World Series Press Pins I - 1947

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 6 press pins: one from the 1940’s, 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s and 2010’s.

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. Recently I got my hands on the first one and it really is a thing of beauty. Not only the looks of it, but also the story behind it of that particular World Series.

1947 World Series
It was the first televised World Series, the first after the color barrier was broken and it featured the Dodgers and the Yankees. A rivalry that was in it's infancy. Also chronicled in detail by Kevin Cook in his book ‘Electric October’. Which I reviewed earlier. After five games the Yankees lead 3-2, game 6 had to be won by Brooklyn to force a 7th game. In that 6th game one of the best World Series catches was made. The Dodgers were leading 8-5 in the sixth inning. With two on and two out Joe DiMaggio came to bat and hit one that looked like a home run to tie up the game. But Al Gionfriddo caught it and the Dodgers went on to win game 6. In the end they lost the Series.

The Pin
I love the Dodger blue, gold plated pin featuring the Brooklyn bridge, literally bridging New York to Brooklyn where both teams were from. The baseball bat is prominently featured as the weapon of attack against the Yankees. There is a lot of detail for a pin only 1" in diameter. The pin was made by Dieges & Clust from New York.

Below are the instructions for Dieges & Clust, including color use and pin size. I do not own the documents, just found the pictures online.

Clem Labine "Always a Dodger": Review

A book written by someone who is so smitten by it’s subject is never a good thing. Colin Gunderson was so in love with Tom Lasorda, his biography about the man was a cringeworthy experience. Richard Elliott’s Clem Labine “Always a Dodger” is more of the same. Which is a shame because it’s the only book on just Labine.

The writer is the son of the best friend and off-season employer of Clem Labine. They became good friends. That fact is visible in the writing. Labine is worshipped to the max. So much so that there is little room left to tell about the man himself. Now, I really believe Labine was a good guy, a great reliever and an important piece of the Dodgers puzzle during the 1950’s, but enough is enough. No negativity is tolerated. Even Roger Kahn gets smeared.

One of the lesser Dodgers related books I’ve read. A nice addition to the Woonsocket Public Library, but other than that... leave it on the shelve.

A Piece of History

I have a very strange relationship with Dodgers autographs. If I have to choose between getting an autograph or having my picture taken with a Dodgers celebrity, I choose the latter. I still am bummed I didn’t get a pic with Nomar although I did get his autograph. The best is, of course, getting both. Like I did when I met Orel Hershiser.

Maybe this has to do with the fact that I live in Europe and don’t have a lot of opportunities to get autographs, during spring training or before regular games. A picture is a better memory of a trip, in my opinion, than an autograph.

That being said… there is not much as personal as an autograph and there is a shitload to be found on various auction sites and on Ebay. Some of them are very pricey like those of Sandy Koufax or Jackie Robinson.

There are autographs everywhere. On baseballs, on cards, bats, letters, and so on. And then you have letters. I've looked at letters for years, some with great 'Dodgers' letter heads but most of them are to someone who requested an autograph or some business that had nothing to do with baseball at all. The majority of the letters is typed.

Then, one day, I found this letter that was completely hand written and signed. It was a letter from 1945 by Clem Labine. Now, Clem was no Koufax or Drysdale but he was a very important pitcher for the Dodgers. When the Dodgers played the Giants in the 1951 tiebreaker series, the Dodgers won game 2 behind a shut out by Labine to reach a deciding game 3 in which we all know what happened.

He became a fixture during the 1950's and won two World Series Championships ('55 and '59) with the Dodgers and one with the Pirates. In 1955, the Dodgers would win their first World Series during which Clem would win game 4 (Don Larsen got the loss). In 1956 he won game 6 in the World Series, the one in which Don Larsen pitched a perfect game in game 5. He was an all star in 1956 & 1957.

The Letter
This letter is so awesome because of many reasons. Like mentioned before it’s entirely handwritten. Not typed with just a signature. It’s about baseball. The core business of both sender and receiver. Oh, yeah, the receiver... who is the letter to? Only to a guy who single handedly changed the face of baseball on many levels. With the Dodgers and in St. Louis and Pittsburgh: Branch Rickey. WWII had just ended and Jackie Robinson would be called up to the majors in less than two years, exciting times.

The full text of the letter can be found below.

