Dodgers Blog Kiosk: 11/8/2012

Hanley Ramirez just tweeted this photo of himself wearing long dreads in preparation for Winter Ball.

• Fox Sports AM570 and the Paralyzed Veterans of America have teamed up to present a Dodgers charity auction- PVARadiothon- today.  Go here for details.  Purchase a unique Dodgers field experience and some autographed memorabilia ranging from Kershaw to Willie Mays.
• Jon SooHoo put up some awesome Mark McGwire photographs from his archives.  I personally like the one with Bobby Bonilla and dinosaurs.
• Listen to Mark McGwire on AM570 Petros and Money speak about batting and steroids, here.  A great listen.  A must listen.
• Here's more stories on McGwire:  

Eric Stephens at True Blue LA: Mark McGwire Happy Baseball Brought Him Back Home
Bill Plaschke at LA Times: Mark McGwire Deserves His Chance for a New Path with Dodgers

• Shawn Green approves!

I've talked hitting with McGwire over the yrs & have to say he knows how to teach it as well as anyone...greajocktalk.com/post/id/8688
— Shawn Green (@shawngreen15) November 8, 2012

• Clayton Kershaw is one of 3 finalist for the Cy Young Award, via Stacie Wheeler at Lasorda's Lair.
• Via Steve Dilbeck at the LA Times, Colletti unlikely to find a pitcher through a trade.

Of the pitching market in general, Colletti said, “It’s not massive. It’s probably unlikely trade-wise. There are probably three or four different pitchers we have interest in. We’ll see. It’s still fairly early in the process. But pitching is most of our concentration right now.”

• The Onion discusses the T206 Honus Wagner Baseball card.
• This is not from the Onion.  Dodger reliever Todd Coffey erased his twitter account because Obama won, via The Outside Corner.  I call this Fox Derangement Syndrome. 
• Evan Bladh at Opinion of Kingman's Performance writes an excellent article on Jeff Kent's ride through Survivor.
• Speaking of the election.  Nate Silver, a well respected Baseball sabermetrics guy took his knowledge, skills and abilities to analyze political polls.  As you might expect from a purely non-partisan statistical analysis, he got the election polls right.  Dave Cameron at FanGraphs writes all about it.

The takeaway from last night shouldn’t be “always trust Nate Silver” or “always trust the data”. The takeaway should be that even mediocre data is often better than no data, and when you put mediocre data in the hands of smart people who understand its limitations and adjust accordingly, it can become quite useful indeed. 

• Larry Canale at Sports Collectors Digest writes about the upcoming 125th birthday of "Casey at the Bat."

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Collection: 1956 Topps US Presidents Card Set

I know this is belated, but I figure it's better late than never.

Over the years, I have picked up and completed a handful of non-sports sets.  They are a great departure from the sports variety, and since sets are typically smaller in number they are oftentimes much easier to complete.

Some of my favorite non-sports sets are focused on American history, and the set featured here is my all-time favorite.  This is the 1956 Topps US Presidents set of 36 cards.  In celebration of our recent Presidential election, I though it would be appropriate to share this.  I've got a couple of other vintage Presidents sets that I will scan and share over the next week.

These cards are a little larger in size than todays typical sport card.  Click on any pic to embiggen.

Below are the reverse of the cards.

I love the artwork of these cards.  See the remainder of the set below.

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ITPC: A Vintage Dodgers Puzzle

I do not believe I have ever seen this before.  Featured here is a In the Park Collectibles auction of a vintage 1960's era World Champion LA Dodgers puzzle.  The auctioneer doesn't quite know exactly what year this is from, but it's likely from either from 1963 or 1965, for obvious reasons.

Don Drysdale is noticeable on the top row, fourth from the left.  Koufax is in the middle row, on the right side, and Walter Alston is right in the middle.

I have no idea what something like should sell for, but I do know I'd love to have it hanging on my wall.

(Auction Link)

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Weekend Autograph Opportunities: The 1st Dodgers Mall Tour

Here are this weekends autograph opportunities and events throughout the Southland. As always, be sure to check the Blue Heaven Calendar for other events (a link can always be found on the tab at the top of this page, just left of center), and always confirm with the establishment. Everything is subject to change.  Please email me with any tips about upcoming events in Southern California.  As the rest of the week progresses I'll update this post with other events (if there are any) as I become aware of them.  Also, I don't always list every event below, so be sure to check my Calendar.  I always try to favor free signing events over paying events.  Click on any pic to embiggen.

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This is the first of many upcoming events hosted by the Dodgers at local malls.  It is being called the 2012 Holiday Mall Tour, and Kenley Jansen and Tim Leary will be the first guest signers.  Go here for more information.  Stay tuned.  It is anticipated that there will be more tour announcements over the coming days and weeks.

Westfield Topanga Mall

6600 Topanga Canyon Blvd
Canoga Park, CA 91303

Saturday, November 10

10am - 6pm

Kenley Jansen (11am-1pm)

Tim Leary (1-5pm)

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On Friday, November 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room at the South Pasadena Public Library that is located at 1115 El Centro Street they will have a free screening of a new Baseball documentary called “Not Exactly Cooperstown.”  The program is presented by the South Pasadena Public Library, the Friends of the South Pasadena Public Library, and the Baseball Reliquary. Doors open at 6:30 PM and there will be a Q&A session with the filmmaker, Jon Leonoudakis.

Go here for more information about this event.  A website for the documentary can be found here.

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