Thorzul Trade!

I asked Thorzul if he could help me out with my want list and he was very accommodating.
I have made a pretty good dent into Spectrum and he sent me five cards from my want list along with a couple of UD Masterpieces.

I have been sporadically collecting both of these smaller UpperDeck sets from 07 and 08. Thanks to Thorzul I am down to my last 25 Spectrum cards. The Masterpieces I haven't gotten quite as far into - but i really like the set. The cards above feature two players traded at the deadline - and they are both players I like, hopefully they can get to the post-season and contribute to their new squads. If your interested I have a somewhat messy version of my Want and Trade Lists in my links and over here.

Here are some of the Phils involved in the trade:

In the midst of the Phils recent freefall, Rollins and Howard found time to go on "The Best Damn Sports Show" and rip Philllies fans. I wasn't fond of the Goudey's after getting a fairly pedestrian first pack last year - consequently I have very few Phillies, this Howard card and an Utley Card that Thorzul sent are both very nice additions to the Phungo collection.


The remaining cards Thorzul sent were a nice mix of Phils Past and Present such as the Jim Thome and Eric Milton cards above and other Phavorites including Ricky Jordan, Mickey Morandini, Wes Chamberlain and John Kruk.

You can check out the Brewers sent over to Thorzul here.

Thanks to Thorzul for these great cards and keep up with the quality posts and fun contests.

Cards that Never Were

When one enters Citizen's Bank Ballpark via the Centerfield gate, you can find the games lineup on Gigantic Baseball cards. An oddity is that the Phils have not bothered to update the card template since 2006. This has resulted in some huge cards that never were. The Photo above is of the cards for Eric Bruntlett, who was with the Astros in 06, and Kyle Kendrick who was still in the Phils minor league system at the time.

2008 08 10 - Pirates @ Phillies - Alumni Weekend

Philllies take 2 of 3 games from the lowly Pirates this weekend. The Sunday game was largely won because of poor play by the Bucos as the Phils meager offense failed to generate much offense.

It was also Alumni Weekend. This weekend the Phils Inducted Juan Samuel into the Wall-of-Fame and Robin Roberts was also honored.

Samuel will be getting a plaque added to the Phillies Wall-of-Fame. Here is Roberts plague.

Bernie Mac - Mr 3000

I am sure you have heard by now that Bernie Mac has died due to complications of pneumonia.

I know little of Bernie Mac's career, but have always loved this promo card from the Mr. 3000 movie.

The reason I posted the back is because it's pretty obvious the person that made the card knew little about baseball - well at least they did not know how to calculate a batting average. See below - the second column of numbers is ABs and the fourth column is hits. It may not be obvious on the 1993-1995 lines but one can easily tell that the 2004 line is wrong - I am pretty sure that 0 for 103 is not a .352 batting average.


Berine Mac - Bernard Jeffrey McCullough (1957-2008)

8-8-8 Olympics

Tonight the Olympics open in Beijing. In addition to rooting for the USA I will also be pulling for Thailand. The two pictures below were taken on a trip to Thailand this past winter.


Both of the photos are of a temple in Ayutthaya. Much of Ayutthaya was burned down by the Burmese in during a 18th century conflict. These temples are among the ruins that remain from that conflict.

2008 08 06 Marlins @ Phillies - Yahtzee!!!

Yes, I did patiently and politely stand with all the kids hoping for a Cole Hamels Autograph and he was good enough to sign this card for me. Wednesday was the annual Police Athletic League Night. PAL sponsers programs for area kids and brings thousands of them out for one Phils game each year - Several Phils were out signing autographs for the occasion including Joe Blanton, Geoff Jenkins, and of course Jamie Moyer.

In Wednesday night's game starter Kyle Kendrick, Chad Durbin, and Ryan Madson shutout the Marlins on five Hits. Kendrick got himself into a couple of jams but was able to pitch out of them. Ryan Howard had a homer and doubled off the top of the wall to pace the offense and the Phils got good glovework out of Eric Bruntlett and Jimmy Rollins.

Plus - I have always been a big "Goodfellas" fan and last night I was presently surprised to get to see Paul Sorvino perform the National Anthem. And he did a phenomenal job, in addition to being an actor he is also an accomplished opera singer, and it definitely showed.

Milestones - Congrats to Mike Cervenak - the 31 year old rookie got his first hit last night - a single through the left-side and he got an RBI on that hit also.

Minus - NONE - A Win, Auto, Pauly, Mets Lose - there are no minuses here.

BlahBlahBlah - On the same day that Gio Gonzalez make his major league debut, news comes out that the Phils were scouting the one-win wonder Freddy Garcia, whom the Phils had recieved for Gonzalez in a trade prior to the 07 season. It does not appear Garcia would be available this year - In much happier news Kris Benson had another good start last night for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.

Around the League - Glad the Yankees don't need that guy that threw 7+ perfect innings for the Bucos on Wednesday.

Off the Diamond - Thailand's first shot at a gold Medal will come in the Women's weightlifting, which by my calculations will be occuring at 9p on Friday night.

Useless Info - Team Phungo pulls back to even (4-4) in Phils games this year.

On Deck - Hoping to catch the Dodgers and their new left fielder for a game the weekend of August 22nd.

2008 04 07 - Phils 8 @ Nationals4: Nationals Park, Washington DC

Once again it was a hot sticky day for the annual Baseball trip. This year's edition featured a trip to Washington DC and their brand new ballpark. The Phils completed a 3 game sweep of the lowly Nats. Kyle Kendrick pitched well and got the win. Jayson Werth and Jimmy Rollins both had home runs.

Plus - As Expected Nationals Stadium is another great new ballpark - With all the amenities, a beautifil field, and great views. The subway drops you off a short block from the Nationals park and gives you a dramatic view of the Stadium entering from beyond center field. The concourses were quite large, but this may have been an illusion due to the less than capacity crowd. The concourses were also nice and bright. For some reason Citizen's Bank seems pretty dim behind the plate area and up the baselines.

Minus - The neighborhood is yet to be developed, so all the excitement was in the park - it appears that there is a lot of construction going on currently and the ballpark area will be significantly different in the coming years. National Stadium really does not cater to the SRO crowd. This is a nice benefit of CBB, that I instantly notice when it is lacking in other ballparks. Regular Joe's like me have no behind the plate access as this is restricted to the Big Spenders. Also there are no ledges for the SRO crowd to set drinks or food on. perhaps they would prefer fans not to linger.

Shenanigans - It appears that part of the original design was to have a view of the Capitol over the left field skyline - but of course that is now obscured a brand new office building near the park.

Meh - I am not sure if there is a signature food in DC. perhaps it was the "Ben's Chili Bowl" - but in late July it is just to hot for chili. Ballpark food and drink prices are always steep - and in DC is right up there with domestic beers at $7.50 and Hot dogs $4.50.

Off the Diamond - DC was a lot of fun. The Phungo Crew gives a thumbs up to the Newseum and a fine Tapas restaraunt in Georgetown called Bodega. As expected driving in DC is a bit of a mess - all those circles and triangles - but Team Phungo survived.

Useless Info - Mark Texiera getting traded out of the league, unfortunately ends his season for my rotisserie squad - which also most likely ends my run at a pennant.

On Deck - Weather permitting I would like to squeeze in a game during the big Marlins @ Phils Series this week.

A view from the cheap seats:



The obligatory picture of the scoreboard displaying baseball card.
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