2004 Fleer Greats Jeff Torborg Autograph

A couple months ago I made a trade with my buddy Spiegel from Nomo's Sushi Platter. One of the cards I got from him was this 2004 Fleer Greats Jeff Torborg autograph. I honestly don't remember what I gave him in return, but I needed a 'Borg auto, so I was more than happy to give him the cards he wanted.


Jeff Torborg is probably best known as a manager and coach, but he did have a nice career as a Dodger backup catcher from 1964 to 1970. He caught three of the more memorable games in Dodger history: Sandy Koufax's perfect game on September 9, 1965, Bill Singer's no-hitter on July 20, 1970, and the fifth of Don Drysdale's six consecutive 1968 shutouts. Torborg also caught the first of Nolan Ryan's seven no-hitters as a member of the California Angels in 1973.

Kershaw And Dodgers Agree On Two-Year Deal

The Dodgers and Cy Young Award Winner Clayton Kershaw agreed to a two-year $19 million deal today to avoid arbitration. Kersh will earn $7.5 million in 2012 and $11 million in 2013. The deal also includes a $500,00 signing bonus.

From Dodgers.com:  

Kershaw, 24 next month, accepted $19 million for two years to avoid arbitration, after earning $500,000 last year. He had sought a $10 million salary, with the club offering $6.5 million and a hearing scheduled for Feb. 14. 

Colletti confirmed the sides discussed deals for one, two and four years, plus an option. New negotiator Alex Tamin was prepared to go to a hearing and argue that Kershaw's $10 million asking price was an overreach, but the sides were able to work things out. 

Kershaw said he had no specific toys he wanted to buy with the money -- which included a $500,000 signing bonus and salaries of $7.5 million and $11 million -- but said he "needs to get Cy Young presents for the people who have helped me out along the way." 

A 2011 All-Star, Kershaw won the NL's Triple Crown for pitching: leading the league with 21 wins (tied), a 2.28 ERA and 248 strikeouts. Sandy Koufax (1963, '65 and '66) and Dazzy Vance (1924) are the only other Dodgers pitchers to win the Triple Crown. Kershaw was also among league leaders in opponents' batting average, innings pitched, complete games, shutouts and WHIP. 

Kershaw (21-5 overall) was named winner of an NL Gold Glove Award (leading the league with nine pickoffs), the first Dodger to win a Cy Young and Gold Glove in the same year since Orel Hershiser. He also won the Warren Spahn Award as the best left-handed pitcher in MLB; won Players Choice outstanding pitcher in the NL; was named to The Sporting News NL All-Star team; was a finalist for the Roberto Clemente Award; and was named Dodgers pitcher of the year by MLB.com. 

Kershaw's wins and ERA were the best for a Dodgers starting pitcher since Hershiser in 1988, and his strikeout total was the best for a Dodger since Koufax's 317 in 1966. He became the Dodgers' first 20-game winner since Ramon Martinez in 1990. Kershaw went 13-1 over the second half, 12-1 at Dodger Stadium, and finished the season with eight consecutive wins. 

Kershaw began his third full season in the Major Leagues as the Opening Day starter, and ended it by becoming the youngest 20-game winner in the Major Leagues since 20-year-old Dwight Gooden in 1985 -- and the youngest Dodgers 20-game winner since 21-year-old Ralph Branca won 21 games in 1947. He went 12-2 against the NL West -- 5-0 against the Giants and 4-0 against their ace, two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.

I wish they would have been able to give him more years, but I think Dodger fans will still be happy. I also think the Dodgers got a great deal here. I can't wait for the season to start!

First Look: Don Drysdale & Maury Wills Dual Bobblehead

picture via Twitter.com/Dodgers

  We're getting a glimpse of the first Dodger bobblehead of 2012, the Don Drysdale & Maury Wills dual bobble. The guys are standing on a patch of grass atop a gold base. In front of both players is a plaque. 1962 Cy Young Award winner in front of Drysdale and 1962 NL MVP in front of Wills. The characteristics on both of them are pretty accurate. I've got to admit they did an excellent job on this one.

This bobblehead will be given away on Saturday, April 28 when the Dodgers play the Washington Nationals.

SoCal Bobblehead News: Angels, 66ers, Blaze

As most Dodger fans patiently await the first images of any of the ten 2012 bobbleheads, the rival Anaheim Angels have done some quick work in the promotional department. They released the first picture of the Albert Pujols bobblehead that will be given away on April 17 when the team takes on the Oakland Athletics. Presented by FreeCreditScore.com, this bobblehead will be given away to all fans in attendance.


From what I can see, there's nothing special here, although I do like the Pujols homerun stare. I can't wait to pick one of these up. It may not be a Dodger, but it's still one of the best players in the game.

In other Pujols bobblehead news, the Angels Single-A affiliate Inland Empire 66ers have released their promotional schedule and they're giving away a Pujols bobble as well. As a matter of fact, they're giving away four bobbleheads altogether. Here are the four: 


Saturday, April 14 - Felix Hernandez Bobblehead

Saturday, May 12 -  Albert Pujols Bobblehead

Saturday, June 9   -  Peter Bourjos Bobblehead

Saturday, June 24 -  Bernie Bobble Belly


I'm assuming the Pujols and Bourjos bobbleheads are the same one the Angels are giving away. The Hernandez bobblehead give away is the second in two years.

