The Dodgers went through an ownership change at the beginning of the year. The team went from being run by a snake named Frank McCourt to a group of people called the Guggenheim Group. The new owners have super deep pockets and added some high priced veteran talent as the season progressed. The Dodgers started the season on a hot streak and had a great April and May.
Things started to fall a part in June. Matt Kemp got hurt and never really seemed to fully recover. Kemp set the bar high and the injuries that he suffered really hurt his numbers. Kemp's hamstring problems as well as a shoulder injury really affected the team's playoff hopes.
The Dodgers acquired Hanley Ramirez from the Miami Marlins just before the trade deadline. That was a huge upgrade over the stiffs that the Dodgers were trotting out at shortstop. The team wasn't done adding payroll and talent after the trade for Ramirez.
The big trade was when the team picked up Adrian Gonzalez to take over James Loney's spot at first base. That is small shoes to fill for Gonzalez. The team also got Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto in that same deal with Boston.
The team had acquired a bunch of new players and a new owner all in the same year. Most of the new players such as the guys from Boston and Ramirez will be back next year. The new ownership group will also be around for a number of years.
2012 was the start of a new Dodger era and for the first time in a long time, I am excited for the future of the Dodger organization. I am more excited as opposed to my usual nervousness about the club's direction.
With the conclusion to the Dodgers baseball season, the collecting season for me is also over. I will still pick up a few packs of 2012 Topps Update. I will also still make some trades. But, both of those activities will wain as I catch up with organizing my collection.
The collecting season for me is an almost daily drive to obtain cards, send cards to other bloggers, and buying cards for my collections.
The stacks above are cards that I need to binder and catalog in Excell. Those stacks don't even include the trade packages that I need to sift through.
Here are some cards that I need to send out to get signed through the mail. Most of this stack is of retired Dodgers that I will write to this off season. This task got me through last off season and was a way to keep me busy. This also led to getting some nice autos when my buying habits have dipped.
Some trade packages that I need to send out. Sorry to the blog world.
What a crazy season both in the Dodger world and for my blog. The Platter seems to be growing and is still fun for me. Blogging is still a great outlet for me to think creatively and share my love of the cardboard hobby with the blog world.
It was a great season for collecting.
Oh yes, the collecting season was great.
Just keep plugging away! Looks like you've got a lot of projects to keep you busy during the offseason. The future does look bright for the Dodgers since they got some quality players and new ownership.
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