Recent Acquisition: Hires Root Beer Clem Labine

In the COMC Spring Cleaning sale, I got a coupon for free shipping, which I just redeemed.  So I've been building a haul in my COMC account for about half a year, and I just received the 200+ cards.  The subject of this post is just one of those cards, which sits at the intersection of two of my interests: soda, and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

I love soda.  I'm sure I drink way too much of it every day.  And as a kid, Hires root beer was one of my favorites.  I'm not sure they even make Hires anymore, but a couple of years ago I at least was able to order some from Amazon.  The Baseball Cards magazine repli-cards that I posted a while ago included a "card that never was" of Mickey Mantle, from the nonexistent 1956 Bowman set.  That design, though, was used for the 1958 Hires Root Beer set.  I've always wanted to get a card from the Hires set, and now I have one.

Clem Labine.

Like I said above, I've also long been fascinated by the Brooklyn Dodgers.  The move of the Dodgers from Brooklyn to the west coast was a defining moment in the 20th century, giving a definite marker for the rise of California in our culture.  That they did it after at last beating the Yankees in a World Series was at least some consolation for the people of Brooklyn, I think.  Clem Labine went 1-0 in that 1955 World Series, pitching in four games in relief.  In his career, Labine played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, and then for the Tigers, Pirates, and Mets, having put together a 77-56 record with 94 saves and a 3.63 ERA.

Thanks for reading!