Phungo

2012 Topps Live in the 19355

2012-02-01T08:39:00.001-05:00

Sort of - explain at the bottom of the post. Here are a couple of teaser images. Try and get up some more observations in the next 48 hrs or so.

First Card of 2012

The first card of the year is a stinking Yankee, but at least it is a future HoF.

First Phil

Left Handed SetUp Guy Antonio Bastardo. One advantage to Photgraphing these cards is that in some scans I have seen the last name is unreadable on a scan - the black background hurts them. The Red Parallells are a Target Exclusive I think and are related to...

The Box

I have no idea what this configuration is called - I have seen them for a while, but never bought one. I assumed they had packs in them. But it is just a single brick of cards.

Until I hear differently I will refer to these as KindlePacks - although I am sure this is much bigger then an iPad Nook or Kindle. Apparently 2012 Topps Series 1 Blasters do not carry relics or Autos. According to the KindlePack odds there is a 1 in million chance of getting one in these boxes.

The Target I went to in Malvern PA only had 2 configurations of Cards, these Kindle Packs and Blasters. No Lose packs.

For me or anyone colecting base cards the KindlePack seems to be better then blaster. The KindlePack has 72 cards vs 81 in the blaster - 80 + 1 Manupatch card. No gauranteeed Patch Card in the KindlePack, but it costs only half as much for almost as many cards.

If you look at the top right of the KindlePack you see a price of $9.99, but when the shrinkwrap is removed a price of $10.49 is displayed. not sure how Topps screwed that up, but I am glad to see somebody had the good sense to figure out that $9.99 sure looks a lot cheaper then $10.49.

Ok I wanted to get a couple of quick images up. enjoy. will try and post a more comprehensive review later.

Phun Cards and a Phungo Challenge

2012-01-27T08:42:00.003-05:00

Phun Cards is a new feature that we are going to try running here at Phungo. There have been numerous series that have been started here and never quite finished or returned to at all. Like everyone here, I have a bit of ADHD and bunches of ideas dance around my brain and don't make it to the page or only do in a half-ass way.

Well today I want to introduce one of those ideas.....and see where it goes.

I am hoping that Phun Cards can be our version of the ~~Cardboard Appreciation~~ err I mean CA feature. Typically single cards that are interesting for one reason or another. I would also like to bring Hall of Fame profile back and make it part of Phun Cards.

Enough blabbing - Here is the first ever Phun Card

2000 Topps Stadium Club #148 Pat Burrell

yeah yeah I know, gotta get the scanner hooked up. not a priority - I have all this house stuff to do and all these important twitter feeds to follow. And it's a shame because this is a pretty decent looking action shot from way back at the turn of the century. Stadium Club has always had banging photography - in 2008 I think it may have come at the expense of Topps Flagship product which had horrid photos.

This card features a young Pat Burrell at the other end of his career which appears to be coming to an end. We also have a pretty decent guest star on the card in the Person of Andruw Jones. Amazingly Jones had already been in the league 4 years and will likely bookend Burrell's career by playing for the Yankees this season.

Phungo Challenge

It is a Friday and you read this far because you really don't feel like working so here is your Phungo Phriday Challenge ....

I have always wanted to do this - Ok all you Baseball-Reference junkies - you know where we are going here: What day was this game played?

2011 Phungo Cards - Prince Fielder

2012-01-24T16:33:00.000-05:00

This is not a new 2012 Phungo card. This Prince Fielder card is from last years set.

Not sure if Prince will stick at 1b after his move to the AL. Perhaps he will DH for the Tigers.

2011 Phungo #30 Prince Fielder

I kind of like this one, it isn't an action shot or anything like that. But anytime I can get a decent pix of a all-star player I am happy.

Glad to have Prince out of the NL, but always liked him - may have to add the Tigers to my Orioles Todo list for this summer.

etc

If you want to see a fantastic video of a pack rip of Phungo Cards check out this posting by dayf over at Cardboard Junkie. I absolutely love it and believe all Phungo Cards should be opened in such fashion.

Happy New Year - Year of the Dragon

2012-01-22T20:22:00.000-05:00

On Janary 23rd the Year of the Dragon will commence. Today we are going to check out some famous Baseball Dragons:

1940 Ron Santo
1964 Barry Larkin

We start out with this years Hall of Fame inductees Ron Santo and Barry Larkin, Pretty cool Larkin card - Cooperstown Collection issued 2 decades prior to his actual election. Like Santo, Willie Stargell is also a 1940 Dragon and a Hall of Famer.

1976 Pat Burrell

It is starting to appear as if Pat the Bat will not hook up with a team for 2012. He had a mixed career in Philadelphia, but won a World Championship in the end and then went on to win another championship with the Giants in 2010. Pretty nice finish. Form Phil Randy Wolf is also a Dragon from the 1976 birth year.

1952 Fred Lynn
1988 Clayton Kershaw

Our next pair of Dragons features young Phenoms. Well Fred Lynn was a young Phenom when he won both the Rookie of the Year and MVP award in the same year (1975). Clayton Kershaw is of course the reigning Cy Young award winner. Fellow Dodger Dee Gordon is also a class of 1988 Dragon.

1916 Enos Slaughter
1928 Billy Martin

These two are both Fiery Dragons. I picked up the 57 Topps Slaughter card out of a 3 for a dollar bin a few years back - of course that is because the back is marred to the point of being non-existent. Billy Martin's longtime teammate Whitey Ford was also born in 1928.

1880 Christy Mathewson
1904 Chuck Klein

We finish with a couple of retro cards of Hall of Famers who played in the first half of the previous century. The Mathewson card is from the Great Ones insert series of 2011 Gypsy Queen. Chuck Klein comes from a 1970s Fleer issue.

1964 Dragons
I just wanted to note that the 64 Dragons are quite the PED class and include Canseco, Palmiero, and Bonds.

2012 Phungo Cards - Harry Kalas

2012-01-21T11:03:00.007-05:00

The card #1 honor in this years Phungo set once again goes to Harry Kalas.

I believe this is at least the 5th time Kalas has appeared or made an impression on a Phungo card. He was part of the oriiginal 2009 set then in 2010 Card #1 was dedicated to Kalas in a Memorium card. That same year we produced a Mike Schmidt card that was the home to the Harry Kalas shrine following the broadcasters death. The 2011 Raul Ibanez card also contained an homage to Kalas as the Harry Kalas memorial banner at Citizen's Bank Ballpark looms in the background.

2012 Phungo #1 Harry Kalas

It is hard to make out but there is a black and white photo of Kalas in the background of the photo above - it is above the right shoulder of the Kalas statue. I like the look - it appears as if Kalas the statue is thinking about Kalas the Man. It isn't as clear as I would like on the card, and I may experiment with retaking a photo at a similar angle in an attempt to get a better shot in the future.

Phillies fans will miss Harry Kalas for at least a generation, perhaps forever with the amount of audio and video we have at our dispoal. It is nice that the Fans and the Phillies have worked together to memorialize Kalas, and it adds a bit of enjoyment to my life persnally to be able to create a card dedicated to the teams beloved broadcaster.

2012 Topps Series 1 Checklist

2012-01-19T20:55:00.014-05:00

Thanks to a posting over at Paul's Random Stuff, I Got a look at the Topps Checklist for the upcoming release of series 1:

2012 Topps Gold shiny thingy Roy Halladay (#150???)

These are the dozen Phils that are in the checklist provided by Sports Collectors Daily:

28 Placido Polanco

64 Michael Martinez

98 Domonic Brown

117 Carlos Ruiz

120 Hunter Pence

150 Roy Halladay

190 Cole Hamels

243 Justin De Fratus

259 Michael Stutes

280 Ryan Howard

287 Antonio Bastardo

307 Vance Worley

There are 30+ cards missing from this list so there could be some additions to the list. There are at least four prominent players from the 2008 World Champs teams that are missing from the checker - Understandably there is late FA signing Jimmy Rollins. The most noted player to get booted to Series 2 is Chase Utley. We will also need to wait on both Shane Victorino and Joe Blanton. Cliff Lee is the biggest deferment on the current staff. I did not see FA defectee Ryan Madson on the list, nor are FAs Raul Ibanez and Brad Lidge.

At least 2 pitchers that are expected to be in the Phils spring training camp are checked on their 2011 Teams #89 Dontrelle Willis(Reds) and #267 Joel Pieniro (Angels). Jim Thome is not listed.

Other interesting things I noticed is that Neither Albert Pujols nor AL MVP and Cy Young Winner Justin Verlander are Checklisted. As I noted above 35 cards are unlisted, these are likely for
special cards and perhaps award winners such as Verlander.

- Mickey Mantle returns to his familiar #7 spot in the order, The #44 spot which was once issued to Hank Aaron is occupied by Edwind Jackson (listed as a Cardinal, but I think he moved on)

- #27 John Buck will be the first Miami Marlins Topps Card ever issued - it will be interesting to see how those cards are handled.

- #30 Derek Jeter is a pretty low level Hero Number for the Yankees star and is #40 a hero number - it was issued to Tom Milone of the Nationals - who the hell is that guy.

- Dee Gordon and Craig Kimbrel are each listed for two spots. Did either of them set records of some sort last season, maybe Kimbrel.

- #66 is Nyjer Morgan - no Tony Plush listed.

- #72 is there really a player named Rex Brothers - sounds like a place where you buy a suit or get a lawyer.

- #107 Luke Scott listed as an Oriole - he has taken his guns to Tampa Bay

- #136 Casey McGehee last card as a Brewer.

- #267 World Series Hero and Phillie Killer David Freese

- #299-#301 are all Rangers - 3 in a row (Moreland/Hamilton/Alexi Ogando)

-#305 Potentially Chipper Jones final Topps Card while Active - although he will likely show up in Ser 2 or update.

Hero Numbers 100 200 and 300 were handed out to Jose Bautista, Miguel Cabrera, and Josh Hamilton respectively. I appreciate Bautista getting some love here - easy to forget he has hit close to a hundred dingers over the past two season leading the AL in both 2010 and 2011. Not as keen on troubled drunken Miguel Cabrera getting one.

It is also interesting to note that the latest steroid rep Ryan Braun gets #1 while the man he beat out for the MVP award Matt Kemp got the last card #330.

Introducing 2012 Phungo Cards!!! - Roy Halladay

2012-01-18T19:52:00.001-05:00

Today Team Phungo proudly announces the release of the fourth edition of Phungo Cards.

I am sort of amazed that this is the fourth set. 2012 Phungo is by far the smallest set, and it is also the least current as far as the Photography goes. We only made it out to a handful of games this past years so the amount of recent product to draw from was severely diminished. For this reason you will see lots of photos from past seasons. This also means that the quality of shots is down. Some cards that got cut from earliar sets have made it into 2012 by default.

On the upside, for this years set, Pixlr was used rather than Paint to design the cards. This made it significantly easier to make a more modern looking card:

2012 Phungo #34 Roy Halladay

Thanks to the team over at Goose Joak for introducing me to Pixlr, which made a lot of the elements of the 2012 Phungo card design possible. Even simple things like the rounded border aren't very easy to do in the confines of paint. Placing the text over the photo is something made much easier by pixlr. I have place a slightly white background so the name is more readable. The Card Number and Date of the game are in the lower left. Phungo Signature in the lower right.

This is from a Game we saw in June where we were fortunate enough to get very good seats - unfortunately I was seated next to a very annoying woman, she was much to old to get away with being so juvenile.

This is the 2nd consecutive year I have opened the 2012 Phungo Cards postings covering Roy Halladay. If I would have been more on the ball, we would be talking about Hunter Pence today, but I never got a good picture of Pence so he has been left out of the 2012 set. Halladay didn't get Card #1 in the set like he did a year ago - He has instead been given the #34 which he wears on the field.

The 2012 Phungo set is the smallest so far consisting of 38 Base cards. The Jackie Robinson Retired Number Continuity Series returns for 2012 with three new cards including one of Jackie Robinson's familiar 42 from a different venue and two new Hall of Fame player cards.

Over the next week or two you will get to see several postings with additional cards from the 2012 set.

HELP!!! - Team Phungo Wants Your Favorite Post of 2011

2012-01-17T20:12:00.001-05:00

Could this card be related to the Phungo Best Post of 2011???

2011 Phungo #5 Rocco Baldelli

Could the above Rocco Baldelli card be related to the Phungo Best Post of 2011???

Team Phungo wants to know what YOUR Best or Favorite post of 2011 was.

I want to collect all of the favorite posts from 2011 into a digest and publish the together.

I know in the info linked below I say I want entries by like last week or something. but I will probably except entries till the Superbowl or so.

for more info click here

Happy Trails Ryan Madson

2012-01-13T15:42:00.000-05:00

Ryan Madson is leaving the only organization he has been associated with for his entire professional career. Madson will be going to the Cincinnati Reds as a Free Agent - He will open the season as the Reds closer and likely hope that he can use 2012 as a springboard to a big payout contract for 2013 (as if $8.5 MM isn't enough)

2010 Phungo #46 Ryan Madson

Madson was mixed as the Phils interim closer over the last few campaigns, yet I have a great degree of fondness for Madson.

Obviously, I am a fan of any member of the 08 World Championship team - but it was the Madson games that I was fortunate enough to see that really made me a fan. During the 08 championship runa and the 09 World Series I was was able to go to 5 playoff games. The Phils won all 5 and Madson participated in all 5 - I have seen the Phils on the Winning end of two world series games Madson pitched in both and saved one (he did blow a hold in game 5 of the 08 World Series but the Phils came back). And way back in 2006 when Madson was still a starter we got to seem him shutout the Orioles in an interleague contest.

In 2004 when Madson first came up he was a big unknown form the Phils minor league system. He wasn't a huge prospect (9th round pick) that we had heard about for years. But he pitched very well and would become a critical pitcher in there bullpen, but....

Late in 04 Madson got one of his two freak injuries. He injured his pitching hand when he ran into a wall chasing a ball in BP. Then in 2010 Madson broke his toe kicking a chair in the locker room following a blown save in San Francisco. So Madson is known as a bit of an idiot around Phungo HQ as well.

The above Phungo Card is from the 2010 set, stay awake, I heard a rumour that the 2012 cards are lurking....

Team Phungo Wants Your Best Post of 2011!!!

2012-01-11T20:51:00.003-05:00

Could this card be related to the Phungo Best Post of 2011???

1959 Topps Willie Mays

Could the above Willie Mays card be related to the Phungo Best Post of 2011???

Team Phungo wants to know what YOUR Best or Favorite post of 2011 was.

I want to collect all of the favorite posts from 2011 into a digest and publish the together.

for more info click here

Swag from Nachos Grande - Tier One plus A&G nno

2012-01-10T20:55:00.000-05:00

Still catching up on postings - Last month Nachos Grande ran a Tier One Group Break. Here is the good stuff.

2011 Topps Tier One Tony Gwynn (Base #d to 799)
2011 Topps Tier One Hunter Pence (Base)
2011 Topps Tier One Cole Hamels (T4 #d 199)
2011 Allen & Ginter NNO Roy Halladay

Tier One as the name states is a Tiered product with several parallels. The break was of the 15 team variety where you get a team you choose plus one at random. My random squad was the Padres - Tony Gwynn is about as well as I could do personally for a Padres base card as he is one of my favorite players. The Pence Base card may be my first of him as a Phil. The Hamels was my best pull from the Tier One portion of the break.

2011 A&G NNO Roy Halladay

Nachos Grande had won a box of 2011 A&G and he through cards from that box that he didn't need for his PC into the break. Fortunately one of those cards was arguably the best card in the box. A No Numbered Roy Halladay Mini. This is only my 2nd nno mini. I have a Cole Hamels from a different break I was involved in a few years back.

Chris also gave each participant a team set of 2011 Topps Lineage, so in addition to the above cards, I also picked up the Phils and Padres Topps Lineage cards.

Right now over at Nachos Grande a group break featuring 5 turn of the century products. Phils from that era aren't not nearly as exciting as the current crew - maybe pick up a couple of cool Scott Rolen cards.

Swag from Tomahawk Chopping - catching up

2012-01-02T20:45:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! - good last wk of the yr for Team Phungo - hope the beginning of 2012 finds everyone well.

Now I have some catching up to do.

Way back in the beginning of November Derek over at Tomahawk Chopping ran a different kind of a Box Break. Well it wasn't really a break. It was a draft - of Cards. TC had a lot of nice cards that were in midlevel products that Team Phungo really doesn't get to pick up. The Draft had 15 rounds I think and guaranteed an Auto and a Relic. Here is Much of the Team Phungo draw:

click to enlarge

Lots of Chomey stuff here - I went after Phils and former Phils, HoF and some favorite players. The Relic is an All-Star GU card of Placido Polanco in the bottom row. I am holding the Auto (might be subject of a future Phungo STS!)

Some of the chrome and parallels of stars in the lot include Chase Utley, Roy Halladay, Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels masterpieces, There is a Chrome Flashback of Dom Brown near the top right

Francisco Liriano, a Fine looking Joe Mauer card (bottom right), Strasburg, the Freak, Pedro Alvarez, Gio Gonzalez, Nice Pat Burell Chome Parallel, and Kyle Drabek are among the non-Phils in the lot.

Just want to mention one more time that the Topps Photography was real sharp in 2011 and I hope they continue to keep it up in 2012.

This was a fun idea and I am glad Derek put it together.

What Was Your Best Post of 2011??

2011-12-28T10:58:00.000-05:00

Every Newpaper, Website, and Magazine seems to have some sort of list of best of 2011 in Sports, Music, Movies, Books, Trends, Viral Videos, Reality TV, Celeb Marriages/Divorces, Garbage Gossip etc etc.

Well I think it is time we do this for Trading Card Blogging. (If somebody is already doing this and I missed it, let me know)

I would like to collect your favorite columns from 2011 and put the links into a single posting so that anyone can refer to them at anytime in the future. I see something similar to the books that you may see in stores that are "The Year in Sportswriting 2011" edited by some sportswriter and contributed by about a dozen others.

A couple of ground rules -
- one Submission per blog, I would like to highlight as many different authors as possible. (exception for series - if you put together a summary of a series on your own blog and prefer that entry to be your submission that would be great)

- send a link to my email address (in my profile) - that way I can copy the link directly into the index posting
- I would prefer posts from 2011, perhaps we can put together a separate entry for pre-2011 columns.
- I am also welcoming nominations of posts by authors other then yourself. perhaps some folks have forgotten or didn't see the beauty of their original posts.
- beyond that I would like to keep things relatively wide open - by Best I really mean favorite - don't fret over it your piece is brilliant etc. - it is just good enough that you liked it or enjoyed posting it.

I envision grouping the postings loosely if you could also let me know which of the following categories your posts fits that would be helpful. Some of the categories I have come up with are:

- Cardboard Appreciation - Posts dedicated to a single card
- Player Collecting - posts for a single blayer
- Team Collecting
- Reviews - including Box/Case/Group Breaks.
- Vintage
- Autos/Relics
- Sets Apreaciation - A look at a certain Card Set from the past.
- Value/Pricing - Post dedicated to the $$ cards are being bought and sold at.
- Baseball in General
- Sports in General
- Pop culture
- Series if you want to go to the trouble of summarizing anything that you have done in a series into a single post I would like to dedicate a section to the favorite series of 2011.
If you have any other categories let me know - if your post fits more then one category that is fine as well.

Let me know in comments of what you think and if you have any additional ideas or suggestions.

I was thinking of publishing something around 1/16/2012 so if you could get submissions to me by 1/9 that would be great.

Thanks

Team Phungo

Disappointment - Bill Conlin

2011-12-20T20:12:00.001-05:00

How is it that people we really don't know at all can cause us such unhappiness.

This afternoon the news broke that Philadelphia sports columnist Bill Conlin has been accused of sexually abuse of four minors who are now grown. The charges are quite damning - Philly.Com story here.

For all involved this is all awful.

I find it personally devastating because I really respected Conlin as a writer.

This is a baseball related post because Conlin was recently inducted into the writers wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Conlin's Baseball Hall of Fame Page.

I don't want to spend time championing Conlin, but did want to relate a few things I remember him (as a writer) for:

1) He was the man that Steve Carlton first stopped talking to - quickly Carlton would go mute on all reporters.
2) Conlin is credited as being the first media person to project the 1993 Philllies (last place in 92) as NL Pennant winners.

Worthless Stuff

Almost 15 years ago I went to a booksigning for Conlin's book "Batting Cleanup". There were maybe 20 people. Conlin answered questions and talked baseball until the bookstore closed. The signing took place within days of my 30th birthday. Conlin personalized it "Happy #30"

The collection of Conlin's columns used to reside on a shelf of prized autographed books. Now I don't know what to do with the book. I thought at some point, it would be a fun tricky auto for Spot the Sig, but that would neither be fun nor appropriate anymore.

If I am going to take anything positive away from this it is that it is another reminder that our heroes and idols should be our family and friends that get us through our daily trials bringing light to our days while sharing our joys and triumphs.

Now I am going to go start celebrating Christmas early with my wonderful wife. No Blogging till after the Holiday.

TODAY ONLY: Lindros and LeClair sign to Benefit CHOP

2011-12-16T08:18:00.000-05:00

This afternoon (12/16) Eric Lindros and John LeClair will be signing autographs at the Granite Run Mall near Media PA to beneifit Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania.

Only 500 Autograph Tickets will be available. Tix go on sale at 4pm for the 6pm signing. I suggest you get there early if your interested in the signing. I think it could be a little crazy.

If I read the info correctly. the Tix are $25 for both signatures all proceeds go to towards CHOP.

More info click here

Great signing, great cause.

Card Show Report 2011 12 10 - Bucks Technical High School

2011-12-14T15:49:00.001-05:00

This was my first show at Bucks Technical. After going to a pair of more larger regional shows over the last month the Bucks show was a little disappointing. There were many 10-15 dealers with a decent variety of items. There wasn't much of a selection in the cheap vintage category, which hurt my day a bit.

Still Team Phungo was able to bring home some cool items:

2007 Topps Finest Ryan Howard ($4 #d to 50)

I try and collect cards that relate to games I have been to, so yeah I am the one guy that is interested in annoying stuff like UD Documentry or Moments and Milestones. Trouble is, I am only interested in specific cards in those set. Howard actually hit a pair of homers in this game as I remember. The Philllies pummeled Matt Cain. I think Moises Alou took out his knee running into a wall.

2007 Topps Finest is actually pretty decent as far as these cards go. The Description on the back is actually particular to the game specified on the card and the player pictured on the card is the one talked about on the reverse (unlike documentry and M&M)

More Phils

83 OPC Mike Schmidt
89 Topps Mike Schmidt Special (Card Number = L)
06 A&G Ginter back mini Chase Utley
75 Topps Mini Greg Luzinski
87 OPC Mike Easler

The OPC Schmidt, Utley Mini and Luzinski cards all went for a buck each while the remaining cards were dimers, I believe. The Easler is a bit of an oddity in the OPC Phils collection as it isn't part of the Topps set for 1987. The Utley card is a mini from the first issue of A&G. A buck is typically higher then I would go for a 75 mini but the bull is worth it. The 89 T Schmidt card appears to be a box bottom, I haven't bothered to find out where exactly this card originited.

Noteworthy

2007 A&G Box Loader N43 Joe Frazier ($2)

Couldn't lett this one got for $2, this is the 2nd A&G boxtopper I have picked up pretty cheaply in the last year. Kind of a pain to store, but nice to have a few.

Hall of Fame

All-Star Stand Up Ricky Henderson
2000 Topps #44 Hank Aaron

These were both dimers - Henderson is a popout/stand up card made by Leaf in the mid 80s to commemorate the All-Star game. These are similar to the 60s era standups that were homaged in 2011 Lineage.

In 2000 card #44 in the Topps set was dedicated to Hank Aaron, ala #7 for Mickey Mantley both prior and since. As far as I know this is the only year which Topps reserved #44 for Aaron. 2000 Topps is a minimalist design, which I like and consider a hidden gem in the Topps Pantheon.

Moneyball 2011 - Art Howe

2011-12-13T13:40:00.006-05:00

Understandably Art Howe isn't very happy with his portrayal in Moneyball. Google his name and you can find a bevy of articles that all mention his complaints.

For my part I will mention that the Brad Pitt version of "Moneyball" is a Movie and is just that. The Film is based on "Moneyball" the book, which is the work of the talented author Michael Lewis. That being said the book is only one persons interpretation of the events.

Opinion: There really isn't anything such as unbiased journalism - we all have our slants and opinions - Michael Lewis is an author and he is in the business of selling books. As a narrative "Moneyball" has lots of villains - to make the story more effective it was likely best for Lewis to find a way of personifying the villain (the possibly outmoded way of judging baseball talent - scouting) as a person - In the book and the movie this is largely done in the form of A's manager Art Howe - to a somewhat lesser extent the A's scouts were also villified.

I think this works for the story, casual baseball fans, and film fans. And isn't the audience that Moneyball is after?

1979 Topps #329 Art Howe (image stolen from the Baseball Card Database)

For the record, during each of the finals two seasons Art Howe was with the Athletics they 100 games. The A's have not won a 100 games since Howe left almost a decade ago. Howe took the A's to the playoffs during each of his final 3 seasons with the team. In the 9 seasons since the A's have returned to the playoff only twice, Although they did win a series in 2006 under Ken Macha - Art Howe has never won a post-season series as a manager.

After leaving Oakland Howe led the Mets through a couple of mediocre seasons in 2003-04. He was in the Rangers organization as recently as 2008 but appears to be cuirently out of baseball.

Moneyball 2011

Links to previous MB 2011 posts

Moneyball The Movie

Bennett Miller

Billy Beane

Jeremy Brown

Michael Lewis

Michael Oher

Ron Washington

Tony LaRussa

etc

Here is a link to a Moneyball and Collecting related article in Beckett that I first saw referenced by Chris Olds via Twitter.

Last Card Show of the Year

2011-12-09T13:52:00.000-05:00

I know I have been blasting Card Show posts repeatedly over the last month and a half, but other then a possible recap next week, this should be the last one of the year.

On Saturday Team Phungo plans on hitting a new show - This is only in the interest of professional resarch - it isn't because we have a bad card habit or something like that.

This is a show sponsored by Poppel.com at the Bucks Co Technical Institute in Bristol Twp PA. I have only ever been to one previous Poppel show at the Granite Run Mall - which may have had a dozen tables. From what I understand the shows hosted at Bucks Technical are their bigger shows.

2009 Phungo #37 Chad Durbin

There are a bunch of low-level autograph guests scheduled for the show including former Phils Chad Durbin, Greg Dobbs, Wes Chamberlain, and Ben Riviera. Flyers Great Ed Van Impe and Phils Broadcaster Chris Wheeler are other notable guests.

The Show runs 9:30-3:30 and admission is $3. Autos are $10 and up. for more information clikc here and then hit the Bucks Co Technical School Tab.

On the Hunt

What will Team Phungo be looking for?

1) My first priority will be completing my 1959 Topps set. After a banner day at the Valley Forge Show last week and picking up a couple of cards on the Bay this week, I am down to the final 11 cards in this set. Part of me thinks I am in the zone, the other part of me thinks the hot streak has got to be coming to an end.

2) Phillies Vintage. I have been pretty busy working on getting my Phils vintage want list into a more user friendly form. This will get it's dry run at the Poppel show.

3) At each show, I try and add something to my Type Collection. Last week I picked up my first 1963 Fleer Card.

4) Would like to add to list of Hall of Famer's whom I have cards from their playing career collection. I have been looking at Kiner, Rizzuto and Bobby Doerr cards recently, but haven't found anything suitable in my $$ range.

5) knocking out a few checkers from my various want lists of recently issued sets.

Card Show Report 2011 12 03 - Philly Show, Valley Forge PA

2011-12-07T11:11:00.001-05:00

The December edition of the Philly Show was a real success for Team Phungo. I was real happy with results of the vintage bins I checked out. Here are some of the Highlights:

1959 Topps

Ernie Banks All-Star $6.00
Al Kaline Baseball Thrills $3.50
Commons Gus Bell 0.50, $1 for the Rest - I did spy a Solly Drake for 50 cents after I had already picked up the one above.

The quest to complete 1959 Topps set is in the home stretch. Going into the show I needed 20 cards to finsh the set, knocking out 35% of the cards on my want list in a matter of a few hours was a complete victory.

Phillies Vintage Bowmans

This is a section of the Phungo collection that I plan on taking more seriously. I have completed the 1948 Bowman Phils Set (all 2 cards of it) and have a lot of the 1955 set. The rest of the years are pretty sparse. Most of the above cards went for $2-$5 each. The commons were $1 or $2 while the High Numbers went for $5. The Highlight in there is the 1955 Del Ennis Card ($2.50).

Other Phils Vintage

1963 Fleer Clay Dalrymple ($2)
1940 Playball Syl Johnson ($5)

The Dalrymple is my first 63 Fleer. $5 for a card that is older then my parents is a buy. The 1940 Phillies Play Ball Set is likely hard to build, it is 15 cards. One of the 15 is Chuck Klein, which I would imagine commands a bit of a price tag.

Hall of Famers

1969 Topps Willie McCovey
1969 Topps Phil Niekro
1970 Topps AL HR League Leaders (Killebrew/F Howard/Reggie)
1970 Topps NL Battling LL (Pete Rose, Clemente, Cleon Jones)

The first 3 cards were all 3 for a buck - The Rose/Clemente LL card went for a dollar. A stinking Dollar for Pete Rose and Roberto Clemente on a League Leaders card - That is like stealing.

The McCovey Card is in rough condition but the others are pretty decent the 1970 cards are in real good shape.

etc

1965 Topps Masanori Murakami RC (0.50)

This is a card I have always wanted but never was interested in throwing down real money for. Masanori Murakami is the first Japanese player ever to play for Baseball in the US at the Major League level - 30+ years prior to Ichiro. Murakami had some success with the Giants in his only season in the Majors but was forced to return to Japan due to a contract squabble involving his Japanese team.

Murakami is still alive at the age of 67. The Giants honored him with a bobblehead at a game in 2008. More info on his wiki.

2010 Phungo Cards Jonathan Papelbon - The New Guy

2011-12-06T17:53:00.001-05:00

Running behind as always - A few weeks back the Phillies are welcoming a new closer, Jonathan Papelbon, formerly of the Boston Red Sox.

2010 Phungo #15 Jonathan Papelbon

Typically I don't get to many shots of closers for Phungo Cards. There are a variety of reasons - once the game starts I tend to put the camera away, Closers typically are only involved in tight games, and they only pitch at the end of games when light is less favorable for good shots. The game this pix is from happened to be one of Boston's blowouts of the Phils and by that point in the game, I was more interested in gettting a decent picture then in the game.

Regardless I am happy to have already produced a Phungo Card of Papelbon prior to him ever suiting up for the Phils. Hopefully act II of his career will be as successful as his stint in Boston.

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I hope to have a card show regarding the Philly Show which was this past weekend up tomorrow. The Show was pretty successful for team Phungo. I was able to knock out quite a few cards from my vintage want list and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Phiadelphia Sports and Memorablia Show returns December 2nd - 4th

2011-12-02T08:03:00.002-05:00

Lately the majority of posts here have been card show related. I am not doing this to make those of you that don't have nearby shows envious - we just happened to have 2 pretty decent shows running a few weekends apart here.

The Philly Show returns to Valley Forge this weekend. Team Phungo expects to hit the show on Saturday depending on the status of my sprained ankle. In the vernacular of espn I am Day-To-Day (but then again aren't we all).

The Show which is run by the local Hunt Auctions isn't quite as good for me as the CSA shows at the Oaks convention center, but it is still a decent show. Show Admission is $8, typically there is a $1 off coupon in the local papers, the weekend of and prior to the show.

Hunt Auctions is always giving more room and attention to their autograph guests - which are almost always out of my price range. This year for the first time there are signers on Friday Night - Jockey Steward Elliot, and Brad Lidge. Saturday is dedicated primarily to the 2008 World Championship Phillies team with Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Chris Coste, Charlie Manuel and Pedro Feliz among the guests. Sunday is focused on the 1983 NL Pennant Winners and includes SIX er I mean FIVE Hall of Famers Schmidt, Carlton, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Jim Bunning, and uhm some guy they played with named Pete Rose - All the above are $45 - $69.

The shows complimentry Auto on Saturday is of local sportscaster Michael Barkann, while on Sunday it is Ike Reese. The Barkann as the complimentry auto is insulting. At the Oaks show in the spring they had 2 complimentry autos for a $5 adimission and they were both actual players (Gary Matthews Sr and Art Mahaffey).

Regardless, the rest of the show is typically pretty decent. There are two vendors I like to hit for dimers and off grade vintage cards one is a guy that comes down from Connecticut and usually has a dozen or so dime boxes of all sorts of singles and commons - The other is Uncle Dick who has a flourascent green theme and has lots of cheap vintage sorted by year. Hopefully I will have some positive news to report on the show next week.

Show Link

Autograph Link

Moneyball 2011 - Ron Washington

2011-11-28T16:24:00.003-05:00

A few weeks back as part of Moneyball 2011 we profiled Tony LaRussa. In the interest of equal time today we are going to look at Ron Washington.

I had forgotten that Ron Washington had a role in the book. Washington is the man saddled with the task of moving Scott Hattieberg to first base - Hattieberg is the broken down catcher w/ the bum arm, but he gets on base at nearly a 40 percent clip.

The Ron Washington character in the film is minor, yet arguably has the funniest line in the movie. The 2011 World Series is still fresh in our memories and we all know where Ron Washington has gone since Moneyball. He was a strike away from being a World Serieis winning manager. He has also piloted the Rangers to back to back AL Crowns. I am not sure he is a great manager yet or a good manager with a really good team.

The toughest season may be in front of the Rangers. With free agency and player movement you only get so many chances at a title. The Rangers have a lot of storylines I like - Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Neftali Perez, Nolan Ryan etc. I would like to see them remain relavent on the national stage.

1984 Topps #623 Ron Washington (image stolen from the Baseball Card Database)

Apparently Washington's playing career goes back to 1977 when he got a callup for the dodgers. I didn't see a Topps cards of him as a Dodger - sounds like a Cards that Never Were opportunty for someone.

Moneyball 2011

Links to previous MB 2011 posts

Moneyball The Movie

Bennett Miller

Billy Beane

Jeremy Brown

Michael Lewis

Michael Oher

Tony LaRussa

etc

Here is a link to a Moneyball and Collecting related article in Beckett that I first saw referenced by Chris Olds via Twitter.

Card Show Report 2011 11 11 - Dime Box

2011-11-27T08:46:00.001-05:00

Before I start our regular posting, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving - I really enjoyed the many personal postings from card bloggers. It is wonderful to read about the joys of time spent with friends and family (and football and food!) Team Phungo enjoyed the holiday which featured beautiful and balmy weather for this time of year for us folks in the US Northeast.

Last week we went over some of the vintage cards that Team Phungo found at the Oaks Show, today I would like to go thru some Dime Box finds. Although many of these cards were from a BARGAIN Dime Box - 12 cards for a dollar.

1974 Topps #95 Steve Carlton ($1)
1983 OPC Dave Winfield (dime)

Ok the Lefty Card isn't a dimer, but for a Dollar I couldn't pass it up. I already had this card - and it was part of the Phungo legacy collection that survived the arduous path from my childhood to the present day. But even off-center this 74 Topps Card is a significant upgrade over the heirloom I had in the binder previously. Plus now I have one for the Carlton PC Page and one for the 74 Phils Binder.

I have seen a few 83 OPC cards out there recently and been picking them up when they are cheap. I also added a few 83 OPC Mets to the collection at the show.

Various Minis (12/$)

I picked up three dozen+ minis in the 12 for a buck bin. The bulk of these are HoFs from the 2011 Kimballs set. There were also a couple of A&G including a few of the SP backs.

Various 2012 A&G Inserts (12/$1)
Hard to pass up Ginter inserts even if they are not minis. Three of the evolution cards are in sequence.

2011 Topps Heritage Prospects Tim Beckham (6/$1)
Topps Heritage Then Now Jackie Robinson/A-Rod (6/$1)
Various Topps Heritage Inserts (12/$1)

The Beckham card is y first 2011 Heritage Prospect card - that one and the Jackie Robinson were worth digging out of the "Premium" 6/$1 bin. The rest of the inserts came out of the huge haul of 12 for a buck cards I took home.

In the end I picked up a little over 200 cards out of the bargain bins, for roughly the price of a blaster. Several of those cards went into my Phils Collection, Topps Star Cards, Topps Retro Collection, clearing out some spots on insert and subset checklists, and a handful of vintage commons.

I have barely recovered from the Oaks Show and the Valley Forge Show is on the horizon, less than a week away. Haven't decided if I am hitting that one yet, but the show does promise a good selection of former Phillies signing autographs. If things go my way there should be a VF show posting later in the week.

Card Show Report 2011 11 11 - Oaks PA - CSA Show

2011-11-21T18:56:00.004-05:00

Sorry not enough time to commit to a thorough write-up so I am just going to post a few snapshots and pricing when I remember the $$ - These are some of the Vintage cards I picked up at the show. Later in the week I will feature the dime box specials.

Phillies Great Richie Ashburn

1955 Bowman #130 Richie Ashburn $2

Home Run King Hank Aaron

1975 Topps Mini #1 Hank Aaron '74 Highlights $2.00
1974 Topps #2 Hank Aaron Special (1958-61) $1.00

More HoFs

1960 Topps #450 Orlando Cepeda ($1)
1962 Topps Warren Spahn All-Star ($1)
1953 Topps Dick Williams ($2.00)
1959 Topps #147 Cubs Clubbers ($1 - w/ Ernie Banks)

The weekend of the Oaks Show was a busy one for me an dI dint' get to spend as much time there as I would have liked, but I did well for the brief time I was there. The Bowman Ashburn was a steal at the price of $2. I already had the Cubs Clubber card, but this one was a definite upgrade.

$2 for the Hank Aaron mini was a pretty good deal as well - One of the projects that is dancing in the back of my head is building a set of the HoF 75 Minis. There are quite a few of them in that set and they are basically the biggest names from my childhood.
T

Is this more appalling than a Death bump

2011-11-17T12:01:00.001-05:00

As collectors we are familiar with the death bump phenomenon where a card or piece of memorabilia experince a bump in price (typically temporary) follwoing the death of the person on the card/magazine cover/bobblehead etc.

2011 Second Mile Joe Paterno (Image swiped from the - bay)

Apparently the charity, Second Mile, founded/associated wtih disgraced former PSU coach Jerry Sandusky, issued sets of Penn State Football trading cards. The Cards were distributed at many Pennsylvania schools. Related Patriot News Story here.

As of Phungo Press time the search "Second Mile Cards" on a certain auction site returns 90 Items! At least 4 of the items have bids - one item has a dozen bids.

Is this worse then a death bump, or is it just fans wanting to hold on to a piece of something that is really pretty much gone?

CSA Card Show in Philadelphia -Burbs this Weekend - FREE Admission Friday AND Sunday!

