Blog Kiosk: 10/31/2016 - Dodgers Links - Congrats, Kenley!

Here is a fantastic vintage photo of soon-to-be Dodger star hurler Joe Black that I ran into at Hake's auctions.  (Auction Link)  It was taken following an impressive winter season effort where he lead the Cuban League (1951-52) in both wins and strike outs.  As you can see, a makeshift crown was placed on his head to commemorate this achievement.

As you may know, Joe joined the Dodgers that Fall and absolutely blew everyone away.  In 1952 he would go 15-4 with an 2.104 ERA, 85 strike outs, 41 walks, a 4.4 WAR and an ERA+ of 171.  Furthermore, he would be named the Rookie of the Year and come in third place in MVP voting.

Below are more links to check out:

• Happ Birthday, Javy Guerra!
• Video: Nomar Garciaparra and David Vassegh breakdown their top offseason priority for the Dodgers. (Link Here)
• Podcast: Fox Sports’ Joe Davis reflects on OU-Tech, previews OSU-WVU and describes the impossible task of replacing Vin Scully with John E. Hoover of The Franchise. (Link Here)
• On Sunday Kenley Jansen was named the winner of the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year Award.  Per a press release:

(Pic via @SportsNet LA on twitter)

 Jansen fashioned a 3-2 mark and a 1.83 ERA in collecting 47 saves in 71 games for the Dodgers, the NL West Champions for a fourth consecutive year in 2016.  In 68.2 innings, the 29-year-old fanned 104 batters and yielded only 35 hits and 11 walks, resulting in a Major League-best WHIP of 0.67.  The Curaçao native owned the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the National League (9.45).  The first-time All-Star in 2016 limited opposing hitters to a .150 batting average, the best mark for any reliever in the Majors, as well as .252 slugging.  During the campaign, the former catcher – who has competed for the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the two most recent World Baseball Classics (2009 and 2013) – also established new Dodger franchise marks in saves, finishing the year with 189 after surpassing Eric Gagné (161), and strikeouts as a reliever, with his 632 eclipsing Jim Brewer’s mark of 604.  Jansen anchored a Dodger bullpen that combined to set a franchise record with 590.2 innings pitched and 607 total appearances, both of which led the Majors. The 6’5” right-hander holds a 2.20 career ERA in his seven Major League seasons.

• Via Matthew Moreno at Dodger Blue; "Andrew Friedman Encouraged By Development Of Starting Pitching Depth."

“I think we’re getting to the point where we have a number of young guys that have put themselves in position to come in and compete for a job next year,” Friedman said this week.

“The only way to really have [depth] and with quality is to have really good young prospects that are at the Triple-A level and kind of knocking down the door to get up to the Major League level. We didn’t have that in ’15, we definitely had that this year, and we relied on quite a few of them. In ’15 and into this year, there was a bit of a transition.”

• Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA; "Cody Bellinger makes up for lost time in Arizona Fall League."

Bellinger said it was important for him to use the Arizona Fall League to make up for the month he lost in April when he was out with a hip impingement.

“I just wanted to keep working on my plate discipline. I kind of worked on that this year by lowering my strikeouts while maintaining my power. That was kind of a big thing for me,” he said. “I just want to keep working on my eye at the plate, knowing what I can and what I can’t hit, and just doing damage with it.”

• Later this year Topps will released a new Baseball card brand called 2016 Topps Transcendent, and it appears to be a super-super-super-high-end product.  In fact, it figures on being the most expensive card set ever conceived.  It will come in a briefcase (only 65 will be made) and it will include (per Blowout Buzz):

Include one 1/1 Kris Bryant autograph using one of the past Topps baseball designs, one more 1/1 auto, one 1/1 sketch card, one oversized 1/1 cur signature box-topper, 49 autographs limited to no more than 52 copies, one set of Iconic base cards limited to just 65 copies, one set of 65 reproduction sketch cards limited to 65 copies and one “invitation to celebrate 65 years of Topps with a special guest.” … Every case will guarantee an autograph from every subject on what Topps calls “the most-elite autograph checklist ever assembled.”

Holy Moly!  Below are pics of a Kenta Maeda and Jackie Robinson cards from the product.  No word yet on how much this will cost.

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