Monday, November 27, 2017

2018 HoF Candidate: Scott Rolen

Each of the last couple of years I have reviewed a couple of Hall of Fame candidates and gave my verdict. Tonight we return to the feature to look at the 2018 candidates. The first subject that we will look at is Scott Rolen.

I am not sure if "polarizing" is the word to describe Scott Rolen. He is kind of a low key guy but brings out a lot of opinions in folks. He was a great player in Phladelphia on bad teams - eventually he got tired of playing with the struggling clubs and pushed the Phillies to trade him.

That is where the story gets tough for Phillies fans. Baseball is a business and Scott Rolen as a player as a limited time to earn a living - regardless it hurts a little to see a player asked to be traded away from your favorite team.

2002 Fleer Authentix #86 Scott Rolen

For our Scott Rolen Profile I have chosen a card that falls under our Gamed Dated obsession.

Over the last 25 years I estimate that I have been to about a dozen opening day games including the one played on April 5 2002. The above Scott Rolen card is made to appear like a ticket to that 2002 Phillies Lid-Lifter (fun term I have seen in old school Sporting News headlines, but never hear anymore).

The Phillies defeated the Florida Marlins 6-2 in this particular opener. Not all of this info is given on the Fleer "Ticket". We can see "Florida Marlins" hidden behind Rolen's legs. Also Veterans Stadium.  The Date is pretty much screened but we can make out Friday and April. The full date was April 5th 2002. 

I am happy to say it was a good day for Scott Rolen who reached base all 5 times he batted.  His plate appearances resulted in a double, single and Three Walks. The Phillies other offensive hero was Bobby Abreu who logged a 3-Run Homer as one of his four hits. Brandon Duckworth got the W pitching six innings of 1-run ball and racking up 10 strikeouts. 

Flip
2002 Fleer Authentix #86 Scott Rolen (b-side)

Couple of things to note on the back of 2002 Fleer Authentix. The % of team totals line is an interesting stat idea, easily demonstrates what Rolen meant to the Phillies offense in 2002. The card finishes with Phillies franchise info. I suppose that feels somewhat connected to a card noting the teams Home Opener. Also note that the card represents a game played in 2002 but the stats on the back are for the 2001 season.

Lazy Phungo
Someday I will dig through the Phungo Ephemera Museum and get an image of a real ticket to this game and plop it into this posting, however right now I am to busy/lazy to go through that effort.

Phungo Verdict
YES
I think this will surprise folks who know me but Yes I think Scott Rolen deserves Hall of Fame recognition. He is borderline, but when I remove my biases against him, as a player I think his numbers are HOF worthy. 

I don't think it will happen but it would be nice if the Phillies and Scott Rolen could get together so that he could be recognized on the franchises Wall of Fame.

2002 Fleer Authentix
For another look at the game featured on this card check out our posting dedicated to the Bobby Abreu card from the set here.

Sources and Links
Phungo Scott Rolen Index
2018 Hall of Fame Ballot
Game Dated Cards Index
Baseball-Ref

Updates: 2019 05 28 - Added 2002 Fleer Authentix Bobby Abreu paragraph 

1970 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Team (1971 Topps Set)



1971 Topps #233 Larry Bowa

C Thurman Munson New York Yankees
1B John Ellis New York Yankees
2B Dave Cash Pittsburgh Pirates
3B Al Gallagher San Francisco Giants
SS Larry Bowa Philadelphia Phillies
OF Bernie Carbo Cincinnati Reds
        Billy Conigliaro Boston Red Sox
        Roy Foster Cleveland Indians
RHP Carl Morton Montreal Expos
LHP Les Cain Detroit Tigers


1971 All-Star Rookie Set Proofs (SABR Basseball Cards Tim Jenkins)


Sources & Links
Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Master Index
Baseball-Ref

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Roy Hallday (1977 - 2017)

Yesterday we got the news that Roy Halladay died in a plane crash.

2012 07 21 Roy Halladay at Photo Day

While the circumstances are horrible, it was good to hear all the reports of what a terrific person Roy Halladay was off the field. He appeared to be enjoying his post playing career spending time with his family and friends. During a press conference yesterday Cole Hamels showed tremendous poise, articulately discussing Halladay as a Mentor, Ballplayer and Friend.

For out tribute to Roy Halladay I went with a picture of him from the Phillies 2012 Photo Day rather than a card. After hearing so many folks talk about how great Halladay was as a person, I wanted to note the person rather than the ballplayer.

Here is an index of the many Roy Halladay postings that have appeared on Phungo. The NLDS No-Hitter in 2010 will always be one of my favorite sports memories, you can see some pix and read a few of my thoughts here.

Blogs are not as active as they were at one time, but I will be adding the Roy Halladay tributes to this posting as they arrive.

Memorial Postings
Phillies Room (2011 Allen Ginter #N43-RH)
Night Owl Cards (2009 UD OPC)
1960s Baseball (2011 Topps)
Not Another Baseball Card Blog
Ryan Cracknell Beckett
Wrigley Roster Jenga (2010 Heritage / 1961 Topps)
The Writers Journey (Twitter Compilation)
I Need New Hobbies (2007 Allen Ginter)
The Snorting Bull (1997 Bowman Autograph)
$30 a Week Habit (Donruss Studio)
Cardboard Greats (Topps National Chicle)
I Draw Baseball Cards (2013 Topps Custom)

High Heat Stats (1962 Topps Retro)

Sources and Links
Roy Halladay Index
Baseball-Ref

    

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Andy Warhol

In June of 2018 I did a presentation for SABR regarding the Baseball Artwork of Andy Warhol. This is an Index of our Andy Warhol related postings.


Andy Warhol by Bernard Gotfryd

The audio from the presentation can be found here
The related slides can be downloaded here


Joe DiMaggio
Stadium Sketch


Sources Links

Brad Lidge Index

This is an index to our postings related to the closer for the 2008 World Series Champions, Brad Lidge.


2009 Allen & Ginter's #AGHS23 Brad Lidge

DayF Original Lidge Retirement
DayF Original Collection of Game 5 Cards
2009 Topps #278 2008 World Series Game 5 Anniversary
2009 Allen & Ginter's #AGHS23 HOF Ballot Profile (shown above)
2009 UD #298 Phillies All-Decade Team
2009 Phungo #54 - Phungo Original
2008 Topps #UH304 Home Field Advantage in the World Series

2004 Heritage #353 Pack Break (1955 Topps Retro)

2009 06 13 Game Report - Lidge Long Tossing / Rehabbing pre-game
2008 World Series Champs Puzzle - Brad Lidge Photo


a thousand words

a thousand words
2008 World Champions