Dodgers Blue Heaven: Jun 28, 2013

Friday, June 28, 2013

Luis Cruz has Been DFA'd - Thank You, Cruz!

It has just been announced that the man who made 2012 so bearable has just been Designated For Assignment. Luis Cruz is being sent down, and it is with some anguish that I relay the news.

#Dodgers today reinstated Scott Van Slyke from the 15-day disabled list and designated Luis Cruz for assignment.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 28, 2013

Cruz was one of the few bright spots for the Dodgers last season. He seemingly came out of nowhere to wrestle away the 3rd base job, and gave some measure of hope that we may have found a solution to a position on the infield that had been left so barren.

Unfortunately, as is often the case in Baseball, longevity is fleeting. I do want to add that this post is in no way an indication that he will never again see MLB play. No... Not at all... I believe this is just another bump on the road for Cruz, and I suspect he'll find a way to contribute - whether it's with us in the future or with another team - I do not know.

Luis Cruz toiled, fought and scraped. He also had the kind of infectious joy we love to see in an underdog. At the age of 17 he joined the Red Sox and for the next 11 years slowly rose up the circuit with various teams before finally being able to show the world that he had some tools. When given the opportunity, he thrived, and this fan truly appreciates the effort he gave both on and off the field.

Once again, Thank You, Luis.

BTW, in his place, Scott Van Slyke has been reinstated to the team and will be joining the Dodgers once again.

I thought I would finish by passing along a highlight video reel I just saw on youtube that shares many of the great Cruz moments from last year. Watch it below.

Video Link:

UPDATE: I want to add that I'm sure there will be plenty of folks who will express a high level of joy with this announcement. To those folks, all I can say is that schadenfreude does not become you.

Pic Credit at Very Top: Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2013

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6 in a Row, Baby!

It's amazing how one little week can change how you look at the season.

All of the sudden, the Dodgers are rolling. They're surging with the help of a tidal wave created by a monsoon named Puig. With the help of once unhealthy weather fronts named Hanley and Kemp we've witnessed a perfect storm that looks to overtake the entire league.

This has been exciting to watch.

Onward and upward!

This is all I really wanted to say. Besides, I needed an excuse to show a bunch of pics of folks with 6 fingers. How creepy!

(pic via funnyhealthcare.com)

And who could forget the most famous 6-fingered man? Below is a pic of the hand of former MLB reliever Antonio Alfonseca.

(pic via heatherw.com)

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2013 Topps Pro Debut Baseball - All the Dodgers' Cards

Topps' minor league Baseball set came out on Wednesday, and I've got pics of all the Dodgers' cards to share with you. Well, I've got most of them.

The set is called Pro Debut and it includes several future Dodgers' stars in their minor league uniforms. Check out the base cards below. As you can see, Yasiel Puig is the most prominent name in the set. He also has two different base cards, as well. Directly below is the more common card. There is also a short-printed variation card of him swinging the bat. See that at bottom.

#35 Yasiel Puig #55 Matt Magill

#103 Corey Seager #135 Chris Reed

#196 Andres Santiago #210 Joc Pederson

Below is the short-printed card of Yasiel Puig. The print size is unknown at this time, and very few examples have shown up on eBay. I suspect prices will be otherworldly in the early going.

SP Base Card Variations

#35 Yasiel Puig

The only autographed Dodgers card I could find was of Andres Santiago.

Autographed Cards

#PDA-AS Andres Santiago

These are manufactured logo cards and Puig is the biggest name in the bunch.

Manufactured Hat Logo

#MP-MMG Matt Magill

#MP-YP Yasiel Puig

Game Used Jerseys

#MLM-CR Chris Reed

There is also a Chris Reed Jumbo Jersey card (#MLJ-CR Chris Reed), but I have to see an example online.

One of the coolest parts of this set is mascot patch cards. From what I can tell two Dodger farm team mascots are represented. See them below.

Minor League Mascot Patch Card

#MAS-L Looie #MAS-LEL Lou E. Loon

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Blog Kiosk: 6/28/2013 - Dodgers Links - Kemp, Steiner & Puig - Oh My!

Yasiel Puig is goofing around with the College World Series Championship team from UCLA. Pic via twitter @Dodgers.

"Ex-hitting coach Pentland returns to work with Kemp," via Ken Gurnick and Austin Laymance at MLB.com.

"Huge frustration more than anything else," he said. "And he was dropping his hands. He's always done that somewhat, but to me, more than it needed to be. He's still a little rusty. He needs to play games, recognize pitches and he'll do fine. Will he hit a lot of home runs? I can't answer that. I told him it will be a little while, but it will come back."

Via a Dodgers Press Release: "Charley Steiner to be inducted into National Radio Hall of Fame". The ceremony is on November 9th. Go here for more information.
A young and attractive Dodger fan is becoming a bit famous on r/Dodgers Reddit. They are calling her the good luck charm that helped propel the Dodgers to victory. She was prominently shown on television just before Yasiel Puig knocked in the go ahead runs, yesterday.
Via Mark Saxon at ESPN, "Matt Kemp finds Puig's energy infectious".
Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts, "If he keeps playing like this, Yasiel Puig will earn much more than $42 million".
If you are in New York then you've got to check this out. 600+ deadball era Baseball cards from the famed Jefferson Burdick collection (the father of card collecting) will be on display at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Ar. Sports Collectors Daily has the story.
The Chicago Blackhawks are pure class. Via Poynter.org, "Chicago Blackhawks ad in Boston Globe salutes city’s ‘gracious spirit’".

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My Search is Over - Check Out the 1997 Dodgers Police/LAPD Set

Sometimes all it takes is a little help from a friend. In this case, a reader who happened to have an extra set laying around.

Late last year, I finished sharing scans of every Dodgers Police/LAPD set made from 1981 to 2002 that I had in my collection. (I'm fairly certain that 2002 was the last year the Dodgers made these sets, but if you know otherwise please let me know.)

Unfortunately, there was one exception. I had yet to get my hands on the 1997 Dodgers Police set. I had searched periodically over the years, but for whatever reason it had eluded me. Considering the use of white borders for this particular season, it had become my proverbial "white whale".

Well, a wonderful reader came to my rescue and passed along a complete set. THANK YOU, SO MUCH!

My search is over, and I can rest in peace.

Check out scans of the complete set in this post. Also, directly below (in homage to Nomo's upcoming bobblehead) is a scan of an example of what the reverse looks like. See all of the Dodgers Police/LAPD sets here.