Swag from Paul's Random Stuff

Social Media outlets can suck up a lot of time and for a procrastinator like myself they are quite dangerous. .

However, occasionally something pops on Twitter that gets my attention in a good way.

2015 Topps #302 Martin Prado (Gatorade Variation)

Paul of Paul's Random Stuff was tweeting some 2015T cards and he posted the above card. There are so many variations in 2015T I did not know this one existed. But I am glad the card exists.  

Now one may ask, what does Team Phungo want with a 2015T New York Yankees card of a player that only wore the uniform for about a week.

Well this card, which is a variation of Prado's 2015 base card, is going into my very special Phungo Games Colleciton.

Last September Team Phungo made a special trek up to the Stadium to see Derek Jeter play in his home park one last time. For more details on that game click here.  The Captain had an uneventful night (1-5) but Martin Prado had a terrific game 2-5 with 3 RBI including a game winning single - which led to the Gatorade Bath above.

A Big thanks to Paul for adding this card to my favorite collection!

2015 Topps
I am picking a nit here but as a Yankee Martin Prado played more second base than third. This card is a "Special" card featuring a photo from a specific game in which Prado played second. In Topps defense the bulk of Prado's time with  the D-Backs was spent at third. 


Sources and Links
Index of Phungo Games 
2015 Topps
Baseball-ref

2015 Topps Variation Greg Holland

More complete posting on 2015 Topps in the future but wanted to set this up for folks interested in Variations.

2015 Topps #216 Greg Holland (Variation & Base)

In general I was happy with the look of the cards and the Phillies I pulled. Still haven't really considered the inserts - nothing jumped out at me.

For more information on Variations check with Cardboard Connection

Sources and Links
Phungo 2015 Topps First Look
Cardboard Connection 

2015 Phungo #21 Jimmy Rollins with VARIATIONS

Today our look at 2015 Phungo checks in with Jimmy Rollins

2015 Phungo #21 Jimmy Rollins

This year I elected to continue a feature introduced last year - Hardware. That is how I refer to awards won by different players - For each award card the hardware title is placed above the player name and backlit in bright yellow or gold as I choose to think of it.

The Roberto Clemente award is presented to an MLB player who is noted for their sportsmanship and contributions both on and off the field. The process involves nominations from each team, fan voting, and a select MLB panel which includes Bud Selig, Rob Manfred, and Vera Clemente - Widow of Roberto. This year the vote resulted in a tie between Jimmy Rollins and Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko.

I have made an additional nod to Roberto Clemente here by placing Rollins on card #21 - The number worn by Clemente. I would like to see Topps honor card #21 and #42 (Jackie Robinson) in the same way. Rather than retiring the card number (#7 Mantle) why not give it each year to a deserving player. It would give collectors another discussion point in the hero number conversation.

Unfortunately there is an error on the card. The date on the card is August 19, 2014 - unfortunately this photo was taken on May 18 of 2013. This leads us to....

2015 Phungo #21 Jimmy Rollins (Dodgers Variation)


I originally had a totally different Phils card for Rollins. The Picture was from a game versus Seattle on 8/19/2014. But the photo featured Jimmy in a cap and wasn't really suitable for a traded type card. Once he was traded I found this non-cap pix and quickly made up the above Dodgers card.

I then took the pix and inserted it into the Phillies template, but I forgot to change the date. Beyond the border differences the cards are still slightly different in the way the photo is framed. Check Jimmy's left ear. It touches the frame on the Phillies card but does not on the Dodgers card.


Parallels

For some reason I am still a sucker for parallels. Target is my desired pickup point for retail largely because they have the red border parallels, which match up better for the Phils team colors than Walmart Blue.

However, creating cards for the Phungo Sets makes me realize how flooding a set with parallels is just plain lazy. It is pretty much as simple as taking the A card and point and clicking on the boarder - make less of the B card and call it a hit.

Regardless I am a sucker for parallel cards and trading cards and two weeks from now when 2015 S1 debuts I will come up with some excuse to go to Target and I will seek out the package with the extra Red parallel cards. sigh

Sources and Links
2015 Phungo Checker
Jimmy Rollins Player Collection Index 
MLB
Cardboard Connection

1964 Phillies @ 50: Alex Johnson 1966 Topps #104

A few weeks ago we put together a couple of postings featuring Dick Groat. Today as part of our 1964 Phillies series we are taking a look at one of the players sent to the Cardinals when Groat came over to the Phillies.

1966 Topps #104 Alex Johnson

As a rooking 21 year old Alex Johnson played 43 games for the 1964 Phillies. He Debuted on July 25^th as the fightins’ starting left fielder. Johnson went 3 for 4 that day foreshadowing the fine season he would have. He batted .303 with 4 homers in 109 ABs – good enough for an OPS+ of 135.

Alex Johnson remained with the Phillies through 1965 before being traded following the season. Once again he batted well hitting .294 with modest power (8 HR, 20 XBH, 120 OPS+, 1.0 WAR). 

Following his stint with the Phillies Johnson spent the rest of his career as a journeyman outfielder. His best year was with the Angels in 1970, he made his only all-star team and led the AL in hitting.

Johnson was an enigmatic player with a quick bat. His batting average always hung around .300 and he could put up Home Run numbers in the teens. But he appears to have had little or no interest in being a baseball player.  

His talent kept him in the majors for 13 years. However, it was with eight different clubs, never lasting more than 2 seasons with any single team. According to his SABR biography by Mark Armour there are numerous accounts of him being benched for various reasons. Johnson appears to have been a contrarian only hustling when he pleased, alienating both teammates and coaches.  

