Dodger Doings - Vintage 1943 Newsletter - Issue #3

Following up on several vintage Dodger newsletters I've shared over the past several weeks, here is a 1943 issue to take a look at.  Go here to check out all my past "Dodger Doings" post.  Click on any pic to embiggen.  Furthermore, I'd like to extend thanks to fellow Dodger collector Doug for passing this along.

Dated June 20, 1943, this newsletter reminds us of the important link between Baseball and World War II.  As you know, several notable ballplayers signed up to fight.  One of which is highlighted on the front page of the featured newsletter.  Check out what was written about former Dodger center fielder Harold "Pete" Reiser. 

Despite the fine play of Augie Galan in centerfield for the Dodgers this season, Brooklyn fans will always remember the kid who came from "nowhere" to win acclaim and fame as the youngest player ever to wear the National League batting championship crown.

When they think of "Pete" Reiser they will think of home runs smashed to win crucial games... they will think of a sturdy young man racing, jumping, diving to make brilliant defensive plays as he roamed his position in centerfield.  And they will think of that waning afternoon in St. Louis in 1942 when that fighting Reiser spirit... that will to win... led him to crash into a concrete wall in a valiant attempt to thwart the "enemy."

Truly, if Pete Reiser is representative of the young American men in uniform, victory must certainly be ours.

Blog Kiosk: 5/23/2016 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends

In honor of his 128th birthday, check out the above vintage image of Brooklyn Hall of Famer Zach Wheat in a spiffy 1916 home white "checkerboard-style" Dodgers uniform.  He was born on this day in 1888.  Photo above via the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ggbain-22484.

Below are more links to check:

• This Day in Dodgers History:  In 1895 the Louisville Colonels forfeited a game against the Brooklyn Bridegrooms/Dodgers due to not having enough Baseballs on hand for the game.   In 1981 Ron Cey hit his 200th career home run against the Reds.  In 2002 Shawn Green becomes the 14th player in history to hit four home runs in one game.  It would happen against the Brewers in Milwaukee, and he would record 19 total bases (a new record at the time).  Watch every at-bat here.
• Happy Birthday, Zach Wheat and Augie Galan!

Vintage Dodgers' Gamers and a Championship Ring at SCP Auctions

For Dodgers fans and collectors the upcoming SCP Auction is everything you could have hoped for.  It's filled with well over a hundred different items; including a massive collection of personal items from the estate of Don Drysdale.  Heck, it's almost breathtaking in its scale.  There's just so much to stare at.

Since I suspect I'll be putting up several different post focused on just the Drysdale stuff, I thought I would begin an cavalcade of posts by focusing on a few of the non-Drysdale items that caught my eye.  I promise to begin in earnest with the Drysdale goodies in a post tomorrow.

What could possibly be the best way to introduce an auction featuring Don Drysdale then to begin with a real honest-to-goodness game-used jersey of his left-handed teammate Sandy Koufax.  Below is a 1956 gamer signed by the "Left Hand of God."  (Auction Link)  I should add that Koufax gamers are impossible to find, and when they do come to auction they sell in the hundreds of thousands.  This particular jersey originates from the warehouse of Chuck Poehler, owner of Los Angeles based sporting goods manufacturer Goodman & Sons.