Thank you Dave Winfield for making this happen. The postcard above was produced in 1991 and comes from a 100 card set featuring Negro League players. Andy Porter is the third person on the left. It has been signed by the new Dodger.
I just received a note from the Dodgers PR Department about a signing event featuring James Loney and Andrew Jones. It's not exactly free, but if your in the area it might be worth a visit. Below are the details.
What: The Dodgers have partnered with Macy’s once again for a Father’s Day promotion. Fans can meet and get autographs from Dodger first baseman James Loney and outfielder Andruw Jones tomorrow at Macy’s Sherman Oaks with a purchase of $50 or more on Fossil merchandise in the men’s department. Fans will then be given a Dodger baseball to get autographed by both players.
Macy’s customers will also receive a free Family Four Pack of ticket vouchers to a Dodger home game with their Fossil purchase of $50 or more. Additionally, all fans can enter to win a sweepstakes at participating Southern California Macy’s where 8 dads will win the chance to take the field at Dodger Stadium before the June 22 game against the Cleveland Indians at 1:10 p.m.
When: Friday, June 6, 2008, 1 - 2 pm Misc.: One Dodger baseball per customer with purchase; available while supplies last and while time permits. No personal items will be autographed. Dodger Family Four Pack ticket vouchers available with $50 Fossil purchase and limited to one per family. See retail location for complete details.
Update: Thank you Jon for linking here from Dodger Thoughts. I thought I'd pass along some info in this update about the two cards shown here. They were exclusive cards made only for the 2007 AFLAC All American Baseball Classic in August 2007. The game was held in San Diego. From my understanding, each card is limited to a production of 250 cards. At the game each spectator was given 3 different cards of these teenage players, so the set may be very difficult to complete. Update: From the Dodgers press release today:
“Ethan is a fantastic young athlete who excels on the mound with an exploding fastball and a sharp-biting curve,” said Assistant General Manager, Scouting Logan White. “He is a terrific competitor with first-class makeup.”
Martin last week was named the 2008 Gatorade Georgia State High School Player of the Year after going 11-1 with a 0.99 ERA as a senior at Stephens County High School (stats do not include last weekend’s Class AAA Georgia State Championship Series). He also had 141 strikeouts in 79.0 innings of work entering the season’s final series. Martin had entered the season as a Baseball America Second-Team Pre-Season High School All-American.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder was named as a 2007 AFLAC All-American after his junior season, during which he went 6-1 with 81 strikeouts and a 1.41 ERA.
The 18-year-old is rated by Baseball America as having the second-best fastball among draft-eligible high school pitchers. He is also rated by the publication as having the third-best secondary pitch amongst the same group.
“Ethan has a good angle on his fastball with late sinking action anywhere from 90-96 miles per hour,” said Scouting Director Tim Hallgren. “He also has a plus-curveball that has late three-quarter downward action at the plate.”
Martin entered the draft as the eighth-best pitcher – and the 16th-best overall prospect – among draft-eligible players according to Baseball America.
Although drafted by the Dodgers as a pitcher, Martin also played third base this season and hit .540 with 14 homers and 33 RBI in 31 games going into the Class AAA three-game final series last weekend.
Public Radio channel KPCC 89.3 just aired part 1 of a 7 part series on the history of the Dodgers and has made it available on their website. It's a great listen. Part one is titled "Dodgers move to LA Wasn't Popular." Go ahead and click here for their page and link to hear it.
Overall, yesterday was a gloomy day. The sky was filled with clouds. It was chilly- unseasonable cold for a June day in Southern California. The recent weather sure seemed to foreshadow the evenings game, if not the Dodgers past couple of weeks.
I felt fortunate to have tickets. A friend received 4 choice seats from his work. They were easily the best seats I've ever had at Dodger Stadium. We were six rows back in the field section directly behind were Lasorda usually sits. I felt like reaching out to him for consolation.
The Dodgers are cold- Alaska cold. Their pitching has been terrible. Even when they get a quality start their bats turn off. They can't hit a lick, save the occasional outburst. Watching games have been as difficult as watching a political debate. You want to turn it off, but you worry that you might miss something historic. The Dodgers wasted a decent start from their struggling ace. Brad Penny twisted and turned enough to walk away with giving up only 2 runs. It was a miracle. Unfortunately, they couldn't follow up his performance with offense.
There was a bit of emotion though. As I'm sure most of you know there was a bench-clearing scuffle at the stadium last night. The crowd was forcibly awoken from it's slumber. Matt Kemp and YorvitTorrealba pushed, shoved and wrestled to the ground. Torrealba went so far as to give Kemp a little love tap on his chin while holding the ball. There is nothing like getting hit with a loaded hand. The scrum in front of the Rockies bench looked like a rugby match as players lined up on their side and pushed. I believe it was Ken Levine on Dodger Talk last night who said, "we went to a Baseball game and a hockey game broke out."
The game had a sense of hope after the brawl. The crowd was fired up and the Dodgers were only down by two runs. Three outs is more than enough time to catch up. Unfortunately, a solo homerun on the first pitch of the ninth inning by Rockies replacement catcher Chris Iannetta sealed the deal. The Dodgers followed by putting two guys on with DeWitt up to bat with two outs. He fouled out to right as the rightfield leaned over the railing to catch the last out. With that the stadium and the team deflated like a tire that had run over a pile of nails.
Below are more vintage Dodgers pics from Richard featuring the Dodgers. One of the nicest things about his photos are that a majority of them come from color slides. So, the quality tends to be very sharp and clear. When you want to zoom in on a certain spot the clarity couldn't be better. Go ahead and click the photos below for a larger view.
Below is a photo taken from September 1959 at the Coliseum in a game against the Milwaukee Braves. The photo below is from May 30, 1965 in a game against the Reds. The Dodgers won the game 12 to 5. They won the World Series that year against the Twins.Here are some great bullpen shots taken during Dodger Stadiums inaugural year in October 1962. I can spot Drysdale (with his hand at his mouth), Koufax (walking into the bullpen with his glove on) and Wills (walking past the outfield fence talking with fans). Is there anyone else there you recognize?
I can't believe I forgot about this. Thanks to Orel from the Sons of Steve Garvey we find out about the 2008 MLB fantasy draft of surviving former Negro League Players. Every team participated and the Dodgers chose Andrew "Pullman" Porter. Here is a complete list of draftees.
