"Ron Fairly, the hitting hero of the Dodger victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, 9/26, is given a Mexican-Style bear hug by teammate Al Ferrara in the dressing room after the game. Fairly's homer helped the Dodgers reduce their "Magic Number" to 3 with the 2-0 win."The Dodgers would eventually win the National League, but lose to Baltimore in the World Series.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
eBay Auction: La Cucaracha
Here is fun press photo found on eBay of Ron Fairly and Al Ferrara.
Blog Kiosk: 3/28/2010
All Dodgers, All of the time.
- You must read Chris and Alex Volk's story, of Dodgerfan.net fame, about official Dodger photographer Jon SooHoo, here and here.
- LA Dodger Talk tours Minor League camp at Camelback Ranch, Part 1. Part 2.
- Sunshine, who is an ardent Dodger fan, writes all about her visit to Padres Fan Fest.
- I totally endorse this post and photo from The Left Field Pavilion.
- This makes me want to puke. (Hat Tip: It's Time for Dodger BaseBlog)
- Here is a great write up about Sandy Koufax's evening at the Nokia Theater with Joe Torre from Behind Blue Eyes.
- Dodger Sims simulates the entire 2010 season and concludes that the Dodger will win the division. Hooray! Playoffs here we come!
- Alyssa Milano unveils her 2010 Spring collection and, I think, I just fell in love with her again. Ooh-La-La!
- Brian Akin, a Dodger farmhand and writer of the Dear (Tommy) John Letters blog, has been released. Good luck on your future. I hope you catch on with another team and continue writing your blog.
- GCRL gets a Chan Ho Park auto through the mail.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Hunt Auctions: The Kay 'O
I was never much of a model maker. I tried, believe me I tried, but I just didn't had the patience to do it right. It's one of those things I could never do. Anyway, I was checking out Hunt Auctions recent offerings and came across a nice vintage 1962 Revell Lockheed Electra II Dodger model airplane kit, HD-255. See it below.
It is an exact replica, minus the artistic accouterments that you must add yourself (ugh!), of the plane that shuttled the Dodger squad from 1962 to 1970. This particular model is very rare and was only available from the Dodgers marketing arm.
The real plane was purchase by Walter O'Malley in 1961 and was dubbed the "Kay 'O" in honor of his wife, Kay. It was the best there was for traveling nationwide. It was roomy and fast- even allowing them to fly from New York to Vero Beach twice in one day. Piloted by Capt. Harry R. "Bump" Holman, son of Bud Holman who convinced the Dodgers to spend their Springs in Vero Beach, it would soon be retired in 1970 when the Dodgers upgraded to a 720-B Fan Jet. That plane was called the "Kay 'O II." Below is a picture of the real "Kay 'O" from O'Malley's website.
I had seen the model once before during a card show several years ago at the hotel in Hollywood Park. It was a small show with not much to really look at, besides the typical stacks of commonly seen Baseball cards. I was disappointed. Then, as the show was coming to a close, I came across a table with only a handful of photos, cards and unopened boxes on a table and shelf unit. On the top shelf behind the seller was a box, like the one above. Suddenly I became elated as a unique collectible was in my sights. I asked to take a look and closely inspected the box and its contents. It looked perfect. My heart raced as I thought about putting it together- to try my hand at building like a child all over again. Then my memories of my past failures came to mind and I put the model down and passed on the purchase. I walked around some more and soon came to regret that decision. As folks were packing up to go home I walked back to that table only to find the seller had already left. My chance at conquering my model making deficiency had passed.
It is an exact replica, minus the artistic accouterments that you must add yourself (ugh!), of the plane that shuttled the Dodger squad from 1962 to 1970. This particular model is very rare and was only available from the Dodgers marketing arm.
The real plane was purchase by Walter O'Malley in 1961 and was dubbed the "Kay 'O" in honor of his wife, Kay. It was the best there was for traveling nationwide. It was roomy and fast- even allowing them to fly from New York to Vero Beach twice in one day. Piloted by Capt. Harry R. "Bump" Holman, son of Bud Holman who convinced the Dodgers to spend their Springs in Vero Beach, it would soon be retired in 1970 when the Dodgers upgraded to a 720-B Fan Jet. That plane was called the "Kay 'O II." Below is a picture of the real "Kay 'O" from O'Malley's website.
I had seen the model once before during a card show several years ago at the hotel in Hollywood Park. It was a small show with not much to really look at, besides the typical stacks of commonly seen Baseball cards. I was disappointed. Then, as the show was coming to a close, I came across a table with only a handful of photos, cards and unopened boxes on a table and shelf unit. On the top shelf behind the seller was a box, like the one above. Suddenly I became elated as a unique collectible was in my sights. I asked to take a look and closely inspected the box and its contents. It looked perfect. My heart raced as I thought about putting it together- to try my hand at building like a child all over again. Then my memories of my past failures came to mind and I put the model down and passed on the purchase. I walked around some more and soon came to regret that decision. As folks were packing up to go home I walked back to that table only to find the seller had already left. My chance at conquering my model making deficiency had passed.
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Friday, March 26, 2010
2010 Topps Tribute Jackie Preview
Via Beckett, Topps unveils some preview pics from their upcoming high-end card product called Topps Tribute. These are truly some super shiny cards that can blind a pilot from a couple of thousand miles away. Really, they are that shiny.Anyway, above is a preview of a Jackie Robinson cut signature card that a lucky collector will pull. The range of autos is fairly strong, as expected, with one truly mystical Yankee auto-book card out there to try to snag. Go to the Beckett site to see more pics. Below is what the base card will look like.
eBay Auction: Posing for Garvey
These are a couple of great pics of Steve Garvey in the midst of taking photos during work-out day at the 1990 All-Star game in Wrigley Field. This event happened after he retired so he must have been on hand at some kind of Old-Timers Day event. They come directly from the archives of the Chicago Sun Times, dated 7/9/1990.
Schooled by Mattingly
Don Mattingly was a great hitter in his day. Once dubbed "The Hit Man" he uncorked over 2,100 hits while batting .307 and slugging .471 in a career marred by injuries. Donnie Baseball had a sweet left handed swing that floated through the strike zone like an eagle soaring in the sky. It was beautiful to watch and glorious to experience first hand. It is no surprise that he would eventually become a batting coach in the Major Leagues in his post-Baseball playing years.
What is a surprise, though, is that he didn't become the lifetime Yankee hitting coach. He was beloved in that state and continues, to this day, to be loved by Yankee fans across the country. To the joy of Dodger Nation, we get to experience the wisdom and majesty of this fine Baseball professional. He is retooling and educating our fine young sluggers to make the most of their abilities at the plate. I think the continued progress of players like Kemp and Ethier is a testament to his knowledge, skills and abilities.
Now, due to his founding of an aluminum bat company called Mattingly Baseball Bats he is sharing some of his hitting secrets with all of us. He has a series of 7 different instructional youtube videos available to view.
Below is the Mental Approach to an At-Bat.
YouTube Video Link:
Others in the series include:
What is a surprise, though, is that he didn't become the lifetime Yankee hitting coach. He was beloved in that state and continues, to this day, to be loved by Yankee fans across the country. To the joy of Dodger Nation, we get to experience the wisdom and majesty of this fine Baseball professional. He is retooling and educating our fine young sluggers to make the most of their abilities at the plate. I think the continued progress of players like Kemp and Ethier is a testament to his knowledge, skills and abilities.
Now, due to his founding of an aluminum bat company called Mattingly Baseball Bats he is sharing some of his hitting secrets with all of us. He has a series of 7 different instructional youtube videos available to view.
Below is the Mental Approach to an At-Bat.
YouTube Video Link:
Others in the series include:
- Grip and Hand Position
- Stance and Position in the Box
- Stride and Weight Transfer
- Swing and Follow Through
- Avoid Strikeouts with Good Contact
- Mental Approach to Practice and Drills
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