Blue Heaven

Autograph Guest Announced for Dodgers Pride Night on Thursday

2012-02-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

Hopefully some Dodger Blue will help out a poorly performing offense.

I had originally posted last month that Thursday, February 16th would be Dodgers Pride Night at the LA Kings game. Well, that game is upon us. Our home team will be playing the Phoenix Coyotes and, as I indicated previously, several Dodgers would be on hand to partake in the activities.

It has just been announced that GM Ned Colletti, who happens to be a huge hockey fan himself, will drop the opening puck to start the game. Also, former Dodgers Tim Leary and Matt Luke will be signing free autographs in the concourse.

For information on getting tickets, go here.

Sandy Koufax Gold Card Has Been Pulled

2012-02-12T13:45:00.000-08:00

Following up on my post from earlier this month featuring the Jackie Robinson gold redemption card, I bring you word that the Sandy Koufax gold card has now been pulled. It is featured in a eBay listing at a Buy It Now price of $7,000.00. Check it out here.

(Hat Tip: Sports Cards Uncensored)

Tommy and His Statue

2012-02-11T13:00:00.001-08:00

Tommy Lasorda now has his very own statue at the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame in the Dominican Republic.

The Latino Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday unveiled a statue of Dodger Hall of Fame Manager and Special Advisor to the Chairman Tommy Lasorda at their Paseo de los Inmortales in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Lasorda, who is a founding member of the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame and their Goodwill Ambassador, managed in the Dominican Republic for three seasons, winning two championships and one Caribbean Series championship (1973-74)

The Latino Baseball Hall of Fame annually bestows the Tommy Lasorda Award for a non-Latino who makes significant contributions to Latino baseball. This year's winner is Pat Gillick with past winners including Peter O'Malley (2010) and George Steinbrenner (2011).

(Photo Credit: Steve Fortunato/Fortch Unlimited)

Weekend Autograph Opportunities

2012-02-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

This is a very light weekend for sports related autograph opportunities. The only event I am aware of was first announced by Jesse at LA Inspiration. Retired Middle Weight Female Boxing Champion and daughter of Muhammad Ali, Leila Ali, will be making an appearance at Lane Bryant in the Westfield Culver City Mall tonight from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. As always, be sure to contact the store for more details.

Lane Bryant @ Westfield Culver City
6000 Sepulveda Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90230
310-390-5859

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If autographs from Hollywood celebrities are your poison then you've got to check out the Hollywood Collectors and Celebrities Show in Burbank. It will be running from Friday, February 10 to Sunday, February 12. Go here for more information.

The Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel & Convention Center
2500 North Hollywood Way
Burbank, California 91505

There are 72 guest expected to attend. Some folks will be there all weekend while others may be available for only a day. So, be sure to check their website for those details.

Here is a short list of stars.

The Guys from Starsky & Hutch with be there; including "Huggy Bear." Martin Landau, Shannon Elizabeth, Traci Lords, Angie Everhart, Billy Dee Williams, Squiggy from Laverne & Shirley (David Lander), Davy Jones, Don Stark from That 70's Show, Elvira, Natasha Henstridge, evil villain Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), and William Katt (from the Greatest American Hero). Oh... and there will be one sports athlete in attendance. Horse Jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr. will be in attendance.

I have no idea how much autograph will cost, but a show like this is a great way to meet some of your favorite television and movie stars.

Blog Kiosk: 2/9/2012

2012-02-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

Panini unveiled some preview pics of their upcoming Prime Cuts Baseball card brand. Why they are calling this a 2011 product when we are already into the second month of February, I do not know. These cards are expected to be released on March 15th.

It looks like Topps will be facing some stiff competition. Panini just signed a licensing deal with the Baseball Hall of Fame. Along with their deal with the Baseball Players Association it should allow them a chance to make some great looking cards. I suspect that once the current exclusive deal between Topps and MLB ends we'll see Panini join the fray. Topps won't be the only player in town anymore. Via Beckett.
Bloomberg Business Week takes a look at the Dodger bidders.
Evan Bladh at Opinion of Kingman's Performance writes a great story about former Brooklyn/ LA Dodgers bat boy Charlie "The Brow" DiGiovanna.
Bob Lemke creates an great looking 1956 Topps card with Tommy Lasorda wearing a Kansas City A's uniform.
Chad Moriyama realizes that we've all been trolled by Josh Macciello.

Fantasy Cards at MLB Fantasy Report

2012-02-08T12:30:00.000-08:00

With the Baseball season just around the corner, it's time to start thinking about the ranking of players for your fantasy leagues. To help you out, MLB has their own fantasy player preview to help you. Check it out here. A big hat tip to the blog Phungo for initially pointing this website out.

The first thing I noticed is that our very own Matt Kemp is ranked as the overall number #1 player in the league. I guess he's no secret anymore. The second thing I noticed is that MLB recreated a vintage Topps card design to highlight each player. Check out the Matt Kemp card below. It borrows Topps 1986 Baseball card design.

Here is the Clayton Kershaw. He is also ranked as the number #1 pitcher in the league (18th overall). Unfortunately, our talent level drops significantly after our 2 big stars. Ted Lilly is ranked as the Dodgers 3rd best player in fantasy Baseball (161st overall).

Videos from Dodger Caravan: Day 1

2012-02-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

Here are some video from the first day of the Dodger Caravan yesterday.

Here, Adam Kennedy and Tony Gwynn, Jr. visit the Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
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Video Link:

Clayton Kershaw speaks about his new contract while stopping by the Caravan.
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Collection: Don Newcombe Fleer Greats

2012-02-08T07:00:00.001-08:00

Don Newcombe was as great as they come. During his rookie season with the Dodgers he won 17 games while on his way to 1949 Rookie of the Year honors. Then, in 1956, he reached his peak by winning the MVP and CY Young awards with 27 wins. That season he would became the first player to win the Rookie of the Year award, MVP and Cy Young in their career. In fact, he was the lone member of that club until Justin Verlander won the Cy Young and MVP awards last year.

Of Special Note: There is a great recent article by Ken Gurnick at MLB that focuses on Newcombe and Campanella being the first African-American ballplayers in Class A ball. It's a great read.

"My wife and I came out of a movie and saw a headline in the New York Post, I'll never forget it, and it said that Montreal had signed Jackie Robinson," said Newcombe, now 85 and a special advisor to Dodgers chairman Frank McCourt. "I knew this was the beginning of change. I said to my wife, maybe this is a chance for me and Roy."

Featured in this post is a 2004 Fleer Greats autographed card in my collection.

Kershaw is Signed

2012-02-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

The Dodgers announced on twitter that they just signed Clayton Kershaw to a two year deal. This contract only takes up a couple of Clayton's arbitration years, but looks reasonably priced. Dylan Hernandez has the details:As Chad Moriyama points out, this deal is less than the two year deal Tim Lincecum received at this time of his career. I say that this alone makes this contract a big win for the Dodgers.

Blog Kiosk: 2/7/2012

2012-02-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

Here are the Dodgers at their first stop on the 2012 Dodgers Caravan tour this morning at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. (Pic via @Dodgers Twitter)

Newest Dodger Todd Coffey is a twitterer. Go ahead and follow him.
The Dodgers had a fruitful year when it came to helping out the community. Check out the Dodgers 2011 Community Report featuring all of the good deeds by the organization in 2011.
Check out Left Field Pavilions great graphic called "Wheel of Misfortune."
Bill Shaikin of the LA Times unveils another Dodger bidder, Jared Kushner, who happens to be the son-in-law to Donald Trump. I agree with Mike at Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness assessment that we do not want "the Trump" to be anywhere near the Dodgers.
Josh Macciello made a $2.2Billion offer for the Dodgers. What? Via Mike Szymanski at Studio City Patch.
David Laurila at FanGraphs has a great interview with Dodgers scouting guru Logan White.
“Looking at the [biomechanical] factors, I felt that Kershaw had the best delivery, the best mechanics, the best arm action, of the four. There are obviously other factors when you‘re looking at someone. A guy can have great mechanics and a terrible makeup, or he may simply not have the arm speed. There are different variables that come into play, but biomechanics are certainly a big factor for us and we liked Kershaw’s mechanics.
Beckett talks about a new hobby related reality show called "Ball Boys." Think pawn stars meet Baseball cards.
Zach Hample was at the Hall of Fame and has plenty of photos to prove it.
Check out Part 2 of the video featuring Cheech Marin and Rev Halofan talking Baseball at Halos Heaven.
Bob Lemke writes about 19th Century ballplayer Phenomenal Smith.
REA Auctions shares an item that will be on auction later this year that is just fascinating. It's a book that once belonged to Baseball pioneer Alexander Cartwright, and it may have played a large part in the creation of organized Baseball.

