Dodgers Blue Heaven: Jan 31, 2013

Thursday, January 31, 2013

A Jackie Robinson Night Game Give-Away, and AJ Ellis and Adrian Gonzalez will be Featured on MLB Network Tomorrow

I wanted to make a couple of quick Dodgers related announcements.

The Dodgers just unveiled a sneak peek at the Jackie Robinson Night game give-away statue for Monday, April 15th. Check it out above. It features Jackie with Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella. They will be distributed to the first 40,000 fans.

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On the MLB Network tomorrow afternoon, both Adrian Gonzalez and AJ Ellis will be featured in MLB Network’s “Top 10 Right Now” series. From a press released:

Gonzalez will be featured in MLB Network’s “Top 10 Right Now: First Basemen” tomorrow at 6pm PT. MLB Network determined its rankings of the top 10 first basemen using “The Shredder,” which uses statistical analysis to measure performance. In addition, renowned author Bill James and MLB Network analyst Sean Casey both give their own personal lists of the top 10 first basemen in baseball.

Following at 7pm PT, Ellis will be featured in MLB Network’s “Top 10 Right Now: Catchers.” Again, MLB Network determined its rankings of the top 10 catchers using “The Shredder,” and Bill James and MLB Network analyst Dave Valle also give their own lists of the top 10 catchers. The “Top 10 Right Now” series continues each Friday with the top 10 at two new positions, leading up to the “Top 100 Right Now” on February 15.

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Dodgers Kiosk: 1/31/2013 - Hanley's Bobble & the Dodgers Launch New Interactive Fan Rewards Program

Check out a sneak peek at the Hanley Ramirez bobblehead above, as tweeted by the @Dodgers.

Jonathan Garza at Dodger Nation reports that the Dodgers checked out a trio of pitchers, along with 9 other teams. They appeared to have shown an interest in Mark Lowe.
The MLB FanCave has chosen 50 finalist, and 3 of them are Dodger fans. Check them out here.
Greg Zakwin at Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle writes of a UCLA economics event called 'The Dodgers and Los Angeles After 50 Years: The Economics of How a Sport Icon and a City Grew Together.' He got some great autographs.
Matt Kemp makes a Super Bowl prediction at Stack.com with Jerry Hairston Jr. as host. See the video here.
MasterCard is offering a 'Dinner with Ned Colletti' event for members, via Sons of Steve Garvey.
Dustin Nosler writes a piece for Yahoo investigating the possibility of adding Scott Rolen to the Dodgers.
The Dodgers have just launched a new interactive rewards program for fans. From a Dodgers press release:

The Los Angeles Dodgers today announced the launch of a comprehensive engagement program that will reward fans for supporting the club online, via social media and at Dodger Stadium. The free Dodgers Rewards (DodgersRewards.com) program is the first-of-its-kind in Major League Baseball and offers fans the chance to win prizes by supporting the team through an array of digital activities including merchandise purchases online, checking in to games through MLB.com’s mobile application At The Ballpark and interacting online at dodgers.com and on the Dodgers’ official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

“We are creating an interactive rewards portal for all things Dodgers,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Los Angeles Dodgers, Lon Rosen. “Being a sports fan is about passion and competition, and we believe through this platform we are entering the next phase of fan loyalty with the ultimate goal of rewarding our fans for their support.”

The Dodgers Rewards program will create unique experiences and promotions for fans as incentives for supporting the club. The program will feature its first three sweepstakes with its first starting today through Saturday, March 15, 2013 with prizes including two tickets to Opening Day 2013, a mention from @Dodgers and a Sandy Koufax signed baseball.

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2013 Topps Baseball Cards - Some Dodger Relics, Part 1

The pic parade of Dodger cards within the 2013 Topps Series 1 Baseball set has now officially begun. First up, I thought I would focus on some of the more quirky manufactured relics available. If I'm not mistaken the set of cards below are only available in jumbo hobby packs or retail blasters.

This first group of cards are called CY Young Award Winners Manufactured Relic Cards and they can be found in jumbo hobby packs. They feature plastic CY Young Awards embedded within a very thick card. Both Clayton Kershaw and Sandy Koufax are represented in the insert set.

CY-CK Clayton Kershaw

CY-SK Sandy Koufax

Also found only in jumbo hobby packs, below are MVP Awards Winners Manufactured Relic Cards of Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax.

MVP-JR Jackie Robinson

MVP-SK Sandy Koufax

Matt Kemp is the lone Dodgers in the Silver Slugger Trophy Manufactured Relic Cards. Again, this card is found only in jumbo hobby packs.

SS-MK Matt Kemp

The next set of 4 Dodger cards are called Proven Mettle Coin. They are found in hobby boxes only (I'm unsure if they are only in jumbo packs or can be found in regular packs), and come with 3 different variations for each player represented. There is a Copper version (numbered to 99), a Wrought Iron version (numbered to 50), and a Steel version (numbered to only 10 copies). An example of each one is shown below.

PMC-CK Clayton Kershaw

Steel Version - /#10

PMC-JR Jackie Robinson
Copper Version - /#99

PMC-MK Matt Kemp
Copper Version - /#99

PMC-SK Sandy Koufax

Wrought Iron Version - /#50

This Commemorative Patch Manufactured Relic Card can only be found in retail blaster boxes found at your local Target or Walmart. Each blaster box contains a special foil pack that includes 1 of 25 cards available. Adrian Gonzalez is the only Dodger in this set.

CP-10 Adrian Gonzalez

Also found only in retail blaster boxes, shown below is a Rookie Patch Manufactured Relic Card of Sandy Koufax. It includes a patch of Sandy's 1955 Topps rookie card.

RCP-4 Sandy Koufax

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Heritage: Some Vintage Dodgers Memorabilia Including a Pre-Integration Letter from Campy to Rickey

Yesterday, I posted a brief rundown of some great vintage Baseball memorabilia available at Heritage's current auction. Today, I wanted to focus on the just the Dodgers. Fortunately, there are a couple of great items worth mentioning.

Featured below is a 1900 Brooklyn Superbas National League Champions Photographic Composite. It features Hall of Famer Ned Hanlon, our coach at the time, and the team owner Charles Ebbets. Also included are future Hall members Joe Kelley, Hughie Jennings and Wee Willie Keeler. BTW, in 1900 Keeler struck out only 4 times in 619 plate appearances. Click on the pic to embiggen.

(auction link)

With it being Jackie Robinson's birthday today, I thought the next item was very appropriate. Featured below is a 1946 handwritten letter by Roy Campanella to Dodgers GM Branch Rickey. In it, Roy discusses many other prospects in the Negro Leagues that the team should be scouting. Keep in mind, this letter predates Jackie breaking the color barrier by several months, so it's fascinating to know the kind of communication the team was already having in the run-up to integrating the game. Below is an excerpt.

"As far as colored base ball players, for definite prospects, Monty (sic) Irvin and Larry Doby are tops at present. I've seen a lot of them, but none as great as these two. They have good habits on and off the field.