Sunday Night Baseball: 1960 Topps #132 Frank Howard (RC)

Night Owl Cards posted this card on Twitter this week to mark Frank Howard's Birthday (August 8th, 77th birthday). Tonight we are honoring the same card as the Dodgers host the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday Night Baseball.

1960 Topps #132 Frank Howard

The Sport Magazine 1960 Topps Rookie Star subset runs from card numbers #117-148. This is the 2nd time that Topps and Sport were on-card partners. The 1958 Topps All-Stars subset is a Sport Magazine collaboration. In 1959 Topps switched allegiances to the Sporting News for both the All-Stars subset and the Rookie Stars subset   

 Despite the muted orange background that dominates this sets presentation, I view the design as a winner. The confluence of the patriotic ribbon, bullseyed profile pic, and magazine cred combine to put this subset into the Win column.

And I must also note that Frank Howard wearing his cap slightly askew adds just a touch of cool to the head shot. 

2006 Topps Archives Reserve #34

Topps is apparently quite fond of the card as well.  They saluted the card by making a chromey reprint part of their 2006 Topps Archives Reserve set. 

1960 was a good year for Frank Howard who won the NL Rookie of the Year award over two Phillies (Pancho Herrera, Art Mahaffey) and future Hall of Famer Ron Santo. Howard tallied 23 Home Runs with 77 RBIs during his rookie campaign.  He would remain a power hitter throughout his career, leading the league in homers twice (1968, 1970) with the Washington Senators. 

Frank Howard spent 7 years in the Dodgers organization before being traded to the Senators following the 1964 season.  Along with his rookie of the year campaign the highlight of Frank Howard's Dodger career is their sweep of the Yankees in the 1963 World Series. Howard homered off of Whitey Ford in the final game of the series.


Howard stayed in baseball for a number of years after his career ended and I can recall seeing him as a coach with the Mets in the 1990s.  Despite being out of the game for 20-30 years he still dwarfed many of that eras current players (Baseball-ref lists Howard at 6'7", 255 lbs).

The last time I saw Frank Howard was at the final Washington Nationals game at RFK.  

2007 09 23 Frank Howard and Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals final game at RFK

This photo was a bit too blurry to make the cut as a Phungo card, and doesn't really show Frank Howard's commanding size, but I assure you that day he was a presence.


Sources
Vintage Baseball Cards  
Baseball-ref.com   
Night Owl Cards

ANNIVERSARY - Ryan Howard: 2011 Topps Heritage Baseball Highlight Sketches #BHS-10

Ten years ago Ryan Howard became the quickest player to reach 250 Home Runs. On September 8th 2010 playing in his 855th game Howard homered to deep left field. 

Topps commemorated the event with an insert in the 2011 Heritage set. 

2011 Topps Heritage Baseball Highlight Sketches #BHS-10 Ryan Howard 

Highlight Sketches was a 25 card insert set with artwork by Southern California based artist Dave Hobrecht. The set also includes a card dedicated to Roy Halladay's 2011 No-Hitter. 

Howard's Home Runs was part of a 10-6 Phillies victory over the Florida Marlns. It was the 28th of 31 Home Runs that Howard would hit in 2010 - good enough for 8th in the league. 

Flip

2011 Topps Heritage Baseball Highlight Sketches #BHS-10 Ryan Howard  (b-side)

The caption details Howard's Home Run pace and also mentions the record holder Ralph Kiner. 

Kiner's 250th Home Run occurred in 1951 during a Pirates 5-4 loss versus the Boston Braves. 

2010 Ryan Howard at the Crossroads

In 2010 was basically mid-career - the 7th of 13 seasons. He had 855 games in the books and 717 remaining. Unfortunately the bottom half of his career did not match the promise of Howard's start. After averaging 46 Home Runs a season from 2006-2010, Howard would hit 33 in 2011 and then never post more than 25 again. The downward turn due to a combination of a devastating injury that occurred at the end of 2011 NLDS and the rigors of age. 

Ryan Howard's final 717 games would yield 132 Home Runs - Not terrible, but roughly half the pace of those record setting first 250 Home Runs.

