Jeff Kent - 2012 Survivor Phillippines just for the Money???

According to the Baseball-Ref salary estimate Jeff Kent made $86 Miillion playing baseball from 1992-2008.  He was named to 5 all-star teams and won the 2000 NL MVP.  In 2002 he was part of the San Francisco Giants team that went to the World Series but lost to the Angels - Kent had 3 homer in the series.  While he never was on the winning side of World Series he played 65 games for the eventual 1992 champion Toronto Blue Jays prior to being traded for David Cone.  His current ELO rank for Jeff Kent is 138 just above Mark McGwire.  He is a borderline Hall of Famer with similarity comps in his top 10 including 4 HoFs Jim Rice, Sandberg, Santo and Billiy Williams. 

 

 

 

With all that money and the MLB accolades I was curious as to Kent's motivation to be on Survivor. 

 

2010 Phungo #37 Juan Pierre & Jeff Kent

 

I have come up with 3 possibilities

 

 

1) The Money - Although if Kent blew through the $86MM I think the 1 Million that Survivor offers would make little difference

2) The Spotlight - This is just part of the bigger picture, keeping Kent's name out there as he works on a TV/Movie Career.    

3) The Competition - He was a professional athlete and enjoys the competition.

 

 

With #1 covered above #2 is intriguing.  As far I can tell Kent isn't involved broadcasting or any other role with a team (Dodgers Giants or other).  If Kent wanted to remain out there you'd think that would be an avenue, but he has to this point not chosen to go that route. Perhaps Survivor is a career move for Kent - keeping his face out there for additional TV roles.  He has already appeared in a reality competion series previously, "The Superstars" in 2009.  Kent is from Southern Califormia and perhaps those are just the circles you run in if you are already a celebrity.  

 

 

Finally we come to the competition.  Kent spent 17 years in the Majors - he was a member of several succeful teams, going to the playoffs 7 different times.  Perhaps Survivor appeals to Kent's desire for competition.  Survivor is "played" more in front of a virtual crowd, but on Monday nights it may be more watched then any game Kent played in outside of the 2002 World Series.       

 

 

I wonder if Survivor is paying Jeff Kent win or lose.  Survivor is carried by CBS, which is the network that might currently be the farthest removed from Baseball - teaming with a retire MLB star doesn't seem to be the smart way for the network to go, but who knows what those crazy execs are thinking.  .  

  

 

 

Once again that leads us back to the spotlight.  I have never really watched Survivor much, but I may peek in a bit this season.  Lisa Whelchel (Blair on Facts of Life) is another Celeb contestant - she wouldn't be enough to get me in the door, Maybe Nancy McKeon (Jo) would get me to think about it.

Phungo Card

The above Phungo Card photo was taken prior to game one of the 2008 NLCS.  Kent didn't start the game but did get an AB as a pinch-hitter (strikeout).  He appears here next to current Phillies outfielder Juan Pierre.    

Sources

Jeff Kent Wikipedia (plus Survivor and other pages) 

Jeff Kent Baseball-Ref

Jeff Kent imdb

2010 Phungo Cards Cliff Lee

Last week I mentioned the fact that Cliff Lee could go an entire year without getting a home win.  Well Clifford didn't let that happen.  In likely his last home start prior to the anniversary the Phils and Cliff Lee came up with a 4-1 victory versus the League Leading Washington Nationals. 


I am a little surprised to find out I hadn't posted a Phungo Card of Cliff Lee yet.  He has been in and out of Philadelphia for a while now.  There are so many traditional cards in my collection I must of deferred to those cards prior to tonight.  

2010 Phungo #34 Cliff Lee

There is a Cliff Lee card in every Phungo set since 2010.  This is the first Cliff Lee card we put together here at Phungo HQ.  The photo was taken a little over 3 years ago at a game against the Diamondbacks in which Lee pitched brilliantly winning 8-1 throwing a complete game and giving up only 2 hits 

2012 Topps A&G Gold Minis......Dislike. And a Variation Question. .

Ok My name is Phnungo and I admit I am a sucker for the rack packs that have 3 packs plus a mini pack of 3 parallels.  The product doesn't matter.  I largely view parallels a scam, but I enjoy them in small doses.

This interest is waning with the 2012 offering of Allen & Ginter.  The three packs come with 3 mini "Gold" Parallels.

