1979 Topps #31 Tom House: Relief Pitcher and Quarterback Coach?

I have started hearing Tom House's name a lot recently.

1979 Topps #31 Tom House

For me, the former major league relief pitcher first reappeared in connection with the Million Dollar Arm film.

More recently House has emerged locally in discussions of the Football team. The Philadelphia Eagles have picked up Tim Tebow as a QB based off of Tom House's endorsement.

The trivia in the Tom House Bio doesn't end with Film and Football. In a 2005 USA Today article he admitted to using steroids as far back as the 1960s. He estimated 6-7 pitchers on every team were experimenting with Steroids or HGH.

On a much happier note, House is also the know for catching Hank Aaron's record break 715th Home Run.

I hope that Tom House is right about Tim Tebow, I find him fun to watch and he is always great press.

I also hope House is wrong about the steroids. 

Sources and Links
Business Insider - Tony Manfred
USA Today

2014 Hall of Fame Candidate: Rafael Palmeiro 1994 Fleer Flair #257

Today we take a look at one of our favorite type of HoF candidates. The convicted PED user.

1994 Fleer Flair #257 Rafael Palmeiro

Rafaiel Palmeiro put up career Hall of Fame numbers for any era, including the steroid era. The simple answer is 500 HR, 3000 Hits = HOF - The complicating factor is that on August 1 2005 Rafael Palmeiro incurred a 10 game suspension from MLB for failing a drug test.

Had Palmeiro's career ended on July 15th 2005, he would likely be in the Hall of Fame today. On that day he singled of Joel Piniro giving him 3000 hits along with 566 Home Runs. Unfortunately for Palmeiro, his career went on for another couple of weeks.

Beyond the Numbers
One of the odder things I remember about the whole Rafael Palmeiro saga is this interview of Bob Costas that took place on the Jon Stewart show.



2005 07 27 Daily Show: Jon Stewart interviews Bob Costas

For the short attention span folks skip to the 2:20 mark. Costas is just playing this for laughs because he is on Comedy Central, but he does mention that Palmeiro is a good guy, he mentions his records, he mentions the senate hearings - "denied steroid use emphatically, and I accept that" (wow) , and then he mentions Viagra as the ultimate Performance Enhancing Drug. This interview took place on July 27, 2005 - Just Five Days prior to the Palmeiro suspension.

Looking inside Palmeiro's largely accumultor type numbers he comes out right near the Average HoF firstbaseman. He was more than just a bat only firstbaseman, he earned a couple of Gold Gloves. Like Craig Biggio who we examined last week, he has no World Championships, but he was on a couple of playoff squads.


Phungo Verdict: HOF - This may be a bit of a surpise Yes Vote, but a little background. A few months ago I saw author/cultural critic Chuck Klosterman speak in Philadelphia. He mentioned that he believed that all criticism (film/music/politics whatever) was "Autobiography". And I agree - So this vote for Rafael Palmeiro is all about me. On July 30 2005 I attended a game between the O's and White Sox. In the 6th inning I was stanging in a busy area of the Right Field portch at Camden Yards. That is when Rafael Palmeiro hit is 569th career Homer. It landed may 30 feet from me. Two days later Palmeiro was suspended, a month later he was out of baseball. It was the last Home Run Palmeiro would ever hit. So yes I am voting for Rafael Palmeiro, just so I can say that I was at the game where he hit his final Home Run. After all it IS all about me.


2014 HoF Candidates  
Craig Biggio HoF 

Todd Jones
Mike Mussina   HoF  
Mike Piazza (2013 Profile) 
Curt Schilling (2013 Profile)  
Mike Timlin  
Larry Walker (phungo vote = HoF)
 .
2013 HoF Rejects (no longer on ballot)

Jeff Conine

Kenny Lofton

Jose Mesa

Sources
Amazon.com
Baseball-ref.com
The Daily Show (Bob Costas/Jon Stewart)
mlb.com
The Baltimore Sun

2012 Phungo Cards #20 Carlos Ruiz and a Rant

I am so depressed about Carlos Ruiz getting the hook for violating the MLB PED policy.  2012 was a tough season all around for Philies fans. Somewhere in that darkness Carlos Ruiz emerged as a rock while the 2012 campaign was crumbling.  Now the good feelings of Ruiz's breakout season have turned into a rotten apple that induces one to want to vomit.

