Congrats Andre and Jonathan

Andre Ethier and Jonathan Broxton make the All-Star Team. Congrats guys!

Blog Kiosk: 7/4/2010

Happy Independence Day!

• A Tommy Lasorda bobblehead available in Albuquerque, via New Mexico Fan.
• Remember when the Dodgers got in trouble, after the fact, for signing Adrian Beltre? Well, Beltre recalls the whole sordid affair at WEEI. (Hat Tip: MLB Trade Rumors)
• Dodger Blue Blog finds the Dodger Mickey.
• Zach visits Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Puerto Rico.
• Congress passed a resolution congratulating the Chicago Blackhawks on their Stanley Cup victory. 5 congressman voted against it, via Second City Hockey.
• The next card craze frenzy may soon begin. The Bryce Harper Bowman Superfractor has just been pulled, Via Freedom Cardboard.
• The red bordered autographed Strasburg card was pulled off of eBay and will be landing at Huggins and Scott Auctions in July. I guess he got frustrated with all of the fake bids on eBay that rose to as high as $500k.
• A Jib Jab July 4th.

YouTube Link:

2010 Allen & Ginters: Dodger Base Cards

Here are the Dodger base cards to the Allen & Ginter set. The last two cards of Broxton and Kuroda are short printed. Also, each card also have parallel mini's, black bordered mini cards, various different style backs, mini silks and mini printing plates inserted randomly in packs. Some of the backgrounds in the pics below came out a little yellow- they are suppose to be gray.

Rafael Furcal, #30

Chad Billingsley, #46
Matt Kemp, #62
Andre Ethier, #65
James Loney, #79
Russell Martin, #204
Manny Ramirez, #220
Clayton Kershaw, #275
Jonathon Broxton, #335
Hiroki Kuroda, #336

Collection: N28 The Riflemen

In the 1887 Allen & Ginter set there are 4 different riflemen; including a Annie Oakley I showcased earlier here. Above are the other 3- Captain A. H. Bogardus, Dr. W. F. Carver and Buffalo Bill Cody.

Captain Adam H. Bogardus was a world champion marksman, and is credited for popularizing trapshooting. In his day they would hurls glass balls in the air- much like how they send up clay disks today. One day in 1872 he hit 5,500 glass ball in 7 hours, 19 minutes and 2 seconds. Bogardus was also one-third owner of the Buffalo Bill Wild West show.

Dr. William F. Carver was a dentist prior to his ascendancy as a rifle marksman. He learned to shoot after moving out west and staking a claim in Nebraska. Carver even partnered up with Buffalo Bill Cody in a "Rocky Mountain and Prairie Exhibition" show before Cody started up his "Wild West" show. In 1894, in what I can only image was very cruel, he started a horse diving act. Yes, that's right. He trained horses to dive and traveled across the country till his death in 1927 with it. It was a popular exhibition in Coney Island and continued to exist until the 1970's when animal rights activist pressured its closing.

Buffalo Bill Cody was a popular and the most well known of western pioneers. He received the "Medal of Honor" in 1872 as a civilian scout for the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. His nickname came about from his job supplying Buffalo meat to workers of the Kansas Pacific Railroad. Popular culture remembers him for his "Wild West" show that featured shooting, horsemanship and Indians.

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."