More Sterling Jackie Robinson's

The new 2009 Topps Sterling boxes are filled with even more Jackie Robinson goodness. Check them out below.
Above and below are booklet cards featuring multiple patches and bat (or stadium seat) pieces. The below card also has Roy Campanella.
I really the large vintage Dodger patch card below of Jackie.Below is the Jackie Robinson base card.

Blog Kiosk: 1/31/2010

• Mark's Ephemera shares some Orel Hershiser cards he received recently.
• Jackie Robinson Topps Tribute auto was pulled earlier this month. UPDATE: Ya know... the more I look at this autograph the more I questions its authenticity. Of course, that is just my opinion and I'm no expert, but I have seen a bunch of them in person and in auction catalogs from sellers I trust over the years. I don't know, maybe I'm getting oversensitive to the authenticity issie that seems to be in the forefront of todays hobby.)
• eBay Fee Changes starting March 30th!

  No Insertion Fees for Auction-style listings when you list your item with a start price under $1—up to 100 listings per month. Pay only if your item sells.

• Yup! A lawsuit is brewing between Upper Deck and MLB/Topps.
• Nice find Wrigley Wax! He post a great cartoon found on the back of a 1955 Topps card. Little did they know that the Dodgers would win the World Championship later that year. I guess you can call that karma.
  
• Tom Hoffarth writes a great post celebrating Ernie Harwell's birthday. Did you know he was the first broadcaster traded for a player when the Brooklyn Dodgers GM, Branch Rickey, traded a catcher for him. He then departed for the Giants broadcasting booth which led to an opening for Vin Scully in Brooklyn.
  
• Check out this great interview Sports Locker did with the John Evers about the Merkle Ball.
  
• Topps has teamed up with LTL Prints to make large wall graphics (similar to Fatheads) that include Garbage Pail Kids. Imagine a 7ft. image like the one below on your wall.
• No more 5-second rule- it is now a 30-second rule. (Hat Tip: Dodger Thoughts)

  The results prove, according Goettsche and Moin, that you can wait at least 30 seconds to pick up wet foods and more than a minute to pick up dry foods before they become contaminated with bacteria.

• Mario Lemieux has offered to buy the Pirates.
  
• How to report the news.

Restraining Order?

A new rumor has just come out on the Blowout Cards Forum. Supposedly, a restraining order has been place on all new Upper Deck Baseball products related to an infringement on Major League Baseball Properties and Topps exclusive license on the trademarks.

Anyone know more about this?

Has MLBP filed a cease and desist order or have they only, so far, asked wholesalers to stop selling the product?

As you may know, the newly release 2009 Upper Deck Ultimate includes some cards with photos that clearly show team emblems. This would seem to be in violation of the exclusive license signed between MLBP and Topps. See some examples below.

A Sterling 2009 Jackie

Topps just released their high-end Baseball card product called 2009 Sterling and, already, the key Dodger find is up on eBay. It's a Jackie Robinson triple-patch auto "1 of 1" card. Awesome, just awesome. Already it is over $1,500.00 in heavy bidding.

BTW, these boxes (which usually has just about 5 cards in it) will run you over $200 each so they certainly aren't for the weak at heart.

Ultimate Dodgers

Upper Deck recently released their 2009 Ultimate Baseball product (a little strange considering it's already 2010, but I digress) and it has already proven to consist of some incredible cards. Check out the video below to see what I mean.

Now keep in mind that boxes will run for about $85.00 - $95.00 for just 4 cards. So they aren't cheap.

Of course, who cares about Beckham and Jeter found on the video above on this blog, so let me get to some Dodgers I found on eBay last night.The above Kemp card is a quad-patch card with a Kemp signature. I really like the "Ultimate Inscription" card of Kemp the best, though. "Go Dodgers."
Here is a James Loney large patch card..

Upper Deck and Konami Settle

Have you ever gone through a jury selection process, been selected to sit on the jury, listen to opening arguments, even hear a bit of the questioning and answering, and then be summarily dismissed the next day. I have and it sucks. Not because you get to go home earlier than expected- that was the only good thing. It sucked because I had mentally prepared myself to lay judgment and was denied the opportunity to sit with my peers to make that decision. I felt like my job was not done.

Well, this is kind of what happened in the trial between Konami and Upper Deck earlier this week.

News has come indicating that the Upper Deck vs. Konami lawsuit is over and a settlement has been made- specifics not disclosed. Surprisingly, Upper Deck later on declares victory.

I say surprisingly because one thing is clear.

Last month, United States District Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank ruled that Upper Deck counterfeited over 600,000 cards from the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game, and was liable to the Japanese company for damages.

