SCP Auctions: Dodger Goodness

SCP is currently running their September auction, and it includes a couple of really nice Dodger related items.

(Auction Link)

Above is an original drawing from Willard Mullin that is entitled "Wait Till October." It was drawn after a Friday game at Ebbets Field on April 18, 1952. It was the just the fourth game of the young season as the Dodgers faced the sitting pennant winners, the New York Giants.

Mullin starts it off by writing,

"Yesterday, the Giants started in right where they left off last fall... they batted around for six hits and five runs in the 1st inning."

Not a great start for our Brooklyn boys, but have no fear. The Dodger bats would not go silent all game long.

"Then the Dodgers' bodyguard took over."

Who's that you ask? Who's the bodyguard? Well, it was #6 hitter Andy Pafko. He would go on to hit a home run in the 7th inning, then finish it off in classic fashion with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th inning. That would give him his 3rd home run of the young season, and give the Dodgers a well deserved victory over their hated rivals.

What makes this even sweeter is that the Dodgers would end up winning the pennant that season as the Giants ending up 4.5 games back in 2nd place. "Wait Till October," indeed.

Below is the personal equipment bag that once belonged to Hall of Famer Gary Carter when he donned Blue in 1991.

(Auction Link)

Ethier has been Shutdown

Twitter really has changed how news is distributed. Via the Dodgers twitter account they announce that Andre Ethier has finally decided to take a seat due to his ailing knee.

It is not expected that he will come back for the remainder of the season. Surgery, no doubt, is in his future.

Daily Conlon: 280 through 288

Here are todays Daily Conlon cards numbered 280 through 288, and it features former Dodger Curt Davis- on the top row, far right. Click on any pic to embiggen.

Davis didn't get his chance to play in the Majors until he was 30 years old, but still was able to have a long career in the show. He played for 4 different clubs over 13 season. The key to his longevity was that he averaged less than 2 walks every 9 innings over his career.

Curt Davis joined the Brooklyn Dodgers as a 36 year old in 1940 and went on to win 66 games for them over 7 season. In 1946, at the age of 42, he pitched in just one game (his last in the Majors) and was sent back down for good to Montreal. There, he would be a teammate of Jackie Robinson.

Blog Kiosk: 9/8/2011

Topps shared a sneak peek of some 2012 Triple Threads cards that will be released later this month; including this great Sandy Koufax/ Hank Aaron book card above. (Pic Link: Topps twitter)

• Juan Uribe to have surgery, as well. Via Steve Dilbeck of LA Times.
  
• Bob Lemke makes some alternative versions of Sandy Koufax's 1955 rookie card.
  
• Jim Rosenthal of Los Angeles Magazine interviews Don Mattingley.
  
• Koufax's Perfect Game- the Tale of the Data, via Frederick Cohan at LA Times.
  
• Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest has a couple of Greg Maddux's high school scouting reports.
  
• Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts, he shares a link from the Department of the Treasury where Clayton Kershaw and Ted Lilly took a tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
  
• Mark's Ephemera shares a 1914 article he found that compares the stats for drinking and non-drinking ballplayers.
  
• Adrian Beltre- a Hall of Famer? Rob Neyer ponders that a bit at SB Nation.
  
• "The league's view is that the Dodgers needs to be owned by somebody who has the wherewithal to own the team and to properly capitalize it," says Thomas Lauria, partner at White & Case.

Video Link:

Pete Reiser Pitches Wheaties

Here is a great vintage magazine advertisement page selling the "Breakfast of Champions" Wheaties cereal. I just love the artwork, and better yet, Brooklyn Dodger outfielder Pete Reiser, the Champion Base Stealer of the National League, had signed on to be the pitchman.

"Pistol Pete" was charges with 34 stolen bases during 1946. He committed 6 more felonies than any other cushion copper in big-league Baseball.

"Don't catch me missinG an important meal like breakfast when a dish of milk, fruit, and Wheaties is on the menu" says champion Pete Reiser. "Those whole wheat flakes come through in the nourishment department- and they've got a flavor that makes 'em mighty easy to take." Make it Wheaties, "Breakfast of Champions," every morning.

"Among Reiser's loot were 7 thefts of home plate. With these master burglaries, Pete carried off a modern Major League record."

(eBay Auction Link)

A Horrible Nightmare

Word has just gotten out that the team plane carrying the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl KHL hockey team has crashed killing all but 2 persons. From ESPN:

A Russian jet carrying a KHL ice hockey team crashed into a river bank Wednesday while taking off in western Russia, killing at least 43 people and leaving two others critically injured, officials said.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the Yak-42 plane crashed in sunny weather immediately after leaving an airport near the city of Yaroslavl, on the Volga River about 150 miles northeast of Moscow.

It said the plane was carrying the Lokomotiv ice hockey team from Yaroslavl to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where it was to play Thursday against Dinamo Minsk in the opening game of the season of the Continental Hockey League. The ministry was carrying 45 people, including 37 passengers and eight crew, and two people survived the crash.

My deepest condolences to the families, friends, fans and the hockey community for this tragic event.

It is my understanding that former King Pavol Demitra, former Duck Ruslan Salei, and former Detroit coach Brad McCrimmon (an 18 year NHL'er), were on the plane. I'm at a loss for words. This is just horrible.

See the team roster here.

UPDATE: I thought I would take a moment to share my greatest memory of former King Pavol Demitra. It was in late 2005 on Kings Hat Night when Demitra scored a hat trick (3 goals in a game). As you can imagine, when he achieved the trick the home town fans went crazy. Check out the video below. It was easily the greatest and most memorable hat trick I had ever seen. A big thanks to KingsRule41 for putting this up.

Video Link: