Have a Safe and Happy New Years Celebration

Have a great New Years Celebration and thank you for reading.

Also, please be safe out there tonight. Please do not drink and drive. To help, go here for some information on FREE rides available throughout the southland.

Orange Countians can ride the OCTA bus system for FREE from 6pm on December 31 – 4am on January 1.

If you will be at a New Years celebration in OC near OCTA routes 43-Harbor, 50-Katella, 57-Bristol/State College, or 60-17th St./Westminster Bl., you will have transit service available all night.

Neighboring counties are also offering special FREE holiday fares.

In Los Angeles, Metro will offer a special holiday FREE fare program for all Metro Bus and Metro Rail lines operating on New Year’s Eve. Metro will also offer 24-hour service, every 20 minutes on the Metro Red, Purple, Blue, Green Orange and Gold Lines from 9pm on Dec. 31 to 5 am on Jan. 1.

In Riverside County, the Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) again will provide FREE rides on all fixed route buses between 6 p.m. until the end of service that evening. On January 1, RTA buses will operate on a Sunday schedule.

In San Diego, MTS, in partnership with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Sycuan, will be offering FREE “Night Owl” service on December 31. Beginning at 9 p.m. and running through the night , all MTS bus and Trolley rides will be FREE of charge. Most bus routes will end at their normally scheduled time, but Routes 7, 11 and 901 and the Trolley will run throughout the night. On New Year’s Day, When one person pays for a bus or Trolley fare, a friend or family member rides free.

"Where Is Rob?" -Clap- Clap-ClapClapClap

Here is another Improv Everywhere prank sprung at a Knicks game. This would be a blast to pull off.

YouTube Link:

2009 Topps 206 Dodgers

Topps recently unveiled their "206" set and the collecting world seems very happy about it. Personally, I'm not a bit fan of the cards. I just don't like the photos and backgrounds of the Boys in Blue. Besides, the set pales in comparison to the cards it is meant to resemble- the famous tobacco cards from 1909 called T206. One thing to note is that it marks the 100th anniversary of that vintage set.

Below are the Dodger base cards. There are three old-time Dodgers included in the set- Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson. A mini version of each card is also available.

Jon Broxton

Chad Billingsley

Roy Campanella

Andre Ethier

Rafael Furcal

Orlando Hudson

Matt Kemp

Clayton Kershaw

James Loney

Russell Martin

Juan Pierre

Manny Ramirez

PeeWee Reese

Jackie Robinson

As has become commonplace, several cards have parallel short printed cards inserted in packs. Below is a example of the Roy Campanella base card (on the right) and it's short printed brother (on the left).
Gold bordered mini cards are also included.
Limited "one of one" printing plates are also part of the set. Below is a Rafael Furcal printing plate.
Another premium are silk version of every mini card in the set. I believe they are numbered to 50. Manny Ramirez's silk card is below.A game-used jersey relic of James Loney is below.
An even cooler game-used bat relic card of Jackie Robinson is below.
Clayton Kershaw's inserted autograph card is below.

Card of the Week: Bo Breaks Bats

Bo Jackson could do anything. He played 2 major sports and, according to Nike, he could do more than that. Above is a 1991 Score card of Bo Jackson breaking his bat, and below is the greatest sports commercial ever made.

Blog Kiosk 12/27/2009

• Santa Tommy
• Check out the Hall of Fames biography on 1st time HOF ballot ballplayer Eric Karros.
  
• Raul Mondesi, the politician? Are you kidding me?

  "Most of the people, they don't have anything," said Mondesi, who grew up in crushing circumstances just a few miles away. "I know what they need, how they feel."
  
  Asked for specifics, however, and the closest he comes to a campaign pledge is repeating a desire to build a basketball court in every neighborhood.
  
  "The first thing," said Mondesi, who didn't study beyond grade school, "is to try to show the young people how to play sports."

• GCRL makes a custom card of Sandy Koufax using the 1967 Topps design. I too have always wondered why they excluded him from the base set that year.
• John Sickels of Minor League Ball puts together his Preliminary Dodger Prospect list.
  
• Topps signs an exclusive memorabilia deal with Stephen Strasburg.
  
• Christmas trees from around the world.
  
