Blog Kiosk: 8/4/2013 - Dodgers Links - Ken Howell is Back, League on Waivers and Jackie's ROY Award

Sandy Koufax was in the Dodger clubhouse yesterday.  Pic via Jon SooHoo/Dodgers 2013.  See more pics from Jon here.  BTW, you can listen to Sandy on the Freddie Coleman show talk about pitching in Chicago, right here.

• Stephen Fife has been reinstated to the Dodgers to pitch this afternoon.  Scott Van Slyke has been optioned back to AAA.
• "Dodger Stadium groundskeeper Eric Hanson talks about the field's conversion for soccer," via Adam Serrano at LAGalaxy.com.

HANSON: “We started immediately after the Yankees/Dodgers game on Wednesday at 10:45 p.m.. We spent three hours doing what we needed to do to prep the field for the sod that was installed early on Thursday morning. From that point on, we did detail work and looked at the grass closely, and then attended to anything that we think might help. Now the lines have been painted and the goals have come in, so it is completely set up.”

• "Assistant pitching coach Howell back with Dodgers," via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com.

"It was more serious than I thought and it took a while to get my energy back," he said. "But I feel really good now. I just have to monitor it, because with diabetes anything can pop up. I'm getting back on the field today and I'm excited to get to do what I do.

• Paint the Corners goes through many different iterations of Brian Wilson and his facial hair.
• BTW, the Dodgers placed Brandon League on waivers, via Zach Links at MLB Trade Rumors.  So, the Dodgers are willing to trade him, but are other teams willing to take on his contract?  I doubt it.  Besides, he's finally pitching well.
• "Chipper, Big Unit, Rip, Pedro, Coach Lou and Yasiel Puig Among Those at NSCC Saturday," via Rich Mueller at Sports Collectors Daily.
• The lucky collector who won a Panini VIP pass from Blowout Cards talks about the win and who she most looks forward to meeting.  That's right, she can't wait to meet Yasiel Puig.  See the video here.
• "Jackie Robinson’s Rookie of the Year Award selling for $1 million: Historic prize available at Chicago convention" via By Ted Berg at USA Today.

• There was a nice large crowd last night for some soccer at Dodger Stadium.

40,681 at Dodger Stadium tonight for @IntChampionsCup #ICC2013 #RealMadrid #Everton #LAGalaxy #Juventus
— Dodgers PR (@DodgersPR) August 4, 2013

• Here's a look at the pitch.

Europe's pastime in the home of America's pastime: pic.twitter.com/QpxkgjL5uz
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 4, 2013

• Bill Plunkett of the OC Register has more info on Puig's hand injury on Sulia.

"I'm not really sure how to describe it," Puig said through his translator. "I've felt something like this before when I dove for a ball."

That was during his brief stay with Double-A Chattanooga. Puig dove for a ball in late April and came up with a sprained left thumb. He missed 10 games on the DL with the injury.

This feels "better than it did there," Puig said.

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Sunday Dodgers Videos: Roenicke, Puig and AJ Ellis

Here are this Sunday's Dodgers videos.

Former Dodger Ron Roenicke is interviewed by Robert Barr for the Anchorage Glacier Pilots Winter League Legacy Project.  Barr is working on producing a documentary on a legendary team from 2001.  Go to his website here that includes numerous other videos.  You can also watch Barr's interview with Mickey Hatcher right here.  As a spoiler, Mickey talks about the day he chased a bear in Alaska.

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Take a look at Yasiel Puig and Christiano Ronaldo juggling both a soccer ball and Baseball.

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Ballhawknet shares a video from Wrigley Field of Yasiel Puig launching batting practice home runs.

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Gary George shares a report from the Dodgers Bowling Extravaganza hosted by AJ Ellis.  He interview AJ Ellis, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Withrow and Don Mattingly.

Video Link:

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Puig's Bowman Platinum Superfractor Graded at National - Is Now on eBay

Yasiel Puig has had an astounding couple of months in Dodger Blue.  He has been the talk of the league for just about everything he does on and off the field.  If you're anything like me, you've watched his every step, analyzed every swing and marvel at every defensive play.

As you would expect, this has caused his cards to jump in value.  They are selling for ungodly amounts of money and have become a major driver of hobby sales.  I guess you can say that he's the king of the hobby right now.

Last week, I featured one of his "Big Hits" - a 2013 Bowman Chrome Mini Superfractor.  It was on sale on eBay, but failed to sell as the owner sought to have it graded now instead of selling it for a quick buck.  At that time, the seller was seeking $30,000, but it's likely interested buyers were far from that value.  Now that it'll be graded, we'll soon find out what score it gets to see if that's remotely justified.

In the meantime, On Friday Senior Beckett Grading Vintage Card Grader Andy Broome shared a pic on twitter of another Puig Superfractor.  This card showed up at the Beckett booth during the National Sports Collectors Convention, and it had them all buzzing.  The 2013 Bowman Platinum (a newly released Topps card set) Superfractor base card of Yasiel Puig was pulled and they would have the unique pleasure of grading and encapsulating it.  See the card below.

(auction link)

Holy Cow!

This card has been graded a BGS 10 - which is as pristine as you can get.  When you consider that this is a "1 of 1" and graded a 10, it is likely to sell for thousands of dollars.  Whether it reaches the $30,000 benchmark desired by the owner of the Chrome Mini Superfractor is another story.  After all, this isn't really his first Bowman Superfractor card, and the other Superfractor is from a limited insert Chrome mini set which may prove to be more desirable.  So, collectors might balk at paying huge bucks for this new Superfractor.

Fortunately, we are probably going to find out very soon how high it can go.  The above BGS 10 2013 Bowman Platinum Superfractor has just been listed on eBay and (as of this writing) is already at $2,375.  See the auction here.

To add to the story, Chris Olds at Beckett was able to grab the owner of the Bowman Platinum card for an exclusive interview.  See that interview here.  He pulled the card on the first day of it's release (this past Wednesday) from a box he purchased at a card shop in Illinois.

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