Collection: N28 Jack Dempsey

Don't mistake this 19th century boxer for the Manassa Mauler who shares the same name. This Jack Dempsey was born over 30 years earlier. He may not be as famous as the champion from the 1920's, but he was just as good- if not better. Heck, in his day he was one of most popular pugilist in America and was nicknamed Nonpareil because no one could beat him. Dempsey was noted for his craftiness in the ring and his mastery as a ring general. He often fought others who outweighed him by as much as 25 lbs. and was believed to be so good that he could handily beat heavyweight John L. Sullivan.

Nonpareil was a bare-knuckle brawler who won his first fight in 1883 and didn't lose until 1889. Although that loss was in dispute since he got clocked by an illegal backhanded punch by George LaBranche. His first real defeat occurred 2 years later to Bob Fitzsimmons when he lost the World Middleweight Championship. Most believe that by this time he was well past his prime and suffering from a losing battle with tuberculosis. I've read that he had to be knocked down up to 14 times before he was officially knocked out. In 65 career matches he lost only 3 times.

It was said of him that,

"His style and method of boxing has a neatness about it … He stops blows aimed at him by his adversaries with so much skill, and hits his antagonist with such terrific force and comparative ease, that he astonishes and terrifies his opponents beyond measure … those ambitious to win the title of the middleweight champion are soon convinced of his superior knowledge and athletic prowess".

Above is his 1887 N28 Allen & Ginter card from my collection.

eBay: Opening Day 1955

Here is an original press photo of the ceremonial first ball thrown out during the opening game of the 1955 season at Ebbets Field. Brooklyn Borough President Cashman is accompanied by Dodger manager Walter Alston. I always get a kick out of the hats folks wore back then. Found via eBay.

(eBay Auction Link)

Collection: N28 Oarsmen

Was rowing so popular back in the 1880's that it warranted having 10 cards within the original Allen & Ginter set? My goodness, it's hard to believe this was that large of a spectator sport. Here are the 10 oarsmen in my set. Click any of the pics to enlarge them. One of these days I'm gonna replace that Ed Hanlan on the top right.

(click any pic to enlarge)

Hey! Tomorrow Night is LA Kings Night

Did you know it was LA Kings Night tomorrow? I didn't. Thankfully, the Dodgers PR folks sent a helpful reminder. Even better, some former Kings will be on hand to sign for fans, and team captain Dustin Brown and defenseman Matt Greene will be throwing out the first pitch. Being an avid Kings junkie I just had to pass this along.

For this upcoming event they should dub Dodgertown to Kingstown- just for me.

WHAT: The Los Angeles Dodgers will host L.A. Kings Night tomorrow and fans who sit in the dedicated Dodgertown, Kings section will receive L.A. Kings T-shirts and an all-you-can-eat menu including pastrami sandwiches, kettle-style potato chips and kosher-style pickles.

Kings Captain Dustin Brown and Assistant Captain Matt Greene will throw out a ceremonial first pitch accompanied by the Kings Ice Crew and mascot Bailey. Kings alumni Daryl Evans, Ian Turnbull, Jamie Storr and Brad Norton will be on hand for autographs and pictures in the My Town section.

Before getting to their seats fans can stop by the Ice Rider, the Kings mobile marketing vehicle, in the Dodger Stadium parking lot.

MISC: The Dodgers and Kings have worked together on numerous initiatives in the past, including several puck drops, ceremonial first pitches and other events.

To purchase tickets to sit in Dodgertown, Kings, visit www.dodgers.com/mytown.

Allen & Ginter: Some 1 of 1's

One of the great things about the modern Allen & Ginter release are the scarce inserts that are considered 1 of 1 cards. Personally, I've never pulled anything that rare in all of my years of breaking open packs, but that doesn't keep me from trying. Yes, Baseball cards is a lot like playing the lottery.

Since I doubt I will ever, by chance, pull one of these I figured the best I could do is search them out and post some of the rarities here. First, each card in the set has mini printing plates inserted for each player. Below is Matt Kemp's yellow printing plate. It recently sold for a seemingly tame $36.65 on eBay. Another one is on eBay- this time the cyan printing plate.
Each mini card in the set also has silk reproductions. Now, these are not "1 of 1's", but are limited to only 10 each. Below is a Jonathan Broxton silk card. Also, wooden reproductions are also available for each mini card, but I have yet to see a Dodger pop up.
Now here are the real doozies. Allen & Ginter has included "1 of 1" DNA/Hair relic cards in packs, and some of them have already been pulled. Below is Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis with a high price tag of $7,999.99 on eBay.
Or how about a strand of hair from good ol' Abe Lincoln.The coolest "1 of 1" to show up is clearly this jumbo box topper nameplate card. It is a rather large piece of one of Tony Hawk's skateboards. It recently sold on eBay at $700.67.

Seeing More of Manny's Ride

As I wrote about previously here, Manny has donated his 1994 Porsche 911 Turbo 964 to both ThinkCure! and Maryvale (a residential placement home for girls). Well, it is now up on eBay. Go ahead and check it out here.