Mike Olson 1/1 baseball card

I like baseball cards. I’ve never collected then religiously, mostly because I’m not from the US and getting hold of them isn’t very easy. Regular cards aren’t worth very much. Older cards, or those with famous players can cost you an arm and a leg. Grated vintage cards reach insane prices. Nowadays, the baseball card producers try to make cards more desirable by stamping them 1/100 or 1/10 and even 1/1. The 1/100 could be a the image of a player with a green border, the 1/10 could be the same image but with an orange border and 1/1 could be the same image but with a yellow border. Even the 1/1 isn’t unique, because the only thing different is the border color. That’s all! Yes, there is only one, but it still feels a bit like cheating.

To have a 1/1 unique baseball card, how cool would that be? Well, meet Michael Olson! I came across his work through his Instagram account. This guy hand draws baseball cards from scratch. Yes, he also draws ice hockey and football, truly… anything you want.

Now that was something I would be into. I would come up with a player I’d like a hand drawn card of. Took me no time, he just popped in there: Joe Kelly! This guy had brought some more swagger to the Dodgers team. He was the personification of the ‘Not Like Us’ movement with his ‘nice swing bitch’ pouty face.

But the pouty face had been done over and over and I just wanted a happy Joe card so I chose as a reference photo a shot of Joe in his mariachi jacket (belonging to Grover Castro of Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuéllar) which he traded for with a game worn jersey. He wore it to the White House celebration of the 2020 World Series title and threw the ceremonial first pitch in it before game 1 of the national League Wild Card Series in 2025.

So that’s the image I send to Mike and he was all happy about making it into a hand drawn card. He suggested using the Topps layout from the 1988 baseball card series, because it’s Joe’s birth year. I thought that was a great idea. Also because the Dodgers won the World Series in 1988.

A few months later it was done and, damn, that’s one fine card! It’s so much better than any numbered or limited regular card. It even has room on the back for Joe to sign it, if I ever bump into him.

The work is outstanding, the communication with Mike is smooth, he is a very friendly guy who thinks along with you about the overall look and feel of the card. His wife Mary designed the packaging and it’s all one big party receiving it and do the unboxing.

So, if you have a favorite player and you like unique art, visit Mike Olson’s website. He also sells pre-drawn cards so there is a good chance you’ll find a card there that strikes your fancy. Check out his Instagram account @mikeolsonart for recent projects. If you want to see his video presentation of my Mariachi Kelly card go here (I'll provide link when video is up).

Pieces of Johnny Podres

After the daffiness years and 5 lost World Series against the Yankees it was, finally, next year! A bunch of guys who, especially since the arrival of Robinson, almost finished first multiple times, did it. Took them seven games, but who was counting? Nothing came easy in Brooklyn, certainly not a World Series win. But in 1955 it was their time.

It was the year of Jackie stealing home and Duke Snider hitting 2 homers in game 4 ánd 5! But the series MVP was 2 game winner Johnny Podres. He pitched two complete games and shut out the Yankees in game 7 to give Brooklyn its overdue first World Series Championship.

He would go on to win a total of four World Series titles, play in four All Star games and was the National League ERA leader in 1957. Another interesting fact: Podres hit .313 in World Series games.

Now, with a career like that I was amazed to find some Podres baseball cards "cheap". With today's prices for modern day players like Ohtani $30 for two cards isn't bad for a World Series MVP.

Card #1: 2003 - Upper Deck - Sweet Spot Classic - Game Used Memorabilia

Card #2: 2005 - Upper Deck - Sweet Spot Classic - Signatures

"Game Used"
The Sweet Spot card is pretty straight forward. The Game Used piece of jersey is debatable. Because what is 'game used'? I tried to get an answer online which wasn't easy. The best infomration came from reddit and it's kinda disappointing. Game worn or game used means it was worn during a game, but that could also have been an exhibition game or minor league game AND it might not have been worn by the player on the card.
Now, if it specifically says (like it does on the Podres card) it was worn by him, only then can you be sure he wore it. Still a chance he wore it during spring training or something.
Still, while these cards can readily be found, I'm very happy with them. Remembering one of Dodgers' best!

Hollywood Ending: The Official World Series Championship Commemorative Book - Review

Rarely was a book review as easy as this one. ‘Hollywood Ending: The Official World Series Championship Commemorative Book’ is exactly what I hoped for. It was advertised directly after the Dodgers won the World Series in November, but it finally came out in February. Still, it was totally worth the wait.

It’s a good size coffee table book with a minimum of text so there is ample space for photos. This is precisely what you want. Visuals from the incredible regular and post season run.The photos are neatly put in chapters which makes it easy to relive the series you want.

Verdict
Seems like a waste to go on and on about the book. It's simply great. Loads of photos,all the exciting plays caught on camera. Skybox Press did a great job putting it together like this and it's quite affordable: $40.

2025 World Series Champions - Topps NOW 15-Card Team Set

Topps, well known publisher of baseball cards, released the 15 card team set of the 2025 World Series champions. I ordered 2 sets in November and they arrived in January. Topps was very transparent about the fact the set was a bit delayed, shipping was smooth, packaging sturdy.

I was a bit surprised the packs themselves were flimsy. At least compared to the set released after the 2020 World Series win. The 2020 set was shipped in a box and a hard plastic case. This year the packs came in a small cardboard envelope stuffed with a plastic pouch containing the cards.

The Set
Every set is comprised of the same 15 cards, all stacked in the same order: Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez, Blake Snell, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, Tyler Glasnow, Tommy Edman, Max Muncy, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Will Klein, Enrique Hernandez, Clayton Kershaw, Roki Sasaki, Team Celebration and last but not least one:

guaranteed numbered parallel or

image variation or

autograph/Triple Autograph or

parallel

Now, here’s where it gets tricky. This is Topps Now so you get to know how many sets are gonna be out there. So, at the end of the ordering window (first week of November) it turned out there would be 118,459 sets printed. Now, this is the amount of parallels/short prints we get:

/99 Green Foil

/50 Gold Foil

/25 Orange Foil

/10 Black Foil

/5 Red Foil

/1 FoilFractor

That's not a lot to look forward to. The chance of getting anything worthwile is close to zero.

Should I Open it or Should I Keep it Sealed?
These sets cost $75 each, a total of $178 for two sets including shipping to Europe. When they arrived, I wrestled with the thought of maybe keeping them sealed because I see them for sale from $150 to $300 and even higher on Ebay. But curiosity got the better of me. Maybe I DID get that 1 of 1 triple auto card with Yamamoto, Ohtani and Sasaki.

I had some luck with earlier sets. When I bought the 2020 Championship set, see blog about that set, I did get a /99 signed Corey Seager card which was amazing! So, why keep the sets sealed? I dug in!

The Cards
As far as design goes, the cards look very clean and the photo’s used are great. It really takes you back to some of the exciting World Series action. I was surprised not to find Miguel Rojas or Andy Pages in the set. They did their part, didn’t they?
The first set had an alternative short run pic of Yamamoto. Nice but nothing fancy. The second set had an alternative short run pic of Kershaw. Turnes out there was some misinformation on the back as well. Kershaw is a 2 time World Series winner, not three. More about that later!

Verdict
Nice set! But don't pay $75 for a chance to get an autograph or parallel. Buy the base set from Ebay and enjoy the memories.

"World Championship"

The [insert MLB-team name] are World Champions or even weirder: The [insert MLB-team name] are Champions of the World!

Some people and even MLB-teams really say this, which is nonsense because there is NO baseball world championship for teams. Sure, we have the World Baseball Classic (WBC), the unofficial World Championship for countries, but that’s it!

For an MLB-team to become World Champion there would have to be a WBC kinda setup.

The winners of the World Series would play the winners of the European Cup and comparable tournaments in Asia, South America, Afrika, Carribbean and Oceania (if they even exist).

Or you could invite the club champions of the countries playing at the WBC. That would be 20 teams from all over the world.

Then and only them would you be able to crown a World Champion.

In 2025 you could have the World Series winner LA Dodgers playing the European Champions Heidenheim Heideköpfe or Japans’ champs Fukuoka Hawks vs. Diablos Rojos del México, champs of Mexico.

Sure, the World Series winner could become World Champion, but never say they are without actually playing a team that's not from North America.

Now, I recently was in contact with someone from the website Baseball Reference.com and he came up with an answer that made me look at it differently:

"Definitely one way of looking at it — a great way too. Another? Over 27% of the players on rosters opening were from countries other than the United States. Almost all of those countries have a baseball league of their own, and these players rose to the top and transitioned from their country / league to the minors, then made their way through that to join the majors. I think at season’s end this year, the number was just over 30% of the players, so it changes as the years goes on."

I can get into that view, but not entirely. When a soccer team wins the Champions League and it has players from all around the world, it still isn't world champion. No matter where the players come from.

Then I got a reply from Ross Yoshida, Senior Director, Graphic Design at Los Angeles Dodgers, who has designed amazing looking press pins and world championship logo's for the club. He said:

"All teams in every sport make their own championship marks that leave off trademarked wording and verbiage. This is so clubs, partners, etc. can avoid usage rules and fees/royalties that come with using "World Series", "Super Bowl", et al..."

If that is the case something is very wrong within the sports organizations. Using the words World Series should be free advertizing for MLB. But I get his point of view.

No matter what it is, international players, dodging royalties... a World Series winner still isn't a World Champion. But I decided not to bother anyone anymore. Case closed!

World Series win in Dutch media

“From back to the wall to back to back”. Great call for an amazing World Series which spanned over 8 games, innings wise. I aged at least 10 years, but our Boys in Blue did it again. First back to back win for the Dodgers organization ever.

I was pleasantly surprised by the level of the players of Toronto, but the Dodgers are also a bunch of friends who can be sharp when they have to. I mean come on, two game deciding double plays in the last two games? Insanity!

What is left is the commentaries, clips and articles looking back on a historical World Series. Now, the media in the US go ape shit crazy about this kind of sports event, but over here in the Netherlands it’s all far away. Still… we get some articles in newspapers and online media. A selection:

De Telegraaf has a short article in the aptly named column “sports in short”. Nothing fancy, funny thing though... they write Will Smith has won 6 World Series in a row now. Not A Will Smith. but our own. lol!

Het Algemeen Dagblad also does the bare minimum:

NRC had a fairly long piece. It mainly zones in on the budget of the Dodgers organization. which seems to me, a very easy way to explain the success of recent years.

De Volkskrant comes with a 2 pager about the World Series win and in particular the importance of Ohtani amd his stature as probably the best, most versatile player ever.

Online sources brought us more articles and even some clips. I don’t think these websites can be viewed in the US so I’ll post some images of parts of the articles. The links are added as well, maybe they DO work.

First off an article on nu.nl:

Nos.nl had articles all throughout the World Series. The one about the Dodgers winning can be found here.

Japan Experience

Vistiting Japan had been on my to do list for years. Finally, this April-May I did it. I went at a time that is interesting for Dodger fans. The Tokyo Series had just been played there and the entire country is in love with Japanese MLB-players, especially Shohei Ohtani.
Last year I visited Korea and travelled around with a baseball cap with the word ‘Dodgers’ in Hangul and a ‘Seoul Series’ patch on the side. Funny enough this NEVER EVER sparked any conversation anywhere with Korean people. This, of course, is fine, but I, at least, expected some recognition.
After this experience I was in doubt if buying a cap in katakana would be worth the trouble. On the other hand, I thought, f*ck it! I bought a great cap with ‘Dodgers’ in katakana on the front and an Ohtani patch on the side. Well, how different the Japanese experience was…
From the first day in Japan I had people pointing at my hat, smiling and/or saying Dochas! No matter where I was, people smiled and sometimes made a fist and said ‘Ohtani the best’. Even in the underground, where, normally people only look at their phones and don’t talk. So this trip I had a completely different experience, which was unexpected and nice.

Ohtani News
Now, as mentioned before, they love Ohtani in Japan. He is everywhere! But the exposure in the newspapers surprised me. Regularly the first pages were slathered with Ohtani news. When he hits another home run, when he resumed pitching and threw a very fast pitch. Japanese journalists are on him like flies, desperate to bring more news about their favorite son. See the photo’s to get an idea.

Ohtani Adverts
Not only have news outlets discovered Ohtani since he came to the US. Companies want him to advertise their products. Not one but many of them. Which leads to a lot of Ohtanies around the country, with green tea (Oi Ocha), skincare (Kosé), sports drink (Syncron Kowa) or super markets (Family Mart), you name it, Shohei is probably there to sell it.

Dodgers Plaque - NYT

I visited New York City again in 2013, one of my goals was taking the subway to Brooklyn. I wanted to visit the location where Ebbets Field had stood proudly. A nice walk through Prospect park lead to some social housing apartment buildings en lo an behold… there was the plaque I heard so much about. It was next to nothing. But still, I had a moment. Standing there where fans came to see the Dafiness Boys, the Boys of Summer play and finally win a World Series title.

Flash forward to October 2024, the 2024 World Series are in full swing and our Boys in Blue look good with a 3-1 lead against the yankees. I’m walking through the city and my eye lands on the New York Times at a newsstand. There is a article on the front page with the title “In Brooklyn, humble touch of home for the long-gone Dodgers”. I buy the paper and stuff it in my bag, to read it on the plane back home.

We take off just before the start of game five of the World Series and I dive into the article.

It tells the story of Ezra Askotzky, the maintance manager of the Ebbets Field Apartments and his encounters with people searching for the plaque that marks the location of home plate. My eyes widen. I had never heard of such a thing or else I’d visited it eleven years earlier.

so, if you're ever in Brooklyn, visit this historic place, or at least read the article in the New York Times, October 30th 2024, front page and A23.

World Series Press Pins V - 2024

Press pins have been around since the 1911 World Series. Which means there is one for every Brooklyn and Los Angeles appearance. They are small and great items for collectors who do not have a lot of space, like me, to display their Dodgers related stuff.
When collecting, the first thing popping in my mind is: COLLECT THEM ALL! In the case of press pins that will never work for me since some of them are quite expensive. The 1916, 1920 pins probably will set you back at least $2000 each.
Maybe if I win a lottery, but for now I decided to try to get my hands on one pin for every decade our boys played in the World Series. That comes to 7 press pins: one from the 1940’s, 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s, 2010’s and 2020s.

Read my blogposts about Press Pins I got earlier HERE (1947), HERE (1974 & 1981), HERE (2017) and HERE (2020).

Yoshida
When I wrote my blog entry about the 2017 World Series Press Pin in 2020, I talked to the 2017 & 2018 pin designer Ross Yoshida and he told me the design for the next pin was done in 2019 and would probably say ‘2019’ on the back even if a next World Series could be years away. Well, it just happened the next WS appearance was in that year (2020, when I wrote the blog entry). Turned out, the 2020 WS Press Pin wasn’t by Yoshida. It was a rush job, boring and unimaginative.

2024 pin
Then came 2024. What a season, what a postseason and what a dominant World Series against the Yankees. I couldn’t wait to lay my eyes on the Press pin. Would it be the one designed in 2019? When I saw it, I knew: That’s a Yoshida, no doubt! I bought it and when it arrived, the first thing I did was turn it over and would you believe it, on the back was the year 2019. These pins had been in a safe for five years.

It’s shiny gold with the words ‘World Series’ in dark blue lettering. It also has the text ‘Dodger Stadium’ and a dark blue interlocking L and A. It’s shaped like Homeplate with palm trees and the pavilion. Probably left field, in the background. Nice to see the iconic zig zagging roof and the part of the stadium where the hard-core fans normally sit. There are also six stars on the pin, one of them in a baseball.
Says Yoshida: “You'll notice there are only six stars on the design. Since this press pin wasn't given out for the 2020 World Series, the design is outdated… it should have had seven stars! But, there was no way to foresee that happening.” Yoshida on the use of the pavilions: "No reason for the pavilions other than it gave an opportunity to showcase the famed zigzag awnings."
I totally love the use of gold and blue and the nod to the fans in the pavilions. Can’t wait for the new pin for a future World Series.

Future pin
Yoshida pointed out there is no new design yet and he is set to go to work on it during the 2025 season. Who knows when we’ll see it.

Perfect Eloquence: Review

Vin Scully, the most recognizable voice in all of baseball was a big little man. Revered by his peers and by Dodger fans all over the globe. Big in how he handled his work. Little was how he wanted to be. No big podium. A humble man who was just lucky to be part of broadcasting history.

He would never have agreed to a biography let alone write an autobiography. This is why 'Pull Up a Chair' was an average book that did not capture the Vin we know and could not get under the skin of the Vin we don’t know.

This is why ‘Perfect Eloquence’ is so strong. It’s not the life of Vin, but the tales about him. Memories of people who worked with him, baseball players and fans. In their own words they all paint a pretty picture. Vin would have waved it away, but eventually had pulled up a chair and leafed his way through the book, a sweet smile on his face.

All the memories are of a professional man who was a great human being. If you miss Vin, read this book, one tale at a time and be transported to better times, when years were improbable and evenings were pleasantly good, where ever you might have been.

My 2024 World Series

I had to!
The last time I saw my boys play live at a stadium was game 2 of the 2017 World Series. Way too long ago, so when they hoisted the pennant and were about to play the Yankees I knew I had to see a game.

I decided on a game in New York. It would save me 4 hours of flight either way and a handful of dollars. So I settled on going to game 4, the second game in the Bronx.

Now, little did I know the Dodgers would be up 2-0 before they travelled to New York. So, when I boarded my plane on the day of game 3 I was happy with the lead and would look for a bar to watch the game that evening.

Game 3
I landed at Taqueria Gramercy which is a Dodger friendly restaurant where I got a nice table close to a television. When game time arrived two more fans joined me at my table. The bar was filled with Dodger fans and one or two Yankee fans. It was a great experience. There were shots all around and there was Freddy doing his thing… again!

At Yankee Stadium
I’d never been to ‘new’ Yankee Stadium so I could add another MLB stadium to my visited list which now stands at 18. The ride there was bad. The subway was crowded and warm, but I made it and although the lines at the entrance of Yankee Stadium were long it was smooth getting in.

It’s like a temple of baseball worship. I liked the old stadium but this one has been adding some great moments in itself. But just the one World Series. I hoped my boys would celebrate that night with a sweep.

The Game
Well, Freddy did what he does best, in the first inning. Dodgers up 2-0 but it was obvious the Yankees were not going to lay down and take the sweep. Our boys weren’t that sharp. Probably tired of being so hot all the time. Yanks smelled blood and acted. Now, I was surrounded by Yankees fans so I was a bit anxious but they had a great night and honestly, for a series as classic as Yankees vs. Dodgers it honestly was good it wasn’t going to be a sweep.

After the game, Yankee fans praised me for my sportsmanship as I did theirs. I love fans who support their team. Even if they are Yankee fans.

Game 5
I had a flight back home during game 5 and no wifi so the moment we touched down at Schiphol Airport I whipped out my mobile and YES it looked like it had been one hell of a game. A stewardess noticed my cap and asked me if I knew they’d won. Yes they have. Oh, she said, so they have won the World Series. Yup, I said!

It was time for reflection, of big smiles and a bottle of good champagne to celebrate this awesome season the boys pulled out of the hat. I specifically think about Shohei, how he must feel. All that talent wasted for years with the Angels and now World Series champ with the Dodgers.

So…
It was an awesome experience. Being in NYC, meeting Dodger fans. Even in one occasion meeting Josh, who I first met during the tail gate before the 2012 opening day game in LA. Weird, in a city of over 9 million to see someone you know. Thanks NYC for the hospitality and the Yankees for being there and let’s do it again some day.

THIS.IS.NEXT.YEAR!

Farewell Fernando

When Vin died, I wrote: “Some people die young, which is horrible. Then there are people who reach a ripe old age and still die too young. Vin Scully is one of those people. One I thought would always be around.”

Well, we lost another big name and he did die too young. 63 is no age to leave our planet. Fernando Valenzuela came and conquered the MLB in unbelievable fashion. He won and won and won. Not only games and the 1981 World Series, but also the hearts of the Latin Americans in LA. He single handedly made them finally fall in love with the Boys in Blue. If you wonder why the Mexican community and the Dodgers were off to a bad start, read 'Stealing Home', by Eric Nusbaum. For a great insight of Fernando’s rise, watch the 30 for 30 documentary ‘'Fernando Nation'.

No Time

I see many pictures of Dodger fans taken with Fernando. I almost got one myself the day after the 50th opening day at Dodger Stadium in 2012. I met him just before he dove into the elevator. “Sorry, no time, I have to present the Cy Young to Clayton”. I’ll get one, one day, I thought. It’ll never happen now, but I’ll have this encounter and loads of pitching greatness on film to remember him by.

Thank you, El Toro, #34, Rest in Peace!

Ron Cey: Penguin Power: Review

This is Cey’s autobiography written together with Ken Gurnick, who was Dodgers beat writer for over 40 years. It’s an honest book, though not amazingly written. Take these lines from the book: “I always thought I would be the first domino to fall. It was a total surprise to everybody that Russell outlasted all of us with the Dodgers. Simply because through all of the articles, we had been brainwashed into believing that he was going to be the first one to go. I felt if push came to shove, they could get enough in return for me. I did not think Garvey would leave. I didn’t think they would push him out… So, I thought I was going to be the first one gone.”

I had to read that multiple times and am still not sure who was thought to be the first to go. Ken was either in a hurry of, if Ron wrote this himself, didn't proof read it.

Ron seems to be obsessed with who’s ‘in his corner’. On the other hand he is open and honest about Tom Lasorda (as opposed to the book ''My Way' which treats the subject as if he was a lovely kitten) and his relationship with Al Campanis.

As could be suspected there is mention of ‘The infield’, but in a book that’s 200 pages a chapter of 20 pages about the infield is a bit thin.

In the chapter about postseason results I was surprised to read Bill Buckner is (indirectly) to blame for another World series loss! In the 1974 World Series he..... I never knew that! According to Cey, Bill committed a 'cardinal sin'. there is an entire chapter on Bucker that's sweet and full of great memories of their friendship.

The chapter on Scully and Jarrin is fun and ties in with the book 'Perfect Eloqence' entirely about Vin Scully.

Finally something that always gets me: winning the world championship. It's not possible. Still, Peter O'Malley in his foreword as well as Ron refer to winning a world championship. Ow well...

Ohtani in Dutch newspaper

On October 3rd Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant published a 2 page article about Shohei Ohtani. The article is written by Koen van der Velden, a sports journalist stationed in the USA, who regularly writes about US-sports.
Honestly, I was surprised by the two page spread with the title ‘he hits ánd steals’ which also had three pictures of Ohtani hitting, stealing and playing with Decoy.
The level of writing was good. Often non-american writers miss something but this was well written.

Ofcourse I have something to nag about, as always. Koen writes about the play-offs which in the MLB is the postseason and he mentions that the Triple Crown has not been given out since 1937, which is only parlty true. It was the last time an NL-player won is.

Other than that: great read! It mentions the big off season contract the Dodgers offered Ohtani. Although he was recovering from surgery. His pitching sabbatical and how he zoned in adding another weapon: stealing more bases.
It ends with a mention of the Dodgers going for their 8th World Series championship and that Ohtani might be the missing piece to reach it.
In short: I’m a happy camper with this kind of exposure of the Dodgers in a Dutch newspaper. 😊

Heads Up!

Ever since I became a fan of the Dodgers, I’ve been wearing fitted caps. The original one ‘the players wear’. I love the pantone 294 color and the iconic interlocking L and A. I dare to say it’s the most recognizable MLB logo after the Yankees one. I, of course, change it up a bit with postseason patches and the gold edition World Series 2020 cap but other than that, I stayed faithful to the original, but sometimes you need a change of color, style or want to wear a bit more ‘out of the box’.

3 caps, 3 opinions
This year was extravagant for me. I really liked some caps that came out and bought the lot. First up is the Seoul Series cap with patch and the Dodgers name in hangul. I didn’t see our boys play in Seoul but visited Korea a month later which gave me a lot of time to wear it throughout the country.

The city connect jerseys are bland and plain but the cap… I like! It’s a great combination of the LA and the D in champagne. Playful and a nice dark color cap. It has some colored sprinkles on the underside of the bill and on the top button. A fun detail, also there on the jerseys.

Finally, and this might be an unpopular opinion… the All Star Game cap. I love it! The colors, completely not LA chique, are all over it and the lone star and Texas patch are wild. Makes for a colorful alternative.

The New Yorker - Shotime

It’s always fun to see a Dodgers-related cover on a magazine. Sure, on a sports magazine it might be expected, but on the New Yorker, a magazine full of commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry, that’s something else.

The artist
Mark Ulriksen has been a cover artist for the New Yorker for over 30 years. Of his 70 covers 12 are about baseball (most of them Yankees related, which is curious because he’s a Giants and Red Sox fan, but understandable because… The New Yorker). His latest featuring our own Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani
The cover features Ohtani seen from the back, just after a hit (probably hitting one out of the park) and in his back pocket a wad of money. Now, this piece of art was done when the ‘Ohtani financial scandal’ was still the talk of the town.
those hoping for a piece accompanying the art... you'll be disappointed. the cover itself is reason enough to get a copy, though.

