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Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Cup of Coffee Index

This is an Index to our Cup of Coffee postings


Series 1:

Tom Paciorek

Archie "Moonlight" Graham

Joe Cleary

Sidd Finch

Erskine Thomason

Doc Daugherty

Larry Colton

Dick Thoeren

John Carden

Harry O'Neill

Series 2:

Lino Urdaneta

Sam Hairston

Johnny Hairston

Rafael Quiricos

Lariel Gonzalez

Al Lamacchia

Bill Greason

Tom Chism

?????

?????

Series 3:

????


Sunday, November 22, 2020

Happy 70th Birthday Greg Luzinski 1978 OPC #

Today we are noting a milestone birthday for Phillies Slugger Greg Luzinski born on November 22 1950. 

Luzinski remains active with the Phillies in an baseball ambassador role and as namesake for one of the teams signature restaurants "Bull's BBQ"

To mark the Birthday we are going to feature his 1978 OPC card

1978 #42 OPC Greg Luzkinski

I always the All-Star subset. 1978 has its own icon never used before or since - Topps/OPC gave the cards a dash of Red White and Blue on a shield that kind of looks like an Interstate Route Number sign. 

In 1978 Luzinski played in the final of his four consecutive All-Star games. He went 1-2 with an RBI on a Bases Loaded Walk off of Hall of Fame Pitcher Jim Palmer. Of course the 1978 card represents the previous years ASG in which the Bull Homered, also off of Palmer. 

OPC

1978 OPC #42 Greg Luzinski

Typically I would use an OPC card for a column with a Canadian or French Connection. Today my reason is for the card number 42. 

While the Bull is remember for wearing #19 for almost the entirety of his career, when he came up in 1970 he wore the now league-wide retired #42 which happens also to be his OPC card. Six other Phillies wore the number after Luzinski, the most significant of which was Ron Reed. The last player to wear the number as a Phillies Player was Toby Borland. 

Luzinkski 1978T Card number is 420 - significant to some folks for a totally non-baseball reason. 

Phungo Original

1978T Greg Luzinski

I tackled the 1978T card by going pretty vanilla. I elected to not give the sketch a background and had Luzinski's powerful Rawlings Bat busing out of frame. I also added the discrete position of LF to the All-Star Shield. 

Greg Luzinski Index

1971T #439 (rc) 2013 Philadelphia Sports HOF Induction

1977 Topps #30: 1976 ASG +40 

2003 Fleer Ultra All-Vet Stadium #7 Spot the Sig

1971T #439 Card Show Swag

1974 Kellogs 3D Swag from the Phillies Room

1975T Mini Card Show Swag

1978T #420 Year of the Tiger

Sources and Links

1980 Phillies World Champs

Baseball-Ref

MLB

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

ANNIVERSARY: Phillies First World Championship - 1981 Topps #404

Another year has passed and once again I have pretty much failed in my goal of putting together my annual single subject series.

This year my target was the 1980 Phillies world championship team.

looks like I managed to add a grand total of four postings related to the 1980 Phillies – all in the middle of the field: Manny Trillo, Larry Bowa, Garry Maddox, and Dick Ruthven.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Phillies cinching their 1980 championship.

 

1981 Topps #404 Phillies Win First World Series

Topps honored the Phillies Victory on card #404 of their 1981 set. The featured player is Tug McGraw.

Today the demise of starting pitching is frequently discussed, However even 40 years ago McGraw registered the 3rd most outs of any Phillies pitcher for the series. His 7 1/3 innings ranking behind only Steve Carlton and Ruthven.

Even more importantly were the outs that Tug McGraw registered. Baseball-Ref has a new to me stat cWPA – Championship Win Probability Added. Basically the concept is how much each plate appearance affects the probability of winning a championship.

Tug McGraw led all pitchers in the Series with a cWPA of 18.05% (100% represents a single Win). For comparison Steve Carlton who Won 2 games in the series had a cWPA of 2.67%.

Among Phillies batters only Mike Schmidt (19.48) and..... Del Unser! (26.11) who had a couple of big pinch hits off Dan Quisenberry outpaced McGraw.

Perhaps I will dig deeper on this series in the future but for now we are likely on pause with the 1980 Phillies.

Sources & Links

1980 Phillies World Champs Index

Tug McGraw Index

Baseball-ref

Tuesday, October 6, 2020

ANNIVERSARY: Roy Halladay

Today marks the 10th Anniversary of Roy Halladay's NLDS no-hitter. I have discussed this game a number of times in the past. Today I will just simply state it was one of the greatest games I ever attended. 

Our original account of the no-hitter  can be found here.

2017 Topps Untouchables #U-18 Roy Halladay

This card is not specifically dedicated to that game, but it is definitely in the neighborhood. "Untouchables"  could be seen as a synonym for no-hitter, an that is the case here:

Flip

2017 Topps Untouchables #U-18 Roy Halladay (b-side)

On the backside of the card we see the top bullets are dedicated to his 2010 no-hitter pair - The regular season perfect game and the NLDS no-hitter.   

Untouchables

Untouchables is a 30 card insert found in 2017 Topps Update.  Halladay has two cards in the set, He reps the Blue Jays on the other card. The checklist contains one other Phillies pitcher, Steve Carlton.. 

