Dodgers Blue Heaven: Nov 30, 2011

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Dee Gordon is a Topps All-Star Rookie

It has been announced today that Dodgers shortstop Dee Gordon has been named to the 53rd annual Topps All-Star Rookie Team. This is the first time a Dodger has been named since James Loney was selected as a first baseman in 2007. For a complete list off all past winners go here. Below is a complete list of 2011's All-Star Rookies team members.

1B: Mark Trumbo, Angels
2B: Danny Espinosa, Nationals
SS: Dee Gordon, Dodgers
3B: Brett Lawrie, Blue Jays
OF: Desmond Jennings, Rays
OF: Josh Reddick, Red Sox
OF: Ben Revere, Twins
C: J.P. Arencibia, Blue Jays
SP: Jeremy Hellickson, Rays
RP: Craig Kimbrel, Braves

I'm not sure if an actual trophy is presented to the player. At least, I don't ever recall seeing one in a museum or one for sale at auction over the years. It's biggest prize is having the iconic Topps All-Star Trophy placed prominently on next years Topps card. Besides that, each player can claim to be in elite company. Seventeen past members have gone on to be inducted into the Hall of Fame-

Willie McCovey, Johnny Bench, Rod Carew, Gary Carter, Carlton Fisk, Paul Molitor, Joe Morgan, Eddie Murray, Andre Dawson, Tony Perez, Kirby Puckett, Jim Rice, Cal Ripken, Ryne Sandberg, Tom Seaver, Ozzie Smith and Billy Williams.

Past Dodgers recipients include Ron Fairly, Tommy Davis, Frank Howard, Ted Sizemore, Bill Buckner, Davey Lopes, Fernando Valenzuela, Steve Sax, Greg Brock, Tim Belcher, Eric Karros, Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Hideo Nomo, Todd Hollandsworth, Wilton Guerrero, Russell Martin, James Loney, and Andre Ethier.

UPDATE: The Dodgers just sent out a press release. See it here.

Blog Kiosk: 11/30/2011

Here is another interesting 2011 Topps Triple Thread I recently ran into on eBay. It is a one-of-kind jumbo patch book card of our soon-to-be 50/50 man. It sold for what I thought was an unbelievable $224.50. (Auction Link)

It looks like Adam Kennedy will be in Blue for $800k on a 1 year contract, via MLB Trade Rumors.
Baseball America's top 10 Dodgers prospects, via @Dodgers tweet:
Listen to Don Newcombe speak about Matt Kemp on MLB Network Radio, here. Don talks about an open invitation from Willie Mays to Matt Kemp to talk about Baseball. Willie believes Kemp is a couple of steps from being one of the best center fielders ever.
Now, listen to Don Newcombe speak about Clayton Kershaw in the same interview, here.
'Baseball Executives, players weight in on what makes a good owner,' via Mike DiGiovanna at the LA Times.
"The bottom line is he put great players on the field, and he delivered championships," Cashman said. "He built something the fans can be proud of, and that's what a great owner does."
Former Dodger Bobby Valentine will be the new Red Sox coach, via Big League Stew.
The Murdoch's, the principle owners of the Fox Sports networks, appear to be in a little bit of trouble. On top of the phone hacking scandal there is word that they may also have hacked into computers of high level ministers in Northern Ireland containing sensitive intelligence information. One thing is certain, the Murdoch influence is waning in Europe and it's likely to spread to America. This may be the reason that MLB has been willing to turn its back on Fox while siding with McCourt in the sale of a future TV contract. Fox does not wield the kind of power they once had.
Larry King has now thrown his hat into the ring. He joins Dennis Gilbert's group. Via Tony Jackson at ESPN.
The source said King's financial stake in the ownership group is comparatively small. The group's primary investors, the source said, are two high-ranking executives with Imperial Capital, a Los Angeles-based investment bank with offices in five other U.S. cities.
This is the best news I've heard all year. Well... Actually, it rivals the McCourt sale announcement in my mind. Fugazi will be releasing an archive of 800 live shows on a pay-what-you-want basis. Check it out here.
The punk band’s loyal following will be thrilled to learn that the Fugazi Live Series, a massive archive of Fugazi shows spanning from 1987 to 2003, will launch to the public on December 1st.

In celebration, listen to them play live.

Video Link:

Collection: Tim Hamulack Auto-Facts Signatures

This is a 2006 Upper Deck Auto-Facts signature card of former Dodgers reliever Tim Hamulack. The back of the card tells us:

"Hamulack, who made his Major League debut with the Mets in 2005, will look to solidify the bullpen for the Dodgers in 2006. The lefty didn't allow an earned run in his first six appearances for Los Angeles."

Unfortunately, his good start didn't last the entire season. Hamulack finished the 2006 season pitching 33 games with a 6.35 ERA. I think it's fair to say that his time with us was unremarkable. By the end of the year most of his appearances were what would be deemed "mop-up" duty.

Lelands: These Are Just Weird

What the heck is this?

A collection 16 original life cast resin hands from the collection of Raelee Frazier are on the auction block at Lelands. Frazier is a noted artist based in Denver who specializes in creating hand cast of some of the most notable ballplayers in history. Typically, a bronze cast would be made from the original cast, and would be paired with a bat for a nice display. See an example of a Ted Williams sculpture below.

The cast on auction are the original hand cast she used to make the sculpture. BTW, her work has appeared at the Smithsonian and the Negro League Baseball Museum, among others.

This is a cast of Duke Snider's hands.

(Auction Link)

This is a cast of Pee Wee Reese's hands.