The Baseball Card Rap

This is a bit risque, but entertaining for the Baseball collector in you.

YouTube Link: mray11:

Card of the Week: The Impending Crash

In my opinion the 1991 Topps Baseball set is one of the nicest and most flawless card designs Topps has put out over the last 30 years. They really outdid themselves this year. Above is one of my favorite cards from the set. After all, you can't beat Carlton "Pudge" Fisk in the process of receiving the ball so that he can block the plate as a relatively small Cecil Fielder comes storming home. I'm not sure who the Tiger is in the background holding the bat, but I do know he is motioning for Fielder to slide. A collective gasp can be imagined from the crowd behind the play. Two big men are on a collision course sure to be felt from New York to Los Angeles. Of course, these star ballplayers will feel it the most. I can't help but wonder who got the better of each other.

Blog Kiosk: 6/28/2009

OK, I admit it. After one week I am now hopelessly addicted to twitter.

• Check out I Love This Game. Evan is a Albuquerque resident who is a Dodger fan. He also has a bunch of stuff on Manny's recent appearance in town.
  
• Check out some great Brooklyn Dodger photos via Life Magazine (Hat Tip: Twitter @Alyssa_Milano)
• Trader Crack's has photos of OPC's 1984 Michael Jackson set; including base cards and the puzzle set. Read Ryan's blog post about the set here.
• Check out Who Pooped.org.
  
• Just awesome! Check out Tim Carroll's artwork consisting of about a thousand cut-up commons. (Hat Tip: Sports Collectors Daily) This is titled "The Holy Grail."
• TS O'Connell writes about the recent Hall of Fame game in Cooperstown.
  
• The Topps Archives has a brief recap of the 1975 Bazooka Bubble Gum Blowing Chamionship.
• The Jackie Robinson Rotunda at CitiField.

Video Link:

Get Your Pink Bats Right Here

As a follow up to the always successful Mother's Day celebration at Baseball games this year you can now bid on game-used pink bats of your favorite players. Net proceeds go to Susan G. Komen For The Cure. Go here for a complete list of bats. You can get players like David Wright, Derek Jeter, ARod and even our favorite outfielder Andruw Jones. Below are the Dodger bats I came across- Juan Pierre, James Loney, Matt Kemp and Rafael Furcal. The coolest thing about these bats is you know the exact day they were used- May 10, 2009.

Juan Pierre
Juan Pierre had 3 hits in the game.

Auction Link: Pierre Mothers Day Bat:

James Loney
James Loney laid some goose eggs as he went 0 for 6.

Auction Link: Loney Mothers Day Bat:

Matt Kemp
This bat shows a great amount of use as ball marks can easily be seen on the barrel. Unfortunately, Kemp went 0 for 5. I guess he fouled off a bunch.

Auction Link: Kemp Mothers Day Bat:

Rafael Furcal
Rafael Furcal had one hit in six at-bats while driving in one.

Auction Link: Furcal Mothers Day Bat:

Hat Tip: Beckett:

Auction Recollections: Professional Baseball is Born

Once in awhile late at night as insomnia kicks in I'll be roaming around the internet and run into something interesting. Lately, I've noticed that many auction houses provide archived information on past offerings for collectors to search through. These listings are like virtual museums filled with sport history.

One recent evening, I came across an old REA auction from 2005 that I found amazing. A true museum piece. Below is a presentation case made in 1906 that was given to Henry Chadwick, the original Baseball historian, with a vintage trophy ball inside from the 1858 Fashion Course games. What is that you say?
Well, this 3 game series at the Fashion Race Course in Corona, Queens is considered the birth of professional Baseball. It was a match of all-star players from Brooklyn versus New York. This may be the birthplace of the rivalry between the Dodgers and Yankees. I jest, of course. Anyway, this event marks the very first time fans were charged an entrance fee to see a game. It was a charity event for New York area fire departments.

Prior to the Fashion Course all-star games of 1858, baseball was almost exclusively a private gentleman's sport of participation, which virtually excluded crowds as spectators of the game. Although the Fashion Race Course games had been organized for charity, their extraordinary success demonstrated for the first time to baseball entrepreneurs that fans would pay money just to see the finest players of the game compete. The success of the Fashion Course games was revolutionary. The game of baseball as a professional sport was born. By 1869 the Cincinnati Red Stockings would be fielding the first all-professional salaried team, touring the country to play the best teams in the nation before enthusiastic crowds of thousands of paying fans.

The trophy ball is decorated with gold paint and the following word drawn on:

"29 - All Brooklyn Nine. 8 - All New York Nine. Fashion Race Course Long Island N.Y. Match Aug. 17, 1858 Umpire - J. Bache Excelsior - H. Chadwick - scorer."

It comes from game 2 of the series in which Brooklyn walloped New York 29 to 8. Unfortunately, New York won the first and third game to take the crown. (What else is new?) Trophy balls from the other two games currently reside in the vaults of the Hall of Fame. Read he entire auction description here.

This amazing piece sold for an incredible $498,800.00.

Auction Link: 1858 Trophy Ball:

MannyVision III & Some Other Dodger Videos

More of Manny in Albuquerque.

YouTube Link: Ace505:

Part 2.

YouTube Link: Ace505:

Upper Deck's video of Loney, Billingsley and Broxton's recent signing at their HB store.

YouTube Link: UpperDeckRetail:

OK. This crazy dude is called "Rental Man." He goes to just about every Southland sporting event, usually in costume, to dance. He bugs me, but some folks find him hilarious.

YouTube Link: lukedogg: