Dodgers Blue Heaven: Check Out Some Dodger Goodies at Legendary Auctions

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Check Out Some Dodger Goodies at Legendary Auctions - Pee Wee, Jackie, Sandy and Zach

Now that SCP has just closed their Spring auction, Legendary opens up their May extravaganza with over 2,000 lots of sports memorabilia goodness. As usual, there are some great Dodger collectibles to gawk at. Below are my favorites.

Below is a March 7, 1940 Central Press Association press photo of rookie and future Hall of Famer Pee Wee Reese. Based on the date, this photo was taken during Spring Training as he prepares to make the big club for the first time.

(Auction Link)

The next two photographs are original "The Jackie Robinson Story" movie stills from 1950. Jackie is wearing a Montreal Royals uniform in the photo below.

(Auction Link)

Below, Jackie is captured sliding into 2nd base.

(Auction Link)

Here is an original painting by Baseball artist Dick Perez; of Diamond Kings and Perez Steele Gallaries fame. It is of Dodger Hall of Famer Zach Wheat and was used in Perez's recent book “The Immortals Collection”. Via the auction description:

Card collectors will recognize this classic pose from the 1921 Exhibit Card set, and it's a picture-perfect Perezian homage to Wheat's trademark swinging style. As described by SABR biographer Eric Enders:

"Wheat was a natural left-handed hitter who corkscrewed his spikes into the dirt with a wiggle that became his trademark. Unlike most Deadball Era hitters, he held his hands way down by the knob of the bat, refusing to choke up. 'There is no chop-hitting with Wheat, but a smashing swipe which, if it connects, means work for the outfielders,' wrote one reporter. He was an outstanding first-ball hitter, and he was also so renowned as a curveball hitter that John McGraw reportedly had a standing order prohibiting his pitchers from throwing him benders."

(Auction Link)

By now, you know how much I love painted Baseball artwork, and my favorite of all the artist I've featured over the years is George Sosnak. His work is some of the best folk art America has to offer, so it's no surprise his efforts can be found at New York's American Folk Art Museum, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Below is a painted ball Sosnak did of Sandy Koufax. It appears to be an unfinished ball that may have been part of an estate sale conducted after Sosnak's death (numerous work-in-progress Baseballs were sold by his widow). Featured on one side is a Koufax signature.