The Bakersfield Blaze, Single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, are giving away five bobbleheads in 2012. I've known about these for a couple months now, but was waiting to post it once it became official. Well, it hasn't been made official yet, but I did speak with the head of the Blaze's Media Relations, and he's confirmed the five bobbleheads, but the dates are still up in the air. Here are  the five bobbleheads the Blaze will be giving away:


Don Drysdale


Hideo Nomo

George Culver

Josh Hamilton 

Mystery Reds Bobblehead

Three former Dodgers. I just might make a trip or three to Bakersfield!

Dodger Bobblehead Variants

Matt Kemp gold glove

Tonight we're going to take a look at some of the variant Dodger bobbleheads that have been produced over the years. These are the bobbleheads that I know about. If there are any variants that I am missing, please comment below. 

With help from David at Bobbles Galore, and some current Ebay auctions, I'm gonna give as much info as I can and show as many pictures as possible.

                              From BobblesGalore

We'll start with the Fred McGriff Gold Bat bobblehead. In 2003, 500 McGriff bobbleheads were made with gold bats to commemorate his upcoming 500th homerun. The only problem was the Crime Dog never got to number 500, finishing his career with 493 homers. Some of these were given away to Dodger employees and many were donated to charity.You see these on Ebay every once in a while.


In 2004, Eric Gagne was honored with his second bobblehead in two years. This one was made to celebrate his 2003 NL Cy Young Award. The variation on this bobblehead was an all pewter version. I'm not sure how many were made at the time, but these were given away to some fans and also sold at the Top of the Park gift shop at Dodger Stadium.

From Ebay

2005's Cesar Izturis variant bobblehead had a gold glove. This was in honor of his 2004 Gold Glove Award. This is another one that pops up on the Bay every now and then.


A variant bobblehead I had heard about a few times but hadn't seen until recently was the 2006 Fernando Valenzuela silver base bobblehead. There were only 500 of these made.

From Ebay

The 2009 Curtain Call Manny Ramirez bobblehead was one of the more popular bobbleheads given away, but  did you know they made 99 of them in gold? I need to see this one!


In 2010 the Dodgers started holding contests on Twitter. They gave away many prizes including two bobblehead variations. The first was the Andre Ethier Silver bat bobble to commemorate his 2009 Silver Slugger Award. The other was the Matt Kemp Catch At The Wall gold glove bobblehead to commemorate his 2009 Gold Glove Award. The first time I saw one of these was on Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Greg won his on Twitter and later got it autographed. The Kemp is my personal favorite.

From BobblesGalore

From BobblesGalore

The Dodgers gave away six bobbleheads in 2011. Three of them had variants. The first was Clayton Kershaw's backwards K bobblehead. The second was Don Mattingly's "Donnie Baseball" bobblehead and the third was Duke Snider's "Duke of Flatbush" bobblehead. I'm not sure how many they produced.

From BobblesGalore

From BobblesGalore

Like I said earlier, I may be missing some variants. If anyone has additional information or pictures, feel free to comment below or email me. I would love to update this.

First Look: Clayton Kershaw Replica Cy Young Award

Well, it's not a bobblehead, but we are getting our first look at the Clayton Kershaw replica Cy Young Award plaque. Presented by Stub Hub!, this plaque will be given away to the first 30,000 fans in attendance when the Dodgers play the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, April 11.

Speaking of the Cy Young Award, Clayton was in New York City this weekend to accept the real plaque at the Baseball Writers' Association of America's annual dinner. He was also there to promote his new book "Arise" and he even got to tour the New York Stock Exchange Friday morning.

                         

Trading With Foul Bunt, Plaschke The Sweater Is Argyle and the Daily Dimwit

I've completed three trades in the last couple of weeks. Here's a recap:

The first trade I made was with William from Foul Bunt. William has a nice collection of baseballs signed by Hall of Famers. When I checked his trade list I noticed he had an extra Bruce Sutter auto, which is also certified. Besides collecting HOF balls, William is also a huge Orioles fan, so I offered up a couple of O's bobbleheads and cards. We finally worked something out, and now I have a Bruce Sutter auto in my collection. Thank you William!


This past Sunday I had the opportunity to meet NL Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw. While at the Kershaw appearance, I met up with Greg from Plaschke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Over the last few weeks we had been working on a trade for one of my three Rubby De La Rosa autographs and we were finally able to complete it that day.Well, actually Greg brought his end of the trade up to the Kershaw appearance and I mailed my part of the trade to him. Anyway, I got a 2008 Allen & Ginter Matt Kemp jersey card and a 2008 Upper Deck Ramon Troncoso auto in return. Thanks for the trade Greg and I can't wait for the next Kershaw appearance.

The final trade I made was with Sam from The Daily Dimwit. Sam has had the honor of being the first to do a couple of things on Dodgerbobble.com. He won my first bobblehead contest  and he was the first follower on my Dodgerbobble Trade Bait page. Sam saw a David  Matranga auto/jersey card on the trade bait page and asked me if I'd take a 2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces Andy LaRoche auto for it. My only LaRoche autograph is a dual auto card with Rafael Furcal, so I was happy to get a card with just his signature on it. Thank you Sam. Hopefully you'll have another first on Dodgerbobble.com some day.