Playing With My Dodgers: Preacher Roe

One of my prized possessions is my Grandfather's old copy of Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer. It might be a first edition. I have no idea. But it's properly worn out from the readings it's provided for Grandpa and me over the years. The players who appear in Kahn's masterpiece became more like mythical characters than regular ol' ballplayers to me growing up. Those Brooklyn Dodger teams are better known for their offense. Robinson, Reese, Snider, Campanella, Hodges, Furillo... these are the names that come most readily to mind. But, as with any perennial contender, the Dodgers of this era enjoyed the backbone of an excellent pitching staff. And if Preacher Roe's name isn't as widely remembered today, it's neither for a lack of talent nor personality.

A flamethrower in his youth, injuries had turned Roe into the proverbial crafty lefty by the time Branch Rickey brought him to Brooklyn in 1948. In fact, the extent of his craftiness was well-known around the league, and was revealed by Ol' Preach himself shortly after his retirement. Motivated to encourage Major League Baseball to once again legalize the spitball (and/or by the $2,000 that he was paid by Sports Illustrated to make the confession), Roe admitted to including the banned pitch in his repertoire throughout much of his career. The son of a doctor, a college man himself, and a high school math teacher in the offseason, the Arkansas native played to the media by affecting the stereotypical drawl and mannerisms of a hillbilly bumpkin. But the bottom line is that the man could pitch. Roy Campanella considered Roe the best pitcher he ever caught. "He was a guy who knew what he was doing every second of every minute," said Campy.

Perhaps Preacher Roe's finest moment in baseball came in the 1949 World Series. Brooklyn had dropped a heartbreaker in the opening game at Yankee Stadium, with Allie Reynolds outlasting Don Newcombe for a 1-0 victory, courtesy of a walk-off homer by Tommy Henrich. Preach got the call for game two, facing Vic Raschi. Jackie Robinson doubled to lead off the second inning, and was driven in with two outs by Gil Hodges to give Brooklyn a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, the Yanks' Johnny Lindell ripped a shot back through the box that tore half a nail off of Preacher's glove-hand ring finger. There was so much swelling that the Dodgers' trainer had to drill a hole in the nail to relieve the pressure and allow Roe to stay in the game with what turned out to be a broken digit. Ol' Preach hung tough and shut out the Bombers for a six-hit, 1-0 victory to even the series.

1954 Topps Preacher Roe BRO #14

This is yet another vintage gem chosen by my proxy shopper, Nick, for the First Dime Box Card Show. You can see the confidence, intelligence, and country charm on the face of Ol' Preach. You can picture him whittling away at a piece of wood, straw dangling from his lips, as he languorously takes in the day from a rocking chair on his porch. Or you can just as easily envision the man as a wise country doctor, keeping a frazzled farmer calm while delivering his wife's baby in a barn. Being a city guy, myself, Preach might as well be a mythical character. This is a fantastic piece of cardboard that further brings to life for me one of The Boys of Summer. Thanks for exercising your considerable card show powers to bring this great card home to its rightful place in the PWMD set, Nick.

Nachos Grande Group Break: I Took the Yankees and the Dodgers Still Won!

Over the past couple of days we took a look at what I got in a group break held by Chris that featured some sweet turn-of-the-century Stadium Club. Today we're going to look at what I got in a group break held by Chris that featured some sweet turn-of-the-century Stadium Club. Confused? That's okay, you'll fit right in around these parts.

It was the Typhoon Haiyan Charity Group Break put on by Chris, of View from the Skybox that yielded all of those Jeters you saw yesterday. These Jeters come from a different group break held by another Chris, he of the excellent Nachos Grande.

2000 Topps Tek Architeks Derek Jeter NYY #A2
2000 Topps Tek Derek Jeter NYY #32-2

Der-ek... Je-ter... (This is the part where you clap rhythmically.)

1999 Topps Gallery Derek Jeter NYY #20
2001 Topps Stadium Club Derek Jeter NYY #30

Der-ek... Je-ter... (I got to do this with the Bleacher Creatures in Section 39 of the real Yankee Stadium.)

2001 Topps Stadium Club Capture the Action Derek Jeter NYY #CA6
2001 Topps Stadium Club Diamond Pearls Derek Jeter NYY #DP3

Yup, it was another Derek deluge. And that was pretty much the idea. You'll notice a distinct lack of Dodger Blue this time around. That's because (recent spending habits to the contrary) I ain't made of money. I wanted in on this break, but with a budget for only one team, the time period dictated that I side with the Evil Empire on this one. It just made sense. I can always go bargain shopping for Todd Hundley and Eric Karros cards. You're not gonna find the Jeters and Marianos in those bargain bins.

1995 Fleer Flair Wade Boggs NYY #63
1995 Fleer Flair Paul O'Neill NYY #67

Plus, as I've mentioned once or thrice, I was an unabashed front-runner during this period as a citizen of New York. This break starts when the dynasty began, as we see a couple of veterans in '95 Flair form who helped get that ball rolling. (Looks like Boggs blew his "Wad.")

1999 Topps Gallery Orlando Hernandez NYY #95
1999 Topps Gallery Roger Clemens Masters NYY #115

Friggin' Clemens. I hate showing cards of the jerk, but I don't hate getting them. They make me cringe, even growl if I'm feeling particularly grumpy. But I want 'em. He's part of the story, for better or worse. (Worse.)

2000 Topps Tek Bernie Williams NYY #14-1
2000 Topps Tek Bernie Williams NYY #14-6

Topps Tek was a real draw in this break. In addition to the obligatory Jeters, I ended up landing three different El Duques and these two Bernies, which are among the better background designs in an inconsistent bunch.

2000 Topps Stadium Club Chrome Jorge Posada NYY #32
2000 Topps Stadium Club Chrome David Walling NYY #240
2000 Topps Stadium Club Chrome Mariano Rivera NYY #87
2000 Topps Stadium Club Chrome David Cone NYY #75

As with the Skybox break, Stadium Club provided most of the best-looking cards in the bunch. And I was glad to land Mo in each of these. I was certainly happy with the Jeter haul from the two breaks, but if I'm forced to chose between Jeter and Mo, I think I've gotta go with Mo. (David Walling? Getting a Grip, of course.)

2001 Topps Stadium Club Bernie Williams NYY #8
2001 Topps Stadium Club Alfonso Soriano NYY #182
2001 Topps Stadium Club Mariano Rivera NYY #76
2001 Topps Stadium Club Jorge Posada NYY #49

It did cause a bit of a twinge in the gut to forego the Dodgers in favor of the Yanks, but I'm pretty sure I made the right call here. And, thanks to Chris, any lingering queasiness was erased when I saw this fall out of the package...

2013 Munnatawket Mini Clayton Kershaw LAD #6

Chris had posted an interview with this set's creator. In fact, Chris has his own card in this set. How cool is that!? When I commented with something like "it wouldn't suck to get one of these with the group break package," I certainly didn't expect to receive the one card in the set that I had to have! Thanks to Chris, the best card that I got with the Yankees in a group break was... a Dodger. You can't beat that. Thanks, Chris!

Skybox Charity Group Break: The Spoils of Charity

Yesterday we looked at a small portion of the cardboard benefits that my wife and I reaped from the Typhoon Haiyan Charity Group Break put on by Chris, of View from the Skybox. It was a labor of love for Chris, with an emphasis on labor. Even so, he didn't stop at just sending out the cards we'd paid for. He also included some fantastic "extras."

2013 Bowman Chrome Purple Refractors Hanley Ramirez LAD #60 (177/199)

Like this "extra" copy of a shiny purple Dodger MVP candidate, of which only 199 exist! Chris's beneficence obviously extended beyond his good work in helping the people of the Philippines.

