Dee Gordon Bobblehead Now Available At BobblesGalore.com

Dodger shortstop Dee Gordon is off the DL and back in Los Angeles. Last night the speedster had a key steal in the Dodgers 4-3 victory over the Cardinals. Hopefully he does more of that in the stretch run here. 

Since Dee is one of my favorite Dodgers, I was happy when BobblesGalore.com and Forever Collectibles announced that they would be releasing a limited edition bobblehead of his. You can get that bobblehead now at BobblesGalore.com by clicking here. Remember, they're limited to 144 and each one is individually serial numbered.

Jaime Jarrin Doesn't Get A Bobblehead, But He Does Get A T-Shirt. Oh, And Dodgerbobble Got Some Autographs!

Normally I don't write about any other Dodger Stadium promotional nights besides bobblehead nights, but last Monday I attended Jaime Jarrin T-shirt night, and I wanted to talk about it a bit. The first 30,000 fans in attendance received shirts with Jarrin's famous catch phrase "Se Va, Se Va, Se Va" on the front which means going, going, going and "despidala con un beso!" on the back, which means kiss it goodbye. I'm talking about this promotion because I think the Dodgers screwed up by not giving Jarrin a bobblehead this year. I know this has been talked about and written about numerous times, but I thought I'd mention it again. With ten bobbleheads being given away at Dodger Stadium to commemorate the 50th anniversary, the Spanish voice of the Dodgers didn't get one, which I consider a slap in the face after 54 years of service. Maybe they wanted to make him one and he didn't want it, who knows, but if Vin Scully finally got one, why not Jaime?

Jarrin was honored before the game with a special video from the Dodgers and he also threw out the ceremonial first pitch. But before the ceremony on the field, Jaime met with the fans and signed autographs. I've been lucky enough to meet him a few times, but never got the autographs I really wanted, on the sweet spot of a baseball. That night I finally got it, plus a couple others. 

Jaime Jarrin 

This is a Fernando Valenzuela card I got signed along with Jarrin.
You can see Jaime's face peeking through there, so I figured I'd have both men sign it.

Dodger Stadium organist Nancy Bea Hefley with her trademark musical note.
She's another Dodger Stadium icon who shoulda got a bobblehead.

Dodger legend Maury Wills

Dodger rookie Shawn Tolleson

Don Mattingly

I hope next year the Dodgers get their act together and give Jaime Jarrin that bobblehead he deserves. I think the T-shirt is really cool, but a Hall of Famer deserves better.

Trading With The Snorting Bull

I just completed my fourth trade with Eric from the Snorting Bull. Eric seems to be a Matt Kemp magnet. Every time he gets a new one, he dangles it out there for me to drool over. This newest Kemp is of the Topps Marquee variety, a quad jersey numbered to 199. One piece of jersey has a beautiful blue stripe in it  making it more appealing to me. I had to have it.

The other card Eric offered was a Dee Gordon  jersey numbered to 199. Believe it or not, I don't have one single Dee Gordon game-used piece. This one is a jumbo red piece of jersey from the 2010 All-Star Futures game. 


Now, I love the two jersey cards up there, but as an autograph collector, I'm always looking for new Dodger autos to add to the collection. Eric had a few I needed, so we got those into the deal as well.

Thanks for the trade Eric! Click here to see what I sent to the Snorting Bull.

Pre-Order Your Dee Gordon Bobblehead Today

Last month I announced that Forever Collectibles along with BobblesGalore.com will be releasing a limited edition Dee Gordon bobblehead. Now we are finally getting our first glimpse at the bobblehead.  It's Dee in  a great bunting pose atop a blue Dodgers base.


There will only be 144 Dee Gordon bobbleheads available and each one will be individually serial numbered. This bobble is not available now, but you can pre-order it today. Tentative delivery time supplied by Forever Collectibles is mid to late July. You can pre-order you Dee Gordon bobblehead today for $34.95 by clicking the link in the sidebar to the right. 


If you have any questions, leave a comment below or email me at dodgerbobble@yahoo.com

Dee Gordon Update Plus Two New Autos

Before the baseball season began, I had high hopes for Dodgers lead-off hitter Dee Gordon. There was a lot of hype around the kid, and I was one of the people hyping him up. As long as he got on base, he could steal 60, 70 maybe 80 bases and score a hundred runs with Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier hitting behind him. Things haven't gone that way though. Through May 18, Dee was batting .200 with a .239 OBP, so manager Don Mattingly benched him. I honestly thought Dee was headed back to the minors to work on his game, but he was back in the starting line-up four days later, this time batting eighth.


Since being moved to the bottom of the order, Dee has hit in five straight, going 8 for 18 and raising his batting average to .229 and his OBP to .270. He also added two stolen bases today, his first in more than three weeks. Not exactly great numbers, but he's improving.


I think moving Dee to the bottom of the order was the right thing for Mattingly to do,  a move that probably should have been made sooner. It's like having another lead-off hitter at the bottom of the order. Batting in front of the pitcher will help Dee get on base more and help build his confidence.


I still see flaws with Dee's approach at the plate though. He's still hacking away too much. I would like to see more attempts at bunting for hits, more slapping at the ball and more patience at the plate. Things are getting better though. I guess getting benched was a wake up call.