So, the trail that had started with jury selection and opening statements was only about what amount of damages would be due to Konami, not whether Upper Deck was wrong in its actions.

Anyway, Upper Deck released the following statement post settlement.

Upper Deck is pleased to announce that it has come to a successful resolution with Konami over their year-long dispute regarding Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards. On the eve of trial, the court issued several rulings in Upper Deck’s favor which eliminated and gravely threatened many of Konami’s monetary claims requests. These rulings sent Konami and its attorneys into retreat as Konami’s case was disintegrating. These events, and these events alone, provided the framework for the case to be resolved after opening statements were presented to the jury.

Read the rest here. I'm curious what rulings Upper Deck says hurt Konami's damages claims. Anyway, as has been already reported on Beckett.com Upper Deck is to make it's first multimillion dollar payment on Friday (today?).

Unfortunately for Upper Deck their time in the courtroom will probably not be over as Major League Baseball Properties has already thrown out an opening salvo in a oncoming licensing dispute. I'll be sure to write more about this upcoming Baseball card war.

Great Italian Dodgers In a Great Italian Set

As the saying goes, America is a nation of immigrants. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that a game filled with many nationalities became known as America's game.

Baseball has defined us. It was a creation born of another game from a foreign land. American ingenuity at its best. It helped a country during a time of strife as soldiers on both sides of the Civil War played it to pass the time. Proof of it's ability to unify. Immigrants seeking roads paved with gold instead found themselves embracing the game. Baseball is a symbol of our melting pot.

So, a card set that celebrates an ethnic group that helped us enjoy the game shouldn't be a surprise. The Order of the Sons of Italy and the National Ethnic Heritage Foundation have come together to create a 100 card set featuring great Italians in Baseball.

A big thanks to Trader Crack's for finding the below set for us to enjoy. Go here to see them all and to make a donation to get a complete set.

Below are the great Italian Dodgers.

Joe Torre

Steve Sax

Mike Piazza

Tommy Lasorda

Carl Furillo

Roy Campanella

Ralph Branca

Hearing From Jerry Reuss

For one of my favorite blogs, Night Owl Cards, he got a bit of a surprise recently when his favorite player of all-time responded to a post. I must say that I'm a little jealous. Jerry Reuss was one of my favorites also. Check out his post here.

What is even better is that Reuss pointed to a couple of sites worth checking out. Here is a link for his personal website at JerryReuss.com and a flickr page featuring pics of his Baseball cards from his 20+ years of professional Baseball.

In Reuss's honor, Night Owl Cards is running a poll asking what is his best card. Go here to vote. I personally like his 1984 Topps card. After all, he is wearing Dodger Blue and it features his very identifiable windup I grew up watching as a young Dodger fan.BTW, in doing some minor research for this post I came across a fascinating story about Jerry Reuss. From a 1975 story in People Magazine:

When pitcher Jerry Reuss took his wife, Ann, on the Pittsburgh Pirates' final swing to the West Coast last season, the management nicked him with a $500 fine. Jerry, to be sure, had paid for her commercial flight (spouses are non grata on the team charter jet) and the extra hotel tab, but still had violated a Pirate regulation. As a result, in a sport built on arcane records, Reuss came up with a new one for the book: he was the first player to file a grievance action to establish the right to sleep with his own wife.

Read the rest of the article here. It goes deep into the difficulties a Baseball life can have.

Plenty of Jackie's in Topps

The 2010 Topps set is filled with enough Jackie Robinson cards to make any Dodger fan happy. I've collected several pics of as many as I can find. Below is the short printed base card of the Hall of Famer. This is probably his scarcest card in the set.Here is a Legendary Lineage insert card featuring Jackie Robinson and Matt Kemp.
Below is another insert card, available only in Target wax boxes, of Jackie that uses the vintage 1951 Topps Red Back design.
Here is a "History of the Game" card celebrating his first game in the Major Leagues.
Below is a "Tales of the Game" card showing Jackie stealing home in the World Series.
Here is Jackie's "Peak Performance" card.
Below is an insert card of a series called "Cards Your Mom Threw Out" featuring a reprint of Jackie's 1953 Topps card. I would cry if Mom threw this card away.

Check Out This Office

I would love to work in this space. Rabbi David Zaslow shows off his office that is filled with Jackie Robinson and other Dodger memorabilia. Of course, I've chosen to ignore the Yankee and other non-Dodger stuff.

YouTube Link:

Blog Kiosk: 1/24/2010

What a busy week for the Dodgers. Everyone you hoped would get signed, does. And the pitcher who shot himself over the winter stays Blue. I just can't wait for the summer thaw.

• I hope for the best. Troy has had a tough time lately. I'm sure that all of Dodger nation is pulling for you.
  
• Dodger Caravan!
  