• Oh No! A Volcano is about to erupt in the Philippines. My family does not live near Mt. Mayon, but it's still scary to think about anyway.
• Here is a great interview with collector and appraiser Mike Gutierrez at the Collectors Weekly.
  
• The Hockey Card Shows 12 Days of Christmas.

Have a Very Merry Christmas

YouTube Link:

Card of the Week: Photoshop Magic

This weeks card of the week has been lurking around the collector blogs for quite some time. It is the 2008 Topps Stadium Club card of Manny Ramirez in a Dodger uniform. Why is that important? Well, this card set came out shortly after the Manny trade to LA, so the chances of a Manny in Blue card was low. Fortunately, Topps did not disappoint.

At first glance, I was just happy to have Manny in a Dodger uniform, but there is so much more happening here. If not for the 'net I would never have noticed the chicanery. It is a almost perfect photoshop creation.

• Did you notice that there is no umpire? I didn't, at first.
  
• The background is neither Dodger Stadium or AT&T Park. It is of Fenway park- just colored in blue. Also, the 99 advertisement is of a chain of restaurants in the Boston area.
  
• Numerous fans in the stands have washed out hats that probably sported a giant "B" for Boston.
  
• The pitcher is Matt Morris who wore #22 in 2007 in tribute to a former roommate, Mike Matheny. Matheny had retired from Baseball due to post concussion syndrome- too many foul balls off the mask. In 2007 the Giants faced the Red Sox at Fenway and is probably where the photo originates.

Blog Kiosk 12/20/2009

• Albuquerque Isotopes owner, Ken Young, is named the Minor League Executive of the Year, from I Love This Game.

• Bye Bye Mitch Jones. He signs with the Braves.
  
• The Dodgers take care of their season ticket holders with something unique for the Holidays. Via It's Time for Dodger Baseblog and Vin Scully is My Homeboy here, here and here. Apparently there are numerous different version based on where you sit in the stadium. On eBay is this white seat version.
• The 50 best catch phrases of the decade.
  
• A great Christmas gift idea- Rick Dempsey's Home Run Holiday. (Hat Tip: Big League Stew)

• “I never imagined I’d be standing out here no, never. This is kind of surreal. You look around and you’re in a baseball park, Fenway Park! Then you look down and you’re on ice. Really unique, that’s for sure.”

  -Bobby Orr after skating on the ice at Fenway Park today. (From KuklasKorner) Watch a live webcam overlooking Fenway Park with a hockey rink on it below.
  

• The year in photos from Boston.com. Chicago White Sox pitcher Scott Linebrink delivers a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the fifth inning of a spring training baseball game in Las Vegas, in this March 5, 2009 photo. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken)

2009 Topps Unique Dodgers

Even with Baseball on a winter hiatus new card sets continue to be released. Earlier this month Topps released a new Baseball card brand called "Topps Unique" that features a nice design and some unusual insert cards. All of the photos below were taken from various eBay Auctions. Feel free to click on any of the pics to enlarge.

Before I show the base cards of Dodger players in the set I thought I would show the below "1 of 1" insert card of Andre Ethier first. In my opinion it is the nicest card in the set and, unfortunately, you may never have an opportunity to own it yourself since only one exist. It recently sold on eBay for a bit over $200.00. The card has a signature of the Dodger right fielder and a game used patch (most likely from a uniform or cap) of the MLB logo.
Now we get to the 7 Dodgers in the base set.

Jim Thome.

Russell Martin.

Manny Ramirez.
Clayton Kershaw.

Matt Kemp.

Andre Ethier.

Chad Billingsley.

Below are two insert cards called Unparalleled Performances of Orlando Hudson and James Loney.

James Loney.

Here is a triple patch that can be pulled of Russell Martin, Manny Ramirez and Matt Kemp.

Below is a great large game-worn patch card of Chad Billingsley.

Solo Shot autographed inserts of Andre Eithier and Chad Billingsley are below.

And one of the strangest and unique cards in this set are below. Even though Adrian Beltre hasn't worn Blue in over 5 season he is featured on this game-worn patch card wearing a Dodger uniform.
Even odder is the below game-worn button (yes, you read that right- a button) from Brad Penny in Blue. This is one card I could do without.