The Dodgers New 2014 Slogan: Live. Breathe. Blue.

Considering the record season ticket renewals and the continued stellar attendance numbers, does having a new marketing slogan for the Dodgers really matter?

I guess it does since they just unveiled the teams 2014 slogan.

Live. Breathe. Blue.

The best response I've read so far about it comes from Craig Calcaterra at Hardball Talk:

In my experience, if you breathe, you don’t turn blue. But maybe I’m missing the nuances.

The Dodgers Chief Marketing Officer Lon Rosen had this to say:

“Our new tagline encapsulates how each of our fans feel about the Dodgers organization. We feel it is a natural evolution of last year's slogan ‘A Whole New Blue'.  The Dodgers have given and will continue to give our fans reasons to believe in the team during the 2014 season.”

All right then.  The Dodgers will not suffocate and die on us, and that's a good thing.

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2014 Topps Baseball Series 1 - The Dodgers' Base Cards

There are now Baseball cards available to usher in the new year, and I've got pics of all the Dodgers' base cards to prove it.  

There are 13 Dodger cards in the 331 card base set; two of which are League Leaders cards featuring Clayton Kershaw.  Also of note are the Topps All-Star Rookie Cups emblazoned on the Ryu and Puig cards.

As you may already know, there are a whole bunch of short-printed variations in the set.  In fact, I count at least 11 different Dodger variations, and there may be more yet to be uncovered.  I'll have pics of all known available Dodger variations up soon.

In the meantime, check out the base set below.

#6 Josh Beckett                                  #40 Hyun-Jin Ryu

#72 Michael Young                                 #111 Mark Ellis

#113 League Leaders (Kershaw, Fernandez, Harvey)   

#142 Zack Greinke                              #173 Brandon League

#193 Ricky Nolasco

#197 Onelki Garcia                           #204 Adrian Gonzalez

#294 League Leaders (Wainwright, Zimmerman, Kershaw)

#314 Hanley Ramirez                                  #331 Yasiel Puig

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A Victorian Trade Card Set - Corner Clefs Series H804-10

Here is another 1880's Victorian Baseball Trade Card set in my collection.  This time I feature a set commonly known as the Corner Clefs Series, H804-10.

There are 8 cards total in a set and they measure approximately 2 3/4" x 4 3/16".  They are notable for their striped hats and socks, olive colored background and for having a border design reminiscent of a musical symbol.  A description (or name) of the card is at the bottom.  As is usual, the characters on the cards are all comically drawn.

Unfortunately, the first 6 cards shown here from my collection are likely trimmed just a bit (although a couple do not exhibit the traits I would expect to see from a trim job), and the last two are clearly their original size.  Trimming of trade cards is not unusual.  In fact, it's commonplace.  These cards were designed to be collected and glued into scrapbooks, so borders were often cut to create more space. 

Check out the entire 8 card set in this post.  The 8 cards are:

• A Fly
• A Heavy Hit
• A Short-Stop
• A Twister
• Hold Your Base!
• Our Side Has Won
• Score One
• The Umpire

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Blog Kiosk: 1/31/2014 - Dodgers Links - Jansen has the Best Cutter, Young Retires and Paco's Delivery

Maury Wills and the Dodgers visited Operation Gratitude yesterday as a part of the Community Caravan.  He along with several other Dodgers assisted in assembling care packages to be sent to US troops overseas.  The pic above is via @Dodgers Juan Ocampo/LA Dodgers on twitter.  The photo below came from the Operation Gratitude's twitter.  Go here to find out more about Operation Gratitude.

• Dodger Low-Down has the story about a young Dodger fan in northern territory who was bullied by some orange colored Baseball fans for wearing Blue on Halloween.  Well, the Dodgers recently responded by sending her a care package of goodness.  Check out the story here.
• Stuart Wallace at Beyond the Boxscore writes, "First and worst: Split-finger and cut fastballs of 2013".  Kenley Jansen is regarded as having the best cutter for a right-hander in Baseball.
• Via JP Hoornstra at Inside the Dodgers, "Michael Young will retire rather than return to Dodgers".  I wouldn't be surprised to see him sign a 1-day contract with Texas just to retire as a Ranger (GM Jon Daniels has already indicated a desire to do this).
• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Dodgers get good news from pitching minicamp: Billingsley could be ahead of schedule in rehab; young arms impressive".
• Listen to Kevin Kennedy and David Vassegh talk with Ned Colletti on Wednesday's Dodger Talk.
• Via Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider, "Paco Rodriguez’s inspirational delivery".  It has been reported that Mark Mulder's return to Baseball was as a result of watching Paco pitch.

“Out of everybody who plays baseball, he’s looking at my mechanics, and I think it’s an amazing honor just to be in talks with him,” Rodriguez said. “I can’t wait till Spring Training. Hopefully I’ll get to sit down and just talk about it, talk about baseball and his experiences — good and bad.

• The Dodgers officially announced their digital ticket system for season ticket holders last night; strangely after I wrote a short blog post slightly lambasting it.  Ken Gurnick at MLB.com has more info about the change.  I still think it sucks, and if given the option I would want paper tickets.  Also, I understand the Angels tried this a couple of years on a volunteer basis, and no fan opted for it- none!
• Ryan G at Chaos and Kanji writes, "A Japan Women's Baseball League Primer - My First Game in Sendai".  If you can't tell, I really love this blog.  And, how can you not?  I love Ryan G's photos featuring Baseball in Japan.  Here is today's post of his visit to Tokyo Dome to watch the Giants play.

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