Phungo 5 Returns with Capewood's Collections!

Today is opening day for many teams across the Major Leagues, while the Phils open tomorrow versus the Houston Astros.  This means the return of Phungo 5,  and for the second consecutive year Capewood's Collections will help us out with the season debut of P5.


1) As an Astros and Phils Fan, how cool is it to have the Phils and Astros meeting on opening day?

The Astros have played the Phillies pretty tough the past few years. It's hard to tell what the Astros are going to do in 2011. They finished last season strong but haven't looked too good this spring. It's always a tough decision for me as to who to root for. It wasn't too long ago when both teams had a chance for the playoffs and I would usually root for whoever I thought had the best chance. This year I think it's the Phillies and I'll be rooting for them. It would be cooler if Oswalt was going to pitch against them in the opening series but I think he is 4th in the rotation.

2002 Bowman Chrome #79 Roy Oswalt

2) Who is your favorite player to follow that has been involved in the many Phils-Astros trades we have seen recently?

Obviously, the Big O. He's been one of my favorite Astros and I heavily collect his cards. He hasn't gotten the recognition he's deserved while pitching in relative obscurity in Houston. I'm hoping he has a great season.

3) Thumbs Up or Down for the centerfield pole and Hill in Houston.

A Thumbs Up. It's an interesting feature to have in a ballpark. It's fun to watch a right fielder trying to play a ball there. But to tell the truth, I think it's pretty rare for the Hill to be a problem. It's a long way from home plate.

4) Any  News on the Bonsai Trees, I don't believe we have seen them in a while. 

Ah, the Bonsai Trees. I started this hobby without realizing how much effort it was going to take. I've lost a few plants but am now down to a number that I can deal with. I've got 8 healthy plants, 4 inside and 4 outside. It was a cold winter here with some freezing rain. I lost one plant because I didn't get them inside fast enough. I'm hoping to have them cleaned up and featured in a post soon.

5) What is your favorite Movie set in Houston?  

I had to think about this for a bit and look up movies on Wikipedia. The only movie which came to mind was Bill Murray's Rushmore. There are a few movies, which in some way or another deal with the space program, such as Apollo 13, Armageddon and Space Cowboys, but most of those movies actually take place in outer space. Arlington Road with Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins was set in Houston but could have been anywhere. The subdivision where Arlington Road was located pretty much looked like a hundred different subdivisions in the Houston suburbs. And there there is Independence Day where the government sacrifices Houston while atomic bombing an alien ship. That scene where they show a road sign indicating a freeway exit to the University of Houston, used to establish that we really were in Houston, totally does not exist. 

There are a few more either set in Houston or filmed in Houston but I haven't seen them. All in all, I'd say Rushmore. It was a good movie and it was one of Bill Murray's first real serious roles and I like that side of him.

Scorecard

Team Phungo frowns upon the Hill, but awards double points for coming up with Rushmore as a film recommendation.  So 5 out of 5 for Cliff for the opening Phungo 5 of 2011.  

For a look back at Cliff's P5 from 2010 click here.

Robin Roberts Memorial Posts

2010 Phungo BFI Jim Bunning & Robin Roberts

As mentioned a few days ago the photo from the above Phungo Card was taken prior to 2009 World Series Game 5. The Phils won that game, which was the final game pitched by Cliff Lee as a Phillie.

If you click the link from that post you can see the original picture from which this Phungo Card was created. Due to be taken at a distance under night game conditions the photo is a bit blurry. Thanks to creative reducing and cropping, I can make a photo that is somewhat cardworthy.

I believe this is the first 2010 Phungo Black Frame Insert I have posted. As with 2009 the cards feature a Solid Black Frame and Grey Lettering. The Phungo signature on the bottom right of the card has been altered slightly from 2009. Other than that the cards are basically the same.

Robin Roberts Card Postings

Since Roberts passed away on Thursday several articles have been written by various bloggers. I have collected many of those links here.

Capewoods Collections has featured the largest collection of Roberts cards I have seen posted so far. The title card is a special card from the 1959 set which we here at Team Phungo are frequently writing about. The remainder of the cards are retro cards created after the Hall of Fame Pitchers playing days. There is a Fleer SI auto card featured here that I have had my eye on for a while.

The Phillies Room has featured Roberts cards in several recent posts. The intial Post featured a 1961 Topps Card. For a collection of Jim's Robin Roberts related posts click here. Jim's most recent post features Roberts 1960 Topps card, and he has added Roberts 1956 Card to the top of his sidebar.

Steve over at White Sox Cards even went as far as creating a custom card marking Robin Roberts short stint with the Chicago Cubs at the end of his career.

The Great Orioles Autograph Project posted a really nice TTM auto card.

While Orioles Card "O" the Day posted the 1963 Roberts Card which is the first card to feature him and Oriole.

While checking out the 1963 Card Posted by Kevin I realized the black and white inset photo matches the one from Roberts 1960 Phillies card.

1960 Topps #264 Robin Roberts (From the Phillies Room)
1963 Topps #125 Robin Roberts (From Orioles Card "O" the Day)

Mojo and Beardy have also posted a TTM auto of Roberts 1959 Topps base card.



