More Swag from Tribe Cards

1993 UD All-Time Heroes #108 Robin Roberts
1983 Topps #43 Bob Dernier
2001 Topps Chrome #339 Scott Rolen
2007 Turkey Red #177 Kyle Kendrick

Indians Baseball Cards. And then some... found himself with a few extra cards and I believe under threat of eviction was good enough to offer them up to other collectors.

Being the good person that I am and understanding Dave's plight I offered to provide a home for the extra cards and when I say extra cards....I mean extra cards!!! Dave sent out two 300 count boxes of cards. I will be sorting them out for days.

Above are some of the Highlights. In 1993 UD produced an All-Time Heroes set that homages the Hassan T-202 cards from 1912. The cards are a nice idea and very sharp looking.

1983 is a set that I am pretty light on, and may be the last year that I collected cards before returning to the hobby. Bob Dernier was one of my favorite players in the mid-80s and this is a great addition to the collection.

I will always have mixed emotions about Scott Rolen. He always played hard and put up good numbers, but boy could he be a Diva sometimes.

A lot of the cards Dave sent over were from the late 80s and early 90s, but there were a handful of cool newer cards like this Turkey Red Kyle Kendrick.

Live Music - Nila Kay @ Milkboy Acoustic Cafe, Bryn Mawr PA - February 21 2009

I recently caught the beautiful young singer/songwriter Nila Kay at the Milkboy Coffee Cafe in Bryn Mawr. Nila's styling is part Jazz, part Pop - her set included the expected "Girl from Impanema". The young performer initially seemed a bit timid in the intimate cafe setting, but loosened up in her second set. Kay, from Arlington VA, who has been writing songs since the summer of 07 seems to be developing her style and tends to write a lot of songs about the trials of youth, young like, and love. She branched out into some other subject matter including a song about her young son.

Nila performed two 45 minutes sets composed mostly of her own material with a few cover songs mixed in. She performed the vocals and played guitar, while Jon Laine accompanied her on percussion for about half the songs.

Here are some additional pictures from the show:

Phillies release Adam Eaton

2009 Phungo Black Frame Insert - Adam Eaton vs Alfonso Soriano

It will cost the Phillies 9 Million dollars to let go of the ineffective pitcher. Eaton surely won't be missed partly due to his poor performance and also due to his rather surly attitude. He didn't handle a move to the bullpen well in 08 and this year rejected a request to pitch at the AAA level.

This Phungo card is part of the Black Frame insert set. This set features a couple of cards with a batter facing a pitcher. The photo is from a game that my girlfriend, Jo, took me to for a recent milestone birthday. It was a great week as she set up many fun activities for us and our friends. Chicago is definitely a fun city - if you're visiting for a game at Wrigley, I definitely recommend giving yourself some time to check out the city.

I suspect that I was trying to get a picture of Alfonso Soriano batting and am extremely happy with this shot. Anytime you can get the batter pitcher and ball in motion all in a single shot, thats pretty cool.

The Phils didn't completely cooperate as they lost my birthday game, but we went back a few days later to spend some time with the bleacher creatures for a day game at Wrigley and the Phils won!

Phillies Spring Training and Jack Russell

1933 Goudey #123 Jack Russell

Today the Phillies played their first spring training game. They lost to the Pirates in Bradenton. On Thursday the Phils will host the Toronto Blue Jays at their relatively new home "Bright House Field".

Until 2003 the Philadlephia Phillies (as well as the FSL Clearwater Phils) played their home games at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium. Jack Russell was a major league ballplayer who settled in Clearwater, got involved in local politics and was an instrumental figure in raising funds to build the stadium.

During his 15 year career Russell pitched for six different teams, participated in two World Series (33 Senators, 38 Cubs), and earned a spot on the second ever All-Star Team in 1934. He never played for the Phillies but his name is definitely familiar to Phillies Fans.

STS 8th Inning Results Freddy Sanchez

2008 Moments & Milestones Black Auto MA-FS Freddy Sanchez (09/25)

Freddy Sanchez won a batting title in 2006 batting an impressive .344 for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has also won Major League Baseball Tony Conigliaro Award for overcoming adversity that same year. Sanchez was born with deformities in each of his feet (one clubbed, one severely pigeon towed) and it was once believed that he would never gain the ability to walk.