2011-11-10T13:30:00.003-05:00

The Collectors' Showcase of America (CSA) Card show returns to the Expo Center at Oaks this weekend.

The Show will have FREE Admission on Friday AND Sunday.

I think there only has been one prior CSA show here and it was pretty well done. I thought it was better then the Hunt Auction Philly show that is held a short hop down the road in Valley Forge.

Top of the Autograph List is Jimmy Rollins - other notables are NFL HoFs Gino Marchetti, Tommy McDonald, and Lenny Moore as well as former Heavyweight Champ Michael Spinks.

2008 Topps Heritage #350 Jimmy Rollins

For the autograph guests CSA has yet to post pricing or a scheduling information on their site - other than to mention Jimmy Rollins will be there on Saturday - C'MON GUYS HOW HARD IS IT TO GET UP A LIST OF SIGNERS FOR YOUR OWN SHOW!!!

Team Phungo plans on being there on Friday afternoon/early Evening. If you can make it out let me know (email in my profile), it is always cool to meet fellow collectors and bloggers. There is a possibility I will try and trek out there on Sunday but that isn't real likely as of press time.

Nachos Grande Survey - Autographs

2011-11-08T16:12:00.000-05:00

Recently Nachos Grande posted a survey related to Autograph collecting. I collect Autographed cards of all types of players. Most of the players are noteworthy to me for some reason, usually something insignificant, as I generally try and find the $5 an under cards - a lot of those I use for Spot the Sig! fodder. Others are favorite players and Hall of Famers.

The Phungo Auto collection likely stands at a few hundred cards and I think I can provide some interesting insights into autograph collecting.

1. What is the best autograph you own?

Today, Joe Frazier - More on that Later

otherwise Mike Schmidt on a book. My best card Auto is probably Steve Carlton Leather Cuts.
2. What is the best autograph that you've ever pulled from a pack of cards?

Paul Molitor (Goudey Graphs 2008), Brooks Robinson 09 OBAK.

2009 Obak #A48 Brooks Robinson (#59/200)

3. What is the worst autograph you've ever pulled from a pack of cards?

07 Sweet Spot Chirs Capuano - The box was only $45 and I still felt stiffed - althought the RC Auto was of Hunter Pence.

Brad somebody from the Astros in Donruss 08 Product. See the card at shows for $2 all the time.

4. Do you try to get autographs through the mail? If so, what sort of success (or failure) stories do you have? No - this facet of the hobby has not capture my attention yet.

5. Who was the subject of your first ever autograph?

It was either Scott Fitzkee (TE w/ the Eagles) or Greg Manning(Collegiate Hoop star w/ the Maryland Terrapins - I think he may now be a radio broadcaster w/ the team)

As an adult, I think Jay Bell may be the first auto I got at the ballpark - it is all faded now.
6. Do you actively collect any autographs (certain players, teams, brands, etc)?

I have an affection for certain brands but no aspirations for a set. Among my favs are Sweet Spot, A&G, UD Goodwin Champs, SI Greats of the Games, 1996 Leaf, UD Goudey

7. Which is better: Autographs or Relics?

Autographs - I for the most part dismiss relics
8. What do you think of cut autos?

I don't have any yet - would like to add one to my Type collection but that is about it right now.
9. What is your favorite autograph design (say in the last 5 years)?

In general Sweet Spot. A&G, and I like the Goodwin Champs design in general.

10. If you could get the autograph of any five people (dead or alive) who would you want a signature from (and why)?

Couple names off the top of my head without much thought - Richie Ashburn, Martin Scorcese, Jim Morrison, Fran Tarkenton, Dali - Ashburn would probably be on that list any day the rest of those folks would likely change depending on my mood.

I dashed this off the top of my head, so some of the set/yr names may be a lil off, but I am in the general area. It is a solid survey that asks some interesting questions. I sort of fell into Autograph collecting and it is one of the areas of the hobby I really don't have much of a checklist - perhaps that helps keep it enjoyable.

Noteworthy: Yoennis Cespedes

2011-11-07T13:33:00.000-05:00

Cuban ballplayer Yoennis Cespedes is in the news.

2009 Topps WBC Redemption #8 Yoennis Cespedes
I figure this was a good time to reference the Phungo post on the 2009 Topps WBC Redemption of Cespedes. To read the origianl post on Cespedes click here

2009 Topps Series 2 I think had redemptions for 10 or so WBC players, this is the one I received. I knew nothing about him at the time, but will cross my fingers that his career takes off - and this card skyrockets in value as well and I can retire :)

Tomahawk Chopping running an interesting Group Break

2011-11-04T11:04:00.000-04:00

Tomahawk Chopping is putting together a group break where everyone gets to draft cards from a pool of 300+ cards - Everybody is guaranteed an auto and a relic I think.

deadline for entry is today Friday 11/4 for more info click here.

Moneyball 2011 - the Movie

2011-11-02T11:29:00.000-04:00

I am a little susprised that the film "Moneyball" received prededominently good reviews. While I enjoyed the movie, I thought at moments it dragged a bit and I would think that a person that is not a baseball fan would find the film somewhat long. Slow pacing is a pet peeve of mine - like when I am watching the Cardinals continually rotate in pitchers with a 5 run lead, I suppose that may happen less in the future...

Other than that I found Moneyball to be an enjoyable experience. Brad Pitt played Billy Beane as a thoughtful and challenging leader. Comedy stalwart, Jonah Hill, plays a straight roll as the stats guy well - The always enjoyable Phillip Seymour Hoffman has an excellent turn as the old school Manager Art Howe, Bennet Miller is able to balance a little baseball into the story and conveys a bunch of ideas on film that might otherwise be dry - One Base Percentage, Major League Scouting, Bill James, Giving away outs via Sacrifices and small ball, Working Pitchers, etc. There is a background story regarding the Beane family that is built into the narrative that I don't recall from the book. The film also all but neglects Jeremy Brown and the draft that the book details which covers at least 2 chapters of the Michael Lewis story.

We all know what happened because this is relatively recent history - but I must mention a minor spoiler alert here - don't read rest of paragraph if you fear this will ruin your experience. During the epilogue of the Movie it is mentioned that the Bosox won the 04 World Series using Moneyball methods. It does not mention that they also outspent the rest of the league other than the Yankees. And I could go on further and mention that a key play for the Red Sox was Dave Roberts critical Steal of second base in the ALCS vs the Yankees.

Moneyball works for a few reasons - Both Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill give likable performances in the lead roles of two guys trying to challenge the status-quo. There is enough baseball in the film to provide a fan with a few chuckles - several players and people with Phillies connections are mentioned during the film. Finally as a non-baseball movie about baseball "Moneyball" does successfully bring the romance of the game to the fore (even if they have to tell you they are doing so)

Moneyball 2011

Links to previous MB 2011 posts

Bennett Miller

Billy Beane

Jeremy Brown

Michael Lewis

Michael Oher

Tony LaRussa

etc

Here is a link to a Moneyball and Collecting related article in Beckett that I first saw referenced by Chris Olds via Twitter.

Welcome Back Beavis and Butt-Head!!!

2011-10-27T18:26:00.000-04:00

Beavis and Butt-Head are returning to MTV after a 15 year hiatus. Not sure if I will be watching tonight - maybe I will take a peek during one of the pitching changes that are guaranteed to be happening at that point in the evening during game 6.

1994 Fleer Ultra MTV's Beavis & Butt-Head #1569 Beavis and Butt-Head Try Yogurt

The above card is from a Fleer Ultra release, during the boys original MTV run. If you want to find out a little more about this set check out the pack break that Team Phungo ran over at aPTBNL back in October of 2009.

Swag from Nachos Grande

2011-10-25T20:27:00.000-04:00

A few weeks back Nachos Grande was soliciting offers for a few cards he had in his trade stack one of those was the Robin Roberts Legends SP from 2011 Topps. I had the perfect card to trade for RR, that was the Johnny Bench Legends card from basically the same set (Topps 1 v Topps 2 for Roberts).

2011 Topps #460 Robin Roberts SP (Legends Variation)

I pulled the Bench card from a retail pack a few months back and the swap of hall of famers made logical sense.

At first I thought this was an image from Roberts 1957 Topps Card

2011 Topps #460 Robin Roberts SP (Legends Variation)
1957 Topps #15 Robin Roberts

While the pose looks similar it appears as if the background is different and it is hard to tell if Roberts is possibly wearing a road uni on the vintage card.

But then I came across the Robin Roberts 1952 Bowman card which may be based on the photo used on the 2011 Topps Legends card.

1952 Bowman #4 Robin Roberts

2011 Topps #460 Robin Roberts SP (Legends Variation)

Despite the differences in angle there are some similarities to the buildings beyond Roberts Throwing shoulder.

In addition to the Legends SP Chris also sent a few other Phillies cards including a couple of Aces from this years Lineage set.

2011 Topps Lineage #121 Roy Halladay

2011 Topps Lineage #102 Cole Hamels

Thanks to Chris - who has to be one of the most active traders among us many card bloggers. I have finally gotten his package together and it will hopefully be in the mail someday on Wednesday.

From Russia with Stickers

2011-10-24T21:23:00.002-04:00

Here are the contents from a couple of packs of Panini Futbol Stickers I picked up while in Russia last fall.

I honestly don't know much about soccer but wanted to pick these up just to check them out.

For more information on these packs check out my posting over at A Pack to be Named Later.

SuperSomething of Russia (Shiny Foily sticker)

Mashir Chukarov
Sergei Skoblakov
Valery Klemov
Renat Yebaev

Names are translated to the best of my meager ability

Boris Rotenberg
Tomas Vehodl
Alexander Salugen
Chede Odea
Alexander Ryzantsev

Over at APTBNL I also had a pack break for some stickers from Munich's FC Bayern Muchen team.

Moneyball 2011 - Tony LaRussa

2011-10-19T12:35:00.002-04:00

Tony LaRussa is only a bit player in Moneyball - he was Billy Beane's final manager. LaRussa was also the final manager for the Athletics under the Walter Haas (Levi's) Ownership. Haas operated the A's as a bit of a hobby and/or trust for the city of Oakland. Haas was the type of owner that a fan would love - Winning was important, if the team lost money it didn't really matter. The Moneyball era ownership of Steve Schott (distant relative of Marge) was of course distinctly different.

Schott would operate the A's on a much smaller payroll. LaRussa was no longer affordable to the new regime and left Oakland for St Louis, where he remains today and happens to managing the team in a pretty big series which you may have hard opens this evening.

1989 Topps #224 Tony LaRussa

Tony LaRussa is probably as well a documented manager as any in history other than maybe (maybe) Joe Torre. I have myself read more about LaRussa then any manager that is not affiliated with the Phillies.

His body of work is impressive. The 30 years of managing and the 2728 wins(3rd all-time) are both monumental numbers. Another impressive accomplishment are the two World Series Titles and the now 6 League Pennants.

But there will always be things that bother me about LaRussa. One is he always appears so smug/arrogant, as if he is smarter than everybody in the room. Another problem I have is the constant fawning of the media - This isn't LaRussa's fault, but it bothers me regardless.

I particularly wonder why LaRussa is rarely questioned on his involvement with the Steroid era.

Tony LaRussa was in the heart of BALCO country at the outset of the Steroid era. Two of the big names on the three pennants winners in Oakland were Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. McGwire is one of the men that LaRussa has brought back to the game to be his hitting coach. A number of other players by LaRussa led teams have been connect to PEDs at one time or another, yet this is something we rarely hear about. During the Phillies Cardinals NLDS McGwire was practially invisible - tough call - TBS didn't give Greg Gross much air time either and the Phils weren't hitting at all. But Mark McGwire and Greg Gross are both very different in magnitude. Perhaps TBS senses that we have suffered from steroid fatigue and they have moved on, but I think the PED portion of Tony LaRussa's resume cannot be ignored
.

A closing note - in that final game (link at top of the post) Billy Beane came in as a defensive replacement for....

Mark McGwire

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Moneyball 2011

Links to previous MB 2011 posts

Bennett Miller

Billy Beane

Jeremy Brown

Michael Lewis

Michael Oher

etc

Here is a link to a Moneyball and Collecting related article in Beckett that I first saw referenced by Chris Olds via Twitter.

Moneyball 2011 - Bennett Miller

2011-10-18T16:56:00.001-04:00

Moneyball was directed by Bennett Miller, who has very few film credits listed in IMDB. My quick -net searches have revealed the Miller is a casual baseball fan at best, but it appears that he is interested in making biographies.

This card may not seem closely connected - but stay with me here...

The Clutter family card above is low level on my wish list for 08 Heritage Inserts. I swiped this image from the dormant Bargain Baseball Cards. It is typically pretty hard to tell when a blogger stops. Most folks don't really announce it, it just sort of happens. Regardless the evidence that their blog existed sticks around for a while perhaps forever.

The demise of the Clutter family was documented in Truman Capote's book "In Cold Blood" I believe ICB is considered one of the earliest works of the non-fiction novel - A style in which the author wasn't at the events but reconstructs them as if he or she were. This is a technique that would later be used frequently by 60/70s pop culure author Tom Wolfe is such books as "The Electic Kool-Aid Acid Test" which chronicled the acid-fueled adventures of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" author Ken Kesey.