Robin Roberts Related Pages and Articles

Baseball-Reference
Wikipedia
1952 Game Used Ball from Roberts Fanily Auction
Hall of Fame
SABR Bio Project

Phungo 5 Returns with Capewood's Collections

I am very happy to debut the 2010 season of Phungo 5 with our favorite Phillies/Astros fan Cliff from Capewood Collections. The Phils are currently in the middle of an early season three game set with the struggling Astros.

These must be interesting times for Cliff as a baseball fans - the Astros are starting to look like Phillies West with tons of former Phightins' on the club. We Cover a lot of ground here - Books Music and of course Baseball Cards.


1) Do you have any Baseball Books on your upcoming "to read" list?

I usually read at least one baseball book a summer but I haven't really started looking for anything yet this year. However I am planning to read "Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession" by Dave Jamieson. I've seen some good reviews on it on other blogs. I wouldn't say that I was obsessed with baseball cards although my wife and children might disagree.

2008 Phungo #39 Brett Myers v Paul LoDuca

2) What former Phil are you most anxious to see perform for the Astros? And what is with Pedro Feliz wearing #77?

I'd like to see Brett Myers do well. I always like him as a Phillie even though he seems to be an erratic talent. And I'd like to see Michael Bourn have a really breakout season. I have no clue as to why Feliz is sporting #77. He got the first hit of the season for the Astros this year.

3) You are currently doing a retrospective on the different 1998 card sets. Do any stand out as a fun set/subset/inser to collect on a budget?

There were a lot of cards issued in 1998. As near as I can tell almost any of them are available pretty cheaply on eBay. At least base cards and most inserts. A lot of sets were including numbered inserts and parallels which are pretty pricey today if you can even find them. I was real partial to Upper Deck Collector's Choice. They utilized a number of different styles in the sets, and had some interesting subsets and inserts.

4) Can you get a Texas Tommy in Texas?

I was pretty sure that a Texas Tommy is a hot dog but I had to look it up on-line to be sure. I've never heard of a hot dog referred to as a Texas Tommy down here so I don't suppose you can get one, at least not in Houston. Maybe up in Dallas where they do things a bit differently. According to Wikipedia, a Texas Tommy is also some sort of dance that originated in San Francisco around 1910.

5) Why "Everybody Knows this is Nowhere"?

I imagine you're referring to the Neil Young album cover in my blog banner. I call my blog Capewood's Collections because I try to feature other things that I'm interested in other than just baseball cards. Music is one of those things. Over the years I've acquired a fair amount of music (enough to power my Song of the Week feature pretty much forever). Neil Young has always been one of my favorite artists and probably the musical artist I've consistently followed the longest. I was a fan of Buffalo Springfield in the late 1960s (where he got his start), a fan of his solo career and a fan of his collaborations with Crosby, Stills & Nash. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere was his second solo album and the first of his I bought. I own just about everything he has released.

Phungo 5 Box Score

Thanks Cliff - Awesome way to start out Phungo 5 in 2010. I have very mixed emotions about Brett Myers - but will give the point here - despite all the on and off the field troubles he has had, I still root for Myers. Buffalo Springfield's "Retrospective" is among my first albums, and I still have it today. Bonus Points to Team Capewood for bringing back some great memories. And for my money "Down by the River" is as good as any song ever recorded - among my friends we refer to it as the "Shot her Dead" song.

Final Score: 6 out 5 with a Bonus added for the Buffalo Springfield reference!

Thanks Cliff, keep up the good work and Go Phils!

Phungo 5 with Capewood's Collections

2009 Phungo #55 Roger Clemens

This weekend the Phils are visiting the great state of Texas and the Houston Astros which gives me the rare chance to check in with a Phils fan for Phungo 5. Today we will hear from Astros/Phils Card Blogger Cliff of Capewood's Collections.

Cliff is a transplanted Philadelphian in the Houston area and this holiday weekend I am sure that is happy to catch both his favorite teams on local TV for a 4 game series.

1) First off how are you since your health scare last year? And have you learned anything simple that the rest of us can keep in mind to keep ourselves healthy?

Thanks for asking. It's been almost a year and I'm doing great. There are no simple answers, unfortunately. The answers sound simple but aren't in practice. Eat good, exercise often and tell you doctor if you're having chest pains. It might not be gas.

2) As an Astro fan, you have seen Brad Lidge go through this before - a great season followed by one where he just falls apart. What can Brad Lidge do for the Phils as a struggling closer?

That's a tough one with Lidge. It seemed to be a good move going to Philly after his relatively poor performance for the Astros in 2007. I have no answers. Madson could fill in as closer but he seems to have hit a bad patch as well.

3) A 2nd Astro Phils question, How is Ed Wade handling things in Houston? He was basically run out of Philadelphia after running out one terrible team after another. But one could argue that the Phils young core is made up of a bunch of Wade draftees.

I don't think Wade has had much of an impact. The Astros right now are a pretty old team. Getting I-Rod at the beginning of the season didn't make them any younger.

