Social Distancing With Baseball Cards - Vintage Dodgers Edition

Aloha, everyone, 

Thanks for returning to Social Distancing With Baseball Cards - Vintage Dodgers Edition. 

Inside: Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Johnny World Series Hero Podres (in an LA uni!) and much more. 

Enjoy and aloha! 

Social Distancing Diary with Baseball Cards: Vintage Dodgers

Aloha, everybody,

In this edition of Social Distancing Diary, we check out vintage Johnny Podres, and we see the oldest Dodgers cards in my collection. 

Enjoy and aloha!

A Surprise Dodgers PWE From Mark H

Aloha, everybody, 

I received a surprise PWE from my old friend, Mark H. 
Mark specializes in collecting old-time baseball, so I'm betting it will be related to the old-time Dodgers. Let's see what cardboard goodness he sent to me.

Aloha! 

My Card Haul From the National (Brooklyn Dodgers Edition)

Aloha, everybody, 

Yup, it's been a long time since I posted here. That wasn't exactly by choice, as my health took a hit and I was taken away from my online activities by more pressing matters. 

Anyway, I'm recovered enough to return to the Blogosphere, and thankfully, well enough to travel to Chicago for the National (and out to Wrigley Field for a game). Boy, that was a fantastic trip. 

Here's a video that I uploaded showing off my Brooklyn Dodgers loot from The National. 

Enjoy! Aloha! 

World Series Dodgers Cardboard: Bums No More

Aloha, everybody, 

Here comes Part Two of the Dodgers on World Series cardboard. When we last saw our blue heroes, the hard luck Brooklyn team had earned the nickname of "Dem Bums" by breaking the hearts of their faithful time and again. They made it into plenty of  World Series, but just couldn't close the deal. 

That all changed in 1955. 

Once again, it was the damn Yankees vs the Dodgers. This time the boys from Brooklyn weren't bums, they were the Boys of Summer. 

 Lots of Dodgers fans will tell you that Sandy Koufax was the greatest Dodgers pitcher in the Fall Classic. Others will tell you it was Orel Bulldog Hershiser. 

My choice is the man who had to carry the weight of years of  Dodgers frustration to the mound. The hopes of everyone in the Brooklyn borough rode on his shoulders. Johnny Podres was the man who broke through the Yankees fortress and ended their postseason dominance over his team. It took all seven games to bring the first ever Worlds Championship to the Dodgers. 

Here's another card, same shot of the World Series hero...

One of the iconic images of that series, captured by Upper Deck Masterpieces...

1955 was the last WS played in Brooklyn. The team moved out to LA, and they won the pennant in 1959. It was LA's first Fall Classic, and the boys won it all in six games. 

 I'm chasing this subset. Still have a ways to go. 

The Dodgers' home field was the LA Coliseum. Game 5 drew 92,706, which still stands as the WS attendance record. It was also the first WS in which no pitcher for either side threw a complete game. 

The next crop of cards come from the 1963 series. It was the first time the Dodgers played the Yankees since 1955, and this time Sandy Koufax led the boys in blue to a four game sweep. 

The year is 1965, but the World Series hero is the same. Once again, Sandy Koufax led the team to the promised land. They beat the Minnesota Twins in seven games. 

Next time: Dodgers World Series that I remember! 

Aloha! 

When Soviets Hack The Election, Dimebox Sends Cards to You

Aloha, everybody, 

As Dimebox Nick so accurately put in his note to me, it's been way too long since we last exchanged cardboard. 

2017 is starting off differently, and I'm sure that we won't be waiting until the calendar clicks off another year before we swap again. In celebration of this new attitude, let's take a look at the fistful of Dodgers cardboard that ol' Nick sent over to me...

Pay-droh Goo-rare-ooooh figured prominently in a recent Twitter conversation between myself, Sir Night Owl and Zippy Zappy, so he gets lead off privileges. 

This Guerrero Diamond King is new for my collection. I love the World Series-inspired bunting. Perfect for a WS MVP. As for those storm clouds brewing behind him - that's what the Yankees saw whenever Pedro stepped to the plate. 

In fact, all of the Dodgers cards that Nick sent were new to me. How about one of Pedro's teammates...

You want more tribute? Coming right up...

I can read that headline ALL DAY LONG. 

A wonderful card. Jackie broke into the NL, Larry Doby did the same in the AL a few months behind Robinson. Unlike Robinson, who put in a year in the Dodgers' AAA minor league, Doby went directly to the majors from the Negro League. 