Hunt Auctions: Old Packs- Really Old Packs

2012-02-07T09:00:00.001-08:00

Hunt's monthly auction is currently running and it consist of an incredible collection of vintage tobacco related memorabilia. Heck, it's one of the largest groupings of tobacco unopened packs, advertising displays, and other tobacco related collectibles I've ever seen. I kind of find the collection breathtaking.

On the other hand, I understand that this part of the hobby isn't PC in todays world- tobacco and all. Nevertheless, I still find it fascinating to see the packaging and the artwork that once contained collectible cards at the turn of the last century. These items ushered in a new hobby that would be followed throughout the country, and would eventually spawn a industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

In the auction, several of the lots pair up a vintage pack with an example of the vintage Baseball card that could be found within it. There are various 1909-11 T206 packs:

They even have more obscure packs like Mecca Cigarettes that had T201's, OBAK pack with held T212 cards, Old Judge pack with N172's, a Dog's Head pack that had non-sports cards in it, and a Allen & Ginter pack with a N28.Like I said, it's an incredible array of collectibles pointing to the origins of the card hobby.

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There were some items in the auction that I though would be of interest to Dodger fans. Below are a couple of unopened packs of Red Man Tobacco from 1954. As vintage card collectors will know, Red Man produced a set of cards that season that were much larger than the typical Baseball card made by Topps and featured a colored drawing of 54 different Major League ballplayers. As you can see they cellophane wrapped the packs with the Baseball card visible on the outside.

In the pack below it features Brooklyn Dodger infielder Billy Cox. This pack looks a little rough around the edges as it appears to be toned and peeling a little bit.

(Auction Link)

Here is one of the nicest one's I've ever seen. This pack has World Series hero Jim Gilliam. It looks brand new.

(Auction Link)

A Koufax 2012 Topps Coin Promo?

2012-02-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

With it almost a week into the 2012 Topps Baseball madness, I am sure many of you have already seen this card, or others like it. It is a limited insert card found in packs that feature 15 different Golden Greats along with a golden colored coin embedded with it. This is the Sandy Koufax coin insert card and, as you can see, is numbered to only 32 copies.

I show this particular card from the set (I plan on featuring most of the Dodgers cards from the Topps set in a future post) because I ran into a similar item on eBay. Check out the picture below.

The seller states that it is a promotional coin that was sent to dealers. It looks like it's 4 or 5 inches wide, is still sealed in plastic, and features Sandy Koufax. In fact, it look exactly like the Koufax coin in the above insert card. Unfortunately, the seller doesn't provide very many details. Anyone out there have any familiarity with these. Were all dealers sent a Koufax, or were other players also available? Anyone?

(eBay Auction Link)

Thank You, Hong-Chih Kuo

2012-02-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

Hong-Chih Kuo has been a warrior for us. Battling multiple arm injuries and surgeries, he continued to provide quality relief innings. He has been an inspiration, and will be a player I continue to root for even as he wears the uniform of another team. Best wishes, big guy.

As noted by Jayson Stark on twitter, Kuo is expected to join the Seattle Mariners.

(Pic Link: Twitter: @JaysonSt)

UPDATE: It looks like it is now official. Kuo has joined the Mariners. Eric Stephen's at True Blue LA has more information.

Kuo, who is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow in October, will receive a base salary $500,000, plus bonuses of up to $2.5 million, per Peter Wang of ETTV. Kuo will make $1 million if he makes the Mariners' 25-man roster.
Kuo will wear number 32 with the Mariners, a number already forever claimed in Los Angeles by Kuo-fax.

#32, eh? It looks like you can take the man out of LA, but you can never take the influence of LA out of the man.

Collection: Fleer Greats Davey Lopes

2012-02-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

Davey Lopes wasn't just a Dodgers Great, but was also a Fleer Great. To prove it, here is a 2004 Fleer Great card with his signature in my collection.

Lopes was part of a long line of speedy ballplayers to come out of the Dodgers farm system, but he could do a little bit more. Davey Lopes could hit home runs.

Over his Dodger career he had a total of 418 stolen bases and 99 round-trippers. The latter number might not sound that impressive, but keep in mind that 66 of those homers were hit over a four year period (1977 to 1980). I guess you can say he hit his stride those years.

In his best season, 1979, Lopes slugged 28 homers while swiping 44 bases. He would also be a gold glover and was 16th in MVP voting that year. Considering he did all that before the steroid era makes his accomplishments ever more remarkable.

Lopes was a driving force in the Dodgers National League pennants in 1974, 1977 and 1978, but it was in 1981 when he would finally get a World Championship ring. Unfortunately, it would prove to be his last year in Blue. Steve Sax had already taken much of his playing time as a new era of Dodger infielders was about to take hold. In the afterglow of the Dodgers 5th World Series title that season, Lopes would be traded to Oakland.

I Wish I Made That Bet

2012-02-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

Take a look at this betting ticket. Featured on Reddit, some bloke made a $1,000.00 bet on the Giants scoring the first points of the game with a safety. For that he got 50/1 odds and a nice payday.

UPDATE: here's a story in Business Insider talking all about this ticket.

Buying Coffey with a Penny in Japan While Waiting for the Caravan

2012-02-05T12:30:00.000-08:00

Considering how poorly the Dodgers relief staff did last season, it should not come as a surprise that they continue to add depth. On Friday it was announced that the team signed Todd Coffey. He was good out of the pen last year with Washington and figures on providing some quality innings of middle relief. From the Dodgers press release:

The 31-year-old went 5-1 with a 3.62 ERA and limited opposing hitters to a .244 batting average in 69 games last season with Washington. Against right-handed hitters, Coffey posted a .193 opponents’ batting average with just a .250 on-base percentage and a .290 slugging percentage. He also limited first batters faced to a .175 mark (11-for-63) with 17 strikeouts last season.

(Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images North America)

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In todays "whatever happened to that guy" report, we find out that former Dodger Brad Penny has just signed a 1 year contract to play for the Softbank Hawks of the Japanese Pacific League, via SI. Ken Rosenthal expands further and notes that it's a $4Mil deal plus $3.5Mil in performance bonuses. It is the largest largest contract given by a Japanese team to an American pitcher on their first contract with them.

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(Pic via Jon SooHoo/ LA Dodgers)

The Dodgers 2012 Community Caravan will happen this coming week. They'll be visiting hospitals, schools, and various community non-profits on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately, nearly all of the events are not open to the public except for one. On Tuesday, February 7th, the team will dine at an unannounced location from 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM. Via the Dodgers Press Release:

The Dodgers will lunch in South Los Angeles at a location that will be unveiled via the Dodgers’ Twitter @dodgers at 12:30 p.m.

So, if you are lucky enough to be nearby and can make it out to meet some Dodgers be sure to check out their twitter account. The following folks are expected to be on the bus:

Day one of the Dodgers’ Community Caravan will feature Dodgers Dee Gordon, Tony Gwynn, Kenley Jansen, Adam Kennedy, Josh Lindblom and Ramon Troncoso. Dodger Alumni Tommy Davis, Al Ferrara, Shawn Green and Dennis Powell and Dodger broadcaster Eric Collins.

Blog Kiosk: 2/3/2012- Preview Pics of Some Dodgers Giveaways

2012-02-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a preview image of the Dodger Stadium Replica giveaway being given out in the game against the Padres on April 14th. Below is what the Kids Clayton Kershaw replica jerseys (April 29) will look like. See promotion schedule here.Oh... and here's another look at the Don Drysdale/ Maury Will bobblehead #1 for April 28.

