Cardmas Continues Walking Right On Down The Plank

Aloha, everybody,

So many packages of Cardmas cheer arrived at ATBATT HQ over the past couple of weeks that I find myself scrambling to ensure I cover them all here before the year's end. 

Up next is another package that shattered the winter calm with the excitement of awesome Cardmas cardboard inside. This one came from my longtime trading partner and good friend (from Bob Walk the Plank), good ol' Matt . 

It was a small package in terms of quantity, but boy it loomed large in quality. What to lead off with?

Let's go with a 2014 Topps High Tek (not cardboard, but acetate) Sandy Koufax, Spiral Brick insert, numbered 27/75. Sweet!
 

Looks like Topps cropped the photo from the front and gives us Koufax's face, which is all that remains as he is apparently being beamed up to pitch on another planet - Tatooine perhaps?

Let's follow that opening act with an autograph from another Dodgers legendary hurler...

While my Sutton collection holds a few swatches and even a bat slice, it is now well-rounded with its first Sutton autograph. Panini doesn't get to use logos, but nevertheless, this card rocks because of the Cooperstown Hall of Fame references. The black and white photo and classic framing are nice touches, and of course, the on-card autograph wraps everything up nicely. 

But Matt wasn't done yet. He slipped in one more awesome auto, from the Toy Cannon.
 

Man, this card is the shite! 

The venerable Night Owl featured a Jimmy Wynn Fleer Sports Illustrated card on one of his posts earlier in December. It was the first time I had ever seen that card, and I commented that I had to get my hands on one of those for my collection as well. 

I don't know if Matt saw that exchange and then made a point of seeking out this autographed version, or if the Cardsphere Force simply worked its magic to bring him to auspiciously choose that card for me. 

Either version makes for a great Cardmas miracle story that I highly appreciate. THANKS so much for the awesome card gifts, Matt. They're grrrrrrrrrr-eat!!! 

Aloha! 

Grand Salami Of Trade Bait: Friday Night Earthquake Angels

Hey everybody,

Happy Saturday night.  Is the ground a-swaying out there where you live tonight?  I chose the Angels for tonight's trade bait, since we're playing in the Freeway Series this weekend, and as I was scanning these cards we had a pretty decent earthquake.  It was centered about 25 minutes away from me, and I felt the slip and slide fairly well.  I reckon if I felt it that strongly, those folks in La Habra (where it was centered) probably experienced a doozy.

I was trying to think of a witty introduction that would poke fun at those wacky names that the Vatos Locos of Beisbol de Anaheim love so much, when the earth suddenly stepped - or I should say, "rolled" - in and handed me a perfect title.  Thanks Mother Nature, but I'm now hoping for a peaceful ground underneath us all for the rest of the night.

Here come the Angels:

Cardboard Diamonds Arrive From The King

Hey everybody,

There were a couple of good things in store for me on Friday.  One was attending my first Dodger game of the year, which I documented with photos in my previous post.   The second pleasant happenstance was receipt of an awesome PWE blaster from The Diamond King.  

 Kevin read my collector's mind when he packed this envelope with these cardboard diamonds...

Above is a great SSPC card of Number 20, out at old Shea Stadium.

Below is a FANTASTIC addition !  I totally dig these vintage subsets commemorating past playoffs and especially World Series'.

Here we see the 1969 Amazin' Mets chugging their way to ultimately becoming World Series Champs.  Ken Boswell crosses the plate as Art Shamsky (24) and big Ed Kranepool (7) ready themselves to give him high fives.

However, I'm not sure a high five would have been the home plate greeting in '69.  While "gimme five" was in use, back then it was usually practiced belt high, not sky high.  I'm also guessing shaking hands at the plate was still in fashion with the majority of ballplayers.

 Lookit this!  It's Richie Hebner vs. Ty Cline in another great black and white action card. It's the 1970 Playoffs between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Zinzinatti Reds.  Awesomeness.

Here's the backside.  I love it when these rosters read like a roll call at the baseball hall of legends. 

How about some more cool Dodger cards...

This is a great new addition to my Manny Mota collection.  Is that Candlestick Park in the background?

I had a lot of favorite Dodgers over the years.  Wes Parker was the first.  Parker once had a cameo on The Brady Bunch.  

I'm digging the old-time Dodger Stadium outfield wall and folks sunburning - errr, sunbathing -  in the pavilion. Those tickets used to be $2 back in the day.  

 Speaking of old-time Dodger Stadium, here's a great shot of the seats in the colors that I grew up with.  We never talked about sitting in Reserved Section or Top Deck.  We spoke in terms of sitting in the blue, red or yellow seats. 

Also included in the shot are a bunch of Dodger greats.  Along with Alston the skipper, the team photo features The Infield (GCLR), Manny Mota, Don Sutton, Willie Crawford, Ferguson and Yeager.  

Great stuff, Kevin !  Thanks so much.  I'll get back at you with some nice stuff once again.

THANKS for reading, everybody.   

