Carl Erskine's 90th Birthday is a Great Reason to Show Dodgers Vintage

Aloha, everybody, 

Someone just tweeted out that today is Brooklyn Dodgers great, Carl Erskine's birthday. 

I hadda drop everything and dig up the precious few bits of Erskine cardboard in my collection. 

******************************************************UPDATE: It seems ATBATT is now the unwitting victim of the dreaded Fake News epidemic! When I was scanning Erskine's cards, I noticed they said his B-day is December 13. 

I thought the date seemed odd, and I just now checked my phone to confirm that it's only Dec. 11 today. Even if that person who tweeted it's Erskine's birthday lived on the east coast, that would make their announcement on the 12, a full 24 hours before Erskine's actual birthday. 

Welp, I should have confirmed my source - but it will still be nice to check out some cool cardboard, right? So why not? 
******************************************************

First up is my oldest Erskine card, 1957 Topps...

And a beautiful card it is. It's my only card of Erskine from his playing days in Brooklyn. I'm pretty sure this is Ebbets Field. There's another Dodger right-hander taking the mound in the background and a smattering of fans further behind in the stands. 

When would this shot have been taken? Why would a starting pitcher be warming up, while another pitcher took the mound? 

The only thing I am sure about in this shot, is Erskine's dead-on stare. Eye of the tiger, indeed. 

That was his last Topps card in Brooklyn. The Dodgers moved to California, and Erskine sported the shopped LA look in 1958 Topps...

That's it for my vintage Topps. The rest of my Erskine cards are tribute and reprint style.

These two are from Topps Archives reprints that were popular back in the early 90's. This is a 1953 Topps reprint...

I couldn't find any records of a 1954 Topps Erskine, so I'm thinking this is one of those "cards that never were" creations done in the '54 style.  

That "1954" photo looks suspiciously like the same photo from his actual 1958 card, this time with the original Brooklyn hat. 

The next two tribute cards came to me via trades...

This Action Packed card features a faux-embossed surface. Nice and glossy, the raised surfaces catch the light nicely. 

Finally, from 1990 Swell Baseball greats...

Carl Erskine pitched two no-hitters and won the 1955 World Series with the Brooklyn club. Happy Birthday to one of the Boys of Summer. 

Aloha! 

Plenty of Dodgers Pitching in a PWE to Me - All the Way from Chicago!

Aloha, everybody, 

A couple of weeks ago it was Cubs in the Mail Day. It seems Dodgers in the Mail Day has now come to pass. Good ol' Tony B from Wrigley Roster Jenga sent a PWE  to me that was packed with Dodgers goodness.

Let's take a peek at the highlights. First up is some cool Dodgers vintage...

 I remember Rau from my youth. I liked him because I'm always partial to southpaws (bein' one myself). 

BONUS: Here's a great piece of audio/video from the 1977 World Series. The video is some very nice Dodgers Yankees cards from the time. The audio is the best part.

Tommie Lasorda goes out to the mound to remove Rau, who has given up four consecutive hits. Rau doesn't wanna go. What follows is pure profanity-laced Lasorda goodness. 

(Extra bonus' for me are hearing the Dodgers P.A. announcer of my youth, and Helen Dell on the Dodgers' organ as Tommy curses to high heaven) 

Rautzhan pitched in two World Series for the Dodgers, '77 and '78 against the Yankees. 

Unfortunately, Lance passed away this past January. He's now pitching against those Yanks in the big blue sky. 

Up next is Zach Lee, a young pitcher who's had a couple of chances to break into the bigs, but hasn't been able to stay. 

With Dodger pitching being the mess it is, I'm advocating for Lee to get one last shot at making the big club...

Up next are two great new additions for my Ramon Martinez PC...

The back of this card gives us one more Dodgers pitching great.

That's Don Drysdale interviewing Ramon. Drysdale worked as a Dodgers broadcaster until his untimely death in 1993. 
 

Here's one of Bulldog Hershiser that I've never seen before. What the heck is going on here? Is Bulldog laying sod? At another ballpark? No help from the back of the card.

98% of my Strawberry cards have come to me from my fellow collectors. Thanks, because I cannot get enough Strawberry cardboard. 

This one has cool 3-D of the Straw sliding into home. Don't forget to check out the stirrups with high tops. 
 

Thanks to Tony, I now have my first card of the Dodgers' new Japanese import, Kenta Maeda. 

He pitched well in yesterday's 17-inning marathon. He held the Padres scoreless for the first four innings, but never got his groove back after sitting for a half hour waiting for a replacement ump, because the home plate ump took a foul to the groin and had to leave the game.

You can't say Dodgers' pitchers without saying Brooklyn! Tony B took care of that angle too. Here's an oddball with a wonderful photo...

 Here's Dodgers youth that I just can't seem to ever pull from packs.  So once again - thanks, Tony - for helping me to get my hands on some Corey Seager cardboard. 

 We'll close with two of the best starters to ever wear the home whites for my team. 

You can't go wrong with Kershaw or Fernando, and you certainly have a heckuva card when it features both...

