Night Owl Cards

Leave it to Frank McCourt to ruin a half-assed tribute to Spinal Tap. But if I'm going to 11 , as in the Dodger uniform number, I've got to keep it in the family, as ugly as the Dodgers' family situation is right now.  The story of the Dodgers who have worn the number 11 is the story of players who have made the most with their limited capabilities, mostly. Back in the '30s, the No. 11 was worn by catcher Clyde Sukeforth, who isn't remembered much for his playing career. That's because he was the man who scouted and helped sign Jackie Robinson. He also was the manager in Robinson's first major league game, as he was filling in for a suspended Leo Durocher. After Nick Tremark, George Watkins and Fred Frankhouse took turns with the number during the rest of the decade, No. 11 found a eight-year home with the most talented Dodger to wear the number. Dixie Walker is one of the greatest outfielders in Dodger history. He became known as Robinson's ...

Everyone is into the 1960 Topps cards because it's the design Heritage is "borrowing" for its cards this year. Although I'm not collecting Heritage this year (just a few packs here and there), I do like the design. Now that collectors have moved on to the latest and greatest sets, like O-Pee- Chee , Finest and Bowman, I thought I'd return focus to the design and feature some of the Dodgers from the original 1960 set. In case you didn't know, this year is the 50 th anniversary of the Los Angeles' Dodgers first World Series championship , the 1959 champions. A team that Bill James once called "the weakest World Championship team of all time." So, when kids pulled a Dodger card out of their packs in 1960, they were something special. Those were world championship ballplayers they were holding there. I have a few of those 1960 Dodgers. I featured them here . But Adam of Thoughts and Sox recently sent some more. He was offering up some well-...