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! 

Celebrating Don Drysdale's Birthday With Cardboard

Aloha, everybody,

While checking my Twitter feed this morning, I discovered something very cool. 

Fellow dyed-in-blue Dodgers fan and friend, Clyle (@clylealt), reminded us all that today is Don Drysdale's birthday. Big D.

For the first few years after the Dodgers arrived in LA from Brooklyn, that New York feeling was very strong. Almost all of the players hailed back to the Brooklyn club and old Ebbets Field. 

Drysdale was instrumental in helping the Dodgers form their first baseball identity in Los Angeles. 

Is that old time Wrigley Field ivy lurking in the card above? 
 
He paired up with Sandy Koufax to form a solid one, two punch at the top of the Dodgers' pitching rotation. Think Kershaw and Greinke and you'll get the idea. 

What's a birthday without some floating heads?
 

Drysdale and Koufax exploited the layout of early Dodger Stadium and dominated early 60's pitching. 

 Big D and Sandy also made their mark on player's salaries and contracts when they played hardball with the Dodgers by simultaneously holding out for record-breaking compensation.

 Big D owned that plate. If you thought otherwise and leaned in a bit too far, Drysdale was not shy about letting you know who that plate belongs to. 

 Drysdale held the MLB most shutout innings pitched record at 58 2/3 innings before it was broken by Bulldog Hershiser twenty years later, at 59. 

 After retirement Drysdale became the Dodgers' TV announcer. I may be hated for saying this, but I always found Drysdale's baseball announcing work to be boring. I used to call him Dull Drysdale. 

Whether he was an exciting announcer or not, he was an exciting player, and one of the last connections from Brooklyn to LA. 

 Aloha!