Don Newcombe, who died Tuesday at the age of 92, was an imposing, hard-throwing pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He won 20 or more games three times during his 10-year major-league career and 19 games in 1950. He might have topped the 20-win plateau a few more times, but he lost the 1952 and 1953 seasons to military service. “Newk” stood 6-foot-4 and weighed 220 pounds. … [Read more...]
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Jackie Robinson’s Barrier-Breaking Contracts Returning to Auction
Jackie Robinson’s earliest professional baseball contracts are going back on the auction block. Nearly a year after being offered but failing to meet a reserve price, the two historic pacts dating to his signing with the Montreal Royals in 1945 and the parent Brooklyn Dodgers organization in 1947, will be offered by Goldin Auctions. The two contracts are again being … [Read more...]
‘Partial Diamond’ Variation Discovered For 1955 Topps Jackie Robinson Card
The variation is a partial diamond, and it may prove to be a gem for collectors. Fans of the 1955 Topps set and those who collect Jackie Robinson have a new variation to chase. The variation itself is not new, but its discovery is quite recent. The 1955 Topps card of Robinson, No. 50, shows a Dodgers logo inside a red diamond in the upper left-hand corner of the card. … [Read more...]
Letter From O’Malley To Concerned Brooklyn Fan Part of Lelands Auction
There is a website called the Brooklyn Board, where people who have moved away from New York City’s “borough of churches” reflect upon their childhood memories. About a dozen years ago, if a poster to the board wanted to incite an argument, all he or she had to do was write something like, “Say, that Walter O’Malley wasn’t a bad guy after all, and he had no choice but to … [Read more...]
Jackie Robinson’s Original Contracts To Be Auctioned Feb. 27
After a delay of a few months, Jackie Robinson’s original professional baseball contracts with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Montreal Royals are headed to the auction block. Robinson broke the modern-era color line in major-league baseball when he signed with the Dodgers on April 11, 1947. Nearly two years earlier, Robinson signed a deal with the Dodgers’ top minor-league … [Read more...]
Jackie Robinson’s Original Contracts Up for Sale
The two contracts that resulted in the integration of baseball following World War II are going on the auction block. The pact Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and his contract with the Montreal Royals from 1945 will be offered through Goldin Auctions on November 16, although it’s possible they could be sold privately before a planned auction at the … [Read more...]
Consignment Of The Week: 1913 Marble Slab From Ebbets Field Rotunda
Sixty years ago, the Dodgers played their final season in Brooklyn before packing up and moving west to Los Angeles for the 1958 season. Their home from April 9, 1913, to September 24, 1957, was Ebbets Field, a bandbox of a stadium that was built on a garbage dump in a Brooklyn neighborhood called Pigtown. After the Dodgers left, the park languished for a few years, but on … [Read more...]
Robinson World Series Bat, Ali Robe, MLK Speech Tops at Auction
A Jackie Robinson game bat dating to the Brooklyn Dodgers’ only World Series title and the robe worn by Muhammad Ali in his first fight with Sonny Liston were among the top sports items sold by Goldin Auctions early Sunday morning. Held in conjunction with the 70th anniversary of Robinson’s historic major league debut, the event raised more than $125,000 for the … [Read more...]
Jackie Robinson Baseball Cards: A Guide to His Best
Jackie Robinson baseball cards have always been popular and what few game worn jerseys, bats and other items have survived always sell for significant amounts of money. While no mainstream card company really existed in the aftermath of World War II, there were cards issued of him in 1947 and by '48, bubble gum and cards were back together again and Robinson helped usher … [Read more...]
Remembering “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World” With 5 Great Bobby Thomson Cards
Sixty-five years ago Monday, New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson hit one of baseball's most iconic home runs. Thomson's October blast--forever known as the 'Shot Heard 'Round the World' off of the Brooklyn Dodgers' Ralph Branca--clinched the 1951 National League pennant for the Giants. While they went on to lose the World Series to the New York Yankees, few can argue the … [Read more...]
