Phungo 5 with Night Owl Cards

The Phillies are out on the West Coast which means today we are very fortunate to have Night Owl Cards in the house to discuss the LA Dodgers.  Despite a tough weekend the Dodgers are surprisingly in the playoff mix as we begin the second half of 2012. 

1) Who or What has been the Dodgers Biggest surprise this season? 

Wow. There are so many. Elian Herrerra actually producing for the Dodgers after 9 years in the minors. Chris Capuano being the starting staff's most consistent pitcher. The Dodgers getting rid of Frank McCourt so efficiently (it only took 2 billion!) But I think the biggest surprise is the most obvious one -- that the Dodgers still lead the NL West in mid-July despite anyone who is any good being on the DL.

2) How would you rank the Designs of the last 5 Topps Sets (2008 - 2012)

1. 2009. One of the best ever.

2. 2011. I think I'll like it even more years from now.

3. 2010. I know a lot of people hate it. But I like colorful sets, and that one had color everywhere.

4. 2012. I still don't understand the design. It will always be The Tumor Set to me.

5. 2008. One of the worst ever. The photos were almost an after-thought.

 

3) Will the DH be used throughout MLB baseball in 2013?

(*Gasp*) what have you heard? I hope not. How are we going to collect cards of pitcher's batting if they never get to bat? The wonderful moment of surprise seeing a pitcher hit a home run or a double will be gone forever. I think pitchers batting can be fun.

  

4) Mattlingly or Torre?

They're both ex-Yankees, but for some reason I associate Torre more with the Yankees than Mattingly. I got the impression that Torre was with the Dodgers because it was as far away from the Yankees as he could get. Mattingly just seems like he wants a job and he wants to be good at it. So, I'll say Mattingly.

2012 06 05 Don Mattingly, Dee Gordon, Clayton Kershaw during BP

5) In which journey have you learned more baseball - 1971 or 1975 Topps.

I'd say 1975, only because I'm only 70 cards into the 1971 blog. But it'll probably end up being '71 because there are so many players in that set that I never knew. It was five years before I started following baseball.

 Score Card 

Good work by NOC as always - Glad to see someone else out there that doesn't hate 2010 Topps.   Looking forward to seeing more on the 1971 topps blog.  

Replay - 2012 Phungo 5 Postings
 

Philadelphia Phillies - The Phillies Room. 

Atlanta Braves - Cardboard Junkie 

Miami Marlins - 30-Year Old Cardboard

New York Mets - Paul's Random Baseball Stuff

Chicago Cubs - Wrigley Wax

Pittsburgh Pirates - Pirates Treasure Room

San Diego Padres - Padrographs

Kansas City Roayls - Autograph Cards

Oakland A's - The Fuji Chronicles

Seattle Mariners - Emeral City Diamond Gems 

Texas Rangers - Play at the Plate

Snapshots 2012 06 06 - Dodgers @ Phillies

The Phillies inept offense once again spoiled a brilliant performance by Cliff Lee resulting in a 2-1 loss.  Lee threw 7.2 great innings last night before hanging a curve which Elian Herrera nailed for a 2 run double.  Despite the Phils lack-of-O the game was entertaining and fairly briskly played.  I came away with the old bummer the Phils lost, but still had a great night at the ballpark. 

Snapshots 

Cliff Lee

Lee threw 92 pitches for strikes last night - tough to do in a loss.

Carlos Ruiz 

.358 BA, 8 HR, 32 RBIs and this guy is in 4th place among catchers in the All-Star Voting.  Sounds like The Phils mediocre record is defintely leading to some fan apathy.

Chad Billingsley

Gotta give some credit here.  Billingsley got off to a rocky start but settled down nicely scattering a smattering of hits through the next 6 innings without yielding a run.

Don Mattingly, Dee Gordon, Clayton Kershaw

Everybody's smiling - you would be too if you were part of the team with the best record in baseball. 

Happy New Years - Chinese Style - Year of the Ox - Yogi, Marichal, Schmidt, Donnie Baseball, the Caveman and Joba

January 26th 2009 marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the Ox. To help celebrate the New Year I dined on some Chicken Shu Mai this evening, and I also put together this Chinese New Year Post.

The Chinese Zodiac is based off of a lunar calendar and is marked by Years rather than months. I am sure you have seen this on a place mat in a Chinese restaurant at some point in your life. 2009 is the year of the Ox, as is every 12th year going backwards and forwards. The most recent celebrations of Year of the Ox have been in 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, and 1997.

Here are some Major League Baseball Oxen.

1959 Topps #180 Yogi Berra - Born 1925
1973 Topps #480 Juan Marichal - Born 1937

1987 Topps Kmart #31 Mike Schmidt - Born 1949
1989 Fleer #258 Don Mattingly - Born 1961

2005 Leaf Century Collection #58 Johnny Damon - Born 1973
2008 Topps Foil #596 Joba Chamberlain - Born 1985

There you have a superstar Year of the Ox group of players. According to Dinged Corners "the Ox is patient, tireless in his work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint." So what do you think, do these players demonstrate the qualities of the Ox?

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Also, If you haven't done so already please take the time to vote in the Phungo Jim Rice poll.

Sources and Links
Johnny Damon Index