Dodgers Tour of Japan, 1956

A big thanks to Bob Wong for allowing me to post these picks. They are from the Dodgers 1956 Tour of Japan and come directly from color slides. Photos were originally posted at the Net54Baseball message board.

Update: Go to Walter O'Malley.com for some additional information about this historic trip- complete with even more pictures.

Roy Campanella

Don Demeter

Ralph Branca

Gil Hodges

Billy Herman and Jackie Robinson

Duke Snider

Card of the Week: Bunyan's Bat

Sometimes all you need is a bigger bat which Brett Butler shows in his 1993 Upper Deck Fun Packs card featured above. It is this weeks "Card of the Week." I don't actually have this card in my collection, but I saw this at Night Owl Cards blog last week and knew it was a winner.

An Unassisted Triple Play

I guess Seth Swirsky is gonna have to get another autograph on his ball.

Eric Bruntlett, of the Phillies, completed the Majors 15th unassisted triple pay today. He even did it in style as it was a game ending walk-off triple play.

(Hat Tip: Walk of Walk)

Check out this video of the event.

Video Link: Thefightins:

Blog Kiosk: 8/23/2009

I really feel our pitching is fine. It's the offense that needs to get going again.

• Check out this great custom card of Matt Kemp on a 1991 Topps Baseball design at Goose Joak. Also, check out this blog dedicated solely to homemade cards called the Custom Card Blog.
• Bob Lemke has a blog. Check it out. He is a giant in the hobby and a editor of the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards.
  
• Nice pull! Beckett tells us about a rare 1of1 dual cut signature card recently pulled out of a box of 2008 Topps Co-Signers Baseball featuring Marinus Willett, a captain during the Revolutionary War and notably New York City’s first Mayor, and Jedidiah Huntington, a brigadier general during the war. These historical cards and signatures in Baseball packs is pretty cool.
• Night Owl Cards puts together the Baseball All-Dog Nickname Team.
• Football- celebrity look alike's from NFLJuice.com.
  
• Bryce Harper, the teenage phenom from Las Vegas who plans to drop out of high school in hopes of entering the draft early, has a Baseball card from the AFLAC All-American Baseball Classic held in San Diego recently.
• Here is a video of Russell Martin's Thursday night Grand Slam. (Hat Tip: Reflections of Blue)

YouTube Link: dodgerfilms:

ITPC: Rare Brooklyn Memorabilia

Inside the Park Collectibles has some great vintage Dodger memorabilia worth a long look in their current Summer auction.

As I'm sure you've read in ad nauseam, the Brooklyn faithful hoped and prayed diligently to keep their team in the borough. Unfortunately for them it was all for naught. They eventually moved westward towards a more sunny destination. In the citywide campaign to keep the boys in Blue in town fans did all they could. They rallied and protested. They even wore pins like a delegate at a political convention that expressed their desire to keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn. Below is one of those pins. It is rare and highly sought after. After all, after the team left town I am sure most Brooklynites quickly threw this in the round-file. As of this writing it is already at $666.00.

Auction Link: Dodger Pin:

Here is a phenomenal 1950's Gibbs-Connor Brooklyn Dodger "Bum" lamp. It measure 28" tall and is beyond rare. I would guess that only a handful exist. In fact, this is the first time I have seen one of these.

It features the Dodgers mascot bum holding onto a lamp post. On the top of the post the street sign reads "Ebbets Field"(the light works). In his other hand he holds a baseball bat. He is standing on a base which has a very light hairline in the back (cannot be seen when displayed). The is a push button switch on the bottom of the lamp post to turn the light on at the top of the pole.

It is already up to $5,363.00.

Auction Link: Brooklyn Mascot:

Below is a 1940's music sheet for a song titled, "Why do they all pick on Brooklyn?" Manager Leo Durocher is featured prominently on the cover

Auction Link: 1940's Music Sheet:

In 1956 Dairy Queen handed out these mini plastic statues to fans and patrons with a purchase of ice cream. They are kind of like prizes from a Cracker Jack box or a kids happy meal. Below are statues for Roy Campanella and Pee Wee Reese.

Auction Link: 1956 Dairy Queens:

Vintage Collectible Commercials

A recent twitter post by Upper Deck got me searching a bit for some old-time vintage card/ collectible commercials from my youth. Check them out below.

YouTube Link: 1987Hawkeyes:

Does anybody remember this game that used over-sized 1989 Topps cards? Neither do I.

YouTube Link: milwaukeetvmadmen:

Check out this 1992 Donruss commercial.

YouTube Link: Musicluvr76:

How About a 1960's Post Cereal commercial featuring Mickey Mantle and Post Baseball cards.

YouTube Link: OldWorldTelevision:

Remember Sportscasters?

YouTube Link: rrunner81sg: