December pickups

[Scott Garner]

A few sweet finds to kick off December (technically some in late November):

1) Type I Johnny Vander Meer unique candid dugout shot from June, 1938.
This was at the Polo Grounds in NY. Check out the vintage water cooler! Thanks to net54's Chris Gamble for selling this to me!

2) Type I 11" x 12" photo of Randy Johnson's no-hitter celebration on June 2, 1990 at Seattle. RJ has always been a personal favorite of mine and this is a terrific image of the very 1st no-hitter ever in the Seattle Mariners organization.

3) Paul Derringer's personal copy of a George Brace postcard of Vander Meer, Babe Ruth and Derringer talking in the dugout prior to Vandy's 2nd consecutive no-hitter on 6/15/38 at Ebbets Field. From the Paul Derringer estate

[71buc]

Nice photos Scott. That Randy Johnson photo is an iconic Mariner image only surpassed by the shot of Griffey Jr. at the bottom of the pile in 1995.

Below are my most recent pickups. The 1965 Willie Mays Aurora Model has long been on my want list. It was nice to find one with the original pieces unaltered and still in the box. The panoramic photo is of a crowd watching the 1930 World Series I’m uncertain what city they are in. The DiMaggio shot was taken by WM C. Greene.

I love the 1951 spring training photo of Dressen and the Dodgers coaching staff. The slug on the reverse states, “"WHAT'S THE PITCH? VERO BEACH, FLA: No manager of coaching staff worth its salt can afford to overlook any possible method of doping out the season's chances. Going in for some occult research are master swami Chuck Dressen, who reads the ball, and coaches Clyde Sukeforth (LEFT), Jake Pitler and Cookie Lavagetto (RIGHT). Dressen's headgear is not a Paris creation, but a fugitive form the shower room. It's better than a hat to keep things under -- especially next season's headaches."

I found this ironic considering the headaches that Bobby Thompson and the Giants had in store for them later that year. When Chuck Dressen needed a relief pitcher to face the Bobby Thomson in the ninth inning of the third game of the National League pennant playoff, Sukeforth the Dodger bullpen coach passed over Carl Erskine and sent in Ralph Branca. He was fired by the Dodgers after that. He then went to Pittsburgh and got a measure of revenge a few years later by playing a role a role in the drafting of Roberto Clemente from the Brooklyn organization in the 1954 Rule V draft. Sukeforth was a baseball lifer who is most famous for scouting and assisting in the signing of Jackie Robinson. He was also the Dodger manager for opening day 1947 for Robinson’s debut.

[Runscott]

Mike, I believe I have seen the panoramic photo on the 'Shorpys' site - might want to go there and dig around, as it probably will tell you the city.

[Chris Counts]

Here's a few recent pickups, a 1920 Spalding catalog, a 1946 snapshot of Yogi Berra and Bobby Brown with the Newark Bears, and a 1918 photo of a factory team from Philadelphia. The snapshot was an eBay BIN, and the others came from last weekend's Mark McRae show in the San Francisco Bay Area ...

[bcbgcbrcb]

Chris:

Very cool Yogi photo!

[Exhibitman]

1968 is my favorite year of Topps FB cards so I could not resist this box: