CTB: 1998 Topps #334 Andruw Jones (ASR)

Our Second of Three 1996 HOF Profiles featuring inductees who were also honored on Rookie Cup Cards is of Phillies Nemesis Andruw Jones.  

1998 Topps #334 Andruw Jones (image swiped from tcdb)

On this card we have a quality action shot of Andruw just prior to contact - something that would result in hits 1933 times during Jones 17 year career (2541 hits as a professional). His Career Home Run totals were even more impressive 434 MLB/550 Pro. 

Notice on the card that Jones is wearing the Jackie Robinson 50th Anniversary Patch that all players wore during the 1997 season. Andruw finished 5th in the Rookie of the Year Voting - an Award that has been named after Jackie Robinson since 1987.  Nice seeing Two Hall of Famers represented on a rookie cup (keep reading there's more!) 

Rookie Cup Credentials 

Before his 1997 rookie campaign even started Andruw Jones was already a World Series hero who hit a Pair of Home Runs vs the Yankees, albeit in a losing effort. 

To earn his ROY votes Andruw Jones played a full NL season in 1997 with 18 HR, 70 RBI but only a .231 AVG (93 OPS+ / +3.3 WAR) which was similar to the 3 Cup Team outfielders - Jose Cruz Jr (26/68/.248, 101/+2.2), Jose Guillen (14/70/.267, 82/-3.3). Mike Cameron has a Snub Beef (14/55/.259, 109/+4.4) as does Vlad SR (.302 BA, 117 OPS+). In fact the BBWAA ranked Guerrero ahead of Guillen by a handful of votes on the NL side and Cameron received more AL votes then Guillen did within the NL bracket.  

Flip

1998 Topps #334 Andruw Jones (b-side image also tcdb)   

First we want to look at the demographic info and note that Andruw Jones was the 3rd MLB player from Curacao, after Hensley Meulens (1989) and Ralph Milliard (1996). In the 3 decades since Andruw Jones the number of players born in Curacao has grown to 17 (that is a 560% increase for a territory that had ZERO players 40 years ago)

Moving down the text mentions Jones as both an Offensive and Defensive threat. And he was - Andruw just missed the 20/20 targets during his rookie campaign but did hit them 3 times in his early career. In the Outfield he earned 10 gold gloves. 2005 was his standout season where he led the league in HR & RBI with 51 & 128 respectively (+6.7 WAR) good enough for 2nd place in the NL MVP voting (Albert Pujols 41/117/.330 +8.4 WAR) 

We also get a quote from Andruw Jones' Manager Bobby Cox that invokes the name of another well known CenterFielder, Joe DiMaggio. If you're keeping score at home that is 4 HOF on a single Rookie Cup Card Andruw, Jackie, Bobby Cox (as a Manager) and Joe D. 

Andruw Jones HOF Index

1998 Topps #334 (Rookie Cup)

2001 Topps Stadium Club Pat Burrell (Game Dated Card/Phungo Challenge)

Sources and Link

1998 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Index

TCDB

National Baseball Hall of Fame

Baseball-Ref

Welcon to the Hall of Fame Vladimir Guerrero: 2001 Topps Gallery Heritage #GH10

Today's HOF Recognition posts goes to Vlad Guerrero. He is going in as an Angel but I will think of him more as an Expo. For this reason our Vlad HOF posting features the following Expos card.

2001 Topps Gallery Heritage #GH10 Vladimir Guerrero (image swiped from trading card db)

Topps Gallery returned this past fall and I found the cards pretty meh. For me the apex of  Topps Gallery is the 1965T Homage insert that was produced in 2002. Guerrero is the last of the 10 offerings in the set.

Bill Purdom
The artist responsible for the Guerrero portrait above is the late Bill Purdom who appears to have done the artwork for all ten cards in the set. The paintings are all well done and in my opinion superior to anything I have seen in the latest edition of Gallery.

Purdom has done a number of really cool pieces for various baseball entities including the Hall of Fame. His Phillies related subjects include Robin Roberts and Mike Schmidt during the teams 1976 season when the club hosted the All-Star Game

Mike Schmidt Lithograph by Bill Purdom

During the 1976 season the Phillies celebrated the Bicentennial, among the teams various decorations to honor the occasion is the Happy Birthday sign in Left-Centerfield.

1965 Topps
In addition to the original artwork I like how Topps has brought forward the classic 1965 Design. The colors on the card are really sharp and really pop off the cardboard.

Flip

2001 Topps Gallery Heritage #GH10 Vladimir Guerrero (b-side - image swiped from trading card db)

The design carries through to the back. The blue is significantly brighter than on the originals but that doesn't bother me. 

2001 Topps Gallery Heritage Checklist
GH1 Todd Helton
GH2 Greg Maddux
GH3 Pedro Martinez
GH4 Orlando Cepeda
GH5 Willie McCovey
GH6 Ken Griffey, Jr.
GH7 Alex Rodriguez
GH8 Derek Jeter
GH9 Mark McGwire
GH10 Vladimir Guerrero

I am thinking of building this Set and this posting will be an index for those cards. As things stand it appears this set will have 7 or 8 Hall of Famers. Todd Helton who debuts on the 2019 ballot  and A-Rod are the "Maybe" players while Mark McGwire appears doubtful.

Peanut Gallery
Dime Boxes 1998 Topps #5 and others (top 5)
Orioles Card o The Day 2011 Bowman #167
Sports Card Info 1995 Bowmans Best Refractor #2
Padrographs Custom

Vladimir Guerrero Index
1998 Topps #5 HOF Candidacy / Game Dated 1997 05 21
2012 Heritage #108  Pack Break
2009 UD Rivals #R9 Pack Break

Sources and Links
The Art of the Game
Andrews Mortuary
Tom's Old Days
ebay/brotherly love memorabilia
2014 Heritage/1965 Topps Index
Trading Card Database

2017 Hall of Fame Candidate: Vladimir Guerrero

Getting to the 2017 HoF Candidates a little late this year. There are at least a half dozen players I would like to profile including a couple of prominent players who spent time with the Phillies.

We open this series with a longtime member of the Phillies division rival Montreal Expos, Vladimir Guerrero.

1998 Topps #5 Vladimir Guerrero 

Vlad deserves HOF nod just for this card alone. One of my gripes about recent Topps is the plethora of action shots. While 1998T might not have the best design, at least there is some interesting variations in the photography.

1998 Topps #5 Vladimir Guerrero (b-side)

The text on the back discusses a play early in Vlad Guerrero's career where he scored from second on a sacrifice fly. The run gave the Expos a 2-1 lead versus the Braves and future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. Unfortunately for Montreal Ugueth Urbina would later give up a 2 Run Homer to Keith Lockhart which would give Atlanta a 3-2 victory. 

Regardless the rare 2 base sacrifice score gave us a glimpse into the talent of the young Vlad Guerrero. The fly out came off the bat of Doug Strange who hit the ball to Right Fielder Michael Tucker.

The play was featured on a 1998 Stadium Club Card

 1998 Stadium Club #3 Vladimir Guerrero (image swiped from Play at the Plate)

A nice analysis of this card was done by the fine crew at Play at the Plate (who else).  I may need to add this card to the Phungo Collection just as a companion for the 1998 Base card.

Phungo Verditct

HOF


The scoring from 2nd on a Fly Out is the kind of hustle that makes one want to cast a Yes HoF vote.

Sources and Links
Vladimir Guerrero HOF Index
Play at the Plate
2017 HoF Candidates Index
Phungo Game Dated Index
Baseball-ref
Check Out My Cards 

2012 Topps Value Pack

Value Boxes are back for 2012.  I have limited my pickups for 2012 to a Hanger and Rack for Flagship and a Blaster and a Rack for Heritage. 

