Newcombe's Earliest Card and Gilliam's Winter League Contract at CubanBaseballCards.com

A small firm called CubanBaseballCards.com has an auction ongoing that includes several olde-tyme Dodgers on some vintage Negro League-styled cards and memorabilia.  As you may know, there are only a handful of vintage card sets in existence that include players from the Negro Leagues, and there are even less memorabilia items available to collect.  So, when something pops up it deserves attention.

For instance, check out the below 1946-47 Caramelo Deportivo Cuban card of Don Newcombe.  This is his earliest card in existence and is one of the few cards to show a player wearing a Negro League uniform.  He is wearing a Newark Eagles uniform in the card below.  BTW, it's a bit of a misnomer to call this a card.  These are paper-thin and were meant to be glued into an album, so finding a mint example is nearly impossible.

This next item is very cool.  Featured is Jim Gilliam's original 1951-1952 Puerto Rican League contract to play for the Santurce.  As you can see, he was paid $700 for the short season and that included room & board and round-trip transportation.

(Auction Link)

(Auction Link)

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