I tend to believe that Sanchez's 06 campaign is a career year, that I doubt he will duplicate. Regardless, one has to admire a person who has overcome such physical challenges and excel at a competitive sports highest level.

I am also glad to see the Pirates have locked up Sanchez for a few years. The Pirates are a team with a great baseball history and their fans deserve a better product then their management has put together for the last dozen plus years.

This auto is pack pulled form the only pack of Topps Moments and Milestones that I have ever purchased. I picked the pack up at a card shop on a whim while picking up some supplies. I am pretty sure this shop doesn't do any pack searching as I have had extraordinary luck with hits at this particular store.

Congrats to Stats on the Back, who persevered and found this auto. The Double will give his team another run and put him right in the middle of the mix for the runner up spot in this seasons Spot the Sig competition.

This ain't a pretty auto but you can make out the F and S pretty easily, and there were a bunch of Sanchez autos out across the Topps line in the last couple of years - that is why I went with double on this one rather than Triple.

The Bonus goes to Nachos Grande who was 3 off of the serial number of 9. It is hard to make out on the scan but it really is a 9. This bonus was for those collectors astute enough to figure out that this is a Milestone card and those have a fairly low serial number range. This particular card was a "Black" Auto only produced to a number of 25.

Here are the standings with one inning remaining.

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 9 Runs - bases empty
Night Owl - Dodgers - 3 Runs in man on 2nd
Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 3 Runs in - bases empty
Card Buzz - Angels - 2 runs in on Vlad Guerrero Home Run! Bases empty.
Stats on the Back - Mets - 2 Run in - Man on 2nd

Nachos Grande - Reds - 1 Run in. Men on 2nd.
Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First
A Cardboard Problem - Yankees - man on first.
Covered in Wrappers - Cardinals - On Deck

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party.

2009 Upper Deck Faux Blaster

On Saturday we showed the results of a fake blaster of 09 Topps by posting $20 worth of packs purchased at a recent card show. At the same show I picked up $20 worth of UD Packs. Here are the results.

2009 Fake UD Hobby Blaster
Configuration 4 Hobby Packs + a Bonus for $20.00

72/500 Base 14.4% - each pack contained 18 base cards regardless of the number or type of inserts. No Dupes. 2 Phillies #291 Chase Utley and #298 Brad Lidge above


1 Game Jersey Dual Swatch GJ-JV Jason Varitek #d 033/149
1 Rivals R9 Angels v Dodgers Vlad v Manny.


2 USA Baseball 18U-JM Jeff Malm, 18U-MS Max Stassi.
1 Stars of the Game GG BW Brandon Webb

I am with Chris from Stale Gum here, having minors on cards is a little weird, although Stassi the younger of the two players will be 18 in a couple of weeks.

2 Documentary 4925, 4926 - BOS ALCS5 and BOS ALCS6 Both Ws for the BoSox as they tried to mount a series comeback versus the Rays.
1 UD 20th Anniversary Retrospective #130 Randy Johson 130Ks in 160.2. Seems like an unremarkable stat, but if your looking to fill cards there it is.
1 YSL 6741 - Derek Jeter 9/20/2008 Yanks 1 O's 0. This was the next to last game at Yankee stadium. Jeter is picture on a card for a game where he was removed for a pinch runner. weak.

This Hobby Blaster came out to be about even with a retail blaster. Retail blasters have 10 packs of 8 roughly I think. These Hobby cards are 4x20. Retail guarantees one relic, which I also got in the Hobby packs. In comparison with the Retail Blaster opened over at Stale Gum the other inserts are about equal - I like the Documentary add on better than the regular Documentary simply because they are all playoff games. My biggest insert disappointment was not gettting a 75 OPC.

To me the 09 UD v Topps competition is a tie. Topps has narrowed the gap in photography and both companies have put out functional if not distinct designs. My knock on the Topps cards is the miniscule unreadable card numbers. My complaint on UD is all the wasted space used to name the players position. This is really poor on the landscape style cards.

2009 UD #312 Jake Peavy

Neither Topps nor UD came up with an insert set that I am interested in collecting, although I may work on the 75 OPCs.

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ok now for the bonus.