4) The Astros are 4 years removed from appearing in the World Series (2005), and several of those players are gone (Lidge, Biggio, Bagwell), How much are those players missed and is any of the new talent like Hunter Pence, and former Phils Michael Bourne capturing the excitement of the fans?

The Astros have been a strange team for a few years now. They get off to a slow start and then finish well. Last year they were the best team in baseball after the All-Star break but had dug themselves too big a hole in the 1st half. This year, it looked like they were going to do it again although this year they got hot before the All-Star break. They played well for awhile after the break but have run out of steam. Of course Bagwell and Biggio are missed, they were great players and the fans loved them. I think they will be a hard act to follow. I was excited when Bourn came to the Astros but his first year in Houston was not good. But he's really turned around this year. Pence has slumped a bit from his rookie season but got off to a good start this year. He's been slumping lately but he's an exciting player and the fans love him. He has more enthusiasm for the game than most of the rest of the team combined.

5) Name a favorite baseball scene or sequence in a non-baseball film (ex not form the Natural, Bull Durham, Major League or the Shoeless Joe Movie)

Yikes! I had to cheat on this and dig around on Google a bit because I couldn't think of anything off the top of my head. After my search I would have to say it is the scene in Good Will Hunting where Robin Williams tells Matt Damon that he gave up a ticket to game 6 of the 1975 World Series because of a girl who walked into the bar that he just had to meet. She eventually becomes his wife.

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Great stuff as always from Cliff, I want to ding him on his first answer - but he is probably right, I was hoping that answer was to go to the ballpark and chow down on Ballpark Franks and overpriced beer. Great choice on the movie. I am a fan of GWH and it is one of the few Robin Williams Roles/Movies that hasn't annoyed me in that last 20 years. 5 out of 5 for Capewood.

Thanks Cliff and enjoy watching the Phightin's this weekend.

This may be the last Phungo 5 for the year or at least till playoff season. The Phils have now played every team in the league and I have gotten around to posing Qs to many a blogger. I hope everyone has enjoyed the feature. For a look back at a previous Phungo 5 click here.

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I am posting a Roger Clemens Phungo card today. Get used to seeing these - It's a 79 card set and I haven't gotten around to posting about half of them. I am sure at this point the Astros would just as soon forget Clemens even though he was a huge part of their 05 NLCS team.

Regardless this is still one of my favorite cards. I have blogged about the game featured inthe photo before. Today marks the 3rd anniversary of that great game on a previous Labor Day weekend when the Astros and Phils faced off. It was a beautiful day, Clemens and Cole Hamels both pitched extremely well and the Phils won in walk-off fashion. All days should be as good.

Phungo Readers Salute - Capewood's Collections

I would like to close out the year by having a series I will refer to as Phungo Readers Salute. This is my way of thanking Phungo readers for stopping by, checking stuff out, and making this whole blog worthwhile.

I will start by recognizing fellow Phils fan Cliff at Capewood’s Collections. Back in July Cliff became the first of my regular readers, which was pretty cool since his site was one that I was familiar with and he was a Phils fan.

Capewood’s Collections is based in the Houston area so in addition to covering the Phils also covers the Astros. Cliff also comes through with music videos, movie reviews, bonsai trees and more. Capewood appeals to my interest in card sites that are more than just card sites. Cliff, thanks for your input and support and keep up the good work over at Capewood's Collection.

1996 Zenith #105 Bob Abreu

Since Capewood keeps us updated on both the Phillies and Astros, I have posted one of the few cards of Bobby Abreu in an Astros uniform. The obvious choice here would probably be Brad Lidge, but I am saving him for a future World Series Profile.

Yes Bobby Abreu was an Astro for about half a season a long time ago and now he is a Yankee. To me at least part of him remains a Phillie. He took a lot of heat in Philadelphia for spotty defensive play and not producing in the clutch. For me the criticism was a bit harsh. He played every day for the Phils for 8+ seasons consistently hitting .300 with a .400+ OBP. He’d also throw in 20 dingers, 100 RBIs and 30 Stolen Bases. Abreu is now a free agent, he spent this past season batting in the 3-Hole for the New York Yankees. I think he will do ok in the market.

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Today we also present the new updated STS! Standings.

PTBNL won Spot The Sig! for the second week in a row, and once again hit the bonus. I sure would like to know how he picked out Russ Martin last week. I don't think I alluded to Martin in a previous post, but I may have.

All that is good for a Shane Victorino Double for PTBNL which scores Jimmy Rollins from third. The run ties PTBNL with Cardboard Junkie for the STS! lead. Victorino advances to third on a stolen base for the bonus. Stats on the Back and Night Owl both get their own stolen bases.

The updated STS! scoreboard appears as follows:.

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 1 Run in - Victorino on Third

Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 1 Run in - Man on First

Stats on the Back - Stinkin Mets - Man on 3rd

Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First

Night Owl - Dodgers - Matt Kemp triumphantly advances to 2nd.

A Cardboard Problem has gotten the Yankees into the game, they remain on Deck, but I would never count out the Bronx Bombers.

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!

Team Phungo is on vacation this weekend and I got bunches of stuff to do to get ready, therefore I am holding the profile portion of the Bob Feller STS! post for Hall of Fame Thursday.