Congrats, Alex Wood! You're an All-Star!

And now there are six!

One of the more glaring omissions from the upcoming All-Start Game in Miami has been the exclusion of Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood. He has arguably been one of the top starters in the league -- having recorded an 10-0 record this season with an 1.67 ERA, 2.04 FIP and 2.9 WAR. So, this morning's news that he is now on the team was certainly welcome. Per a Dodgers press release:

Wood, in his fifth Major League season, is also a first-time All-Star. The 26-year-old left-hander becomes the sixth Dodger All-Star selection, marking the most in the NL.  He joins Cody Bellinger, Kenley Jansen, Kershaw, Corey Seager and Justin Turner as an NL All-Star.  On Wednesday, Wood improved to 10-0 on the season with a 1.67 ERA and 97 strikeouts over 80.2 innings pitched.  With a win in each of his 10 decisions this season, Wood tied the Dodgers record for consecutive wins to start a season, joining Larry French (1942), Preacher Roe (1951), Don Newcombe (1955) and Ed Roebuck (1962).

His inclusion came at the expense of Clayton Kershaw's inability to throw during the game. Clayton is scheduled to pitch on Sunday, so he would be unable to pitch on Tuesday for the All-Star Game.

In celebration of Wood's good fortune I made the above two fantasy Baseball cards of him. Both cards use photos taken by either Jon SooHoo or Juan Ocampo from Wednesday's game. The card on the left uses a 1952 Topps design, and the card on the right uses the 1981 Fleer design.

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2017 Bowman Platinum - The Dodgers Base Cards

A couple days ago a Walmart exclusive Topps brand hit store shelves. It is called 2017 Bowman Platinum and this is the second year of its release. Go here for a complete checklist.

Notably, this card set is being marketed as having the first pack-pulled Cody Bellinger rookie cards. Of course, we all know that's not entirely true. He's had cards stuffed into a handful of Topps products the past two years; including the 2016 version of Bowman Platinum. It's just that this time Bellinger can be found in the "Base" portion of the set instead of the prospect part of the brand.

Below are the five Dodger players found in the "Base" set. Next week I hope to have pics of most of the Dodger inserts. So, stay tuned for that.

Base

#50 Corey Seager                    #52 Julio Urias

2017 Topps Now -- #332 -- Chris Taylor's Walk-Off Hit Caps Four-Run 9th for Comeback Win

Why am I not surprised to find both Justin Turner and Kiké Hernandez exuberantly celebrating with Chris Taylor, hero of last nights walk-off victory, in the 2017 Topps Now card featured in this post? They've both been significant catalyst this season -- not only with their bats, but also their leadership. So, showing them doing what they do best -- rooting on their teammates -- is a nice surprise on this card.

As you can see, Kiké is covering Chris with what looks like rosin and Justin is in the midst of flipping Taylor in some sort-of choreographed wrestling move. Fortunately, reports indicate that nobody was hurt.

2017 Topps Tier One - Dodgers Break Out, Prime Performers and Prodigious Patch Cards

Here is a look at more Dodger inserts available in packs of Topps 2017 Tier One brand. Featured below are the Break Out, Prime Performers and Prodigious Patch Cards. Go here to check out all of my past post on this set.

Break Out Autographs

• #BOA-JU Julio Urias - redemption card

#BOA-JD De Leon          #BOA-TTH Thompson

Blog Kiosk: 7/7/2017 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

Thrilling! Remarkable! Unbelievable!

This team just can't lose. Per Steve Gilbert and Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

"From Day 1, we knew we were the best club; it's just a matter of going out and playing," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "The Rockies and Diamondbacks were playing good when they came in here, and we wanted to play well and we took care of business. Now we have to continue to do it. But we've shown after big series, we don't let down; we keep going. That's a credit to the guys in the clubhouse."

 Photo above via Jill Weisleder/LA Dodgers 2017. Go here to check out more pics by Jill and Jon SooHoo from yesterdays game. Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1978 the Dodgers traded two players to be named later to the Astros for catcher Joe Ferguson. The two players eventually sent to Houston were Rafael Landestoy and Jeffrey Leonard - both of whom had long MLB careers. In 1994 the Dodgers signed amateur free agent Adrian Beltre out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. As you may recall, this became a very controversial signing as it was later determined that he was only 15-years old at the time - you must be at least 16-years old to sign with a team. As a result, the Dodgers were fined $50,000, and scout Pablo Peguero and the Dodgers' head of Dominican operations Ralph Avila served one-year suspensions. Go here for further background. In 1998 reliever Jeff Shaw becomes the first player to have ever participated in an All-Star Game representing a team he had not yet played for. Just three days prior he was traded by the Reds to the Dodgers for Paul Konerko and Dennys Reyes. BTW, today is also Jeff Shaw's birthday. 
• Happy Birthday, Billy Herman, Johnny Van Cuyk, Glenn Hoffman, Jeff Shaw, Mike Busch & Brandon McCarthy!