Sources and Links

Ryan Howard Index

Game Dated Cards

Baseball-Ref

Dave Hobrecht

Beckett

Sports Card Radio

Phillies 2014+ Ryan Howard 2014 Topps Target Red #105 - NOT a sparkle SP

With our 1964 Phillies and Topps Heritage features we have been looking at baseball past a lot recently. Today we are going to turn the page a bit, the Phillies have returned to Clearwater and are playing real live spring training games. It is time for us to start taking a look at Phillies present and future. Which means it is new Feature Time: Phillies 2014+. Notice I added a '+' at the end of the feature title - we will be looking at both this season and the Phillies down the road. We leadoff by looking at the Phillies highest paid position player Ryan Howard

2014 Topps Target Red  #105 Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard isn’t a great Baseball Player. There it is, it is tough to admit, but it is true. He is a good baseball player and perhaps can even be very good. Despite the Rookie of the Year award (deserved) and MVP (not deserved) his numbers do not really warrant All-Star consideration. He has only one season where he was top 10 in Offensive WAR, 6.1 good enough for fourth place in 2006. That is eight years ago. In 2014 Howard is coming off of 2 injury shortened season in which he produced decent power numbers when available but little else. I think expecting the 40+ HR years that Howard put up from 2007-09 is far too optimistic. Hell his 30 HR years of 2010-11 is pretty optimistic.

Baseball-ref SimScores

I am fascinated with similarity scores. Bill James develop the concept which Baseball-ref/Sean Foreman have modified and placed into an easily analyzable form. Ryan Howard doesn't have a close comp, but he does have some interesting names in his top 10 comps. They range from Hall of Famer Willie Stargell down to Howard's closest comp, Richie Sexson. For Phillies fans Sexson is a particularly depressing comp, he never played a day of baseball beyond age 33 - Ryan Howard turned 34 during the offseason. The other comps include Mark McGwire, Cecil Fielder, Frank Howard, and oddly David Justice.

At 34+ Stargell had the best remaining career WAR (+17.4) followed closely by McGwire(+17.2). The average of the 10 players was +7.2. Another aspect of the SimScores in Baseball-ref is career stat projections. For Ryan Howard (currently at 311 Homers) projects for 395 career Home Runs. There it is kids - enjoying them while they last. Ryan Howard has 84 home runs left in him. This is down from his career peak (2011) when his expected HR total topped out at 425.

I project Ryan Howard to have a healthy 2014 season, but to be closer to his 2011 numbers than his MVP numbers - Phungo sez 28 HR, 100 RBI and .267 Avg/ .342 OBP 1.0 WAR


2014 Topps Target Red - NOT A SPARKLE
 

Just wanted to note that for me the last two season of Topps Target Red cards have been a bit rich in color for my taste. I like getting my retail at Target because red is the Phillies color but the is just a touch dark for me.

Not A Sparkle 
And this card is not a Sparkle Variation. Stupid Topps Gimmick. 

2014 Topps Review
Phillies Checker (Carlos Ruiz)
First Pack  (Matt Davidson) 
Blue Blaster (Jimmy Rollins)

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
Cardboard Connection

RoY 2005 Style and WAR Stories Phillies 2015+ Ryan Howard

Tonight with Jacob DeGrom and Jose Abreu getting the respective NL and AL Rookie of the Year awards we turn back the clock a decade.

10 Years ago Ryan Howard was still a Rookie. He had 19 games and 42 at bats under his belt. Only 2 homers in the sample but he also recorded a respectable .282 batting average. We still didn't know if Howard was the type of hitter who could replace the venerable Jim Thome at First Base.

2006 Topps #265 Ryan Howard Rookie of the Year

A year later Phillies fans would be excited to have Ryan Howard as Rookie of the Year. What a decade it's been. Today the Phillies fans are dealing with a significantly different player

Ryan Howard 2015+
There are still some things to get excited about when you see Ryan Howard play - He still hits majestic Home Runs that make you think of how things were.  Unfortunately he strikes out all the time, and performs poorly in the field and on the bases which reminds us of how things are.

In my heart of hearts I still think Ryan Howard has a big season left in him. I blame his struggles on his torn up ankle and other injuries. There is another more realistic me that thinks I am a dreamer or that this magic one more Ryan Howard MVP season will happen with another club.

The Verdict
I am giving Ryan Howard a 0 WAR for 2015. If he stinks next season I think the Phillies will feel more free to move on Darin Ruf or other options. Regardless a 0 WAR in 2015 would be an IMPROVEMENT over the -1.1 WAR Howard posted in 2014 (at the expense of $25M the same salary he carries in 2015)

Phillie 2015+
I am keeping a running track of the 2015 Phillies projected Win total as we analyze the roster. A link to those totals is here.

Sources & Links
WAR Stories Phillies 2015+ Index
Baseball-ref

Anniversary: 2007 UD Masterpieces

Just got the news that Ryan Howard has been released by the Atlanta Braves. Ten Years ago on May 9th 2007 Howard had a much better day. The events of that day are discussed in the following: 

When I returned to collecting Upper Deck Masterpieces drew quite a buzz. The set had a lot of appeal to me. The cards had a higher quality feel to them with an impressive design. The checklist was small but it had a good mix of current stars, prospects and retired stars. I particularly enjoyed the historical moments

2007 UD #71 Ryan Howard

The Phillies had five cards in the initial Masterpieces set. This is one of two dedicated to Ryan Howard. The two Howard cards are similar and we look to cover that in a future column.

One of the attractive aspects of the Masterpieces is the canvas-like feel of the cards. I believe the cards feature original artwork (based off a photograph). Unfortunately Upper Deck did not identify the artists on the Baseball Masterpieces. This was handled differently with UDs release which credited the artists and sometimes provided website info.

It appears a little dark here but this is one of the Green Parallels. These are the most common Masterpiece parallel and are not serial numbered.

Ten Years Ago Today

2007 UD #71 Ryan Howard

After a synopsis of Howard's accolades from his early career the card back goes onto mention a game played on May 9 2017. After being shutout by the Diamondbacks Randy Johnson for six innings the Phillies were able to put up a series of crooked numbers earn a 9-3 victory.

The comeback was all started by the Grand Slam mentioned on 2007 UD #71. Howard did not hit his blast off of Randy Johnson. In fact manager Charlie Manuel elected to not start Ryan Howard versus the Big Unit. However, in the 7th inning Johnson loaded the bases and was over 100 pitches. The situation forced Arizona manager Bob Melvin to go to his righty reliever Brandon Medders. Ryan Howard hit the first pitch for the Homer, tallying his fourth career Grand Slam.

According to Baseball-Ref the hit had a WPA(Win Probability Added) of +35%.



Sources and Links
2007 UD Masterpieces Index
Philly.com
baseball-ref
Baseball Cardpedia
USA Today / Andrew Bagato
Teams Sets 4 U
COMC

Phungo Cards - Ryan Howard

1993 Topps #43 Ruben Amaro
2009 Phungo #6 Ryan Howard

This week GM Ruben Amaro Jr and the Phillies signed First Baseman Ryan Howard to a 3 year 54 million dollar deal. I am not sure that this is significantly less then Howard would have gotten via arbitration, but I am glad that the Howard and the Phillies won't have to go through the arbitration process until Howard's free agent year.

The Ryan Howard Phungo card was taken during a very long emotional rain delayed loss to the Mets on July 6th. I actually left this game early in a pouring rain, which I rarely do. I chose Howard's number 6 as the card number. In the dugout you can see the Phillies were wearing their Patriotic caps for the Fourth of July weekend.

2013 Phungo #6 Ryan Howard - out 6-8 weeks

On Monday the Phillies announced that Ryan Howard has been scheduled for surgery and will be out 6-8 weeks.

2013 Phungo #6 Ryan Howard

If those dates are accurate, best case scenario has Howard returning on Monday 8/19 v the Rockies.  That will be game 124 of the Phillies season. The Phils play 34 games in the interim. If the Braves play 2 games over that period they will be 68-54 (+14). To get to that the Phils would have to go 26-8 over that span.

A lot of things happen this time of year the All-Star break is much needed for the Phils, but immediately after that the Phillies could be severely revamped and Ryan Howard more than likely will be returning to a different team.

Phungo Card       
Pix was taken on Phillies Photo day in 2012.  A great opportunity for fans to get out and gets some snapshots of their favorite players. At the time Ryan Howard had recently returned from the DL. he really hadn't hit well yet, but on that day he did get a 3 run homer.  Unfortunately it wasn't good enough as the Phils lost to the Giants 6-5 in extra innings.

ReWind = 2013 Phungo Cards
#6 Ryan Howard
#9 Domonic Brown
#17 Todd Helton
#32 Matt Wieters 
#51 Carlos Ruiz
#57 Zack Wheeler
#58 Jonathan Papelbon
#64 Darin Ruf   
#68 Scott Hartnall
#70 Ichiro
 
References
Phillies.com
Baseball-ref.com

Snapshots: 2014 07 25 & 27 D-Backs @ Phillies

Been a strange week in what has been a forgettable season for the Philadelphia Phillies. Team Phungo ended up going to the bookends of Phils 3 game series with Diamondbacks. Fortunately these were the two games the Phillies won 9-5 on Friday Night and 4-2 on Sunday.

Turned out Ryan Howard's name came up an awful lot this weekend.

Friday night Howard was out of the lineup for the 3rd consecutive game.  Yet he had the honor of being the subject of the cover photo for our ticket. Each night a Phillies player is also the representative for their Charitable Ticket Program.  On Friday in a continuation of the unfortunate confluence of events Howard's Sluggers were the beneficiaries of the ticket program - on a night when the actual Slugger never played.

Snapshots

Marlon Byrd 

It was 25th of July and the Phillies celebrated Christmas July. As part of the festivities the player pix were outfitted with holiday attire. Marlon Byrd got a Santa Cap and an ugly sweater.


The Phanatic got into the Holiday Spirit as well, here he celebrates with a couple of Phillies ballgirls. 

 

Grady Sizemore

I was disappointed the Phillies have gotten away from the Topps sponsored game day lineup cards. They have opted to use their own design shown here. I believe this is this is the same design that is used on their postcard player sets. Grady Sizemore has only been with the club since the beginning of the month, so this is sort of like his first card as a Phil. 

Sunday

 Ryne Sandberg and Chase Utley

Sunday was Hall of Fame day, to mark the occasion all MLB players wore a special 75th anniversary of the HoF patch. Here we have HOF second baseman Ryne Sandberg with Chase Utley who may someday find his way into the Hall.

Good Guy Award

Ryan Howard 

As mentioned above Ryan Howard had a crazy week. He was in the lineup on Sunday but still found time to sign autographs almost right up to the anthem.  About 15 minutes later Howard blasted a line drive Home Run into the left-centerfield bleachers.

In addition to Howard, Darin Ruf and Chase Utley also get GGAs for taking some time to greet the fans and pen some signatures.   

Paul Goldschmidt

One of the reasons the Phillies won the series was they were able to keep D-Backs slugger Paul Goldschmidt in check.  Goldschmidt was 2-11 on the weekend.

Sunday was also Cole Hamels T-Shirsey day. Here he is being interviewed by Scott Palmer.

Vidal Nuno got the start for Arizona. The rookie was acquired by the D-Backs earlier this month in the trade that sent Brandon McCarthy to the Yankees.

Marlon Byrd has been the subject of trade rumors in recent weeks. Here it appears that he made sure to get one last good meal off of the Phillies buffet.

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
Philles Behind the Pinstripes

2008 World Champion Phillies - Ryan Howard

2006 Allen & Ginter # 79 Ryan Howard
1978 Topps #360 Mike Schmidt

This is the second installment of the 2008 World Champ tributes. In this series I am chronicling the key players from the 2008 Phils and pairing them with a Phil from the past.

When I wrote up Cole Hamels a few weeks back, I made the obvious comparison between Hamels and Steve Carlton. It's not really fair, Carlton is a Hall of Fame pitcher with 300+ career wins. Hamels is 24 with less than 3 years of Major League experience.

Today I make another lofty comparison. Ryan Howard and Mike Schmidt. No, they don't play the same position and Howard will never be the defensive standout that Schmidt was. But each of them was the big home run hitter for their respective World Championship teams. On the back of the above Schmidt card one can find that in 1978 he was 29 years old, had 169 homers and a career .256 average. Ryan Howard has just turned 29, he has 177 Home Runs and carries a .279 carreer BA. RBIs Schmidt 474, Howard 499. Those numbers are pretty darn close.

At 29, Mike Schmidt still had the bulk of a Hall of Fame career in front of him, I hope Ryan Howard does also.

2016 Topps Perspectives #P20 Ryan Howard: Catch or No Catch?

It has been out for what 3+ Months now and we are returning to our look at 2016 Topps.

One of the more favorably received inserts in 2016T is the Perspectives set. A 25 card insert with a photography focus. It sort of gives flagship collectors a glimpse into the Stadium Club brand.

2016 Topps #P-20 Perspectives Ryan Howard

The only Phillies card in the set is of Ryan Howard. While a nice picture, the shot selection is a bit perplexing. Why do you take a player known for one thing and one thing only - Hitting Home Runs and show him fielding?

While I admire the man's effort, Howard was mediocre at First Base even at his best.

Safe or Out? 
So did Ryan Howard make the catch next to the tarp? We will let you know later in the posting. 

Flip

2016 Topps #P-20 Perspectives Ryan Howard (b-side)

I think part of the Perspectives theme is the players off the field Philanthropic efforts, although I saw no such mention on the Ryan Braun Perspectives entry. Of course, it appears the Big Piece Foundation's website (mentioned on the Topps card) appears to be defunct, so who knows where the $200,000+ they raised went.

I do like how the text on Perspectives is laid out over a shot of the field from the Perspective of the batters box. 

Getty Got It
We were able to find the original image in the Getty library and we have the verdict on the play....

no catch.

I know your shocked, The play was from a Reds 11-2 victory over the Phillies on June 29, 2015. The foul ball was off the bat of Zach Cozart - Not sure which AB. However we do know it was not during Cozart's first plate appearance when he hit a Grand Slam, according to B-Ref that Home Run occurred on a 0-0 count so no foul ball.

The photo was taken by sports photographer Jamie Sabau.

Sources and Links
2016 Topps Index
Game Dated Cards (Phungo Game Cards) 
2016 Topps Phillies
Philly Inquirer
Getty Images
Jamie Sabau
Cardboard Connection
Baseball-ref 

Philadelphia Phillies 2009 National League Champions - NLCS MVP Ryan Howard

2009 Topps Heritage #300 Ryan Howard

This is really late in blogosphere time, but as you are well aware the Philadelphia Phillies will get the chance to defend their World Series title either against the Earth Angels or New York Yankees.

This years NLCS MVP was Ryan Howard who had a pair of homers. His average was "only" .333 but he had a bundle of walks and extra base hits which contributed to a lusty 1.457 OPS.

And these accomplishments are a good reason to post this Ryan Howard card that came in my celebratory pack of 2009 Topps Heritage (Target - retail). The pack ended up definitely being NLCS worthy. In addition to the Howard card there was a Mayo Insert (Pedroia) and a Chrome card of Royals rookie prospect Kila Ka'aihue. I have only opened about 10 packs of 09 heritage and this pack had a least 2 dupes - sigh.....

I did notice another Sloppy Topps moment. I am sure there are bunches of these, and frankly I am surprised Topps even bothered to attempt duplicating the Season's Highlights section on the 1960 homage set. This is a minor error, and I would forgive Topps if this wasn't a star card of an MVP and reigning World Champion holding down a hero number (300) in arguably Topps most popular set.



2009 Topps Heritage #300 (B-side/edit)

Yep on October 26th of 2008 the Phils did indeed crush the Rays 10-2 and Ryan Howard did hit a pair of homers but.......

It was in GAME 4!!!

#############################################

Cograts to the Phils and bring on the Angels or Yankees!

2008 Topps Heritage Double Box Break

I picked up two boxes of 2008 Topps Heritage at the Philly Show earlier this month.

I have been working on the original 1959 Topps Set and thought building the companion Heritage set would be an interesting project. The two boxes went for $90.00 combined and these are the results:

Each box is composed of 24 packs of 8 cards each. Within each box there are 3 rows of 8 packs. Within each of the rows, I think 7 of he 8 packs contained either a chrome card, short print or insert. And one of the special cards per box is a relic or auto - usually relic - I think the odds of pulling and auto are about 1:10 Boxes. There is also a 1:2 box chance of pulling a buyback of an original 1959 Topps Card.

Buyback
1959 Topps #161 Frank Baumann
1959 Topps #161 Frank Bamann (2008 Heritage 50th Anniversary Buyback)

Unfortunately the #161 card of The Red Sox Frank Baumann was not one that I needed for my 1959 collection,but I will keep it as part of the 1959 Topps Auxiliary Collection. For even more detail on the opening of this Buyback please check this entry over at A Pack to Be Named Later. This card came from box 1.

Relics

Fortunately these Game Used Relic Cards found the right collector. I don't open a lot of boxes, and I doubt I have ever pulled a Phils auto or relic. I usually just pick them up via trade or auction. Still it is neat to actually get one in a box I have opened. I fall in the camp of Phillies Fans that appreciated Bobby Abreu - He had his shortcomings but I always thought he was a strong contributor and he was fun to watch. The Howard Relic is nice with a stripe on the jersey and is from the most common Relic Group D. The Abreu bat card came from Relic Group C (1:90).

Both relic cards were pulled from a pack in the leftmost row of the box - Howard was the 7th or 8th pack in the row from Box 1. Abreu was the relic from box 2, column 1, 2nd pack. Bollocks for me as I typically pull my Packs from the Right Hand side of the box.

Parallels - Chrome

Box 1 yielded 4 Chrome Cards one of which was a refractor parallel - Unfortunately the Ubaldo Jiminez card has a slight scar on the Right Hand side.

Box 2 yielded 5 Chrome Cards. Pudge is a Refractor. Box 2 also feature a 2nd Refractor of Ryan Braun which I did not feature here as his regular chrome card is above. The Refractor Chrome cards are numbered to 559 while the regular chrome are numbered to 1959.

Flashbacks




Between the 2 boxes there were 9 Flashback cards 4 News FBs and 5 Baseball Flashbacks. The Brooks Robinson Card was present in both boxes. The Top set of 4 cards above is from Box 1, while the latter set is from Box 2.

New Age PerformersGood and Bad here - The Good is that one of the New Age Performers Card was of Ryan Howard. The Bad is that both boxes contained Mr Lackey. Between the two boxes I got duped on both the NAPs and on the BB FBs. The Howard Card was contained in box 2.

Then and Now

No Dupes here. Only observation from here is that both of the "Then" halves of these cards are higher Cache players. Johnny Podres was the pitching coach of the 93 Phils and will forever be the Yoda Like Zen master for that staff. And of course Eddie Mathews is far to cool to be paired up with Diva Rodriguez. Mathews and A-Rod were from Box 1, Podres and Bedard Box 2.

I placed the Short Printed Ichiro All-Star card here as well. Box 1 yielded 9 SPs while Box 2 had 8, although 2 of the Shorts in Box 2 were from Box 1. Between the two boxes I received 15 unique short prints.

The Numbers

Box 1
Base = 165/420 (39%)
Shorts = 9 (11, 315, 381, 427, 430, 431, 457, 464, 493)
Chrome #d1959 = 3 (24, 40, 43) Chrome #d559 = 1 (77 Jiminez)
Baseball FBs = 3 (1, 7, 10)
News FBs = 2 (4, 6)
New Age Performers = 1 (8 Lackey)
Then and Now = 1 (Matthews/DivARod)
Relic = 1 #CC-RH Ryan Howard
Buyback = 1 #161 Frank Baumann

Box 2 Base 169/420 (40%) - numbers in red below are dupes from box 1.
Shorts = 7 (11, 433, 437, 454, 464, 479, 490, 492)
Chrome #d1959 = 3 (37, 57, 90 ) Chrome #d559 = 2 (24 Braun, 28 Ivan Rodriguez)
Baseball FBs = 2 (5, 7)
News FBs = 2 (3, 8)
New Age Performers = 2 (8 Lackey, 10 Ryan Howard)
Then and Now = 1 (Podres/Bedard)
Relic = 1 #CC-BA Bobby Abreu
Combined Set Building Stats
Base 276/420 (65%)
Shorts 15/80 (18%)
Dupes 58

Ok, I made up my own rules for set building. The first thing I did was throw out differentiating between the Green and Black Back Parallels. If I had one of the two cards for that card number, I crossed the number off my list - I will not let Topps control my set building - It's my hobby and I will collect as I see fit!

Secondly I have decided to build the base set threw #425. There are 5 Short Prints in there (11, 231, 315, 381, and 409). Above 425 is mostly short prints with a few base thrown in the mix. Perhaps at some point in the future I will verify that I have all the "Hi" Base cards but not right now.

Overall I came up with just under 2/3 of the base set, which is about what I expected. The Cards that I already had in the Phungo Collection that did not overlap the box break numbered about 40(including short prints). I still need 127 cards to complete the base set.

The only disappointment was having FOUR duplicates (5 if you include the Braun Chrome) in the insert cards. That is a bit high I think, I purposely picked two boxes next to each other in hopes that would minimize collation issues.

And one other complaint and a curiosity - I received very few of the hero numbered cards in this box. I didn't get any of the cards that ended in hundreds, and only 2 of the 4 '50' cards. I didn't pull #1 Vlad Guerrero either. Mathematically I would of expected to pull 6 of these 9 hero numbers but only came up with two. Could it be that some of the star cards were quietly short printed?

If you need even more 2008 Heritage info click here for the A Pack to be Named Later entry for a pack from box 1.

Or click here for a little bit more insight on the buyback.

Sources and Links
Ryan Howard PC Index
Bobby Abreu PC Index
Bob Gibson HoF Index
Eddie Mathews HoF Index
Minnie Minoso Index

SNAPSHOTS 2015 04 25: Braves @ Phillies

 
2015 0425 Citizens Bank Ballpark at Sunset (click to enlarge)
 
The Phillies hosted the Division Rival Atlanta Braves this past Saturday Night. Despite a terrific start by David Buchanan and a rare Home Run by Ryan Howard the Phils took the loss 5-2.

Despite the outcome and the cold, it was a pretty nice night for a game, picturesque sunset photo above.

Snapshots

 2015 0425 David Buchanan

Buchanan had struggled in three 2015 starts, but Saturday Night was different. He didn't allow a hit until the 5th inning and took a 1-hit shutout into the 7th. Unfortunately he couldn't make through that 7th inning and Jake Diekman couldn't help him out.


2015 0425 Ryan Howard

Despite the Loss, Buchanan's start is a positive as was Ryan Howard who had a 2 run homer and looked good in other ABs. The rest of the Phillies offense accounted for zero runs and looked worse that that. Phillies personnel have spun Chase Utley poor start at the plate as bad luck despite good contact. For me there was no evidence of this on Saturday night, Utley had 4 unimpressive ABs.

2015 0425 Shelby Miller

For six innings Buchanan was the better pitcher, but Shelby Miller didn't let this phase him. In his fourth start as a Brave Miller put up six innings allowing only 3 hits including Howard's two run homer. Miller has been steady for the Braves getting 5+ innings in every start and now allowing more than 2 in any of them.

2015 Topps Gypsy Queen #48 Shelby Miller

Not sure but this may be Miller's first card as a Brave, picked it up in a Rack Pack a few weeks back.





2015 0425 Andrelton Simmons

Typically known for his defense Andrelton Simmons showed up with his bat on Saturday night and spoiled David Buchanan's shutout with a line drive home run to lead off the seventh.

Stray Observations
***When Jake Diekman came in to pitch the infielders segregated into two groups. I know that they are geographically separated but it defnitely felt like the Howard/Utley and Asche/Galvis weren't interested in hanging out together.

***Freddy Galvis resurrects memories of former Steelers (and Eagles) QB Bubby Brister. He goes down with what appears to be a major injury and lays on the turf. Then 10 minutes later he is up and returning to the field. 

***I have never seen a player take his fielding as seriously as Andrelton Simmons. After his BP session he took his Shortstop position for repeated grounders with his motor running at a much higher rate than I have seen from other players.

***Shelby Miller was having trouble hitting the right side of the plate during his bullpen warm up. I think this may have carried through to the game, but the Phillies failed to take advantage.

***Jason Grilli gets it, he appeared to be involved in a healthy bit of interaction with the fans prior to the game.

***The Phillies attendance may be down inside the ballpark, but that hasn't hurt the crowds in the tailgate lots. I get to games really early and I was amazed at how many folks were already in the lots.

Sources and Links
Baseball-ref

Game Report: Dodgers 15 @ Phillies 5 - Chase Utley Returns

There are things you expect - Chase Utley Getting a Standing Ovation, and there are things that your happy to see but don't really expect - Chase Utley's Ovation extends for a second beat, and he needs to settle the fans so the game can start or Chase Utley hits a Home Run in his return.

Then there are thing that you wonder if they would ever happen - Chase Utley gets a Curtain Call as an opposing player

And Then there are miracles - Chase Utley and Ryan Howard turned back time.

Utley Hit a Grand Slam and got a second curtain call, at this point what was a game at moved into theater. It was watching "the Natural' unfold in real life.

Later Ryan Howard would hit a moonshot Home Run into the Phillies Bullpen, after narrowly missing one earlier in the game.

It was as much fun as a fan can have in a 15-5 Loss.

The Philllies may have been down 10 runs, but for a few hours it felt like 2008 again. The crowd was good size, Everyone was excited and engaged - and I felt eight years younger, Now that's a miracle!

Snapshots

 Chase Utley in Blue :(

Warm Ups

Utley and Ryan Howard Pregame. I think Howard is saying "well if you hit a Home Run, I am going to have to hit one too.."

Just a few #26 Jerseys

Utley signed a number of autographs pregame. The fans were four of five deep down the Left Field line. Good Guy Awards go out to Corey Seager and Chris Taylor who also were spotted signing for the fans.

Fifth Beatle?

Ryan Howard MopTop

Last night was Beatles Night - in celebration of the 50th anniversary of an appearance of what turned out to be the bands US Farewell tour.

Field Report
Our friends over at the Phillies Room were also at the game and they have their own field report which can be found here.

Sources and Links
Chase Utley Player Collection Index
Baseball-ref
Beatles Bible

2014 First Phillies Card: Topps #182 Carlos Ruiz - and Phillies Series 1 Checklist

The first Phillies card of the year is this fine one of Carlos Ruiz

2014 Topps #182 Carlos Ruiz

Catcher make for great photography and this is a fine example. Ruiz is shown here in action firing the ball down to second base, although In action may be a stretch. For some reason this appears to be a between innings warm up toss down to second.

2014 Topps Phillies Checker
4 Cody Asche
74 John Mayberry
90 Ethan Martin
105 Ryan Howard
122 Jonathan Papelbon
180 Ben Revere
182 Carlos Ruiz
196 Cole Hamels
296 Domonic Brown
312 Jimmy Rollins

After missing out on the playoffs in consecutive seasons the Phillies can no longer be considered a perennial contender, so coming up with 11 cards in series 1 is about right.

2014 Topps has it's share of inserts and the Phillies represent a bit. One of the insert sets I was happy to see pop was the return of Super Veterans, which was a subset in 1983 Topps. The 2014 Topps version has only 15 cards in S1 but the Phillies manage to get 2 reps, Roy Halladay and Jimmy Rollins.  The checker for various 2014 Phillies Inserts listed below.