29 December 1945

Dear Mr. Rickey,
May I send my hearty thanks to
you for the sweet Christmas present.
I feel a little ashamed not having corresponded
with you during my time in the service!
It certainly feels great to know
someone is thinking of you while your
far away from home. Nothing would
please me more than to be back in
your employ by spring.
As you probably know I'm still in
the army, but with some luck I may
be out in time for spring training.
May I again send my thanks to
you and your staff, and wish you all the
luck in the world

Cordially yours,
Sgt. Clement W. Labine

Stamped by the Brooklyn Baseball Club on the date it was received before the letter was handed to Branch Rickey.

The envelope in which the letter arrived.

Electric October: Review

When you write a book with the title ‘Electric October: Seven World Series games, six lives, five minutes of fame that lasted for ever’… you better give the reader a lengthy introductions to those six players so you know them though and through once those five minutes come up.

It’s exactly what author Kevin Cook does. This is the story, not of baseball greats like DiMaggio or Koufax, but smaller heroes who need more introduction.
Who were they, where did they come from and how did they get where they were in 1947? This is not as much a Dodgers book as a look into the Dodgers Yankees rivalry that, in 1947, was only in it’s infancy.

It's fun to read how most of the main characters, Bill Bevens, Bucky Harris, Snuffy Stirnweiss, Al Gionfriddo, Burt Shotton and Cookie Lavagetto met somewhere along the way.

Cook knows how to describe the mood during the '47 World Series. Red Barber, Gladys Goodding and even the Sym-Phony Band make an appearance. Brooklynites were sure this was next year in a World Series that was the first one ever televised live on parts of the East Coast and the first after the breaking of the color barrier.

When all is said and done, that October in 1947, the author takes the time to let the reader know what happened to the guys after the hits, throws and catches they made during that 7-games series.
A great read, highly recommended for Dodger- and Yankees fans.

When the Dodgers were Bridegrooms: Review

For years, the Dodgers for me were from Los Angeles. Only when I started to read books about the boys of summer I got to know the heroes from the club that dazzled the late 40’s and the 50’s.

Like decending a ladder, I read about the Robins, Dazzy Vance and now finally thought the time was here to read ‘When the Dodgers were Bridegrooms : Gunner McGunnigle and the Brooklyn’s Back-to-Back Pennants of 1889 and 1890’ by Ronald G. Shafer. It’s quite a title for the 200 page book, published in 2011. It takes you on a time travel trip to the beginning of our Dodgers.

The Brooklyn Base Ball Association played it’s first season in a ‘major league’ in 1884 after one year in a minor league. The club would not be known as ‘Dodgers’ for quite some years, but in 1884 the Brooklyn Eagle did call the players ‘the boys in blue’. A term we still use today.

An interesting book for anyone who wants to know more about the beginnings of the Dodgers. How the game was played, how big names like Bob Caruthers were traded and how much money they made. The beginning of the wearing of gloves. How there was no love lost between the St. Louis Ball Club and Brooklyn from the early start. The 1890 season during which five teams played in New York and Brooklyn combined. During the season the 'Baseball war' raged. The most interesting part is the chapter about the only ever New York Giants vs. Brooklyn ‘pre-subway’ world series at the Polo Grounds and Washington Park.

Now and then a name gets mentioned of an employee who one day would own the ball club: Charles Ebbets. But that's a story for another time...

They Bled Blue: Review

I just finished ‘Dodgerland’ when ‘They Bled Blue’ came out. This kinda worked out perfect because I could jump from the story about the 1977-1978 World Series teams straight to the one about the 1981 team.
A big chuck of the book is about Fernando (duh!) and his rise to stardom. But we also get to know the other players and their manager better. There's even some unmasking of 'mister USA' Steve Garvey.

The chapter ‘Struck’ gives us an extended look at the strike. Why it came to be and how the players tried to stay in shape and were able to scrape together some money. A very interesting and important part of MLB-history. The history of Chavez Ravine is touched upon, but if you want to know more about the ravine, read ‘City of Dreams’ by Jerald Podair, which I reviewed HERE. Or wait till 'Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between' comes out in 2020. The chapter 'Doodle Dandy', about the World Series is more than 70 pages long and takes you on a great journey along those games.

Ofcourse this book has something annoying. More than in any book I’ve ever read, the author in this one uses footnotes on a huge scale. If you tape them togehter you’ve got a whole other book. Sometimes the footnotes take up half the page or continue on the next page. The weird thing… all the info in the notes is not ‘well, if ya really wanna know, read the note’ kinda stuff. It’s all very interesting. So why not just PUT IT IN THE STORY? Otherwise, please use endnotes!

