Cup of Coffee: 2001 Topps Hugh Alexander

Cup of Coffee: 2001 Topps Hugh Alexander

Earlier this month Major League Baseball honored the film "Field of Dreams" by playing a game in Dyersville Iowa near the films shooting location. 

August 24th marks the 20th anniversary of significantly less noteworthy baseball film "Summer Catch" 

I have never watched the film but have seen bits and pieces. From what I gather Catch was basically a love story set during the Cape Cod League. 

Of interest to us at Phungo HQ is that one of the characters in the film was based on Cup of Coffee player, Hugh Alexander. The character is a Phillies scout in the film played by John C McGinley (Perry Cox on Scrubs).

John C McGinley (right) as Hugh Alexander, the other guy is some dude named Hank Aaron. 

At the age of 19 Hugh Alexander got into 7 games with the 1937 Cleveland Indians. Unfortunately during the off-season Alexander was involved in an accident while working on an oil well, the accident cost him his hand. His brief baseball career was over as well. 

The Indians stepped up and hired Alexander as a scout. Alexander would excel as a scout discovering several players including Don Sutton, Allie Reynolds, Davey Lopes, Steve Garvey, and Dale Mitchell.

Canvas

I went with the year of the "Summer Catch" release for the cup design, 2001 Topps. There are very few card issues for Alexander's playing year, 1937. The circled numbers below the card represent the five players mentioned above, 6 - Garvey, 21 - Reynolds, 15 - Lopes, 20 - Sutton, 3 - Mitchell. Alexander's glove is show extending out of frame to symbolize the hand he lost. 

Series 2

This is the 9th and final card of Series 2, we will be taking a few weeks off and returning with Series 3 in the fall. If you have an idea for a future Cup of Coffee subject please let us know. 

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

imdb

baseball-ref

ANNIVERSARY: 40 Years ago Davey Lopes Steals 38 consecutive Bases

Forty Years Ago Davey Lopes was in the middles of Consecutive Successful Bases Stolen Streak that Reached a total of 38.

1976 topps #4 Dave Lopes Most Consecutice Successful Stolen Base Attempts

Lopes first tied and than broke the record or 31 (previously held by Hall of Famer Max Carey) on a pair of steals during a Dodgers 2-0 Victory against the Mets on August 9th.  The latter of the two stolen bases was a steal of third which led to a run as Lopes scored later via a Wild Pitch. Both Stolen Bases were recorded off the battery of Jerry Koosman and Jerry Grote.

1976 topps #4 Dave Lopes Most Consecutice Successful Stolen Base Attempts (b-side - click to make more readable)

The flip side of the 1975T Lopes Record Breaker has a nice detailed listing of the stolen bases during Lopes' streak, although there is a discrepancy between Topps and Baseball-ref. According to Topps the Record Breaking Steal (The latter of the two August 9th Steals versus the Mets/Koosman) the base listed is 2nd - Baseball-ref had the base as 3rd, after advancing on a sacrifice bunt by Lee Lacy.

The Catcher that finally gunned down Davey Lopes was Future Hall of Famer Gary Carter in the 12th inning of a 14 inning 5-3 Expos Victory over the Dodgers. Of course this came after Lopes had already stolen 3 bases off of Carter (who was a Rookie at the time) earlier in the game. The Pitcher on the mound when Lopes was caught was Dale Murray, the tag was applied by current Phillies Manager Pete Mackanin.

40 Years Ago Today
On August 22nd 1975 Lopes recorded steal #35 in a 3-1 Loss to the Expos. It was a steal of 3rd base off of Pitcher Dan Warthen and Catcher Barry Foote - Two Expos who were traded to the Phillies in 1977 for Wayne Twitchell and Tim Blackwell.

Consecutive Stolen Base Record
Lopes held the record for close to 14 years until it was broken by Vince Coleman on June 24 1989.

Coleman extended the record to 50 prior to being caught on July 28 1989. His streak was also ended by the Expos, This time the Montreal Battery consisted of Pascual Perez and Nelson Santovenia.

Sources and Links
1976 Topps Record Breaker Index
Baseball Almanac
Cardinals Journal - John Snyder 
Baseball-ref

Farewell Davey Lopes

Davey Lopes, October 2008

Last week the Phillies announced that they could not come to terms with First Base Coach Davey Lopes on a deal for 2011. I have no idea what the salary of a first base coach is versus a hitting coach. The Philly Inquirer Reported that Lopes said he was not asking hitting coach money - well in my opinion he should of been and to me, he would of been worth it.

Lopes turned the Phillies raw players like Shane Victorino into a very efficient base running machine.

Perhaps he wore out his welcome with the players in Philadelphia, but the margin for the top teams in the NL East and beyond is very slim. I would hate to see Lopes go to a competing squad and flip what little edge the Phils have.

I could see Lopes returning to the Dodgers organization - They are going coaching changes and should be a lot closer to winning then they were in 2010. Lopes working with some of their young talent could be a very helpful.

Check here for a brief 2008 commentary on Lopes (and Victorino)

Game 3 Phillies @ Dodgers

1972 Topps #520 Larry Bowa
1979 Topps #290 Davey Lopes

Today the Phillies head out to LA to face the Dodgers in the enemy territory of Chavez Ravine. Davey Lopes spent the first 10 years of his Major League career manning 2nd base for the Dodgers. During that same era, Larry Bowa was playing Shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies. Currently they have swapped teams for their post playing career work. There is some symmetry in their coaching postions too. Lopes has moved to the first base coaches box which is just to the left of 2nd base, while Bowa has moved to the right of shortstop and into the third base coaches box. I loved Bowa as a player but I am cheering for Lopes' new team this weekend. Hopefully Davey can help the Phils runner steal some bags just like he did for so many years at Dodger Stadium and come back to Philadelphia as a member of the National League Champs.

Sources & Links (added 2020 0108)
Larry Bowa Index

2008 07 27 Braves @ Phillies - Another Victorino

Phils take 2 of 3 crazy games from the Braves. All the games were tight late - The Braves scored 7 in the top of the 9th on Friday to blow open what was a 1-0 nailbiter. But Phils put together a pair of big comebacks on Saturday and Sunday to win the series.

Plus - Two comeback wins. The offense finally shows up.

Minus - The Phils defense lets down Cole Hamels as he throws in a clunker, giving up 9 runs over 3 2/3 innings. Philadelphia Daily News is reporting that Chase Utley has a nagging hip injury.

Meh - Philadelphia Soul win the Arena Bowl.

On Deck - The woeful Washington Nationals. The Nats seem to always play the Phils tough, regardless it's time for the Phils to rack up some wins against the bottom of the Division. Team Phungo will be paying a visit to Nationals Stadium on Thursday for the 3rd game of the set.

Scoop - Phillies Nation is reporting that J A Happ was removed in the 3rd inning of Sunday game. Sounds like he may be a trade chip.

Phungo Commentary - The Shane Victorino/Brian McCann collision perks my interest into Davey Lopes and his style of play. Lopes influence on the Phils success has been immense. Prior to Lopes the Phils could steal bases but not at the success rate they do currently. In 2006 (pre-Lopes) the Phils SB/CS numbers were 92/25 (79%, +67) then the Phils brought in Lopes to coach first and the numbers for 2007 were an incredible 138/19 (87%, +119) - This year that trend continues 87/13 (87%, + 74)

Lopes has made Shane Victorino into a great base-stealer. When Victorino first came to the Phils (a two time rule 5) he was pretty raw and didn't know how to use his speed - now he is a constant threat and rarely gets caught.