Attic Find: Detective Comics #27

After this season I decided to take a little break from all things Dodgers. It was time to clear my head and prepare to look forward to the future. Needless to say, this has been one of the more frustrating seasons I have ever experienced. Of course, my despair over the season hasn't stopped me from seeking out important hobby news. Today, I find that a very rare copy of Detective Comics #27, featuring Batman for the first time, was recently found in an attic. Literally, in the attic!

Collector Todd McDevitt said the Batman issue he bought is worth about $250,000, but he won't say exactly how much he paid or who sold it to him.

"It was a typical story of someone cleaning up junk in their attic and finding an old comic book and wondering if this was one of those ones that was worth a lot of money," McDevitt told the Beaver County Times.

McDevitt, owner of the Pittsburgh region's five New Dimension Comics stores, said he has been saving money since 1986 so that he could buy a valuable comic when it appeared.

When the seller walked in with the Batman issue, "my eyes almost popped out of my head," McDevitt said.

"I guess I should have been more reserved, but I'm not a very good poker player," he said.

Experts estimate there are between 20 and a few hundred copies of the Batman debut.

One of these days, I'm gonna find treasure just like this.

Hat Tip: Oliver Willis:
Story Link: AP:

Can't We All Get Along

As the Dodgers end the season in a ball of flames the usual suspects fly in like scavengers pecking at a rotting body. All I can say is Plaschke is an idiot. There is no other way to say it. In fact, there is no reason for me to elaborate. Plenty of other folks have also chimed in, so it's hard for me add anything more substantive. So take some time to read Jon, Rob, SOSG, MSTI, Aaron, ToyCannon, Dodgerama and Molly Knight as she tries to redeem the LA Times.

What I will do is point out a rumor I first read on Rob's blog. There are whispers about a possible Kemp & Kershaw for Johan Santana trade. Like Dodgerama I don't know what to think about this. I almost feel like we would be giving up too much.

Finally, a big high five to Diamond Leung for trying to make us all laugh.

And because it's the first inning of a meaningless game, I wonder, what would Chris Crocker have said?

How dare anyone out there make fun of Grady after all he has been through! A Martinez said he lost his clubhouse, the kids, the veterans. He's a human! Leave Grady alone! All you people want is more, more, more, more. You are lucky he even sat on the bench 162 games for you. LEAVE GRADY ALONE! Please. Anyone that has a problem with him you deal with me, because he is not doing well right now. LEAVE HIM ALONE! Sniffle.

Furcal, Broxton and a Little Bit of Gagne

Kevin Hench of Fox Sports tells us the that the real culprits of this years disappointing season is Jonathon Broxton and Rafael Furcal. To which I wince and think to myself, "What is he talking about?"

After posting a 0.69 ERA in July and a 1.13 ERA August, the wheels came off for Broxton in September, contributing mightily to the Dodgers' swoon. In 12 September appearances, covering a mere nine innings, Broxton has been lit up for nine runs. September is not when you want your setup man's ERA to octuple. He gave up two runs in each of three separate losses in a four-day span before being shelved with a sore arm.

Broxton has been a shining light on what the future holds. Sure, he got hit hard at the end of the year, but much of that is due to a sore arm and a workload that exceeded career highs. Besides, as Jon Weisman wrote recently,

"(the) team's young players have been among its most productive,"

and Broxton is a part of that group.

Furcal is a different situation.

Furcal, whose personal late-season nosedive perfectly mirrored the team's collapse. Before being shelved with a back injury, Furcal was 14-for-76 (.184) with a puny .213 OBP in his last 80 plate appearances. His .224 slugging percentage over that span gave him a .437 OPS in what may be his last 19 games of the season.

He has been playing hurt all year and his stats show it. Should he have rested more to heal up? Probably, but I hardly blame him for this years growing pains.

At the end of the day, this years collapse can be squarely blamed on everybody. It was a team effort that saw inconsistent pitching, an inconsistent offense and managerial decisions that can be considered questionable. Fortunately, as Jon said,

"any idiot can see that the team's future is brighter than its past."

In other news Hench includes Gagne as one of this years great chokers.

He may have earned the win in Boston's playoff-clinching victory Saturday night,
but the man known throughout New England as Gag-me hasn't convinced anyone in
Red Sox Nation that he can get a big out in the playoffs. After posting a 1.32
ERA for the Rangers in the first half, he's seen that number spike to 7.36 in
the second half (7.88 for the Sox). He was scored on in seven of his first 14
appearances for Boston and three times he turned what looked like easy wins into
losses with major meltdowns in which he surrendered three or more runs.

All I can say is good luck in the playoffs, and good luck to Boras as he tries to get him a huge contract.

Truckin'

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me;
Other times, I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me ...
What a long, strange trip it's been.

What an exasperating year this has been. From injuries to triumphs, the ups and downs, the Dodgers seemed doomed from the start, but hopeful that everything would turn out o.k.

Everything did start well enough. Free agency brought us Jason Schmidt, Randy Wolf and Luis Gonzales. Nomar re-signed for another term. JD Drew left for Boston to the claps and cheers of the Dodger faithful. Our rookies where looking better than anyone imagined.

Then, a dark cloud popped out from behind the shadows. Repko and Furcal were injured on the same freak play that resulted in Jason sitting the entire year and Rafael hobbling and limping at shortstop. Worries about Schmidt's velocity during the Spring ballooned into a season ending injury. Loney was sent back to the minors at the start of the season that caused some grumbling. Pierre had a difficult start to the season in centerfield. It took him a long time to traverse the expansive terrain of Chavez Ravine. Sometimes it looked like he could not see the ball off the bat at Dodger Stadium. Nomar was not entirely healthy. Betemit couldn't buy a hit. The year was not starting out on the right foot.

Somehow... Somehow, the Dodgers found a way to be competitive anyway. Billingsley showed that he is ready to be a full-time starter. Penny and Lowe proved to be a solid pitching tandem. Saito was not a one year wonder, and Broxton matured into a more reliable set-up man (the past couple of weeks notwithstanding). Kent continues to prove why he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Our rookies on the field continued to progress beyond our wildest expectations. James Loney, the disgruntled Texan, earned a full-time starting job at firstbase. Along with Russell, Ethier and Kemp they provide a solid foundation for the future.

Unfortunately, the future might have to wait for next year.

We started the day having lost a crushing doubleheader to the Rockies yesterday. Billingsley pitched an outstanding 5+ innings, having given up just two runs on 4 hits. Nevertheless, the Dodgers offense provided little help as the Blue Crew fell 3 to 1. Then the nightcap became a hitting bonanza. The Dodgers got 13 hits and scored 8 runs; including homers by Gonzales, Loney and Martin. They led going into the later innings, but saw their once solid bullpen give up 4 runs. The final nail the coffin was a walk-off two-run homer by Helton of Saito. It was a bad ending to a hopeful day.

Yesterday morning had so many opportunities. The Dodgers were 4 games back of the Diamondbacks in the division race, and only 3 games back of the Padres in the wild card race. Our playoff hopes were looking dim, but there was more than enough time to make it all up. Now, everything seems different. That glimmer of light is slowly burning out. The Dodgers are now 5.5 games behind Arizona and 4.5 games behind San Diego. There are 11 games left to go.

Is there still a chance of a late season revival? Of course there is! Baseball is a funny game where just about anything can happen. Is it likely or plausible that we will find the "Boys in Blue" playing in October? No, at this point we are probably done.

Truckin', I'm a goin' home.
whoa whoa baby, back where I belong,
Back home, sit down and patch my bones, and get back truckin' on.
Hey now get back truckin' home.

Pic Link: Agony & Ivy:
Lyrics above are from the Grateful Dead song Truckin', written by Robert Hunter.

Billingsley Comes Through: Group Hazing PIcture

Chad Billingsley's the man! He has come through in a big way. On his blog today he has posted a group photo of our happy hazed Dodgers.

Kemp's costume is outrageous. And who was Batman and Robin?

Thanks to Stacie D in the comments section for pointing out Chad's recent submission.

Chad Billingsley's Blog Link:

Ecko Wins Bonds Ball And Will Let Fans Decide What He Should Do With It

I wanted so badly to not have to bother writing about the sale of the Barry Bonds home run ball at the recently concluded SCP/ Sotheby's auction. I did briefly mention it when I wrote about the Del Crandall collection,but that was all I was going to do. Unfortunately, a unusual twist of events has caused me to relent and write anyway.

As most of you know the Ball sold for $752,467.20 ($902,960.64 with the Buyer's premium). This was much higher that I thought it would sell for. The Buyer was fashion designer Marc Ecko who has decided that the ball will be in all of our hands. We get to choose it's fate.

Ecko is offering three choices: Donate it as is to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.; brand it with an asterisk and donate it to the Hall of Fame; or put it on a rocket and blast it into space.

“I wanted ... to democratize the ball and to give the ball to the people, to give the ball to America.”

So check out his page for details and make your decision today. Hat Tip: SCD:
Vote 756.com Link: VOTE HERE: