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 2^nd 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.

Pic Link: Atlanta Cards:

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.

eBay Auction Link: Gibbs-Conner 1950's Dodger Bank:

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.

eBay Auction Link: Volpe Scully Doggett Picture:

Mastro May Auction

Mastro recently concluded their most recent major auction. They sold nearly $8.5Mil in memorabilia. There was plenty to see from rare cards to historical memorabilia.

Below is one of my favorite prewar Baseball cards. Babe Ruth who is the "Sultan of Swat" is also the "prince of peace" as he holds a dove in front of the Yankee Stadium crowd. The unusual pose and that guy to Ruth's right make me crack up. What the heck is going on here? This card sold for $3,500.00.

Auction Link: 1922 E121 American Caramel Babe Ruth:

Here is a 1953 press photo of the Dodgers most feared hitters. It includes Carl Furillo, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. $400.00 was the final bid.

Auction Link: 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers Fearsome Foursome Photo:

This is a 1939 Press photo of an aging Joe Jackson as a liquor store proprietor on the 20th anniversary of the Black Sox scandal. As noted on the back by a reporter,

"Shoeless Joe Jackson ... 20 Years After"... whose legacy became "... one of the blackest blots on baseball history," and that "Jackson, with others, was convicted of accepting the bribes of gamblers to throw the game."

This pic sold for $600.00.

Auction Link: Joe Jackson 1939 Press Photo:

What an important piece of American history. Below is a American Continental Congress lottery ticket sold in 1776 to help finance the revolution.

The lottery was calculated to yield substantial prizes for winners, and to provide a profit for the young nation's Treasury. Regrettably, the government actually wound up losing money on the proposition... The lottery was a well-intentioned building block conceived by the Continental Congress, but it unfortunately did not produce the reservoir of cash the body had hoped to generate.

It sold for $325.00.

Auction Link: 1776 US Congress Lottery Ticket:

Weekly Blog Kiosk 5/4/2008

Congratulations to Big Brown and my condolences for Eight Belles.

• Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Tom Gorzelanny gives fans the finger.
• 49 year old Julio Franco decides to finally hang them up.
• Calm down it's just a game besides parents need to understand that video games are not only for kids. Parents should stop being lazy and do their jobs. Don't buy it for your kids.
  
• Check out these photoshopped Rock n' Roll Baseball cards. Below is Mick Jagger superimposed on Ty Cobb's T206 red background portrait card. Hat Tip: Baseball Card Blog:
• Bronx Banter has an impressive list of "must-read" Baseball books.
• Former Tigers pitcher and Cy Young winner Denny McLain owes over $60,000.00 to creditors so he had his sports memorabilia and other household items hauled off by the court to be auctioned off this past Thursday, April 29th. Then, it gets canceled because his ex-wife is claiming ownership to his house and everything in it.
  
• Let's jump on a bus and go on a road trip. The greatest touring band to ever grace the stage has donated their historical archives and memorabilia to UC Santa Cruz. I have some very vivid memories of my days as a wandering deadhead. The crowds were always plentiful, the music always ripe and the passion always peaking. I don't know if I'll every experience anything like those years again. Unlike many hardcore Grateful Dead fans I had not seen over 100 shows, but I have traveled as far as Wisconsin to see them. That's a story that maybe I'll share one of these days. I made some good friends along the way and would never trade those moments for anything- even to get rid of the bad times. I know that once this museum is up and running I'm gonna take one last trip to say hello. One thing though, apparently Bobby ain't handing over his shorts. Smile. Smile. Smile.
• Imagine playing a 22 person foosball game.

Videos: What's My Line?

Roy Campanella on What's My Line?

YouTube Link: What's My Line?:

Marckymarc71 shows off a model of Dodger Stadium made of Basswood.

YouTube Link: Marckymarc71 :

Here is the last of four KABC interviews I've posted created during the Spring Coliseum game of Chuck Essegian and Ron Fairly.

Online Videos by Veoh.com
Video Link: KABC:

Can you ever get enough of Vin Scully's call of Gibson's homerun? How about Scully's call featuring Baseball cards.


YouTube Link: GaryOyer: