Blog Kiosk: 1/27/2012

• The Negro League Baseball Museum Legacy Awards Banquet is this coming Saturday, and as I reported several months ago, both Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw are getting awards. Kemp took home the Oscar Charleston (MVP) and Josh Gibson (Home Run Leader) Awards and Kershaw took the Bullet Rogan "Pitcher of the Year" Award. See a press release from the Negro League Baseball Museum, here.
• "Hiroki Kuroda talks about leaving Dodgers, and why he chose Yankees," via Steve Dilbeck of LA Times.
  
• Big League Stew celebrates Steve Sax's 52nd birthday.
  
• Will Manny Ramirez be with the A's, via SFGate.
  
• "Darth Vader, Meet Frank McCourt," via Through the Fence Baseball.

  You remember when the Dark One, Darth Vader, has a bit of good inside his evil heart and does The Force a solid by sacrificing himself to save his son, Luke Skywalker. Well, after hearing that Frank McCourt had been trying to bring Fielder to Los Angeles for the past couple months, I feel a little differently about him.

• Likely to be one of the more sought after redemptions in 2012 Topps packs, "1 of 1" solid gold cards will be available. There are 16 of them, and Sandy Koufax and Jackie Robinson are included. Beckett shares a pic of the Lou Gehrig Gold card.
  
• For Baseball historians this is just another place to put on the "must visit one day" list. Cleveland's old League Park is about to get a face-lift, via Cleveland.com.

  The old ballpark, once home of the Cleveland Indians and the 1945 Negro League champion Cleveland Buckeyes, and adjacent parkland will undergo $5 million in renovations, said Ken Silliman, chief of staff for Mayor Frank Jackson. Silliman said work will begin late this spring or in early summer and be finished in about a year.

• Several LA Kings stars make an appearance on Funny or Die.

The Fame Makers with the Los Angeles Kings from Anze Kopitar

• Hat Tip: Steve Dilbeck of LA Times. A trick shot video with Don Mattingly.

Video Link:

Collection: Garvey INKredibles

With the Dodger auction sale underway, and with Steve Garvey in the hunt as a potential bidder I thought it would be a good time to share this Garvey autograph in my collection. This is a 1999 Upper Deck Retro INKredible autographed card. These are cards are plentiful and can be purchased on eBay for under $10 a piece, if you are patient enough. Over the past month 3 examples have sold at a range of $4.99 to $7.00.

SABR Day on Saturday

I just ran across this, so I thought I would make note of it for everybody. This coming Saturday is the 3rd Annual SABR Day. Regional meetings are being held throughout the country. If you don't know, SABR is the Society for American Baseball Research, and their principal goal is to study the game. Ernie Harwell called it, "the Phi Beta Kappa of baseball, providing scholarship which the sport has long needed. ... An excellent way for all of us to add to our enjoyment of the greatest game."

Anyway, attendance is free for everyone; including non-members. Think of it as an opportunity to see what it is all about. Below is info for a local southland meeting. Go to this link for general information.

Time: 10:15 a.m.

Where: La Habra Library, 221 E. La Habra Blvd., La Habra, CA 90631, (562) 694-0078

Contact: Barry Mednick, bmednick@roadrunner.com

Allan Roth Chapter program: Former Milwaukee Braves All-Star catcher Del Crandall will be joining us for SABR Day at the La Habra Library. High school coach Eddie Alvarez will speak and Eric Dearborn will present photographs of final games at various ballparks. Authors Daryl Grigsby ("Celebrating Ourselves: African-Americans and the Promise of Baseball") and Ron Selter (on .400 hitters) will also speak. As always, beverages will be provided; bring your own lunch. Please advise Barry Mednick (bmednick@adelphia.net) if you wish to make a research presentation.