2016 Topps first Phillies Card: #237 Carlos Ruiz

There are two Phillies on the current roster that were on the 2008 World Series Championship team Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz.

2016 Topps #237 Carlos Ruiz

The first Phillies Card we pulled from 2016T was this nice looking one of Carlos Ruiz. The emphasis on action shots has been great for catchers. In a run of pitching and batting photos the pictures of catchers often stand out - and this one is not an exception.

In fact this may end up being the best catcher card in 2016T S1. There are bigger catchers like Buster Posey but I will take this shot over any I have seen. 

Guess What Day it Is
One issue I have with the tight shots in recent Topps is it makes it hard to play “Guess the Game”. Many of the pictures give so few clues as to the location that they could be anywhere, a ballgame, a studio, or on Mars.

However, we now have access to Getty Images!

For me scouring Getty for the matching picture isn’t as much fun as identifying an opposing player in the background and cross-referencing their game dates to figure out the exact moment a photo was snapped. Regardless after a little searching we were able to find the matching image on Getty. The Photo of Ruiz was taken during a Phillies Yankees contest on June 24, 2015. It was a 10-2 Phillies loss which was typical of last years squad. Ruiz caught Cole Hamels that day and went 0-4.

The photo may have been taken in the 2nd inning of the game on an attempted sacrifice by Didi Gregorious. Unfortunately for Carlos Ruiz and the Phillies Gregorious did better than a sacrifice as he reached first on the bunt and was credited with a single. Ruiz only had one assist in the game and it was later in that 2nd inning as part of a 5-2-5-1 rundown which put out a runner from third base (who happened to be Gregorious). Judging from the angle of the shot and Ruiz’s posture, I am guessing this is not during the run down.

Those are the two possibilities I see in the Play by Play. Outside of the recorded PxP a third possibility is that Ruiz is fielding a ball that was ruled foul. 

According to Getty the Photo was shot by Jim McIsaac, a busy sports photographer who appears to specialize in Hockey and be an avid bobblehead collector.

Sources and Links
2016 Topps Index
2016 Topps Phillies
Getty Images
Baseball-ref
Instagram @FourStanleyCups (Jim McIsaac)
Zoominfo Jim McIsaac

Phun Cards 1994 Topps #180 George Brett - Work of Art?? and a PHUNGO CHALLENGE!!!

When I first got back into collecting, I (and many others) read Ben Henry's The Baseball Card Blog.  He introduced me to the concept of Baseball Cards as more than just Cards, but as "Tiny Works of Art".  

This 1994 Topps Card of Hall of Famer George Brett falls into the Work of Art category for me. 

1994 Topps #180 George Brett

The 1994 Topps Set is rarely discussed.  I am sure there are several reasons for this.  1994 is the year of the big baseball strike and the 2 time reigning World Champions were a foreign team, the Toronto Blue Jays.  

Looking at it today it is a solid design.  There is a subtle Home Plate frame to the photo which likely appears no more perfectly on any card then on this one.  It proportions at a perfect angles to the giant Kauffman Stadium scoreboard. 

I generally dislike pictures from behind the player, but the scorebard and the HoF starpower of George Brett make this on and interesting shot.  George Brett, The Scoreboard, and a complimentry design put this card in the Work of Art category for me.

Phungo Challenge

There is so much information it is almost too easy for a Phungo Challenge but I will put it out there for all you Baseball-Reference freaks - What game is the photo from?  My scan is a bit blurry - you may want to check the Baseball Card Database image.  

For The Collector

I am pretty sure this 1994 Topps Card can be found in a Dime Box.  Not bad for a work of art.  Brett's Topps Rookie Card is from the 1975 set.  The Low recent ebay auction for the card closed at $9.50 shipped - decent condition although a very dinged up corner.  There were about a half dozen auctions for the card that ended at $15 and under.  A BVG Gem Mint 9.5 card came in at a whopping $2530.25.  Dozens of Good and Up Slabs sold for between $100 and $200. 

The lowest price card auto I found for Brett was $26.55 for a sticker auto 2004 SP Prospects (#d/50).  That was the lone auto produced by a major manufacturer that was going for under $40.  It was a bit disappointing to see that none of the George Brett Auto Cards that I saw were particularly nice looking. 

Links & Sources
Phungo George Brett HoF Index
ebay