They Say Legends Never Die. I Hope Legendary Collectors Don't Really Retire

Aloha, everybody, 

Maybe you heard, the man who built a collecting and trading empire under the moniker of JBF has retired from the game. It's the end of an era. 

It's the flaming out of a torch the blogosphere thought would burn bright, like a thousand Willinghams, forever. 

Mi hermano is stepping down from brutal trading wars and year-long contests to savor the fruits of his many past victories and to complete some personal collecting chases that remain. 

Before stepping out of the spotlight, good ol' Wes dropped a few "Retirement Packages" into the mail. Of course he did, because that's the man's M.O. - generosity at all times. 

I mentioned this in the upcoming video, but in case you don't watch, I'll mention now that I'm the trader I am today because of Wes. He never knew it, but my Alabama brother was a cardboard mentor to me. He showed me that generosity is the life blood of trading FUN. 

My offerings are always humble, just what I can scrape together on a modest (and more often than not) nonexistent cardboard budget for trades. He never made me feel our trades were dependent on equal monetary values, and he never stopped sending things to me because my return packages didn't meet the heft of what he sent to me. 

Wes taught me that it was the act of sharing what someone else wanted, and not counting nickles, that mattered. My Cardboard Santa and Operation PWE campaigns can be directly traced to how Wes rolled. They are a cardboard legacy, if you will. 

Presentation speech completed, let's open the package Wes sent me, and review Azacca IPA, a beer from Founders Brewing, out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

Aloah! 

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

No Dodger Game? No Problem. Let's Go To The Card Show!

Hey everybody,

Dodgers and Braves fans had the day off from our nailbiting playoff series today, which was great timing, because that allowed me to run out to the second Culver City Card Show.

Check out the kids at the show! Good for the hobby.  :)

I call it the Culver City show, but here's the official name...

The first show, back in May, was a blast.  I picked up a lot of great cardboard, but the real highlight for me was the grand meeting up of four Dodger bloggers - Spiegel from Nomo's Sushi Platter, Greg from Plashke, Thy Sweater Is Argyle, Ernest from Dodgers Blue Heaven, and little ol' me. You can see photos from that show here.

This time we didn't quite have another Mount Olympus of Bloggers meetup, but it was my pleasure to see Greg there and hang out with him, browsing binders and piles of cool cardboard for a few hours. Here we are in all of our card collecting geekdom glory...

Ernest and Spiegel, we missed ya!

This pic was taken by our new friend (and new reader) lucky Andy, who made one of the great scores of the show. Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic, but he had a box full of binder pages FULL of vintage that he picked up for just $35.

That wasn't all he got lucky on.  His son, also named Andy, pulled a sweet and shiny Topps Yasiel Puig card, which he promptly gifted to his dad.  That Puig card is a real beauty.  Here's Andy...

I'm sure you want to see the cards I picked up today, so let's get to it!  I picked up enough cardboard for two posts, which I'll split into Dodgers and everyone else.  Here come the Dodger cards, in no particular order...

75 Topps Highlights.  This card is great because of all the extra Dodger lurkery.  In addition to workhorse Mike Marshall, we get the HOF long time skipper Walter Alston, catcher Steve Yeager, and not so great, short lived Dodger manager Bill Russell. 

Iconic Dodger card, and yet, I never owned one until now.  I've always loved that blurry, shaky background of humanity contrasted against the quiet hero, like a baseball superman. 

I really have to thank Greg for this pick up.  I had this 1933 Goudey in my hands earlier and put it back into the box. I was telling myself I didnt want to pay $6 for such a beat up card, but Greg hipped me to what a nice card and good price it actually is.  He was right, I love this card.

ASIDE: I know some of you on the other side of the country list prices that you see at shows like dimes and quarters, stacks of vintage for $8 and so on, but unfortunately, I never see those types of deals out here in L.A.  We pay the Hollywood markup prices out here.

BTW, I didn't know anything about Bud Clancy, so I looked him up.  His claim to fame came in 1934, when in typical Dodger fashion, he became the first first baseman to not record a put out in a 9 inning game.

Harris' claim to fame is having Sandy Koufax come in to relieve him. 

Can't go wrong with 60's Dodger clubbers.  I'm slowly but surely getting enough of these 1960 Dodgers to seriously chase the team set.

As soon as I spotted this baby, I hadda have it!  What's not to like?  Three Dodger pitching legends on one beautiful slice of cardboard...SOLD !!!  I just can't have too many Koufax's or Podres'.

Here's a great oddball that's in great condition.  I love that Osteen is on the double-play card, and not laser-shot-single-up-the-middle. 

 Another card that I didn't think about for 2 seconds.  I'm chasing this subset, so I'm now one step closer to completion. What an awesome card for a Dodgers fan. Anybody out there know who the lurkers are?  Norm Larker and Dan Demeter batted on either side of Furillo. 

Finally, 1959 Topps brings us another great trio of Dodger pitchers.  I love Podres' smile. He always seemed like a regular Joe to me.  He smiles like he's having a great time being a baseball player.

That's it for part one of my card show haul!

Next post: Cards from everybody else.  Check back for some very nice vintage.

Dodgers All-Stars in World Championship Years Part 1 - 1955

Hey there, readers and trade partners,

With the All-Star festivities taking place, and almost no Dodgers on the All-Star team, I had to find a way to get the Boys in Blue (and myself) involved.

So I figured, how's about a positive celebration and take a look at which Dodgers made past All-Star teams in the years we won the World Series.  I'll include cards from their actual All-Star years when possible.  When I can't show a player's card from that year, you'll know that's a hole in my collection -  and i need my fellow blogonauts to help me fill that in.   

First up are the All-Stars from the Brooklyn Dodgers' first and only championship season -

1955  

The '55 contest was the 22nd A.S. game, and it was held in the home of the Milwaukee Braves.  

The National Leaguers came back from a 5-run deficit and won 6-5.  Stan Musial hit the first pitch he saw in the 12th inning for a walk off, victory home run.  Yet another reason why he's called "The Man". 
 

 Campy was selected for the game, but he had a leg injury and didn't play. 

Newk pitched a scoreless inning with one strike out.

Hodges pinch hit and knocked out a single.

The Duke of Flatbush started in CF and went 0 for 2.

Next Post: 1959 - And they played TWO games!