Monday, May 05, 2008

Matt Kemp Named Player of the Week

Matt Kemp is starting to get his due. On top of that both Furcal and Juan Pierre were also nominees. Below is from the Dodgers press release.
Kemp led the National League with 11 RBI and six stolen bases and tied for the league-lead with 11 hits. The 23-year-old right fielder hit .407 (11-27) with four doubles, seven runs scored, a slugging percentage of .556 and an on-base percentage of .433. On May 2nd at Colorado , Kemp hit two 2-RBI doubles leading the Dodgers to an 11-6 victory and their seventh consecutive win. He recorded four multi-hit games and three multi-RBI games and hit safely in all six games played. This marks the first time that Matt has won weekly honors, and it is the first time that a Dodger has captured this recognition since Andre Ethier won in July 2006... Other nominees this past week included Kemp’s Dodger teammates Rafael Furcal (.393, 1 HR, 4 RBI) and Juan Pierre (.563, 3 RBI)
Pic Link: ThemBums:

Card Of The Week: Bubblegum and Championships

Since I failed to post a "Card of the Week" last week I thought I would make it up by adding some bonus cards to this weeks selection. Below is one of funniest cards to feature a Dodger player. Chan Ho Park, in this 1999 Topps Stadium Club card, is showing off his best bubble gum gem for all to see. He looks shocked it hasn't popped yet.

The LAPD police & safety sets produced for the Dodgers are probably one of the most successful regional sets ever produced. They started in 1980 and ran for over 20 years. If I'm not mistaken, cards were available directly from police officers and police stations. Were sets also handed out at games too? Below are four cards from the 1982 Dodgers LAPD set that feature the Dodgers recent World Championship win from the previous year.

eBay: Banks and Prints

There were a couple of great items found on eBay recently. Below is a rare 1950's era porcelain "razor blade" bank of the Brooklyn Dodger bum produced by Gibbs-Conner. It measure about four inches tall and is in great shape. This is the first time I've ever seen one of these. I suspect it may have come from a Gibbs-Conner estate sale from several years ago. It went unsold in this eBay auction.

When I first saw this print on eBay last week I knew its made by Nicholas Volpe and I was hoping I was the only one who noticed it. Unfortunately, I wasn't. If you've been a long time Dodger fan then you know Volpe. His prints have graced the southland from the southern reaches of Orange County to the Central Valley Basin. Do you remember stopping into a Union 76 gas station in the 80's hoping to get that 9 1/2 x 11 inch picture of your favorite Dodger? I remember one year they had black backgrounds with color portrait paintings. In the 70's they made coffee cups with Volpe paintings on the surface. The below print is of Dodger broadcasters Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett. It was produced from 1958 to 1960 and were sold as a set of 16 at Dodger souvenir outlets. It sold for $52.51.