• Picture Cards & Bubble Gum is right. There are way too many Manny cards in the 2010 Topps set.
• T. S. O'Connell predicts a courtroom battle between Upper Deck and Topps is coming.
  
• From Baseball Think Factory- a group team photo of from the 1903 Inaugural World Series.

More Dodger Goodness in 2010 Topps

The new recently released 2010 Topps set includes a handful of cards that pay homage to some Dodger history. Below is a colorized photo of the old Brooklyn Dodgers home, Ebbets Field.
I believe this is part of an insert set called "History of the Game." This particular card celebrates the year the Dodgers and Giants decide to move to the West Coast. If I'm not mistaken, that's a photo of the Coliseum.

Ethier/ Snider Legendary Lineage?

Below is another 2010 Topps card. It has me shaking my head.
As you can see it features Andre Ethier and Duke Snider in a limited edition insert set called "Legendary Lineage." I would think (I'm assuming here obviously) that this would mean it features a connection between two players on the same franchise who play the same position in different eras.

So, why are they linked together? The Duke was a center fielder and Andre is our right fielder. What gives?

eBay auction link here.

Too Damn Adorable!

New 2010 Topps Baseball cards are slowly starting to trickle onto eBay. Above is a "When They Were Young" card of Russell Martin. I must say that I really like this card. I wonder if any other Dodgers are featured in this subset. I'll post more 2010 Topps Dodgers as they show up. Check out the eBay auction here for the card above.

When It Rains, It Pours: Padilla Signed

(pic: Matt A. Brown/MLB.com)

According to MLB Trade Rumors, (via Ken Gurnick's Tweet), the Dodgers have sign Vicente Padilla to be one of our starters to a one year $4Mil salary. Salary is $5.025Mil (including a $1Mil sogning bonus).

Welcome back to the Blue Vicente!

From a recently received press release.

The Los Angeles Dodgers today signed right-handed pitcher Vicente Padilla to a one-year contract. General Manager Ned Colletti made the announcement.

“Vicente did a tremendous job for us down the stretch and his continued success in the postseason proved that he can pitch when there’s a lot at stake,” said Colletti.

The 32-year-old Padilla has won 14 or more games in four of the last eight seasons, joining Andy Pettitte as the only two pitchers to accomplish that feat among a free-agent pitching market that has included John Lackey, Randy Wolf, Joel Pineiro, Brett Myers, Jason Marquis and Jon Garland, among others.

During those eight seasons, Padilla’s only campaigns as a starting pitcher, he has posted a 91-76 mark (.545) and averaged 6.0 innings per start. Last year, he went 12-6 with a 4.46 ERA in 26 games (25 starts) for the Dodgers and Rangers. After being signed by Los Angeles on August 19, Padilla went 4-0 with a 3.20 ERA in eight games (seven starts) over the final two months of the season before his continued success in the postseason.

In his first career playoff outing, he pitched 7.0 scoreless innings and allowed just four hits to St. Louis in Game 3 of the NLDS. In Game 2 of the NLCS against the Phillies, he lasted 7.1 innings and allowed just one earned run on four hits but did not earn a decision in the Dodgers’ lone victory of the series. He suffered the defeat in Game 5 to give him a 1-1 record and 3.63 ERA in his three postseason outings.

The Nicaragua native is 98-85 with a 4.33 ERA in 305 career games (221 starts) with Arizona (1999-2000), Philadelphia (2000-05), Texas (2006-09) and Los Angeles (2009).

During his career in the National League, Padilla has posted a 3.92 ERA in 202 career games (118 starts). He was named to the NL All-Star team while with Philadelphia in 2002, when he went 14-11 with a 3.28 ERA in 32 starts.

Padilla led the Rangers’ pitching staff with 14 wins in 2008, and 11 of those victories came on the road away from hitter-friendly Rangers Ballpark in Arlington . His 43 wins overall as a Ranger since the start of the 2006 season rank second on the club in that time, one behind Kevin Millwood’s 44.

Padilla was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998.

Blog Kiosk: 1/17/2010

• Check our Chris's excellent story at Dodgerfan.net about the Winter Development Program at Dodger Stadium this past Sunday. He was the only blogger in attendance and he represented us well. The Winter Development Program features some of our best minor league prospects.
  
