Dodgers Blue Heaven: A Couple Interesting Vintage Dodger Press Photos at RMY Auctions

Thursday, May 14, 2015

A Couple Interesting Vintage Dodger Press Photos at RMY Auctions

Check out a couple of great vintage Dodgers-related press photos currently available at RMY Auctions.

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Hey, Blue Eye's!

Below is a fun 1966 NEA/UPI press photo featuring the dashing Sandy Koufax with the equally beautiful Nancy Sinatra locked in an embrace. Below is what's written on the caption attached to the reverse:

Making a Point - Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers points out something to Nancy Sinatra before the Hollywood All Stars-Sports Writers game July 22. Wearing a Dodger uniform, the daughter of singer Frank Sinatra did not seem to help the team in their cause as they lost the subsequent official game to the visiting New York Mets, 3-0.

I want so badly to know what the heck they are pointing at. Has a fan interrupted the exhibition by running onto the field, or did some reporter make a fantastic play? We shall never know. I would like to believe, though, that an alien spaceship is hovering over the stadium.

(auction link)

Here is a photo that is sure to elicit a strong emotional response. After all, the idea having a couple of young African-American kids as team mascots and giving them obvious racial nicknames would bring about screams from all corners of the country today - and rightly so. Nevertheless, from an historical perspective I felt it was important enough to share here.

It is dated to March 2, 1929 and was release by ACME News Pictures. It states the following on the caption attached to the reverse:

Luck On The End of the Bat - Rookie Ralston, one of the youngsters trying to break into the line-up of the Brooklyn Dodgers, gets his bat from "Snowball" and "Blackball," the two mascots, at the Dodgers' spring training camp at Clearwater, FL.

Thankfully, a lot has changed in the world and in the game. And although the children appear to be enjoying themselves (who wouldn't want to be as close to game as they were at their age), this photo clearly exhibits a different era that we should never pretend never existed.