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Monday, March 31, 2014

The John Roseboro 1961 Union Oil Dodger Family Booklet

Here is another post featuring the 1961 Union Oil Dodger Family Booklet set.  Go here to see my past post showcasing this set; including complete scans of both the Vin Scully/Jerry Doggett and Sandy Koufax booklets.  This time I share the John Roseboro Booklet.

John Roseboro is a part of a long line of Dodger catchers well regarded for their abilities behind the plate.  He was one of the best defensive catchers in the game; which coincidentally, led to constant talk about a Dodgers catcher problem.  You see, much like today, folks look down on a catcher who is all glove but no bat.  On the other hand, I would suggest that the real measure of a catcher is not what he bats at the plate, but how his pitching staff performs with him behind it. 

Roseboro manned the position for 3 World Series Championship teams, and was a quintessential part of a pitching staff that blew away the competition.  Seven times in his career as the Dodgers primary catcher the staff recorded an ERA of 3.50 or less; three times it was under 3.00.

Something I didn't know about Roseboro until recently was his gift of song.  In the mid-60's, Chevrolet was a sponsor of Dodger games on the radio, so they had Roseboro, along with some other Dodgers, sing the famous tune "See the USA in Your Chevrolet" for their commercials.  Dodger announcer Jerry Doggett said that Roseboro was a singer "whose singing career was destined to go absolutely nowhere."  Unfortunately, I have yet to find a recording.

Below are complete scans of every page from John Roseboro's 1961 Union Oil Dodger Family Booklet.  Click any pic to embiggen. 









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2014 Topps Museum Baseball - The Dodger Base Cards

With the regular season just beginning for the rest of the Major Leagues, Topps released their newest 2014 Baseball card set last week.  It is their high-end Museum offering, and it includes plenty of Dodger goodies to gawk at.  For now, I'll start by showing you the Dodger base cards to the set.  Over the next few days I'll share the various inserts, relics and autographed cards that are available.

Base Set

#3 Yasiel Puig                                     #18 Ricky Nolasco

#41 Adrian Gonzalez                              #44 Clayton Kershaw

#76 Sandy Koufax

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Blog Kiosk: 3/31/2014 - Dodgers Links - Some Odds and Ends to Start the Season


The photo above is from the Dodger exhibit at the Japanese American Museum in Los Angeles, pic via Armando Arorizo/LA Dodgers 2014.  Check out more pics hereMark Langill at the Dodger Insider wrote a story about the exhibition, here.
  • Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Clayton Kershaw to be placed on 15-day DL."  Again, I think this is all about staying on the side of caution.
 "I can't pitch right now, so I'm going to have to take a few extra days," Kershaw said. "It's frustrating. Right now, it's just not getting better fast enough."
“We always felt like Josh had the upper hand. But we really didn’t know where the health was going to be, how that was going to go.
  • Via Scott Miller at MLB.com, "Ellis appreciates ground swell of support."  AJ was at the plate when the earthquake happened on Friday.
"It felt like the crowd really came to life when I was at the plate," Ellis said Saturday afternoon. "I was like, 'I appreciate that. These guys are really into my at-bat.' "
“Once I got Rule 5’d over here, they said they’d watched a lot of video of me,” said Rosin. “They saw an opportunity for me to become more efficient with my body. The process of incorporating those things began at a camp in January, and I’ve continued to work on it since that time.
"I’m not particularly used to having 'one of those nights,'" Wilson said. "Normally, it might have something to do with not making proper pitches. Tonight was about not being able to get ahead in the count, and they took advantage of it. Just forgive and forget." 
  • Zach Hample shares his experience at the Australian ballgames.  Go here to check it out.  He has a ton of photos of areas in and around the stadium that I guarantee you haven't seen yet.
  • Juan Uribe wore this into the Dodger clubhouse before the game in San Diego, yesterday.  I kid you not!  Via Hanley Ramirez's Instagram.


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* Dodgers Blue Heaven home page *