Martin Maturing and Finds Some Love

Russell Martin's growth can be seen through his growing pains. While struggling with the workload a young catcher must endure, Joe Torre gave him the straight scoop.

"Baseball is like this," he (Joe Torre) says, moving his hand steadily. "You need to get rid of this." Now the hand is making a sine wave, with peaks and troughs. "We play every single day. You have to stay here emotionally" — the steady hand again.

Still, Russell struggled with his emotions.

"I'd just get pissed. It wouldn't be consistent. Some days I'd be having good days and I'd be like, okay, this is fun. And some days I'd miss my pitch or make an error and I'm pissed, and the pitcher's wondering what's going on. The goal is to stay as smooth as I can. The goal is to help, that's what I'm here for, really."

At least he's getting some help to reach an even keel with the help of a certain lady friend.

He's settled down with a steady girlfriend, and while babies aren't in the picture, "We are practising a lot," he says, smiling.

Check out the entire article here from The Globe and Mail.

Blog Kiosk: 2/22/2009

Are you sick of the whole ARod thing too?

• FallingLEAVes of Sunshine shares her pics from the Dodger caravan here and here; then she shares her autograph scrapbook. Nice collection!
• Jo Anna does the Dodger Stadium tour. She took plenty of pics 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
  
• The Topps Archive matches up the backgrounds of the 1955 Topps Doubleheader Set. Check them out here.
• Say hello to this new Dodger blog: Dodgers Blue Blog.
  
• Garvey Cey Russell Lopes Blog shared some Goose Joak original Baseball cards. Go here to see the rest if them. Here are some other ones.
• The Peck & Snyder 1869 Trade Card featured on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno sold for an astounding $64,073.00. Considering it's condition I think someone overpaid.
• I second that! Bring back Oil Can Boyd!
• Ike's Cards introduces us to the photographic works of Don Hamerman.

  ”I began collecting these baseballs in the winter of 2004-2005. Discovered in the park near my house where I walk my dog daily, they went unnoticed by others. Abject, rejected and forlorn, their state depended on the season of their discovery. Some hid in the high grass, gutted by lawnmowers, or under leaves, rotting, the leather skins long since decomposed. Covered in ice crystals on a February morning or shrouded in summer moss, they all hinted at mysterious pasts.”

  
• Dinged Corners discovers the 2009 Topps American Heritage Set.
• Have they found Atlantis?
• REA discovers a previously unknown variation to the N172 Baseball card set.
  
• Check out Halo Heaven's 1966 aerial photograph of Angels Stadium.
  
• Ernie's Imaginary Baseball Game. (Hat Tip: Walkoff Walk)
  

YouTube Link: Nanto Vision:

Goodwin: Dodger Related Rarities

Goodwin & Co. recent auction features some very significant Dodger related Baseball cards. The first gem is the below Mint graded 1948-49 Leaf rookie card of Jackie Robinson. You just don't see cards looking "pack-fresh" like this. It sold for a well deserved $23,183.93.

Auction Link: 1948 Leaf Jackie Robinson:

Branch Rickey is one of the great pioneers of this great game. Below is a 1914 Cracker Jack card of Rickey that sold for $2,590.88. Cracker Jack cards have grown in popularity due to its scarcity and fragility. The cards are paper thin and are easily damaged. Also, mint examples feature a deep bright red background that makes the player look like he's jumping out of the card. This set is one of my favorites, and if I ever have enough dough it would be my first purchase.

Auction Link: Cracker Jack Branch Rickey:

The 1968 3-D Set is one of the rarest test issues made by Topps. They date two years before the very popular Kellogg's sets of the 70's and feature just 12 players. The only Dodgers available were Willie Davis and Ron Fairly. The backgrounds are purposely blurred with a sharp photograph of a players portrait. The Willie Davis and Ron Fairly cards each sold for $426.53 a piece.

Auction Link: Willie Davis 1968 Topps 3D:

Auction Link: Ron Fairly 1968 Topps 3D:

Vintage Baseball Passion

I love Baseball. It's the greatest game around. It's nice to see that back in Chicago 1922 that passion was also shared. Here is a Attendance Notice postcard found on eBay from Schurz High School inquiring about a truancy. Flora missed a week of school. Unfortunately, she got whacked pretty bad, but she seems to not care. She can't wait to get back on the bike after falling off.

"(I) was absent because Verna Arton, by accident, hit me in the mouth with a (base)ball bat. Cut my lip open and knocked 1 (one) tooth out and (the) rest were knocked crooked."

Then she follows with this.

"What a feeling of rejoice(ing) to get back to play(ing) (base)ball."

Rejoice! Yes, getting back to playing ball is a reason to celebrate.

Troy Can't Sing

This video is absolutely awesome! Thanks to Robert at Vin Scully Is My Homeboy for originally posting it and special thanks to Troy for making it. It's a classic.

YouTube Link: TroyFromWestVirginia:

This Day In Dodger Baseball

Today is an important day for Los Angeles Dodgers history. 49 years ago today Walter O'Malley purchased the land at Chavez Ravine that would eventually become Dodger Stadium.

Los Angeles Dodgers fans still flocked to see their new team at the L.A. Coliseum, but Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley had a larger vision. And on Feb. 18, 1960, O'Malley purchased land at Chavez Ravine just north of downtown Los Angeles for a reported $494,000.

By that time, the San Francisco Giants -- who moved west with the Dodgers prior to the 1958 season -- were preparing to open Candlestick Park, which hosted its first game on April 12, 1960. But the patient O'Malley believed that after years of legal wrangling Chavez Ravine would be worth the wait. After two more years in the Coliseum, O'Malley proved to be right.