1974 Topps #47 Dick Ruthven

Dick Ruthven was drafted three times: 1969 (20th round Orioles) 1972 (Twins 1st rd / 8th pick) and finally by the Phillies (1973 Winter #1 overall)

1974 Topps #47 Dick Ruthven

As a highly touted prospect Dick Ruthven made his pro debut at the Major League level. This means no multiplayer RC - Ruthven's first card is the above 1974T and it's a solo. 

It was not a straight line for Ruthven and the Phillies to the World Series. There were a series of trades involving Ruthven which are worthy of their own discussion but the important result was that Ruthven ended up in the rotation for the 1980 Phillies. 

1980 Phillies 
Yes Dick Ruthven was an important member of the 1980 Phillies pitching staff - he was 2nd on the staff (behind Steve Carlton of course) in Wins, Starts, Complete Games, and Innings, however..... I will always remember him for a relief appearance.

Game 5 of the 1980 NLCS

The deciding game of the series saw Phillies closer Tug McGraw blow a save. Dallas Green had already gone through four other pitchers. The staff was shot when Dick Ruthven was called into the 9th inning of the Winner Take All game.  And what does Ruthven do in his only relief appearance of 1980?

Six up Six Down, Phillies Win 8-7.

Ruthven did that on 18 pitches - 2 innings on 18 pitches, including a six pitch inning.

Phungo Original

Phungo Original :1974T Dick Ruthven

I chose this card for our 1980 WSC Phillies sketch for two reasons. 1) it is significant to Dick Ruthven as it is his RC 2) We are clearly focuses on his NLCS Game 5 relief appearance and this shot clearly shows the bullpen in the background. 

 

To further illustrate Ruthven's 1980 NLCS contributions we have made a few minor modifications. The first is adding "RELIEF" to Ruthven's "PITCHER" position. The other change is a fun one, we have added a Bullpen Cart to the image.  The cart is also a nod to a different 1974T card - of a very prominent Phillies Player, Mike Schmidt. 

Dick Ruthven Index

1975 Topps (2008 Game 5 prep)

1975 Topps Mini (2010 Philly Show Swag: mini w/ 1959T Robin Roberts)

Sources and links
1980 Phillies
baseball-ref

Phungo Originals

Card Show Report 2010 09 25 - Philly Show @ Valley Forge Convention Center

This edition of the Philly Show for me was a pretty good one. I had a totally free day, I was only marginally exhausted - I think for the rest of my life I will always be at least a little bit tired. I had a couple of want lists and actually knocked some things off them.

One of the highlights was the 1951 Topps Seminick in the previous post here are some others.


1959 Topps
1959 Topps #147 Cubs Clubbers

I was able to knock out four cards from my 1959 Topps Collection. I am down to my last 42 cards, and any time you can find four in one day at this stage of the game, you have accomplished something. This card which features Hall of Famer Ernie Banks went for the rather nice price of $2


Vintage Phils

1975 Topps Mini #267 Dick Ruthven
1959 Topps #352 Robin Roberts

I already had the Robin Roberts card, but I could not let him set in the $2 bin. I seem to pick up at least one or two 1975 minis at each Philly show. This time it was Dick Ruthven. Typically I only go 25 cents on these, but for Ruthven I went to 50 cents.


1952 Topps and a Vintage HOF

1952 Topps #75 Wes Westrum
1956 Topps #195 George Kell
1942 Topps #117 Sherman Lollar

If you want to start building a vintage collection on the cheap, you may want to look into some Wes Westrum cards. I seem to keep coming across him in budget bins. George Kell is a Hall of Famer that you may not know about - he was a 10 time all-star who played 3b with five different clubs including the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia A's.

All three of these cards went for $2. There is some creasing and the Lollar card has some surface issues, but the price was right. Good Rules of thumb 1950s HOF player for $2 - thats a buy. 1952 Topps fro $2 also a Buy.


Retros


These Retro cards all came out of a Dime box. Pretty much anytime I see a Heritage insert in a Dime box, it goes in the Phungo Collection. Same thing goes for the 2006 Allen & Ginter's. The Tim Duncan is from the 2007+ Topps Hoop set that I have bee slowly building. 2007 BowHer Tex is also a set builder - almost over the 50/50 mark on that set. I just think the Beckham card looks cool. hmm how bout that good day for Chisox Cards I guess.

Game 5 Phillies @ Dodgers

The first game 5 the Philadelphia Phillies ever won was the deciding game of the 1980 NLCS versus the Houston Astros. In 1980 the NLCS was only five games, and the Phillies v Astros match-up is surely one of the all-time classics. The series had everything - it featured future Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt, Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton and Joe Morgan and also Pete Rose - The last four games all went to extra innings - Both teams blew 8th inning leads in the final game.

Since Game 5 was an all hands on deck game both teams played out their benches - and both teams had to send in starting pitchers in relief. I doubt many folks remember that the winning pitcher of the 1980 NLCS game 5 was starter turned reliever Dick Ruthven, who pitched two spotless innings after Tug McGraw had relinquished the lead in the 8th.


Tonight the Phils face the Dodgers in game 5 of the 2008 NLCS. This will be a whatever it takes game for the Dodgers, but if Cole Hamels goes out and gives the Phillies 7 or 8 strong innings it may not matter.