Johnson's on field issues may have only hinted at greater problems for the ballplayer.  

During the 1971 season Johnson found himself on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Unfortunately it was for all the wrong reasons. There was a series of incidents that led to Johnson suspension by the Angels.

Marvin Miller and the players union filed a grievance which was won by Johnson. He was found to be emotionally disabled. Miller successfully argued that Johnson should have been place on the DL rather than suspended. 

Afterwards Johnson was traded to the Indians, he hung on with various teams including his hometown Tigers who gave him his final release at age 34. 

A 1998 SI article by Jeff Pearlman found Alex Johnson was running a truck repair company  business that was started by his father. Johnson remained bitter about his time in baseball, but was happy to continue the family business.  

1966 Topps
No you are not experiencing double vision, I have not double posted the Alex Johnnson card above. They are actually two different cards. Topps now routinely produces variations across several of it's products, but back in 1966 it was either to correct an error or to add a piece of updated information.  

1966 Topps #104 Alex Johnson (b-sides)

Looking closely at the bottom of the flip of each card one can see that there is an extra line on the bottom of the card in the fore. The addendum mentions the trade of Johnson to the Cardinals. The card also has moved the Topps Chewing Gum (T.C.G) copyright. The card without the trade is somewhat more rare than the traded variation.  Late last year I picked up the scarcer no-trade version via auction for $5.48 - close to half that cost was shipping. 

The 1966 Topps Dick Groat (one of many players involved in the Alex Johnson trade) has the same variations and resides right next door to Alex Johson in the Binder at #103. 

For more information on Alex Johnson and this card consult Jim from Downingtown's 1966 Topps Blog 


1964 Philies Series
Dick Allen (65 Topps)
Dick Allen John Hernstein RC (64 Topps) 
Dennis Bennett
Johnny Callison
Tony Gonzalez
Alex Johnson
John Herrnstein (65 Topps)
Chris Short
Tony Taylor
Frank Thomas    
Bobby Wine 
   
Sources
baseball-ref
The Year of the Blue Snow: The 1964 Phillies
Sports Illustrated - Jeff Pearlman 
LA Times - Chris Foster
Bob Lemke's Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards   

2013 Topps #US313 Mariano Rivera (SP Variation)

The recently retired Mariano Rivera turns 44 today. To mark the occasion Team Phungo is celebrating by taking a look at one of the Sandman's Short Printed Variations from this years Topps Update set.

 

2013 Topps #US313 Mariano Rivera (SP Variation)

There are actually 2 variations for this card. There are so many variations in 2013 Topps that I didn't realize that this card was a SP right away. This is a bit annoying but I am still glad to pick up the minor hit. It is a good looking card with a nice shot of Rivera entering his last all-star game - The partially show All-Star game logo helps highlight the photo.

Variations
The base version of this variation card has gone as low as $3.52 with 6 auctions concluding under $6.  Auctions for this card have ended as high as $19.49.

SSP
The Super Short Print version of the card which shows Rivera on the same night just emerging out of the Citifield Bullpen door has gone for a high of $142 and a low of $47 

Sources
Cardboard Connection
ebay.com
baseball-ref.com

At least one 2012 Topps Heritage Variation Has a Precedent

I doubt there will be any discussion, sarcasm, or vitrol regarding the 2012 Topps Heritage Variations...

But at least one of the variations does have precedent:



1963 Topps #29 1962 Rookie Stars
1963 Topps #29 1963 Rookie Stars


For more information regarding these cards click here

For more information on the 2012 Topps Heritage variations/errors/SPs check Cardboard Connection.

Old School Phillies Variations - 1963 Topps

There have been a lot of blog talk regarding the 2010 Topps variations with the Yankees Parallel versions, and the Lincoln Cards.

As you know Topps has had variations for ages, but back in the 60s these were more often honest mistakes corrected during subsequent print runs.

This all brings us to the Phungo Vintage Phillies Collection. Every once in a while happy accidents occur. I am in the process of collecting the entire Topps Run of Phillies cards through 1980. Most of my focus has been on the 1952-1974 cards so far. Until recently one of the card that I did not have was the 1963 #29 Rookie Stars card.

Then in roughly the same week, due to a bookkeeping snafu, I ended up with a duplicate of this card. One from a trade with Rhubarb_Runner and one via auction. For a second I was a little dismayed about the mix-up, but then I quickly realized that I had both ends of a variation!

1963 Topps #29 1962 Rookie Stars Ellis/Culp/Gonder/Boozer
1963 Topps #29 1963 Rookie Stars Ellis/Culp/Gonder/Boozer

Near as I can tell the cards match except for the year. The 1962 card is the "error" as the rest of the Rookie Quads in the 1963 set all specify 1963 rather than 1962.



1963 Topps #29 1962 Rookie Stars Ellis/Culp/Gonder/Boozer (b-side)
1963 Topps #29 1963 Rookie Stars Ellis/Culp/Gonder/Boozer (b-side)

The erroneous "1962" carries over to the flip-side of the card. Other than the title line the cards are identical.

I believe this is the first year that Topps featured the multi-player rookie cards. And this is the first of the card type in the set making this Topps first ever muli-player rookie card. Card #54 in the set is also a rookie card and also has the 1962/1963 variation.

For whatever reason the higher numbered multi-RCs are titled "1963 Rookie Stars" on the back rather than "1963 Rookie Parade". One of these cards is the #537 Pete Rose Rookie, which is on the heavy hitters of forged cards.