Social Distancing Diary with Baseball Cards ~ Opening Day Edition

Aloha, everybody, 

It's Opening Day, but all a the ballparks are closed. In that case, let's enjoy checking out some vintage Johnny Bench and Duke Snider cardboard.

Enjoy and aloha!

How Duke Snider's Presidential Pardon Came Into My Life

Aloha, everybody, 

Duke Snider is gone, but he'll never be forgotten. 

This is the story of how an article I wrote for LA Dodger Report brought me into contact (in a small way) with the Duke of Flatbush. 

Aloha! 

A Most Excellent Surprise PAckage From Mi Hermano & Beer Review

Aloha, everybody,

I got a surprise package from JBF, mi hermano in another estado (my brother in another state), and let me tell you...it was FANTASTIC!

Good ol' Wes always comes to rock and he's still batting batting 1.000

Also in today's video: I review Most Excellent IPA from The Dude's Brewing Company, a local brewer here in the LA area.

Thanks for watching (in advance) and BIG THANKS to mi hermano.

Aloha!

The Dodgers' Season may be Cracked, but Julie is a Solid Trader

Aloha, everybody, 

Back when the baseball season opened, I sent out packages and PWEs to my blogger and collector buddies. I sent some stuff out to Julie from A Cracked Bat, and she recently sent a lot more than "some stuff" to me. 

As you can see, she packed the cards with the intent that I open the packets in a particular order. I anticipated a build up from "ordinary" cards to a big payoff at the end, but I gotta say, there was so much good stuff in here, hardly anything was ordinary to me. 

I present Exhibit A: 

This was the first card from packet #1, but this is definitely a goodie. Let me count the ways: 

Post oddball
Young EK
Tight baseball pants with stirrups era 
Bonus: Houston Astros in background sporting the tequila sunrise stripes. I'm guessing on that one. Looking for confirmation or correction. 

Here's something I never thought I would see...

Very cool! This schedule is from the Dodgers' AAA team in OKC. Checking the promotions, I see they had a bobblehead giveaway night. Who was it? Clayton Kershaw. 

No logos? No problem. I dig this Puig!

Here's a Bazooka Butler in what looks like a spring training game...

 Julie knows, Gimme some Podres! All new, all beautiful. 

This Spectrum has a magnificent shiny sheen as you tilt it side to side. 

Bonus: Numbered 91/150! 

Here's a new Lasorda card, with a Tim Crews death patch on his sleeve. 

I'm trying, but I can't place those faces behind Tommy. Is it someone I should know? Is it that bum, Frank McCourt? Coach Al Davis? Heck if I know. 

I always vote yes on a card with a cute Korean girl...

A pair of very nice Maedas...

More shiny beauty. This time from Brooklyn...

Julie included a few groups of cards from the same sets. Here's one example from the golden 1952 World Series reprints...

That might have been enough for some traders, but not for Julie. Nope, she went the extra 60 feet, six inches...

More Lasorda goodness, and for the grande finale, a numbered 69/125 auto...

Man, what a package that was! THANKS, Julie. My collection just jumped up a notch. Whew! 

Aloaha! 

A Buncha Cards From Night Owl, Part Two

Aloha, everybody, 

Welcome to Part Two of the (very small sampling) from the box o' cards that my pal, Sir Night Owl sent me. Let's begin...

There are only two former Dodger managers worthy of a place in my collection. Walter Alston, who's cards I rarely come across, and good ol' Tommy, who's cards show up often - thankfully. 

That's a Topps Museum Canvas Collection card. These were seeded one per box. Nice. 

I never turned on Zack Greinke like some Dodger fans did when he left LA for more money. I remembered that's why he came to LA in the first place. I accepted he's a mercenary, and I'm glad he had this scoreless innings streak while wearing LA blue. 

Topps Heritage shiny card, numbered 631/1962 

Followed by a beautiful Kenta Maeda game face RC. 

You know a buncha cards from N.O. is going to have some vintage in it. My first Scratch Off card tells me Claude was team captain. 

Here's 1960 Topps Larry Sherry. I need his brother Norm, but he's a high number (#529), so it appears Larry will be lonely for a bit. 

How about those rooftops behind Larry. Looks like this was shot in somebody's back yard. 

World Series hero Charlie Neal is my fourth Post Dodger. Time to start collecting more of these. 

Isn't that a crazy thing about our hobby? Having one or two of a set or subset is cool and all, and then someone sends you a couple more. That's great and all, but now you're at half a binder page. That's gotta be fixed, and soon you're off on another chase. Citizens would never understand it. I love it. 

Here are a few Brooklyn tribute cards. I've got a few reprints of this 1952 Topps Pee Wee Reese, but this Archives Reserve is NEW for me! 

