Barrier Breakers: Jackie Robinson - Brooklyn Dodgers

 

This is the ultimate "Barrier Breaker".  Jackie Robinson's integration into the league is well documented.  Instead of going into all of that, I want to address the hobby aspect.  I chose to make my own design of the Bond Bread card because Jackie Robinson did have several card in 1947. Those were issued by Bond Bread.

He had his own 13 card set.  The cards were distributed as a promotion with a couple slices of bread and a coupon.  There is some dispute whether this set was actually from 1947.  Some point out that the photos used were not from 1947.  It is possible that they were distributed over a few years, starting in 1947.  The cards were nearly the size of standard cards today. Instead of 2.5" X 3.5" it was 2.25" X 3.5". They were plain black and white photos and there were 3 different backs. 

I took some of the design elements found in other Bond Bread promotional art.  I wanted to capture the style of the era but wanted to incorporate color/colorized photos and a standard 2.5" x 3.5" format.  This is what I came up with.  I have already posted a Hank Thompson card in this 1947 format, and (spoiler alert) plan to use this format for the 1947 card of Larry Doby.

For more information on the REAL 1947 Bond Bread set click here.  It is very interesting with some good photos too.

MLB Dream Bracket Alt-Topps Cards Pt. 10

Recap of  NL Dream Bracket 

Round 1 & 2

Fairly predictable results with the exception of the Florida/Miami Marlins over the Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves and the Pilot-less Brewers advancing against the NY/SF Giants then (to a lesser degree) passing the Cubs.

******************************************

These cards are base on the MLB Dream Bracket.  Not sure who picked the "all-time players". It is a product of Twitch, Out of the Park and Draft Kings.  I take no responsibility for their choices, good or bad.  The cards themselves are based on a rejected Topps design from the late sixties.

To check the status of the bracket click here.

1984 Topps Stadium Statues: 2019 NLDS - Nationals vs Dodgers Edition

Needless to say neither of these Hall of Famers played in the ballparks where their statues exist. Walter Johnson played for the American League Washington Senators team that (long after his retirement) moved to Minnesota and be came the Twins.  Jackie Robinson, of course, never moved west when the Dodgers fled Brooklyn.

 The Walter Johnson statue, along with the statues of Josh Gibson and Frank Howard, tries to capture the action.  The artists sculpted multiple arms in motion to depict this.  The Robinson statue also depicts action, with Jackie frozen in his slide into home plate.  Not to be an art critic, but I prefer the Robinson. It's less messy.

One more note about both of these fields.  They both retained the team name. No corporate sponsored names, just Nationals Park and Dodgers Stadium. That is a rarity these days.

1984 Topps Stadium Statues: Dodgers vs. Cardinals

N.L.D.S. Edition

Dodger Stadium is another ballpark completely devoid of statues. To see a ballpark statue honoring Dodgers greats you would need to go to Brooklyn. Specifically, MCU Park, home of the Minor League Brooklyn Cyclones. Outside the park is a statue of Pee Wee Reese with his arm around the rookie Jackie Robinson. This famous gesture was recreated in the movie "42". Although Robinson played the majority of his career at 2nd, his rookie season was spent covering 1st. Robinson spent his entire MLB career in Brooklyn, retiring in 1956. Reese played one season in Los Angeles after the Dodgers moved West in 1958.

The latest Busch Stadium is surrounded by statues of Cardinal heroes;  Lou Brock, Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson, Rogers Hornsby, Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst, Enos Slaughter and Ozzy Smith. There is also a statue of Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck and 2 Hall of Famers from other St. Louis Teams. George Sisler the Browns and Cool Papa Bell of the St. Louis Stars. The Statue of Stan Musial was moved to its current location from the 2nd Busch Stadium where it stood since 1968.

30 Tribute Card Project - Part 2

     In my last post I wrote about the latest project I decided to take on. It is based on this article on the Sports Collectors Daily website. In that post I showed the cards on that list that Topps actually made in one form or another and was able to check numbers 1,3,8, and 20 off the list.    