From the underrated Ted Williams release...

Jim Gilliam, like Doby, joined the Dodgers' big club straight outta the Negro Leagues. 

In this fantastic action shot, Gilliam is stealing home, as evidenced by the Dodgers batter beside the catcher, who's lost sight of the ball, which is flying above the batter's head. 

Nick included present-day Boys in Blue. Here's ROY Corey Seager in ugly San Diego colors, but his card is adorned with Home Run Derby and RC shields. 

These snowflake cards have been all over the blogosphere, but until now, I didn't own any. 

Trayce was starting out fairly well in his inaugural big league season, but he suffered an unfortunate leg injury. We'll have to see how well he can bounce back in 2017. 

Montas was traded to the Dodgers along with Trayce Thompson in 2015, but like TT, he was also hit by the injury bug. After being mostly on the DL, he was shipped off to Oakland for SP Rich Hill and master con man, Josh Reddick. 

Finally, one more most excellent Dodger rookie, Senor Urias...

All of these cool cards (and more) are welcome additions to the binders. THANKS so much, Nick! 

Aloha! 

Pitching, Pitching, Pitching

Aloha, everybody,

There's an old adage in baseball: Good pitching beats good hitting. Well, that's almost true, as in "almost always '. The second half of the equation is your team must do some hitting if it's going to win the day.

If your team's offense doesn't hit, then my personal adage kicks in, "Good pitching is not enough." 

I know that from which I speak, because the no (timely) hitting bug has always been the bane of the Dodgers. While they've had some masters on the mound over the years, even those guys had to walk tightropes to hold 1-0 or 2-1 leads far too often. 

Here are a few of those masters, on some of my favorite cardboard...

Of course, every discussion of Dodger mound-masters should begin with Koufax. While this Topps Upper Class card isn't vintage, it honors Sandy's rookie season, the same year the Brooklyn Dodgers won their only championship. Note how the background noise has been wiped away, allowing us to focus with Koufax, right before the pitch.

The trivia on the back says Koufax's first strike out victim was Bobby Thompson. Take that, sign stealer. 

 Speaking of Brooklyn, here's the man who led the '55 squad to the championship, Johnny Podres. 

This beauty came to me courtesy of Matt from Bob Walk the Plank fame. Lots of folks don't like sticker autos, but I say, when they are done right, they are right on. 

This card is a perfect example of "done right". The auto is clean and legible, and the silver backing matches the silver of the card perfectly. It's a clean design and the silver and white make the Dodger blue colors pop right out at you. 

 While there's not a lot special about 1977 Topps, I love this Sutton because of his perfectly relaxed, fake pose. The setting seems to be Spring Training in Vero Beach. 

This card is also a favorite of mine because of it's pristine condition. I often find myself checking the back to make sure this isn't a modern reprint.

 Everybody's goin' gaga over Kershaw, but he wasn't the first Dodgers mound master for me. Here's Orel Hershiser in 1986 Sportsflix glory.

 I got to watch Bulldog's legendary L.A. career unfold; what a joy. Whenever he took the mound, Nancy Bea Hefley, the Dodger Stadium organist, would play "Master of the House", from Les Miserables.

Bulldog dominated the late 80's, while the early part of the decade belonged to El Toro. Here's Fernando with bonus Dodger, Mike Scioscia. 

And now, one of the most underrated and under-appreciated Dodger pitchers - if not ever, certainly from my lifetime. Regular ATBATT readers know how I've often written about the Ace of the Dodgers, Ramon Martinez, Pedro's older brother. 

This great slice of cardboard is Ramon's RC. I love the lurking, brightly-painted Dodger pavilions in the background. 

 Big Don Drysdale was featured in my Bowie tribute, and he makes another appearance here on Legendary SP. This set would look great in a binder, but individual cards are always overpriced when I run into them at card shows. 

Good ol' Newk takes us back to the early days of the L.A. Dodgers. Newk is still employed by the club and he often makes appearances at Dodger celebrations and other occasions. 

Finally, the Tornado. Nomo earned the nickname due to his corkscrew windup.

I've got plenty of 90's shiny, busy, and laser-cut Nomo cards, but this simple example from Pacific Collection is one of my faves. Here we get a simple design, an odd brown diamond for the team logo to sit on, and a fantastic afternoon shot of Nomo's trademark windup. 

This all brings me to start off a new adage: Great pitching deserves great cardboard. Always. 

Aloha!