Some cool Upper Deck issues from The Legends of New York. Of course, I now have enough of these to check and see how many more I need to complete the Brooklyn part of the set. 

Leo the Lip, The Man and Pee Wee again. 

Here's a nice framed Duke...

 Also time to check how many of these Jackie Robinson Story cards I need to complete the set...

I super dig this fold out of the Straw. Looks like a normal, semi-boring card at first...

And then, fold it out - BOOM! A very cool shot of long and lean Darryl fighting off fans to make a catch at the stands. 

Finally, the man who more or less prompted this trade...

In some comment conversation on someone's blog a while back, N.O. mentioned he had "an extra" Ron Cey autograph lying around. Well, that got my Penguin senses tingling, and I immediately let him know I could give a loving home to an extra card. 

Good ol' Night Owl dropped this baby in the box to make it complete. What a beauty...

Whew! How about that buncha scans. Pretty good, right? 

Thanks so much, Night Owl. I'll dig into my archives and find some cool Dodger Stadium things to send your way. 

Aloha! 

The Day the Astrodome Remembered Chavez Ravine

Aloha, everybody, 

Although I spent some time in Taiwan, I can't really call myself a world traveler. I haven't even been to our east coast. Visiting New York and Washington D.C. are still on my "to do" list. 

That said, I've traveled our west coast states and extensively through the American southwest. Many of those places have left indelible images in my memory. One of those is the past home of the Houston Astros, the Astrodome. 

Every time I see the title of Marc's blog, "Remember the Astrodome", my memory of that impressive sports temple flashes through my mind's eye. The stadium is long gone, but Astros baseball carries on in a new place, much like card collecting and trading has moved from front stoops and back porches to world-wide internet communities. 

That expansion of trading possibilities brought a fistful of cardboard to little ol' me - straight from Houston, Texas. 

Davey Lopes played in the Astrodome, just as the Dodgers below did. 

They say Texas does everything bigger, and Marc knocked a big chunk of needs off my Dodgers team set wantlists...

Trayce Thompson is mired in a horrible slump in the minor leagues right now. Maybe this appearance on ATBATT will bring him some luck at the plate. 

Here are a couple of great tribute cards of former Dodgers that will sit very well in the binder. Shawn Green is remembered for his four home run game (plus a double) back in '92, which broke Joe Adcock's record for most bases (18) in one game. 

The card below commemorates Shawn's teammate, HOFer Mike Piazza's ML debut. 

Here's another debut from another Dodger HOFer...

How about some current Dodgers...

 Usually I'm not a fan of logoless cards, but these Diamond Kings are very attractive. Much digged. 

Below are a few pitchers - two in the Dodgers' starting rotation, and Luis Avilan from the bullpen corps. So far, so good for these guys...

I saw this Adrian Gonzalez card floating around the blogs and bought too much Topps chasing it. Now it's mine! 

Dodger Stadium has carried sushi for a few seasons. Although I love sushi, I have yet to try it there. Does anyone chasing this stadium food subset need this one? 

 While Marc's site remembers the Astrodome, I'm happy my blue temple of baseball still exists. That said, Dodger fans do have a bygone stadium to remember...

THANKS for the great cards, Marc. I'm looking forward to our next card exchange.

Aloha! 

A Celebration of the Duke's Retired Number - and his Cardboard

Aloha, everybody,

Tonight the Dodgers celebrate and recall the career of the legendary Dodger - the Duke of Flatbush - Duke Snider. 

The Duke patrolled center field for Brooklyn's Boys of Summer. He shared New York CF stardom with Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, inspiring countless arguments over who among them was the best. 

This is a replica of the Duke's 1949 Bowman RC. It's not the real McCoy, but nevertheless, it's beautiful, reflective and shiny. 

Speaking of shiny tribute cards, here's a shiny gold reprint of his 1952 Topps issue, with an added 1952 World Series stamp...

Brooklyn didn't win in 1952, but the Duke hit four home runs and had seven RBI's against the Yankees.

Here's one of my few original Duke Snider cards, 1957 Bowman. A real beauty.

This card celebrates the Dodgers' move to LA, and on the back lists some of the Dukes multiple records...

Here are some of his World Series records...

 Most home runs by a NL player (11), most RBIs (26) by a NL player, tied for most total bases in one series (24), tied for most extra base hits (6). 

This original is one of my favorites from the "Baseball Thrills" subset (which I am still chasing)...

 Here's the rear...

One more original, his penultimate Dodgers card,1961 Topps...

 During the glory days of the 1950's, Snider hit 326 home runs and 1,031 RBIs, more than anyone else in the game. He remains the only player to hit four or more home runs in two different World Series (1952, 1955)

Numbered 78/99

 The Duke was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980. 

 And the Duke got the first hit in Dodger Stadium. 
Aloha!