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.