It's Dodger Blue Friday: Vintage Cardboard of a Vintage Manager

Aloha, everybody, 

One more Thanksgiving has come and gone, with one more celebration of the family traditions. Continuity finds its spots throughout our lives, including within our favorite sports franchises. 

When I was growing up, one aspect of Dodgers familiarity was having the same manager year after year. Although the Dodgers had a long tradition of only offering one-year contracts to their manager, it was understood the gig was practically a lifetime appointment. 

The first Dodgers skipper I ever knew was Walter Alston. He managed the club from 1954 to 1976. Today is the 63rd anniversary of his hiring to lead the team. Here's my small collection of Alston cardboard.

Leading off is 1958 Topps and one of my favorite vintage Dodgers cards, Boss and Power. 

1960 Topps. The Dodgers had moved to Los Angeles, but were still playing in the LA Coliseum.  They wouldn't play their first game in Dodger Stadium until 1962. 

Backside...

1961 Topps

1963 Topps. The Dodgers are now in their new stadium at Chavez Ravine. You can tell it's new by the state of the art rotary dial phone in the corner...

 1969 Topps. The world seemed to be topsy-turvy with hot and cold wars, revolutions, and protests everywhere. Among all the chaos there was one certainty, the Dodgers' skipper remained the same. 

Here's the backside cartoon....

1971 Topps. I was just discovering my lifelong love of baseball and all things Dodgers. 

Alston would manage until 1976, a 22-year run. Tommy Lasorda was named his successor, and he ran the club for the next 20 years. 

Continuity certainly has its place. Aloha! 

How to Destroy Wishlists - Part Two

Aloha, everybody, 

In my last post I showed off the utter carpet bombing that Tony from Off Hiatus Baseball Cards laid upon my cardboard wishlists.  

1958 Topps Boss and Power - Nuff said.

 See that cardboard work of art there? That was the totally unexpected, atomic-powered, surprise that Tony dropped in my package along with everything else. 

Lots of times I would have held the blockbuster card until later in the post, but this one is just too good on several levels. 

First of all, Jedi Master and eagle-eye, Jeff from 2x3 Heroes immediately spotted it and mentioned it in the comments for Part One. Jeff got me to thinking it's simply too good a card to hold off on until later. 

Something I figure the Supertraders will be focused on is the latest, limited edition, autographed on card, hits that are out there. Nothing wrong with that. I dig that stuff too. 

But a hefty portion of my collecting heart loves vintage. Needs vintage. I gotta have that vintage. 

I've seen and coveted that Boss and Power card since my earliest days of crawling the card shows; it's price always a bit out of reach (or overvalued, IMO). 

And then Tony dropped that elusive, vintage, white whale into my package as an extra. KA-BLAMMO! I won't forget it, and I'm going to make it a point to do just like that in future packages for others whenever I can. 

I know, that was a lot of words for one card, but vintage Dodgers are always worth it. Here are some other favorites from that package...

Night Owl recently showed off a spittoon-full of chaw chewin' ballplayers. It appears Mr. Weiss has a jawful himself. Or early mumps? He also appears to be sporting the same ridiculous eyeglass frames I wore in high school. 

Come on, who don't like cards of Tommy laying down the law?  
 

 Boomer's big swing...

No logo? No problem. Murray's no-nonsense mustache is the logo here...
 

I never even knew this card of future World Series hero, Mickey Hatcher existed. He looks like a young Danny Aiello here. This was a very cool surprise. 
 

A beautiful card of Scioscia in action. Note the "Yeager-protector" dangling off the mask. All catchers wore that following a near-tragic accident when a broken, jagged bat slashed Boomer Yeager's throat. 

How about a card featuring two heroes from the 1981 World Series? 
 

Tony's Wantlist Crushing Machine also attacked PC Ron Cey wishlists...

"Oscar Gamble who?"

  
More excellent surprises in the form of Fernando cards...

Three years after the World Series and Pedro was still tearing it up...
 

 Thanks again for that wonderful package, Tony. My collection just took a big step forward. 

Aloha!