Card of the Week:

Most fans and collectors only look at the front of the cards, then put them in plastic boxes or sleeves only to never be seen again. Not I. I like to inspect cards. I look at the photography and wonder what's going on in the play or what was the guy thinking when he made that face. I flip the card over and review the stats. I go through the description. I used to love the little cartoons once found on nearly every Topps card made. Now, it is a rarity if a card includes such artwork. I do love that many cards now feature photos on the reverse. Which brings up this weeks "Card of the Week."

Above is a 1993 Upper Deck card of former Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina that has a funny photo with 2 other teammates on the reverse. They are wearing t-shirts with the words "Frick... Frack... And Hack..." Unfortunately, I can't figure out who the other 2 players are, so if you know please pass that along.

Blog Kiosk: 5/17/2009

OK. So who jinxed Kershaw?

• Tony Jackson has just joined LA Dodger Talk.
  
• Big Brother in Baseball.

  What few, if any, of them reporting to their training camp in Tampa knew was that the Yankees — and every other major league team — had assigned someone in the organization to monitor them discreetly from the time they were notified of a test until they produced a urine sample, sometimes hours later.

• Jack Kerouac was a Roto-Baseball fanatic.

  He obsessively played a fantasy baseball game of his own invention, charting the exploits of made-up players like Wino Love, Warby Pepper, Heinie Twiett, Phegus Cody and Zagg Parker, who toiled on imaginary teams named either for cars (the Pittsburgh Plymouths and New York Chevvies, for example) or for colors (the Boston Grays and Cincinnati Blacks). He collected their stats, analyzed their performances and, as a teenager, when he played most ardently, wrote about them in homemade newsletters and broadsides. He even covered financial news and imaginary contract disputes.

• I love collectibles like this. This lady has a giant quilt with 135 embroidered autographs; including one from our old skipper Tommy Lasorda.

  “I didn’t go into it with any expectations,” she recalled. “I had no idea it was an impossibility. The ballplayers weren’t charging for their autographs then.”
  Balls and strikes didn’t appeal to Brown, but she didn’t go in with eyes closed. Each note was handwritten specifically to the player or manager, and the message was simple. “I told them I was making a quilt for my son,” Brown said. “I did it on faith.”

  Hat Tip: SCD:
• This video is just awsome and is a must see for the collector in all of us.

Hat Tip: Big League Stew:

A Online Trade with Garvey Cey Russell Lopes

I am rediscovering a joy I last experienced as a child.

Recently, I completed a online trade with the proprietor of the Garvey Cey Russell Lopes Blog. He was working on completing a 1989 Upper Deck set and had a long list of cards needed for completion. Fortunately, I have a giant box filled with commons from that set- easily some 4500 cards total. So, I traded any and all cards I had from his list and he passed along some Dodger cards to add to my collection. As I've written in the past, my current collection consist of mostly older/ vintage Baseball cards, so I have very few modern issued cards of Dodger players.

Below is a sample of the bounty GCRL passed along. Thanks Bro!

BTW, anybody else wanna trade? I have tons of cards, mostly from 1986 to 1993, some much older vintage items, unopened boxes, sets and a bunch of oddball oddities.

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Here are 3 vintage players that were pass along. On the left is a 2001 Upper Deck Cooperstown Collection card of Pee Wee Reese. My favorite, though, is the Carl Erskine in the middle. It's a modern card made after the vintage 1955 Topps set.

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If you are interested in knowing what the 2009 Topps cards look like for this season, well, here they are above. I'm not entirely impressed with the design. On the other hand, the card of Pierre making the diving catch is pretty nice.

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Now that you've had a chance to see this years Topps card, now check out Upper Deck's 2009 Baseball cards above. Here is Jeff Kent's last card, Chin-Lung Hu and a Juan Pierre in a well worn uniform.

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Stadium Club has always been one of my favorite card sets because of their outstanding photography. The Devon White and Kevin Brown 2000 Stadium Club versions do not disappoint.

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Above are 2001 Topps Heritage cards of Darren Dreifort and Chan Ho Park. These cards borrow the vintage design from the 1952 Topps set. Below, the Eric Karros and Todd Hollandsworth cards are from Fleer's 2000 Tradition set that borrow its design from Topps 1954 set.

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Rehashing old designs for modern sets is quite popular. Below is Upper Deck's 2008 Goudey cards of Hu, Chad Billingsley and the outfielder who I refuse to ever think about again. The original Goudey sets were made in the 1930's.

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Below are 2 examples from Topps 2009 Heritage card set that borrow it's design from the Topps 1960 set.

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Last but not least are two cards of Karros and Chan Ho Park from the 2001 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia set. Until recently, I had never heard of this card company.

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Collection: 1984 Union Oil Most Memorable Moments: The 10th Player

Here is the last and possibly most important of the 15 collectible sheets I have been highlighting these past couple of weeks from the 1984 Union Oil Most Memorable Moments set. Here they celebrate the 10th player- the fans. As the reverse states:

"...Dodger fans showed that wherever they are- at the ballpark, at the beaches, in the mountains in the deserts or in their homes- they are as much a part of the team as the players, and the "10th Player" is the reason these moments in Los Angeles Dodgers history have been so memorable."

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Artwork by Richard Farrell.

Check out the rest of the set here in my photoalbum, or the following link with my post about each sheet.

Blog Bat Around: Why Do I Do What I Do?

Here we go again. It is time for the 6th Blog Bat Around. As some of you may know this is an opportunity for bloggers who write about sports collectibles and cards to share a little bit about themselves. This time Gellman at Sportscards Uncensored gets it started. He ask a very simple question. Why do I blog and why collectibles?

Once upon a time I was trudging along in the internet wilderness when I came across these websites folks were calling blogs. They were diary-like ramblings for all to see. Subject matters was varied- from politics to food to sports. I suddenly found myself hooked and addicted to many once unknown writers and their thoughts.

Then I discovered blogger and realized that making my own blog was easier than making an apple pie, so, I jumped head first into that brave new world. Initially I was unsure about what I would write about. Then, the answer became obvious. My very first post in April 2006 tells the story.

OK.. so i'm sitting here at the office think'n... ya know, I should make a blog... but about what? I ask myself... Well... I love the Dodgers ... and Baseball... and i'm a fanatical collector of everything Dodgers.. so... why not mix the two... I should express my insane thoughts about the Dodgers and their chances for greatness this year with my passion for buying anything Dodgers... am I sick or twisted or what?????

And that is it. I was bored with probably far too much free time. I had all of this excess energy that always seemed to focus on my childhood passion for the Dodgers and collecting. So, blogging about those two things was only natural.

Gellman also ask what is our favorite post. Well, there are 2 different post that I really enjoyed writing. One had to do with my love and respect for voting and another is a fantasy driven post featuring a crush I've had since puberty and one of the most incredible evenings of my life at Dodger Stadium. Check them out here and here.

eBay: Finding Solace

Amid all of the rancor and disappointment felt by the Dodger Nation over the past week we can at least sit back on our couch and enjoy that shelf of collectibles you have sitting in the corner. Heck, you can even window shop at a store called eBay to check out some some Dodger items you've never seen before.

Below is one of those items. Here is a vintage 1960's LA Dodgers doll that stands 11 inches tall and appears to be in fair condition- it has some staining on the front. This doll made its way to Washington, but is begging to come home to the southland. With just a few hours left in the auction (as of this posting) it is begging for a bidder.

Auction Link: 1960's Dodger Doll:

At flea markets, garage sales and on eBay you can find a whole bunch of vintage store model Baseball gloves to enjoy, play with or display. Rarely do you find a vintage glove with the original box that dates to 1955. This auction features just that. Here is a store model Baseball glove that remains in pristine condition and in it's original box of Dodger Billy Loes. It sold for $51.00.

Auction Link: Billy Loes Vintage Glove with Box:

Every once in awhile you run into vintage photographic slides for sale on eBay. Here is an example of a great action shot featuring the Sandy Koufax on the mound. What's great about this photo is that it appears Sandy is reaching for a ball that has been hammered his way by the batter. I wonder if he was able to snag it? It sold for $31.00.

Auction Link: Koufax Color Slide:

Here is another great looking late 1950's press photo of Hall of Famer Don Drysdale. He is in a classic follow-through pose. It sold for an affordable $19.00.

Auction Link: Drysdale Brooklyn Photo: