Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 9/21/2012

How awesome is this picture.  The Space Shuttle Endeavor flew over Dodger Stadium this afternoon.  Pic via LikeAgaveF on reddit. This might originally be a @Dodgers pic from instagram- I'm not really sure.

• No!  Stop it.  Shut him down already.  There is no need to threaten his (and our) future by having Kershaw pitch again this season.  Via Dylan Hernandez at the LA Times, "Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw Throws Off Mound, Raising Hopes of His Return."
• Tom Hoffarth of the Daily News takes a look back at the Summer of Stanley.
• The Dodgers Blogs Softball Tournament is next weekend.  Go here to sign up.
• A couple of Dodgers prospects help Israel to advance in the WBC Baseball tournament, via Christopher Jackson at Examiner.com.
• Patrick Dorsey at ESPN puts together a great interview with Dodgers photographer Jon SooHoo.

"Probably my biggest problem is I shot so much film. I have filing cabinets' worth of slides, negatives, color negatives, black-and-white negatives from format cameras that I shot. It's just a very large library of stuff.

“A lot of my best stuff is on film -- which is the Joe Montana years, and Jerry Rice, and old Dodgers stuff. ... There's a lot of images that I haven't even gotten to that have been shot on film that someday, maybe, will be digitized at some point."  

Hopefully, we'll get an opportunity to see some of those.

• Brandon Stroud at With Leather brings to you the Brady Bunch's 20 Greatest Sports Moments. 
• Ballhawk king Zach Hample was kicked out of the Dodgers/Nationals doubleheader, via Deadspin.
• This is what I've been waiting for.  The Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings recently announced a special DVD that includes Bob and Jim's call from Game 6 of the Finals.  Below is a preview from that game that includes the 5 minute major penalty from the 1st period and the Kings first goal.  (Hat Tip: LA Kings Insider)
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eBay: A Couple of Jim Gilliam Personal Awards

I recently ran across a very interesting lot on eBay featuring some memorabilia from a beloved Dodger- Jim Gilliam.  As you know, Gilliam spent his entire Major League career with the Dodgers franchise- from 1953 to his untimely death in 1978.  

During his playing days he garnered Rookie of the Year honors in 1953, earned 2 All-Star berths and was a member of 4 World Championship teams.  Not considered a superstar, he did the little things that were required to win.  Gilliam played the game with the kind of intelligence unequal during his time, and the versatility that allowed him to play just about any position at a moments notice. 

During the tail-end of his career he served the Blue Crew as a player/coach in 1964 and became a full-time coach in 1967.  He had the ambition to be the manager one day, and even interviewed for the Dodgers job after Alston's retirement- Lasorda and Gilliam were the only candidates.  As history tells us, Lasorda would become the manager, but that didn't stop Gilliam from continuing to serve the team as best he could.  Til his death, he remained loyal to the Dodgers.

To this day, Jim Gilliam remains the only Dodgers number to be retired who is not in the Hall of Fame.  In September of the 1978 pennant race, Jim Gilliam fell into a coma due to a cerebral hemorrhage and died nearly a month later- the day after the Dodgers won the National League title.  Two days later the Dodgers would formally honor him by retiring number #19.  If you want to check out a great biography on the man go to the SABR website, here.

(eBay Auction Link)

Featuring in this post are two personal awards given to Jim Gilliam from the Carson Black Heritage Association and some golfing buddies.  See the eBay auction here.  Strangely, the first award (the one directly above) was given to his family after his death, which naturally got me wondering if this was real.  So, I did a little bit of research and discovered that this along with many other personal effects were originally sold in a 1981 estate auction through Goldberg Auctioneers.  See that sale here (Auction #12).  It was a part of a 5 trophy lot that sold for $207.

Since I came across the original estate sale, I thought I would feature other items from Jim Gilliam's playing days that I thought were worth a look.

Below is his 1955 World Series ring.  It has sold for $26,450 in 1981.

Below is his 1959 World Series ring.  It originally sold for $7,475.

A 1963 Commemorative World Series Bowl.  It sold for $541.

And here is a memorabilia item I have never seen before.  Below is a 1971 East-West All-Stars glass and silver plated vessel.

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Just Awesome! Jackie Robinson Movie Trailer is Out

The first movie trailer for "42" the Jackie Robinson movie is out, and it looks good.  Let's hope it's as riveting as this preview.  The film is expected to hit the big screens in April.  (Hat Tip: Steve Dilbeck at the LA Times)

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