Yet Even More Cardboard Goodness From Jim (GCRL) and Brian (30YOC)

Hey everybody,

I received another batch of cool cards from a couple of great, generous traders who run a couple of the most awesome card blogs out there.  Readers, if you're not yet visiting and following Jim at GCRL and Brian at 30 Years of Cardboard, get on over there and get in some fun and educational (cards-wise) reading.

It's late tonight, so without further ado, let's see some cards.  First up, from 30 YOC...

 Most everyone has commented on their love of these Collisions at the Plate from 2013 Gypsy Queen, and the dude abides.  These cards are super cool.  It doesn't get much better than this one. 

The L.A. Times just started to run a series on the top 20 Dodgers of all time.  Sutton was listed as number 20.  I don't think I would place him that low on the list, but I'm glad he made the cut.

But of course, I hadda have this one.

Here comes the cards from GCRL...

It's vintage because we say it is. 

 Shawn Green cards are always welcome, as Green was one of my sons' favorite Dodgers while they were growing up.  Green's cards always go right into their collections. 

 The same goes for Sheffield.  He was my oldest son's favorite Dodger.  As he was was growing up through PONY baseball, my son always had the Sheffield bat wig-wag.  Lucky for him, he also had the bat speed and power to back it up.

On July 2, 1957, good ol' Lee hit for the cycle.  Atta boy, Walls!

 

My second all-time favorite Dodger manager.  Check out that seismograph, ancient phone thing behind Alston.

Love this card.  Hatch looking like it's pure joy to be on the diamond.

Meet the boys.

 THANKS for the great, great cards, Brian and Jim.  I really enjoy our trades.

THANKS for reading, everybody!

The Doctor Is In - volved In An Awesome Trade

Hey everybody,

Is it too early for me to start griping about Don Mattingly's (yet once again) inept handling of a line up?

Let's take a quick look at his decision making...

Opening Day: Lead off batter Carl Crawford goes 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored in his Dodger Stadium debut, helping Clayton Kershaw seal a fantastic Dodgers first-game-feel-good-fest.

Game Two: You're the manager.  What would you do with all that rah-rah momentum created on Opening Day?  What would you do with your lead off batter?  Well, Mattingly decided to bench him. 

Still Game Two, 8th inning: Dodgers behind, but mounting a threat. Mattingly looks down the bench for a pinch hitter to keep the rally going.  He bypasses Crawford in order to use...yup, you got it...Juan Uribe.

Later, in the 9th, Mattingly finally used Crawford in a bid to conjure up a game-tying 3-run HR with no one on base.  I suppose if all that had worked, I'd now be calling him a genius. *sigh*

On a brighter note, Dr. Vealtone from the incredible blog, Coot Veal and the Vealtones, and I put together a fantastic trade, which included vintage, vintage Dodgers, HOFers and more.  What a trade!  Dustin sent me so many cool cards that I could have easily used two posts just covering highlights. 

I decided, however, to edit things down to one.  Check these cards out...

Dustin did a great job of observing the players I collect; but of course the doctor would be thorough.  Here's a 1960 Topps Bill Mazeroski.  I love the old time baseball photography on these cards the way I love movies shot on old time celluloid.   1960 is the year Maz sealed himself in baseball folklore by hitting that Game 7 World Series winning home run.  It's the homer that we all grew up dreaming about - Maz actually hit it.

 I received a couple of vintage Don Suttons in the package.  Sutton was the ace of the staff during my teenage years as a Dodger fan.  Now that I notice Sutton's ears, I finally understand why he grew that Phil Spector afro in his later career as a TV announcer for the Braves.

 Eddie Murray cranking one out at Chavez Ravine!.  I know all you O's fans think of Eddie as an Oriole.  I always think of him as a Dodger as well.  The yellow frame works very nicely here.

More Dodgers vintage!  Another World Series Game 7 Hero ! Podres pitched a shutout in Game 7 and was the World Series MVP for that  magical 1955 Brooklyn squad.  He later went on to win a total of 4 WS rings. This is my favorite card from the trade. 

Did somebody order up another couple of old time ass-kickers?   I'm digging the vintage era unis.

When Dustin wasn't blowing me away with the coolest vintage, he was doing it with modern era shininess.  This card is all kinds of awesomeness, despite the generic "uni".

 Cards with Schmidt in live game action are always welcome.  Even his mustache is daring the defense to throw over there. 

How about some young Mike Scioscia in action?  Uber cool card!

 Speaking of uber cool - we come a card I've been chasing around seemingly forever. Never mind the butcher job my crooked scanning did here.  This card's got Koufax and Drysdale!  Sweeeeet!

Check out young Reggie! This looks exactly like the type of photo Gypsy queen loves to use.  Have they ?

This card should be titled "Dodgers Future Bad Asses - and Perconte".

Did I mention the doctor really studied my want lists?  Here's a very cool reprint of a subset I'm chasing.  It's a reprint - yet I love this card just as much as any of the other "originals" I received.

Many thanks for a fantastic trade, Dustin, and THANKS for readin', everyone.