2012 Topps Tribute- Dodgers Base Cards

As many of you Baseball collectors probably already know, Topps just released their 2012 Topps Baseball Tribute set to rousing applause. Collectors really seem to have fallen in love with the design of the cards and I can't blame them. They are super shiny with a simple design that emphasizes some great photos. Check out the 5 Dodgers within the base set in this post.
As I will show in a future post, collectors love that all autographed cards are on-card (not sticker autos) that look great with Topps simple design. On top of that, when Topps realized their error in including some sticker autographs that were meant to be bonus cards not a part of the original set configuration they quickly announced a solution. Via Beckett:

The Tribute To The Stars autographs were originally supposed to be incrementally placed extra hits in the product. Instead, these cards have been found in place of an autograph or Relic.

On Friday, the company announced that it will send a pack of 2011 Bowman Sterling (two autographs and one Relic per) to anyone who sends a Tribute to the Stars card in to the company to have its serial-number verified and have it returned along with the pack.

Go to the Beckett website for more detailed information.

Dodgers Notes from Spring Training- Day 20

Throughout Spring Training the Dodgers PR department sends out helpful daily notes from Camelback Ranch, and I am happy to pass them along.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS (5-1-2) at Los Angeles Angels (5-3)

Monday, March 12, 2012 – 1:05 p.m., Tempe Diablo Stadium

RHP Aaron Harang vs. RHP Jered Weaver

Spring Game 9/Road Game 6

Todays Starting Lineup:

Dodgers: Gordon, 6; Kennedy, 4; Kemp, 8; Ethier, DH; Rivera, 7; Hairston, 5; Sullivan, 9; A. Ellis, 2; Fields, 9; Harang, 1.
Angels: Aybar SS, Kendrick 2B, Pujols 1B, Hunter RF, Wells LF, Abreu DH, Trumbo 3B, Ianetta C, Bourjos CF, Weaver SP.

Upcoming Spring Training Schedule:

• RED HOT AND BLUE: The Dodgers take their Cactus-League best 5-1-2 record to Tempe’s Diablo Stadium this afternoon to take on their I-5 rivals, the Angels. The two teams will meet again in Cactus League action on March 18 at Camelback Ranch –Glendale, prior to their exhibition Freeway Series from April 2-4. During the regular season, the Dodgers and Halos will meet six times, starting with a three-game set at Dodger Stadium from June 11-13. With four wins and a tie in its last five games, the Dodgers have the Cactus League’s best record with a 5-1-2 mark through eight contests. The club also has the best record among National League squads and trails only the Tigers (6-1-1) for the Majors’ best mark so far in the spring season.

• ALL PHASES: Los Angeles ranks fourth among National League teams with a .286 team batting average and is tied for third with 10 home runs, despite playing in just eight games. The Dodgers rank third among all NL clubs with a 3.38 ERA (27 ER/72.0 IP) and have committed just three errors, which ties them with the Cardinals and Astros for the fewest among NL teams.

• CUBBIE-BLANKING: The Dodgers shut out the Cubs, 5-0, yesterday at Camelback Ranch – Glendale, getting 3.0 scoreless innings from LHP Ted Lilly in his second Cactus League outing. Following Lilly, the Dodger bullpen continued its stellar work this spring as six different hurlers fired a combined 6.0 scoreless innings while yielding just three hits. The offense was keyed by outfielder Trent Oeltjen (2-for-3, 2B, 2 R) and designated hitter Tony Gwynn Jr. (2 RBI).

(Photo Credit: Juan Ocampo/ LA Dodgers 2012)

• THE BIG “H”: New Dodger starter Aaron Harang will make his second Cactus League appearance this afternoon in Tempe after making his debut last Wednesday in Phoenix against the A’s. Harang is coming off one of the best seasons of his 10-year big league career after leading the Padres with 14 wins and posting a career-low 3.64 ERA in 28 starts last season. Since 2004, Harang ranks among the National League leaders in wins (85, 7th), strikeouts (1,223, 3rd), innings pitched (1,467.2, 4th) and complete games (13, T-7^th). The California native will be followed to the hill today by RHP Chris Withrow, LHP Wilfredo Ledezma, RHP Angel Guzman, RHP Ryan Tucker and LHP Scott Rice.

• FAMILIAR FACES: Two players very familiar to Angels fans will be in the Dodger starting lineup today as Adam Kennedy starts at second and Juan Rivera will be in left field. Kennedy, who played in Anaheim from 2000-06, ranks among the Angels’ franchise leaders in games (992, 9^th), hits (935, 13^th), doubles (176, 9^th) and triples (32, T-4^th). He was the 2002 MVP of the American League Championship Series vs. Minnesota after hitting .357 (5-for-14) with three homers and five RBI in four games. Rivera played in Orange County from 2005-10, blasting 92 homers during that six-year stretch, which also includes the 2007 campaign when he played in just 14 games due to injury. The Venezuela native set career highs with the Angels in 2009 with 152 hits, 72 runs, 25 homers and 88 RBI.

(Photo Credit: Juan Ocampo/ LA Dodgers 2012)

• BIRTHDAY BOYS IN THE OUTFIELD: A quartet of famous former Dodger outfielders were born on this day as Raul Mondesi turns 41, 2004 home run hero Steve Finley is 47, Darryl Strawberry celebrates birthday No. 50 and Jimmy “The Toy Cannon” Wynn would have been 70 years old today.

• GOING TO BE A CLASSIC: The 3^rd annual Dodgertown Classic will take place tomorrow, March 13, at Dodger Stadium with UC Irvine taking on Pepperdine at 2:00 p.m. and USC battling its crosstown rival, UCLA at 6:30 p.m. There will be discounted concessions and free parking with an all-day ticket costing only $7 in advance and $12 tomorrow.

A Florida Appearance: Jane Leavy, the Koufax Biographer

This is for folks who will be Florida next week. Jane Leavy, who wrote the biography "Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy" will be talking about Baseball, the career of "The Left Hand of God" (Sandy Koufax) , and Mickey Mantle (the subject of her most recent book). Both events listed below are free for all to attend.

On Tuesday March 20th Jane Leavy will be speaking at the Vero Beach Book Center at 1:00 PM. Details are available here.

2145 Indian River Blvd.

Vero Beach, FL 32960

(772) 569-2050

Then on March 22nd she will be at the Blake Museum in Stuart, FL at 3:00 PM.

2351 S.E. Monterey Road
Stuart , 34996
(772) 288-5702

From the press release:

She wrote “Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy” with the Hall of Fame pitcher’s consent. He gave her an unprecedented access into his private life. Koufax won four World Series titles with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, threw four no-hitters, including a perfect game in 1965, and earned three Cy Young awards.

“A lot more than a biography,” Daniel Okrent wrote in Time magazine. “It’s a consideration of how we create our heroes, and how this hero’s self-perception distinguishes him from nearly every other great athlete in living memory.”

Leavy followed that book with “The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood,” a definitive account of one of baseball’s biggest talents and most tragic figures. The outfielder won seven World Series titles with the New York Yankees, was voted the American League’s Most Valuable Player three times, and won the Triple Crown in 1956.

“‘The Last Boy’ is something new in the history of the histories of the Mick,” Keith Olbermann wrote in a review for the New York Times. “It is hard fact, reported by someone greatly skilled at that craft, assembled into an atypical biography by someone equally skilled at doing that, and presented so that the reader and not the author draws nearly all the ­conclusions.”