Field Report Miller Park 2016 0527 Reds 5 @ Brewers 9

This happened a couple of weeks ago but Team Phungo is still recovering from our recent Trip.

We spent a week in Madison and Milwaukee which gave us an opportunity to knock another stadium off our list. In the game the Brewers hosted the Cincinnati Reds. The two teams are battling for the cellar of the NL Central, consequently the game itself was secondary to the stadium visit.

Robin Yount

The Brewers have a series of statues outside the stadium including this one that honors Robin Yount, the Franchise All Time Leader in Games, ABs, Hits, Runs, RBIs, Doubles, Triples, and WAR. Ryan Braun is the only Brewer who has more Home Runs than Yount.

Hank Aaron

The man who broke Babe Ruth's Home Run record only played two seasons with the Brewers but he spent an additional dozen seasons in Milwaukee as a Member of the Braves. Hank Aaron is rightfully honored here by the Brewers.

Miller Park

From this angle Miller Park looks like a Spaceship whose design was inspired by a tarantula. I took this picture while walking up a path from the location of old County Stadium, where Hank Aaron hit his last Home Run.

Chorizo y Hot Dog

I was pretty excited for the sausage race. Here are Chorizo and the Hot Dog hanging out pregame. 

Retired Numbers

Bob Uecker's 50 Year Plaque is in a nice neighborhood with Hall of Famers Paul Molitor and Robin Yount nearby. 

Miller Park from the Upper Deck. 

Roof Opens! 

The Roof was closed when we arrived, but was opened just prior to game time. Miller Park only remained an outdoor venue for about 3 innings when oncoming rain forced another closure. 

John Lamb

Oh Yeah there was a game.  The Brewers defeated the Reds 9-5. Neither starting pitcher was particularly sharp and both were gone before the end of the 6th inning, although Brewers Pitcher Zach Davies was hurt by his defense.

The Starting pitcher for the Reds was John Lamb, For some reason his look here reminds me of Tyrion from Game of Thrones. Lamb was lifted after just 3 2/3 innings which saw him give up 6 runs.

Aaron Hill Warming up

Must of been a good warm up as Hill had a great game with a pair of Home Runs.

Ryan Braun & Brandon Phillips

Braun and Phillips are likely discussing their own trade prospects.

 Chris Carter

Carter is off to a hot start ranking 3rd in the league in Homers at the 1/3 mark in the season.

Bernie Brewer

We got to see Bernie Brewer hit the slide, I believe this was on the Aaron Hill's 2nd Home Run. Notice at the top of the picture signs are lit up that say "Get Up, Get Up, Get Outta Here, Gone!" the signature Home Run Call of Brewers Broadcaster Bob Uecker.

There was a lot more to take in at the Brewers game and I have a lot more pictures that I hope to share at some future point.

Sources and Links
Baseball-ref
Milwaukee Brewers
Baseball Almanac 

2016 Topps Blaster Break

Since I struck out looking for 2016 Heritage tonight you are getting an unenthusiastic posting on a Blaster of 2016 Topps.  The first pack of the blaster can be found here.

Blaster All-Stars - Battery

2016 Topps
#50 Salvador Perez
#300 Buster Posey
#237 Carlos Ruiz
#4 Sonny Gray

I am protesting 2016 Topps tight shots epidemic by feature mainly catcher's in our Battery part of the lineup. The position and the gear give the photographer more opportunities to create interesting shots. Here we have the Catchers for the two most recent World Series champs and the Phillies own 2008 WSC catcher. We featured the Ruiz card a few weeks back in our First Phillie of 2016T posting.

Sonny Gray won the battle for the only Pitcher card to Make the Blaster All-Star because I don't think he gets enough press, and I like the high socks.


Blaster All-Star Infield 

#241 Freddie Freeman
#137 Joe Panik
#310 David Wright
#225 Scooter Gennett

The David Wright is just another tight shot on a batter. I do like how we can see his number not only oh his jersey but also on the sweatband. Freddie Freeman celebrating a Homer is a nice highlight in the box. Scooter Gennett gets a 5 number Freddie does not.

