2020 Topps Now - Bracket Bonanza - Round 1 Winners - The Four Dodgers

For the past week or so Topps has been running a Bracket Challenge -- much like a March Madness bracket -- ranking 64 of the top ballplayers in the league. Collectors would vote online to decide who advances to the next round. The main twist here for Topps is that the winners of each bracket is then issued a 2020 Topps Now card acknowledging their bracket victory, and it would be available online for purchase. Print runs are determined by the number of orders. Go here for a complete checklist.

Out of the 64 contestants, five were Dodgers... And of those five, four won. The only loser was rookie Gavin Lux -- Why he was one the list I will never understand. Check out all four of the Dodger winners below.

2020 Topps Project 2020 -- Sandy Koufax and Jackie Robinson Cards

Topps mysterious collaboration teased a few weeks back was officially unveiled yesterday and begins with a doozy. Available for a couple of days is an online exclusive Sandy Koufax card created by Hip Hop/Street Culture artist and musician Jacob Rochester. As you can see, the card is an homage to Sandy's 1955 Topps Rookie card. To the right is a look at the reverse of the card.

Project 2020 is an artistic collaboration with 20 different artist and pop culture influencers, and each of them will reinterpreting 20 different legendary Topps Baseball cards to create a massive 400 card set.

This first offering includes the Koufax card above and an Ichiro card created by famed jeweler Ben Baller.

Blog Kiosk: 3/26/2020 - Dodgers Links & News - Some Odds and Ends

This just might be the best photo from the 1955 World Series - the Dodgers first World Championship. Featured are a group of Dodger wives (see Rachel Robinson on the far left) celebrating right after the victory, available via RMY Auction. This photo was taken by Barney Stein and it is a re-strike -- printed in 1980.

Below are more links to check out:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 1953 the St. Louis Browns returned pitcher Tommy Lasorda to the Dodgers after having just purchased him a month prior. In 1984 Jackie Robinson was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in a White House ceremony. Rachel Robinson accepted the award on her late husband's behalf. At the time, Jackie was just the third ballplayer to be given the distinction (Moe Berg and Joe DiMaggio were the others). You can watch the presentation here. In 1991 the Dodgers sign free agent catcher and future Hall of Famer Gary Carter to a one-year $500,000 contract. 
• Happy Birthday, Jack McCarthy, Joe Klugmann, José Vizcaíno & Frank Lankford!