Collection: N28 1887 Allen & Ginter- A Couple of Billiard Players

With the Allen & Ginter frenzy in full swing I thought I would add to the madness by sharing some of my vintage N28's here. This is a set I have been working on for many years- longer than I can remember. In total, it consist of 50 cards and features everything from Baseball players to oarsman, boxers and even billiard players. My own, yet to be completed set, is missing just 7 cards. Unfortunately, they are the most expensive ones- the Baseball players. On the plus side, I really don't worry about condition. So, I can keep the overall cost of my endeavor down. Still, some of the cards are fairly sharp, especially those considered commons.

Above are two cards in my set. They are billiard players William Sexton and Maurice Vignaux. These two masters knew each other well. In 1875 Frenchman Vignaux won the Collender Challenge Cup in America. As was expected at the time, the trophy would stay stateside, but Maurice had other plans. He left for France with the trophy in tow. Expectedly, this caused quite a stir. So, William Sexton was tapped to head to Europe to reclaim it. In 1876 they finally faced off, and under some controversy, Sexton lost. Till his final days he always believed he was robbed. In fact, American expatriates in France thought the same thing and made up a purse to reward him for his efforts. Only after being convinced that no Frenchman contributed did he accept the prize.

T206 Brooklyn Dodgers: Zack Wheat

This is the last card left from my feature on T206 Brooklyn players. So, I decided to leave the best player for last. Zach Wheat was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1959. He spent 18 of his 19 Major League seasons with the Brooklyn Superbas and is noted for being a consistent hitter and a graceful fielder. Over his career he batted over .300 14 times, recorded a lifetime batting average of .317, 2884 hits (a Dodger franchise record), and 4996 putouts as an outfielder (good enough for 18th all-time). He walked a total of 650 times, but only struck out 559 times. In 1925 he batted an astounding .375, but lost the batting title to Roger Hornsby who batted .424.

Zach Wheat currently hold the Dodger franchise record for games played, at-bats, hits, doubles, triples, and total bases. He is second behind Duke Snider in RBI's. His defense, though, was what he was really known for.

"What Lajoie was to infielders, Zach Wheat is to outfielders, the finest mechanical craftsman of them all," Baseball Magazine crowed in 1917. "Wheat is the easiest, most graceful of outfielders with no close rivals."

Check out SABR's great biography written by Eric Enders. The best line in Eric's story is the last one.

Shortly before his death he was asked if he had any advice for youngsters with ballplaying aspirations. "Yes," he said. "Tell them to learn to chew tobacco."

2010 Allen & Ginters: More Dodger Inserts

Here are a whole bunch more Dodger insert cards from the Allen & Ginter set; including the gawd awful Andre Ethier sketch card I wrote previously about here.

2010 Baseball Highlight Sketches card. Andre is the only Dodger in this subset. Damn this is ugly!

Andre Ethier, #11

RIP cards have become a very scarce and popular insert within Allen & Ginter. They literally have a mini card hidden inside of them. All you have to do is pull the tab on the back of the card to break the seal in order to pull out a limited edition mini card. 6 Dodgers have their own RIP card with 2 possible mini Dodgers available.

James Loney, #RC35
Manny Ramirez, #RC41

Unfortunately I have yet to see one as of this posting.

Russell Martin, #RC43

Chad Billingsley, #RC54

Clayton Kershaw, #68

Jonathon Broxton, #RC92

Here are the two Dodgers available as short printed mini RIP cards. They are Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp.

Andre Ethier, #369

Matt Kemp, #400

Card of the Week: A Vintage Allen & Ginter

With the recent unveiling of this years Topps Allen & Ginter set I thought that an actual vintage A&G would make a good "Card of the Week". Above is my 1887 N28 Allen & Ginter card of master shooter and rifleman Annie Oakley. It's far from being in mint condition, but at least I can say it's mine.

ThinkCure!: Buy Manny's Porsche

You too can be like Manny by driving Manny's ride. He has donated his 1994 Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe 3.6 to ThinkCure!

Dodger outfielder Manny Ramirez has donated a rare 1994 911 Porsche Turbo 3.6 to be auctioned off for charity, the team announced today. Proceeds from the online auction will be split between ThinkCure!, the Dodgers’ official charity, and Maryvale, a local residential placement home for girls formerly known as The Los Angeles Orphan Asylum.

The online auction will take place at www.thinkcure.org/manny and will run from tomorrow, July 2 at 11 a.m. through Monday, July 12 at 11:00 a.m.

The 1994 red 911 Turbo coupe with grey leather interior has logged just 34,569 miles and was recently appraised for more than $58,000.

Porsche released the 964 Turbo 3.6 in January, 1993, featuring a turbocharged version of the 3.6 litre M64 engine and producing 360 PS (260 kW; 360 hp) @ 5500 rpm. The 3.6 litre powered Turbo was produced only for model year 1993/1994, with fewer than 1,500 of them produced in total, making it one of the rarest and most sought after Porsches produced since the 959.

Ramirez donated the car to ThinkCure!, but it was also his desire that the proceeds be shared with a center that specifically helps displaced children. Per his wish, half of the proceeds will be given to Maryvale in Rosemead , a local residential placement home for girls which originated 154 years ago as The Los Angeles Orphan Asylum. It was established by the Daughters of Charity to care for the growing number of orphaned children living on the streets of the then-El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de Los Angeles .

(Photo Credit: Jon SooHoo)

2010 Allen & Ginters: Some Dodger Inserts

As you may already know, Topps 2010 Allen & Ginter Baseball card set is officially out. This is one of the more popular, and one of my favorite, card set franchises they have ever produced. It consist of numerous inserts, mini cards and oddball non-sports subjects. They mimic the vintage design of the 1887-1888 Allen & Ginter tobacco card sets. Over the next few days I'll post up as many different Dodger cards as I can muster, so stay tuned.

I'll start with some notable Dodger inserts. Here are the 2010 This Day in History insert cards. They feature a players birth date and a historical event that occurred on that day. Only 3 Dodgers are in this subset.

Andre Ethier, #TDH12

On Andre's birthday, April 10, the first 3D film premiers.

Jonathan Broxton, #TDH43

On June 16th, Jonathan Broxton's birthday, Coney Island opened America's very first roller coaster. It was called the Railway Switchback.

Manny Ramirez, #TDH15

On Manny's birthday, May 30th, New York recorded its very first car accident. Is this a bit of unwanted commentary on the part of Topps?

For the game-used relics Topps Allen & Ginter places the mini cards in a red bordered plastic frame. I guess they don't want you to damage the card. Only two Dodgers are featured- Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier.

Matt Kemp, #AGR-MK

Andre Ethier, #AGR-AE

They also frame inserted autographs. Below is the Clayton Kershaw, but the Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier cannot be found in packs. They only provide a redemption card, so no picture is available at this time.

Clayton Kershaw, #AGA-CK