2012 Phungo Year in Review

Every Time I post something, it feels like I have mailed it in.  Regardless I continued posting - recently I sat down to look at the past 12 months and was happily surprised to find out there was actually some decent columns amongst the drivel.  Here are some highlights from 2012. 

January - Year of the Dragon Commences: The Chinese New Year began on January 22 and we noted some of baseballs noteworthy Dragons.  

February - We first got word of the American Ultimate Disc League - The first professional Ultimate Disc (Frisbee) league. Locally this meant the birth of the Philadelphia Spinners. Personally I was proud to be able to get involved with the new league as an official. I was on field refereeing the first home game of the new franchise at Historic Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania. I will always look back at the experience foindly and remember it has my first job in professional sports. The Spinners had a very succesful season although the league is going through some growing pains. As a result of some legal wranglings and other questions a new Ultimate League has emerged for 2013 called Major League Ultimate. The Philadelphia Spinners will be a charter member of the new league.

2012 Topps #150 Roy Halladay(image stolen from The Phillies Room )

On the card front February saw the release of 2012 Topps flagship which I refer to as the Hindenburg set.  I also thought the design bore a bit of resemblance to 2002 Topps Football. I also was happy with a discussion we held regarding Hero Numbers - for the most part folks seek to just shrug - but it was enjoyable hearing some opinions.

March - We took a look at what "Value" means when purchasing a Topps Value Box.

April - Jayson Stark and others were good enough to retweet our post regarding the defunct stadiums in which Jamie Moyer pitched.  It currently ranks as the most viewed page in Phungo history.  Team Phungo also made it to two opening days Baltmore (v Twins) and the Phillies (v the "new" Miami Marlins).  We also gave a nod to the ageless Dick Clark who died in April.

May - While in vacation in Portland, Team Phungo checked in on CardBlogger Rod from Padrographs. 

I think I only opened one pack of 2012 Topps Archives but it was a nice pack for a Phillies Fan. 

On May 18th Kerry Wood Retired - He faced one batter in his final appearance, striking out Dayan Viciedo on three pitches.  

June - Pedro Borbon passed away - we took a look at his 1970 Topps card that wouldn't be made today.  We also noted the passing of GoodFellas subject Henry Hill with a prospect card loosely connected to the mobster. Kevin Millwood was the starting pitcher in a combined no-hitter pitched by the Mariners - we looked at his Phillies No-Hitter card.

July - Team Phungo started branching out into the world of food reviews with Vittles - Our first foodie column was on a visit to the newish Philadadelphia Tapas venue Jamonera.   

2012 brought us the 7th edition of Topps Allen & Ginter. We took at MLBs A&G 7 year members which included Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard.  

We did a Tank Report on Chase Utley with mixed expectations - and projections came out amazingly close. Utley finished with an OBP of .365 (Nailed it) with 11 HRs (Off  by 1).

August - Saw my first trip to the National which I attended for FREE. Wanted to get more posts out regarding the show, but only got the previous one and this one.

September - Sadly Chris Stufflestreet, one of the folks I met at the National in August, passed away. Most of us only knew him through his column and trading, still that was enough to really miss the man.
 

October - Attended my first playoff game outside of Philadelphia - the Good Guys won.

November - Marvin Miller  passed away - we marked the day with a look at the 1970 Topps Curt Flood card. The WBC opening round games were in progress in November with Thailand getting it's first bid. The most notable member of the Thai squad was Johnny Damon.  Unfortunatley the Thais had a bad series committing several errors and were ousted in just 2 games :( 

December - Earlier this month Brad Lidge called it quits - we honored the man and his contributions by displaying one of my favorite cards - Thanks DayF.