Blog Kiosk: 6/28/2011

Here is a great pic from Jon SooHoo from this past Sunday at Dodger Stadium. Remember, only a few more days left to vote in Kemp for the All Star game. Go here.

• Roberto has a bunch of photos from Dodgers Photo Day this past weekend at Vin Scully Is My Homeboy.
  
• Cardboard Junkie picks up some Brooklyn Dodger Bowman beaters, and they are glorious.
  
• Big League Stew interviews Orel Hershiser.

  I can juggle baseballs. That's not Photoshopped. I can do them behind my back, between my legs, whatever you need. I can't juggle more than three, though. I've tried to do four and five and I can't do that. Maybe if I sat down and practiced it, maybe. But once I learned to juggle three, it's like, "OK, I've accomplished juggling — let's move on [laughs]."

• Clayton Kershaw wins National League Player of the Week honors.

  In two starts last week, the hard-throwing left-hander was a perfect 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA while leading the Majors with 22 strikeouts, 18.0 innings pitched and two complete game performances. Kershaw allowed only eight hits and a single walk on the week while giving up just two earned runs.

• Here is the MLB press release regarding the Dodgers Chapter 11 BK.

  "The Commissioner's Office has spent the better part of one year working with Mr. McCourt and his representatives on the financial situation of the Los Angeles Dodgers, which was caused by Mr. McCourt's excessive debt and his diversion of club assets for his own personal needs..."

• I don't know if Mark Cuban is the answer, but these folks seems to think he is. Check out these "We Want Cuban" shirts here.
• A quirky look at Topps Baseball cards.

Video Link:

Daily Conlon: 91 through 99

Here are todays' Daily Conlon cards numbered 91 through 99, and we finally get our first player in a Dodger uniform.

At the center row, far left is outfielder Johnny Cooney in a 1937 photograph. He played for the Dodgers from 1935 to 1937, and then came back again to play sparingly for them from 1943 to 1944. Cooney started his Major League career as a pitcher in 20's for the Boston Braves recording a 34-44 record with a 3.72 ERA. Then his arm went sore, and he rebuilt his career as a outfielder. To go from a Major League pitcher to a Major League outfielder is pretty remarkable. Heck, you might say that Baseball was in his blood.

Johnny Cooney was the youngest of the "Cranston Cooneys," a Rhode Island ballplaying dynasty begun in the 1890s by James Joseph Cooney, whose four sons all played pro ball. Two brothers never got to the majors, but Johnny strung together 20 seasons in the big leagues that saw him adapt from a pitcher to a potent hitter and outstanding outfielder. His career was spent primarily with the Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers, where he thrived under the tutelage of Casey Stengel.

Stengel even said his fielding was comparable to Joe DiMaggio. After his playing career was over we went on to coach for the Braves for two decades.

As always, click on any of the pics to embiggen.

My All Star Ballot

First of all, I want to take a moment to remind everyone that voting for the All Star game is not yet over. So, you still have time to stuff that ballot box for Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. Go here.
Anyway, I thought I would take this moment to share who got my votes for the starting lineup for this coming 2011 All Star game in Arizona. And I promise it's not biased.

For the American League:

• 1st base: Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox- What an amazing season he's having so far. Makes you wonder what he could have done wearing Dodger Blue.
  
• 2nd base: Howie Kendrick, Angels- I was initially thinking about writing in Michael Young, but he has only played the position a couple of times this season, and is really just a DH today.
• 3rd base: Alex Rodriguez, Yankees- I really tried hard not to pick a Yankee.
  
• SS: Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians- I was torn between him and Jhonny Peralta.
• C: Alex Avila, Tigers- What a great season he's having.
• DH: Michael Young, Rangers- OK, now I get to pick Michael.
• OF: Jose Bautista, Blue Jays- Is there really any other choice?
• OF: Alex Gordon, Royals- Has he finally broken out? I say yes, so he gets my vote.
  
• OF: Adam Jones, Orioles- He's having a great season so far. 13 Home runs, 45 RBI's and a batting average approaching .300.
• SP: Jered Weaver, Angels- It was close between Jered and Justin Verlander.

For the National League:

• 1st base: Prince Fielder, Brewers- 21 Home runs. Do I have to say any more?
• 2nd base: Rickie Weeks, Brewers- With a one-two punch of Fielder and Phillips you know why the BrewCrew sit atop the Central Division.
• 3rd base: Placido Polanco, Phillies- I wish I could give you a good reason, but I couldn't think of a better choice.
• SS: Jose Reyes, Mets- Batting .344 and an OPS of nearly .900. Wow!
• C: Brian McCann, Braves- 13 homers, 43 RBI's, batting .300 and a OPS of .891. No one is even close.
• OF: Matt Kemp, Dodgers- Even the unbiased would pick "The Bison" for the All-Star game.
  
• OF: Andre Ethier, Dodgers- No this is not a biased pick. His numbers warrant his selection this season.
  
• OF: Ryan Braun, Brewers- Man-O-Live, the Brewers are stacked!
• SP: Roy Halladay, Phillies- His 5 complete games really impresses me. Since I can't actually vote for a pitcher I don't feel bad for not picking Clayton Kershaw here. I hope, nevertheless, that he ends up on the squad.
  

eBay: Snapshots of Jackie

Taken in 1949, here are a couple of fan taken photographic snapshots of Dodger phenom Jackie Robinson. This auction item is also accompanied by a letter written by the fan asking for Jackie to sign them- a sort of vintage through the mail request. Unfortunately, it does not appear that the sender every mailed it- no postmark. Too bad, it would have made for a great heirloom.

(Auction Link)