Happy Memorial Day

Weekly Blog Kiosk 5/25/2008

Let's win one for the kid.

• Check out this bat twirling bear. Video here. (Hat Tip: ShysterBall)
• This is the best stadium give-away ever. The Saint Paul Saints will be giving away a limited edition "Bobble-Feet" at today's game featuring one of the funniest stories to come out of Minnesota last year. Senator Larry Craig will be forever enshrined in Baseball lore.

  A Saints press release notes that, "It doesn't matter if your tapping style is done with a 'wide stance.'"

  (Hat Tip: Atrios) Update: The Larry Craig bobblefeets are already selling for big bucks on eBay.
  
• Terry Tiffee instead of Andy LaRoche? Rob of 6-4-2 says it ain't right. On the other hand, MSTI takes credit for starting a Free Terry Tiffee campaign.
  
• Erin of Beantown West was in Chicago to take in a White Sox game and ran into Carlton Fisk Night.
• Just when you've heard everything. A minor leaguer was traded for a bunch of bats.

  For now, Odom is headed to the Laredo Broncos of the United League. They got him Tuesday from the Calgary Vipers of the Golden Baseball League for a most unlikely price: 10 Prairie Sticks Maple Bats, double-dipped black, 34-inch, C243 style.

  (Hat Tip: Baseball Card Blog)
  
• Orel talks poker and Baseball.

  A lot of the skills are transferable; the preparation, the ability to control your emotions, the ability to understand when the moment is, the ability not to make a snap decision, the ability to understand limping or pitching around a guy, and the ability to fold and intentionally walk somebody. Going after a guy because that is the only thing you can do, because runners are at second and third and you only have a one-run lead, and the blinds are up to 4,000 and you only have 16,000 in chips; you know, I’ve got to go with my best pitch, I’ve got to all in — those kind of comparisons.

  (Hat Tip: Dodgerfan)
• Just another gimmick card. Topps Bowman has a new insert set featuring autographed cards of 20 Major League scouts, including a mystery scout who would rather remain anonymous.

Thank You Piazza

I loved Mike Piazza. He was one of my favorite Dodgers in the 90's. As I am sure you've all already heard Mike Piazza has decided to hang it up. He is officially retiring from Baseball. The only question that remains is what cap will he be wearing at Cooperstown. TCPalm write Ray McNulty suggest that he forever belongs in Dodger Blue.

It's too easy to forget, because it now seems like so long ago, that Piazza was a Hollywood star, as much an LA sports celebrity as anyone who played for the Lakers. He was the biggest name on the Dodgers' marquee — at a time when the Dodgers still were as big in LA as the Yankees are in New York.

He enjoyed it. He embraced it. He never wanted to leave it.

And it was wrong that he was forced to go.

I say this as someone who covered both the Mets and the Dodgers in the 1990s, as someone who covered Piazza on a daily basis in LA and enjoyed an amicable working relationship with him:

He never should've been a Met, never should've had that chance.

Piazza should've been a Dodger for life.

....

And for all he did as a Dodger, he should go in — to the Hall of Fame — wearing a cap with an "LA" logo.

I fully concur. It pains me every time I think about that trade to Florida and it hurts even more that he might be going into the Hall of Fame with another cap on his head.

Vintage Dodger Photos

Every sports collector has their own niche. Some folks like modern cards with its thick card-stock and shiny gloss or vintage cards of players we read about in books. Others, however, prefer memorabilia like bats (such as Dodger collector Mark in Washington who I interviewed a few weeks ago here), pennants or autographs.

