Luc Robitaille Elected to the Hall of Fame

Congratulations! Luc Robitaille has been elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Video Link: KingsVision:

UPDATE: From Inside the Kings:

I asked Robitaille to re-tell one of my favorite hockey stories, which is about the day he got drafted in 1984 at the Montreal Forum, in the ninth round, after he sat in the stands all day waiting for his name to be called.

``I had one hot dog every hour,'' Robitaille said with a laugh. ``I think I ended up eating six hot dogs. That was the year, if you remember, that Mario (Lemieux) said he wasn't signing with the Penguins. We got to draft day, a Saturday, and it was a big deal because they called Mario's name and he didn't go to the draft table or anything. There was a delay, and it was like Pittsburgh didn't know what to do and the league didn't know what to do. So I sat and waited. It was 7 o'clock at night and I was still waiting in the Forum, up in the white seats. When I heard my name, I ran downstairs. The security guy, he didn't want to let me on the floor, but I told him that I just got drafted.

``I got to the Kings' table and there were just a couple guys left there. Rogie (Vachon) was there and (former assistant GM) John Wolf was there and a couple scouts. They had me write down my name and address on a card. When we got to August, and I hadn't heard anything from them, I was afraid that I wrote down the wrong address. So anyway, I met those guys at the table, and I met John Wolf and he said, `We don't really have anything to give you, but here,' and he gave me the Kings pin off his jacket. I took the subway home and I was just so excited.''

Legendary Auctions: Brooklyn Photos

Legendary Auctions has a great lot of 53 Brooklyn Dodger photos up for auction from the archives of Sport Magazine. It's a nice treasure trove of vintage pics to be had all at once. Below are only a handful of photos from the lot.
Alston on the phone and then with the bat.
Cake for the Duke from is adoring fans.
Snider is being congratulated by the team and home fans as he heads towards the dugout. Is there any doubt that he just belted a homer?
Here is a pic of Don Newcombe delivering a pitch.
Dog pile at home. I wonder what started this fight.
Another brawl. Is that Don Drysdale ready to throw a right cross.
Team owner Walter O'Malley holds the ball for the Brooklyn Bum.

Auction Link: Brooklyn Dodgers Photo Lot:

Lelands: Dodger Pics

Here are some great Dodger pics from Leland's recently closed auction.

Below is Jackie Robinson stealing home . A group of 3 photos sold for $487.17.

Auction Link: Jackie Stealing Home:

Jackie with the pig skin. A group of 2 pics sold for $100.00.

Auction Link: Jackie and Football at UCLA:

Here is an aerial view of the very first Dodger game at the coliseum versus the Giants on April 21, 1958. It sold for $100.00.

Auction Link: Coliseum View:

Dodger outfielder Pete Reiser is being loaded into an ambulance after he crashed into the Ebbets field wall on June 15, 1947. It went unsold. From Wikipedia:

His splendid career would have lasted longer if not for his all-out, devil-may-care style of play, which caused him to receive several serious injuries. He regularly crashed into outfield walls, then not padded, in pursuit of fly balls.

He fractured his skull running into the outfield wall on one occasion (but still made the throw back to the infield), was temporarily paralyzed on another and was taken off the field on a stretcher many times. On one occasion Pete was given his Last Rites in the ballpark. As a rookie in 1941, he won the National League batting title while the Dodgers took home the pennant. The following year, he was hitting .380 until he ran into the concrete outfield wall while running at full speed. That incident robbed him of any more effective play that year, and caused Brooklyn's painful drop in the NL standings.

Auction Link: Pete Reiser:

Card of the Week: The Borough

A few days ago I wrote about Topps 2007 Bowman Heritage set and my quest to complete it. So to follow up on that post I bring you this weeks "Card of the Week" from that set. Above are Paul LoDuca and Carlos Delgado. What is great about these 2 cards is that vintage Ebbets Field is in the background. The set consist of 24 different cards with unique and offbeat backdrops. Here is a complete list of them.