Onto the cards. I'm still collecting Dee, so when I get trade offers on cards I don't have, I get pretty excited. This trade came from Kevin through the Facebook page 'Sports Cards & Entertainment'. Here's what I got:


2010 Donruss Elite Extra Edition /100. I've got another one of these with a red border numbered to 310, but I love this one much more because it's got the beautiful Dodger blue border.

2011 Bowman Sterling /25. I have the base version of this auto as well, which I'll post another time. I think the black border on this is gorgeous.

These two bring my Dee Gordon auto count up to 17.


Speaking of Dee Gordon, don't forget you can still pre-order your Dee Gordon bobblehead in the sidebar to the right.

Pre-Order Your Dee Gordon Bobblehead

As most of you know, Dee Gordon has become one of my favorite Dodgers. I'm a big fan of the speedy base-stealing types, and Dee might be the fastest one out there. He has the potential to steal 100 bases and become a star in L.A.  That's why I'm stacking up on his cards and autographs now. 


The one thing I don't have is a Dee Gordon bobblehead. I know a lot of Dodger bobblehead collectors, myself included, wanted to see one released this year. Well, now we can all finally add that Dee bobble to the collection. Forever Collectibles along with Bobbles Galore is releasing a limited edition Dee Gordon bobblehead. Numbered to 300, this bobblehead has Dee on top of a Los Angeles Dodgers base standing in a bunting pose. 


These bobbles won't be available for about 90 days, but you can pre-order them now for $34.95 by clicking the PayPal button in the sidebar. Remember, these are limited to 300, so don't miss your opportunity to get one now. 


Below is a mock-up of what the bobblehead will look like. We hope to have an actual picture soon. If you have any questions, please comment below or email me at dodgerbobble@yahoo.com.

Skinnyswag With The Game Winner! Plus, A Couple More Autos

Dee Gordon had a walk-off basehit in yesterday's Dodger game and I can't begin to tell you how happy I was to see him do something positive. Skinnyswag hasn't been off to the best start in 2012. Frankly, Dee's  looked a lot like Juan Pierre so far this season, hitting a lot of weak pop ups to the outfield. But I'm not worried at all, I know it's early and from what I can tell, he's been showing more discipline at the plate. He did add two more steals yesterday, scored a run and got two hits including the game-winner. 

Anyway, I've been busy with my Dee Gordon PC over the last few weeks, adding a few more autos including these two from Donruss Elite. The first is a 2010 Extra Edition /310. Dee looks like he just cracked one of his three homeruns in this picture. Yes, Dee hit 3 HRs in Single-A!  I gotta tell you though, I hate the red trimming with the Dodger blue uni. It hurts my eyes.

Next up is a 2010 Private Signings /100. This a cool looking card, with the signature on the sweet spot of a ball. Although when you touch the material, it's a very soft leather or something similar.

Pictures From Opening Day

I made the trip down to San Diego on Thursday to see the Dodgers play the Padres on Opening Day. I went with Angry Albert and we met up with Spiegel and two other die hard Dodger fans, Mike & Mike who were staying in SD for the night. 


When we got to the Gaslamp District, we noticed a lot of Dodger fans on the streets. I had never been to a game at Petco before, but I heard there was always large presence of  Dodger fans at the games. Let me tell you, this almost felt like a Dodger home game. Walking around Petco, we saw so many Dodger fans. We never felt uncomfortable, even the Padres fans were very respectful. 


I wish I would have taken more pictures, but I was enjoying every minutes of Opening Day and I just forgot to take the camera out of my pocket. Here are a couple of shots I did take though.

Spiegel stayed in SD. Here's the view from his hotel room.

The Fox broadcast in front of Tony Gwynn's statue

The view from our seats

Opening Day starter Clayton Kershaw about to warm up

As you can see, the I had a bit of an obstructed view, so I didn't see Matt Kemp's homerun go over the wall. The architect of this stadium should be shot!

Closer Javy Guerra warming up in the 'pen.

My boy Dee on the jumbotron

There I am!

If you love the National Anthem like I do, check out the flag ceremony. The Herrier jets that fly over the stadium at the end were awesome!

                      

I had a great time on Thursday, especially since the Dodgers won. I need to thank Spiegel and Mike C for hooking me up with the tickets, I really appreciate it.  I can't wait to go to Petco again!

Dee Gordon Looks Good In Orange

In yet another Facebook trade, I was able to pick up a new Dee Gordon autograph for the PC. This was my eighth trade on The Sports Card Hangout, and this time the trade was with a fellow Grapher named Alex. After a couple of weeks of negotiating, Alex and I were able to come to an agreement on this beautiful orange 2011 Topps Finest Gordon auto numbered to 99. This is Dee Gordon auto number 9 for me and the fourth different Topps Finest.

Alex also sent over a nice assortment of Dodger cards including a Jerry Sands Bowman Chrome rookie numbered to 500 and and a sweet John Ely(remember St. Ely?) Bowman Chrome blue refractor numbered to 199. 

I wanted to thank Alex for the trade and if anyone is interested in making a trade with him, you can check out his PhotoBucket here.