I got the dealer to toss in grab bag (box really) with the 4 packs. The front card was a 2008 Donruss Threads Bob Gibson, which is a set I am thinking about building, as I have picked up quite a few packs of it already. I wasn't expecting much from the grab bag as he sells them for 1.75 normally and he was happy to throw it in.

The 75 card box actually turned out to be pretty good.

3 Phillies (Dykstra, Dale Murphy, Gene Shall)
8 Moments and Milestones - How bout that These baby's are so worthless they are getting thrown in grab bags
6 08 Allen Ginter Plus 2 flags
20 cards of Hall of Famers mostly from the overprinted glory years
30 stars and notables also from those operprinted glory years
and about dozen cars that are absolutely worthless.

1987 Topps #312 Turn back the Clock Reggie Jackson
2008 Topps #122 Jeff Kent 42 RBI (of 125) #d 006/150

So in the end, the Faux Hobby Blaster was a bit better than a Retail Blaster would have been on the grab bag. There was enough decent stuff in those 75 extra cards for me to consider them worthwhile.

Spot the Sig! - 8th inning

We are on to the 8th inning. This weeks auto I consider pretty easy and is good for a double.

The bonus question relates to the card that this sig comes from, What Serial Number is this cards serial number. The bonus is good for a walk or stolen base.

and CONGRATULATIONS to PTBNL!

Yes, As spring training begins, we near the end of the Spot The Sig! competition. And I must tell you that I am pretty sure we can declare a Winner! Yep PTBNL's six run lead is likely insurmountable.

The W is much deserved. If my arithmetic is correct we have had 15 autos so far and PTBNL has gotten eight which is more than half of them. I think perhaps Card Buzz would have given him a run if he had gotten involved earlier. Regardless PTBNL is our winner, Congratulations again to PTBNL!

I think a lot of folks are in competition for the runner up spot and something makes me think there may be a couple of 2nd place prizes laying around here that can be doled out. I would like to thank everyone for their participation. The competition was intended to keep everyone in touch with baseball during the off season. I hope everyone has enjoyed the contest, and I will probably rerun Spot the Sig! sometime in the future - likely next off season, perhaps sooner if people really clamor for another round.

Let me know via comments or email if you thought the autos were to hard, to easy, to obscure, to similar, or whatever. Same goes for the bonus Questions.

Here are the standings going into the 8th inning.

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 9 Runs - bases empty

Night Owl - Dodgers - 3 Runs in man on 2nd

Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 3 Runs in - bases empty

Card Buzz - Angels - 2 runs in on Vlad Guerrero Home Run! Bases empty.

Stats on the Back - Mets - 1 Run in - Man on 3rd
Nachos Grande - Reds - 1 Run in. Man on First

Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First

A Cardboard Problem - Yankees - man on first.

Covered in Wrappers - Cardinals - On Deck

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party.

2009 Topps Card Show Blaster Break

I like Blasters, but I prefer Hobby packs to Retail.

Since Blasters are basically retail only, I decided to build my own Hobby Blaster.

I did this by going to a recent card show and getting the best deal on hobby packs that I could find and buying $20 worth of them - which is basically the cost of a blaster. I found a guy selling packs at 3 for $5 and picked up 12 of them here are the results:

Phungo 2009 Topps Hobby Blaster

97 Base Cards = 97/330 = 29% no duplicates, 2 Phillies #73 Victorino, #299 PSH Hamels WS MVP

1 WBC Redemption #6 1 Relic CBR-RG - Ryan Garko ("The Relic contained on this card is not from any specific game event or season")
1 Black Parallel #234 John Russell (28/58) this card is a duplicate of one of the base cards I recieved.

1 Turkey Red #TR41 Cole Hamels
3 Ring of Honor (17 Sheffield, 21 JohnnyPodres, 23 Mariano Rivera)
2 Legends of the Game (2 Honus Wagner, 15 Pee Wee Reese)

10 ToppsTown Silver (1,2,3,4,5,8,11,16,20,21) 1 duplicate (20 Berkman)
1 Topps Town Gold (24 Jay Bruce)

3 Topps Attax
1 David Wright Stay in School

That breaks down to 97 base, 20 inserts, 1 insert dupe. I am not at all sure of what the composition of a Blaster is for 2009, and the outcome of this faux blaster versus a real blaster is likely a bit better. I suppose the Relic and the Black Border are both considered premium hits and depending on the outcome of the WBC redemption it is hopefully a bonus hit.

I would have liked to have gotten a few more Phils in the 12 packs. Generally I like the look of the base cards and the photography is much improved over 2008.

Here are a couple of the Phillies related cards.


#299 Cole Hamels Post Season Highlights
#TR41 Turkey Red Cole Hamels
#6 Raul Ibanez

I was at the "Decisive Game Five" of the 2008 World Series mentioned on the back of the first Cole Hamels card. Yes, Victorino was the only regular Phils card I got in the 12 packs but the Turkey Red Hamels sort of makes up for it. Ibanez is the Phils big off-season pickup. I suspect this photo was taken at a Mariners Yankees weekend series in early May of 2008, as I have spotted several photos of the Mariners at Yankee Stadium in recent Topps sets.

Here are some of the other inserts.

CBR-RG Ryan Garko Relic
RH21 Ring of Honor Johnny Podres
#234 Black Parallel #28/58 John Russell

Thing I am happiest about in 2009 Topps - Improved photography. I am not sure I love the design on the face of the cards, but I think they make a better use of the real estate then the 08 Cards.

My biggest complaint about this years cards in general is the tiny tiny card numbers. The Black on Blue is virtual unreadable, as with teams like the Mariners and the Ibanez card.

Hall of Fame Thursday - Ernie Banks - Phun Stuff from Thoughts and Sox

1964 Topps #55 Ernie Banks

2009 Phungo #14 Ernie Banks

Ernie Banks was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977, his first year of eligibility. Mr Cub had 512 career Homers, 1636 RBI, 1305 Runs, and 2583 Hits during his 19 year major league career. He was a two-time MVP who played on 13 all-star teams. His 277 Homers as a Shortstop was the major league record until he was passed by Cal Ripken Jr.

The Topps card I received in a trade with Adam from Thoughts and Sox. I sent over a couple of vintage Red Sox and a pile of more recent Bosox and he sent back bunch of Phillies and the 1964 Banks card above.

The Phungo card has a picture taken during the 2008 All-Star Futures game. Banks was named an honorary captain. I erroneously put down his position has 3B, for some reason I thought I heard that he was inducted into the HOF as a Third Basemen. According to the Hall of Fame Website he was inducted as a shortstop. Banks did play about half of his career at first base. Banks' Phungo card number is 14 which is the number he wore during his playing career, and was also the first number ever retired by the Cubs.

One interesting fact I found out while researching this post is that on May 8th 1973, Cubs manager Whitey Lockman was ejected from a game versus the Padres. Banks was a coach for the Cubs at the time and took over the helm for the team. The Cubs went on to win the game in 12 innings 3-2. This game preceded Frank Robinson's first management stint by nearly two years, meaning that Banks was the first black manager in Major League Baseball.

Banks has established the charity Live Above and Beyond Foundation as an organization to fight discrimination among various age groups. Proceeds from the charity wine Ernie Banks 512 Chardonnay benefit the foundation.

Links 
Phungo HoF Index - Ernie Banks 
*Note - This column was written before I started sourcing posts, I am guessing most of the statistical information from Baseball-ref and other info from the always reliable wikipedia

2009 UD Series 1 First Pack and STS Profile - Gorman Thomas

Congrats to Laurens of Card Buzz who knocked out the first Homer of the Spot the Sig! season for identifying Gorman Thomas as this weeks Autograph - more on Gorman below.

For the Bonus the first pack of 2008 UD Series One yielded the following:

42 Ellsbury

75 Rich Hill
91 Contreras
56 Wakefield
187 Joe Saunders

112 Fausto Carmona
145 Josh Willingham
110 Johnny Peralta
444 A's Team Leaders
R9 Rivals Angels v Dodgers Vlad v ManRam

4925 UD Documentry BOS-ALCS Gm 5 Red Sox 8 Rays 7
UD Coupon
481 Reds Checklist - Brandon Phillips
417 George Kottaras
208 Blake DeWitt

259 Pudge
242 Jose Reyes
225 Denard Span
312 Peavy
363 Carlos Pena

346 Adam Kennedy

42 Ellsbury was the low card (closest Night Owl 35) and 481 Brandon Phillips Reds Checklist was the High (closest Nachos Grande 476)

I found the Rivals card amusing. Yes, the Dodgers and Angels may be considered rivals, but I am not sure that Manny Ramirez has ever faced the Angels while wearing a Dodgers uni. Probably should have saved this for Sloppy Topps - er I mean Upper Dreck.

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Gorman Thomas was the first draft pick by the Seattle Pilots in 1969, The Pilots would move to Milwaukee where Thomas became a fan favorite and a heck of a power threat. Of course his power numbers were not without problems. Stormin' Gorman struck out at a prolific rate. Even in a career year like 1979 when he hit 45 homers and 123 RBI he struck out 175 times and batted only .244. It is no surprise to a Phillies fan that the active player that (according to Baseball-Reference) Thomas compares most closely to is Pat Burrell. As a kid I always thought of him as the American Leagues Dave Kingman. I remember reading on the back of a baseball card one year that his BA was .198 for the season and thinking how can this guy stay in the league.

The Home Runs were not the only reason Thomas was popular in Milwaukee. In a town famous for manufacturing fine adult beverages, he was known as an avid partier who would join a tailgate after (and before) games. I couldn't find any mention on the Brewer's website but apparently Gorman Thomas is the namesake for Gorman's Grill at Miller Park and can sometimes be spotted there for Home Games.

I gave this Auto a Home Run - Gorman Thomas is not an active player, not a hall of famer, and while he did lead the league in Homers a couple of times, I am sure not many people think of him outside of Milwaukee. The signature isn't awful sloppy, but certainly not easy to make out. The card is from the rather nice looking 2004 Fleer Greats of the Games Series which features autos of many great players from the past. The autos are on stickers but they are clear which helps to give the appearance of on card autos. In the scan, I left in a part of the border as a hint to the set this card came from. I am curious if this is how Card Buzz IDd the sig or if he recognized the auto.

Here are the STS! standings after 7 innings.

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 9 Runs - bases empty

Night Owl - Dodgers - 3 Runs in man on 2nd

Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 3 Runs in - bases empty

Card Buzz - Angels - 2 runs in on Vlad Guerrero Home Run! Bases empty.

Stats on the Back - Mets - 1 Run in - Man on 3rd
Nachos Grande - Reds - 1 Run in. Man on First

Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First

A Cardboard Problem - Yankees - man on first.

Covered in Wrappers - Cardinals - On Deck

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party - you just may find yourself with a stack of cards come spring training!

Sources and Links
Vladimir Guerrero HOF Index

Phungo Cards - Presidents Day Washington Monument and Thomas Jefferson

2009 Phungo #51 Washington Monument
2009 Phungo #3 Thomas Jefferson

For Presidents day I present two cards from the Phungo set. Both are from a vacation we took to Washington DC this past summer. The first is of the Washington Monument the second is of the Jefferson Memorial. The photo of the Washington Monument was taken from the outside the Jefferson Memorial. This is a great vantage point for this shot, there is a lake that separates the two locations and affords one a clear view of the monument.

The Jefferson card is number 3 to represent him as the third president. The Jefferson Memorial has a statue of Jefferson at the center with an entryway on each of four sides. Between each of these sides is a wall containing a quote or essay excerpt from Jefferson. This card is to small to read the inscription:

I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

#1 was taken for Richie Ashburn, the Washington Monument got booted to #51. For the Jefferson card as with the Lincoln Card from last week, I have listed USA where the player position is typically listed for the baseball player cards.

Spot the Sig! - 7th inning

This weeks Spot the Sig! is another tough one and goes for the first ever STS Home Run!

And if you were here last week you will be ready for the bonus. In the interest of equal time we are opening a pack of 2009 Upper Deck and team Phungo would like you to guess the Highest and Lowest numbered base cards in the pack. This is a Hobby Pack, which contains 20 cards. UD 2009 Series One runs 500 cards I believe. Please have your bonus answers in by 5pm (eastern) on Tuesday.

Here are the STS! standings going into the 7th inning.

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 9 Runs - bases empty
Night Owl - Dodgers - 3 Runs in man on 1st
Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 3 Runs in - bases empty
Stats on the Back - Mets - 1 Run in - Man on 3rd

Nachos Grande - Reds - 1 Run in. bases empty.
Card Buzz - Angels - Man on Second.
Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First
A Cardboard Problem - Yankees - man on first.
Covered in Wrappers - Cardinals - On Deck

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party - you just may find yourself with a stack of cards come spring training!

I am out of town till Wednesday and will not have results from this weeks STS! up till then.

Phungo Cards - Abraham Lincoln

Today is the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Birth. I don't think anybody will argue that he is worthy of a Phungo Hall of Fame Thursday entry.

As I have mentioned previously Phungo Cards stole some ideas from Allen & Ginter and included some non-baseball figures, places, and items. This Phungo card is of the Abraham Lincoln mascot who works the stands at Washington Nationals games. Similar to Milwaukee where they have a sausage race, the Nats have a presidents race. The four presidents are Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. If you ever go to a game and watch the race, don't bet on Roosevelt - trust me. The photo is from the race on July 31, 2008, which was won by Lincoln. In fact Honest Abe won a lot of races in 08.

The Abraham Lincoln Phungo card is number 16 as because he was the 16th president. I listed USA in the position area and Nationals as the team.

Phungo Cards - Ryan Howard

1993 Topps #43 Ruben Amaro
2009 Phungo #6 Ryan Howard

This week GM Ruben Amaro Jr and the Phillies signed First Baseman Ryan Howard to a 3 year 54 million dollar deal. I am not sure that this is significantly less then Howard would have gotten via arbitration, but I am glad that the Howard and the Phillies won't have to go through the arbitration process until Howard's free agent year.

The Ryan Howard Phungo card was taken during a very long emotional rain delayed loss to the Mets on July 6th. I actually left this game early in a pouring rain, which I rarely do. I chose Howard's number 6 as the card number. In the dugout you can see the Phillies were wearing their Patriotic caps for the Fourth of July weekend.

2009 Topps First Pack - STS! Profile Mark Kotsay

Here is Team Phungo' first pack of 2009 Topps.

311 - Kelly Shoppach
228 - Scott Rolen - BOOO!!
47 - Jose Valverde
264 - Dave Bush
WBC Redemption
TT24 - Jay Bruce
Topps Attax - Joba/Ryan Howard
217 - Pujols
3 - Andy Marte
182 - Daniel Murphy
49 - Kaz Matsui

I posted Shoppach and Marte because they were the answers to the bonus questions for this weeks Spot the Sig! Dave Bush is a local product who hung out with the Len Dykstra family as a kid and it is also a pretty sharp looking card. It is an oddity that the bonus cards were both Inidians. The top insert for the pack is the redemption, which you can see elsewhere so I didn't bother posting one here.

1999 Skybox Autographics Mark Kotsay

I have liked the few Skybox Autographics cards that I have seen. They have a nice look with an on card signature. I think I picked this card up as part of a 5 junk-autos for $20 lot which is right about where I would put a Mark Kotsay auto.

I had this card as a triple, simply because it isn't the cleanest auto in the world, and it isn't like Mark Kotsay is a household name. Of course when you spend the bulk of your carreer in Oakland, I think it is easy to get missed. I really thought coming out of college Kotsay would become a big star. Unfortunately it hasn't quite worked out that way. He has been a career .280 hitter without enough pop to be a offensive force in the outfield. I still think he is a good player and it will be interesting to see how the 2nd act of his career works out.

PTBNL got this Auto for a Triple and plated two runners. That gives PTBNL 8 runs going into the final three innings of the STS competition.

As far as the bonuses, Marte was the low card, which Nachos Grande nailed picking card number 3 - stealing home and getting his first Run! PTBNL picked card 315 only 4 off of Shoppach's 311 to get the other bonus.

Here are the Spot The Sig! standings after six innings:

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 9 Runs - bases empty
Night Owl - Dodgers - 3 Runs in man on 1st
Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 3 Runs in - bases empty
Stats on the Back - Mets - 1 Run in - Man on 3rd

Nachos Grande - Reds - 1 Run in. bases empty.
Card Buzz - Angels - Man on Second.
Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First
A Cardboard Problem - Yankees - man on first.
Covered in Wrappers - Cardinals - On Deck

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party - you just may find yourself with a stack of cards come spring training!