With that few cards in the collection, I figured adding a Value Box would not dupe up to many cards I had already picked up.  The Box went for $15.10 at a big box store - (14.99 +/- PA Sales Tax/Store Discount Card)     


Highlights

2012 Topps Heritage #296 Jim Thome

2012 Topps #259 Michael Stutes
2012 Topps #307 Vance Worley
2012 Topps #98 Dominic Brown

The Worley is a dupe.  I also got a dupe of the NL Pitching leaders in one of my Heritage packs.

2012 Topps Heritage #279 Matt Kemp
2012 Topps Heritage #108 Vladimir Guerrero

Both Michael Taylor RCs (#253, #407)

2012 Topps Inserts - Of course the Thome here is my favorite.  The Koufax is the bonus GG.  Golden Greats is probably my favorite of the 2012 inserts, so getting 2 of those is a bonus for me.   

2012 Topps Bonus Chrome #MBC1 Mickey Mantle

The Stats

Flagship
30 Base Cards including 3 Phils Base Cards
2 Golden Greats (Ripken, DiMaggio)
1 Golden Giveaway (Braun) 
1 Timeless Talents (Molitor-Braun)
1 Golden Moments (Ellsbury)
1 Gold Standard (Seaver)
1 Walk Off (Thome)
1 Gold Futures (Kimbrel)
1 87 Mini (Bourn) 
1 GoldRefractor thingy (Juan Nicasio - Rockies)  
Note - I don't believe packs are retailer specific, so there are no red or blue parallels.    

Heritage
16 Base (1.5 Phils - Thome, NL pitching leaders)
2 Floating Head Stickers (Starlin Castro, Nelson Cruz)  

Bonus
1 Golden Giveaway (Koufax)
Mickey Mantle Chrome teaser Card


For The Collector - Value Box??? 


Click here for yesterday's dollar cents analysis of what is in a Topps Value Box.

Sources and Links
Vladimir Guerrero HOF Index

2009 UD Series 1 First Pack and STS Profile - Gorman Thomas

Congrats to Laurens of Card Buzz who knocked out the first Homer of the Spot the Sig! season for identifying Gorman Thomas as this weeks Autograph - more on Gorman below.

For the Bonus the first pack of 2008 UD Series One yielded the following:

42 Ellsbury

75 Rich Hill
91 Contreras
56 Wakefield
187 Joe Saunders

112 Fausto Carmona
145 Josh Willingham
110 Johnny Peralta
444 A's Team Leaders
R9 Rivals Angels v Dodgers Vlad v ManRam

4925 UD Documentry BOS-ALCS Gm 5 Red Sox 8 Rays 7
UD Coupon
481 Reds Checklist - Brandon Phillips
417 George Kottaras
208 Blake DeWitt

259 Pudge
242 Jose Reyes
225 Denard Span
312 Peavy
363 Carlos Pena

346 Adam Kennedy

42 Ellsbury was the low card (closest Night Owl 35) and 481 Brandon Phillips Reds Checklist was the High (closest Nachos Grande 476)

I found the Rivals card amusing. Yes, the Dodgers and Angels may be considered rivals, but I am not sure that Manny Ramirez has ever faced the Angels while wearing a Dodgers uni. Probably should have saved this for Sloppy Topps - er I mean Upper Dreck.

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Gorman Thomas was the first draft pick by the Seattle Pilots in 1969, The Pilots would move to Milwaukee where Thomas became a fan favorite and a heck of a power threat. Of course his power numbers were not without problems. Stormin' Gorman struck out at a prolific rate. Even in a career year like 1979 when he hit 45 homers and 123 RBI he struck out 175 times and batted only .244. It is no surprise to a Phillies fan that the active player that (according to Baseball-Reference) Thomas compares most closely to is Pat Burrell. As a kid I always thought of him as the American Leagues Dave Kingman. I remember reading on the back of a baseball card one year that his BA was .198 for the season and thinking how can this guy stay in the league.

