Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

I just couldn't resist making this holiday themed fantasy card of Tommy Claus and Alyssa Milano.

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Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 12/24/2012

Matt Luke, Paul LoDuca, Sweet Lou Johnson and Bobby Castillo are at the Holiday Ham Giveaway at Dodger Stadium on December 18, 2012.  Photo Credit: Larry Goren/ LA Dodgers 2012.

• Murray Chass writes of the "Battle for LA in Baseball and Geography."

Finding the name intellectually offensive from the day Moreno announced it, I bring it up now because of recent developments. If the name the Angels have usurped were legitimate, Major League Baseball could promote one of the highlights of the coming season as the battle for Los Angeles. The Angels and the Dodgers have certainly spent a lot of time and money creating that picture.

• The Jackie Robinson game-used jersey on auction through Lelands that I featured in a post last week closed at an astounding $401,968 (including the 19.5% buyer's permium).

• David Laurila at FanGraphs interviews Dodgers pitching prospect Chris Reed.



(credit: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept.)

• Former Angels wunderkind slugging prospect Dallas McPherson has just been signed by the Dodgers to play in AAA, via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA.
• Come on man!  Why do you have to disrespect the uniform like that?  Some idiot has been roaming East LA robbing stores decked out in LA Dodgers gear.  This guy really sucks. Story at CBSLA.com.  See the suspects photo to the right.
• The Dodgers wish you a happy holidays!

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Collection: A Couple of Andre Ethier 2007 SPx Signatures

With all of the talk and crazy rumors centered on whether the Dodger will trade Andre Ethier, I thought sharing these two cards of him would be timely.

Featured here are a couple of Andre Ethier 2007 Upper Deck SPx Young Star Signatures cards.  The top card is the base autographed insert card, and the silverish card is a parallel autographed card that is numbered to 25 copies.

As to whether the team should trade our right fielder?  I say no.  Why bother making what amounts to an incrimental change when we have a slugger who would more than suffice.  Was he the best option we can get out there?  No, but I think it's safe to say we are much better off in that position that a vast majority of the league. 

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RIP, Boyd Hartley - Former Dodger Player and Scout

Another Brooklyn Dodger has passed away.  Via, Nick Diunte of the Examiner.com:

The roster of the living former Brooklyn Dodgers is now one player lighter. Boyd Bartley, former shortstop for the Brooklyn Dodgers passed away Friday evening in Richland Hills, Texas. He was 92. 

Bartley was signed out of the University of Illinois in 1943 after receiving a bonus from the Dodgers to steer him away from his hometown Chicago Cubs. The young shortstop was heralded for his defensive prowess and received comparisons to then-Indians shortstop Lou Boudreau. The Dodgers wasted little time in testing Bartley’s skills, inserting him in to the lineup a day after he was signed, starting both games of a doubleheader against the Cincinnati Reds.

Bartley went to war with the Army in the Pacific campaign in 1943 and returned to Baseball in 1947.  Unfortunately, a shoulder injury he suffered in the Army ended his dreams of Major League stardom, so he signed on to become a player-manager in the Dodgers system when he came back.  In 1968 he began scouting for the Dodgers, and is noted for being the man who signed Orel Hershiser. 

Be sure to check out Nick Diunte's excellent article about the man.  Below are his stats, via Baseball-Reference.

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Sunday Dodgers Videos

Adrian Gonzalez pays a visit to the East L.A. Civic Center to deliver gifts to the children.

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For a look back, Michael Ozanian of Forbes interviews Irwin Raij who lead the Buyers deal team for the Dodgers sales transaction.

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Drafted in the 10 round (2012) by the LA Dodgers, Zach Babitt will inspire many.

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Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 12/22/2012

Above is a preview pic of a Sandy Koufax 2013 Tier One autographed card.  Check out more pics at Beckett.

• Jimmy Bramlett at the LAist puts together a list of the top 5 sexiest LA Sportswriters.
• Jonathan Garza at Dodgers Nation believes we should trade Andre Ethier.
• I don't know what the heck this is, but apparently Topps will be producing Big League Mini figurines next season. (via Sports Card Info)  They will be 3" tall.  Both Matt Kemp and Adrian Gonzalez appear to be the only Dodgers on a checklist right now.  

(pic link: Baseball Card Vandals)

• I declare Baseball Card Vandals the best new sports card blog of the year.  Take a look at the Jose Gonzalez card atthe right to see why.  Check it out here. 
• If you are in college then consider applying for a SABR scholarship.  Get info here.

With generous funding from The Anthony A. Yoseloff Foundation, Inc., SABR will award up to four scholarships to college students who wish to attend the 2013 SABR Analytics Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 7-9, 2013. This scholarship will pay for registration, transportation and lodging up to a total value of $1,250.

The objective of this scholarship fund is to encourage student engagement with baseball analytics, and to engender an active interest in baseball research and SABR. The Yoseloff scholarship is to assist young researchers who want to attend SABR's Analytics Conference and to introduce them to fellow SABR members and professionals within the baseball community. Through this fund, SABR hopes to inspire future baseball research, expose students to high-quality research and build the research capability of interested students.

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