Dodgers Blue Heaven: Jun 19, 2015

Friday, June 19, 2015

Some Rare Jackie Robinson Memorabilia Items at Lelands Auctions

There is nothing I like better than some rare and unusual Dodger memorabilia items, and nothing warms my collecting heart more when those items feature Jackie Robinson. Following the letter I shared yesterday of Jackie thanking a fan, I show some pics of a couple of Robinson collectibles that are very scarce.

In fact, both of the items I share below are first for me... That is, this is the first time I've seen either of these things.

Back in the 50's an enterprising publisher put out several Jackie Robinson comic books (I had scanned every page and posted them up, and you can see them here), and shown on the back cover of several of them was an advertisement for Jackie themed mementos. You can see a copy of the ad at the very top.

Over the years, I have seen all of the items in the advertisement at shows or online - except for one. In the decades I've been a fervent Dodger/Jackie Robinson collector I have never actually seen a photo or known the existence of the Jackie Robinson lucky rabbits foot. I figured that they all must have deteriorated over time. After all, that piece of rabbit carcass couldn't possibly have survived the passage of time in any acceptable kind of way.

Imagine my surprise when an example showed up at Lelands current summer auction. Check it out on the right. Wow!

According to the auction listing it is the only one they've ever seen, and that's saying a lot since Leland's has been around for a long time. As they said, it's the "holy grail" of Jackie Robinson premium collectibles, and I suspect it'll sell for a pretty penny.

The next item is just as rare.

Featured below is a 1950 plastic Jackie Robinson pencil sharpener, and it features a facsimile Robinson signature on the front and back. Not only is this the first time I've seen this, but I never knew of its existence. I suspect many of these got discarded when it filled up with pencil scraps.

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2015 Topps Series 2 Baseball - Some Inserts, Coins & Stamps and Commemorative Knobs & Pins

Now that you've seen the base cards and the "First Pitch" cards check out some of the inserts below. Featured are the Baseball Royalty, Eclipsing History, Commemorative Bat Knobs & Pins and the always popular Coins & Stamps cards below. I'll have photos of the other inserts next week.

Baseball Royalty

#BR-2 Sandy Koufax #BR-5 Jackie Robinson

Blog Kiosk: 6/19/2015 - Dodger Links - A Walk Off Balk

Embraces all around for a tough close game that ended in a surprising way.

Last night the Dodgers won on a walk-off balk.... That's right, they won 'cause a rookie pitcher just a couple months past his 22nd birthday did a little fidget while standing set to deliver his pitch. What caused it can be attributed to third base runner Kike Hernandez; who did a fake steal for home. Per Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

Hernandez, game enough to wear a banana suit if it'll trigger a rally, jumped at the chance for a mock steal of home and Kela flinched.

"He fell for it," said Hernandez. "I used to do them all the time in high school."

And we have third base coach Lorenzo Bundy to thank for coming up with the idea to execute it.

"That's the way we roll in the Minor Leagues sometimes," said Bundy. "I felt after the young pitcher got into trouble [walks to Yasmani Grandal and Andre Ethier], then he gets the double play [on Alberto Callaspo after he failed to bunt] and, in a tight situation, a lot of times they get the two outs and kind of relax. I figured with two strikes on Jimmy, I'd just take a shot."

Wow! This might be the oddest way to win a game. Go here to watch a replay of it. BTW, the last time the Dodgers won in this fashion was in 2010. Scott Andes at Lasorda's Lair tells us all about it here. And of course, the ever affable Kike Hernandez shared something funny on twitter:

That. Was. Bananas!!!! 🍌🍌🍌🍌 #DOYERSSSS
— Enrique Hernandez (@kikehndez) June 19, 2015

The above photo via the Dodgers on twitter. Below are some links to check out:

Via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA, "Ogden roster includes 12 new Dodgers draft picks, 3 converted pitchers."
Via Mark Saxon at ESPN, "Dodgers meet to discuss hitting woes."

“When we were going good, we were having quality at-bats up and down the lineup. We need to continue to make the guy fight for every out,” Mattingly said. “It’s not that complicated, really, just the mentality of team baseball, getting a good pitch, making him fight for his out, don’t give him any easy ones. If he beats you, then he beats you. We’ve just got to get back to who we are and we feel like we’re a team that is going to have quality at-bats.”

Via Ron Clements at the Sporting News, "Vin Scully calls Joc Pederson best fielding CF Dodgers have ever had."
Via Mike Oz at Big League Stew, "StewPod #5: Joc Pederson talks 'Call of Duty' and MLB's talented rookie class."
I just came across this interview, so I thought I would pass it along. Here is a 2007 interview, via NPR, with Frank Robinson as he speaks about the legacy of Jackie Robinson. He also tells us about his first meeting with Jackie. Check it out here.
In the strange but true bin. Sports card hobby veteran Bob Lemke writes about a, "Player's "prank" would be child abuse today."

A player's "prank" 50 years ago rated a visit by the sheriff, but today would likely have resulted in child abuse charges, a suspension and a multi-million dollar lawsuit....

In the complaint, Mrs. Doreen Buechler charged that when Seattle had been in town on May 11, a player wearing uniform #40 had given her 13-year-old son a chaw of tobacco that made him ill. Jernigan, the Rainers' manager confirmed, had worn number 40 at that time.

The complaint alleged that young Buechler had asked the player for a baseball. Jernigan told the kid he'd give him a ball if take a chew of tobacco and hold it in his mouth for 10 minutes. The boy was later found lying in the middle of a lavatory floor at the park "violently ill."

I'm a terrible man for laughing, aren't I?

I must admit, though, that the same thing happened to me... kind of... I tried chewing tobacco once in my life, and made the mistake of swallowing some of it... Yeah... I didn't feel very well after that.