The All Ernie Team

I happen to come across a blog post by Billy Suter of West Virginia Cards. In a post in March he went about the task of putting together a all-Billy team. Which got me thinking that I should do the same. So, without further ado, here is the all-Ernie team.

Starters:
C- Ernie Lombardi (HOF) - You can't go wrong with the "Schnozz" behind the plate
1st- Justin Ernest Morneau - Yhea, this is cheating, but there are only so many Ernie's out there - We're a rare breed
2nd- Luis Ernesto (Montiel) Aparicio -(HOF) Luis Apricio - Even though he was a SS I figure he can easily make the transition to 2nd base
3rd- Ernest Judson Wilson - (HOF) Negro League star Jud Wilson - Career average of .351
SS- Ernie Banks (HOF)
OF- Charles Ernest Keller - Hit 33 HR's in 1941, 31 HR's in 1943, and 30 HR's in 1946 for the Yankees - 5 Time All-Star
OF- Carlton Ernest Fisk- (HOF) Known as a catcher, but also played some outfield
OF- Ernest Ralph Orsatti - .306 lifetime BA

Bench:
C- Ernie Whitt - 1 All-Star appearance and Blue Jay great
IF- Leo Ernest Durocher - (HOF) "The Lip" - Not a bad player in his day, but would probably make a better manager for the team
IF- Ernest Lee Spivey Jr. otherwise known as Junior Spivey
IF- Luis Ernesto (Garcia) Salazar - Every team needs a utility man and Luis could play anywhere
OF- Ernie Chief Koy - Played for Brooklyn from 1938 to 1940 - Lifetime .279 BA
OF- Ernest Gordon Phelps - "Babe Phelps" - Only played the outfield once, but with his lifetime .310 BA and 3 All Star appearances I can't keep him off the team

Pitchers:
SP- Ernest Edward Bonham - Won 21 games for the 1942 Yankees
SP- Ernest Gilbert Broglio - A league leading 21 wins in 1960 for the St. Louis Browns - 3rd in Cy Young Voting that year
SP- Ernie White - 17 wins for the Cardinals in 1941 and 6th in MVP voting that same year
SP- George Ernest Uhle - Won 26 games in 1923 and 27 games in 1926 for the Indians
SP- Fredrick Ernest Goldsmith - Won 98 games for the Cubs from 1880 to 1883
RP- Bruce Ernest Howard - 3.18 lifetime ERA
RP- Ernie Johnson - 148 ERA+ for the 1953 Milwaukee Braves
RP- Daniel Ernest Schatzeder - 3.74 lifetime ERA
RP- Raymond Ernest Herbert - Was an All Star and won 20 games for the White Sox in 1962
CL- Ernie Camacho - 23 Saves for the 1984 Indians

Blog Kiosk: 6/21/2009

Yes, I'm on twitter.

• AAA All-Star Game voting is going on now. Go here and vote for the Isotopes and vote often.
• Cards in the Attic has pics of the 2009 Albuquerque Isotopes team set. Check them out here. See more pics from the set and the game they were handed out here at Dinged Corners.
• Manny to the Isotopes.
  
• Nice, GCRL makes a Mitch Jones Goose Joak card. Check out the other Goose Joak Original Baseball cards of Dodger players here.
• Wax Heaven has some previews of Upper Deck's 2009 Sweep Spot set. All I got to say is that I would kill for this Jordan autograph.
• Check out the Congressional Baseball Game between the Democrats and Republicans.

  THE DEMOCRATS WERE SO INTO IT, on the Democratic side! This made them infinitely more annoying than the Republicans, who were just trying to get through the day, as usual. Not even joking, these Dem staffers broke into MANY loud, smug group chants of “Yes We Can,” when they weren’t heckling “EAAAARRRRMAAARRRKS” instead.

• Great Rivalry Video.

YouTube Video Link: FATMIME: