2013 Phungo Cards #64 Darin Ruf

Phillies have a lot of questions marks on their roster right now.  One of those questions involves the gimpy Ryan Howard.

2013 Phungo #64 Darin Ruf

A year ago Darin Ruf spent about half of the season at AA Reading and the rest between, Lehigh Valley and the big club.  Unfortunately Ruf shares a position with Ryan Howard and in 2012 Ruf didn't arrive in Philadelphia until after Howard returned from injury.

The Phils did get to see Ruf play in the outfield and the defensive results were mixed. His batting was excellent, good BA and lots of pop.

Currently Darin Ruf is back at AAA and he has been ok, not as spectacular as a year ago. This weeks looming question of the availability of Ryan Howard raised the question of a Ruf callup, but apparently the Phils are more interested in AAAA 3B Josh Fields.

Hopefully if needed we will hear from Darin Ruf at some point this season, and he will produce the poser he die a year ago.  . 

Phungo Card

I like getting to the ballpark early for a lot of reasons.  I find it interesting and relaxing.  I enjoy BP sometimes you get a minor scoop - some injured player rehabbing, or a new callup.  It also affords one the opportunity to get some candid shots a bit closer up then you may get in the cheap seats. That is the case with the Ruf pix above.  He was shagging flies in the outfield, and I am sure I spent a good bit of time waiting for him to turn towards the camera enough to get a good shot. 

Rewind - Selected 2013 Phungo Card Postings
2013 Phungo #32 Matt Weiters
2013 Phungo #51 Carlos Ruiz2013 Phungo #68 Scott Hartnall
2013 Phungo #70 Ichiro



 

Ray Manzarek (1939 - 2013)

When I was a kid the Doors were my band.

 1991 ProSet Super Stars #6 The Doors

Everybody I ran with identified themselves with one of the Classic Rock titans, the Beattles, Stones, the Who, Zeppelin etc.  I initially took on the Doors because of their dark mysticism and Jim Morrison's crazy persona.

At some point I realized that it was also Ray Manzarek's keyboard work that attracted me. At some level this led me to other keyboardists - most notably the late Warren Zevon and more recently Tori Amos and Ben Folds.  I also discovered the Cowpunk beauty of X and John Doe via Manzarek.  


I was also introduced to 'Classical' music by Manzarek.  In 1983 he released a very accessible rendition of Carl Orff's Song Cycle "Carmina Burana".  It is a pretty fasicnating piece of music and a nice addition to nay music collection.

 Manzarek was also authored the short novel "A Poet in Exile" in 2001. I don't remember it well, but it was an enjoyable read - the story is a basically a fictionalization of Jim Morrison type rock star presumed dead, but his band mate "Roy" discovers him living in exile on a pacific island.

FTC 
There is a complete 260 card set of 1991 ProSet Superstars currently listed for $12 BIN/Shipped. If your willing to gamble you can get it for $9 if nobody else bids on it - I suspect it will go unclaimed.

The set has an uhm...interesting checklist that includes Rock Music Icons like John Lennon and the Who a good dose of classic rock, and some stars of the era (Vanilla Ice, Debbie Gibson, MC Hammer, Hoodoo Gurus)

The Doors have 5 cards in the set, of course I am missing the one that has the most info on Manzarek (collecting fail for team Phungo).  I do like the #6 card featured here, Ray Manzarek shares the shot with Morrison only.

30 Years ago - Steve Carlton passes the Big Train in Career Ks

On May 20th 1983, 30 years ago today, Steve Carlton passed Walter Johnson's mark for Career Strikeouts (3508).  Earlier in the 1983 Season Nolan Ryan had also passed the Big Train. Gaylord Perry would follow in August.

 

1984 Topps #4 1983 Highlights Ryan, Carlton and Perry Surpass Walter Johnson

Topps noted the accomplishment as part of their Highlights Series that opened 1984 Topps. Carlton at times passed Ryan as the career strikeout leader but his career ultimately ended much earlier then the Ryan Express and Ryan would retire as the all-time strike out king.  Nolan Ryan remains the career K leader today. 

1984 Topps #4 1983 Highlights Ryan, Carlton and Perry Surpass Walter Johnson (B-side)

The flip of the card has a short blurb on noting the date and venue where each of the future Hall of Famer's passed Johnson.

For The Collector
The first six cards of the 1984 Topps set are Highlight cards.  Three of them are shared cards similar to the Ks card above.  One of which features Gaylord Perry again as a noted retiree (with Carl Yastrzemski and Johnny Bench) the other is a 1983 No-Hitters Card (Dave Righetti, Bob Forsch, Mike Warren).  The first 3 cards are all solo highlights - Carlton 300 Wins, Rickey 100 SBs, Dan Quisenberry Record 39 saves in a season.

1983 NL Champions
I am adding this post to the 1983 Phillies series we are running this summer. Past 83 NL Champs posting have included:   
John Denny
Garry Maddox
Tony Perez
 

Sources
Baseball Card Database

Baseball-ref.com

Sunday Night Baseball: 1976 Topps #62 Johnny Oates

The Texas Rangers have three retired numbers: #42 - Jackie Robinson of course, #34 Nolan Ryan Of Course, and #26 Johnny Oates.

1976 Topps #26 Johnny Oates

Oates, Of Course, having never played as a Ranger had his number retired as a manager. He led the Rangers to 3 division titles in the middle 90s. Unfortunately those Rangers teams all ran into the New York Yankees dynasty - losing 3 separate NLDS series.