This is the only thing I can find that’s a negative, other than that, Turbow has presented the Dodger faithful with a great tome of facts, and some great pictures as well, about the 1981 season.

Vintage Dodgers Radio Broadcasts

I'm a sucker for baseball on the radio. It's very different from a game on television. You have to imagine more, see the players, the plays in your mind's eye. If you can do that it's almost like you are in the stadium at the game.
If you want your baseball fix during the off season, listening to old games is an awesome way to keep the baseball fever running all the way till spring training. At baseballdirect.com you have the option to buy complete radio broadcasts. They have broadcasts form the 1920's (2 games) till the 1990's. Be aware, cd's are $19,95 PER GAME!!
On archive.org you can find a buttload of old radio coverages of baseball games from 1934 to 1973. This site is amazing and free. You can download broadcasts on your mobile and enjoy them anytime, anywhere. Just as long as you don't re-sell them.
Because I'm a Dodger fan, I've summed up some links to interesting historical Dodger games. Just click on the link followed by the 'Play' button. Enjoy, get ready for goosebumps!

1941 World Series
Game 1 - Dodgers @ Yankees
Game 2 - Dodgers @ Yankees
Game 4 - Yankees @ Dodgers

1949 World Series
Game 1 - Dodgers @ Yankees
Game 2 - Dodgers @ Yankees
Game 3 - Yankees @ Dodgers
Game 4 - Yankees @ Dodgers
Game 5 - Yankees @ Dodgers

1951 NL Championship 'Shot Heard Around the World'
Game 3 - Dodgers @ Giants

1952 World Series
Game 7 - Yankees @ Dodgers

1953 World Series
Game 3 - Yankees @ Dodgers

1955 World Series
Game 2 - Dodgers @ Yankees
Game 3 - Yankees @ Dodgers
Game 5 - Yankees @ Dodgers
Game 6 - Dodgers @ Yankees
Game 7 - Dodgers @ Yankees

1956 World Series
Game 1 - Yankees @ Dodgers
Game 3 - Dodgers @ Yankees
Game 4 - Dodgers @ Yankees
Game 5 - Dodgers @ Yankees
Game 6 - Yankees @ Dodgers
Game 7 - Yankees @ Dodgers

1957 Last Game of the Brooklyn Dodgers
Game - Dodgers @ Phillies

1959 World Series
Game 3 - White Sox @ Dodgers
Game 4 - White Sox @ Dodgers
Game 6 - Dodgers @ White Sox

1963 World Series
Game 1 - Dodgers @ Yankees
Game 2 - Dodgers @ Yankees
Game 3 - Yankees @ Dodgers
Game 4 - Yankees @ Dodgers

1965 World Series
Game 2 - Dodgers @ Twins
Game 7 - Dodgers @ Twins

1966 World Series
Game 4 - Dodgers @ Orioles

Dodgerland: Review

I bought 'Dodgerland : Decadent Los Angeles and the 1977-78 Dodgers' immediately when it came out in 2016. It took me until 2019 before I took it up and read it. Something about the title made me want to wait for a good moment to read it. It sounded complicated, not 'just' a book about a baseball team in a certain era, but that's what it was exactly.

Not that that's a bad thing. I love those meticulously written histories about my Dodgers. But with a title like 'Dodgerland: Decadent Los Angeles and the 1977-78 Dodgers' you expect more. Yes, sometimes it works. Dodgers in a slump and the US economy of 1977 in a slump. Sure, that kinda bridges I get. The part about ‘post-orbital remorse’ is on point! Mayor Brady's struggle to get the Olympics to LA is interesting but was that a sign of the times? And how does that tie in with the Dodgers (other than the idea of having the swimming numbers in Dodger Stadium)?
Another thing I don’t get is the introduction of one Tom Fallon. It starts very early in the book. Fallon moves to Cali. Probably this guy is the writers grandfather but why is he in a book about the 1977-1978 Dodgers seasons? Never every do the Dodgers and this guy cross paths.

