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:

Six In A Row Baby!

You gotta love a 6 game winning streak, especially after such a terrible start.

In other thoughts, who needs Andruw Jones when you can get consistent production from Juan Pierre? Juan had a great game this afternoon. He played an instrumental part in the Dodgers first 3 runs of the game. He went 2 for 3 while scoring 1 run and knocking in 2.

I, like many bloggers, have expressed displeasure in the past about Juan Pierre. After all, he tends to swing at everything, doesn't take a lot of walks and hits flyballs like he's the second coming of Willie Mays Hayes. On the other hand, he has always been a beacon of consistency. He always bats near .300, will steal 50 to 60 bases a year and will score close to a 100 runs a year. The simple fact is that you know what your getting with Juan Pierre. With Andruw Jones it cost the team over $18Mil a year to find out what he has left. Unfortunately, Andruw is starting to look like an overpaid bust.

So right now I'm eating my words. Juan Pierre has an instrumental role on this team and today's game is an example of that.

RIP: Buzzie Bavasi passed away today.

“I don’t know where Roy Campanella and I would’ve been if Buzzie didn’t give us a chance at Nashua in 1946,” said Dodgers Director, Community Relations Don Newcombe. “I didn’t always do the right thing as a player, but Buzzie always gave me a chance to straighten myself out and get back on track. He was always in my corner and I’m very sorry to hear he has passed away. He and his wife Evit were the perfect couple and together they raised a beautiful family. Without Buzzie, Don Newcombe would not have been able to enjoy any success in professional baseball. He meant the world to me.”

Pic Link: TravelBlog:

It's Not About Winning Or Losing

In today's world of competition and gamesmanship oftentimes the value of sportsmanship gets lost. Today I was sent a story by a coworker that I just have to share.

Sara Tucholsky was at the plate during in a bid for NCAA Division II playoff spot. She was a career .153 hitter. As you can imagine this at-bat was to become a pivotal moment to this story. She went on to slam her first career homerun.

The exuberant former high school point guard sprinted to first. As she reached the bag, she looked up to watch the ball clear the fence and missed first base. Six feet past the bag, she stopped abruptly to return and touch it. But something gave in her right knee; she collapsed on the base path.

"I was in a lot of pain," she told The Oregonian on Tuesday. "Our first-base coach was telling me I had to crawl back to first base. 'I can't touch you,' she said, 'or you'll be out. I can't help you.' "

Tucholsky, to the horror of teammates and spectators, crawled through the dirt and the pain back to first.

...

"The umpires said a player cannot be assisted by their team around the bases," Knox said. "But it is her only home run in four years. She is going to kill me if we sub and take it away. But at same time I was concerned for her. I didn't know what to do. . . .

"That is when Mallory stepped in."

...

(She) volunteered a simple, selfless solution to her opponents' dilemma: What if the Central Washington players carried Tucholsky around the bases?

So that is what they did. Sportsmanship, Character and Leadership at its very best.

Pic & Story Link: Oregonian- Blake Wolf: