Dodgers News And Notes

The Lakers won tonight.Can they go 82-0? I dunno about that, but I do see another championship parade down Figueroa in June. Go Purple and Gold!

Back to the boys in blue. Here are a couple of Dodger links:

Tim Wallach is out of the running for the Milwaukee Brewers managerial job. Wallach was notified by the Brewers on Monday. It looks like he'll be Don Mattingly's third base coach.

Blue Heaven shows us some 1955 Dodger World Series pictures that had never been seen before. From Life Magazine, you can see all 27 pictures here.

What do most players do when the season ends? Most guys take a vacation. For two Dodger pitchers,Kenley Jansen and Carlos Monasterios, the training continues. Jansen and Monasterios continue to pitch at Camelback Ranch in Gledale, Arizona in the organization's instructional league.

Mike at the LFP.com is making a set of retired numbers for someone's man cave. It's a cool looking man cave full of Dodger goodies, including a nice line-up of bobbleheads.

And in Manny Ramirez news, the former Dodger says he'd like to play for new Blue Jays manager John Farrell. Manny and Farrell were teammates with the Indians in the 1990s. Farrell was hired as the Red Sox's pitching coach in 2007, Ramirez's last season in Boston. Could Mannywood be headed to the Great White North?

Around The Blogosphere

A couple of blog posts that caught my eye today:

Any fans of  HBO's 'Eastbound & Down'? How about a talking Kenny Powers bobblehead to put on your shelf?  Tom Hoffarth of the LA Daily News gives us a first look at a couple of Kenny Powers bobbleheads produced by a company called Bif Bang Pow! that are coming out  just in time for the holidays.

From Big League Stew, Preston Mattingly, son of soon-to-be Dodger manager Don Mattingly, has been shipped off to Cleveland. After spending almost five seasons in the Dodgers minor league system, I think it's safe to say, the former 1st round draft pick is a bust.

From the Associated Press:


Preston Mattingly, the Dodgers' No. 1 draft pick in 2006, batted .218 with two homers and 17 RBIs at the Class-A level this season. He struck out 51 times in 165 at-bats.
The 23-year-old Mattingly bats and throws right-handed. His best season as a pro came in 2006, when he hit .290 with a home run and 29 RBIs for the Dodgers' rookie-level team in the Gulf Coast League.

What a huge waste of a first round draft pick.

Anyone interested in some vintage cards? Ernest at Blue Heaven is selling off some of his collection. You'll see everything from T5 cabinets, 19th Century Baseball trade cards, 100+ year old vintage cards, boxing and much much more. Check it out.

Another great piece of work from Mike at the LFP.com.This custom card has been making the rounds in the Dodger blogosphere. It cracks me up everytime I see it.

One last thing, I wanted to introduce you to one of my favorite new blogs, Ramblings of a Dutch Dodger. I met Dutch Dodger on Facebook. He's a huge Dodger fan living in Holland. Yes, there are Dodger fans all over the world, even in Holland. He even has a nice bobblehead collection.  It's a great blog. Check it out.

Dodger Bloggin'

Tonight's Dodger loss was painful. The pitching was atrocious. Carlos Monasterios was a mess. But Ramon Troncoso replacing Monasterios in the fifth inning was the Dodgers undoing. Tron couldn't even retire one batter in what turned out to be a seven-run inning for the Red Sox. I don't even understand how Joe Torre can keep bringing Troncoso into games. Actually, I do understand. He loves to destroy bullpen arms. It's sad.

Let's see what's going on in the world of Dodger blogs:

Speaking of Joe Torre destroying bullpen arms, theLFP.com shares the cover of Joe Torre's next book with us, "The Art of Bullpen Management"



Blue Heaven shares another great auction item. It's a game-used Dodger batting helmet once worn by slugger Pedro Guerrero. What's so special about this helmet? Nolan Ryan hit Pedro in the back of the head which left a huge crack in the helmet. The helmet is also signed by Ryan and Guerrero.

There have been a few good Dodger autograph appearances over the last few weeks. KempKershaw over at Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle shares his John Ely meeting with us.

Matt Kemp has been struggling lately. Memories of Kevin Malone wonders if there is any reason to start worrying about the Dodgers star center fielder.

Roberto over at Vin Scully Is My Homeboy is in Boston with the Dodgers. He's been giving us the details of his east coast trip. He's sitting in Section 36 if any other Dodger fans in Boston were curious.

Speaking of Section 36, Boston Red Sox blogger, Section 36 writes a segment called "Visitor's Views", where he asks some questions to a fan of the visiting team at Fenway. Since the Dodgers are in Boston, he contacted me, and asked me a few questions. Of course I was kind enough to answer. You can check that out here.

Dodger Bloggin'

Should we be concerned with all the walks Clayton Kershaw gives up? KempKershaw at Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle takes a look at the numbers.

Evan, the go to guy in Albuquerque, recently had a day out with the Isotopes. Check out New Mexico Fan's story and pics.

Blue Heaven has got another great Dodger ebay find. Here are vintage Steve Sax and Fernando Valenzuela shirts. These shirts bring back some memories.



From Vin Scully Is My Homeboy, a King Kong sighting at Dodger Stadium: