Auto Collection: LoDuca Diamond King

Paul Lo Duca was suppose to be one of a long line of great Dodger catchers. Unfortunately, his reign at the top behind the plate ended abruptly as allegations of steroid and doping use hung over his head. Oh well, at least most of my memories of his play are happy ones as I prefer to accentuate the positive instead of dwelling on the negative.

Here is my 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings autographed relic card.

A Happy Belated Birthday to Connie Marrero

I am a little late on this announcement, but I guess its always better late than never. This past Monday, April 25th, Baseballs oldest living ballplayer turned 100. Connie Marrero, a hero of Cuban Baseball, first came to the Major Leagues as a 39 year old rookie in 1950 with the Washington Senators. By then he was already heralded as a great national hero on the island, and his success on the big stage only solidified that fact. Connie was a Amateur World Series MVP in 1940, was a Cuban League MVP in 1947-48, and a Caribbean Series Champion in 1949 and 1957. He continues to this day to be an ambassador for Cuban Baseball and still relishes a chance to talk about the game.

As a special bonus check out the video below taken just 2 months ago. Video is from Lyman Hardeman- publisher and editor of Old Cardboard magazine.

This video was recorded during an early February 2011 visit with Connie Marrero (the oldest living Major League baseball player) in celebration of his 100th birthday in Havana, Cuba. As background, the person on the left in the video is Kit Krieger, the trip organizer and longtime friend of Marrero. On the right is Clem Axel, interpreter and expert on all things Cuban. In the clip, Marrero, who speaks very little English, is presented with a program from a June 26, 1951 game between the Senators and the Yankees, played in Washington, DC. In that game, Marrero pitched against Yankee superstar hitters DiMaggio and Mantle. He was the winning pitcher, beating Yankee pitcher Eddie Lopat 7 to 3. Although played sixty years ago this summer, Marrero remembers the game in amazing detail--well beyond the facts recorded in the box score in the program.

YouTube Link:

(Pic Link: The Pecan Park Eagle)

Dodger Pics on Twitter

So who's got time to go through twitter to see all of the Dodger goodness it has to offer. Well, I do, apparently. Yhea, I've got a busy life.

With the 1981 World Series trophy, via Tommy Lasorda.

How about Tommy with Mario Andretti.

Wow. Just awesome. Via AlexPudl1n.

Geddy Lee of Rush is a huge Dodger fan. Don't believe me. Check out this photo below. Via djdruemitchell.

Pee Wee Hauling Some Bats

Pee Wee Reese just can't seem to decide which bat he wants to use, so he figures he'll just take them all.

(eBay Auction Link)

WooHoo! Group Case Break Mojo!

I love it when a plan comes together. Several months back the fine ladies of A Cardboard Problem put together a group case break of a brand new card product called Gypsy Queen. I had previously written briefly about it by highlighting the Koufax auto a few days ago, here. Well, I immediately jumped in to join the fun and was fortunate to snag the Dodgers as my team in the break. Fast forward to this past Thursday as the cases were released and a live break was performed online for the 20+ other participants to see what we got. (Watch here to see them open the case)

I was hopeful that some magic would come my way, and fortunately the stars aligned just right. I won't go into full details until the package of Dodger goodies arrive sometime early next week, but I will provide a peek at one of the "big hits" that has me reeling. They pulled out a "1 of 1" yellow printing plate of Duke Snider. Check it out below!
This will be the very first printing plate in my collection and I can't tell you how exciting I am about it. Below is the reverse of the card. Now, this is just a small taste of all the incredible "hits" I will be receiving, so stay tuned as I will be posting them all up as soon as they arrive. And no, I didn't get a Koufax, but there is some other mojo. If you can't wait, check out their post here, here and here to see many of the cards they pulled in the case.

Thanks ladies! It was definitely the best group break I've ever been a part of.

Blog Kiosk: 4/29/2011

• Bark at the Park at Dodger Stadium on May 28th.
• Bob Lemke unveils possibly the rarest Pee Wee Reese card around- a Masquerade Party.
• A radar gun conspiracy? Via AZ Central.com.

  "I know for a fact that every time Brad Penny pitched for the Dodgers in San Diego it was probably the lowest velocities he ever had. He liked velocity. He'd stare at the board. He was throwing 95-96 (mph), but we'd have it at 91 and he'd get pissed off and throw harder and harder and start elevating."

• Here is another story about the possible public ownership of the Dodgers. This has been talked about for quite some time. I doubt it could happen, but the thought of it is pretty damn intoxicating. This LA Weekly story does a good job of explaining the hurdles.
  
• Schoolhouse Rocks!

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