Some Great Jackie Robinson Vintage Press Photos from HYEE Auctions

Premier eBay seller HYEE Auctions has a bunch of great vintage press photos available for sale.  They always seem to have the best stuff out there.  Take a look below at some of my favorite Jackie Robinson press photos.  Tomorrow, I'll show some other great Dodger press photos that stuck out to me.

This is just an amazing live-action photo of Jackie Robinson trying to turn two.  It was taken by Tony Bernato of International News Photos on 7/21/1952.  Sliding into second base is Yankee Gil McDougald.  The photo was taken during the New York-Brooklyn Mayor's Trophy Game at Yankee Stadium.  This was an exhibition game played in benefit of Sandlot Baseball.  I assume this was a NY area non-profit.  Baseball Reference helpfully provides some background about this event.  Proceeds went to support Sandlot Baseball by primarily giving funds to the city's Amateur Baseball Federation.  BTW, this 1952 game ended in a 3-3 tie, since the Yankees had to leave early (at the end of the 8th inning) in order to catch a train for the next days game.

(auction link)

Jackie Robinson scores at home in this 1950 Internal News press photo.  The catcher is Wes Westrum of the New York Giants.  It was taken during the fifth inning of the second game of a doubleheader on July 4, 1950.

(auction link)

The below photo makes me sad, just a bit.

This is a December 13, 1956 International News Press Photo featuring the Robinson's celebrating a trade to the NY Giants.

Say What?

Jackie would soon decide to retire from the game instead.

(auction link)

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Take a Look at the 1983 Dodgers Postcard Set

I recently purchased another decent sized lot of Dodgers postcards and found a complete 1983 Dodgers postcard set within it.  What luck, eh?

Check them all out in this post.  Click any pic to embiggen.

The 1983 Dodgers Postcard set features 12 postcards.  They were produced by Mike Roberts Color Productions out of Oakland, California.  They are numbered from #C35508 to #C35519.  A complete checklist is at the very bottom.

Below is an example of what the reverse of the postcards look like.  As you can see, the card number can be found on the lower left side.  Here is a complete checklist of the 1983 postcard set:

#C35508 Dusty Baker
#C35509 Burt Hooton
#C35510 Steve Howe
#C35511 Dave Stewart
#C35512 Mike Marshall
#C35513 Bob Welch
#C35514 Bill Russell
#C35515 Fernando Valenzuela
#C35516 Mike Scioscia
#C35517 SteveSax
#C35518 Steve Yeager
#C35519 Greg Brock

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Weekend Autograph Opportunities: Dodgers FanFest on Saturday - Autograph Vouchers Still for Sale

Here are this weekends autograph opportunities and events throughout the Southland. As always, be sure to check the Blue Heaven Calendar for other events (a link can always be found on the tab at the top of this page, just left of center), and always confirm with the establishment. Everything is subject to change.  Please email me with any tips about upcoming events in Southern California.  As the rest of the week progresses I'll update this post with other events (if there are any) as I become aware of them.  Also, I don't always list every event below, so be sure to check my Calendar.  I always try to favor free signing events over paying events.  Click on any pic to embiggen.

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This coming Saturday at Dodger Stadium is the Dodgers FanFest.  The festivities begin at 10:00 AM and conclude at 4:00 PM.  Parking gates open at 9:30 AM and is free.  Check out a Dodgers press release about the event here.

As you probably know, the Dodgers sold voucher tickets for the 24 different signing sessions taking place on Monday, and as of this writing tickets are still available for 2 of the sessions.  Go here to check it out.  An autograph session voucher ticket cost $10.00, and all proceeds benefit the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. 

Autograph vouchers must be presented at each session where they will be scanned prior to entering the designated line. Each voucher will be good for two total autographs. There will be two people per line signing autographs. Only one (1) autograph per signer per voucher. Fans may bring person items for autographs.

In addition to autograph sessions with current and former Dodger players, FanFest will feature various family friendly activities including: inflatable games, photo booths and photo opportunities, a batting cage, a wiffleball park, trampoline, face painting, balloon art, arts and crafts, DJ spin art and a memorabilia exhibit. Several Dodger sponsors will be on site with activities and giveaways including Anheuser Busch, Blue Prints, Chef Merito, Clear Channel Radio, Coca-Cola, Mother's Cookies, State Farm, SportsNet LA and Univision Radio and TV. The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF) will have mystery bags containing autographed jerseys, baseballs and photos for a cash donation with all proceeds benefiting the LADF.

