Blog Kiosk: 6/22/2011

Wayne Gretzky sporting Brooklyn Blue, via Josh Rawitch yfrog. I believe Wayne's recently drafted son is to his right.

• What a sad state of affairs. Check out Plaschke's story called: "The reality of a trip to Dodger Stadium is surreal."
• Hardball Talk says what we already know, "Frank McCourt: Shameless."
• Sherman Oaks Patch ask: "Mom's Talk: Would you take your kids to a Dodger game?"
  
• Here's the petition to Fox to allow Vin Scully to announced one more World Series.
  
• I hate to focus on a Giant player here, but I really thought this was worth a look. Greg at the Infinite Baseball Card Set made a Willie Mays card in a Class B Trenton Giants uniform (his first team associated with a Major League club), and tells a story about his first night with the team. Go to the site here to see the card and read the story. Below is a short excerpt.

  Unbeknown to Mays, the rest of the Trenton Giants were pissed. Suddenly having a black player thrust onto their team really brought out deep emotions in many of the Giants players. As the evening wore on, the simmering anger of the young players boiled over into action.
  
  At midnight five of his new teammates left their hotel and trekked into Hagerstown's colored neighborhood. Fueled by anger and a deep feeling of what they thought was right, they climbed up The Harmon Hotel's fire escape and found the window of Willie's room. Huddled in the darkness they rapped on the glass. What must have been a hesitant Mays opened the window.

  Read on here for the rest of the story.
• "Hey, you guys!" Let's Go Dodgers puts up a great Lotney Fratelli (of Goonies fame) fantasy card up. Nice.
• I-70 Baseball writes about the anniversary of Darryl Kile's death.
  
• Here's a Father's Day recap from the Dodgers.

Video Link:

Daily Conlon: 46 through 54

Here are Daily Conlon cards from The Sporting News, numbered 46 through 54.

Mickey Cochrane, at the center row on the right, was considered one of the greatest catchers in Baseball history. Unfortunately, his career was cut short in 1937 at the age of 34 when he was beaned in the head by Yankees pitcher Bump Hadley. He was hospitalized for 7 days, and given strict orders by his doctor to quit the game. After returning he never returned to the field, but stayed on as the manager for one more season.

Dodgers ThinkCure! Auction

In celebration for the 4th Annual ThinkCure! weekend the Dodgers have just opened up the ThinkCure! auction filled with collectibles and unique Dodger experiences. Go here to check them all out.

Several once-in-a-lifetime Dodger experiences will be included in the auction, including a visit with Vin Scully in his broadcast booth and a trip to Spring Training at Camelback Ranch – Glendale that includes a behind-the-scenes tour. Other auction experiences include a base running lesson with Dodger First Base Coach Davey Lopes, a pitching lesson with Dodger Pitching Coach Rick Honeycutt, a hitting lesson with Dodger Hitting Instructor Dave Hansen and a bunting lesson with former Dodger Maury Wills. Fans can also bid on the chance to sit in on Don Mattingly’s pre- and post-game media sessions, the opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a Dodger game, an insider tour of the DodgerVision booth and the chance to watch the game and eat dinner in the Dugout Club with Don Newcombe.

Below are some choice items I thought were worth a longer look.

This is a ThinkCure! autographed bat of Clayton Kershaw.

(Auction Link)

Here is a 2008 Dodgers team autographed 50th Anniversary Coliseum Baseball.

(Auction Link)

Here is the coolest non-Baseball item up for bid. This is a Snoopy as the Red Baron original sketch autographed by Charles Schulz.

(Auction Link)

Lov'n the Sketch Card

I'm really liking some of the sketch cards I've been running across on eBay. I've never had one in my collection, but I might have to search them out. Here are a couple of more sketch cards that I thought were excellently done, this time from 2009.

This is Matt Kemp .

(Auction Link)

Here is Andre Ethier.

(Auction Link)