A group of elementary kids had a chance to question Dodgers pitcher Scott Elbert, via Carthage Press.com.

Q:“What advice can you give a kid who wants to play professional sports?”
Elbert: “That’s a good question. My most important advice that I like to give little kids is, no matter what the profession is or it doesn’t even have to be a sport, you can be a doctor, you can be a dentist, you can be a factory worker, because everybody has a profession out there and you have to perfect it to the full ability you have. The only advice I would give you is choose what you want to do and go as hard as you can because you never know what’s going to happen.
Bloomberg puts together a long report on the Dodger bidders.
Dustin at Feelin' Kinda Blue writes a great story about Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts.
Take a look at Baseball's worst contracts, via CBS Sports Eye on Baseball.
Read this excellent post by Tom at Baseball by the Letters in support of the autograph collector.
Check out this great video from Halos Heaven writer Rev Halofan who sits with Cheech Marin to talk Baseball.
In preparation for Super Bowl Sunday check out some pics of of some incredible Super Bowl Snack Stadiums at Busted Coverage.
Here's a Dodgers video about pitching prospect Zach Lee.

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Video Link:

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Mailbag: A Roy Gleason Auto Card

2012-02-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how long this card has been sitting on my desk at home. For whatever reason I hadn't taken the time to scan and write about it, and believe me I really wanted to. I just had so many other things come up that caused me to hold off until now. I know, that's just an excuse, and obviously I'm a man who procrastinates much more than he's willing to admit to. Nevertheless, I figure it's better late than never, so here you go.

Several months back I won the above card on eBay. It is a 2011 TriStar Obak autograph card of former Dodger Roy Gleason. It is numbered 50 out of 50, and I consider it one of the highlights of my growing autograph collection.

I'm sure you're wondering who is Roy Gleason? Well... he's one of those unsung heroes of the game who had an opportunity to run the bases at Dodger Stadium and defend his country in a time of war- the Vietnam War. On top of that, he's one of the few players who can claim to have a lifetime batting average of 1.000. That's right. He was perfect at the plate.

Anyway, Gleason was the only former Major Leaguer to have served in the Vietnam war. He started out as a standout athlete out of Garden Grove High School. Upon graduating he immediately signed with the Dodgers, and rose up the ladder. Soon, Roy was given a cup of coffee during the Dodgers 1963 World Championship run where he showed off his amazing speed. Knowing that he still had some seasoning left to do in the minors he continued advancing until there was an opening on the Dodger roster. Then, the draft notice came.

Roy served in Vietnam for 21 months. Baseball Reference has more:

He was promoted to the rank of sergeant and led search-and-destroy missions. In one such mission, he was wounded in the left arm and both legs by a shrapnel explosion and was one of only two survivors of his 45-man platoon. He earned a Purple Heart as a result.

He came back from the war to resume his Baseball career, but was never the same. His injuries were too great to overcome.

For some extra reading about Roy Gleason, check out this great story from the North County Times. Also, Bill Plaschke has a excellent piece on him, as well.

Here is what it says on the reverse of the card.

Gleason, a minor league outfielder, played 8 games for Los Angeles in 1963, mainly as a pinch runner. Drafted by the military before the 1967 season, Roy served in the Army during the Vietnam War. Is the only US Combat Veteran and former Major Leaguer to receive "Special Congressional Recognition" for being awarded a "Purple Heart", a World Series Ring, and holding a "perfect lifetime" Major League Batting Average.

Below are his career starts.
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Bobblehead Sneak Peek: Drysdale/Wills Combo

2012-02-02T13:05:00.000-08:00

Very nice. The Dodgers unveiled a early photo of the Don Drysdale/ Maury Wills bobblehead that will be given away at the Saturday, April 28th game against the Nationals, via Twitter/yfrog.

A brief glimpse at the Jackie Robinson Gold Card

2012-02-02T13:00:00.000-08:00

As noted previously, Topps recently held their 10th Annual Pack Opening Day to celebrate the official release of their flagship Baseball card set. Well, the MLB Network was on hand to enjoy the festivities. Check out the video below featuring their report. (Hat Tip: Voice of the Collector)

Pay close attention. At about the 1:43 mark they show the Jackie Robinson 14k solid gold card to viewers.

