A New Bison From The Snorting Bull

Last month I posted a  Matt Kemp rookie autograph that I had picked up in a Facebook trade. That trade was with a guy named Eric who I met on the FB page "The Sports Card Hangout". Well, since then Eric has started up his own blog dedicated to his baseball card collection. It's called The Snorting Bull, and I've got to admit, Eric has one of the finest collections around, so check out his blog if you get a chance. Plus he's always up for a trade. 

Speaking of trades with Eric, we just completed our second one. Once again, he sent me a sweet Matt Kemp card. This time it's a 2011 Topps Triple Threads "Bison" card numbered to 18. The Bison is one of my favorite nicknames of all time and it looks amazing spelled here.


Eric also sent me a new autograph, a 2005 Topps Rookie Cup Eric Karros. For some reason I thought I had a  Karros auto, but it turns out I was wrong. It's always nice to add a new autograph to the collection.

I wanna to thank Eric for another great trade! And don't forget to check out his blog, The Snorting Bull.

Dodger Magic!

AP Image

The news that all Dodger fans have been waiting for finally came tonight. Frank McCourt picked one of the three final groups bidding for the team, Guggenheim Baseball Management LLC. The group, led by Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten,  will reportedly puchase the team for $2 billion. 


Here's the official press release:

LOS ANGELES, March 27, 2012 - The Los Angeles Dodgers and Frank McCourt today announced an agreement under which Guggenheim Baseball Management LLC (“GBM”) will acquire the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2 billion upon completion of the closing process.  The purchasing group includes Mark R. Walter as its controlling partner, as well as Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Peter Guber, Stan Kasten, Bobby Patton and Todd Boehly.  Mr. McCourt and certain affiliates of the purchasers will also be forming a joint venture, which will acquire the Chavez Ravine property for an additional $150 million.

The Los Angeles Dodgers stated, “This transaction underscores the Debtors’ objective to maximize the value of their estate and to emerge from Chapter 11 under a successful Plan of Reorganization, under which all creditors are paid in full.”

Frank McCourt stated, “This agreement with Guggenheim reflects both the strength and future potential of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and assures that the Dodgers will have new ownership with deep local roots, which bodes well for the Dodgers, its fans and the Los Angeles community.  We are delighted that this group will continue the important work we have started in the community, fulfilling our commitment to building 50 Dream Fields and helping with the effort to cure cancer.”

Earvin "Magic" Johnson stated, "I am thrilled to be part of the historic Dodger franchise and intend to build on the fantastic foundation laid by Frank McCourt as we drive the Dodgers back to the front page of the sports section in our wonderful community of Los Angeles."

Personally, I wanted the Steven Cohen group to win the bidding, but right now I'm just happy that it will no longer be Frank McCourt owning the team, although he will still be part owner of Chavez Ravine. 


As a life-long Dodger and Laker fan, I can honestly say I have no problem with this. I love Magic Johnson. He has ties to the community and the money is there. Tonight is a night for all Angelinos to celebrate.

Anther Tribute To Dee Gordon

Here's the rest of my Dee Gordon haul from last week. I picked up two more autos. The first is an orange 2012 Topps Tribute Inkable Accolades numbered to 25. This is my second Dee Tribute card. Not sure if I'm done with Tribute yet. I've got my eye on a couple more.

The other auto I picked up is this 2011 Topps Finest Dual Jersey numbered to 499. This is a card that's been on my radar for a while, but I hadn't picked one up until now because the price was never right. I finally found a good deal and couldn't pass it up. 

Adding More Gordons

After missing out on a couple of player appearances today, I decided to just hang out at home, relax and watch the Dodger game.  Dee Gordon had another nice day, going 2 for 3 with a run scored and a stolen base, his eighth of the Spring, helping the Dodgers beat the Indians 5-4. He tried stretching one of his singles into a double, getting called out at second, which was a bit disappointing. I like Dee's aggressiveness on the basepaths, but he has to know when to hold up and when to keep going. I think he's going to get better at making those decisions the more he plays.  He is getting on base, and that's the most important thing.


Anyway, I added some more of Dee's cards this week. Here are some of them: 

I told myself I wasn't going to buy anymore patches, but I picked this up anyways.  I really don't understand this card. It's a Brooklyn patch with a picture of Dee in an L.A. uniform. Huh?

2011 Bowman Chrome Refractor #d/799

2011 Topps Update Cognac Diamond Parallel

2011 Topps Update Target Red Parallel

2011 Topps Target Red Parallel

2011 Topps Gold Parallel

2011 Topps Chrome XFractor

2012 Topps Heritage Short-Print

Out of all these cards, I like the Heritage the best. The '63 design is classic and I think it would look great with an autograph. So that will be one of my goals in 2012, to get the Heritage card signed.

Jackie Robinson's Historical Stitches

I just completed my fifth trade through the Facebook page The Sports Card Hangout. This time it was with member Ethan. I sent Ethan a Johann Santana mini silk card and I got this 2012 Topps Historical Stitches  Jackie Robinson in return. This is my second Historical Stitches card.  My first is this Sandy Koufax Historical Stitches I got two weeks ago.


