eBay Buy: 19th Century Baseball Trade Card: Tobin Lithographs

This is one of my favorite buys of the year. It's a 19th Century Baseball themed trade card made by Tobin Lithographs in NY. This particular set is known as H804-23 Tobin "149" Series. It was made circa 1888 and is one of the rarer sets out there. Over the past several years I've only seen a handful of these on eBay, so I'm glad I was able to grab this one. Unfortunately, it has a brown stain through the middle, but it still presents fine.

Trade Cards are one of the more interesting hobbies to crop up in American history. It originally started in the late 1870's and thrived throughout the rest of the century. It became one of America's early fads and collecting crazes. They started out as business/ advertising cards given away to customers. The name of the establishment would be printed on the front with a simple design around the edges. Soon the designs became more ornate and customers started collecting them to put into scrapbooks. This started the age of Victorian scrapbooking in America.

The design and themes of the cards became supreme. Cards where as small as a modern business cards to as large as a piece of notebook paper. They came in every color in the rainbow. Printing companies where marketing special art work and themes to storefronts across the country. Flowers, landscapes, babies, children playing are the most common themes. Less common are politicians, buildings, Black Americana and sporting activities. Sporting activities include roller skating, tennis, curling, ice skating, horse racing and baseball, among others. It really is an early example of card collecting in America.

Today you can still find scrapbooks with hundreds of trade cards glued inside and they are still collected today.

YouTube Videos: Interviews with Nomar and Marlon

I've been out of town and unable to post anything, but don't think I haven't been keeping track of my beloved Dodgers. I write this as the Dodgers lead, by one game, in the National League Wild Cards race. The Dodgers have won 2 in a row and currently in control their playoff destiny. Things are good.

Below is a video and interview of Nomar Garciaparra after his walk off grand slam on Sunday. Brought to you by eastlasportsscene on YouTube:



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Below is an interview with Marlon Anderson.



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Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Tommy! The "Man in Blue" turns 79 years old today. Congratulations!

In honor of this day I am headed to Las Vegas to celebrate. I'll have a few drinks, make a couple of bets and cross my fingers as the Dodgers face off against the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend.

Check out 6-4-2 for a short summary of Tommy's career.

Dodger Video: "My Days at Dodger Stadium"

With this being the last homestand of the year I thought it would be fun to play this homemade video celebrating the Dodgers Security Team. It's called "My Days at Dodger Stadium." Video by JulesReyesMarko



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Art: Reflections Series: Sandy Koufax

As some of you may recall, a little over a month ago, the National Sports Card Collectors Convention came around to Anaheim for the first time in several years. At this event were exhibitors from across the country, many different auction houses, manufacturers and a huge number of autograph guest. It was a 5 day event that any sports collector/ fanatic would drool over.

I bring up this event to highlight an item that I purchased that weekend and recently arrived for my display at my office.

For some time now I have admired the work of a Vancouver artist, Jennifer Ettinger. Check out her "Town Ball Team" painting. Anyway, I noticed on her webpage that she had started a new series called "Reflections." It's a mixed media work consisting of a

"3-dimensional piece consists of two frames secured together with brass hinges. One frame contains a piece of board, covered with canvas and then layered with a plaster coating. On this is placed a reverse image of baseball or hockey. Collaged around the image is text taken from old and discarded baseball books and magazines. The image is layered with acrylic washes of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue paint to create and enhance an aged appearance. The adjoining frame holds a mirror that is over-laid with a quote or relevant symbol. When viewed in the mirror, the image will not be in reverse but can be seen as it should be seen."

There were individual art pieces of Jackie Robinson, Yogi Berra, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Ty Cobb, etc. I was very interested in the Sandy Koufax Reflections piece.

With the National Convention coming to town and knowing that she would be exhibiting some of her work there I made a mental note to track her table down to speak with her. On the first day of the show I found her and I'm glad I did. I had beat out another collector who expressed an interest in the Koufax Reflections later that day. Anyway, I placed my order immediately. Unfortunately, Jennifer did not bring the specific piece with her to Anaheim since it was, at the time, being exhibited at an art show in Vancouver, Canada. So, I would have to wait until the exhibits conclusion.

Late last week a package arrived and I quickly opened up the box. Encased in newspaper and bubble wrap was the Sandy Koufax Reflections. Also, there was a new addition to the piece. It now had the date October 7, 1965 under the Star of David. I wrote Jennifer for an artist explanation of the new addition.

"October 7, 1965 was added as the day Sandy pitched (in the World Series), as he choose not to pitch the previous day October 6, 1965 which was Yom Kippur http://www.jewishsports.com/reflections/koufax_yom.htm. I thought about putting down the day he didn't play, but choose to go with the one he did pitch."

So there you go. Seeing Sandy as he should be seen. It's a beautiful art piece about an athlete who maintained his faith while continuing to prove to any detractors that he was a Champion. The Dodgers went on to win the World Series in 1965 on the brilliant pitching of Sandy Koufax who had won two games; including a 9 inning complete game shut-out during game 7.

Homerun Derby

For your viewing pleasure.



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Like many other fans, I can't stop thinking about the game.

Hat Tip to greenchris in the Dodger Thoughts comment thread for the YouTube link.

Update: I just received another link from a friend that you can download. (Found on Let's Go Kings.com) Check out this cut here: Link: (Download by right-clicking)

Update II: Below is a Video of the sights and sounds from the Right Field Upper Reserve Section after Nomar hit the walk-off two-run homer in the 10th inning. Where the hardcore fans reside! Video From SoCalibur



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Update III: And now I have the sights and sounds from the Left Field Upper Reserve Section. Enjoy! Video from Randallfarms2



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