Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A McCourt Update From SI

Here is a great updat from Sports Illustrated with a legal review of the situation.

Video Link:

Daily Conlon: 100 through 108

Here are the Daily Conlon cards numbered 100 through 108, and it's filled with nothing but Yankees. But not just any group of Yankees- members of the 1927 Yankees.

Often consider one of the greatest teams to ever be assembled, it featured "Murders' Row" of which Earle Combs (located in the center row, far right) was a member. These group of batsman were the meat of the lineup, for which all of Baseball feared, and consisted the first 6 batters in the Yankees arsenal. They were Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Muesel and Tony Lazzeri. These guys decimated the opposition. Once, after a July game against the Senators, Senators first baseman Joe Judge said,
“Those fellows not only beat you but they tear your heart out. I wish the season was over.”
By the end, they had finished with a 110-44 record (best ever in Baseball at the time and until 1954) with a 19 game lead over the second place A's. Gehrig established the record for most RBI's in a season at 175, Ruth set the single season home run record at 60 that would last for decades and the Yankees rolled over the hapless Pirates in a four game sweep to win the World Series. Go and check out this great fan made site glorifying this team right here. It's pretty good.

Blog Kiosk: 6/29/2011

Takin' a collection for payroll. (Pic Link: TwitPic @dmitsy)
  • Steve Garvey visited the Hall of Fame and received a special tour with his 12 year old son's Little League team, via Cooperstown Chatter.
  • I'm Ballsy picked up some nice Dodger autographed cards.
  • Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle shows off a card I've never seen before- a 1994 Leaf Slideshow of Mike Piazza. It came out at about the time I got out of the hobby. Man, there are so many cards from the 90's that I have never seen.
  • You sir, Daniel Barber, are no Dodger fan.
  • At the upcoming National, Topps will be giving away a promo card set to VIP attendees that includes Mantle, Gehrig, a Mantle/Maris combo, JFK and the below Jackie Robinson card.
  • From Monday's shellacking of the Twins comes this tweet from the Dodgers.
  • Agate Type has a great story comparing Babe Ruth's 60 dingers and a 60 goal accomplishment in Europe the next year.
  • Frankrupt!
  • Night Baseball.

Night Baseball from 5-Second Films on Vimeo.

SCP Auctions: Dodger Drawings

SCP is currently running an auction that ends next month, July 13th. It features a bunch of items related to Red Auerbach and his time as coach for the Boston Celtics. Since this is a SoCal blog I won't highlight those items, but if the Celtics are your sweet spot then I suggest going over there now. For this blog, I'll stick with a bunch of Dodger related original cartoons featured in their catalog.

First, here is a original drawing made by Karl Hubenthal, whose mentor was none other than Willard Mullin. He drew extensively for the Los Angeles Examiner for over 30 years. In this drawing he shows the Brooklyn Bum jumping from location to location looking for a home. At one point, the "Bum" wonders, "Could it be I should of stood in Brooklyn?"

The gems of this auction feature a whole bunch of original cartoons from Willard Mullin. In fact there are so many of them available I just can't post them all. So, I will feature some of my favorites below. As always, click any pic to embiggen.

Originally printed on September 1, 1962 in The Sporting News, this cartoon wonders aloud about how many potential 20 game winners there may be in Baseball that season. Don Drysdale is prominently features as the first 20 game winner as he direct Jeeves to set up a table for poker with some of his soon-to-be comrades.

Here, Mullin points to former Dodger outfielder Pete Reiser as the main factor in the Dodgers chances at a pennant that year. The Brooklyn Bum is being queried by a reporter,
"Is this our year? Or ain't it?
Ya gonna run those Cards outa th' league?
Tromple th' Jints?
Ruin th' rest of 'em?
Hang up th' flag at Ebbets Field?
How about it?"
Th' "Bum" jus' don't know.

In this drawing Mullin waxes poetically about how great and under-rated Dixie Walker is.
"Poor old second string Dixie!... He only led the league in RBI last year, and in hitting the year before"
Still, he's
"Not my kind of ballplayer,"
says Branch Rickey.

Scoring Koufax's No-Hitter

Do you know what's better than witnessing a no hitter? How about scoring the game at the same time. Here is a scored June 4, 1964 scorecard from Connie Mack Stadium, home of the Phillies, when Sandy Koufax blanked them 3 to 0. Check out the boxscore here.