Card Of The Week: Ken Griffey Jr.

I love bubble gum cards. Not only that, I love Baseball cards with large bubbles being blown in them.

Above is Ken Griffey, Jr.'s 1995 Pinnacle Baseball card. It features one of the largest bubbles I've ever seen. Unfortunately, it is as fake as Barry Bonds records. In order to blow a bubble that large you would need a giant gob of Big League Chew and jaw muscles strong enough to to snap steel. Regardless of the poor photoshop work, though, I've added this card to my collection of players chewing gum and blowing bubbles.

I tend to have a wide variety of collection interest. One the most fun is the chase for cards with weird and usual photos, like bubble blowing ballplayers. Other favorites are players signing autographs or just plain funny pictures.

Collection: 1984 Union Oil Most Memorable Moments: Jerry Reuss & Bill Singer

There have been 6 no-hitters in LA Dodgers history up to 1984. Sandy Koufax recorded 4 of them- one in four consecutive seasons. The other two no-hitters were thrown by Bill Singer and Jerry Reuss. The above 1984 Union Oil Most Memorable Moments sheet celebrates their accomplishment.

On July 20, 1970, Bill Singer pitched his no-no against the Philadelphia Phillies. He struck out 10, walked none and hit 2 batters- well, actually he hit Oscar Gamble twice. The Dodgers won 5 to 0.

Jerry Reuss, on June 27, 1980, pitched his no-hitter against the hated Giants. He had 2 strike outs, 0 walks and faced only 28 batters- just one over the minimum. The only person to get on base was Jack Clark in the first inning courtesy of an error by Bill Russell. The Dodgers decimated the Giants that night 8 to 0.

Artwork by Merv Corning.

Check out the rest of the set here in my photoalbum.

Historic Auctions: Banners and Mats

This is the first time I've run into this auction house. So, I do not know much about them, but they do have a couple of modern Dodger memorabilia items I thought was worth showing.

Below is a banner celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Dodger organization. I'm pretty sure these hung around the stadium in 1990. If you happen to know for sure please let me know.

Auction Link: 100th Anniversary Dodger Banner:

This is pretty cool. Below is a actual game-used batting circle mat used on April 15, 2007 during Jackie Robinson Day at Dodger Stadium. It is authenticated by both MLB and Steiner Sports.

Auction Link: 2007 Game-Used Batting Circle: