World Series Press Pins IV - 1974 & 1981

Press pins have been around since the 1911 World Series. Which means there is one for every Brooklyn & 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. 

That being said... my favorite press pin from the 1970s is the one from 1978. But I got a good deal on the ‘74 one, so... I just broke my own rule. But together with the one from ‘81 it makes a nice pair.
Press pins are weirdly different, design wise. Sometimes it’s like the designers didn’t have any inspiration. The 1955 press pin is boring, as is the one from 1977 or the 2020 one to name a few. Dodger Stadium, though, has been a source for inspiration since 1963. Of the 12 press pins 4 featured Dodger Stadium as its center piece.

1974

The oval pin has an embossed Dodger Stadium in matt brass color in the middle and a border in blue and the text World Series Dodger  Stadium. The brass/blue combination has been used quite some times on Dodgers WS press pins. This edition looks a bit like an oval version of the 1947 pin with the Brooklyn Bridge. It's kinda classy. 

1981

Again Dodger Stadium takes center stage. In a shiny gold colored pin, we look into the stadium and see downtown LA in the backdrop. The text reads World Series LA Dodgers and two American flags flank the stadium on both sides. 

Honestly, this edition is a bit too much. Too shiny, too much going on. Still, better than the 1988 pin which compensates by being too dull.

Can't win 'em all! 

Remembering Vin Scully

Some people die young, which is horrible. Then there are people who reach a ripe old age and still die to young. Vin Scully is one of those people. One I thought would always be around.
He HAD been around forever! When I started to follow the boys in blue, Vin had been the voice of the Dodgers for over 30 years. He had so many famous soundbites and he kept on piling them up.
People took Vin to the Coliseum on their transistor radios and later to the Stadium. Me too, on a radio walkman. He gave you so much more insight during the game.
One of the best Vin moments for me personally was attending the Vin Scully appreciation game in 2016. The mayor, Mark Walter, Koufax, Kershaw, Costner giving heartfelt speeches and ofcourse Vin, his modest self, thanking everybody.
He retired but got to see the Dodgers win one more World Series. Beautiful!

To quote Obi-Wan after Alderaan was destroyed: “ As if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced”. The collective Dodgers fanbase fell silent after the news and we will be for quite some time.

Thanks, Vin, for being a brother, a father a grandpa, the all knowing voice of many generations, a tranquil beacon, a Dodger! 

I'll miss you, Vin!

Dodgers Live or: An Updated Blog about Seeing my Boys in Blue play!

When you live in Europe it can be hard to have your favorite baseball team play on the West Coast. Still, since 2003, when I saw them play for the first time, I've managed to visit some games. I posted about the games I visited in a blog years ago. I'll update every visit here. Even if it's just for myself, to keep tabs on box scores and lineups.

Last time I saw the boys play was in 2017. So, time to get my ass back to the States and see some more Dodger baseball!

So, without further ado... the games and links to the scores.

Attended Dodgergames since 2003

Date	Home/Away	Opponent	Score
May 3rd 2003	Home (1)	Pirates	W 4-1
September 4th 2007	Away (1)	Cubs	W 6-2
September 5th 2007	Away (2)	Cubs	L 2-8
September 6th 2007	Away (3)	Cubs	W 7-4
May 29th 2008	Away (4)	Mets	L 4-8
May 30th 2008*	Away (5)	Mets	W 9-5
May 31st 2008	Away (6)	Mets	L 2-3
June 1st 2008	Away (7)	Mets	L 1-6
August 10th 2009	Away (8)	Giants	W 4-2
April 14th 2011	Home (2)	Cardinals	L 5-9
April 10th 2012#	Home (3)	Pirates	W 2-1
April 11th 2012	Home (4)	Pirates	W 4-1
April 25th 2013	Away (9)	Mets	W 3-2
September 19th 2016	Home (5)	Giants	W 2-1
September 20th 2016	Home (6)	Giants	L 0-2
September 21st 2016	Home (7)	Giants	W 9-3
September 22nd 2016	Home (8)	Rockies	W 7-4
September 24th 2016@	Home (9)	Rockies	W 14-1
October 24th 2017$	Home (10)	Trashtros	W 3-1
October 25th 2017	Home (11)	Trashtros	L 6-7
October 27th 2024	Away (10)	Yankees	L 4-11

* Kershaw's 2nd MLB-game
# Opening Day at Dodger Stadium exactly 50 years after the first opening day on April 10th 1962
@Vin Scully Appreciation Day
$ First World Series Game since 1988

Return to Sender

I’m always rooting for a Dodgers win, so is LA and so were the Brooklynites. So when the Dodgers where in the losing side of one of the best known moments in baseball history, it must have hurt. It did hurt! You can look it up in the books that where written about that October 3rd 1951. The day of ‘The Shot Heard Around the World’. Still, even if the Dodgers were on wrong end they will forever be one of the teams that played this historic ninth inning.

Gateway Z
I never knew Gateway cachet Z silk envelopes were a thing before I found them online. Envelopes with a color printed piece of silk with a baseball theme. Celebrating rookies, stadiums, cooperstown players and... famous happenings like the one in 1951.

The Envelope
This envelope, number 425 of 500, has a print of the Polo Grounds and the face of Bobby Thomson, a bum and some newspaper headlines. It ‘celebrates’ the 35th anniversary of the homerun. There are two stamps, one of which is from 1939 and celebrates the centennial of baseball. The date stamp, of course, is October third 1986. Below the stamps is the text:

1951 national league playoff
“The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant!” Such were the the joyful shouts of sportscaster Rus Hodges as Bobby Thomson’s home run disappeared into the left field stands over Andy Pafko’s head. This home run remains as one of baseball’s most dramatic.

Autographs
Collector and dealer Carl Pettit was able to make this envelope even more interesting. While setting up at baseball card shows he got the John Hancocks of the leading men in this drama: pitcher Ralph Branca, home run hitter Bobby Thomson and the guy in the outfield who could only watch it fly into the stands Andy ‘at the wall’ Pafko. Pettit remembers Bobby and Ralph having a lot of fun together.

All in all a great piece with some awesome autographs of men who where a part of history. I must say, I’m glad I wasn’t born yet, because that loss would have been hard to swallow after a season where the boys were still 13 games up on August 11th.

Hang it up!

This one is a bit of a stretch, wait... I said that before, I might have lost my touch. But honestly, I’m very happy with this item. Let’s make it interesting. I posted a picture of it below, now... let me know if you get how it’s tied to the Dodgers.

Hit sign, win suit
For those of you who got it: you know your Dodgers history, well done! Abe Stark was a tailor and got famous in Brooklyn because of his advertisment on the right field wall. Players who hit the sign got a free suit. In 1931 the sign moved under the famous Ebbets Field scoreboard and was way more difficult to hit. Partly because of great fielding by the likes of Furillo and Walker. One player, Mel Ott, hit it twice, though.

Abe Stark
Stark became so famous he even got himself elected as president of the New York Council, twice. During his time as president (1954-1961) he had two alternatives to the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn. First he suggested building the new stadium in Prospect Park, later he pitched the idea of the city of New York to become stockholders of the Giants and Dodgers to keep the teams in town. After his stint as president he was elected borough president of Brooklyn three times!

The Hanger
It’s not much to look at, but it breathes that film noir kinda vibe. The name Abe Stark is near the top twice. The left arm says ‘Brooklyn’s finest clothes shop’. The right arm ‘opp. Loew’s Pitkin Theatre’. The arms are connected by a horizontal rod for some trousers, fancy! It sure feels special to hang my Dodgers jersey on this hanger.

World Series Press Pins III - 2020

Press pins have been around since the 1911 World Series. Which means there is one for every Brooklyn & 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. 

I did some research and have decided on the ones I want, if I can get my hands on them. They are the ones I think are the most interesting of their decade. First I got my hands on the 1947 and 2017 pins. Read my blogposts about those Press Pins  HERE and HERE. Recently my third pin arrived. 

For the 2020’s I didn’t have much of a choice. It’s because I found it at a reasonable price I decided to buy it. It’s quite unimaginative to say the least.
We see a home plate with at the top the words ‘world series’. The Dodgers script is in white on a dark blue background. In the background, in black, we see ‘a piece of metal’, better known as the commissioners trophy.
On the silvercolored back, under the pin which has a butterfly clutch, are the words:

WINCRAFT / MLBP
WINONA, MN
800-533-8006
MADE IN CHINA

It’s a surprise it’s this bland, after two great designs for the 2017 and 2018 World Series. Still, it’s the first one I own of a World Series they won. Hopefully I’ll be able to replace it with a better designed one somewhere along the next eight years.

Fan's notes

Sometimes you find stuff on the internet that’s very loosely tied to what you collect. Recently I found a licence plate topper which only had a small reference to the Brooklyn Dodgers. This item might be stretching it juuuust a bit more.

I can just imagine a kid from the knot-hole-gang waiting at the gates for the players to arrive to chalk up their licence plates and car brand  in a notepad. Even following them around on their western flyer and figuring out their addresses. But since most players lived in Brooklyn, it pretty much was common knowledge where they lived.

I’m just fantasizing. But it could just have been like that. Who knows, still, it’s a fun piece of fan 'art'. 

All the big names are on it. Some with address, some with licence plate and / car brand. I tried to look up some of the cars. Googled player names and car make, but I only got one hit: Jackie Robinson's steel grey Buick. In the picture below with Rachel Robinson and one of their sons.