News From the National

As some of you hardcore Sports collectors already know, this weekend is the 30th annual National Sports Collectors Convention being held in Cleveland, OH. The opening sneak peek was held last night. Once again, I am left to wallow at home as others get to enjoy the most important event of the year for sports collectors. So, instead of sulking I will pass along some great links of others who are in attendance.

• JamesRyanJ shares a free poster featuring T206 cards. He also has other pics in his TwitPic album which I am sure will be added to throughout the weekend.
• Sports Collectors Daily has a handful of pics from the sneak peek.
• Check out this podcast with Scott Pruscha and Panini. (Hat Tip: Twitter:TheCardTweet)
  
• MUST GO HERE! SportsAntiques.com once again will post a bunch of pics (I mean a whole bucketload) from the National. See them here. Throughout the week this site should be the first place you go to as it will be constantly updated.
• UPDATE. How could I forget about Beckett. They will be posting all week from the National and already have several videos available from Cleveland. Check them all out here. In fact, check out all of their YouTube Videos from the event here.
  

YouTube Link: BecketNational30:

Sherrill a Dodger

It appears that the Dodgers have shored up their relief staff with the addition of Orioles left handed closer George Sherrill. Of course, this is still pending official confirmation.

MLB.com's Ken Gurnick reports that the Dodgers acquired George Sherrill for Josh Bell and righty Steve Johnson.

This is a great pick-up. He should add some depth and solidify an already good bullpen- they just need a little help to get us over the hump.

Hat Tip: MLBTradeRumors:

Thank You, Henry Chadwick

(pic Link: HenryChadwick.com)

For those whose morning ritual includes scanning through the sports page of your daily newspaper to find the box scores, today is your opportunity to give thanks. 150 years ago the original Baseball historian, Henry Chadwick, invented the box score.

He is credited with devising the baseball box score (which he adapted from the cricket scorecard) for reporting game events. The first box score was a grid with nine rows for players and nine columns for innings. The original box scores also created the often puzzling abbreviation for strikeout as "K" - "K" being the last letter of "struck" in "struck out." The basic format and structure of the box score has changed little since the earliest of ones designed by Chadwick. He is also credited with devising such statistical measures as batting average and ERA.

(pic link: sorabji.com)

The above plaque is from his grave in Brooklyn, New York. Check out this link to see the rest of his burial site. It is adorned with Baseball equipment and memorabilia.

Story Link: NPR:
Hat Tip: NPRTwitter:

eBay: Ginter Manny

Here is another Allen & Ginter rarity currently up for auction on eBay. Below is a "1 of 1" sketch card drawn by famed sports artist Dick Perez of Manny Ramirez. You may know Perez from his artwork that was a regular feature in Donruss Baseball sets in the 80's and a collaborative postcard series created with Frank and Peggy Steele called Perez-Steele postcards. The below card has 3 days left and is already up to $635.99.

eBay Auction Link: Manny Perez Drawing:

This is a Reasonable Trade

(pic Link: joesttmandipautographs)

After all of the ridiculous trade rumors I've heard this one makes much more sense. MLB Trade Rumors suggest (via Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse) that the Dodgers have narrowed their interest towards Orioles reliever George Sherrill.

The O's, in turn, have been looking at LHP prospect Scott Elbert, "but have reservations about him." Elbert missed just about the entire 2007 season with shoulder surgery, but has recovered nicely to strike out 20 batters in 17.1 big league innings.

Card of the Week: Panoramic Views

The 1992 Topps set remains one of my favorite all-time sets. Not because of the design on the front of the card, but because of a nicely added touch on the reverse. Every player (as long as there is enough room) has below their statistics a panoramic view of their teams home stadium. Above is a Dodger Stadium in all its majesty. What's even better is that it shows Dodger Stadium before all of the changes and improvements done to shorten foul territory and add more expensive seats. I had almost forgotten how much acreage existed behind home plate. BTW, if I'm not mistaken, this is Eric Karros's rookie card. I always loved how Topps put complete stats; including minor league information, on the backs.