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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2014 Panini National Treasures - All the Dodger Booklet Cards

Did I mention that in ever box of National Treasures you get one booklet card?  Well, here is a look at the various Dodger booklet cards available in the set.  I think that the Armory Booklet card directly below is my favorite of the bunch.  Go here to check out all of my previous post on this set.

Armory Booklets

#4 Yasiel Puig

Safe Booklets

#2 Yasiel Puig

#5 Dee Gordon

(not yet seen)

Blog Kiosk: 1/13/2104 - Dodger Links - Kapler, Puig and a 19th Century Dodger Ledger

You wouldn't know from just looking at the cover, but the book featured above holds some fascinating historical information about the Brooklyn Dodgers.  It is the Brooklyn Dodgers official ledger (penned by Charles Ebbets) showing the teams day-to-day financial operations from April 1899 to December 1900.  Per Robert Lifason at REA Blog (BTW, this item will be on auction at REA this coming April):

This book is a treasure trove of financial information. All incoming funds and outgoing funds of the club are recorded. Included are the exact attendance records for Brooklyn’s games, with gate receipts broken down by seat prices. Also recorded are all of the concession sales, including peanuts, refreshments, and scorecards. Included on the expenditure side are both player and employee salaries ( team owner Charles Ebbets’ salary is also recorded numerous times, including in his own hand), as well as the cost for general repair and maintenance of Washington Park, equipment (balls, bats, uniforms, etc.), team stationery, newspaper advertising, a subscription to the Sporting News, and, of course, peanuts (150 pounds of peanuts cost $7.75 in 1900). In short, virtually all financial information relating to the business of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1899 and 1900, there is no doubt this volume was Charles Ebbets’ single most important document of financial records of the club. It was literally the heart and soul of the business of The Brooklyn Base Ball Club.

Wow!  Go to Rob's post detailing it even more. 

Below are some more links to check out:

• Via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider, "Mind matters: Gabe Kapler on changes to Winter Development Program."

“I think in the past, guys have had opportunity to display their athletic prowess,” Kapler said in a conference call with reporters today. “We have leaned against that this year, in favor of creating a more mentally inviting environment. We wanted our players to stay on their offseason programs … and not ramp up in the middle of winter to impress physically. Rather, we wanted them to be open-minded and flexible and nimble of thought.

• Via Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA, "Dodgers retain all six minor league managers for 2015."
• Panini's 2014 Elite Extra Edition Baseball set officially comes out tomorrow, so they shared some preview picks on their blog.  Check those out here.  Below are Dodger cards of Mike Piazza and pitching prospect John Richy.

• With five Dodger players expected to file for arbitration Eric Stephen at True Blue LA writes, "Dodgers last decade in salary arbitration." 
• What a lucky kid.  Via Yasiel Puig's instagram, he provided free private hitting lessons to a kid:

 

My #job for the day my turn to give back and give a free private lesson. Who will be next? #mlb #nextgeneration #littleleaguer #fundamentals practice makes perfect

A video posted by @yasielpuig (@yasielpuig) on Jan 12, 2015 at 2:55pm PST

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