Puig Joins No Homers Club - Social Media Makes Some Fun at his Expense

Baseball fans and Dodger Nation alike were sitting at the edge of their seats as the Cuban sensation, Yasiel Puig, came up to bat during his turn at the All-Star Home Run Derby.  Certainly aware of the Dodgers history in the event, Puig hoped to change the clubs fortunes by competing and winning it this year.  Unfortunately, the ghost that have haunted Dodger players refused to go away.  Yasiel Puig threw up a bunch of goose eggs yesterday - no doubt, to the joy of millions.

Was Puig embarrased by his performance?

Via Bill Shaikin at The LA Times:

"No, not at all," he said. "It's my first All-Star game. I came here to have fun."

And, he did have fun.  Lots of it.  After his turn you could see and hear him fooling around with other Major League Stars throughout the evening.

Of course, his apparent ambivalence to his performance wouldn't stop the hucksters from making fun of his poor showing.  Check out some funny stabs at Puig's expense below.

I saw the below Simpson's reference from Joe Doyle on Fancred.

(captured from fancred)

And, how about this one from @MLBMeme on twitter:

Poor Yasiel Puig.  Not even juan. @JPBeastMode pic.twitter.com/CRxgXfDZ6I
— MLB Memes (@MLBMeme) July 15, 2014

How about this comment from @bittergiantsfan on twitter:

In high school Spanish, I learned that ‘zero’ was ‘cero’… Tonight, I learned cero is really pronounced ‘Puig’ #HRDerby
— BitterGiantsFan (@bittergiantsfan) July 15, 2014

There are no doubt more of them, so if you run across something hilarious please let me know.

Both photos at top via Jon SooHoo at the Dodger Photog Blog:

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2014 Allen & Ginter Baseball - The Dodger Insert Cards

Following up on yesterday's post featuring the Dodger base cards found in 2014 Allen & Ginter, I now show you some of the Dodger Insert cards.  Go here to check out all of my previous post on this set. 

Directly below are the Mini Exclusive cards that are found only in Rip cards.  The 50 card set (#351 to #400) can only be found in mini form and feature 4 Dodger players.  Check them all out below.  As you can see, they feature different poses from their normal base cards.  BTW, I'll share some of the Dodger Rip cards later this week.

Mini Exclusives Set (Only found in Rip Cards)

#368 Clayton Kershaw               #383 Hyun-Jin Ryu

#386 Jackie Robinson                     #391 Yasiel Puig

Also hidden within Rip cards are scarce Mini Metal cards.  The complete set consist of 150 cards and they are reported to be limited to only 5 copies each.  Below is a complete Dodger checklist, and a photo of the Clayton Kershaw metal card on the right.:

Mini Metal Set (Only found in Rip Cards)

#1 Carl Crawford
#17 Duke Snider
#19 Yasiel Puig
#31 Hanley Ramirez
#65 Clayton Kershaw
#71 Adrian Gonzalez
#100 Sandy Koufax
#108 Hyun-Jin Ryu
#134 Jackie Robinson
#139 Zack Greinke

Another rarity within Rip cards are Artist's Original drawing cards.  They are all "1 of 1's", and 3 Dodger players are available.  Unfortunately, only the Jackie Robinson card has surfaced.  A Yasiel Puig (#AO-08) and Clayton Kershaw (#AO-09) are known to exist.

Artist’s Originals Set (Only found in Rip Cards)

#AO-07 Jackie Robinson

Silk Set (#/10)

#1 Carl Crawford                                  #17 Duke Snider

#19 Yasiel Puig

#31 Hanley Ramirez                            #65 Clayton Kershaw

#71 Adrian Gonzalez

#100 Sandy Koufax

#108 Hyun-Jin Ryu                              #134 Jackie Robinson

#139 Zack Greinke

Fields of Yore Set

#FOY-01 Ebbets Field

The Pastime’s Pastime Set

#PP-CK Clayton Kershaw                        #PP-HR Hyun-Jin Ryu

#PP-HRA Hanley Ramirez                    #PP-JRO Jackie Robinson

#PP-SK Sandy Koufax                             #PP-YP Yasiel Puig

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Blog Kiosk: 7/15/2014 - Dodger Links - Greinke, Kershaw and Puig

Yasiel Puig says hello to Dodger fans from the All-Star Game Home Run Derby in the photo above, via @#ASG on twitter.  Unfortunately, Puig was unable to hit a single home run during the derby. Doh!  Check out more pics from yesterday from Jon SooHoo here.

• Awesome!  Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider shares an excellent video featuring Vin Scully recalling the moon landing of Apollo 11 45 years ago.
• Along with the All-Star prints numbered to #/99 and #/10 created by Topps using the vintage 1958 Baseball card design and featuring this season All-Star Game selections, they sold special "1 of 1" large sized prints featuring just the starting lineups.  Yasiel Puig was available, but apparently has already been sold.  Believe me... I checked.  See the available prints here.
• Vial Bill Shaikin at the LA Times, "What could tempt Zack Greinke to opt out of Dodgers contract?"

“What happens with Lester and Scherzer will say a lot,” Greinke said at Monday’s All-Star festivities.

Greinke, 30, would forfeit three years and $71 million if he opts out of his contract, presumably in the hope of securing a longer and more lucrative guarantee. If he plays out his Dodgers contract, he would not be eligible for free agency until age 35.

He can opt-out after the 2015 season, and I think it's fair to assume that he'll do so as long as he pitches as well as he has.  Furthermore, I think the Dodgers would be foolish to let him leave.

• As you likely already know, Adam Wainwright was chosen to start the All-Star Game over Clayton Kershaw.  Via Mark Saxon at ESPNLosAngeles.com, "Kershaw understands Wainwright selection."

“I didn’t have a reaction. I kind of assumed. Adam had the best first half and Mike was his manager,” Kershaw said. “You’re going to pick your guy. So, I completely understand.” 

• GCRL tells us all about the 1992 Dodger All-Stars TRAK Auto sheet of stamps.  I had no idea this set existed.
• Via Alex Markle at Chavez Ravining, "Dodger Game in Review: Autographs, a Bobble Head, and a Win!"  He shares his experience from Saturday's game.

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