Other than that weird insertion of a family member and other unrelated stuff that happens in that period, like the Manson murders and Tom Wolfe's struggle to write 'The Right Stuff', the book is well written and besides the description of Lasorda’s first seasons at the helm as manager we get loads of details about the players. Also a lot of background on how free agency changed baseball in the seventies and how baseball clubs and the fans coped with this new phenomenon.
Reading this book made me aware I don’t like Sparky Anderson at all! One of the best quotes in the book is by Anderson during 1978 season spring training: “This year will be the test and the Dodgers are going to have to beat us two years running, which no one has done in my eight years here.” Little did he know! Also, the Yankees were never my favorite but the organization under Steinbrenner... I loath after reading this book. But about our boys in blue... the author writes lovingly.

If someone writes a book as good as this one on the 2017 and 2018 Dodgers, I’ll take any randomly inserted family member for granted.

Talking about our Dodgers

Something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time now and I don’t know if I ever get around to it, is interviewing Brooklynites about what they remember from the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Just ask older people in the street, in Prospect Park, at Coney Island. Did they go to games a lot at Ebbets Field? Did their dad take them or did they sneak in? Do they remember how they felt when the Dodgers finally won the World Series for the first time in 1955?
Then montage them together, just older people against a black background, telling stories about the Brooklyn Dodgers. Like I said, I don’t know if I ever get around to it, but I got a little taste of it when someone I know from out of nowhere messaged me and told me the Brooklyn Dodgers were his favourite team growing up.

Well, you got my attention at Dodgers so we got to talking.
David was born in 1942 and he started following baseball in grade school in Ashdown, Arkansas. Apparently it was common practice to let kids listen to baseball games on the radio in that school. I’m not sure about other schools allowing regular games to be listened to, but I DO know of schools who let their kids listen to the World Series.

The strange thing is... he was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan. I asked him why and he told me he has always wondered about that himself. He did read a magazine in which articles were written about the best teams around, including the Dodgers. David knew all the names on the roster: Hodges, Reese, Robinson, Campanella, Newcombe, Erskine but his favorite player was The Duke. Most of his friends rooted for the Cardinals from (relatively) nearby St. Louis. Which was a more logical choice. The Cards were amazing in the 1940's, winning three World Series titles in five years.

The Dodgers, though, were starting to get to World Series as well. For a kid born in '42 the 1947 World Series were the first chance to hear about them Bums on the radio. A great series where they came back from 2-0 and 3-2 in the end losing a game 7 decider against the Yankees.
Then came 1949, Dodgers and Yankees, 1952 Dodgers... Yankees, 1953 Dodgers and yes... those Damn Yankees! All those World Series losses started to wear little David down. When you're eleven and your favorite team makes it to the World Series four times without winning, can't have been easy.

But then came 1955, yes the Yankees won the first two at home, but the Dodgers took the next three at Ebbets Field. Back in the Bronx the Yankees won again. All square, a deciding game 7 was forced. Behind a complete game by Johnny Podres two runs scored and the Brooklyn Dodgers had done it. They finally beat the Yankees.
It turned out to be the only World Series win for Brooklyn. Two years later the Dodgers moved west and David never listened to or watched another Dodgers game.

I love to hear about the boys of summer, I really hope I can go to Brooklyn one day and hear more.

Dodgers Art

As a big Dodgers fan I like to collect Dodgers stuff. The problem is, most of the time it's just that: stuff! Pins, bobbleheads, pennants, caps, cards, books. All perfectly fine. I really love some of the bobbleheads and most of the books in my Dodgers library and those awesome World Series 2017 & 2018 caps. But... sometimes I want something special, something unique.
That's not easy since sports team related ‘stuff’ is not made in single units. Sure, bobbleheads come in editions of only about 40 thousand, but I want something more unique...
Then, last year, Emma Amaya started to write haiku's for EVERY Dodgers game. I thought that was an awesome idea but it was nothing I could work with. How do you collect haiku's?
Then, at the start of this baseball season, the haiku's appeared accompanied by pieces of art by Billy Cormalis Jr. These pieces were awesome and the combination with Emma's haiku's made them even better. That was what I was looking for. I wanted a piece of that! So, I contacted Billy and asked if he sold those art & haiku pieces. Yes he did, so now I'm the proud owner of a unique Dodgers item.

Emma's Haiku:

Dodgers Pound the Snakes
Blast Four Bombs Two by Belli
Russell Perfect Frame

It was game 3 of the 2019 season. Bellinger gave us a clue of what he could do and Russell Martin did something we had NO clue he could do. He smiled that entire ninth inning like he couldn't believe it himself. Great game, great haiku and as it turned out, great art!