The Rangers were Johnny Oates 2nd managerial assignment.  He also led the Orioles for the 4 seasons preceding his Texas tenure. Between the two clubs Oates tallied 797 wins v 746 losses.  

Like many managers Johnny Oates spent his playing career as a catcher, most of those years were as a backup - He only played in 100 games once (1974 - Braves).  He played two seasons with the Phillies which included the 1976 season when the they reached the post season for the first time in 26 years.    

For the Collector
1976 Topps commons can be found in dime boxes, and sometimes nickle bins. Like the shot of Oates in the card above. He has all the catcher gear but with the maks off you get a shot of his profile complete with eye black. Couple of bonuses as well, the reverse cap and the old school powder blue travel unis for the Phils.  

The Johnny Oates rookie card is 1972 Topps #474 which is shared with Don Baylor. As a player Oates showed up in 9 Topps issues through 1981 (#303 Yankees). His appearances with the Phillies included 1976 (above) and 1977 #619

ReWind - Past Sunday Nite Baseball Postings
Chicago White Sox / Kansas City A's - Ken "Hawk" #TWTW Harrelson
Detroit Tigers - Bill Freehan

The Rangers current manager Ron Washington was profiled in here as part of our Moneyball 2011 series.

Sources

Baseball-Ref.com
Baseball Card Database

Snapshots 2013 05 18 Reds 10 @ Phillies 0

Another brutal performance by the Phillies during a Team Phungo outing. Phils lost 10-0 on a day when they didn't have an AB with runner in scoring position until they were down by 8 in 8th inning.  The Phillies didn't have a potential lead changing AB after the first inning.

Hamels Heroes

Cole Hamels hosted a group of veterans "Hamels Heroes" for the game.  Veterans were also honored when three of them worked the 3rd inning base exchange. The Hamels Foundation (run by Cole with wife and Survivor Alum Heidi) partners with the Philadelphia VA to assist Veterans in the area.  The endeavor was noted on this weekends Fox telecast.

 SnapShots

 

Joey Votto

Votto batting in the first - He reached base six times on Saturday including a Home Run and two walks - His league leading OBP stands at .473. Despite the very good on base day, Votto only ranked 6th on the Baseball-ref Batting game score rankings.  He wasn't the only offensive contributor for the 2013 big red machine - Every Reds starting position player had either or run scored or an RBI.

Bronon Arroyo

The Reds didn't just excel at the plate. Bronson Arroyo (pictured here with his signature leg kick) demonstrated his veteran savvy taking a shutout 2 outs into the eighth. He only gave up 5 hits with a pair of walks, both in the final inning.    

 Jimmy Rollins Socks High

Not sure - J-Roll may be sporting the retro look for Day games, noticed it when the Phils were getting blown out my Ohio's other team on Wednesday.

Todd Frazier

1998 Little League World Series Hero (from nearby Toms River New Jersey) Todd Frazier always has friends in attendance.

 Michael Young



 One of the Phillies off-season acquisitions.  Young picked up a single to help maintain his .300 BA. 


Previous 2013 Snapshot Postings

May 15 - Cleveland Indians 10 @ Phillies 4
May 5 - Miami Marlins 14 @ Phillies 2
April 20 - St Louis Cardinals 5 @ Phillies 0

Yes so far this season in four games I have seen the Phillies get outscored 39-6. 

Snapshots 2013 05 16 Indians 10 @ Phillies 4

Another garbage game from the Phils, may possibly come back and update this later.  Phils lost 10-4 in a dull game.  The last time they brought the tying run to the plate was with 2 out in the 5th. Chase Utley who had a bad day at the plate grounded out. 

Cole Hamels

Hamels really stuggled, a lot of 3 ball counts.  It is a small miracle he made it through 5 innings giving up "only" 5 runs. The scrub end of the Phillies bullpen didn't fare any better.

Jason Kipis

The only lefty in the Indians lineup was Kipnis.  This is from his first AB, when he flew out to pretty deep center.  It was the only time he didn't reach base all day. He had a Home Run and a pair of doubles plus a walk, good enough for the 4th best batting game score of the day accoring to baseball-ref.com 

Corey Kluber

The young Indians starting pitcher put together a quality start as the Phillies hitters struggled once again.  The amazing thing is the Phillies punchless lineup managed to get 3 runs.  They didn't work a walk until Michael Young reached via BB in the 8th with the Indians up 10-3. 

Previous 2013 Snapshot Postings

May 5 - Miami Marlins 14 @ Phillies 2
http://phungo.blogspot.com/2013/04/snapshots-2013-04-20-cardinals-5.html

2013 Phungo Cards Domonic Brown

2013 Phungo #9 Domonic Brown

Day off for the Phillies today and we are going to post a Phungo Card.  Dom Brown had a game tying hit in the 9th inning of the Phils game yesterday.  Good to see as the Phils need to get more offense from their outfield.  Brown has a decent 6 homers and 18 RBIs as the Phillies near the quarter pole - but he is going to need to hit better than .250 with a .301 OBP for the Phils to succeed.

Phungo Card

This photo was taken on August 8 of last year when the Phillies hosted the Braves.  Phils had a bad 7th inning and some random fan bestowed tix to great seats behind the Braves dugout to us, so I ended up snapping a bunch of close up shots from in the final couple innings of the outing. At least team Phungo got something out of a night when the Phillies got crushed.

For more snapshots from this game click here.