Welcome Back James

Per 6-4-2, we find out that James McDonald is headed back to the Dodgers.

He pitched seven innings each of his last two outings, allowing one earned run June 8 when he struck out 10 and no earned runs on June 14 when he struck out 13. Overall, in six starts, he is 1-0 with a 3.26 ERA, 40 strikeouts and 14 walks in 30 1/3 innings.

Schlichting is going back to Albuquerque. Go here for more info.

Oddball Non-Sport Gold: The Twilight Zone

So it's late in the evening and I've stopped switching channels on the TV. The Twilight Zone is on and I figure there can't be anything more entertaining to watch at this hour of the night. Suddenly, I daze off and dream of aliens and creatures only Rod Serling could thing of. I'm forced to face my own demons and made to wonder about the possibilities. As I awake I marvel at how relevant these 1960's television reruns are to today.

Anyway, why do I bring up this show from yesteryear? Well, Collect.com recently concluded their inaugural auction and they had the fortune of selling a remarkable set that features The Twilight Zone.

Rittenhouse Archives, producers of non-sport card sets, from 1999 to 2005 produced various sets of The Twilight Zone. In those wax boxes they inserted limited edition autographed cards that featured just about every living cast member of the show. There are 98 total cards and, considering the numbered set was spread over a 6 year period, is very difficult to complete. In fact, Collect.com notes that a complete set has never been offered in any auction. Check out some of the cards below. It sold for an incredible $11,700.00. That's over $100 per card.

Come on now. How can you beat an autographed card set that includes both Ron Howard and William Shatner?

Burt Reynolds, Anne Francis and Russell Johnson. Man-O-Live, I remember all of these episodes. George Takei, Jonathon Winters, Don Rickles and Jack Klugman- Oh Wow!

You have got to be kidding me- another Shatner.

Auction Link: 1999-2005 Twilight Zone Auto Set:

Triple Threads of Brooklyn Greats

I have never been much of a fan of jersey or patch cards. They just don't appeal to me too much. Besides, the idea of cutting up a vintage uniform just does not seem right. On the other hand, the preview on Wax Heaven of the 2009 Topps Triple Threads set featuring the below Trolley Dodgers cards really has me licking my chops.

Go to Wax Heaven here and here for more preview pics.

AAA All-Star Game Voting Now

Evan of I love This Game has passed along a request to let all Dodger fans know that the AAA All-Star Game voting is taking place right now and several Isotopes/ Dodgers are on th ballot. Go here to vote. Voting last until next Friday, June 26, 2009. You can help get the following folks into the game.

James McDonald

(Pic Link: Vinny is My Homeboy)

Dee Brown(Pic Link: Minor League Baseball)

Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger

(Pic Link: Flickr Dave Nelson)

Jason Repko(Pic Link: Stopka, Inc.)

Jamie Hoffman

(Pic Link: Copper JJ's Graph World)

Hector Luna(Pic Link: Bleacher Report)

Blake DeWitt

(Pic Link: Cards in the Attic)

Chin-Lung Hu(Pic Link: Dinged Corners)

2007 Bowman Heritage

I have recently fallen in love with 2007 Bowman Heritage and am hoping that other folks out there with extras can help me along in completing my set. Go here for my want list. I only need a handful of cards for my base set and am slowly trudging along in trying to complete a rainbow parallel set. In the meantime, check out some of the cards that had me enamored.

Below is the Jeff Kent card from the set and it is easily my favorite. I love how he seems to jump out in the picture and the blurry background perfectly frames his swing.
Here are the rookie cards of often injured Tony Abreau and thriving Pirate Andy LaRoche.
Juan Pierre, Jason Schmidt and Rafael Furcal are featured below.

(click to enlarge)

The 2007 Bowman Heritage set borrows its design from the vintage 1952 Bowman set. A great feature of the set is how they decided to put some interesting backgrounds in a handful of the cards. Below, Joe Smith of the Mets stands in front of the Coney Island Ferris Wheel.
Big slugger and strike out machine Adam Dunn practices his swing in front of a corn field. I'm not sure about the relationship between Dunn and corn since he is from Texas and I don't think that corn is a major cash crop there. Is Cincinnati considered a part of the "corn belt?"
Jimmy Rollins, with bat in hand, stands in front of one of our country's greatest symbols- the Liberty Bell.

A New Auction House

I consider this post my first step in rewarding good behavior. After all, SCD recently stopped accepting advertisements from Coach's Corner and this step deserves some recognition. Now, I'm not advocating that you should be less weary in your search for Baseball memorabilia through them, but you can feel a little bit better about SCD. In turn, you can also feel a little better about its parents other recently launched ventures like collect.com and its brand new auction house run by Krause Publications.

So, I bring to you some choice items from Collect.com's soon to be closing auction.

The Brooklyn faithful really loved their Dodgers. So much so, it was not unusual for the fans to bring cakes and presents to Dodger players and staff on their birthdays. Below, coach Charlie Dressen is enjoying his birthday cake with the help of Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Billy Cox and Bob Milliken. This is a press wire photo that dates to 9/20/1953.

Auction Link: Birthday Photo:

Here is another press photo featuring a dapper Roy Campanella welcoming Pee Wee Reese and his family to Spring Training. It is date stamped at April 5, 1954 and is a International News Photo.

Auction Link: Spring Training Greetings Photo:

There is nothing like peering through a vintage autograph book to see who you might find. In this auction lot we see a well used autograph book, circa 1955, with many autographs of New York and its surrounding boroughs greatest players. Below is Don Newcombe.
Al Dark of the NY Giants has signed a pic of him playing some night Baseball as a deep thinking and reflective Billy Cox sits on the bench.

Auction Link: Autograph Book:

This framed 1974 TCMA Brooklyn Dodgers Greats set is nice. Having almost the entire set autographed is nicer. There are 22 total signatures that feature everyone from Pee Wee Reese, Snider and Erskine to Cal Abrams and Jim Hughes. Unfortunately, the Campanella is a stamped auto, but I wouldn't fret. This would look great in any one's collection room.

Auction Link: 1974 TCMA Autographed Set: