Pair o' Dodgers Hurlers

Showing off some loot:

Left: 2004 Fleer Greats of Game, Johnny Podres autograph, #GBA-JP2.  Right: 2001 Fleer Greats of the Game, Carl Erskine auto.

The Podres auto is a sticker and the Erskine signature is on card.  I love autograph cards of old timey (at least, old timey to me - I was born in the 80's) Brooklyn Dodgers.  Both Carl Erskine and Johnny Podres were part of the 1955 World Series winning Dodgers team - and what a team that was!  I just noticed I subconsciously put the lefty Podres on the left and the righty "Oisk" on the right in the photo.

Anyone paying attention to all the wild hot stove action the past day or so?  I wonder if the Dodgers will make any crazy moves soon?  Think we'll make a serious play for David Price?  MLB Trade Rumors is a daily read for me.  I recommend it!

Trade bait!

Auf Wiedersehen, Los Angeles

I'm moving up to northern California tomorrow after being back home in Los Angeles for almost a year.  A few of you fellow bloggers might recall that I got a job at Pinterest in San Francisco.  It should be cool beans.  Nevertheless, I ultimately prefer living in southern California.  One of the best things about living in LA?  Being able to make the drive to Dodger Stadium and watch my team, the Dodgers:

Click to enlarge and see it high quality or original size on Flickr.  You can see my friend Adam at the right of the photo.  You can also see Greg Zakwin's (of Plaschke) knee and elbow to the far right of the picture.

I took the above photograph on Monday, April 15 during the Jackie Robinson Day game against the San Diego Padres.  I had totally forgotten it was Jackie Robinson Day, though I knew they were handing out Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, and Don Newcombe statues.  Packing and the prospect of moving has made me spaced out at times.  It was awesome to catch a ballgame in my hometown before I move back up to the land of poor weather (to be fair, poor for California but better than most places) and dumb SF Giants.  It was also great to hang out with fellow blogger and friend, Mr. Zakwin.

Go Dodgers!  I'll be back.

Dodger Southpaws

While browsing the glass display cases at my local card shop this past week, I happened upon this card, next to an entirely faded and ruined travesty of what was a once-proud Sandy Koufax autograph card:

1961 Topps #207, Dodger Southpaws.  Koufax two days in a row!

I purchased the card to rescue it from the harsh, inexorable ravaging of the Sun.  It is in pretty good shape, no?  The colors are still rich and vibrant too.  I enjoy the blurb on the back of the card.

I do not own very many vintage cards, but when I do I try to collect awesome ones.  I think this one of Koufax and Johnny Podres qualifies as pretty awesome.  The Dodger Southpaws are now the newest old card I own, being my fifth-oldest vintage card.  I will post those older cards eventually!

It's My Burfday! Here's a Holy Grail card!

Happy baseball birthdays to Tom Glavine and Hyun-Jin Ryu!  Also, happy birthday to Jim Lovell, Elton John, Tatjana Patitz, Anders Fridén (\m/), Bob Sura, Wladimir Klitschko, Lee Pace, Danica Patrick, Arnošt of Pardubice, first Archbishop of Prague (only included him because his name contains "Arno"), and many, many others!

I thought I would wait until today, my birthday, to post a recently acquired baseball card of most epic proportions:

1998 Donruss Signature, Significant Signatures #R3 Sandy Koufax autograph, #'d 0905/2000.

"Yurp," believe what you are seeing ladies and gentlemen!  Gaze upon madness.  Gaze upon prismatic card-stock perfection.  Indeed, I obtained a "Holy Grail" card of mine.  It is quite possibly a "Holy Grail" for many other collectors too.  No, I did not purchase this Sandy Koufax auto for my birthday.  I received a substantially large tax refund this year because I apparently overpaid thousands in taxes last year.  This card represents my big refund splurge.

I bought it a few weeks ago, in fact, at All Star Cards in Santee, CA.  They are one of my favorite card stores in California, so check them out if you happen to be in the San Diego area.  My girlfriend and I were in the card shop when I noticed an Albert Pujols signature card.  I said, "Man, I should just buy that instead of a risky box of cards."  However, I then looked behind the Pujols autograph on the shelf and saw the beauty you see above.  It was an epiphany of sorts, and love at first sight.  The awesome father-daughter team at All Star Cards even knocked several dollars off the asking price.  The black ink of the "K" and "O" in "Koufax" is imperfect, but to me the card is perfection in cardboard form.

I got my Koufax!

(Sweet trade post from Brad to come soon.)