hasn’t had anything like this obviously. But he’s given up some runs and bounced back from it.

“I think he’s a kid who’ll bounce back, honestly. Hopefully he’ll put it behind him. There’s not a whole lot you can do about outings like this. It’s easier for me to say that than for him to have to deal with it. But I think he’ll bounce back.”

• I can't wait for this to come out.  Via Jeff Passan at Yahoo Sports, "Filmmaker Ken Burns vows true portrait of 'most important person in the history of baseball'" - on Jackie Robinson.

“It has to do with the laziness of our media culture, the ability for superficiality to trump depth. For us to even call someone a hero without acknowledging other sides is the opposite of what a hero is. The Greeks will tell you what defines heroism is a war between their very obvious strengths and their possibly equal weaknesses. We’re perpetually disappointed in our media culture because we assume perfection and incorrectly label heroes someone that does something out of the ordinary. But Jackie Robinson is the very definition of a hero, a vey complicated person who’s struggling in the larger stage forced upon him to deal with content of character.”

• Panini America has shared some preview pics from their upcoming 2014 Immaculate Baseball set.  This is super high-end set.  Check out the Hanley Ramirez and Yasiel Puig cards below.  Go here to check out more preview pics.  

There is one thing I find a bit disconcerting about this set.  The preview pics include a Satchel Paige game-used jersey relic card that appears to use a Kansas City Monarchs jersey.  My first thought is that there can't possibly be many of those in existence (if any at all), so the cost to purchase that jersey would be astronomical - like in the tens of thousands, or more.  Considering that cost and the recent game-used jersey scandal that is sending dealers to the federal penitentiary, I have to wonder if it's even real. 

• Yesterday I noted that Jake Peavy was thinking about Dee Gordon while in the shower.  Apparently, Dee sent him a special text.

Dee Gordon has a great sense of humor, texted Peavy a picture of him in towel holding shampoo.
— Alex Pavlovic (@AlexPavlovic) September 17, 2014

• This is a helpful guide.  Zach Helfand at the LA Times writes, "Do's and Don'ts for baseball autograph seekers."
• I can't think of anything more worse than this.  There will be a reality show called 'Hockey Wives' and LA Kings captain Dustin Brown's wife will be in it, via Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy.

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