2013 Panini Pinnacle Autographs Cory Luebke SDP #CL
2009 Bowman Chrome WBC Prospects Phillippe Aumont Canada #BCW2

He sent us a big-leaguer's autograph and a much-coveted World Baseball Classic card.

1997 Topps Stadium Club Garret Anderson CAL #61
2013 Panini Triple Play Mike Trout LAA #36

And he sent us some Angels (an unclaimed team) from the break, including a future Dodger and some guy named after a fish. One would hardly expect "extras" in a break for charity, but Chris is clearly that kind of person. We can't thank you enough, Chris, for the wonderful idea and the way you put it into practice.

I showed a lot of the cards that we received from the break yesterday, but I held back a few for today, like my wife's favorite ('cuz it's perdy):

2013 Topps Archives Gallery of Heroes Yogi Berra NYY #YB

Nice. But the the real star of this break's haul was, fittingly, The Captain.

1997 Topps Stadium Club Derek Jeter NYY #55

Cathy didn't just land Derek Jeter base cards in this break. The inserts just kept coming, as well...

1997 Topps Stadium Club Millennium Derek Jeter NYY #M1
1999 Topps Stadium Club Derek Jeter NYY #65

Especially when Chris got to the box of '09 Upper Deck X, a set that I had no taste for... until now.

2009 Upper Deck X Derek Jeter NYY #62
2009 Upper Deck X Xponential 3 Derek Jeter NYY #X3-DJ

What, no X2 or X4? What a rip off! Kidding, of course. I'm fairly certain that no other player showed up in insert form more than once.

2009 Upper Deck X Xponential 5 Derek Jeter NYY #X5-DJ
2009 Upper Deck X Xponential 6 Derek Jeter NYY #X6-DJ

There was Jeter artwork...

2010 Topps 206 Derek Jeter NYY #162
2010 Topps National Chicle Derek Jeter NYY #36

Tiny Jeter...

2013 Topps Mini Derek Jeter NYY #2

Retro-framed Jeter...

2013 Topps Archives Derek Jeter NYY #38
2013 Topps Archives 1983 All-Stars Derek Jeter NYY #83-DJ

Kid-friendly Jeter...

2013 Panini Triple Play Derek Jeter NYY #56
2013 Panini Triple Play Tattoos Derek Jeter NYY #9

But nothing from the Playoff Contenders box. I joked to Chris during the break about getting skunked, and he was happy to rectify the problem on the spot...

2011 Panini Playoff Contenders Skybox Skunk Proof Derek Jeter (UER #3) NYY (1/1)

You can bet that this will be filed with the rest of my Jeter cards. Look for it on eBay in 2037.

Thanks again, Chris. You're one of the good ones.

Skybox Charity Group Break: Curtain Call for Chris

Way back in November, Chris, of the Royally excellent View from the Skybox, decided to do something about the suffering of millions in the Philippines caused by Typhoon Haiyan. That something was to hold a charity group break, from which the proceeds were donated to ChildFund International.

1997 Topps Stadium Club Darryl Strawberry NYY #82
1997 Topps Stadium Club Bernie Williams  NYY #57
1997 Topps Stadium Club Mike Piazza LAD #31

I had joined Chris's 2012 Panini Prizm break a couple of months prior, my first ever. So Chris contacted me about this one early, and I jumped on board immediately. Not only that, I brought my wife along for the ride.

1999 Topps Stadium Club Orlando Hernandez NYY #35
1999 Topps Stadium Club Adrian Beltre LAD #162

We were particularly excited about this opportunity for two reasons. There were the cards, of course. Chris had managed to put together a really sweet selection of ten boxes of great stuff, plus a few other bonuses besides...

2008 Topps Finest Hideki Matsui NYY #84
2008 Topps Finest Refractor Jeff Kent LAD #118

...like a mini-box of these '08 Finest, and a jumbo pack of '09 Bowman. My wife, Cathy, is the Yankee fan (I jumped on the bandwagon, myself, for a while there). So she took her team and took mine. Godzilla, here, was her favorite player when she first started enjoying baseball. Unsurprisingly, Cathy was gracious enough to let me have her part of this haul.

2009 Bowman Nick Swisher NYY #124
2009 Bowman James Loney LAD #161

The other reason, besides the cards, that this particular break hit home for us is the fact that Cathy, along with her/our five kids, came here from the Philippines. Thankfully, none of their close friends or relatives was hurt. But, naturally, we were all concerned for the people of her native country, and happy to help out.

2009 Upper Deck X Die Cut Chien-Ming Wang NYY #63
2009 Upper Deck X Die Cut Russell Martin LAD #45

Of course, all we did was send along a little money. And we got these great cards in return. The real hero is Chris, who saw a need and took action. He had to be patient and persistent. Since this happened going into the holiday season, it wasn't easy to find people for whom this fit into their budget at the time.

2010 Topps 206 CC Sabathia NYY #263
2010 Topps 206 Clayton Kershaw LAD #174

But Chris kept plugging away. In addition to mentioning the break on his blog every week or so, he sent out PWEs to people, urging them to join in the effort. He even sent me one, even though I'd never needed any persuading.

2010 Topps National Chicle Lou Gehrig NYY #299
2010 Topps National Chicle Duke Snider BRO #252

For a while, it looked like it was possible that Chris wouldn't be able to fill the break, dooming his plan to help. But thanks to his persistence it was filled by the deadline, and things finally got underway, three months after we had signed up on that first day.

2011 Topps Lineage Reggie Jackson NYY #60
2011 Topps Lineage Sandy Koufax BRO #1

I've never hosted a group break, but tuning in to watch most of it live, I could see that Chris's work had just begun. You'd think that busting a bunch of packs would be nothing but fun on East Street. But I could see that it was a lot of work. And that didn't include all of the sorting, packaging and mailing that had to take place after the camera was turned off.

2011 Panini Playoff Contenders Prospect Ticket Dante Bichette, Jr. NYY #RT39
2011 Panini Playoff Contenders Draft Ticket Crystal Collection Logan Verrett NYY #DT23 (86/299)
2011 Panini Playoff Contenders Winning Combos Clayton Kershaw/Matt Kemp LAD #21

To be honest, I would have been thrilled with this break even had it not been for charity. Early on, Chris replaced boxes of 2013 Topps series one and two with the 1997 and 1999 Stadium Club, and that really put the selection over the top for me.

2013 Topps Mini Mariano Rivera NYY #600
2013 Topps Mini Chasing History Yogi Berra NYY #MCH-12
2013 Topps Mini Matt Kemp LAD #242

These Topps Minis were a big draw, too. Between a small eBay lot that I won, and what I got from this break, I'm in pretty good shape for completing the Dodgers team set, despite not having bought a single pack of these. And I'm thrilled to have Mariano, as well. (Though I missed out on Kershaw... if anyone with a spare is wondering what they have to trade that I might like.)

2013 Topps Archives Hiroki Kuroda NYY #147
2013 Topps Archives Hyun-Jin Ryu LAD #163

There were a few things in the break that I didn't still need, but those will make for some nice trade package food, so it's all good.

2013 Panini Triple Play Robinson Cano NYY #57
2013 Panini Triple Play Adrian Gonzalez LAD #40
2013 Panini Triple Play Blue-Bordered Stickers Clayton Kershaw LAD #8

Thank you, Chris, for your selfless nature, your hard work, and your friendship in the blogging community. And I'll thank you again tomorrow, when I show off even more of your generosity (along with your sense of humor). Also, you all may have also noticed someone missing in this mess of cards. I have a felling he shows up tomorrow, in a big way. Stay tuned...