Look at the Earliest Clayton Kershaw Cards - A Rookie Card Checklist

I had so much fun putting together a listing of all the rookie Corey Seager cards earlier this month, I decided I should do the same for our homegrown staff ace Clayton Kershaw.  I've focused on cardboard from the years 2005 to 2006 - his primary rookie collecting years. 

Like Seager, Kershaw has an officially licensed Baseball card while he was still in high school.  He was a member of the Team USA Junior National team, so Upper Deck included him in a box set they release in 2005.  They were initially sold as a complete 25-card set and included a random autograph card, a game-used autograph jersey relic card, a dual signed autograph card and an insert card (a "Vision of the Future" acetate card).

Check out all of the available Kershaw cards in this set below.  BTW, there are several different variations available for each of the autographed cards based on the color of the ink he used to sign them.  They come in black, blue and red.  Also, I seem to remember there being green ink cards, but I have yet to find a good checklist indicating that.

UPDATE:  I thought I would add that his teammates on this team who also made it to the Majors include Brett Anderson, Greg Peavey, Shawn Tolleson and Bellin Betances.

2005 Upper Deck USA Junior National Team Box Set

Base Card #86 Clayton Kershaw

2015 Topps Triple Threads - The Dodgers' Triple Relic Cards

These are the cards within the Triple Threads set that causes so much yapping.  As you can see, Topps does its best to be as creative as possible when choosing phrases to use for their relic cutouts.  Sometimes they are boring, like the "A Gon 23" card seen below.  Other times they are simple and descriptive, like the "First Sackers" card (also below).  What really gets folks talking, though, are the phrases that make you laugh or scratch your head in wonder.

Last week I pointed out two of these cards in a post.  Check that out here.  I shared some background of the Ryu "Smile Again" card and the Puig "Puig Destroyer" card.  Today, I wanted to focus on another Ryu card that I found totally foreign.  It has the phrase "Zero Sum."  What the heck is that suppose to mean?  I get what "Zero Sum" means on its own, but what does that have to do with Ryu?  If you have any insight please let me know.

BTW, Gellman at Sportscard Uncensored wrote a post recently pointing to other Triple Thread cards worth checking out.  Check it out here: "2015 Triple Threads Relic Die Cuts – Best of the Worst." 

Go here to check out all of my previous post on this set.

Relics Set

#TTR-AGZ1 Adrian Gonzalez            #TTR-AGZ2 Adrian Gonzalez

Blog Kiosk: 9/21/2015 - Dodger Links - Koufax, Turner and Kiké Hernandez

Check out this fantastic photo of just a small part of the Mitch Poole bobblehead collection found in the Dodger clubhouse, via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015. 

Below are more links to check out:

• Via Hillel Kuttler at Haaretz, "Why Sandy Koufax's Refusal to Pitch on Yom Kippur Still Matters."

“The reason the Sandy Koufax example works so well is that baseball is very much a part of American culture and he is Jewish,” Benjamin said. “At some point he had to make a choice.

“So some guy stayed home from work and it was Yom Kippur – he’s not the only one, but he’s a public figure,” she added. “Still today, that example is relevant, it works and it has impact.”  

• Via Anthony Witrado at ESPN, "Justin Turner's status unknown due to sore left knee."

"We'll watch [Turner] over the next few days to see how he does," said Mattingly, who said on Saturday that Turner has been dealing with knee issues for a couple of years. "I don't think it's anything totally new. It just flared up. We'll be cautious with him."

(Buehler w/ Hershiser, via @Dodgers)

• Via Robert Morales at Inside the Dodgers, "No. 1 draft choice Walker Buehler talks Tommy John surgery."

“I’m a little bit more than six weeks out from surgery, so I’ve been in Arizona five of those six weeks,” said Buehler, a right-hander who played his college ball at Vanderbilt. “Things went well, according to plan. Feel good.”

• Via Dodgers Nation, "Don Mattingly Says Chris Hatcher Has Earned 8th Inning Role."

“He seems really confident and he’s having success,” said Mattingly. “I think his confidence is growing. One thing we have seen since he’s been back from the injury is he’s piecing his pitches together differently. His mix is different, he’s learned a little bit about using his pitches.” 

• Via Steve Bourbon at MLB.com, "Hernandez making strides in hamstring rehab."

"Kiké is doing better than anybody on that trail," Mattingly said. "He's been running at almost 100 percent, not feeling anything. He's been doing really well."

Mattingly also added an update on Yasiel Puig:

"Yasiel is like 65 percent, so it's a little bit of a different story," Mattingly said. "His right hamstring is good, the left hamstring is tight."

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