Phillies Inserts
Super Veterans (15 card checker)
SV-8 Jimmy Rollins
SV-14 Roy Halladay

Silk (100 card checker)
SC-20 Domonic Brown Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-21 Cole Hamels Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-22 Carlos Ruiz Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-23 Jimmy Rollins Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-24 Ben Revere Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-25 Ryan Howard Philadelphia Phillies®

Upper Class (50)
UC-26 Ryan Howard

Before they were Great (30)
BG-20 Mike Schmidt
BG-21 Steve Carlton

Topps Mini Die Cuts (50 subjects)
TM-16 Mike Schmidt

Power Player (110)
PP-2 Cole Hamels
PP-10 Ben Revere
PP-54 Ryan Howard
PP-65 Ethan Martin
PP-105 Carlos Ruiz

BEFORE THEY WERE GREAT AUTO (14)
BGA-MS Mike Schmidt

BEFORE THEY WERE GREAT AU-GU (10)
BGAR-MS Mike Schmidt

Various Relics
TR-MS Mike Schmidt
UCR-RH Ryan Howard
BGR-MS Mike Schmidt
TMR-MS Mike Schmidt
SVR-JR Jimmy Rollins
ITN-CL Cliff Lee
ITN-DB Domonic Brown

ManuPatch
CP-23 Chase Utley

Sources
Beckett

2013 Phungo Cards #64 Darin Ruf

Phillies have a lot of questions marks on their roster right now.  One of those questions involves the gimpy Ryan Howard.

2013 Phungo #64 Darin Ruf

A year ago Darin Ruf spent about half of the season at AA Reading and the rest between, Lehigh Valley and the big club.  Unfortunately Ruf shares a position with Ryan Howard and in 2012 Ruf didn't arrive in Philadelphia until after Howard returned from injury.

The Phils did get to see Ruf play in the outfield and the defensive results were mixed. His batting was excellent, good BA and lots of pop.

Currently Darin Ruf is back at AAA and he has been ok, not as spectacular as a year ago. This weeks looming question of the availability of Ryan Howard raised the question of a Ruf callup, but apparently the Phils are more interested in AAAA 3B Josh Fields.

Hopefully if needed we will hear from Darin Ruf at some point this season, and he will produce the poser he die a year ago.  . 

Phungo Card

I like getting to the ballpark early for a lot of reasons.  I find it interesting and relaxing.  I enjoy BP sometimes you get a minor scoop - some injured player rehabbing, or a new callup.  It also affords one the opportunity to get some candid shots a bit closer up then you may get in the cheap seats. That is the case with the Ruf pix above.  He was shagging flies in the outfield, and I am sure I spent a good bit of time waiting for him to turn towards the camera enough to get a good shot. 

Rewind - Selected 2013 Phungo Card Postings
2013 Phungo #32 Matt Weiters
2013 Phungo #51 Carlos Ruiz2013 Phungo #68 Scott Hartnall
2013 Phungo #70 Ichiro



 

Swag from Night Owl Cards - 2014 Topps #296 Domonic Brown

Team Phungo took a mini staycation during the early part of this week, unfortunately we had to return to the real world and all of it's concerns yesterday. The stress of the first workaday under the early AM of DST was mitigated a bit by fun card package from Greg over at Night Owl Cards that I received upon arriving home.

2014 Topps Red #296 Domonic Brown

Dom Brown is the Phillies only young star. Ok, "star" may be a bit generous. Browns first couple of season have been mixed. There was a couple of weeks early in 2013 when Dom hit the cover off the ball, Phils fans like myself are hopeful that this is a glimpse into who Domonic Brown will be in the future.

2014

Brown is having a lousy spring. He his hitting .107 through his first 28 ABs, before hitting a triple on Wednesday he was yet to collect and extra base hit. I am hoping for much bigger things from Domonic in the regular season. His 27 dingers in 2013 led the team, although the bulk of those came during the aforementioned 12 home run outburst in May. If Brown can come up with similar power and reach base a tad more that would make me happy. Dom can also be a bit comical in the field this shows up in his dWAR number which is a negative, Brown is young enough that hopefully he can turn this around as well.

 More Swag

2013 Topps Opening Day #M-2 Phillie Phanatic
2013 Allen & Ginter's mini #247 Ryan Howard

Another Phils player that the Phanatic has high hopes for is Ryan Howard, who we talked about last week in our Phillies 2014+ feature. Here we have a nice 2013 A&G mini of Mr Howard. For whatever reason there seems to be a lot of cards of Howard in the field, which is a bit of a mystery as he is often a liability with the glove.

2002 Donruss Originals #233 Rated Rookie Anderson Machado

Nice retro card from somebody other than Topps here. Machado never held on at the major league level. He has been kicking around the minors and according to Baseball-ref was last spotted in the Italian League.

1992 Sargento Mootown Snackers #16 Terry Mulholland

Definitely one for the Phungo type collection here. Never saw any cards from this issue. Also one of my player collections is dedicated Mulholland, at some point I will get organized enough to post some checkers for those palyers.

Even More Swag

A nice mix of Inseerts, Oddballs, Stars, and Rememember Me cards. Thanks to NOC for all the Phils cards and the nice variety.