Ethan also sent me this LaRon Landry autograph card plus a nice stack of Dodger cards I needed. 

Thanks for the trade Ethan! If you're interested in trading with Ethan you can see his Photobucket here.

A Tribute To Dee Gordon

Since Topps released Tribute a couple weeks back, I've been trying to pick up a few of the Dee Gordon autograph cards. There are quite a few variations of his card, so I'm not going to get too crazy with this high-end product. I did get my hands on one last week though, this blue variation numbered to 50. This is my favorite version. The blue stripe across the bottom along with the blue on-card signature gives this a slick Dodger look. 


I love me some Skinnyswag. I think he's gonna have a huge year. Enjoy:

                              

A Frank Howard Autograph With Mustard Please!

This 2001 Topps Legends Frank Howard autograph has been on my desk for almost two months now. It's been sitting here with some other Dodger items that I haven't had a chance to put away. My desk seriously  looked like it got hit by a Dodger tornado. With the day off today, I though I'd get this and some of my other item scanned into the computer.


Anyhoo, this is a signed  reprint of Howard's 1960 Topps rookie card. That season, Howard won NL Rookie of the Year. With the yellow background and the red, white and blue stripes down the middle, it looks like someone dropped their county fair ribbon in a puddle of mustard. This is truly one of the ugliest cards I own, but Hondo's beautiful blue signature makes up for it.

Since 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of Dodger Stadium, I do want to mention Howard's 1962 season. That year, the Paul Bunyanesque Howard batted .296 with 31 homeruns and 119 rbi. It was one of the greatest offensive seasons in Dodger history and he was ninth in MVP voting! Three other Dodgers got more votes than him, Maury Wills won the award, Tommy Davis came in third and Don Drysdale was fifth in the voting. Howard had a very nice career, also playing for the Washington Senator, the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers. You can read more about him here.

Dodger Bobblehead News

The last time I gave Dodger bobblehead news, I mentioned the Hello Kitty mini bobblehead giveaway on July 1.Today  the Dodgers released pics of the bobble and some additional info. From Dodgers.com:

LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers announced today a partnership with global brand Sanrio^® Inc., parent company of Hello Kitty, for the second consecutive year. Due to an overwhelming response to last season’s limited-edition ticket package that included a Hello Kitty Dodgers collectible plush, the club has extended the partnership in 2012. This year’s promotion is a Hello Kitty Mini Bobblehead that will be available to the first 50,000 fans with tickets to the game on Sunday, July 1, 2012 (vs. NYM). 

In addition, Hello Kitty and her friend Keroppi^® will make a special appearance at the Viva Los Dodgers Day festival held in lot 6 two hours prior to game time and Hello Kitty will also throw the ceremonial first pitch.

The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, Single-A affiliate of the Dodgers, released their promotional schedule this week. There are no bobbleheads on that list, but there is one bobble belly. The Quakes mascot, Tremor, will be honored with a bobble belly on Friday, July 27. There will be a few other Dodger Stadium related giveaways too, but none of the DS greats bobbleheads.


Bill Plaschke of LATimes.com wrote a good article earlier this week about the bobblehead snubbing of Hall of Fame announcer Jaime Jarrin. Jarrin, who has worked in the Dodger organization for 53 years, wasn't part of the Dodger Stadium Greats bobbleheads series celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dodger Stadium. Vin Scully was honored with a bobblehead, but not Jarrin. 


I think Jarrin and  team organist Nancy Bea Hefley should have both received bobbleheads. It's a shame that the Dodgers didn't think of these two individuals who have been a huge part of the stadium's history. Instead of giving Fernando Valenzuela or Tommy Lasorda yet another bobblehead, they could have given one to both Jarrin and Hefley. Maybe next year.

Adding A Few More Dees

I swung by the LCS today to get some last minute bids in on the bid board and also to pick up some Dee Gordon cards I needed. I've fallen behind on all the Gordon cards out there, but I am catching up. Here are a few I picked up today.

This is the back of the gold Bowman refractor above. #d/250

If anyone has Dee Gordon cards they're interested in trading, comment below or email me.

New Dodger Bobbleheads At BobblesGalore, Plus A Contest Announcement

With the baseball and bobblehead seasons about to start, I wanted to announce BobblesGalore's second year of sponsoring Dodgerbobble.com. We're going to hold bobblehead contests all year long, including one for the very first Dodger bobblehead of 2012, the Don Drysdale/Maury Wills dual bobblehead.  I'll have details on the contest next Monday.


Speaking of the Drysdale/Wills bobblehead, you can pre-order them now at BobblesGalore.com by clicking here. Dodgerbobble.com readers can save 10% on their order by using the promo code BobblesGalore10.


A couple of other new bobbleheads you can pick up now at BobblesGalore are the Forever Collectibles Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw bobbles, the same ones I recently posted. There were only 2012 produced of each and BobblesGalore is selling them for $21.95 or you can buy them as a pair by clicking here.