 2012 A&G Gold Minis Hank Aaron, Padro Alvarez, Dan Uggla. 

It is pretty hard to tell the Gold Minis apart from the regular minis.  Same size, cardstock, basically the same color.  The border artwork on these gold cards is more detailed and looks good, but you can barely tell the difference from the regular minis.

  

2012 Topps A&G 
regular mini Mike Moustakas 
Gold Mini Hank Aaron
Regular Hank Aaron

The Moustakas is the standard mini.  The Aaron mini is the gold variation.

My question is does anybody know what is going on with the Hank Aaron card having differnent poses on the mini and the standard size card.  I haven't been following 2012 A&G that much this year.

A note on collation

The Three minis I pulled in the mini pack were all present within one of the single packs of A&G in the Hanger.  note 2 - I once saw Moustakas and Alvarez play in the same minor league game in Wilmington DE.

Phun Cards 1959 Topps #178 Ruben Amaro

1959 Topps #178 Ruben Amaro

Ruben Amaro played 40 games for the 1958 Cardinals, but his first Topps card was issued with a Phillies Logo in the 1959 set.  This is despite the fact that Amaro would not play with the Phillies unitl June of 1960.  Amaro was a member of the Phillies for 6 years including the ill-fated 1964 season.  Amaro was good enough to stick hold down a majore league job for 11 seasons, but that is about it.  He did not really have any offensive standout years and finished his career with 8 home runs and a .234 batting average.  His 11 years were split among 4 clubs including the Angels and Yankees in addition the Phils and Cardinals.  Thanks to the Phillies 1964 collapse Amaro never got a chance to play in the post-season, but he did earn a Gold Glove for his play during that 1964 season.

  

Ruben Amaro is of course the father of Ruben Amaro Jr who is the current GM of the Philadelphia Phillies.  Ruben Amaro JR or RAJ in @TwitterSpeak also played a few unremarkable years with the Phillies.  While doing some Wiki-research I found out that the RAJ is actually a 3rd generation professional ballplayer.  His grandfather Santos Amaro played in the Cuban and Mexican Leagues.  According to Wikipedia Santos played 17 seasson in the Mexican League compiling 1,339 hits and a .314 batting average.  He was elected to the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.  

For the Collector

The 1959 Topps Card for Ruben Amaro is a Rookie Card, but basically a common. I picked up this card up for 30 cents.  A graded PSA 8 Amaro card sold for $243.26 recently.  The PSA 7 graded cards are significantly more affordable with 3 auctions ending at under $26. 

2009 WBC #5 Phillippe Aumont

2009 Topps WBC #5 Phillippe Aumont

On Tuesday the Phillies added Phillippe Aumont to their roster, filling in for Jeremy Horst who is on the Paternity leave list. 

Aumont was the 11th overall pick of the 2007 Draft by the Mariners - He came to the Phillies as part of the 2009 Cliff Lee trade.  

Since this is a paternity leave for Horst, this may only be a short call up for Aumont.  Hopefully he gets into a few games and can show the Phillies something.  His numbers at AAA Lehigh Valley in 2012 are mixed - 4.26 ERA in 44.1 innings.  He does have 59 Ks - of course that is offset by 34 walks. 

For The Collector

The above card is from the 2009 Topps World Baseball Classic set.  This was a 55 card set that came in a blaster.  The sets initially sold for $20.  I occasionally see the set at about half that price.  There is a Yu Darvish card in the set which contains a mis of stars and lesser know international players.

etc

Phillippe Aumont Baseball-Ref page
Phillippe Aumont Wiki page     

SUS: Cliff Lee Winless at Home....

SUS: Shut Up Stats

The 54 Pitchers that have won a game at Citizen's Bank Park since Cliff Lee's last Home Win (9/5/2011)

Acosta	Durbin	Lannan	Qualls
Beckett	Garza	Lester	Roenicke
Belisario	Gomes	Lincecum	Romo
Billingsley	Gonzalez	Lohse	Sanchez
Blanton (4)	Gorzelanny	Madson	Savery
Broxton	Halladay (5)	Maholm	Schwimer (3)
Burnett	Hamels (6)	McClellan	Sheets
Byrdak (2)	Hanson	McDonald	Volquez
Capuano	Harang	Niese	Westbrook
Carpenter (2)	Horst	Nolasco	Worley (3)
Detwiler	Hudson	Oswalt	Zambrano
Dickey	Jurrjens	Papelbon (3)	Zimmermann
Diekman	Kendrick (3)	Peacock
Dotel	Kennedy	Price

List includes Chris Carpenter and Ryan Madson who haven't thrown a pitch in 2012.  Mike Schwiner has 3 Ws since 9/5/11!  Rookie Jake Diekman on the list.  .   