2012 Phungo #20 Carlos Ruiz

I am going thru the process of putting together 2013 Phungo Cards right now. Each year Ruiz is one of the first cards I make. There are several reasons for this.  He was always sort of an under the radar player. He's a catcher so he is in tons of shots. He is a little guy - love rooting for the Davids in sports.  And near as I can tell prior to today, I always thought of him as a pretty decent guy.

The Pix on this Phungo card was taken during a Phils 9-3 victory over the Giants in August of 2010.  #Chooch had a double 2 RBIs and a pair of run scored.  He caught one of the first games pitched by Roy Oswalt as a Phillies Pitcher.  Two months later the same Phillies team would lose to the same Giants team in the NLCS.  For more info on the game on 8/17/2010 click here. 

Rant

First and foremost Carlos Ruiz is the one responsible for his misuse of whatever he was taking, but I want to blame everyone else.

Charlie Manuel - To be honest Charlie's record speaks for itself - He is a good manager with a World Series and NLCS crown under his belt.  My #1 Beef w/ Charlie is a lot different then other folks.  I firmly believe that Manuel sticks with his vets way too much.  Carlos Ruiz is not a big man and he is playing the most grueling position on the diamond.  He has had increasing games every season from 2009-2011.  This would have continued in 2012.  Manuel rarely takes the opportunity to use his stars in the DH role whenever the opportunity is presented in interleague play.  I realize there are issues with DHing a Catcher but it can be done.  Ruiz needs more days off.  Manuel need to honor this.

Ruben Amaro Jr - Amaro is responsible for putting together the roster. I honestly don't really believe in blowing a lot of money on your 2 catcher, but Brian Schneider hit so poorly that it put Manuel in the position where he had to start Carlos Ruiz everyday.

Chase Utley - At the beginning of 2012 the Phils were really short on offense with both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard being out of the lineup.  I am not sure where the communication broke down but Utley seemed to think he would be ready for the 2012 season - he was not. 

Carlos Ruiz was stuck with carrying the offense early in the 2012 season and did a remarkable job. Now we find out that he was taking Aderall. 

Post Mortem 2012

I have likely that bottled up since it became clear the Phillies season was going south way back June, feels good to put pen to paper.  cmon spring training.

 

Phungo Cards JC Romero and a tainted title

It has been an eventful week during the off season for JC Romero. As has been reported JC was suspended for 50 days due to a violation of the MLB substance abuse policy. It has remained somewhat unclear as to what Romero was taking and whether or not he knew the substance was illegal.



2009 Phungo #18 JC Romero
2008 Unknown Unnumbered JC Romero

I am curious if anyone has obtained a license for the commercial card. It only says that the Photo is courtesy of the Phillies. The card is apparently from a religious set of cards. Romero lists two scriptures that have inspired him Matthew 5:16 and Phillippians 4:13. The latter scripture is a little curious considering the predicament that Romero finds himself. Some folks not familiar with the 2008 World Series may dismiss Romero as merely a set up guy, but baseball has changed. JC Romero was an absolute critical piece of the Phillies World Series Vicotry. He won two World Series games and served has a quality left-hander out of the bullpen. The season, playoffs, and Series could have been significantly different without him.

There is definitely something odd about how the whole suspension has transpired and the lawyering done by the Phillies, MLB, and the Players Union. Why was Romero offered a lighter penalty, why did the players union offer up only a muted opposition. Where are the Phillies trainers in this whole situation. It is all pretty sordid. Going forward the Phils will be without Romero for 1/3 of the '09 season and will need Scott Eyre to step up and the rest of the bullpen to step up.

Finally I am getting to the Phungo Card. I have used the designation RP for Relief Pitcher. Remember from the Rollie Fingers post that there is a separate abbreviation, CL for Closer. I elected to crop this picture smaller than the typical frame for Phungo Cards - I most likely took the shot from a distance without using the zoom so Romero came out quite small. The card number is 18 matching Romero's uniform number and the picture was taken on July 6th which was a tough extra innings loss to those stinkin' Mets. It rained a lot that day and the game took forever.