The back of the card tells us that Fernando and Kersh - both southpaws - are the youngest Dodger pitchers to reach 1,000 strike outs. They also both started four All-Star games in a row. Not bad company. 

Thanks for the pitching-packed PWE, Tony. Those were a lot of great additions to my collection. 

Aloha! 

Rediscovered Vintage Dodger Goodness

Hey everybody,

I was recently sorting through my collection - for reasons that I think you will appreciate soon enough - when I came upon a shoebox that I hadn't opened in quite a while.  While it wasn't chock full of big money cards that I forgot I had, it did contain a fistful of almost forgotten cardboard, priceless to me.

I bought all of these back in the early 90's, the days that I first got seriously into collecting.  I picked them up from various dealers at various shows, although most were probably had from the famous Frank & Son's shows out here.  In those days my collecting goals were "always pay the lowest price for the best condition possible". 

Let's open with the oldest cards, from 1955 Topps, the year the Dodgers won their first, and Brooklyn's only, World Championship...
 

When people write about Dee Gordon, they never refer back to Jim Gilliam, the brilliant second bagsman for the Brooklyn squad.   

Gilliam also batted leadoff and led the league in triples once, and won the N.L. Rookie of the Year award. Gotta love the fashionable Dodger blue turtleneck - Dodger gear the team dropped after moving to sunny LA.

Podres, my favorite pitcher from Brooklyn.  He was the MVP of the 1955 World Series and shut out the Yankees in Game 7.  

If you've seen the Ken Burns documentary, BASEBALL, then you've seen one of my all time favorite sports clips.  It's in the "7th Inning - The Capital Of Baseball", which is a great stand alone segment from the series.  

The Brooklyn Dodgers had been to the Fall Classic numerous times, only to lose and crush the dreams of their devoted fans time and time again.  Podres and the Dodgers finally won in '55, and in a post game clip a reporter asks Podres if he was nervous during that final 7th game.  

Podres immediately responded, with his ever-present grin which we see on the card above, "Nervous? Nah. I was a real pro out there today." I just love Dodger southpaws.

Finally, from '55 is Joe Black. Joe was the first African-American pitcher to win a World Series game, back in '52.

Next up is my lone 1956 Topps Dodger. I only have the one, but it's not too shabby...

Furillo got a great PATP card.  

When we think about Dodger right fielders with rifle arms, we usually think of Puig or Raul Mondesi.  
Move over boys - Mr. Furillo's nickname was "The Reading Rifle".  

He led the league with assists from RF twice, and had double digit assists for nine straight seasons. 

Now the "newer" cards from 1957...

Erskine pitched a Dodgers no-hitter and struck out 14 in the '53 World Series. 

I wonder who's lurking on the mound back there? 

Finally today, a classic card from a classic Dodger.  Topps has used this shot countless times over the years, but at least, this is the first time it was put on cardboard. 

Not only was Hodges one of Brooklyn's big boppers, he was a heckuva first baseman.  When they invented the Golden Glove awards, Hodges won the first three.  

Next up: The Rediscovered LA Dodgers

Plashke, Thy Trade Packages Are Awesome

hey everybody,

a wise blogger once said, "hootie hoot, nobody trades like a fellow Dodger trader".  once again, those words are proven right.  Greg, from the hipster celebrity blog, Plashke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle,  and myself put together our first trade last week.

Why would i call his blog 'celebrity hipster'?  perhaps you out-of-towners know that his blog is named after a sports reporter for the LA times - and his blog's namesake actually had a mini-tweet conversation with Greg, which he later shared on his blog.  go over there and check it out.

it was a 99% Dodgers for Dodgers trade that was actually spawned by an autograph card i had from angel pitcher jered weaver.  jered, by the way, is brother to former Dodgers pitcher, Jeff Weaver.  that card (along with a couple others) went off, and i got lots of Dodgers goodness in return...

 these action packed cards are very cool.  they have an embossed feel. the outline of the player is raised, as are the borders and text.  anytime Brooklyn Dodgers are included, it's a good trade.

i need more cards of Dodger Stadium's first ever speedster, Maury Wills.

unfortunately for Mr. Branca, his main claim to fame was serving up the pitch that bobby thompson hit for "the shot heard round the world".   rest easy, Ralph.  it's since been discovered the other team was stealing your signs. 

now, the jewel of the trade. beautiful blue tint and high gloss.  serial numbered, and a low number at that.  Sutton was the ace Dodger pitcher of my youth.  i saw him pitch a one-hitter at Dodger Stadium.  this card is extra cool for me because it features a bat - for a pitcher. this is old school N.L. all the way. 

here's a nice assortment of Dodgers whom i totally forgot existed. 

Trevino was a so-so slap single hitter (not too often), and Stubbs was a so-so power hitting threat (also not too often).

if the game is on the line, and you need one clutch hit to win - hand the bat to Manny.  game over.

i also got some new Kemps 

just when i thought i had every Dodger card from this year's topps, along comes a new one!  the extra bonus is i was at that game, so this one is a cool memory card for me.

THANKS for a great trade, Greg!