Unless Lee gets a W in his next start - likely Sunday v the Nats.  He will go an entire year without a Home win.

Source: Baseball-Reference.com

Snapshots 2012 08 20 - Reds @ Phillies

The Phillies soundly defeated the Reds 12-5 on Monday night.  Every position player in the starting lineup came up with a hit.  John Mayberry Jr came a triple short of the cycle as he recorded 3 RBIs.  Ryan Howard and Erik Kratz added Home Runs as well.  Roy Halladay was unspectacular, but got the W giving up 5 runs over 7.

The Reds put up some offense (12 hits) but ran themselves into several outs (3 that I can think of)  and Mike Leake (as well as the Reds Bullpen) didn't pitch well - all contributing to the blowout.  

Snapshots     

Ryan Howard
Howard was one of the Philllies offensive heroes with a homer and an RBI single. This AB is not nearly as exciting - he was intentionally walked.   

Roy Halladay

Good Guy Award

Brandon Phillips
This is a 2nd GGA for Phillips who was signing autographs posing for pix within about 5 minutes of his first AB.

Jay Bruce
Bruce was 3-3 with a pair of RBIs.  Chris Heisey also had 3 hits including a double for the bad guys.  In the Photo above that is Erik Kratz behind the dish.  He had another one of his mammoth Home Runs last night - He has 7 in 61 ABs this season.    

Jimmy Rollins

Blurry shot here, but I wanted to mention that Rollins was honored by the Phillies pre-game for passing Larry Bowa in games played.  Bowa was in the house to help mark the occasion. 

Vittles

We tried the Paninis($10)  last night (behind sec 133).  The Italian one was pretty decent.  The chicken and Brocolli was way heavy on the cheese for me. 

Hall of Fame Profile - Frank Robinson

While at the National earlier this month, I heard a couple of the signings had been moved or cancelled for health reasons.  This sort of news is always a bummer - I suppose we always think of our sports idols as being invicible super heroes.  Unfortunately time is a cruel reality - it moves on for everyone regardless of their stature in any field. 

Frank Robinson's Hall of Fame credentials really don't need debated - 2 World Series Rings (1966 1970 both with the Orioles), 2 MVPs, Rookie of the Year,  14 All-Star teams, 586 Home Runs, 2943 hits, 1800+ in both Runs and RBIs.  Robinson Homered 10 times in 149 Postseason plate appearances. 

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982 on his first ballot.  Hank Aaron was inducted the same year.            

2010 Topps CMT-6 Frank Robinson

2006 Topps ROTW-8 Frank Robinson

For The Collector 

According to the handy rescource at Old Cardboard there are several early regional issues of Frank Robinson cards that are considered Rookies.  For collectors on a budget, like myself, the most likely Rookie Card one would find is his 1957 Topps #35 Card.  The lowest recent auction finished at $24.45 with 5 separate sales concluding under $30.  A PSA-8 graded card went for $697.44. 

Neither of the cards above are the real 1957 Topps RC of Frank Rboinson - both are recent reprint/homages to the original 1957 rookie card.  Both of these re-issues can be found in dime boxes.  .

1959 Topps #435 Frank Robinson

I picked up the 1959 Topps card abover for $8.61 July of 2009.  At least a half dozen recent auctions for the 1959 Topps Frank Robinson have concluded under $8 - a fair condition card went as low as $4. 

On the other end of the spectrum a PSA-8 (NM-MT) came in at $206.50

Sources and Links
Phungo Frank Robinson HoF Index
ebay
Baseball-ref

Updates
2015 0830 Sources and Links added

Phungo 5 with Nachos Grande

This week the Phillies are hosting the Cincinnati Reds who are having very good season.  To find out what is going on with the 2012 edition of the Big Red Machine we are talking with Chris from Nachos Grande. 

1) Which Red is most likely to Homer off Phillies pitching? 

Of all the Reds, I'd guess Scott Rolen would most like to homer since it's his former team.  That said, I think that Frazier will probably homer since he's been getting a lot of the playing time (and should be one of the front runners for Rookie of the Year).  If I have to choose one player though, it'll be Jay Bruce.  He went through an awful slump but he seems to have righted the ship so to speak and is hitting well over the past few games (including a walk off homer the other night).  Bruce is streaky to a fault, but at least for now it appears he is in one of his good streaks.

    

2) Which Reds Player from the past has been overlooked by Topps in their Retro-Heritage/Archives/Lineage type products?

I would like to see more cards of George Foster, Ted "Big Klu" Kluszewski, and Edd Roush.  Barry Larkin got a little love from Topps last year but I'd like to see him become the Reds "modern legend" in future Topps sets!

3) Where would you like to go on your next baseball road trip?  

I'd love to see Colorado's stadium and Houston's stadium - both look really nice on TV.  Even more than those, I'd love to visit San Francisco's stadium - something about the bay makes that place seem like no other (at least on TV).  That said, I think I might be taking a trip to Atlanta (and maybe either Kansas City or St. Louis) next summer - the other stadiums are  quite a trip!

4) What do you think would be a good theme for the 2013 A&G 1:2 Pack insert set (some past ones were Whats in a Name, Birth Date, Birth State, Perez Sketches etc) ? 

I think a "top 5 all-time players" from each team could be kind of cool since Topps has been doing a lot more with retired players.  With 30 teams, that'd be a 150 card set which is probably too large (maybe some players could be doubled up in terms of teams - Roger Clemens perhaps or even someone like Eric Davis).  I imagine licensing would be a nightmare though!  If Topps truly wanted to mix it up, I think a set of "Countries of the World" would be pretty sweet.  Again, it'd be a huge set but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

5) Math Question: Based off of Check Lists, Hit Ratios, Serial Numbers etc, How many cases of A&G were produced by Topps?

Ooh boy.  Can I claim it's still the off season for me since school doesn't officially begin until August 27?  No?  Ok then.  It's not easy to figure out exactly how many packs were produced, but if Topps odds are correct we should be able to determine how many hobby packs...  

For instance, there were 100 Topps originals this year and each was numbered 1/1 and seeded 1:45164 packs.  With 100 of them, if they were all inserted into hobby packs (i.e. assuming Topps didn't hold any back for quality control), you'd have 4,516,400 hobby packs.  Each box holds 24 packs, each case holds 12 boxes, therefore each case has 288 packs.  4516400 packs total / 288 packs per case = approximately 15,682 cases.  

Checking the math with another rare 1/1 card - the Ginter Book cards are seeded 1:136,131 packs.  There are 25 book cards total, suggesting there should be  3,403,275 hobby packs (or about 11,817 hobby cases).  

Finally, we can check the numbers with the Currency of the World box loaders.  Those are seeded 1:25 boxes.  There are 30 different countries represented (each numbered out of 50) so there is a total of 1500 different cards.  That suggests there are 37500 hobby boxes or 3,125 hobby cases.

Obviously, those three numbers aren't close!  If I had to guess, I'd say Topps overestimated the rarity of the originals (or the checklist I saw claiming that there was 100 in total) was incorrect.  

ScoreCard 

We have an open question for the Reds first HR of the series, but as Nachos Grande gets a strong 4 out of 4 on the remaining questions.  I am not bothering to check the math on Q5 - I will just mention each formula looks logical to me - and I have always thought Topps has so many configurations that the odds are all a bunch of hooey anyway.  Chris came up pretty strong on his suggestions for both the Reds and future A&G inserts.  

Replay - 2012 Phungo 5 Postings
 

Philadelphia Phillies - The Phillies Room. 

Atlanta Braves - Cardboard Junkie 

Miami Marlins - 30-Year Old Cardboard

New York Mets - Paul's Random Baseball Stuff

Chicago Cubs - Wrigley Wax

Pittsburgh Pirates - Pirates Treasure Room

St Louis Cardinals - Cards on Cards

Los Angeles Dodgers - Night Owl Cards

San Diego Padres - Padrographs

Kansas City Roayls - Autograph Cards

Oakland A's - The Fuji Chronicles

Seattle Mariners - Emeral City Diamond Gems 

Texas Rangers - Play at the Plate

Nachos Grande Replays

Nachos Grande 2010 

Nachos Grande 2009

 

Snapshots 2012 08 11 - Eddie Murray Statue Night @ Camden Yards

We didn't stick around for much of the game this past Saturday Night as it started about 3 hours late and several adult bevarages were consumed pre-game.  Regardless A good time was had by all.

Snap Shots

Orioles Eddie Murray Statue

I asked a few O's fans to comment on which way they would prefer to see Murray bat.  Most agreed the Lefty was the way to go.  His stance is more crouched as a Lefty and looks good here.

Close Up

This is a "headshot" of the same statue.

After 20 years in their 'New' home the Orioles are going through some stadium upgrades.  It has always been a nice ballpark.  The recent improvements have made it more fan freindly for both the casual and avid fan.  There is more access to fan friendly amenities and significantly better views for fans with SRO tickets. 

Links 
Eddie Murray HoF Index

2009 Phungo Cards Felix Hernandez

2009 Phungo #34 Felix Hernandez
Congrats to Felix Hernandez on his Perfect Game. 

This pix is from a game where Hernandez faced the Yankees at the old stadium in 2008.  Unfortunately for him he did not fare as well v the Bombers as he did agaisnt the Rays.  Johnny Damon had a big day off of King Felix with 3 hits - A Homer and 2 doubles as the Yankees won 6-1. 

Unfortunately Team Phungo let an ugly typo go through on this card as I have incorrectly named Felix "Feliz"

Johnny Pesky 1919-2012

Yesterday we got word that Johnny Pesky died at the age of 92.  I have always wanted to profile Pesky here but never did.

Pesky drew my attention for several reasons.  He playing career falls under the Hall of Very Good category - a career that included a 3 year military stretch.  He has been a baseball ambassador for one the leagues flahship franchises for many years, and finally a piece one of the leagues iconic structures is referenced with his name.

Green Monster w/ Pesky Pole in Foreground (2012-05-29)

You can see the Pesky Pole on the Right Side of this shot.  People bring out their Sharpies and sign the pole.  It's a pretty cool tradition that will honor and remember the man as long as Fenway stands. 

I am a big fan of the Baseball Ambassador role in the sport.  It connects genearations of fans and reminds of players our parents and grandparents followed decades ago.  Johnny Pesky was in the Boston Red Sox organization in the 1940s, and still is talked about today.  That is impressive in any discipline and an important legacy to cultivate in sports.

Snapshots 2012 08 10 Cardinals 1 @ Phillies 3

Good game for the Phils last Friday night defeating the Cardinals 3-1.  8 strong for Roy Halladay.  Game winning Homer by Chase Utley.  Phils looked good defensively in a briskly played game.

Snapshots (click pix to enlarge) 

Halladay v Holliday

I just wanted to type that. 

Carlos Beltran

This is the pitch that Beltran homereed on in the 2nd inning.

 Ryan Howard

Don't remember what happend on this pitch.  Wasn't a homer, Howard did eventually double in this AB, but I don't believe it is on this pitch.  

Phungo 5 with Cards on Cards

The Reigning World Champion St Louis Cardinals were in town this weekend.  To fill us in on what has been going on since then, we are talking with Kerry from Cards on Cards.  

1) Which player needs to step up for the Cardinals to return to the World Series? 

Clearly, Albert Pujols needs to step up big time if they’re going to make a repeat run. Why, he hasn’t done so much as score a single run for St. Louis this year! In all seriousness, though, I don’t have a lot of complaints about the offense or the rotations right now, and Jason Motte has been on a nice run lately. I don’t think you can expect much from Rafael Furcal right now and Lance Berkman may be at the end of his career, so of the able bodied Cardinals I’d like to see more from Jon Jay. It feels like the offense works best when Jay is hitting, and they really need someone to step up and take hold of the leadoff spot with Furcal’s physical struggles.

2) What is your favorite release for airbursh cards? 

My favorites are probably some of the Traded sets from the ‘80s. I used to get one of the Traded sets each year for my birthday, and it always fascinated me to see players in their new uniforms. It also didn’t take me long to notice how ridiculous some of them looked.

3) What are your thoughts on Rick Ankiel's recently being DFAd?

It’s really unfortunate. I was a huge fan of Ankiel’s when he was a sudden star pitcher as a rookie. To see him come back and succeed, if only for a season or two, as an outfielder was pretty amazing. I’m sure that he could walk away from the game right now and know that he’s done things very, very few could ever hope to achieve. I read recently that he helped Strasburg with his curveball, though, and some part of everyone who has followed him will always wonder what would happen if tried to pitch again competitively.

4) Has there been any word on Minor League Ball returning to Portland ?

The Yakima Bears, a short season A-league team is moving to the area next season, to play in Hillsboro which is a suburb to the west of Portland . AAA baseball has left Portland several times before and always returned, but the big difference this time is that they have no stadium to return to as their former home became a soccer-only facility last year. A new minor league stadium in Portland proper would have to be built from the ground up, and in the current political and economic climate, that’s about as likely as Pujols being traded back to the Cardinals for Marc Rzepczynski.

5) What is your favorite perfomance by a Cardinals player on TV or Film?

As an actor or player? I’m not sure that I’ve actually watched any Cardinals act, although I know that David Freese was supposedly in some awful sitcom episode last season on a show that I believe had already been cancelled by the time it aired. As far as performance in a game, it’s tough to think of anything more enjoyable than watching Chris Carpenter shut down the Phillies in the NLDS clinching game last year. Collectively, I’ve never seen anything more exciting than Game 6 of last year’s World Series, but as an individual performer, Carpenter sweated and cursed and hurled his way to the NLCS last year. He hauled the entire team on his back on his way to pitching more innings than anyone in professional baseball last season. And he’s paying for it dearly this year, where he’s basically getting the season off due to having a rib removed in someone experimental surgery to relieve pain he’s dealt with for a long time. I have a short memory, though. Ask me on a different day, and I might bring up the Pujols blast off of Brad Lidge or any number of amazing defensive displays by Jim Edmonds and Ozzie Smith.

ScoreCard

Have to ding ConC for #5. Any mention of 2011 NLDS game 5 and stomachs start turning for team Phungo.  Still a respectable 4 of 5 for ConC and we thank Kerry for is always thoughtful responses. 

Replay - 2012 Phungo 5 Postings
 

Philadelphia Phillies - The Phillies Room. 

Atlanta Braves - Cardboard Junkie 

Miami Marlins - 30-Year Old Cardboard

New York Mets - Paul's Random Baseball Stuff

Chicago Cubs - Wrigley Wax

Pittsburgh Pirates - Pirates Treasure Room

Los Angeles Dodgers - Night Owl Cards

San Diego Padres - Padrographs

Kansas City Roayls - Autograph Cards

Oakland A's - The Fuji Chronicles

Seattle Mariners - Emeral City Diamond Gems 

Texas Rangers - Play at the Plate

Cards on Cards replays 

Cards on Cards 2010 

Cards on Cards 2009 

Snapshots - Mike Lieberthal Phillies Wall of Fame Induction

Mike Lieberthal and his son get the red carpet treatment from the Phillies

I appreciated the Mike Lieberthal WoF induction significantly more then I thought it would.  Some great players returned for the occasion, the Phils video team put together another great production which gave me and other Phillies fans a chance to re-examines the long-time catchers career.

Lieberthal has caught more games for the Phils than any other player including Bob Boone (one time MLB record holder for Games), 1993 NLCS champ team Captain Darren Daulton and current All-Star receiver Carlos Ruiz.  Lieberthal also has the team Home Run record for the position.  He was a two time all-star and earned a gold glove behind the plate.

Ceremony  

Bob Boone

I wasn't sure who would introduce Lieberthal.  The Phillies made an nice choice in bringing back Bob Boone.   

Phillies PA announcer Dan Baker and Mike Lieberthal 

Lieberthal recognized the late John Vukovich among others when speaking about is early career.

Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt

 If I get time, I will get a posting up on the actual game sometime this weekend - which includes another HR batting stance (unfortunately not Chase Utley's).  I also have a Phungo 5 with Kerry from Cards on Cards in the On-Deck bin. 

2012 Phillies Wall of Fame Night - Mike Lieberthal

Phillies Alumni weekend is upon us.  If you're a Phils fan and you can make it, I recommend the outing.  The organization does a good job bringing back former players and holding events. 

This year the Phillies Wall of Fame inductee is Mike Lieberthal. I haven't seen who will be introducing him, but a number of Phils luminaries are expected to be on hand for the occasion including Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt.


  

2003 Topps Chrome #140 Mike Lieberthal

Mike Lieberthal is the one guy that most connects all the non-playoff years between 1994 and 2006.  Did a little research and found out he does not have the most games played as a Phil without repping them in the playoffs.  That dubious distinction belongs to Tony Taylor.

Despite his long tenure as a Phillies player I have only featured one Lieberthal card here previously, but I did put him on my Phillies all oughts team.  Which I may rethink with Carlos Ruiz having a very successful post-oughts career. 

Lieberthal did make the all-star team twice (1999, 2000) and hit 150 Home Runs during his Phillies career which I suppose is Wall of Fame worthy - but I got him as one of their weaker candidates.