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."
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.
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.
Here are todays Daily Conlon cards numbered 271 through 279, and it features dead ball era home run leader Gavvy Cravath. He was the greatest home run hitter of his time, having hit 24 home runs in 1915. This was a record that no one thought would ever be broken, but with the advent of a more livelier ball and a man named Babe Ruth his record and name would be relegated to the dustbin of history.
Of special note, Gavvy was the first Major League ballplayer from San Diego area. Also, Gavvy is a nickname he received when he killed a seagull with a batted ball. Fans, most of whom were Mexican started shouting gaviota- which is Spanish for seagull. As soon as the sportswriters heard they immediately dubbed the slugger Gavvy.
This isn't really a song but a history lesson from Vin Scully about the Dodgers. It is called "The Story of the LA Dodgers" from the 1963 LP The Sounds of the Dodgers. Go here to listen to the other recordings from the album.
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.
