You Also Say JENGA When You Save Cardmas!

Aloha, everybody, 

And the Cardmas magic just keeps on rolling. 

In my previous post I showed off some of the cardboard stocking stuffers that Tony B from WRJ sent to me, but I forgot to show the cool oddball that he sent along with the bunch. 

Somehow I left said oddball in the envelope, and at scanning time it remained there, forgotten. Have no fear, because Tony noticed it wasn't in my post, and he sent an email asking me if he had forgotten to pack that oddball in the first place. 

It turns out the timing of all of this was perfect, because a Dodgers news story broke since that first WRJ post, which grooves right into this new post perfectly. 

The Dodgers just announced they will dedicate their first stadium statue in 2016. Statues at stadiums are far from a new thing, but up until now, Dodger Stadium hasn't had one (I certainly don't count a giant Tommy Lasorda bobblehead as a statue). 

Who gets the honor of the first statue? Of course, he's the patron saint of ATBATT, and the player whom I take Stealing Home, my nom de blog from..

 Tony included this oddball of Jackie in the envelope as well, and I must point out that although I already had a couple of these, this one is in pristine shape, as though it came out of a pack yesterday. 

That however, was not the original oddball that Tony was referring to, and I had forgotten. This is...

It's a slightly oversized bio/portrait card of Branch Rickey, who some might refer to as the patron saint of Mr. Robinson. 

For the three of you out there who don't know yet, Branch Rickey was the guy who convinced the Dodgers to take on the task of breaking the black/white color barrier in MLB.  He also convinced Jackie to suck up the abuse hurled at him from the stands and opposing dugouts, and show through his playing ability that he, and others no different than him, deserved to play alongside white, Caribbean and Latin ballplayers. 

He was also played by Han Solo in the movie 42 . 

Here's the bio on the back. Check out Rickey's birthday - he's a Christmas baby - more Cardmas magic! 

 So I now have a piece commemorating one of the most influential men in baseball, and it's thanks to Tony B. 

P.S. for Zippy Zappy. Please grab my email from my profile and shoot an email to me, ZZ.  
P.S.S. for Matt and Tony L. Check my reply to the beer trading comments on Matt's blog. It's in the "Skinny Bonds" post. 

 Aloha - and Merry Christmas, everybody, wherever you may be.