One my ask what this trading card has to do with Baseball or Moneyball...

Well, As a director Bennett Miller has only a couple of films under his belt, his previous big budget film was 2005s "Capote" about Truman Capote. Miller was one of the years nominees for Best Director, an award that went to Ang Lee for "Brokeback Mountain". The titular character in "Capote" was played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman who plays A's manager Art Howe in Moneyball.

I suppose I can mention that it is quite fitting that a posting about a man who directed a non-Baseball movie about baseball and is admittiedly not a big fan of the sport - contains very little about baseball

Moneyball 2011

Links to previous MB 2011 posts

Billy Beane

Jeremy Brown

Michael Lewis

Michael Oher

etc

Here is a link to a Moneyball and Collecting related article in Beckett that I first saw referenced by Chris Olds via Twitter.

A new MNF theme song??

2011-10-17T14:40:00.002-04:00

As you may know, Monday Night Football has dropped Hank Williams Jr as their pitch-person for their opening credits.

This has created an opening that I would love to see filled by one of my favorite songwriters.

Prior to his solo career Steve Poltz fronted the Rugburns, a lively bar band based out of San Diego. One of their tunes was an energetic rocker named "Football Tonight"

Poltz along with DMC of Run-DMC have re-recordes the Rugburns song with a modified lyric in the hopes of getting the MNF gig. Here is a Link for more information on the song.

1988 Topps #596 John Kruk (signed by Steve Poltz)

You may know Poltz from his song "You Were Meant for Me" which was recorded by Jewel in 1996. Baseball is a bit of recurring theme in Poltz's music - His first solo album included the song "Silver Lining" which mentions Phillies and Padres Alum John Kruk. One of his lesser know songs "Brief History of My Life" is an homage to a childhood spent listening to both music and baseball on the radio - Poltz mentions Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell, Jack Buck, and Jerry Coleman in the Song.

Poltz also counts one time Padres Infielder Tim Flannery (who also now records and performs music during the off-season) as one of his friends.

If you like the song, Steve Poltz, the Rugburns, or DMC spread the word - Anytime I have seen either Mr Poltz or the Rugburns they had great shows, and always good enough to hang out and chat with after the shows.

2011 Phungo Cards - Randy Wolf

2011-10-13T19:41:00.013-04:00

The Phils are out of the postseason playoffs. while I have not completely recovered from their ouster at the hands of the St Louis Cardinals I still enjoy baseball enough that I am try to watch the other playoff games whenever possible.

There are very few players with Philly connnections on the four remaining squads, but one of those players is Phungo Household favorite Randy Wolf.

2011 Phungo #16 Randy Wolf

Wolf is never going to be the A starter for a team with World Series aspirations, but he is a decent lefty who can hold down that 3 or 4 spot on a good team. Tonight he will try and hold off Albert Pujols and the rest of the Cardinals lineup in game 4 of the NLCS. I would like to see Brewers advance in the playoff just so I can have a former Phil to root for in the Series.

The Brewers are facing another former Phils Pitcher in Kyle Lohse, but I really don't count him. He was only here for a brief post trade deadline stint, and I think he only lasted an inning in the sole game I saw him pitch for the Phils.

Broken News: Drinking in the clubhouse may be one thing.....

2011-10-13T12:57:00.001-04:00

Recently spotted on Twitter:

Thanks Buster and Good Luck to Mr Leyland

Phungo Question: Death of the Autograph?

2011-10-11T17:58:00.001-04:00

Will there be an end to the autograph?

The amount of communication we do via the keyboard/keypad medium has increased rapidly over recent years. With this decreased use of the written word schools are struggling with the value of teaching cursive writing - From what I understand, today when it is taught, cursive writing is not a skill that is really focused upon.

I am not really interested in debating the merits of teach handwriting here - that is for the educators to discuss. But I would like to discuss the impact on the hobby of collecting signatures.

2008 Topps #54 Victor Martinez - Image Swiped from Baseball Card Datab ase

Let me first note that Mr Martinez's signature is not always printed as on the 2008 Topps card above. In fact if you want to check on ebay you will find that for the most part his signed cards look pretty good. But this card does provide a fairly noticeable autograph that is really not a signature as we commonly think of them.

My Questions are:

- If autographed cards are still considered hits 20 years form now, will half of them be of a hand printed signature?

- If your one per box hit were of a printed "signature" would you be disappointed?

- If your a kid an can barely write your own signature, would you place any value in getting a ball signed by a ballplayer?

2010 Phungo Cards Jimmy Rollins and the End of a Disappointing Season

2011-10-10T20:36:00.000-04:00

The Phillies 2011 campaign has come to an end as their offense goes scoreless in their final 17 innings of play. Their gifted starting roation was good enough to help lead them to a 102 win regular season, sadly the Phillies won only 2 additional games.

The playoffs were more disappointing then shocking, although up until the very end I thought they would find a way to win game 5. To me the critical loss for the Phils was game 2 when they got a 4 run lead with Cliff Lee on the mound. Lee couln't hold that lead (for only the 2nd time in his career) and the Hitters couldn't build on their early runs despite facing the Cardinals spotty bullpen.

I know there is still a lot of baseball going on out there, but right now I am mourning the end of a good Phillies Season, followed by a rather sad playoff ending. The end of the 2011 season could also be the ending of the Phillies portion of several players careers - including a couple that were on the 2008 World Series Champs.

2010 Phungo #11 Jimmy Rollins

Jimmy Rollins is the longest tenured athlete in Philadelphia. He has been playing shortstop for the Fightins since September of 2000. The 2007 NL MVP has played over 1600 games w/ the Phils accumulating 1866 hits. Rollins will turn 33 before the calendar year is out and is expected to want a long term contract when he hits the free agent market this winter.

He is maddening to watch sometimes, Offensively Rollins has not had the production he did earlier in his career. He does not get on base like a prototypical leadoff hitter, but when healthy he can steal bases if needed and he still has some pop.

I am of the opinion that the Phillies should move on without Rollins. The Phils are already locked into several long term deals with aging players and I am not sure that adding another one to the mix is the right thing for them to do right now.

Regardless, if Jimmy leaves, I will miss him and hope that he finds the right situation to be an impact in the league (as long as it ain't against the Phillies). If he stays, I hope it is at the right number and he can stay healthy enough to contribute to the Phillies future teams.

Moneyball 2011 - Jeremy Brown

2011-10-07T08:10:00.004-04:00

Jeremy Brown was the 35th overall pick of the 2002 MLB draft discussed in Moneyball. He was the fat catcher that the scouts hated with the high On Base number which Billie Beane and Paul DePodesta.

Because of compensation picks the A's had 7 picks in the first round of the 02 Draft which had 41 selections total. Michael Lewis dedicated an entire chapter of Moneyball to the Jeremy Brown selection. In hindsight he probably did not warrant the significant word count that he was given. Brown announced his retirement in 2008 and his professional baseball career is likely he over. He ended up with 10 career at bats in 5 Major League games all for the 2006 Athletics during a September call up.

Of the 7 picks the A's made in the first round Brown probably ranks in the middle. Nick Swisher would be at the top, followed by Phillies Pitcher Joe Blanton and Mark Teahan. The A's 3 other picks from that first round never played in the majors. That is pretty close to the hit ratio of the 1st round picks from the 02 draft. To Date 27 of the 41 picks in that draft have reached the majors. For comparison the Phillies 02 first round pick was Cole Hamels. Prince Fielder, Matt Cain, Zack Greinke, BJ Upton were all drafted in the first round - all were drafted ahead of Jeremy Brown.

Brian McCann was likely the best catcher drafted after Brown - McCann was a High School product and not likely on the A's radar. 18 players were drafter as catchers in the 2002 Draft and have played more games then Jeremy Brown. A couple of those players made it to the show at other positions (Joey Votto, Randy Wells). Notable to Phillies Fans is Eric Kratz who is a local product that got a chance to play for his hometown club as a September Call Up for this years squad. Kratz was the 866th overall pick in 2002.

I haven't seen the film yet, but Jeremy Brown is not credited as a character in the imdb listing.

For the Collector

I believe Jeremy Brown only had one topps card issued in their flagship product.

2007 Topps #624 Jeremy Brown (image swiped from baseball-simulator)

Moneyball 2011

Links to previous MB 2011 posts

Billy Beane

Michael Lewis

Michael Oher

etc

Here is a link to a Moneyball and Collecting related article in Beckett that I first saw referenced by Chris Olds via Twitter.

Jumping on the John Henry Bandwagon

2011-10-04T13:13:00.002-04:00

Jumping on the John Henry Bandwagon here.

I am farily sure Triple Threads is out of my price range and I will leave the debate on the product contents up to folks that have that kind of scratch.

I would like to mention that, I am not sure if John Henry is considered a character of Public Domain - so Topps may have had to get permission from someone to produce cards with his "likeness". Therefore in some way the cards are limited and somewhat unique. For instance I probably cannot produce John Henry Phungo Cards and Sell them (but if you offered me $ to make them I may create them anyway)

That being said if I am paying a hundred dollars for a product with a X number of hits and one of them is the JH card, I would initially be disappointed until I found how I could sucker somebody into paying $500 for it on eBay. Ok maybe I won't leave the debate up to the heavy hitters - I will put the Phungo 2 cents in.

At any rate if Topps needs some ideas here are some Other Relics they may want to consider that are at least baseball related:

A Bat Relic from Crash Davis' History Record breaking Home Run.

A corn kernel from the Field of Dreams

A Jobu VooDoo Doll Relic from Indians curve ball challenged Slugger Pedro Cerrano - or a coke spoon from Rick Vaughn.

Jacket Relic from Umpire Frank Drebin

Beer can Relic from Coach Morris Buttermaker

A piece of the Bat which Mighty Casey was using when he struck out.

A Springfield Isotopes Hat Relic from Homer Simpson Pinch Hitting Appearnce for Darryl Strawberry.

A baseball made from the horsehide of the thoroughbred John Henry.

2011 Faux Topps Finest #BS-JH #d 2/5 John Henry Horse Hide Relic

Ok technically John Henry is a real horse and baseballs are no longer made of horsehide - but that would make that relic all the more real.

Etc

Haven't posted much recently been busy and on the road etc. Was at Oktoberfest in Munich - if anyone is interested in a travelblog, post a comment and I will put one together - not much sports related stuff, but lots o beer drinking.

Hopefully getting back to posting will help to right the Phillies playoff ship as well.

Go Phightins!!!

Moneyball 2011 - Michael Lews and Michael Oher

2011-09-20T12:37:00.002-04:00

2009 Topps #342 Michael Oher RC (click to enlarge)

There is likely no baseball card for Michael Lewis, in lieu of that I am featuring this Baltimore Ravens Rookie Card of Michael Oher which was featured here in 2009. Oher is a Tackle for the Ravens and the subject of the Film adaptation of one of Lewis' other books "The Blind Side"

I find it odd timing for the film version of "Moneyball" to surface. The book is from 2003, the Baseball Draft featured in the book occurred over 9 years ago. I think at least part of the reason the movie finally got done was the success of "The Blind Side" in 2009.

Michael Lewis is a gifted writer, and have read several of his books - many of which are related to business and finanacial tycoons. He takes what otherwise may be a dry subject and adds interesting and funny insights and anectdotes.

While Moneyball is a non-fiction work, inevitably part of the story and the Moneyball version of Billy Beane is the creation of Michael Lewis. One can give you straight facts, but the author still chooses which facts to keep and which to ignore and Billy Beane comes out of Moneyball pretty favorably - the same cannot be said of field Manager Art Howe. The Paul DePodesta character goes by a different name in the film version of the story as DePodesta would not sign off on the veracity of the script.

Michael Oher

The Blind Side was a box office success and can currently be seen on cable movie channels. Micheal Oher has also proven to be a success at the NFL level as well starting all 32 games for the Baltimore Ravens in his first two seasons. Oher has written (w/ Don Yaeger) his own Biography "I Beat the Odds".

Moneyball 2011

Past Moneyball 2011 related posts:

Billy Beane

etc

Here is a link to a Moneyball and Collecting related article in Beckett that I first saw referenced by Chris Olds via Twitter.

Phiadelphia Sports and Memorablia Show returns September 23rd - 25th

2011-09-16T08:36:00.004-04:00

The Fall edition of the Philly Show returns to the Valley Forge Convention Center next weekend - September 23-25th. Unfortunately events have conspired against Team Phungo this year and I will not be makeing the show.

I am a bit amazed that we are just over a week away from the event and the Philly Show website has not been updated with autograph guest info. The show is run by Hunt Auctions who one would think would be responsible enough to try and get info out to their site in a timely manner - I would have to think the vendors for the show cannot be happy with Hunt's lack of advertising.

They did send out post cards via snail mail that have event info though.

1993 Topps #371 Mariano Duncan (image stolen from Baseball Card Database)

Saturday 9/24 is the Baseball Auto Day featuring HOFs Bill Mazeroski and Pat Gillick. Phillies Alums scheduled include Mariano Duncan (93 NL Champion Phils), Dickie Thon, Tommy Herr, Tony Taylor, Jay Johnstone, and Ollie Brown. WBC Heavyweight Champion (1978-83) Larry Holmes and Internation Boxing HoF member Larry Holmes is also scheduled for Saturday.

Curiosly Sunday is Hoop Day - I say curiosly because there appears to be a chance that a large chunck of the NBA season may be lost. Scheduled guests include Moses Malone, Bobby Jones, Artis Gilmore and Dr J.

No Pricing information was given for the autos at the show.

NOTE - at every recent Philly Show there has been at least one noteworthy autograph cancellation

Show admission is $8/day ($21 for weekend pass). The cards mailed by Hunt are good for $1 off, typically local papers will have a similar coupon in the Friday and Sunday sports sections the weekend pior and of the show - of course the paper will cost you at least that much to buy.

If you can't make the Philly Show, don't fret, Collectors Showcase will be running a show the weekend of 11/11 in Oaks.

In my opinion the CSA show is better then the Hunt Auctions show in Valley Forge, Admission is Cheaper, There seems to be a comparable variety of dealers, Autograph guests were decent with better options for the complimentry auto - Plus you can purchase beer at the convention center in Oaks!

One last card show note, the local card show this weekend is at the Concorde Mall in Wilmington Delaware - I don't see squeezing this weekend in, but I may trek down there on Sunday for a look around.

For general card show info click here

KHL plane crash

2011-09-08T09:12:00.000-04:00

As you likely know yesterday there was a plane crash in Russia that killed dozens of passengers including what is believed to be the bulk of the Lokmotiv Team of the Russian KHL Hockey League.

Among the dead is 80s era Philadelphia Flyer Brad McCrimmon - I didn't discover Hockey until the early 90s when I moved to the Philadelphia area, so McCrimmon is before my time - He was on a couple of Flyers teams that went to the Finals and He won a cup with the Calgary Flames.

Hockey like any sports fraternity is not that large of a community and I am sure that many people who are involved in the sport at it's highest level are familiar with someone whose life was taken in the crash. Our sympathies and condolsences to all involved.

####

Last year while in Moscow, I was able to attend a KHL game - For some background on Hockey in Russia and a game report click here. It is a much more upbeat post this one.

Hurricane Irene Card Show Pick Ups

2011-08-31T18:09:00.000-04:00

Just when you thought the supersaturated coverage of Hurricane Irene was over, Team Phungo brings it back.

The local show was at the Exton Mall this past weekend and I ran out there for a few hours on Friday and added some baseball cards to my emergency supplies for this past weekend.

Highlights

2011 Topps Heritage Baseball Highlight Sketches Roy Halladay
Cards from games that I attended are right at the top of my want list. This card is easily my favourite one of 2011. I went over my $1 limit for inserts to procure this special card.

Super Veterans

1983 OPC Super Veterans Steve Carlton and Pete Rose

There were 1983 OPC star cards floating around at a couple of tables. I have been putting together the 83 SuperVets and these are nice cards to supplement that set.

Chrome n Serial Goodness

The Pearce and Wainwright were both from a dime box. Pearce isn't a star, but finding the #d/59 Chrome version of the card in a dime box could not be passed on. The Shula card is from the Masterpieces #d/75 Green Frame parallel set - went a full dollar for this card.

2011 Topps Inserts

There was one woman selling cards for a nickle, in addition to all these 60th anniversary inserts she also had a good selection of 2011 A&G.

The show was pretty small - I only hit 3 tables and there were maybe 5 others, but there was a good selection of different items.

The First Topps Hunter Pence Phillies Card??

2011-08-21T21:55:00.001-04:00

This is the giant Topps Hunter Pence card that was posted as part of the teams Starting Line Up feature at the ballpark. I was happy to see the Phils and Topps elected to move up to the 2011 design, they have elected to skip some years. Pence joined the Phils after Series 2 came out, I am not sure but I suppose this could be what the Pence 2011 Topps S3 card could look like.

This card was posted when we were at the game on Wednesday night - The Phils won 9-2, Pence had a couple of hits including a double and score 3 runs. Cliff Lee got the had another good start and recorded his 13th win. Jimmy Rollins had a lead off dinger for the Phils. Rookie HR sensation Paul Goldschmidt went deep for the bad guys.

2011 Topps Lineage Blaster Break

2011-08-18T21:07:00.000-04:00

I started out liking Topps Lineage - not enough to build it, but I did enjoy opening up the 7 pack blaster I picked up at Target - but then I got to 4 additional loose packs that I picked up and realized I was growing bored w/ the product.

2011 Topps Lineage Blaster

Damage: $21.19 (incl PA Sales Tax) for 57 cards

Highlights:

2011 Topps Lineage #TCS2 Derek Jeter

The pick of the pack was the above Derek Jeter Cloth Sticker. I like the idea of including cloth stickers in Lineage but I was bummed the stickers look exactly like the dull ass base cards.

Regardless it's a big summer for Mr Jeter and according to the pack odds and my rough math, there is roughly 1 Jeter cloth sticker per case of Lineage.

2011 Topps Lineage Cole Hamels

There was only one Phil in my blaster. I am in a bit of a Phils slump right now :(

75 Minis

Obviously the hit of Topps Lineage are the 75 minis. I presented the Jake McGee base here for comparison. Austin Jackson was my bonus relic.

Other Highlights

Jose Bautista Venezuelan

Nelson Cruz Sparkle

Youkilis Stand Up (the other fun insert)

Ichiro Base (w/ Rookie Cup)

Michael Pineda Rookie All-Star

Johnny Damon Base and Knock off chromey thing

Blaster All-Star Team

Battery

LHP David Price, RHP Verlander, C Miguel Montero, I didn't get a closer so Chris Sale is the Blaster Relief staff.

Infield

1B Billy Butler, 2b Michael Young (listed as 3b here, but I didn't get a 2b), 3b=Chipper, SS Tulowitzki

Outfield

Cargo, Either, Heyward, Carl Crawford

Report Card

Base Set Design - Meh - would have been nice to see heritage card stock.

Base Set Checklist - thumbs up, I like short sets w/ Hall of Famers heavy - I would have liked to see a few more prospects, but I didn't get to really check out all of the prospects in this set.

Base Backs - hate it, but I was wondering has another set had such noticeable color variations on the back based on the players team.

Photography - Solid

Inserts - Interesting - Like 75 Minis and the popups - but Topps really mailed it in by using the same pix and giving them all the same back - except for Venezuelan which they gave identical fronts.

Final Grade

Thumbs Down - The more I see this set and the less I like it. The boring base design combined w/ the mirroring of it for the inserts is a crummy combination.

Congratulations Jim Thome - 600 Homers

2011-08-16T10:35:00.003-04:00

2011 Phungo #25 Jim Thome

Jim Thome now ranks 8th career in Homers and 4th among Lefties (Bonds, the Babe, and Junior)

I am very happy to see Thome reach the milestone, he will always be one of the best players that I was able to see play on a regular basis. I hope he sticks around for another season and gets another crack at a ring.

For more info on the above card click here.

Phillies 2011 Alumni Weekend

2011-08-12T08:23:00.000-04:00

The Phillies Annual Alumni Weekend is upon us. Unfortunatley Team Phungo will not be able to make the festivities this year, but I strongty encourage you to go, whether your a Phils fan or Baseball fan in general. I have enjoyed the Alumni weekends I have been to in the past and they will likely always remain on my todo list.

2010 Phungo #13 John Kruk

On Friday Night the Phils are inducting fan favorite and ESPN analyst John Kruk into the Wall of Fame. Saturday Night will feature the return of dozens of Phils players from the past. The Phils typically have a couple of former players signing autographs throughout the stadium during the entier weekend. Past signers have included Mickey Morandini, Jim Eisenreich, and Mike Lieberthal.

Among the players expected to return for Saturday night are all 3 of the Phils living Hall of Famers: Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, and Jim Bunning.

The big event on Sunday is the unveiling of a statue honoring Harry Kalas - I am sure this will be a joyful and emotional moment for many Phillies Fans.

For the Phillies press release for the weekend click here.

For a look back at the Phils 2009 Alumni Weekend click here.

Phungo Hall of Fame Profile Bobby Shantz 1961 Topps MVP

2011-08-07T20:38:00.015-04:00

The Hall of Fame Profile posts are not restricted to the Hall in Cooperstown. I also try and hit the various other Halls with a heavy dose of the Philly Sports Hall of Fame. When I originally ran the Hall of Fame Thursday feature I chronicled the entire Philly Sports HoF 2008 class. Today I would like to feature a member of the 09 Class Bobby Shantz.

Shantz played half of his 16 year career with the Athletics - including 6 while the A's were based in Philadelphia. He finished his career pitching a handful of innings for the ill-fated 1964 Phillies. Shantz's Best year was his MVP season of 1952 which is memorably featured in the 1975 Topps MVP subset with a reprint of his card from the seminal 52 set. Shantz also has eight Gold Gloves on his mantle - He appared on the losing side of two World Series matchups as a pitcher for the Yankees.

Bobby Shantz is still kicking at 85 years old. He lives in the Philadelphia area and I see his name pop up frequently for autograph and card shows.

For the Collector

One of the vintage subsets I really like is the 1961 Topps MVP series.

1961 Topps #473 Bobby Shantz

The subset is 16 cards including Mantle, Aaron, Willie Mays, Roy Campanella, Roger Maris, Banks and Yogi among others. It is one of the subsets I have considered building for a while and really needed to checklist - so I have finally decided to stop procrastinating on that.

471. MVP -- Phil Rizzuto
472. MVP -- Yogi Berra
~~473. MVP -- Bobby Shantz~~
474. MVP -- Al Rosen
475. MVP -- Mickey Mantle
~~476. MVP -- Jackie Jensen~~
~~477. MVP -- Nellie Fox~~
478. MVP -- Roger Maris
~~479. MVP -- Jim Konstanty~~
480. MVP -- Roy Campanella
481. MVP -- Hank Sauer
482. MVP -- Willie Mays
483. MVP -- Don Newcombe
484. MVP -- Hank Aaron
485. MVP -- Ernie Banks
486. MVP -- Dick Groat

If you would elect to build this set the Mantle card will likely be about half of the battle. Fortunately, I imagine several of the lower level MVPs can likely be had for under a dollar. I have picked up a few of these cards at shows and in auctions without really building the set and already have 6 of the 16 cards. The biggest one in my collection is this pock marked Willie Mays.

1961 Topps #482 Willie Mays MVP

Moneyball 2011 - Billy Beane

2011-08-04T20:33:00.000-04:00

The film version of Michael Lewis' book "Moneyball" is scheduled to come out September 23rd of this year. I suppose they may have had trouble getting the film made, as the timing seems a bit dated. It is getting hard to pretend that the Oakland A's can still win while playing less. Regardless many baseball fans have read the book and even the most casual fans understand the difference between On Base Percentage and Batting Average.

Moneyball 2011

With the release of the upcoming film I thought it would be fun to take a look back at the book and the changes in the way Baseball teams are built, since the 2002 draft that is prominently featured in "Moneyball". I am in the processes of rereading the fine book and hope to come up with some baseball and card related posts from the material.

Billy Beane

Of course the main character of Moneyball is Billy Beane. Overall I loved reading Moneyball, but I never viewed Beane as a baseball genius. I believe the Athletics won because they had 3 really talented pitchers. All the OBP studs that Beane picked up were decent players but Zito Hudson and Mulder were the reason they made the playoff year in and year out.

1987 Topps #114 Billy Beane

This off center 1987 gem is one of the few cards from the ubiquitous set that I have sleeved. I enjoy cards that only become noteworthy long after the players career is over and this one definitely fits that description. Brad Pitt plays Beane in the film - I look forward to seeing this card with Pitt in that Twins uniform.

BryceWatch 2011 08 02 Harrisburg Senators @ Reading Phillies

2011-08-03T21:41:00.002-04:00

Went out to Reading to catch the Phils AA affiliate as they hosted Bryce Harper and the rest of the Harrisburg Senators Last night. This was my second stop on my Bryce Harper tour - to see a game report on my previous game click here.

For Tuesday night Reading was quite busy as a perfect storm of events helped to fill the classic ballpark.

1) Prospect Bryce Harper was in town and folks definitely knew about him - plenty of flashbulbs for a minor league game

2) Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz Bobble Head giveaway night - one of the most annoying "Talking" bobbleheads ever.

3) Really nice weather - it was warm but really low humidity for this area in August.

The R-Phils won the contest 8-4 with the bulk of their scoring happening during a 6 run 6th highlighted by a Steve Singleton Grand Slam. Singleton is a castoff from the Twins system who just got called up to Reading from Lakewood. Harper was 1-4 with a well hit gap double. Longtime Phils Minor league catcher Tuffy Gosewhich had a dinger for the good guys. Nats Prospect (Mary) Tyler Moore hit his 25th homer for the Senators.

etc....

-Harper either stepped in a hole or tripped over his elongated pants while trying to field a single in an effort to make a throw to the plate. In the game I saw Harper play in Harrisburg last month, he played it safe coming in on a ball that may have been catchable allowing it to drop in for a single. He did run the bases well once again, and that definitely appears to be an asset - especially for a guy that came up as a catcher.

-Oliver Perez (yes that Ollie Perez) got the start for the Nats. Not only did he get a hit, but he also had a stolen base in the game. For all of my complaints about his performance at the major league level, Perez did appear to be having fun in last nights game and did demonstrate some leadership qualities. Perez had a decent outing giving up only 1 run over 5. it ws the bullpen that gave up the big runs.

-Reading has done a good job updating their ballpark. They have added a significant outdoor area w/ pre-game activities and a real clubhosue store, of course it has major league prices.

-Since the Phils promoted Freddy Galvis this week, other than Matt Rizzoti who is playing Ryan Howard's position, I am not sure that Reading had a legitimate prospect playing in the field right now.

-Tyler Moore went 3-4 last night and has homered in both games I saw the Sens play this year.

-Apparently the Sens have a player named Stepen King.

-The Nats just picked up Erik Komatsu in return for Jerry Hairston Jr at the deadline - Komatsu busted bats in each of his first 3 at bats of the game - he is a LH bat with speed. Little guy potential leadoff man.

2011 Phungo Cards - Michael Bourn

2011-08-02T12:37:00.004-04:00

When your favorite team trades a player you like, it is always hard to take - but if it is the right move, you cannot deny the positive impact. Following the 2007 season the Phils traded speedster Michael Bourn to Houston in order to pick up Closer Brad Lidge. Lidge was obviously a Major Contributor to the Phils 2008 Championshiis squad and it was definitely the right move.

I liked Bourn and have followed his career in Houston as he has become an all-star a very good lead off hitter and a Gold Glove caliber centerfielder. This was all fine while he was playing CF for the Houston Astros.

2011 Phungo #37 Michael Bourn

Unfortunatley, Bourn has been traded to the Phils division rivals, the Atlanta Braves. When it is all over I think both the Braves and Phils get in this year, but I don't look forward to facing the pesky Bourn in a potentential playoff match up if it occurs.

It's a shame that things didn't work with the Astros for Bourn who is from the Houston area. Regardless I hope his career continues to prosper, except when he faces the Phils.

Phungo Hall of Fame Profile Mike Schmidt 1975 Topps Mini

2011-07-31T20:44:00.000-04:00

I am hoping to bring the Hall of Fame feature back to Phungo for a while now. With the latest edition of A&G trending throughout the card blogs, I thought that I would take a look at a mini from the 1975 Topps Series. Recently Bad Wax mentioned the set as a possible goal that is fun and affordable.

1975 Topps #70 Mike Schmidt
1975 Topps Mini #70 Mike Schmidt

Mike Schmidt is a perfect subject to restart Hall of Fame Profile with - He is probably the Phillies most iconic Hall of Fame Player - Of the four Phillies Hall of Fame Players that have played since 1950 he is the only one that played his entire career with the Phils. 22+ years after his retirement, Schmidt's 548 Home Runs still rank 15th on the career leaders list - five or six of the guys that have passed him in those 22 years would probably need to have an asterisk* next to their names in some record books.

Schmidt won 3 NL MVP awards and a World Series in 1980. Schmidt led the league in OPS seven times including every year from 1980 thru 1983. And we cannot ignore the 10 Gold Gloves

For the Collector
1975 is Topps third offering of a Mike Schmidt base card. It is the 2nd time that Schmidt is the sole player on a card - His 1973 RC is a shared card that also features Ron Cey and John Hilton.

The Recent Lo-Ebay auction for the 1975 Topps #70 card was $2.25 for the Base version and $3.48 for the mini.

The mini pictured above was picked up at a card show last year for roughly $3.50, I think the Base card is a legacy from my younger days - The corners are a little dinged but overall the card remains in good shape.

2009 Obak Hobby Box Break

2011-07-26T20:44:00.002-04:00

While everyone else is going nuts over 2011 AnG, we are checking out a different retro product from way back in 2009. The 2 releases of Obak are somewhat similar to Allen & GInter in that they are both based off of Tobacco Card products and they both contain cards of a historic nature. Both also have a bunch of minis.

Here are the stats on the Hobby Box:

Damage - $34.00 @ Oaks, PA Card Show in April of 2011

Base Cards 92/100 = 92%

2009 Obak #A48 Brooks Robinson (#59/200)

2 Autos

Brooks Robison

1 Lower Level Active player not worth getting excited about but coild be potential STS fodder

2 Parallels/Variations

#28 Verdette

#64 Jeffries

3 Serial Numbered

Alvarez, Moustakas, Ted Williams

3 SPs

Taft, Obama, Crosby

1 Strip card

1 Mini SP

Crosby

19 Minis in addtion to the Crosby SP parallel.

8 base cards needed

14 Bumgarner

31 Wallace

35 Brooks

42 Arnett

47 Hauser

65 Kittle

69 Skowron

75 Chadwick

I was very happy with the Obak Box. I love the historical nature of the cards. There are 100 different subjects that have many different backgrounds - most of them somewhat baseball related. Overall the cards look nice, but the card stock isn't as good as I would like. My other complaint is that the Serial Numbered cards are basically similar to the base cards and that the serial numbers are done via print rather than stamped - using these to inflate the number of "Hits" in the box is a bit of a misnomer.

The lower 30 cards in the set are part of either the "Pro Debut" or the "History in the Making" series with rookies and prospects - The Healthy checklist includes Pedro Alvarez, Eric Hosmer, Brian Matusz, Lars Anderson, Gordon Beckham, Neftali Feliz, Tommy Hanson, Heyward, Austin Jackson, Andrew McCutcheon, Jesus Montero, Moustakas, Buster Posey, Carlos Santana, Mike Stanton, and Brett Wallace.

Overall, For $34/Box with a bunch of interesting subjects (and 2 autos) it is hard to beat the enjoyment/$$ of 09 Obak. I am thinking of looking at a box of 2010 Obak in the future.

Hall of Fame Day - Congratulations Pat Gillick

2011-07-24T11:59:00.000-04:00

The Baseball Hall of Fame welcomes Pat Gillick today. Gillick was the reigning GM when the Phillies won tghe 2008 World Series. His key acquisitions for that club included Jamie Moyer, Jayson Werth, and Joe Blanton.

2008 World Champions

Gillick was also involved with The Toronto Blue Jays teams that won World Championships in 1992 and 93 as well as successful teams in Baltimore and Seattle.

In addition to Gillick Philadelphia area Baseball columnist Bill Conlin will also be inducted into the Hall today.

As you likely know the big time inductees today are Bert Blyleven and Robert Alomar.

Phungo Polaroids Bryce Harper

2011-07-21T20:33:00.002-04:00

Did a quick local Baseball Tour this past weekend.

Orioles Loss v Indians on Friday Night.

Baseball Card Show in York PA on Saturday.

Bryce Harper Show on Saturday Night.

2011 PolarPhungo #3 Bryce Harper

There was a definite buzz during the Senators game, and it was exciting to see a fairly full house at an AA game hang on every pitch of his ABs. In the end Harper who is yet to homer at the AA level had a pedestrian 1-4 night. He did hit a ball to the track at the deepest part of the park just right of center. His one hit led to him scoring a run - Harper looked good running the bases advancing on a fielders choice, Wild pitch and a Flyout.

The Senators ended up losing an otherwise disaster of a game 11-5 to the Akron Aeros (Cleveland Indians AA) - But like a lot of minor league parks, there was a lot of other entertainment. The park was nice although since it is on an Island on the Susquahanna River there are a lot of bugs - Mayflies. 1B Tyler Moore had a couple of Hits including a homer for the good guys. Beau Mills had a homer for the Aeros - I think Mills might have been player of the week for the Eastern League.

2011 Phungo Cards - Francisco Rodriguez

2011-07-14T20:36:00.000-04:00

Another obsolete 2011 Phungo Card.

2011 Phungo #24 Francisco Rodriguez

Other folks are showing off A&G, unfortunately Team Phungo is trying to be fiscally prudent at the present time and A&G will have to wait - well at least till the wkend.

And I also haven't fixed my scanner situation, so expect a steady diet of Phungo Cards and Photos until that situation gets rectified.

K-Rod is on the move to Milwaukee - not sure how much this helps the Brew Crew. Axelrod seems like a competent closer, but I don't know what they have in front of him.

This photo was taken in Baltimore during interleague play last season - you can read more about that trip here.

Coincidentally I am headed back to Camden Yards this weeknd - The O's are hosting a pretty exciting Indians squad and it is looking like a real nice night for baseball.

Somebody Sent Me Cards?? and Team Phungo on the Move

2011-07-12T21:53:00.000-04:00

I try to honor everyone who sends me cards and I try and keep semi up to date on my trades. Unfortunately, I have lost track of these things recently.

Swag from various Trades, Donations and Breaks.

I am not sure exactly where these cards came from. I am pretty sure some came from Night Owl, and some from 30 Year Old Cardboard - There are also likely cards from a Thorzul Group Break. I also got a nice stack of Vintage cards not featured here from Dan over at The Other World.

Team Phungo on the Move

Part of the reason that I haven't been as organized with card trade posts or posts at all is that Team Phungo has been on the Move. Not the Blog - we are still here. But the Headquarters have moved. We didn't move far, but I am happy to announce that Team Phungo is out of apartment living and has moved on to Full on House duty. Stepping up to the house level has been fun, but it is also a lot of work.

I am hoping that things will settle down at least a little bit at some point and I will get back to some card related activities.

If you sent me an email regarding trading or I haven't gotten back a reciprocal trade bear with me, I will try and get to everything - I know I owe Dan cards, but I can't remember what we were trading.

ok back to unpacking for Team Phungo. The rest of you can go back to enjoying the All-Star Game.

Phungo Most Wanted All-Stars 2011 Summer

2011-07-11T20:43:00.001-04:00

I have been toying around with ways to post my Most Wanted Cards, I wanted to something different then just saying these are my 5 most wanted cards.

The idea that eventually came to me was to break down my most wanted cards as an All-Star squad.

With the Mid-Summer classic upon us it is a good time for Team Phungo to debut the inaugural edition of the Most Wanted All-Stars.

Hopefully this Team will highlight the many different cards and sets that I am interested in collecting. And without further ado here they are...

The Phungo Most Wanted All-Stars

C - 2008 Bowman Draft/Prospects #94 Lou Marson.
For the 2 Futures games I have been to I am trying to collect all the Futures Game cards. Marson represented the Phillies at the 2008 game.

1B - 2010 A&G This Day in History #4 Lance Berkman
I am building the A&G TDiH set, I need four more cards to complete the set. I know that Berkman is just crushing the ball as an outfielder for the Cardinals, but to me he is a first baseman and he will man the position for the TPMWAS

2B - Any Bobby Doerr Card from his playing career
One of my ongoing projects is building a collection of cards of all the Hall of Famers. The hard part is I want cards from the players active careers. I have plenty of Doerr retro/heritage cards, but still need one from his playing days.

3B - 1973 Topps #615 Mike Schmidt
This is the Mike Schmidt (and Ron Cey) rookie card. Likely the biggest omission in my collection.

SS - Jimmy Rollins Auto
Trying to collect autograph cards from all of the players that were on the 2008 Phils World Championship team. I think I have all of the position starters other than Rollins and Victorino.

LF - 1971 Topps #744 Chuck Manuel
There are two Topps Cards from Charlie Manuel's playing days - I am looking for either this one or his 1970 card. I'd prefer the '71 , unfortunately is a hard to find short print.

CF - 2008 Topps #586 Coco Crisp
The last card I need to complete Series 2

RF - 1959 Topps #380 Hank Aaron
As you likely know by now, I am building the 1959 Topps Set, the biggest card I have remaining is the Hank Aaron base card

LHP - 1979 Topps #345 Tug McGraw
I have the complete 1979 set - a few of the cards I got signed and now I would like to replace those for my '79 set so I can keep the autographed cards together.

1961 Topps #20 Robin Roberts

RHP - Robin Roberts Auto
I wanted to get Autos of the Four living Phillies Hall of Famers, Roberts was the missing one. Well now I have autos of all of the Phillies living Hall of Famers, just that Roberts is no longer with us.

Wild Card - 2004 Topps #695 Jim Thome/Mike Schmidt
Relatively recent great card, that is unfortunately not in my collection.

Other Sport - Chuck Bednarik Auto
Eagles NFL HoF member. Really should get his Auto into my collection.

Non Sports - Rasputin A&G mini
This one isn't even out yet, but it is already on my want list!!

There you have it, I think that its a good mix of cards - There are hard to find and pricey vintage cards and some relatively ordinary recent commons plus a lot of other stuff in the middle.

I have been busy lately, but I want to get back in the Trading Game - hopefully this list will kick start me back into action.

2011 Phungo Cards Andrew McCutchen

2011-07-09T15:41:00.000-04:00

Hopefully we will hear sometime this weekend that Andrew McCutchen has made the NL All-Star roster. McCutchen's average is hovering just below .300 with an OBP of .393 (9th NL) and 13 homers - those are all numbers that don't account for his speed (15 steals) and the Pirates enter play on Saturday a game out of first place! When was the last time that happened on the weekend prior to the All-Star Break.

2011 Phungo #22 Andrew McCutchen

Photo taken April third of 2010 during the Phils Pirates On Deck series. I have been following McCutchen's career for a while now and am happy to see the Bucos return to respectability. They are an exciting young team and I hope they can stick around in the NL central this season.

2011 Phungo Cards - Placido Polanco

2011-07-06T20:48:00.000-04:00

The All-Star Rosters are out. The sole Phillies player to be voted onto the team is Third Baseman Placido Polanco. This years marks Placido's 2nd All-Star appearance, both at different positions. His previous All-Star start was as a second baseman representing the Tigers for his then manager Jim Leyland in 2007.

2011 Phungo #27 Placido Polanco, Jimmy Rollins, Charlie Manuel

Polanco was new to the Phils in 2010 and for the 2011 Phungo Set I wanted to produce a card of the fan favorite. I didn't have many very good shots of Placido and went with this Photo from the 2010 opener. Charlie Manuel is also on the card which is noteworthy going into the All-Star Break as he is the manager that finally led the NL to a victory in the Mid-Summer Classic for the first time in over a decade. The 2010 NL victory was the first one since the NL won the game in Philadelphia (at the Vet) in 1996.

Introducing PolarPhungo Cards - Cubs @ Phillies 2011 06 10

2011-06-18T10:08:00.000-04:00

Okay, I admit a week isn't very instant, but things have been crazy at Phungo HQ and I have had this idea floating around in my head for a while.

I wanted to create some sort of Instant Card for the Phungo Game Reports. There has also been a bit of a Polaroid revival happening, which I thought would be a great backdrop for i-cards, which I have dubbed PolarPhungo.

2011 PolarPhungo #1 Roy Halladay

2011 PolarPhungo #2 Carlos Zambrano

Both cards above were created using the FREE Photo Editor Pixlr, which I learned about a few months back from Dave over at the prolific custom card blog Goose Joak. There are all kinds of great things going on in the custom card department and it is fun checking out the creativity of different collectors.

The first three editions of Phungo Cards were all produced using MS Paint, which has sufficed for making simple cards from the photos I have taken. I have definitely been thinking of moving on to Photoshop in order to get a more professional look. Thanks to Pixlr I hope to come up with a more updated look for the 2012 Phungo set.

Game Report

Both of the above photos were taken at the Cubs v Phils game a week ago Friday. The Phils won the game 7-5 thanks to another good pitching outing from Roy Halladay and a Placido Polanco Grand Slam. A couple of Phils relievers let the Cubs back into the game via some sloppy pitching with a big lead, but Michael Stutes and Antonio Bastardo were able to come in and nail down the win.

The Polaroiding of the photos covers up some sins in my out of focus photography. It is a shame, We had some great seats at the game, but were seated beside a rather annoying "young" woman (actually in her 40s) which cut into our enjoyment of the game and limiting picture taking opportunities.

Philly Sports Author Event Tonight - Willow Grove PA

2011-06-16T15:30:00.001-04:00

The Willow Grove Barnes and Noble is hosting a Huge Philadelphia Sports author signing tonight.

The authors include:

Glen Macnow, Ray Didinger, Jayson Stark, Sal Paolantonio, Adam Kimelman, Mike Missanelli, Randy Miller, Reuben Frank, Steve Bucci, Paul Kurtz, Matt Leon, Mark Eckel, Merrill Reese and James Andrew Miller

Link to B&N site for more info.

I don't think Team Phungo will make it out but I would recomend any Jayson Stark book and Ray Didinger is in the football HoF for his NFL coverage. Sal Pal's "Football as America" book has always interested me although I have not gotten around to picking it up yet. Randy Miller wrote what is considered the definitive Harry Kalas bio. Merrill Reese is the Eagles play by play guy.

Added: Bernie Parent - Flyers Ambassador and Hockey Hall of Fame Member will also be part of the festivities.

Presenting Team Phungo - Pull of a Lifetime

2011-06-05T17:36:00.003-04:00

If you have been paying attention you may have noticed that there hasn't been much output from Phungo Headquarters recently. There hasn't been a posting in three weeks, and that wasn't even baseball related.

You may have heard me refer to Team Phungo in this column from time to time. Well, Team Phungo made it official this past week as We were joined in Marriage in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Fiancee Phungo has made me very happy and has graciously agreed to become Mrs Phungo.

It was a great day and week made possible by lots of work by our friends and families.

2011 05 30 Team Phungo

2011 Phungo Cards - Charlaine Harris

2011-05-11T21:35:00.000-04:00

Part of the fun of creating Phungo Cards is finding interesting subjects. I typically try to put together a checklist that has a touch of Allen & Ginter. This means throwing in some non-baseball cards.

Last year I accompanied Fiancee Phungo to a reading and book signing by Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood Author Charlaine Harris. I have never read any of the books but I have enjoyed the season or so of the HBO True Blood Series that I have been able to watch. It's not baseball but it is still fun Television.

To my surprise Harris filled the sizable Philadelphia Free Library auditorium to overflow(The Sookie Book "Dead in the Family" had just been released that week) - We got there 15 minutes early and sat in the last few rows of the theater. You could tell Harris was a veteran of the signing circuit and was comfortable in the environment. As I recall she spent about 15-20 minutes giving background on herself, her career, and her books including the discussing "True Blood". I am not sure if she did a reading but she did have a substantial and entertaining Q&A session - Half perhaps more of the Questions were regarding the TV series, but this did not bother the author. Harris had many a funny and interesting anecdote about herself as well as her books, characters, and family. She kept the evening moving and drew many laughs from her young and enthusiastic audience.

2011 Phungo #41 Charlaine Harris

I took the photo for the above card during the book signing. The line for the signing wrapped through and perhaps halfway around the Philadelphia Free Library - That is a good size line - This is not a small buidling. But the weather was pleasant and the line moved quickly. It was worth it, briefly meeting Ms Harris was a noteworthy and fun experience.

The newest Charlaine Harris/Sookie Stackhouse book "Dead Reckoning" came out last week ready for the Summer reading season - I know this because Fiancee Phungo has ger head buried in the new book while I, Mr Phungo, Check out card blogs, write postings, and follow the Phils. The next installment of True Blood will be season 4 and will air later this summer.

This link will direct you to a Podcast of the Charlaine Harris event at PFL.

Say Hey! 1959 Topps Willie Mays Foursome

2011-05-06T19:19:00.000-04:00

In Celebration of Willie Mays 80th Birthday today we present the 1959 Topps Willie Mays FourSome.

The 1959 Topps Set features Four Willie Mays Cards (plus the Giants Team Card)

We lead off with a card that Connects a Phillies Legend with Mr Mays.

1959 Topps #317 N L Hitting Kings Ashburn & Mays

Mays Base Card from the classic 1959 set

1959 Topps #50 Willie Mays

Mays was also featured in the Hi Numbered All-Star Subset.

1959 Topps #563 Willie Mays All-Star

We finish One of my all-time favorite cards is this one which honors a catch you will see repeatedly this weekend if your a baseball junkie.

1959 Topps #464 Baseball Highlights Willie Mays

How can you not love this card. I have been seeing the grainy footage of this catch since I was a kid and here it is on a 50 year old baseball card.

For the Collector

One of the oddities about the 1959 Topps set is the All-Star set. Despite being part of the High Number Series the All-Star cards of stars are typically much cheaper then the more common base cards. The Hi Number May All-Star has sold recently on eBay for $9.33 (rough) to $13.01 (more passable). Low Recent auction for the other special cards was $7.00 for Ashburn/Mays and $7.03 for the Mays Catch.

The lowest price I found for the #50 Base card in reasonable condition was $31 for a Graded (VG) card, Although the card is available via BIN for $28.

The cards featured in the above post were acquired at the following prices

$21.50 - #50 Willie Mays

$4.50 - #317 Ashburn/Mays

$7.00 - #464 Mays Catch

$13.59 - #563 Mays All-Star

All prices listed include S&H, The Cards that I actually picked up were likely part of a larger lot and there may be a slight volume discount reflected in the purchase price.

2011 Topps Heritage NOT Hot Box

2011-05-02T18:42:00.003-04:00

As usual, I am a little behind - everybody is checking out Gypsy Queen and I am busting Topps Heritage, but at least I am busting a box from the current year.

Backstory

I was initially on the fence about building 2011 Topps Heritage - A recent Posting by A Cardboard Problem speculated on the rumour that the Hot Boxes (containing green tint chrome cards) were packaged differently. At the CSA show in Oaks PA a few weeks back I found one of these Potential Hot Boxes. In the name of Trading Card Research I was compelled to break the box.

Unfortunately, The Box was not a Hot Box but remained a fun box to open and I am happy to be building 2011 Topps Heritage. It is the first Topps Baseball Set I have elected to build since 2008 Heritage. I am pretty sure that at some point I will look into 2009 Goodwin Champions, but right now that project is still in the thinking about stage.

Box Toppers

The Box had two toppers - A 50th anniversary of Don Clendennon and a David Price Baseball Fiver.

Not sure how I feel about Topps QC on this one, The Clendennon card is in reasonable shape if I was picking it up at a show as a 50 cent common, but this card is in fair shape and horribly cut.

Don't get me wrong the Anniversary cards are my favorite box topper, I just think that at 1 in every other box Topps could do a little better on the buyback end. I was also hoping for a baseball buck and Price is a nice one to get.

Base Set

Low Numbers 194/425 (45%)

Phillies 7/17 (41%) 0/2 Hi Number

Hi Numbers 8/75 (10%)

Babe Ruth 5/10

checklist 3/6

Hits

CCR-JJ - Josh Johnson Clubhouse Collection

#143b - Jackie Robinson Story SP

Chrome

C12 Batting Leaders (Refractor 212/562)

C27 Omar Infante (1941/1962)

C35 Casey Blake (1690/1960)

I don't get including the leaders cards in Chrome. It is only a 100/200 card set why bother with duping a couple of floating heads on a single card.

Baseball Flashbacks

BF-4 Robin Roberts - would of liked him more in a Phils Uni for this one.

BF-5 Yaz

New Age Performers

NAP-2 Jim Thome

NAP-7 Joey Votto

I love Thome, but I don't think of him as a New Age Performer at this point in his career. Votto might be my favorite non-Phil young player of the moment.

News Flashbacks

NF-4 JFK/Cuban Embargo

NF-9 Jamaican Indepence

gotta love any card that celebrate Ganga and Reggae Music

Then and Now

TN-5 Mantle & Prince (this is a dupe of a retail I already pulled)

TN-7 Killebrew & Bautista

every year this is my least favorite insert in heritage - although they are the easiest to make fun of. for example I refer to the Mantle/Fielder card as a celebration of Drunk Vegetarians - which reminds me of every "art student" I knew in college.

Phungo Says

Yes I was disappointed this was not a Hot Box, but I am happy with my decision to build 2011 Heritage. I remain a fan of heritage, and have always enjoyed the 1962 Topps set. For the most part the inserts are interesting and the 50 or so Heritage cards I already picked up had enough unique cards to get me over the half way point in the set.

2011 Phungo Cards - Big Ben

2011-04-28T21:16:00.000-04:00

2011 Phungo #7 Big Ben

I am not getting up at some crazy hour to post something about some rich people getting married, so I am posting this tonight.

Big Ben is within sight of Westminster Abbey and is by my reckoning just to the right of where I was standing when this shot was taken.

The photo was taken while ago on a vacation over Christmas break. I chose #7 for the card number as a nod to a certain NFL quarterback - even if I find the teams fans pretty annoying.

2011 04 14 Yankees @ Orioles SnapShots

2011-04-27T12:44:00.000-04:00

Tough game for the Orioles on Sunday. They lost 6-3 in extras to the Yankees in a game which the O's could have won had a close call at the plate in the 9th gone the other way.

Jake Arrietta settled down after a giving up a couple of runs on a Curtis Granderson homer in the first. New Yankee (and short time Phil) Freddy Garcia pitched very well shutting out the Orioles for 6 innings on 2 hits. The Yanks relief corps did not fare as well. First Joba Chamberlain gave up a 2 run dinger to Mark Reynolds and then Mariano Rivera had to come in for a four out save.

The Orioles were down 3-2 with two outs in the 9th when Brian Roberts batted with a pair of runners on base. Roberts ripped a double down the Right Field Line plating the tying run and leading to a play at the plate. Fom my seat I thought that pinch runner Robert Andino was out, but on a replay it appeared that Yankees Catcher Russell Martin may not have gotten his glove down. Regardless the call made was an out. That play could have given the O's a 4-3 victory, but instead the game went to extras and the Yankees took a 6-3 win in 12 scoring a couple of those runs via some ugly Orioles fielding.

SnapShots from Sundays Game

New Oriole Derrek Lee

Curtis Granderson

Freddy Garcia

Blah

In Phungo Blog news, I have opened the potential "Hot Box" of 2011 Heritage. I will let you know that my research has found that the upside down topps logo box theory is......Urban Legend Only. My box was a "Not Box" - as in not a Hot Box. Which is a little disappointing but it was still a fun box to open and I am happy with the decision to build 2011 Heritage. Hopefully later this week or sometime next week I will get a synopsis of the box posted.