YouTube Link:

BTW, the winners of the Jackie gold card just put it up for sale on eBay with a "Buy It Now" price of $14,999 on it. Check it out here.

Collection: Beltre SP Signature

2012-02-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

I really liked Adrian Beltre. He was a superior defensive third baseman and a solid hitter. Heck, I don't think I've ever seen a player handle a slow roller as effortlessly as he does. Sure, his 2004 offensive outburst with us looks like a timely anomaly that came just as a big contract was set to come down the pike. Was it just a stroke of great timing and luck, or was something else at play? Who knows? And frankly, I don't care anymore. All I can say is that it was a pleasure to witness that season.

Seen here is my 1999 Upper Deck SP Signature Edition autographed card of Adrian Beltre.

Blog Kiosk: 2/2/2012

2012-02-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

Above is the new Dodgers logo that celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Dodger Stadium. It also includes an utterly distracting corporate logo. I think it would look better like this:

James Loney is free. He won't face charges in the Maserati crash. Via LA Times.
Greg at the Infinite Baseball Card Set shares his "Tale of 4 Ruth's" that feature the Babe in a Dodgers uniform.
Seedling to the Stars puts together their own Dodgers prospect list.
Night Owl Cards just finished completing his 2009 OPC set and scanned all of them for everyone to enjoy. That's right. All 600 cards.
Keith Olbermann writes about the 10th Annual Pack Opening Day at Topps and shows off his own T206 Honus Wagner card.
The Cardinals just opened up their Hall of Fame Museum website.
White Sox Cards provides a little history lesson about February 1st, and a little game in a foreign desert.
Edgar at My Autograph Signings visited the LA Fit Expo and got a bunch of auto's. He shows off a Barry Bonds auto his friend received. Apparently, Bonds was in attendance.
Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL running back John Cappelletti had his personal collection stolen out of his Orange County home, via SCD.
February always tends to be a little slow in Baseball. We are just a few weeks away from the start of Spring Training, so I guess you could call this time period the calm before the storm. That being said, I thought the below video would be a nice respite until the hurricane comes rolling in. Check out Nyjer Morgan practicing with the San Jose Sharks hockey club.

Video Link:

2012 Jackie Robinson Solid Gold Card has been Pulled

2012-02-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

Well, that was quick. As most of you know, the 2012 Topps Baseball set, that was released today, features "1 of 1" 14k solid gold cards of a handful of star players. Obviously, they are not actually included in a pack, but are redeemable with a special code card. Dodgers known to be represented include Sandy Koufax and Jackie Robinson.

This morning I learned that case breaker and eBay seller BrentandBecca pulled the Jackie Robinson. They shared a photo of the redemption card. See it below.

Check pics of other high-end cards they pulled in their 60 case break of Jumbo boxes. Holy Moly! 60 CASES!!!!

(Pic Link: Twitter BrentandBecca)

BTW, do you want to see what 60 cases of inserts look like? Just inserts. Check out this pic they shared.

(Pic Link: twitter BrentandBecca img.ly)

Weekend Autograph Opportunities: Kareem and a Bunch of Dodgers

2012-02-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

This weekend is filled to the brim with autograph opportunities. First, though, I wanted to note that the Long Beach Coins, Stamps, and Collectibles Expo is this weekend; starting tomorrow to Saturday. Go here for info. Also, This coming Saturday is the start of the Occupy Chavez Ravine: The “Blue Bum” Paintings of Stephen Seemayer at the West Covina Library. It will run to March 29. So, there is plenty of time to check it out. Go here for info.

Now, on to the autograph opportunities. This weekend Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be having two book signings; one in LA and the other in Irvine. He will be signing only copies of "What Color Is My World? The Lost History of African-American Inventors."
Here are the details:

Saturday, February 4, 2012; 2:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
189 Grove Drive Suite K 30
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-525-0270
Link Here

Sunday, February 5, 2012; 7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
Irvine Spectrum Center
81 Fortune Drive Suite 123
Irvine, CA 92618
949-585-0233
Link Here

Once again, Frank & Sons will have a bunch of Dodgers signing at their weekly warehouse show in the City of Industry on Saturday. Go here for more details. Flyers for the event are below.
As always, check out my Calendar of Baseball/Sports related events, here. Also, everything above is subject to change. So, please be sure to call the promoters ahead of time to verify.

Woo Hoo! Let the Baseball Season Begin

2012-02-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

That day is finally here. The 2012 Baseball season has officially become a reality. Why is that, you ask?

Well, today is the official release date for the first Baseball card product of the season. Topps 2012 Baseball is the flagship card set for the hobby, and you can now go to your local hobby store or Target/Walmart to get a pack.

Ohhh... What a wonderful day.

Heck, I was so impatient I decided to head to my local Target last night to see if retail blaster boxes had been put on the shelves. To my joy, they had. So, I dutifully bought a 10 pack box and opened it up like a little boy discovering the game for the first time.

Of note, this will probably be the only packs of this product I'll be opening since I recently joined a two case group break and snagged the Dodgers for myself. Rest assured, I will have plenty of Dodgers soon, and hopefully a nice Koufax autograph to add to my collection. On top of that, since I'll have plenty of the Blue Crew in my hands I'd be happy to send some away to you folks. Just ask.

Anyway, here is my bounty from my first blaster box break of 2012 Topps.

First, I'll start with a special pack (exclusive to retail boxes) that includes a Historical Stitches manufactured patch. This is a limited 25 card set that includes only two Dodgers- Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax. Unfortunately, neither one of those cards was hiding in my pack, but the below Don Mattingly was.
Here is the reverse of the card. This card insert is a little bland, but sure feels great when you rub the patch with your fingers. Ewwww.... like velvet!
Below are the only two Dodgers base cards I received. On the left is a great action photo of Dee Gordon completing a double play. On the right is our newest catcher, Tim Federowicz.
This is what the back of the base cards look like. I love the little interesting fact about Dee on the reverse.

"Dee sent the Dodgers PR folks rifling through the record books in 2011. He was just their second player with three hits and a steal in his first MLB start, and their third to swipe three bags in an inning."

Nice.
This year is the "Golden Giveaway" for Topps. You can get 1 code card for every 6 or 7 packs. Load in the code at the Topps website and win something cool. Their website at topps.com/golden is not live yet, but you can check out some of the potential prizes over there. As you can see I received 2 of these cards; including a diving Matt Kemp.
This card had me scratching my head. Topps... What the heck are you doing?

Just when I thought I would never have to think about Andruw Jones as a Dodger again Topps decides to ruin it for me. For whatever reason, Jones is shown on the below NL Active Home Run Leaders card in a Dodger uniform. Yikes!
Worse yet, the back of the card indicates that Jones is with the Dodgers. Noooooooooooo! The guy hit less home runs for us than any other team he has played for. BTW, this card is a Golden Moment parallel card (seeded to 1 for every 4 packs).
Here's some good stuff. Check out the Golden Greats insert card of Jackie Robinson, below.
The back highlights a game winning extra innings home run by Jackie in 1951.
Ruth and Clemente were the other Golden Moments cards I received.
Here is a group of other insert cards in my box break. The Gold Standard cards on the right are really nice looking, and would great with a autograph.
Here are a couple of Timeless Talents inserts; including a Nolan Ryan/ Jared Weaver card.
Mini's are another insert set collectors will go crazy for. It uses a vintage 1987 Topps card design.
Here are some base cards that I thought were notable. On the left, George Kottaras tags out former Dodger catcher Dioner Navarro. I love the enthusiasm shown in the Nyjer Morgan card, at center. How can I not show our former Dodgers catcher Russell Martin preparing to block the plate.
I really have to commend Topps for their photography and cropping this year. These cards look great. Check out Nyger Morgan again. He seems like the most affable person in the world. Pablo Sandoval makes a diving tag with his eyes closed. The celebratory World Series card of Chris Carpenter is just wonderful.