The most unusual type of collectible to recently become popular are vintage Baseball snapshots taken by everyday regular fans. This is a niche collector Dan Bretta enjoys. Check out his photoalbum here featuring Dodger snapshots from 1937 to 1941. Below is a photo from Spring Training in Florida in 1937.
As I was going through his online album I came across numerous photos featuring a Peterman and Claassen. (See the pic above) Who are those guys? I searched various databases and could not find any reference to players with those names being connected to the Dodgers or Baseball. Sure, I know who Manush is. That's Heinie Manush the Hall of Famer who had his last great year with the Dodgers in 1937. To the right in the picture above is Luke Hamlin who played in Brooklyn for five years- winning a career high 20 games for the Dodgers in 1939. The mystery still remains though. Who are Peterman and Claassen? Well, Dan helpfully put up a snippet of a news article that solves it all. Check it out below.
Wow. How great is that? Peterman and most likely Claassen are hardcore fans. They were able to follow the team to Florida (or Cuba as some of the pics suggest) to hang out and work out with the team. How great would it be to be able to do that.

Hat Tip: VBCF:

DeWitt is the Toast of LA and Sikeston, MO.

Blake DeWitt has been a great surprise this season. So much so that he is featured in two of LA's papers today. Check out the LA Times story and Press-Telegram story for some background about his small town roots.

UPDATE: I missed this one. Diamond Leung of the Press Telegram also has a Blake DeWitt story out today.

Card of the Week: Hudler & Fielder

I just can't get it together. Once again I missed a "Card of the Week" last week so I will make it up today by posting 2 cards. If you haven't noticed yet I love the weird and offbeat cards. There are only so many photos of a guy taking a swing I can look at. Give me a player picking his nose or a slugger lowering his guard to take a rest on a beach chair while being serenaded by the Famous Chicken any day. Below is the very rotund Cecil Fielder in just that situation as he rest his bones for the camera.
The card below comes from the newest Dodger blog to come across my screen, Fire Ned Colletti Now. This writer makes his grievances known to all. He's not happy with the Dodger front office and he's certainly not happy with the moves Colletti has made since joining the Dodgers. What really endears me to this site, though, is that he dislikes Rex Hudler as much as I do. How that guy ever got into broadcasting I will never know. He is unwatchable.

Nice to Get a Victory

Last nights win was a perfect antidote to the lackluster showing our team displayed this weekend against our regional rivals, the Anaheim Angels. I still have not been able to put into words how disappointed I was in those games. It's like being kicked around by a younger sibling after years of being the master of the house. Now the kid is all grown up.

Anyway, beating the Reds has put me at ease. Sure, our starter -our #1 pitcher Brad Penny- did not instill much confidence. He consistently got into trouble by giving up 5 runs on 9 hits while walking 4 batters. Fortunately, Bronson Arroyo was just as bad. He gave 5 runs in 5 innings of work while giving up 9 hits and walking 3. By the time the ninth inning came around the Dodgers and Reds were tied at 5.

At the top of the ninth inning Saito quickly disposed of the Reds- 1, 2, 3. The Reds could not do the same against the Dodgers. In fact, an evening filled with errors and mistakes finally unraveled and doomed the Reds in the ninth inning.

Russell Martin hit a ground ball to the shortstop who threw wildly to first base. The ball sailed into the dugout and Martin ended up at second base. Kent grounded out to the right side of the infield allowing Martin to advance to third base with just one out.

Then, Dusty Baker did something crazy. With Loney and Kemp up next he chose to walk both intentionally to get at Dewitt with the bases loaded. I guess he figured that, given his choices, he was better off facing Dewitt and Hu rather than Loney and Kemp.

Dusty's mistake was our gain. Dewitt had been 5 for 5 in bases loaded situations this season and he did not disappoint. He slapped a single to the left side and Russell Martin walked across the plate easily. Our young hero has certainly been a huge bright spot this season.

Spring Training in May

I had a choice this past Saturday. Actually, I had several choices. The Dodgers were behind the Orange Curtain this weekend for an interleague series against the Angels in Anaheim. Since my home base is just a 15 minute traffic-free drive from Anaheim going to the series seemed as natural as fish in water. At the same time, though, an unusual Baseball event was taking place in Long Beach that promised to be very interesting. The Chinese National Baseball team was playing an exhibition game against the Long Beach Armada during their leagues pre-season. As you may know, Steve Yeager is the Armada coach and with the Olympics around the corner seeing the Chinese National team now might be an event to remember.