And finally, I would like to mention BobblesGalore also has blog. You can get all your bobblehead info and news there as well as site news. For the BobbleGalore Bobble Blog, click here.

Dodger Bobblehead News And Notes

Forever Collectibles has released two new Dodger bobbleheads, Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw. It's been a while since we've seen new Dodger bobbleheads from Forever. These bobbles are 8 inches tall and  have the normal sized heads. Both sell for $24.99 at Dodgers.com. I've never been a fan of the Forever bobbleheads but these are pretty damn nice. They both look a lot like Matt and Clayton.


The Dodgers have added a bobblehead to the promotional schedule. No, it's not another Dodger Stadium great. It's Hello Kitty. The Dodgers will be giving away Hello Kitty mini bobbleheads to the first 50,000 fans on Sunday, July 1. This is not the first time the team has had a Hello Kitty promotion. Last year they gave away Hello Kitty Plush dolls. I've added this bobblehead in the sidebar.


The Albuquerque Isotopes, AAA affiliate of the Dodgers, released their promotional schedule. They will be giving away three bobbles in 2012. Former player and coach Jason Wood gets the first bobblehead on May 28. The second will be a Green Chile Pepper bobblehead on August 19. The last one is an Isotopes bobble logo on September 3.

And finally, I just wanted share this great picture of Dodger legend Maury Wills posing with his upcoming bobblehead. This dual bobblehead of Maury and Don Drysdale will be given away on April 28 and is the first of ten Dodger Stadium Greats bobbleheads. You can see the list of all the others in my sidebar to the right.

Five AL Teams Release Bobblehead Schedules

Let's take a look at five more teams that have released  promotional schedules with bobbleheads. You can see my first three posts here, here and here. 

The Tampa Bay Rays are going bobblehead crazy, giving away seven in 2012. This is the most by any team except for  the Dodgers 11 bobblesheads. The first of seven is Kyle Farnsworth(May 20) followed by Desmond Jennings(June 3), Joe Maddon(June 15), James Shields(July 1), Matt Moore(July 22), DJ Kitty(August 5) and the last one is TBD(September 23).


The Baltimore Orioles traditionally have been one of the better bobblehead teams in the majors, but this year they only have one. That bobblehead is a fans choice bobble on September 29.

The Seattle Mariners have  four scheduled bobbleheads this year. No Larry Bernandez this time, but they do have Ichiro(April 20), Dustin Ackley(May 25), Felix Hernandez(June 15) and Randy Johnson/Dan Wilson 2012 Mariners Hall of Fame dual bobble.


The Kansas City Royals have many promotions scheduled in 2012, but only two bobbleheads. Buck O'Neil(July 21) gets the first of two, Eric Hosmer(August 18) the second. KC is hosting the All-Star game this season and they could've put out some nice All-Star-themed bobbles, maybe a George Brett or a Brett Saberhagen. I think they missed a good opportunity here.

The Texas Rangers just signed Yu Darvish, but the super-hyped import won't get a bobblehead this year. Instead they are honoring three others  with Nodders: Adrian Beltre(April 28), Ian Kinsler(August 12) and Manager Ron Washington(August 25).

Around The Blogosphere: Win Two Dodger Home Opener Tickets, Return Of An Old Friend and the Introduction Of A New Blog

Dodger fans, wanna go to the Dodgers home opener? Angry Albert is holding a contest and the prize is two tickets to see the boys in blue take on the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 10. You can see all the contest rules here.

One of my favorite card blogs is I'm Ballsy! run by the great Arno. Arno took a break from blogging for a few months, but he's back now, along with his guinea pigs and he's busting boxes. You can check out his blog here.

Dave with Mitch Richmond

I want to introduce everyone to a new blog here in the blogosphere, David's Autograph Signings. David is one of the best graphers I know. I actually met him when he won my Duke Snider bobblehead contest last year, but we've seen each other many times at various autograph events throughout SoCal. Dave is blogging about all these events now, and you can you read it all here.

A New Koufax From Cardboard Heaven

I've never been a big fan of Manupatches, but I think the 2012 Topps Historical Stitches cards are pretty sweet. A couple weeks back, Cameron from Cardboard Heaven posted the Sandy Koufax and it caught my eye. I asked him if it was available and we were able to work out a trade. Cameron also sent over an assortment of Dodger cards I needed.

Thanks for the trade Cameron. I love the Koufax!

Dee Gordon Goes Green

I picked up a few more Dee Gordons this week. First up is this Topps Finest auto. There are a few variations of this card. This is the green version numbered 35/199. If anyone has other variations of this card, let me know, I'd love to make a trade.

I also picked up a few Dee base cards today at the LCS. I think I concentrate so hard on getting autographs, I forget the base cards. Dee's got a few now, so I'll take those too if anyone's got extras.

Kersh And Koufax

Kersh, Koufax and Honeycutt
 pic via @Dodgers

I'm so jealous of Rick Honeycutt, the man talking to Dodger legend Sandy Koufax and 2011 Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw. Koufax paid a visit to the Dodgers training camp at Camelback Ranch today.