TRENDY: Jameson Taillon

The Pirates have called up 2010 #2 Overall Pick Jameson Taillon and he is expected to get his first Major League Start tonight with the reigning NL Champion New York Mets. 

2013 Heritage Minors #127 Jameson Taillon

Fun card here from the minor league version of the 1964T homage. I know it says Curve for the team name but my guess is Taillon is going to be another one of these young pitchers that throw 100 mph.

Jameson Taillon put up great numbers in AAA so far this year. Key numbers include 2.04 ERA with 61 Ks in 61+ innings against only 6 walks! His batting average against is an impressive .196 with a similar WHIP of 0.81.

Regardless the rookie is facing the Mets, Go Bucos!

Sources and Links
Pittsburgh Pirates
Cardboard Connection

Your 2015 Phillies All-Star Jonathan Papelbon 2013 Topps Heritage #104

Tonight we open our 2015 All-Star Game Coverage

Last night Major League Baseball announced the All-Star Reserves. This is about as exciting as the 2015 Phillies get. Rightfully the team did not have any starters elected to the squad.

And despite the fact that the Phillies have the worst record in baseball, the rules, customs and decorum of the mid-summer classic dictate that the Phillies to get a minimum of one roster spot on the All-Star Team.

2013 Topps Heritage #104 Jonathan Papelbon

Closer Jonathan Papelbon was selected to represent the Phillies in Cincinnati. This is Papelbon's sixth all-star selection and second as a Phil.

 2013 Topps Heritage #104 Jonathan Papelbon (b-side)

Presenting the flip here for a couple of reasons, First off I like the trivia question. Secondly Papelbon's partner for card #104 in the original 1964T release was Art Mahaffey and I want to take a closer look at these two cards in the future.

As far as the Trivia Question, I thought it was due to 2 runners scoring on a single sacrifice, however the answer has to do with an error being committed on a dropped fly. The Runner scores/advances on the error, and the batter is ALSO awarded a sacrifice. Baseball Reference has a posting on four occurrences of triple sacrifice innings. 

2015 All-Star Coverage
Bobby Abreu
Johnny Bench
Rickey Henderson
Art Mahaffey
Robin Roberts
Pete Rose
2014 All-Star Coverage

Sources and Links
baseball-ref

WAR Stories 2015 Projections: Darin Ruf

Today our 2015 WAR Projections turn to Darin Ruf

2013 Topps Heritage Chrome #HC98 Darin Ruf/Tyler Cloyd (refractor/purple)

Darin Ruf is a First Baseman, trouble is the Phils are already paying somebody $25MM dollars to play that position. He can also play outfield, trouble there is the Phillies are trying to figure out if any of their younger players can play those positions.

That leaves Ruf as a man without a position. He has shown some signs that he can hit if given the opportunity. And in 2015 Ryne Sandberg has moved forward and started Ruf as part of a platoon at first base. I think by the end of May if Ryan Howard doesn't show he can return to some sort of form that Darin Ruf may see a larger role at first.

2013 Heritage
This is a purple refractor which likely originated as a bonus in a Toys R Us Rack. I picked it up in a trade package from Cards on Cards. Once again we must talk about position, not sure why Topps went with the general position of infield for Ruf. He has always been either a first baseman or corner outfielder outside of a couple of games at 3B, but not enough to declare IF for his position.

2015+
Darin Ruf is moving into his prime hitting years, position-wise to this point he has always been moving around. I See him sticking as 400 PA first base/OF player this year but not contributing much more than a replacement level play +0.5

Sources and Links
2015 Phillies WAR projections
Baseball-ref

1964 Topps - 2013 Heritage Index

This is an Index of Posts related to our series on 1964 Topps.

1964 Topps #135 Johnny Callison 

Most of the posts originally ran in 2013 coinciding with that years Heritage release which was inspired by 1964 Topps.


1964 Topps / 2013 Heritage Postings 

1964 Topps Design (Ray Culp, Lou Brock, Gus Triandos)  

1964 Topps b-Sides (Ray Culp)

1964 Topps Rookie Cards (Dick Allen)

1964 Topps League Leader Cards (Hank Aaron, Ken Boyer, Bill White) 

1964 Topps Team Cards (Phillies, Reds)  

More info on 1964 Topps

The full series is in the process of being covered at the 1964 Topps Blog 

Chris Stufflestreet - Vintage Sportscards 1964 Topps Giants

The Phillies Room has a posting on the 1964 Topps Phillies as part of the ongoing Topps Phillies Series.

Dean's Cards

Beckett

2013 Topps Heritage 3-Pack Black Border Cards

Picked up one of those 2013 Topps Heritage 3 Packs yesterday to see what the parallels look like.  Topps has been doing this for a few years now, As far back as 2011 at least. The 3-Packs run $9.49 or $10.06 when you factor in PA Sales Tax.  That is a savings of 50 cents over picking up 3 loose packs plus you get the 3 bonus cards.

2013 Topps Heritage Black #479 Ian Kinsler

2013 Topps Heritage Black #350 Matt Cain

2013 Topps Heritage Black #477 Yadier Molina

The black border treatment for 2013 is much better then 2012 Heritage, where only the top 2/3 of the card could be black bordered.  It just looked awkward. The Black Border 2013 Topps Heritage do echo 1971 Topps.

Either I got a bit lucky with my bonus pack or the SPs are not an issue for the black borders, because both Kinsler and Molina are both among the High Numbered shorts.

Other Inserts

2013 Topps Heritage Memorable Moments - Teddy Wins First Presidential Races

2013 Topps Heritage Refracter #HC61 Yoennis Cespedes (#d/564)

The Teddy card is up for card of the year for me, and I am happy to pack draw him.  Not sure that 2012 memorable moments really belong in Heritage.  The Cespedes is a Refractor Parallel.  My other insert was the Then/Now of Whitey Ford/Felix Hernandez.  The Stat was shutouts - although in 1964 Whitey Ford did not lead the league in shutouts - that honor went to Dean Chance.

Base

The 24 base cards yielded a grand total of ZERO Phillies cards so team Phungo is still seeking our first 2013 Topps Heritage Phillies card. The other thing we noted is some of the caps look huge when they spill over the border. This to me is the defining characteristic for 1964 Topps. It's a set I didn't love at first put the beyond the border does help the headshot pop a little.  Since profile pix are the norm across Heritage it is a design element that works for the retro set. 

  

  

2013 03 08 Exton Mall Card Show Nickel Box

I never expect much from a Nickel Box.  Those low expectations actually improve the experience.  There are no worries about getting a good deal for a card or its condition.  The card is stinking nickle - The only issue it adds to my hoarding habit. 

2013 Topps Vance Worley

Yes there were 2013 Topps Phillies in the nickle bin, albeit only former Phillies.  X-Phil or not, I am a fan of the retro-uni cards.  With relatively little effort my 2013 Topps Phillies collectiion is off to a good start.  I think I have four of the cards so far, and that is from just one each of a  Hanger and single pack and the Worley above.

Note: according to the Current Twins Depth Chart, Worley is Minnesota's Opening Day starter.  I think the Twinkies may be in for a long year.

2009 Bowman First Card #BDPP2 Billy Hamilton RC

If your a prospector you have likely heard of Billy Hamilton - he stole something like 400 bases last year at  various stops in the Reds system. I have seen him ranked 11th among prospects in one of the polls.

Speed is always exciting especially with young players. Hamilton will also have the advantage of playing with a pretty good ballclub whne he reachees the major league level. 

There is a minor dinged corner on the caxrd, but still finding a prospect card in a nickle bin is a thrill. Especially when it appears he is on the verge of making some noise at the major league level.

2013 Topps Heritage Joe Blanton and Anthony Gose

There were also just released Heritage Cards commons in the nickle bin - lots of them. No Current Phillies but a couple of Formers.

Note: Again with the Depth Charts - The Angels Depth Chart has Joe Blanton penciled in at #3.  Makes it a little tough  for me to take them seriously as a contender. 

2013 Topps Heritage #300 Jason Heyward

There was at least one star in the Heritage nickel bin and on a Hero Number as well. This card shares its number with the 1964 Topps Hank Aaron card. I wonder how many heritage cards had their Heritage number shared between Hank Aaron and Chipper Jones. Dudes didn't play the same postion, but they were definitely the stars of their respective squads. 

For a look at the team Phungo 1964 Topps retrospective start here 

  

2013 Topps Heritage the Originals - 1964 Topps League Leaders Cards

There are a couple of subsets in 1964 Topps, the first of which numerically are the League Leaders cards.

1964 Topps #11 NL League Leaders RBI

Last year Night Owl Cards put together bit of analysis of the league leaders card. To me this olympic podium design is the best. Decent size picture of the overall leader followed by two smaller pix of the runner up and third place finishers.

The LL cards in 1964 fit the overall design well. The two fonts on the card title are similar to the rookie cards and the player name plates carry over the feel of the base cards.

There are 12 League Leader cards in 1964 Topps. 1 card per league for each of 6 categories ERA, Pitching (Wins), Strikeouts,  Batting (avg), HR,  and RBI

For the Collector

The above LL card was picked up at a card show last year for $2. It is in ok condition, not bad for the price of a 2013 retail pack you get a vintage card with Hank Aaron in the lead spot! - that is like stealing. Low recent ebay auction closed at $1.54 shipped. A graded PSA 9 card was the Hi end at $308.00.

Prior 1964 Topps the Originals Postings 

1964 Topps Design (Ray Culp, Lou Brock, Gus Triandos) 

1964 Topps Rookie Cards (Dick Allen)

More info on 1964 Topps

The full series is in the process of being covered at the 1964 Topps Blog 

The Phillies Room has a posting on the 1964 Topps Phillies as part of the ongoing Topps Phillies Series.

Dean's Cards

Beckett

Other Sources
Bob Lemke's Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards 
eBay
Surf Baseball Card Collectiblies, Philadelphia Phillies 

2013 Topps Heritage the Originals - 1964 Topps

Ok we have a couple of weeks to go gaga over 2013 Topps. In today's 72 hour news cycle world it is well beyond time to move on - well except for that Pete Rose blip last week.

We have about two weeks to prepare for the onslaught of 2013 Topps Heritage. I will once again embark on a project that I do not know if I will finish, but wanted to look back at the original 1964 Topps upon which 2013 Heritage is based. 

1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp 

1964 Topps is the first set I encountered as an adult collector that I was unaware of as a kid. When I first saw it at my first returning collector card show, I winced.  It was just to boring.  Since that day in probably 2006 or 2007 the design has grown on me a bit, but I still typically bypass the cards from this set when I come across them in a mixed bin.

I would think 1964T is for the collectors that lean towards minimalist design. The design is more than functional with team name prominently displayed across the top and a player nameplate with position on the bottom. Topps gave the Phils the blue nameplate which works as a complimentry color to the red team colors. I am not nuts about the black lettering for the team name which is a bit bland.

The Player photo is pretty large for the era and I do llike the way the caps (or glove in Ray Culp's case) bleeds from the photo above frame into the team name. There is a likely a graphic design term for this - for whatever reasons it is a concept that Topps has gotten away from - it does show up sparingly in 2010 Topps but you have to look. So yes we have had about 20 consecutive years of chrome but no overbleed photography.  Lets mix it up Topps.

Caps Above the Line 

  

1964 Topps #29 Lou Brock

Here ia a favorite 64T card in the Phungo HoF collection. I liked Lou Brock as a kid for a variety of reasons. I am also a fan of cards of players on teams other then the one for which they are best known. Brock was traded in the middle of the 1964 Season - this is his last card as a Cub. The Cubs are represented by at least 4 Hall of Fame players in 1964 Topps - Brock, Ron Santo, Billie Williams, and Ernie Banks.  

The 64 Topps Lou Brock Card is a fine example of the cap reaching into the Team Name portion of the card. There is a lot to like about the shot.  I particularly like the Cubs logo on the uni sleeve.

1964 Topps Gus Triandos

I wonder if Topps will photoshop free agent/traded players in 2013 Heritage.  In the original 1964T set they simply left players in their old caps while changing the team name on the card.  I would like to see Topps stick to the 1964 format in 2013. The Phils even conveniently picked up a Detroit Tigers player in Delmon Young for 2013 which would make it real easy for Topps to rhyme a Heritage card with this Gus Triandos 1964 Topps original. 

Looking ahead

I am working on a look at the 1964 Topps Rookie Cards - hopefully we will have a posting ready for Wednesday.   

More info on 1964 Topps

The full series is in the process of being covered at the 1964 Topps Blog 

The Phillies Room has a posting on the 1964 Topps Phillies as part of the ongoing Topps Phillies Series.

Dean's Cards

Beckett

Links

Lou Brock HoF Index

Ray Culp Rookie Cup Index