I was torn. Then I realized that Saturday could potentially be a doubleheader as the Dodgers were playing a day game and the Armada game was that evening. Unfortunately, since I had other activities to attend to I could only choose one or the other. I could not do both. So, I decided to stick with potential history and went to the independent league exhibition game.
Above and below is some of the pre-game activities that included Steve Yeager handing off a bouquet of flowers.
Below is the Chinese National team lining for pre-game introductions.Here is the first pitch of the game below. The Chinese team started off strong as they scored 4 runs in the 1st inning. Excitement was high on their side. Their number four hitter whacked a 3 run bases clearing double over the head of the centerfielder to get the scoring started. The Armada, on the other hand, looked very shaky. They committed 2 errors in the 1st and numerous other errors throughout the game. They dropped balls and threw wildly as I started to feel embarrassed for the team. I found out later that this was a pre-pre-season game. The Armada only recently started practicing for the season which starts in about a month.
By the time of the last out the Chinese team had outlasted the Long Beach Armada 8 to 6. Overall, I was impressed with the Chinese team. They handled all of the routine plays and played good fundamental Baseball. They might not be a highly skilled team, but I suspect within a decade or so we may be seeing a influx of Chinese players into the Major Leagues. Above is the Chinese National team helmet that comes complete with vents. They are the strangest looking things I've seen in awhile.

See the rest of my photos from the game in my photoalbum here.

Blog Kiosk 5/18/08

I refuse to write anything about a recently indicted former Giant.

• A Must Read: Harball Times writer Alex Eisenberg does a full analysis on Clayton Kershaw. (Hat Tip: Dodger Thoughts)

  After running through Kershaw's mechanics, injury risk, overall stuff and numbers, we can now answer the question: Is Clayton Kershaw worth the hype? The answer is yes...for the most part. Kershaw has a couple of red flags, but pitchers who seem to have a good head on their shoulders, have an athletic build, possess two pitches that rate as plus to plus-plus and display clean mechanics are of a rare breed.

• Perry Lee Barber, a female professional umpire, has a blog and recently wrote a wonderful Mothers Day tribute. (Hat Tip: LoveMyTeam.com)
• Erin at Beantown West is holding the Dodgers feet to the fire as she works on the making sure the Dodgers keep to their promise of staying green.
  
• There sure are a whole bunch of these "Top 10" type of list on the internet. Here are a few I ran into recently. Top 10 Booties in Beach Volleyball. Top 12 Baseball Traditions That Should be Revived. Top 14 Tailgaters Who Annoy the Crap Out of You.
• Dodger fans crack me up sometimes. Below is a video of Houston Astros slugger Carlos Lee conducting the bleacher seat fans while they serenade him. Hilarious.
  
  YouTube Link: pupkin12:
  
• Minnesota Twins reliever Pat Neshek is a Baseball card collector and has a website promoting his love of the hobby. He shares some tips about getting autos from other Major League athletes. Unfortunately, Pat recently received some bad news about a torn ligament in his elbow.
  
• The Dodger blogroll just keeps getting larger. Say hello to Dodgers Homeplate.
• This is just great. Check it out.
  MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.
  

eBay Buy: A Victorian Trade Card

My favorite cards to collect are Victorian era Baseball themed trade cards. They date from about the 1870's to the 1890's and can be very scarce. As I had written previously,

It became one of America's early fads and collecting crazes. They started out as business/ advertising cards given away to customers. The name of the establishment would be printed on the front with a simple design around the edges. Soon the designs became more ornate and customers started collecting them to put into scrapbooks. This started the age of Victorian scrapbooking in America.

Below is a trade card i picked up on eBay a couple of weeks ago. I had been searching for ages for this particular card. It features an afternoon Base Ball game with the crowd in the background. The umpire always fearful of a wild throw sits comfortably inside a birdcage style cage to protect him from danger. I can imagine sitting on the sidelines with an afternoon meal watching the drama unfold before me.
I can never get enough of these inserted autographed cards. They just look great. Below is a Paul LoDuca 2003 Donruss auto card. Since LoDuca's slide from superstar catcher to a "juicing" has-been his cards have become very affordable. I paid 99 cents for this one. The shipping alone cost three times as much as the card.

Giant Troubles

Well, it appears the fall and folly of the SF Giants is about to reach a tipping point. Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball writes that Peter McGowan, head of the ownership group, will be stepping down shortly. Shysterball thinks that Brian Sabean is headed out the door too. He suggest our old friend DePodesta as GM.

But what else is he going to say? His champion -- Magowan -- is being pushed aside, and I'd bet my second born (my firstborn just learned how to fetch beer from the fridge so she's currently indispensable) that Sabean's butt is going to be on the unemployment line before the All-Star break.

Hat Tip: ShysterBall:

What A Way To End A Losing Streak

Last Night the Dodgers scratched and clawed to garner a well earned and much needed win against the Milwaukee Brewers. This victory ended their most recent losing streak that saw them lose five straight.

Things were looking bleak early on as Derek Lowe gave up three quick runs in the 2nd inning as a result of two consecutive hits by Parra and Kendall. He finished the evening having given up four earned runs while striking out six.

The Dodger offense started off slow. Blake Dewitt homered in the 5th inning. A fielding error by Fielder gave the Dodgers another two runs to bring the Blue Crew to within one run. By the 9th inning the Brewers still held the lead by a score of 4 to 3.

This is the time when old Dodger star "Game Over" Gagne would come in and clean house for his new team. Fortunately, his poor season so far has relegated him to bench as the Brewers did not want him pitching for a third day in a row. Instead, former Dodger Guillermo Mota came in to try to close the door.

Dewitt came up first in the 9th inning and grounded out. Delwyn Young batted in place of Hu and fought to gain a walk. This was probably the key to the inning. His at-bat appeared to rattle Mota as he took the count full and fouled off numerous pitches. Ethier was next as he batted for the pitcher Broxton. He singled sharply down the right field line. Then, much maligned outfielder Juan Pierre, who had already recorded an RBI in the 7th inning, banged a deep drive to the the left-centerfield alley to score both Young and Ethier. The Dodgers now lead for the first time in the game, 5 to 4. Juan Pierre, no doubt the MVP for the evening, had three hits and 3 RBI's. He is now batting a healthy .293 for the season.

Saito was able to get the job done as he earned his 6th save of the year. Smiles were everywhere to be seen. Saito was smiling. Torre was smiling. Juan Pierre was smiling.

Bobby Valentine Documentary Tonight

Former Dodger, Bobby Valentine, is in a new ESPN documentary about Bobby and the team he manages the Chiba Lotte Marines. It should be a fun show. It's on ESPN2 tonight at 6:00 PST (9:00 EST). Below is a promo video.


Video Link: ESPN:

An Unassisted Triple Play

Asdrubal Cabrera snags an unassisted triple play. It happened so fast it's easy to miss. Check out the video here from ESPN. ESPN then does a long analysis of the event below.



