Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 10/24/2012

Beautiful!  A final pic of the Stanley Cup with the LA skyline in the background, via twitter @Dodgers.

• Left Field Pavilion makes an incredible fantasy Baseball card of Don Newcombe under the Schaefer Beer brand.  All I can say is please make more!
• Vote for Ken Levine.  As you may recall, Ken was the former host of Dodgers Talk.  Well, he has since gone on to the Mariners, and has guest spotted on their radio broadcast.  Now, the team is looking to fill in the full-time co-announcer position and Seattle PI is polling fans to see who should get that spot.  Please go there and place your vote.
• Chris Jaffe at Hardball Times makes note of the 40th anniversary Jackie Robinson's death.
• Put this under the heading of "Bad Ideas".  The Dodgers could open up the 2014 season in Australia, via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.

The paper quoted Bob Turner, owner of the Sydney Blue Sox professional baseball team, saying that Major League Baseball has been negotiating with Australian Baseball League officials to hold the series, which could pit the Dodgers against the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

• Are you carving a pumpkin for Halloween?  Well, the Dodgers provide some great templates; including the Vin Scully below.  Go here to check them all out.

• Gary Sheffield's a players agent?  Color me surprised, via Jack Dickey at Sports on Earth.  (Hat Tip: VSIMH)

Sheffield is more or less the Cincinnatus of player representation: He didn't ask to do it, but they beckoned him. Players just wanted Gary Sheffield on their side. So he got his license, just in case he decided to get involved in the business. And then Jason Grilli called in 2010. Sheffield and Grilli had played together in Detroit and gotten along well. Grilli was out of the big leagues, coming off a knee injury, and he wanted back in.

• Jim Abbott meets a 15-year old one-handed pitcher, via Cincinnati.com.

“I didn’t see (these young people) coming, not in the numbers they did,” he wrote. “They were shy and beautiful, and they were loud and funny, and they were, like me, somehow imperfectly built. And, like me, they had parents nearby, parents who willed themselves to believe that this accident of circumstance or nature was not a life sentence, and that the spirits inside these tiny bodies were greater than the sums of their hands and feet.”

• Come on, Costas!  Sign up!  Via Bill Shaikin on twitter.  From the 66'ers website.

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So... Who's Rooting for the Tigers?

This evening is Game 1 of the 2012 World Series and I am cheering loud & proud for the Detroit Tigers.  Sure, with the Giants paired off against them, they were the easy choice.  But, I like to argue that a little bit of Tigers fandom does reside in my blood.

As a young little leaguer I was placed on a Tigers team that was stacked.  We had a couple of kids who could hit like high schoolers and a pitcher who I swear was a 6-foot, 10 year old.  I manned 2nd base and moved to centerfield late in games since I was one of only a handful of kids on the team that could catch a deep fly.  Heck, the local paper that praised our league victory even remarked that I made a game-saving catch to help win our championship.

So, really... I'm a closeted Tigers fan.

Anyway, this afternoon is Game 1 and I look forward to watching the Tigers devour the Giants.  I especially look forward to watching the pregame show this afternoon.  On the MLB Network, I believe starting at 3:00 PM, they will air a rare interview between Bob Costas and David Robinson, son of Jackie Robinson.  According to a MLB press release:

David Robinson will reflect on his late father, including the impact Jackie Robinson had on baseball and society, plus his memories of his father’s speech before Game Two of the 1972 World Series, which was nine days before Robinson passed away.

So, don't miss it.

Here is the schedule they provided for the pregame shows for future games.

Prior to Game Two this Thursday, MLB Network will mark the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Series with a feature on the seven-game series between the Anaheim Angels and San Francisco Giants. Hosted by Costas, the feature includes interviews with Dusty Baker, his son Darren Baker, Tim Salmon and J.T. Snow, looking back on the most memorable moments of this seven game classic, including Snow pulling Darren Baker out of harm’s way in Game Five and the Angels’ comeback to win Game Six and Game Seven.

Leading up to Game Three on Saturday, MLB Network will reflect on the 35th anniversary of Reggie Jackson’s historic three-home run performance in Game Six of the 1977 World Series with a feature including interviews from Jackson, Steve Garvey, Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph and the original calls from the television broadcast team of Howard Cosell, Keith Jackson and Tom Seaver.

The Game 3 pregame show also looks like a must watch event.

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Collection: 1996 Donruss Signature of Raul Mondesi

Raul Mondesi was an absolute stud for the Dodgers.  He could do everything.  He could hit for power, run like the wind, and play the field like a modern day Roberto Clemente.  That might be a bit of an overstatement... anyway, I loved the guy in Dodger Blue.  Heck, I loved hearing the screams from fans whenever he came up to the plate... "Raaauuuuuuuullll!" 

As a side note, since leaving the Major Leagues Raul has built a career in politics in his native home.  Currently, he is the mayor of San Cristóbal Province in the Dominican Republic.

Featured above and below is a 1996 Donruss Signatures bronze autographed card of Raul Mondesi from my collection.

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2012 Bowman Chrome - Dodgers Relics & Autos

I've been a bit unplugged of late, so as a result I haven't been posting anything here over the past several days.  With the regular season over and the hated Giants in the World Series a glum cloud has began to form.  Like with the storms that have recently found there way overhead, I find myself ducking for cover.  Unfortunately, the lack of another sport to occupy my mind is absent this winter, so I imagine the compulsion to stay in the dark may continue.  On the other hand, maybe I just needed a respite in order to recharge those batteries.

After all, the Baseball hobby never stops, and at least I'm not a fan of the Astros.

So, without further adieu I continue on this trek by following up on my post from last week focused on 2012 Bowman Chrome Dodgers base cards by now featuring the handful of inserts available to collect.  See them below.

There appears to be only one Dodgers autographed card inserted in the set.  It is of prospect Pratt Maynard.  Pratt was a 3rd round draft pick of the Dodgers in 2011.  Check out his stats, here.

As for inserts of some Dodger stars all we have to look forward to are the Legends in the Making Inserts die-cut cards of Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp.  I haven't been a big fan of cards like this in the past, but I have to admit that these look cool.

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