The Home Runs were not the only reason Thomas was popular in Milwaukee. In a town famous for manufacturing fine adult beverages, he was known as an avid partier who would join a tailgate after (and before) games. I couldn't find any mention on the Brewer's website but apparently Gorman Thomas is the namesake for Gorman's Grill at Miller Park and can sometimes be spotted there for Home Games.

I gave this Auto a Home Run - Gorman Thomas is not an active player, not a hall of famer, and while he did lead the league in Homers a couple of times, I am sure not many people think of him outside of Milwaukee. The signature isn't awful sloppy, but certainly not easy to make out. The card is from the rather nice looking 2004 Fleer Greats of the Games Series which features autos of many great players from the past. The autos are on stickers but they are clear which helps to give the appearance of on card autos. In the scan, I left in a part of the border as a hint to the set this card came from. I am curious if this is how Card Buzz IDd the sig or if he recognized the auto.

Here are the STS! standings after 7 innings.

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 9 Runs - bases empty

Night Owl - Dodgers - 3 Runs in man on 2nd

Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 3 Runs in - bases empty

Card Buzz - Angels - 2 runs in on Vlad Guerrero Home Run! Bases empty.

Stats on the Back - Mets - 1 Run in - Man on 3rd
Nachos Grande - Reds - 1 Run in. Man on First

Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First

A Cardboard Problem - Yankees - man on first.

Covered in Wrappers - Cardinals - On Deck

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party - you just may find yourself with a stack of cards come spring training!

Sources and Links
Vladimir Guerrero HOF Index

2008 11 02 - Card Show @ Concord Mall, Wilmington DE

To celebrate the Phillies World Series victory I hit the card show at the Concorde Mall outside of Wilmington Delaware last weekend. I perused several dime boxes, here are some of the Highlights.

2008 Topps UH Gold #UH220 Geoff Jenkins #0033/2008
1983 O-Pee-Chee #350 Robin Yount

I picked up bunches of Phillies and some cards of Hall Of Fames like Robin Yount. The Jenkins card was a particular surprise as it was out of the recently released Updates and Highlights.

I also got some some good looking star inserts of players like Vlad, and Griffey.

2000 UD Ultimate Victory #86 Ken Griffey
2002 Topps Gallery Heritage #GH10 Vladimir Guerrero

The Griffey Foil doesn't look good on the scan but is a sharp card. I really like the Gallery Heritage cards and will keep my eyes open for more of these.

I picked up a half dozen cards from last years Wal-Mart Trading Card History. This is a set I keep looking for on ebay and was happy to find a couple at the show. As usual I picked up some Heritage cards of various Stars like Bernie Williams from several different sets Bowman, Topps and UD Vintage.

2007 Topps Wal-Mart #WM6 Greg Maddux
2002 Bowman Heritage #278 Bernie Williams

The best for me was finding thirty 08 Topps inserts in a dime bin including 20+ All-Star Rookie Inserts like the Strawman. I also picked up a couple of Fleer Flair from different years - Always a favorite of mine.

1993 Flee Flair #154 Mike Mussina
2008 Topps All-Star Rookie #AR1 Darryl Strawberry

Obviously I was pleased with all my nickel and dime box finds. Filling out the 08 inserts was pretty awesome. I have also been working on the 1959 Topps base set and was able to find 5 commons pretty cheap.

There were maybe 20 or 25 tables with a wide array of items. The dealers had apparently had a good weekend, business likely bumped by the recent Phillies triumph, and certainly did not complain as much as they do at a typical show.

Damages:

$3 - Nickel Box several Hall of Famers, Oddballs, Sporting News All-Stars, Football, AI
$2 - five 1959 Topps Commons
$5 – 31 Phillies commons, 13 Phils Heritage/Retro , plus 02 Donruss Originals Jimmy Rollins, Geoff Jenkins Topps Gold
$10 – Dime Box 08 Topps Inserts, Walmart 07 TCH, Chrome, Allen Ginter, various Vikings, 2004 Team USA
$5 - Top Loaders

$25 for a fun day at the card show, very worthwhile!