Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 10/10/2012

Topps is working on their final touches to next seasons 2013 Opening Day Baseball card set.  Check out a pic they revealed above on twitter that shows us what the Matt Kemp will look like.

• MLB Blog Central reveals their latest episode of "Meet the Bloggers" that features Dodgers blogger Emma of Crzblue's Dodger Blue World.  Congrats Emma!
• Andre Ethier is the Dodgers finalist for the Hank Aaron Award.  Go here to vote.

The Hall of Fame panel led by Aaron includes some of the greatest offensive players of all-time –Tony Gwynn, Paul Molitor, Joe Morgan, and Robin Yount.  These Hall of Famers – who combined for 12,119 hits, 888 home runs and 4,984 RBI – have all been personally selected by Aaron to lend their expertise to select the best offensive performer in each League.  

• You must listen to the Nerdist podcast featuring their talk with Tom Hanks.  It's hilarious.  Before you do, though please check out how they got Tom Hanks to come on as a guest, here.
• Have you ever wondered what the heck is WAR (Wins Above Replacement) anyway?  Well, Baseball Reference provides everything you would ever want to know.
• This Card is Cool shares some Baseball finds he grabbed at a Japanese Flea Market.
• Rich Hammond, the LA Kings resident blogger at LA Kings Insider, has just signed on to work for the OC Register to cover the Trojans.  I hate to see you go.  Your inside track with the Kings made you a daily read.  Good luck!

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You Got a Monkey on Your Back

(twitter link)

Ya know, I wanted to post this up before the season ended, but I just never got around to it.

Wow, Dodgers bench coach Trey Hillman literally has a monkey on his back.  The above photo was tweeted by LA Daily News Dodgers reporter JP Hoornstra.

Anyway, during the last roadtrip in San Diego the Dodgers had the pleasure of meeting the most famous monkey in the world.  Crystal, a capachin monkey, has been in several multi-million blockbuster movies; including The Hangover II and Night at the Museum.  She has also been on Community and Animal Practice. 

For a look at Crystal's day at the ballpark check out the video below.

Video Link:

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2012 Topps Update Baseball Cards- Dodgers All-Star Inserts

The All-Star game seems so long ago.  The National League won this years event for the third straight time, after spending the previous 13 years as losers.  Matt Kemp didn't play in the game due to an injury, but did participate in the Home Run Derby as the National League Captain.  Unfortunately, he hit only one home run.  Clayton Kershaw allowed three batters to get on base, but did not give up a run in his one inning of work

Anyway, in commemoration of the event Topps included numerous insert cards for us to chase after in their recently released Update set. Check out my previous post on the Topps Update Set here (short prints), here (base cards), and here (other inserts).

Below are the All-Star Stitches insert cards of Kershaw and Kemp.

AS-CLK Clayton Kershaw - Dodgers

 AS-MK Matt Kemp - Dodgers

Below are the Dual All-Star Stitches cards featuring Dodgers.

ASD-KK Matt Kemp - Clayton Kershaw

ASD-BK Ryan Braun - Matt Kemp

These are the Triple All-Star Stiches cards. 

AST-KHS Clayton Kershaw - Cole Hamels - CC Sabathia

AST-KHT Matt Kemp - Josh Hamilton - Mike Trout

 AST-BKG Ryan Braun - Matt Kemp - Carlos Gonzalez

The only Dodger in the All-Star Jumbo Patch Autographed set is Clayton Kershaw.  See it below.  There is also a Matt Kemp Jumbo Patch card that is not autographed, but I have yet to see one.

ASPA-CK Clayton Kershaw - Dodgers

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Collection: 1995 LA Dodgers Police Baseball Card Set

Here we go again.  Following up on my series of post focused on Dodgers police sets throughout the years, here are scans of the 1995 LAPD Police set.  To see the other police sets I have featured go here.  There are 30 cards in all, and it has been reported that 40,000 set were given away to fans as a give away during a game.  Below is a look at what the reverse of the cards look like.

These cards were also given out as perforated sheets, but as you can see my cards have been machine cut. It's likely that someone received a bunch of them and had them professional cut up.  BTW, these cards are very inexpensive.  You should be able to get a complete from just about any year for around $5, give or take a few dollars here and there. 

As I look at this set, I realized that this Dodger team was stacked.  We had Piazza, Karros and Mondesi as our power bats.  Chan Ho Park. Nomo and Ramon Martinez lead our starting pitching staff with an effective Todd Worrell anchoring our relievers.  It's no wonder we took the National League West crown that season. 

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