Blog Kiosk: 6/13/2013 - Dodgers Links - Draft Picks Signed, Puig and No National in California (for a long time)

Both our first and second round picks from the 2013 amateur draft have just signed contracts with the Dodgers.  They were both at the stadium last night, as evidenced by the photo above.  Pic via twitter @Dodgers.  The Dodgers press release is here.

• Jason Parks at Baseball Prospectus introduces us to the Yasiel Puig drinking game.
• Mark Saxon at ESPN, "Time to ease on Puig expectations".
• Austin Laymance at MLB.com, "Dodgers prospects making impact; more on the way".

Lee, 21, was the Dodgers' first round pick (28th overall) in the 2010 Draft and has been rising quickly through the system ever since. The right-hander has four pitches that he can throw for strikes and has good movement on a fastball that sits at 92-93 mph. Still, Lee is not expected to arrive in the Majors until next season.

• Via Craig Calcaterra at Hardball Talk, he tells us what physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says about a Baseball to the head.  This man is one of my personal heroes.

Not that anybody asked, but a baseball thrown 90 mph has about the same energy as a 0.22 caliber bullet fired from a handgun.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) June 12, 2013

• Via Bill Shaikin at the LA Times, McCourt would be a principle landlord if a football stadium was built in the Dodger Stadium parking lot.  Because of this, I believe there should never be football at Chavez Ravine.  NO!  NEVER!  I absolutely despise McCourt and knowing that he will have some role so close to our second home makes me sick!  I propose designating Dodger Stadium and its surrounding land a National Historic Landmark, so that they can never develop the land.  Screw them!
• This is just awesome.  "New Origami Street Art in Angers, France by Mademoiselle Maurice," via This is Colossal.com.  Definately a must see.

• In some brief card show news.  You should not expect the National Sports Collectors Convention to make it to the West Coast til 2020, at the earliest.  Via Susan Lulgjuraj at Beckett, "National Sports Collectors Convention planned for next six years, headed back to Atlantic City". Sports Collectors Daily shares a quote from the promoter explaining why the West Coast gets shut out.

“We have size requirements now,” NSCC Director and Co-Founder Mike Berkus told Sports Collectors Daily in 2012.  “Operating  under 325,000 square feet would mean that many exhibitors would be shut out. Vegas and Atlantic City pose challenges on diversion of attention and attendance. Philly, New York, and Boston have financial and union issues that require exhibitors to have large increases in booth fees. Anaheim, San Francisco, and Boston will not host us without a cancellation policy that would kill advance travel and planning for all concerned. They want trade shows that require 8000 to 10,000 room night guarantees or they can cancel us without recourse. We are constantly researching and negotiating as many locations as possible.”

• This is the greatest Baseball call-up news I've ever read.  Via Sean Kernan at the Daytona Beach News-Journal, "Daytona Cubs vendor with famous pitches gets big-league call".

Near the end of spring training in March, Vince received a hand-written note on personalized stationery from Mark Lerner, principal owner of the Washington Nationals. It was an invitation to come work for the National League team in Washington, D.C. 

After more than a decade hawking such ballpark delights as frozen lemonade, cotton candy, peanuts and, most famously, ice-cold beer, in the minors, Vince had received his call up to the majors. 

"I'm ecstatic," Vince said as he proudly held the note he carries in his wallet. "My entire life, I've been waiting for something to happen because everything I do – every beer that I sell – I put 100 percent into it. Every sale – peanuts, cotton candy, whatever."

BTW, he's not just a vendor.  He's a recent UCF Grad with a degree in Communications.  The Nationals plan to train him in the marketing department and have him hawk goods during games. 

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