Video Link: ESPN:

UPDATE: I ran across an usual signed ball that is very pertinent to yesterdays unassisted triple play. Below is Seth Swirsky's signed Baseball featuring the signatures of all 13 players (not including Cabrera) to achieve an unassisted triple play. This has to be one of the rarest odd-ball signed Baseballs in existence. On top of that, he also has the glove Jimmy Cooney used to perform the unassisted triple play in 1927. Check it out here. Woops! I think I got this wrong. His ball has only the signatures of the 4 of the players: Furcal, Valentin, Tulowitzski and Valverde. It's still a great item nonetheless. Website Link: Seth.com:

Down Goes Furcal

Our team spark plug is down and out for at least another 8 days. Rafael Furcal has been placed on the DL retroactive to May 6. That means the earliest he can come back is May 21 against Cincinnati. This is the same type of injury that laid him out late last season. As some of us know a lower back injury has the ability to sap all the life out of you. Doing simple task like getting out of bed, using the bathroom and just walking can be difficult. Hopefully Furcal can bounce back after having a chance to rest his weary back.

As Jon of Dodger Thoughts points out, the last time we panicked over a middle infield injury we went after Julio Lugo. (We gave up highly touted prospect Joel Guzman and CSUF Alum Sergio Pedroza to get him.) Fortunately, neither of these guys have become Major League regulars yet so it hasn't hurt us, but it could easily become fodder for years to come. On the flip side, Lugo really didn't provide the kind of relief trading two perceived strong prospects would garner. The lesson we can learn here is not to panic. Don't start trading away our prospects for overpriced veterans. We still have a long way to go and I remain hopeful that within a couple of weeks Raffy will be back to his old self.

Blog Kiosk 5/11/08

"It was not our day, not our match and somehow we were due for a loss. Now the weight of the winning streak is off our shoulders." -Oliver Kahn

• A's photographer Michael Zagaris has his own blog and shares some behind the scenes pics. Hat Tip: TasteLikeDirt:
• Former Dodger GM and current Padre Special Assistant for Baseball Operations Paul DePodesta has just started a blog called "It Might Be Dangerous... You Go First." (Hat Tip: Gas Lamp Ball)
  
• Mario recalls a moment with a Baseball groupie.

  In no time this girl, no older than 21 was telling me things I didn’t know and could have not cared less about. Late night, alcohol-fueled parties, sexual encounters with ball players, and even dirt on my beloved Marlins like which one was the faithful one. Yes, I said the faithful one, not ones.
  

• I love the Antique Roadshow. There is something alluring about normal folks taking in their junk and finding out it's worth a fortune- or not. It's like a live lottery broadcast. Recently, they were in Louisville when a man brought in an autographed baseball of the World Championship 1919 Cincinnati Reds. See the video here. (Hat Tip: SCD:)
  
• Chile has been experiencing a massive volcanic explosion and Tillemann has pictures to prove it. Wow! (Hat Tip: Food In Mouth)
• The Jackie Robinson Court Martial file that I wrote about here is now up for auction through Memory Lane, Inc.
  
• If you read Beckett during the late 80's to early 90's then you have probably heard of Tommy Wheatley. He use to write a column, called "Kids Korner," in the magazine representing a voice of the teen Baseball card collector. Well, Hugging Harold Reynolds caught up with him a few months back and posted a 2 part interview with the kid many of us envied. Part 1, Part 2. (Hat Tip: Gem Mint Ten:)
• MSTI has started a campaign in favor of Dodgers AAA journeyman thirdbaseman Terry Tiffee. He's batting .475 with 118 at-bats so far this season.
• Doug Glanville writes about life and the curveball in the NYT.
  

  What I found was that your approach doesn’t have to be any different from the one you use when dealing with — indulge me for a second — any other curveball life throws at you. We spend so much time cruising along, looking to hit the straight and dependable fastball, that the audacity of something different can cause us to forget any and every tactic that once gave us comfort and success.

  In my 15 seasons of professional baseball, there were a lot of off-the-field curveballs to go with my game-time curveballs. On paper, a player’s ascension to the majors looks straightforward: you go from Single-A ball to Double-A ball to Triple-A ball to the big time. But in actuality, you can wake up and be traded away to another team at the drop of a hat, like I was once — two days before Christmas on the day my grandfather passed away.

• The Fleer Sticker Project introduces us to the cards of Lowell Palmer.