Ohtani deal in Dutch media

In the final days I kinda suspected the deal would not happen. Then people started to follow a flight to Toronto which had Ohtani on board... but it turned out to be fake news and shortly after, the big news broke: Ohtani moves from Anaheim to Los Angeles! Ten years, $700 million. $2 a year for the first ten years, then $68 a year for ten more years. Now, that's a smart deal!

Internet exploded but what about media in my country? Well, news travels fast and although baseball isn't very big in the Netherlands this bomb was too big to ignore. The NOS posted on its website 'Dodgers tempt superstar Ohtani with record salary' and NU.nl: 'Ohtani trumps Messi'. Multiple newspapers had extensive articles about it as well. Parts of some of the articles shown below.

Retired Bracelet

I’d always been looking for a way to have my Boys in Blue with me at all times. I’ve thought about a tattoo, but somehow that didn’t really do it for me.

So, some years back I found this online jewelery shop that sells bracelets with engravable beads. I was sold and had the names of the players that had their jersey number retired engraved and I still wear the bracelet with pride.

Ten beads, ten names. It’s been in Dodgers history for years and years: 10 retired numbers, 6 World Series titles. Those numbers were fixed for so long.
Then came 2020 and ‘we’ won a 7th championship. That fact had to settle into my brain for quite some time.

Then, after years of hoping, and to be honest: years of expecting, the Classic Baseball Committee in 2022 was wise enough to, finally, induct Gil Hodges into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Dodgers organization responded swiftly by retiring number 14 soon after.

Before I could get used to 11 retired numbers, the Dodgers decided to retire number Fernando’s #34! This will happen in August 2023.

Now, I have 12 name beads on my bracelet and we all know there will be al least one more in the near future, the moment he is eligible for the Hall of Fame: #22.

Book review: A Damn Near Perfect Game

A Damn Near Perfect Game : Reclaiming America’s Pastime written by Joe Kelly with Rob Bradford sounded, to me, like a book about how Joe himself would make baseball more entertaining. I could not have been more wrong.

It is a personal book in which Joe tells the reader intimate details about his struggle as a kid with an abusive father and how the man influenced him and the way he plays the game.

It’s honest, often funny and well written with the help of Rob Bradford.

Joe is also honest about his view of the game as it is played nowadays. I was surprised by some of his opinions about altering the game, coming from a pitcher. It’s good, though, to read these kind of statements from the guy on the mount.

While Joe kelly isn’t a Dodger anymore, (july 2023 update: he's back!),there is enough stuff in the book about his time with the Boys in Blue. I always enjoyed his antics and by the looks of it, so did his teammates.

All in all a good read and I know you mustn’t judge a book by its cover, but this cover is awesome!

Claude Shafer Cartoon (1920)

Shafer
Newspaper cartoonist Claude Shafer (1878-1962) found the fight for first place in the National League in the 1920 baseball season interesting enough to dedicate a cartoon to. The Cincinnati based cartoonist, creator of Old Man Grump, was a Reds fan and saw his team battle for a place in the World Series with the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Robins.

The Sketch
The original sketch has seen better days. It has quite some water marks and mold. It’s approximately 14x8-1/4” (35,5x20,9 cm) and signed by Shafer on the bottom right corner. It features Old Man Grump sitting in a boat, fishing while smoking a corn cob pipe. Below the hook with worms and a card saying ‘first place’ three fish jump out of the water. They all have a ‘name’: Reds, N.Y. and Brook. Grump addresses the reader: ‘Look! In all yer life did ya ever see ‘em bite like that?’

The Season
When you look up the 1920 season the three teams were closest at the beginning of September. On September 5th, for instance, Brooklyn was on 73-55 (0.5 up), Cincinnati on 71-54 and New York on 71-57 . At the end of that month, though, the Reds would be 9.5 games behind, the Giants 5. The Robins would go on and face and lose to the Indians in the World Series.

Why buy a century old drawing from a Reds fan? I think it's a nice peek into the history of the Dodgers. On the brink of their second World Series appearance in 4 years. It would be quite some time before they would reach again (1941). It predates the first Yankees win, Jackie Robinson was far away and Branch Rickey was still with the Cardinals and exactly 100 years later the Dodgers would win their 7th World Series title. I really like that way of looking at history.