Blaster All-Star Outfield

#272 Denard Span
#312 Curtis Granderson
#227 David Murphy
#8 Michael Brantley

Granderson wins the interesting shot here.  I realize Span and Murphy look virtually the same, but still like them.

Inserts 
Just some Quick Comments here, Would like to return to these individually in the future.

2016 Topps #BB-60 Berger's Best Mike Trout
2001 Topps Update #US-175 Mike Trout

Once again Topps has a set featuring cards that are basically re-issues. This is one of the relatively recent 2011 Topps Update Mike Trout. I think the one on the Left is the 2016T version, with the original on the right - The foil is in Gold this year as opposed to Silver on the original. Not sure if this was an accident of by design.

I have seen a couple of the Berger cards now and I like them more than I thought I would.

 2016 Topps #MLBD-35 MLB Debut Mike Trout

My first blaster of 2016 Turned out to be a Mike Trout Hot box, with a pair of his insert cards (although we did not pull the #1 Base card)

MLB Debut is basically This years version of 2015 Topps Retail Only First Home Run cards - which I think may be the Topps common insert. Ok idea for an insert set.

2016 Topps #FP-15 First Pitch Bill Withers

Bill Withers is the 2015 Rock n Roll Hall of Fame musician responsible for "Lean On Me".

I don't care if this set doesn't showcase baseball players, I think the FP insert is fun. My only issue is that I don't believe that Topps has featured one from Philadelphia.

2016 Topps #WOW-15 Henry Urrutia

Walk of Wins is a nice idea for a Insert. I believe these are new for 2016 and replace last year's similar but defensive minded Robbed Insert Set. Both sets are retail only.

2016 Topps #MLBW-6 Wacky Packages

Advertising for another product. I don't know whether I should be happy or bothered that only six of the 30 teams are represented by this set.

2016 Topps #AM-03 Amazing Milestones Carl Yastrzemski

This is the Target only insert. I believe that WalMart got an Insert involving "Greatest Streaks" A set I would probably find more interesting even if it omit's Pete Rose and Joe DiMaggio.

2016 Topps #PIS1 Pressed Into Service Mitch Moreland

Lots to like about this set including that the Acronym is Three-Quarters of PISS.

2016 Topps #B2B-5 Back to Back Reds

I was sick of lineage, but I am not sure this is an improvement

Obligatory Blaster "Hit"

2016 Topps #MDM-NR Major LEague Debut Medallions Nolan Ryan

The Medallion was the last thing we opened out of the box and I told Mrs Phungo we want a Ryan Howard card here, after we saw the card she quickly quipped "Well you got a Ryan"

By The Numbers

81 Cards
72 Base (roughly)
1 Phillies card (Chooch)
10 Inserts
1 Fake Relic (Ryan)
2 Hero Numbers (Posey, Harper)
I think there were also a couple of foil cards.

There you have it, I think I may have snuck in an extra insert or two from looseys I picked up w/ the Blaster coupon, but basically it's a blaster. Sorry, I try and be accurate in my counting numbers, but it has been a busy couple of weeks. 

Sources and Links
Phungo 2016 Topps index
BillWithers.com
Cardboard Connection

Bob Casale 1952-2014: Founding member of Devo

Yesterday Gerald Casale of Devo announced through the bands website that his brother Bob had died of Heart Failure.

1993 Collect-A-Card American Bandstand #98 Devo

For a variety of reasons, I will always look upon Devo fondly. There music may have been a bit kitsch, but I think they went beyond novelty. If it wasn't for the video age, I suppose I may never have heard of Devo, but I won't hold that against them. I am glad they found there way onto the pop culture map and I am glad that I heard more from them than "Whip It" and the funny hats.

1993 Collect-A-Card American Bandstand #98 Devo (b-side)

This card is from the 1993 American Bandstand set which was compoased of cards of Dick Clark, Show features, People/couples from the show, and of course bands that were on the program. I picked up the 100 card set a while ago, and was amused that Devo was among the bands that had performed. As you can see on the B-side there is a nice capsule bio, mentioning several of their hits and also naming the five members of the band.

Phillies Connection
He wasn't a Phiillie anymore but last year Shane Victorino was part of an ESPN photo shoot that recreated the album cover from the Devo Album "Freedom of Choice"

MLB as Devo: Justin Upton, Evan Longoria, Brandon Phillips, Giancarlo Stanton, Shane Victorino(Swiped from ESPN)

Snapshots 2012 08 20 - Reds @ Phillies

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

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

Snapshots     

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

Roy Halladay

Good Guy Award

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

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

Jimmy Rollins

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

Vittles

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

Phungo's Two Cents - 2010 Topps Base Cards

In all I picked up 5 packs of Topps and had mixed results. Here are my thoughts on the five packs. I have posted a full break of the first pack previously.

Foul = Dearth of Phils Cards

My Biggest complaint is I had to get all the way down to pack #5 before getting a Phillies card. 2010 Topps Joe Blanton

Generally I think it is a plus to get the ball in an action shot, but I think there is to much wasted space in this shot. Regardless it is good to get the first Phil of the year. It appears Blanton will be the Phils 3rd/4th starter for the next few years and he seems like a good player for the role.


It's a Hit = Photography
2010 Topps Chris Iannetta
2010 Topps Zack Greinke Cy Young Award

Despite my above complaint on the Blanton Photo, I think overall the quality of the Topps photos is good and there are many interesting shots, including this pair. The Greinke shot is worthy of a Cy Young award winner.

It's a Hit = Landscape Cards
2010 Topps Jose Valverde
2010 Topps Daniel Hudson

I usually prefer the portrait cards - but for this years edition the Topps design works well for the landscape variety. I am not a fan of Jose Valverde - he is a bit to demonstrative on the mound for my taste or else I would consider this the best photo of the lot.

The swoosh on the side of the Hudson card flows right into his pitching motion and makes for a cool looking shot.

Foul = New Rookie Card Logo

2010 Topps Netali Feliz
2010 Topps Buster Posey

I am not a big fan of the new rookie logo. I think the Red/White/Blue color scheme clashes with that of many of the teams. I am not sure why Buster Posey qualifies for the logo, while Neftali Perez does not - and the Perez card would actually handle the RC logo pretty well. Placing the Rookie logo at the same spot on every card is also a mistake.

Going forward I think the Rookie Card Logo is going to clash with a lot of designs. I am definitely thinking it will not look good on Heritage.

One last note, I ended up with five or six Rangers between the 5 packs.

Rain Outs = Cincinnati Reds Cards and Mis-Stamped Foil

2010 Topps Brandon Phillips
2010 Topps Joey Votto

I think both of these Reds cards were photographed on the same dreary day in what appears to be Wrigley Field. I would like to hear an opinion from Nahcos Grande, but if all of the teams shots appear like this, I think I would be a little disappointed. Everything is just to dark. The Brandon Phillips card has the added problem of the mis-stamped foiling.

Between the five packs I picked up 11 base cards had the problem with the foil. I expect to have a future post detailing that further.

Swag from Nachos Grande...

I was pleasantly surprised to get a nice package of cards from Nachos Grande which included Several great Phillies Cards.

2008 Topps #140 Ryan Howard (Authorized by Cincinnati Red Ken Griffey)
1990 Donruss Diamond Kings #7 Lenny Dykstra
1985 Topps #157 Tug McGraw

Fine cards indeed....wha????? What the Heck is this - the unis are Red, but the players aren't to familiar looking???


2009 UD #95 Brandon Phillips (multiple)
2009 UD #601 Brandon Phillips (multiple)
2009 UD #961 Brandon Phillips (multiple)

Ahh this Explains It!!!

Bippage Relic Card Numbered to /2 - My lowest Serial EVER!!!

It feels like Groundhog's Day, I have been bipped again!

I wonder who got the Other Relic??

Thanks to Fan Of Reds and the Nachos Grande Crew - And Thorzul for making this all possible.

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

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

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

42 Ellsbury

75 Rich Hill
91 Contreras
56 Wakefield
187 Joe Saunders

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

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

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

346 Adam Kennedy

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

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

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

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

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

Here are the STS! standings after 7 innings.

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

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

Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 3 Runs in - bases empty

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

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

Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First

A Cardboard Problem - Yankees - man on first.

Covered in Wrappers - Cardinals - On Deck

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

Sources and Links
Vladimir Guerrero HOF Index