• GCRL creates some amazing fantasy cards. Here, he makes a Jim Bunning card that never was. As you may know he briefly played for the Dodgers during the tail end of the 1969 season. Below GCRL makes a Bunning in Blue card using the Topps 1970 design.
• Olbermann sets it straight. Koufax did not do steroids. He did, though, use corticosteroids (better known as cortisone shots today) which is commonly used throughout Baseball.
• 1207 Consecutive Games shares his 1971 Dodgers Dell Stamp Book. BTW, this is a great new Dodger collector blog that has a bit of a focus on Steve Garvey.
• Here is a great story of how Mike Pitt caught McGwire's homerun #57, gave it back to the slugger and parlayed it into a college scholarship to pay for med school. Another fascinating part of the story is that the scholarship came from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. Jack Kent Cooke, as you may know, was the former owner of the Lakers and LA Kings. He also built the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood. (Hat Tip:Sports Collectors Daily)
  
• Check the Biz of Baseball's MLB Salary Database that includes some player incomes from over 100 years ago, and has inflation adjusted values.
  
• Ken Burns will be updating the wonderfully made Baseball documentary.

  He’ll update the film with “The Tenth Inning,” focusing on the player strike in 1994, the New York Yankees dynasty; the role of the game following Sept. 11, 2001; the revival of the Boston Red Sox; and the emergency of Latin American and Asian players in the major leagues; and the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

  (Hat Tip: Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius)
  
• American hockey player David Backes is on the war path. Since being named to the American Olympic team he has had fights with 3 different Team Canada players. He means business. Thanks to the Common Room for pointing this out. Go USA!
  
• The Wall Street Journal looks at sports cards as an investment and declares that it has done pretty well relative to other traditional investments.

  For 2005 through 2009, the 30 cards that make up the Sports Card Industrial Average, an index put together for The Wall Street Journal by sports-memorabilia company Beckett Media, had an average return on investment of 12.4%. Over that span, the return on the 30 companies that now make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average was an average 7.9%.

  (Hat Tip: Card Collectors Universe)
  
• Is this not the greatest quilt ever, from the Shorpy blog.

  August 17, 1937. "Joseph's coat of many colors had nothing on this unique quilt which is now being completed by Mrs. Ethel Sampson of Evanston, Ill., after six years of collecting. Parts of wearing apparel from President Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt, members of the Cabinet, diplomats and notables from all over. From Hollywood, Bing Crosby sent a tie while Mae West and Shirley Temple contributed parts of dresses. Former Emperor Haile Selassie's neckties and a linen of Windsor are also included on the quilt. Diapers from the Dionne Quintuplets are also prominently displayed."

  
• Wow. Manabu Kurita catches a world record tying largemouth bass at 22 lbs 4 oz.

Vintage Stadium Give Away

Once again eBay uncovers a long forgotten collectible. Of course, since I've never seen it before it may not exactly be as advertised. Nevertheless, it would be a pretty cool item to have on the wall.

As the auction describes, below is a vintage stadium give away (presumably from 1972) to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Dodger Stadium. It is molded plastic and measures 10 5/8" x 9". I do not see any discernible manufacturer markings on the front or back. If anybody has any info on this please pass it along.

eBay Auction Link:

Two Down, Three To Go

(pic link: Ask Francisco)

Via MLB Trade Rumors, the Dodgers have signed Matt Kemp to a two year deal (pending a physical), and avoid arbitration with Billingsley with a $3,850,000.00 one year contract.

On top of that, Ken Gurnick reports that the Dodgers are seeking two year deals with James Loney, Andre Ethier and Jonathon Broxton.

I wonder, though, why only two year deals? You would think, for pure planning purposes, you would want to stagger the number of years so you don't have to do too much during the winter two years from now. Of course, maybe this is a way to defer these contract issues just past the anticipated time expected for the McCourt divorce to be concluded.

eBay: More Dodger Auctions

Here some more Dodger related eBay goodness.

This is a rather incredible item. Unfortunately, the eBay seller does not provide much background about how it was attained so who knows if it's real. Nevertheless, it's very interesting. Below is a 57.9 troy ounce silver Baseball made by the uncle of Wes Parker and given to Wes by his father as a gift to commemorate his career. It sold for $1,036.00.

eBay Auction Link:

Don't eat this popcorn. It is over 20 years old. Below is a Tommy Lasorda endorsed bag of microwavable popcorn that was purchased for the super low price of $0.99. Wow!

eBay Auction Link:

The day before the first day of the 1949 season the Dodger Knot Hole Club held their annual "Welcome Home Dinner" for the team. It looks like everyone was in attendance; from the coaches to the players. Below is a program cover for the event.

eBay Auction Link:

Music To My Ears

(pic link: Viaspire)

MLB Trade Rumors reports that the Dodgers and Matt Kemp may have a deal.

Interviewed on XM MLB Home Plate radio last night, Stewart (Kemp's Agent) told host Jim Bowden that he and the Dodgers are close to a two-year deal for Kemp. Stewart indicated he believes the Dodgers' ownership situation limited the number of years they could offer.

It's not the greatest of lengths, but at least it's progress.