Calling All Brooklyn Dodgers Collectors!--Show Your Brooklyn stuff

[dougscats]

I'm revising this thread to make it a a celebration of the history of Brooklyn baseball,
and to invite all fans to show their Brooklyn stuff.

This thread was originally aimed for me to contact, communicate and trade with fellow Brooklyn Dodgers collectors, with the ultimate idea, possibly, of divesting my collection on N54. And the first few replies below reflect that.
I'm in good health by the way, so please don't get the wrong idea, thanks; I'm not selling now.

But now I want this thread to be more, not about me, but to be about Brooklyn baseball.
So I'll start to do that by showing some of the highlights of my collection [1865-1957], not the best, but a labor of love.

Still, there's a ton of stuff that I don't have and that I'd love to see,
so I'd ask the rest of you out there who would like to, to share your Brooklyn stuff. Show, and Tell if you'd like. I know some of the history, but I'd surely like to see and hear more.

I'm going to cut out the trading part of the original post, so I'm deleting most of the scans I first posted.
But I'll leave up a couple of Brooklyn legends to start it off, two of Uncle Robbie's "Daffiness Boys": Babe Herman and Dazzy Vance.
Herman in particular is one of baseball's all-time characters, and I'd invite fans to show cards of him and perhaps share a vignette or two.

Here's one as I remember it:
A reporter interviewing Babe, whose fielding was notorious, asks him if it's true that he had been hit in the head by a fly ball. Babe vehemently denies it. The reporter then asks, Well, how about the shoulders? To which Babe replies, Oh no! No, no. The shoulders don't count.

He hit .393 one year.

I guess he was a DH ahead of his time.

Scroll down to see more:
The Brooklyn Bridegrooms of 1890, and
The Brooklyn Atlantics of 1865!--Thanks to Doug Goodman who was good enough to provide a scan.
And there will be more!--Show us your Brooklyn Dodgers!

[doug.goodman]

Hi Doug

I'm potentially interested in scored programs and larger items like m113s & m114s, Police Gazette pages, supplement type stuff, etc. And "weird" stuff maybe.

Have fun,
Doug

[dougscats]

I know that you like 19th c., Doug, so I managed to post a shot of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms of the 1890's. I might trade this item for cards, but it is not for sale at this time.

I struck out after three tries at posting a Harper's woodcut of the champion Brooklyn Atlantics of 1865. [I couldn't get a scan under 2 MB.]
That's the last year of the Civil War!
This is, I think, the same Brooklyn club that were winners at both ends of the famed 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings 57 game winning streak.

I do have a scorecard in the 1955 World Series Program, scored by my brother who was there, which has a lot of newspaper clippings of the game taped to some of the ads. I wouldn't be trading this or the ticket stub at this point, but I'll post scans when I dig it up.

More scans to come.

[gregndodgers]

Count me in!!!

Is that team shot a pencil drawing or some type of lithograph?

Cool stuff!!

[ALBB]

Wow, some classic stuff there

I guess we all gonna reach this point at some time

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by dougscats

I know that you like 19th c., Doug, so I managed to post a shot of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms of the 1890's.

I struck out after three tries at posting a Harper's woodcut of the champion Brooklyn Atlantics of 1865. [I couldn't get a scan under 2 MB.]
That's the last year of the Civil War!

That Bridegrooms shot is nice, here is the Atlantics that you reference

[Vintagedeputy]

A few Dodgers items…

[doug.goodman]

The last two no hitters thrown at Ebbets Field (both in 1956).

Erskine beats the Giants on May 12

Maglie beats the Phillies on Sept 25

[inceptus]

I'll add a pair of CJ Ruckers...

[Brent G.]

I learned about this card on Net54 about a year ago and had to have it — there was just something about one of the greatest all-around athletes in U.S. history selling cigs that reeled me in. I’m not a Brooklyn collector, but this is my favorite card.

Research conducted by Net54 members indicates that while this (and the other Old Gold Jackie) was released after the Bond Bread portrait, it did come out in the fall of 1947, making it a rookie year issue as well.

Getting the TPGs to recognize that ... well we know how they feel about correcting their mistakes.

[dougscats]

I'd say I'd guess, but there is really no doubt about it:
Jackie Robinson is the finest hour in Brooklyn baseball history.

With all due respect to those who came before, Jackie's breaking the color-line in baseball was vital to the core of America, which it helped shape post World War II,
and which incidentally began the age of modern baseball.

What a man.
Can you imagine what it took to carry that weight?
Proud, competitive, intense as he was, to keep that inside, the rage within?
He makes me gulp, and more, in awe; truly a great man, beyond baseball.

I was going to respond to some of the fabulous, older stuff that has been posted first,
but, as DeanH3 has brought him up with that stunning Time magazine cover, followed by Brent G's rookie, and Rhett's ticket stub of Jackie's first game,
Jackie has to go to the front of the line.

And as a fan, you have to love the way he went out.
Dodgers management [the much vilified Walter O'Malley] traded him to the hated-rival NY Giants after the 1956 season.
Jackie retired rather than to accept the trade.
And that's where I'll leave this post, with his Topps card from his final year, and that year's edition of the fabled boys of summer:

[dougscats]

Uncle Robbie he was called, the beloved manager of the beloved bums,
later in his career called the Daffiness Boys.

They named the team after him--the Robins--for awhile.

He was Brooklyn's answer to McGraw of the Giants,
who'd both been teammates in the 1890's on the legendary Baltimore team.
Hitherto good friends, Robinson and McGraw had had a falling out when Robinson was coaching for him, and I'm sure this added to the rivalry between the teams.

Uncle Robbie's underdogs won the NL pennant in 1916 and 1920, and I think they made a serious run again in 1924. So he was no joke as a manager, but he was comical;
Rotund, with a good sense of humor, I think one writer called him Falstaffian, and I'll go with that.

I believe it was Casey Stengel who orchestrated the following in spring training one year:
Someone was in the news about catching a baseball dropped from an airplane at 500'.
Uncle Robbie, former h-o-f catcher, said that he could do that, and soon enough a bet was made and a contest set up.
There was a real possibility of Uncle Robbie getting hurt in this stunt.
Casey Stengel got the airplane pilot to substitute a ripe grapefruit for the baseball.
The "ball" came down from 500', fluttering all the way, as you may imagine. But the old catcher managed to get under it.
When it hit his glove, of course it splattered all over Uncle Robbie's head.
I'm dead! I'm dead!" he screamed
While the team, the Press and the fans in attendance all rolled with laughter.

Thanks to Jobu for that incredible RPPC of the 1920 Brooklyn Robins, featuring Uncle Robbie's dog with the pipe in his mouth!
I don't remember ever seeing that before, and I think his dog captures who Uncle Robbie was.

[MVSNYC]

Cool thread...here's mine...

[dougscats]

You might ask how I can remember stuff that happened before I was born.

My love for baseball and its lore goes back to 1959-62, first with cards, then books, which my father [who enjoyed browsing in a used bookstore] would bring me.
So when I say that I remember anecdotes before my birth, it comes mainly from my memory of the books read then [some of which somehow I still have]:

The Brooklyn Dodgers, an Informal History by Frank Graham [Putnam and Sons, NY, 1945].
The Dodgers, An illustrated story of those unpredictable bums, by John Durant [Hastings House, NY, 1948].
Jackie Robinson, the MVP Series of 1949, by Bill Roeder [Barnes, NY, 1950].
Dodger Daze and Knights by Tommy Holmes [McKay, NY, 1953].

There were dozens more books by many great sportswriters from days of yore,
and I've read some of the best since that time, including the more modern classic, The Boys of Summer by Roger Angell.

Just so you know where I'm getting this stuff.

I left Exhibit cards off the Uncle Robbie post, most personally for me, Ivan Olson.
They called him Red-Neck Olson, my father once told me.
Why?
Because he made a lot of errors at third, and when the fans got on him his neck turned bright red.

I was going to show some pics from the books but decided not to, great as some of them are; this forum is for cards and memorabilia, and I don’t want to broaden it beyond that.
Frank Graham’s book is the best of those early ones, by the way, if I remember correctly.

[inceptus]

A couple of my favorite T206 portraits...

[GeoPoto]

Dodgers at the Harlem Y.

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[REG1976]

Go DODGERS

[Kutcher55]

[dougscats]

Hi Yoda.
We share similar backgrounds, though you predate me with that 1951 memory of "the shot heard round the world."
I never heard Russ Hodges described like that before!

I grew up in Bay Ridge Brooklyn in the 1950's.
Probably the first game I vaguely remember hearing was on the radio, on a drive home from a wonderful weekend outing at Peach Lake.
The announcers were discussing some controversy over Duke Snider and something he said about his salary.
I didn't quite understand, but then it dawned on me,
You mean he gets paid to play? I asked my father.

Doug Goodman,
How faulty is my memory. I have a 1956 WS Program/Scorecard, not 1955 [See scan below. I note that my older, 13 year old brother did not know how to score, though he was neat].

Still, they were the defending World Champions, up two games to none after the 13-8 thrashing that this scorecard attests to.
What happened?

The Yankees.

Wait'll next year.

Which of course was to be the last.

Nice stuff, Kawika. Love that shot of the Babe crooning with the Dodgers.
And the Ebbets Field fences in 1939.

I couldn't fit [get under 2 MB] the front page of the 1956 WS Program. It's a bit oversized and I'm a dinosaur on the computer. But I was able to get half the scorecard.

My all-time favorite is Gil Hodges.
He would have played without getting paid, I just knew.

Finally in the Hall of Fame, this WWII Marine Sergeant was a born leader of men, first as a player on the field, and then as a manager.
No one can know what Jackie went through, but it must have helped him a little to know Gil Hodges had his back.
I saw him once in the 1960's in Leemark Lanes; he had the big hands.

PS. Thanks Kutcher55 and REG197 for all those nice-looking cards of the Boys of Summer.
I was going to show all those teams with Gil--but it was way too many--Now I have selectively deleted some of them and haven't included some backs.
Still too many, but forgive me.

[Yoda]

My father loved the way 'Pistol' Pete Reiser played. To Dad, he was the perfect all rounder. Dad used to say, "I love him, but he won't get into thee Hall if he keeps running into walls."

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by dougscats

I note that my older, then 13 year old brother did not know how to score, though he was neat].

THAT is a BEAUTIFUL scorecard. And without digging too deep into the details, it looks pretty well scored to me.

[bigfanNY]

Not a Dodger Collector but I have a few Brooklyn items

First is a photo of the Bridgrooms, (1891) With John Ward sitting on the Left.

Second is a 1915 Brooklyn Fedetal League Scorecard.

[dougscats]

That's a rare and neat Scorecard of the Brooklyn Federales [I have personally nicknamed them with the Spanish spelling and pronunciation],
and I can say the same for the 1891 Bridegrooms team shot; thanks bigfanNY.

And you're right Doug Goodman; it is a beautiful scorecard.
I was a little tough on my brother; I couldn't have scored properly at 13 either.
I'll tell him what you said.

Yoda, I'm glad you brought up Pete Reiser's name.
Leo Durocher said that the only player he'd compare to Pete in terms of talent was Willie Mays, and that Pete had more power.
I don't really know any stories about him, only that he was a fan favorite, had remarkable rookie and sophomore seasons, lost years to WWII,
and was never the same when he came back, due to all the head and shoulder injuries he sustained from crashing into walls.
Even so, he never lost his speed and stole home seven times one year.

I've posted a few shots of him and several of his teammates from a 1941 [?I think] team Photo Pack. It's worth noting that Dixie Walker, "the People's Cherce [Choice]" was also a fan favorite. But if I remember correctly, he was one of those players who was against playing with Jackie Robinson, and so he was summarily traded.

[ocjack]

Johnny -

[kcohen]

Schaefer Beer Display

IMG_2174.jpg


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[Yoda]

the only Post Script I can add relates to. cards: The first pack I ever opened was a '51 Bowman. Even then, Mantle and Mays were highly coved but I never landed either of them. However, imagine the excitement when the magical new '52 Topps arrived; bigger, real photos, splendid color etc. Our geographic area received the last series, so everybody was on the hunt for Mantle. Never found one despite spending my whole weekly allowance...$1 and begging my father for odd jobs to supplement my meager income. Did land the Jackie, Campy and Pee Wee but, of course, they are dust in the wind.

[dougscats]

I'm driving to Florida for the winter now, but my Brooklyn collection is staying home.
So I wanted to post some final scans. I will be adding text to these.
And I have a dozen or so more pages of scans to show, hopefully.

[gonefishin]

Here are a couple of photos from the 42 Dodger picture pack, Doug Doremus you might enjoy the young photo of Pete Reiser and Pee Wee.

[perezfan]

Some stuff....

Vintage Pennants
Stan Rojek's Game-used Brooklyn Home Satin
Jackie/Dodgers Mementos
Willard Mullin Original Art & accompanying Sporting News Cover
Stanford Pottery Bum

[REG1976]

& 1955 Armour Coins

[campyfan39]

[dougscats]

Pardon my hiatus.
And thanks for all the new additions:

Marty in uniform, shades of PeeWee Reese!
And Johnny Podres, our 1955 World Series hero! With his Game 7, 2-0 win!

I meant to post these 1957? Photo-pack pics the morning I started driving south, but I forgot to add the title, so the post never happened.
I got this photo-pack at the one game I attended, which I think is 1957.

Doug Goodman: I saw my brother and showed him his 1956 WS ticket and scorecard along with your comments. He laughed and remembered back, and it was a good moment.

I have a few more players I want to show, along with the 1957 final team to conclude.
But I've realized that I have a big hole in my collection: No Casey Stengel!
I guess that I'm going to have to get me two: one as a player when he first broke in, around 1912 with Brooklyn [4 hits if I remember correctly], and one when he broke in as a manager with one of the worst teams in the mid 1930's.

Back later.

[REG1976]

Duke Snider Brooklyn/LA

[dougscats]

I checked it out last post; 1912 was his rookie year.
I have since continued to read the excellent bio by Wikipedia on Casey and recommend it to anyone interested:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Stengel

I may still have the book, Casey at the Bat, which I read as a boy, but I can't imagine that it captures Casey and his career better than this journalistic piece of a few thousand words.
Myself, I well remember Casey as manager of the Mets, but that's another story.

Hopefully, someone will post a card or two [the 1936 Pastel is memorable!], but the scan below from one of my Brooklyn books will have to do for now.

I'm also going to include more scans of earlier cards of players that I missed [like the last of the legal spitballers, the great Burleigh Grimes] before I hasten to conclude.
So, pardon the barrage of random scans.
I do note though, that my Brooklyn collection has the greatest variety of different type baseball cards that I have, and I hope that the mix of many beautiful cards is worth viewing.