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This weekend is the Long Beach Expo at the Long Beach Convention Center from Thursday, January 30th to Saturday, February 1st.  Go here for more information.

This show is primarily a coin and stamp convention, but there will be a some tables selling Baseball cards.  Unlike in past years, there are no autograph guest scheduled.

BTW, you can get free admission by going here.

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The New Season Can Officially Begin - 2014 Topps Baseball Cards Are Now For Sale!

It's official!

The 2014 Baseball season has begun.

No, I don't mean to say that players are reporting to Spring Training, en masse.  Although, there are various reports throughout the league that a handful of players have already shown up to get started early.

Instead, I want to let everybody know that today is the official release of the flagship 2014 Baseball card set.  Topps Series 1 Baseball is out, and you should be able to get a pack at your local card shop or retail store (like Walmart or Target). 

Some of you already know that retail boxes have already been showing up.  Heck, individual cards are currently for sale on eBay.  Unfortunately for me, my local Target did not have any of their boxes on the shelves last night.  So, I'm gonna head out to another Target this afternoon in hopes of finding a blaster box.  And as a special bonus, I'll record the opening of it and post it up here, just for the heck of it.

As you can expect, I'll have photos of all the various Dodger cards available in the set.  I hope to have my first post in a couple of days.

In the meantime, check out this goofy Clayton Kershaw card below. 

It is a short-printed variation card inserted into packs, and it features Clayton celebrating a NL Division Championship.  Based on the numbers of these cards showing up on eBay it doesn't appear to be very scarce.  Although, I would expect to pay a premium for it.  BTW, I count 6 different Dodger short-printed cards so far; including 2 different Puigs, 2 Kershaw's, a Ryu and a Hanley.  I suspect there are more yet to be uncovered.

The Kershaw short-prints have Series 2 numbering (#400).  At this point, this card easily belongs in 2014's class of "Best Dodger Cards of the Year". 

That smile, smirk, whatever you call it is the most hilarious expression I've ever seen on our left-handed hurler.

#400 (w/ Series 2 numbering) Clayton Kershaw

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Blog Kiosk: 1/29/2014 - Dodgers Links - Kasten is Best Executive, Puig Charges Dropped and Zach Lee Looks to Earn a Job

Check out Tommy Davis, "Sweet" Lou Johnson, Tim Leary and Derrel Thomas on Day 2 of the Dodgers Community Caravan.  Pic above tweeted by Courtney Jones.  Check out more pics from yesterday from Jon SooHoo, here.

• Via Peter Gammons, the Dodgers are the team to beat in the NL West.
• Via Daniel Brim at Dodgers Digest, "Pitcher Hitting – The Dodgers’ Secret Weapon?"
• Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, "Stan Kasten named LASC Sports Executive of the Year".  This is no surprise considering the dramatic (and largely positive) changes the Dodgers have undertaken since his leadership.
• Via TMZ, the reckless driving charge against Yasiel Puig in Florida has been dropped.  He is now dealing with just a speeding charge.  This is probably the most apt charge to remain.  In the police video that was release it seemed apparent that he wasn't weaving around like a maniac; just driving way too fast.  From my understanding, a reckless driving charge is always added to speeding tickets over 100 mph (at least that's custom in CA).
• Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com, "Prospect Lee aims to be ready when called".

"I'm trying to win a job, striving to get here as soon as I can. If I pitch well and control what I can control, the opportunity will present itself not far down the road. There are contractual issues, but if you outperform people, there will be a spot for you."

• Via Bill Plaschke at the LA Times, "Athletes' union movement at Northwestern could have huge implications".
• Ryan G at Chaos and Kanji shares some photos from his day at the, "Nagoya Dome: A Baseball Game with the Chunichi Dragons".
• Hobby veteran Bob Lemke wonders, "Was Ruth's "Called Shot" ball discovered?"

Baseball memorabilia collectors weren’t so hung up on airtight provenance 65+ years ago, so there’s no telling now whether a baseball claimed in a 1947 Sporting News article  to be Babe Ruth’s “Called Shot” home run ball was in fact the real McCoy.

• Greatest home run call, EVER!  You gotta watch it.  I cannot stop laughing.  And, it's a Manny Ramirez homer!  (Hat Tip: TheNebuchadnezzar on Reddit)

Video Link:

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