Card Show - Moorestown Mall, NJ

I visited a card show in Moorestown New Jersey this weekend and these are the results:

$20.00 - 12 packs of 2009 Topps Hobby. This is what I am calling my Card Show 09 Topps Blaster. I Will feature the results in a future post.

20.00 - 4 packs of 2009 UD Hobby. This would be my Card Show 09 UD Blaster. The dealer was good enough to toss in a grab box of cards with the cards. As with the Topps cards above this will be the subject of a future post.

1.00 - 1 pack of Beavis and Butthead cards. couldn't pass them up.

5.00 - dime box 1

5.00 - dime box 2

3.00 - 6 vintage Tipton's from 1954-70 in pretty rough condition

Total damage 54.00.

The vintage Tipton's consisted of a 1954 Topps Ray Murray, a couple of 58s and a 1970 Denny McClain card.

1958 #414 Sammy White
1970 #400 Denny McLain

The bulk of my picks from Dime Box 1 were 1994 Fleer Flair cards. I don't like the look as much as the 1993, but it is still a good looking card. The rest of that batch was basically HOF and star cards from all those overprinted late 80s series.

1992 Action Packed #69 Bill Mazeroski
2005 Bowman Chrome #131 Jeff Kent
1994 Fleer Flair #334 Rickey Henderson
1982 Donruss #483 Eddie Murray

From Dime Box 2 I went after more of the HOF and star cards including some Schmidt and Carlton Cards. I was also inspired by 30 Year old Cardboard and picked up about a half dozen 83 Super Veterans. Other cards in this lot included about a dozen chrome stars and a couple of 1973 and 1974 commons.

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After hearing horror stories on pack prices I was really happy to pick up the Topps cards at 12 for 20. Of course I could be the victim of dealer pack searching, but if not the price for the topps cards is cheaper then the per pack price works out to if I had bought a Box from D&A. I was thinking of doing a Retail v Hobby of 09 Topps, getting $20 of each product. But I am pretty sure the retail blaster cannot compete with 12 hobby packs.

The 4 for 20.00 for the UD Hobby was what I was shooting for, I asked for the grab box as part of a volume discount and the dealer was good enough to oblige. I figure if all the cards in the bag are worthless, I can still use the plastic case.

Like I said I was pretty happy. I figure the two dime boxes yielded over a hundred cards of HOFs, Superstars, Phillies, or interesting oddballs for half the price of a blaster.

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The most consistently Phungo posts to be accessed via Google Search are my Card Show posts. For this reason I have put together a post just for Card Show resources and information in the greater Philadelphia area. The informational Post can be accessed here and also via a link on the sidebar.

Philadelphia area Card Show Information Links and Resources

According to Sitemeter the Phungo Card Show related posts are on the frequent flier lists via Google Search.

This post is a summary of some local Philadelphia/Central PA/DE/MD/NJ resources that I use to keep up with the local card show scene.

Generally, somewhere in the area, there is a show at some area mall. The shows run about 15-20 tables, which is plenty for me. The vendors are often the same. Typically there are a couple of folks with dime boxes, one guy I check with has a Philllies Dime Box. Two guys with quality vintage which is above my price range. a couple of vendors with new hobby boxes at competitive prices - and no tax! and one or two tables with supplies. There are other things I am less interested in - higher priced autos and graded cards etc. and football cards too.

SB Sports Promotions produces the Philadelphia/South Jersey/Wilmington Shows

I have been to their shows in Exton and Wilmington DE (both fair) and Moorestown NJ which was a pretty good one. i

They also have autograph signings at about 1 show a month, but they charge for them, and I think they seem overpriced.

CC Collectibles runs shows in the South Central PA area.

I have only been to one of their shows, in Bel Air MD, which was an ok show.

Two or three times a year Hunt Auctions brings The Philadelphia Sportscard and Memorabilia Show to the Valley Forge Convention center. Click the link for updated information.


Poppel.com produces shows in the Philadelphia area as well.


This the link to Beckett's state by state card show finder

Here are some links to my local card shops - there are so few around anymore.

Carl's Cards

There is also the BC collectibles chain, which is very expensive - but one could buy cards there in a pinch. They also have high priced auto signings and sell lots of memorabilia.

Spot the Sig! - Sixth Inning

Another tough Spot The Sig! this week. Of course, I thought last weeks was tough also. We are going Triple on this one.



And for the Bonus, This is my first pack of 2009 Topps:



I would like the STS! participants to tell me the numbers of the highest and lowest base cards that will be pulled from the pack. It is a Hobby Pack, contains 10 cards and as far as I know Series 1 is numbered 1-330. A walk/SB bonus to the person who guesses closest to the highest card number and the person that guesses closest to the lowest card number.

The bonus will remain open till 7 PM (eastern) on Tuesday.

Here are the Spot The Sig! standings going into the sixth inning:

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 6 Runs - Men on 1st and 3rd.
Night Owl - Dodgers - 3 Runs in man on 1st
Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 3 Runs in - bases empty
Stats on the Back - Mets - 1 Run in - Man on 3rd

Nachos Grande - Reds - Man on third.
Card Buzz - Angels - Man on Second.
Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First
A Cardboard Problem - Yankees - man on first.
Covered in Wrappers - Cardinals - On Deck

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party - you just may find yourself with a stack of cards come spring training!

Phungo Readers Hall of Fame - Jim Rice - REJECTED. How about Tommy John?

The Phungo readers have spoken.

with 11 votes out of 18 Jim Rice did not get the required 75% of the vote to get into the Phungo Hall of Fame.


I was a little disappointed as I thought I made some compelling arguments for Rice's candidacy. The only comment on the post was for Rice. But even if I counted my vote five times and gave Night Owl's comment a weight of five votes that would have given Rice only 19 Yea's to 7 Nay's still short of the requisite 75%.

11/18 votes(61%) is enough to keep Rice on the Phungo Ballot and perhaps we will bring him back next year for another vote.

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This was an interesting exercise and I would like to bring up another borderline HOF candidate up, Tommy John.

Tommy John, unlike Rice was rejected by the BBWAA on his final ballot. John posted 288 career wins, 294 if you count the post season. He was the part of three World Series teams, and played for three different teams in the playoffs (Dodgers, Yankees, and Angels).

And of course, Tommy John is the first player to successfully recover from the surgery, that bears his name, to pitch again - and pitch very effectively. Check out the list of names under that surgery link - pretty impressive.

To your right you will see a new Hall of Fame Poll on Tommy John - Team Phungo is interested in your opinion.

Hall of Fame Thursday - Hank Aaron

1974 Topps #1 Hank Aaron

Today is Hammerin Hank's 75th birthday. I am not sure but I think 75 is the Diamond Anniversary, which is appropriate, because it is upon the Baseball Diamond where Hank Aaron made his name.

Hank Aaron: 755 Career Homers, 2297 RBI ,1477 XBH all still tops among Right Handed batters. He also scored 2174 Runs (4th overall, 2nd RH). Aaron played in 24 All-Star games during a 23 year career, try and top that! For a couple of years in the late 50s and early 60s they played two all-star games, which made this All-Star feat possible.

Aaron was also a member of the 1957 World Champion Milwaukee Braves who bested the Yankees in seven games. He homered 3 times in that series, but the big star was Lew Burdette who won three World Series games - including shutouts in games 5 and 7.

This is kind of cool - archive.org has audio of three different Home Run calls for Hank Aarons 715th Home Run.

1974 Topps
This is a card from the Phungo 1.0 collection which means it's from when I was a kid. Somehow it made it all the way through to 2009. My first pack of cards was 1974 Topps. I don't remember much about it, other than I picked it up at a 7-11. I doubt the Aaron card was in that pack.

and I will leave you with this tidbit from baseball-reference:

6,858 people saw Hank Aaron's final game.

Hank Aaron HoF Index
1959 Topps #467 Baseball Thrills (1957 WS Home Run)

1964 Topps #11 NL LL RBI Aaron, Ken Boyer, Bill White

1967 Topps #242 LL RBI Aaron Clemente Dick Allen (2016 Heritage Preview)

1973 Topps #1 LL All Time HR Ruth Aaron Mays

1974 Topps #5 (Retro of 1966-1969 Topps)

1975 Topps #1 (40th anniversary of record HR) 

1976 Topps #660 (1st Brewers card) 

1976 Topps #1 Hank Aaron (Record Breaker Career RBI)

Aaron Statue Miller Stadium Visit

Sources and Links

Topps #1 Club

Baseball-reference