    Today I am going to present cards made by fellow card geeks that I found elsewhere on the web. Some of these have multiple versions on the internet. I chose these particular cards in order to get a variety of the sites I like onto the list without too much repetition. 

    First is #5 on the list 1957 Jackie Robinson.  Robinson was traded to the Giants after the 1959 season. But Robinson had other plans. He had already decided to retire. This card was created by one of my favorite sites, Dick Allen Hall of Fame. Unfortunately that site has been idle for a while now but the creator is now working on the DickAllen15.com, the official Dick Allen website. 

   Topps produced a card of Robinson sporting a giants uniform as part of the 2009 National promo set. but for whatever reason the made it a 1959 card. This card just makes more sense.

     Next is # 6, 1961 Ted Williams. Williams retired after the 1960 season and he went out with style. He hit a homer in his last at bat September 28, 1960. This card is courtesy of  Keith Conforti. I've seen his cards in several locations on the web. To see most of them in one place, here is a link to his Picasa Web Album.

    #11 is the 1966 version of Yogi Berra. Berra had actually retired after the 1963 season to become the Yankees manager in 1964. After losing the World Series to the Cardinals, Berra was fired. He return as a "Player/Coach" of the Mets in 1965 but played in only 4 games. His 1965 Topps card listed him as catcher-coach. This card can be found on Uncle Doc's Card Closet. 

    A few cards on this list have been made by multiple collectors. #13 on the list is one of the more frequently produced. In fact I made a 1967 Sandy Koufax All-Star card myself not that long ago. This one comes from Bob Lemke's Blog. Bob is THE leader in creating Cards That Never Were. He has been producing them for years. 

 

     The #14 card on the list was created for White Sox Cards. As a White Sox fan and a fan of custom cards, I am a regular follower of this site. Robin Roberts was dropped by the Astros in July of 1966 after winning just 3 games in 12 starts. He didn't fare much better when the Cubs signed him 9 days later. He won 2 in 9 starts then hung up his cleats at the end of the season.  Still, it's always nice to see a Hall of Famer in a hometown uniform.

    Here is the list so far. The Black X represents cards produced by Topps, The red X represents those made by other baseball card geeks:

1.       1952 Joe DiMaggio X

2.       1956 Ralph Kiner

3.       1957 Bob Feller X

4.       1957 Phil Rizzuto

5.       1957 Jackie Robinson X 

6.       1961 Ted Williams X 

7.       1962 Jackie Jensen

8.       1964 Stan Musial X

9.       1964 Early Wynn

10.   1965 Duke Snider

11.   1966 Yogi Berra X 

12.   1966 Warren Spahn 

13.   1967 Sandy Koufax X 

14.   1967 Robin Roberts X 

15.   1968 Whitey Ford

16.   1969 Rocky Colavito

17.   1969 Roger Maris 

18.   1969 Eddie Mathews

19.   1970 Don Drysdale

20.   1972 Ernie Banks X

21.   1973 Maury Wills

22.   1974 Willie Mays

23.   1977 Hank Aaron

24.   1977 Frank Robinson

25.   1978 Brooks Robinson 

26.   1978 Jim Wynn

27.   1980 Lou Brock

28.   1980 Thuman Munson

29.   1984 Johnny Bench

30. 1984 Carl Yastrzemski

To be continued......

October Shout Out

Bob Lemke's Blog

This is one of my favorite websites. If you are a baseball card geek like I am you will recognize the name. Bob is the Editor of the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards.  His blog is full of information and quit a few custom cards.

His creations are head and shoulders above any I have seen on the web. He is obviously a perfectionist and it shows.

His cards all have a front and a back that is both true to the original set issue format and informative.

I could (and I have) spend hours going through his blog. Also if you are so inclined, he sells a limited number of hard copies of his creations. 

I really had a hard time narrowing down the cards to include on this page. I had to include Wheaton, IL native John Belushi and Brian Piccolo (note Lemke spelled his name correctly but Topps did not).  I love to see cards of famous players on unfamiliar teams (Robinson, Doby, Namath) or people who never had cards (Madden, Pride). I don't want to give away too much but go visit his blog. If you are like me, it's like being a kid in a candy store.