Blog Kiosk: 2/21/2012

Here is a sneak peek at the Matt Kemp autographed card from Panini's 2011 Limited Baseball set, via The Knight's Lance.

• Check out another Panini post with some preview pic from their Playoff Contenders Baseball set that is being released this week.
  
• Dodgers closer Javy Guerra is ready. Via Javy's twitter.
• Kemp and Gwynn did their best to lure Prince Fielder to LA, via Dylan Hernandez at LA Times.

  Gwynn said Fielder asked him about what it was like to play in Los Angeles. In particular, Fielder wanted to know how the ball travels at Dodger Stadium.
  
  “I lied to him, actually,” Gwynn said.
  
  He said he told Fielder, “It’s not that bad once June rolls around.”

• Bill Shaikin reports that Spring Training in Arizona has not been as profitable as they would have hoped.
  
• Forbes says that several large funds are interested in joining the bidding; including KKR (please, no!), Highbridge Capital, and Providence Equity Partners.
• Peter O'Malley is out of the bidding, via Bill Skaikin.
  
• Check out Craig Calcaterra's great article in Harball Talk focused on the old United States Baseball League.
  
• I'm not a Rick Santorum fan, but his story about meeting reliever Kent Tekulve is very funny, via Big League Stew.
• DodgerFilms prepares for the 2012 Baseball Season in their own way. Watch "Our Spring Training."

Video Link:

A Collectors Paradise: "This Is My Home"

This is the essence of collecting.

Check out this great video put together by Departure Arrival Films called "This Is My Home." I'll let them describe what the video is all about.

On an unseasonably warm November night in Manhattan on our way to get ice cream, we stumbled upon what appeared to be a vintage shop, brightly lit display window and all. As we began to walk in, a man sitting out front warned us that we were welcome to explore, but nothing inside was for sale. Our interests piqued, we began to browse through the collections the man out front had built throughout his life. This is a story of a man and his home.

This Is My Home from Mark on Vimeo.

(Hat Tip: Reddit)

News From the First Day of Spring

It's just the first official day of Spring Training, as pitchers and catchers were to report today, and there is already news pertinent to the upcoming Baseball season.

• Per a @Dodgers tweet, Kershaw will be our Opening Day starter. No real surprise there.

(Tweet Link: @Dodgers)

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• Eric Stephen of True Blue LA is also at Camelback Ranch and reports that part of our lineup is set. Dee Gordon will lead off and Kemp will bat third. Seems a bit early to be announcing this, but I'm not surprised by this at all.

(Tweet Link: @TrueBlueLA)

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• Per Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times, the closers job is Javy Guerra's job to lose.

(Tweet Link: @DylanHernandez)

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• In some bad news, reliever Blake Hawksworth will not be ready to start the season due to offseason surgery.

(Tweet Link: @Dodgers)

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• In news that this old Dodger fan welcomes. Per Ken Gurnick, Steve Yeager has been hired to

work with Dodgers catchers in Spring Training and when the team is at home during the season and will serve as a special-assignment catching instructor in the Minor Leagues when the team is on the road.

(Tweet Link: @KenGurnick)

WooHoo! Pitchers and Catchers Report!

There really is no better day in the year. Today, Dodgers pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. Soon, the entire team will be in Arizona and Baseball will begin anew.

(Pic Link: Zazzle)

Collection: Maury Wills Fleer Greats

There isn't much I can add about Maury Wills that I haven't already written or has been written elsewhere. He was just great in Dodger Blue. Not only that, he's been great as a coach for LA.

Here is a 2002 Fleer Greats autographed card of Wills from my collection. It has been improperly numbered to 56. From my understanding, this numbering was put on by an unscrupulous seller hoping to cash in on a perceived rarity. Again, I am certain that this autographed card is not limited at all. Fortunately, I didn't pay any kind of premium when I purchased this on eBay several years ago, so I don't feel ripped off. On the other hand, knowing that it doesn't belong there does irk me a bit.