Sources and Links

Roy Halladay HOF index

No-Hitters Index

Game Dated Cards

Cardboard Connection

Monday, October 5, 2020

ANNIVERSARY - Jim Palmer: 1971 Topps #197 ALCS Game 3

October 5th marks the 50th anniversary of the Orioles clinching American League pennant sweeping the  Minnesota Twins in 3 games. 

1971 Topps #197 (image swiped from comc.com)

I would normally dissetc this card and discuss the game box for the Orioles 6-1 victory, but last week I broke my arm and typing is a pain with one hand. 

The busted humerus did not stop me from finishing up my O's Orange version of this card.

1971T Jim Palmer Mows em Down

i changed the classic 1971T Black Border to the Orioles other team color,  added  Palmer's dominating pitching line, and tagged the game date.  Other modifications include making the baseball prominent and emphasizing Palmer's #22.

Box

ok I peeked at the box and Palmer's strikeout victims included future HoFs Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew. Other notables were Tony Oliva and Phillies World Series manager Charlie Manuel. 

sources and links

Jim Palmer HoF index

Phungo Originals

baseball-ref

 

 

 



Tuesday, September 8, 2020

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

Thursday, September 3, 2020

1974 Topps #80 Tom Seaver (1944-2020)

I learned a lot about Tom Seaver while researching “The Andy Warhol Triple Play”. My focus was Warhol but I learned a lot about his subjects, one of which was Tom Seaver.

The more you learn about Seaver the more interesting he becomes. He was more than a ballplayer, He was a devoted family man, a vintner, and a connoisseur of the arts.

One of his many interests popped up recently when I saw the cartoon on the back of Tom Seaver’s 1974 Topps card. 

1974 Topps #80 Tom Seaver (b-side)

Tom Enjoys Playing Bridge. Mildly interesting… Then last night while re-reading my notes from the Warhol Project I came across an enjoyable blog posting written by Phillip Richter, a schoolmate of Tom and Nancy’s daughter Sarah. An excerpt from the column read:

While walking and talking and tending to the vineyards, Tom made the comment that pitching is like playing bridge. To be a really successful pitcher you have to get inside the mind of the batter. Is he having a good day? Will he wait for a fat pitch or just aggressively strike at anything served to him? What are his goals? How consistent a player is he? Your goal as a pitcher is to control the outcome. Tom said that it was his job to control where the ball was going to go should the batter connect with the ball and make a hit.  I know next to nothing about baseball but Tom’s complex and astute thesis was logical and so well articulated. It made all the sense in the world. I would never have seen parallels between the game of bridge and the art of throwing a baseball at high speed. Tom knows that I’m not a crazed baseball fanatic but I have always had huge admiration and respect for his many incredible accomplishments. Back in the day I was around for a lot of his career highlights–like when he got his 300th win in 1985. 

Tom Seaver just doesn’t play bridge, he plays bridge the way he pitches or pitches the way he plays cards. The article was written in 2016, Seaver would have been 71 years of age – 30 years removed from his final pitch, yet here he is making parallels between two games he loves. 

1974 Topps

1974 Topps #80 Tom Seaver

I have always loved this card, great action shot of an absolute legend - good use of the landscape format in the mainly portrait style 1974T set. 

The card re-drew my attention earlier this summer as part of a Project2020 inspired activity spearheaded by @_gritz_ of Project 62.  Gritz posted a randomish page of 9 noteworthy trading cards. Similar to Project2020 the assignment to the world of amateur artists was to redesign the card – Project2020 for the common folks.

One of the cards posted was the 1974T Seaver. 1974 has the best -toons and I had to flip the card over. That is where I spotted the comic. Once I saw it I knew that was the route I was going:

 Phungo Original: 1974T Tom Seaver

In creating my own Tom Seaver card I kept the 1974T design – in a simplified format. The original comic is more portrait – I have changed it to Landscape format which necessitated moving the copy. I added a touch of color to the lines – keeping the Mets 1974T flavors. My biggest remaining modification was identifying the card being pitched by Seaver as the Ace of Diamonds – which he truly is.   

It was a fun card to do and I think of Tom Seaver as a happy individual who was able to pass that joy on to those around him, I hope this Phungo Original captures that vibe.

In Memoriam

Links to other folks that have Tom Seaver Memorial Postings:

1960s Baseball (1968T)

Cards that Never Were (1968T Seaver LHP w/ Bob Gibson LHP)

Starting Nine (41 Scans for #41)

Sources and Links

Andy Warhol: Tom Seaver

Phungo Tom Seaver HOF Index

Turtle Garage

@_Gritz_

Project 62

 

 

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe: T201 Mecca Double Folder

Recently my sketches have been focused on the players of the Negro Leagues. Today we featured Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe who got his nickname from pitching one end of a double header followed by catching the other.  

 I was interested in a way to capture this idea on a baseball card. 

1911 T201 Mecca Double Folder Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe

The T201 Double Folder was the perfect solution. Unfolded/Open features Radcliffe pitching, while the folder version shows him catching. 

While the video is fun, I kind of think it is easier to see the images in stills.

1911 T201 Mecca Double Folder Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe (pitching)

 For the pitching image I put in Radcliffe in pinstripes and on a basically clear field.


1911 T201 Mecca Double Folder Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe (catching)

As a catcher I made Radcliffe a catcher for the Birmingham Black Barons. whom he played for from 1942-46. I went with an industrial background here - typical of many Negro League stadium. 

Time

The card is a bit of an anachronism. Radcliffe's career spanned 1928-50 so 1911 predates that period a bit, but the double folder was to good an idea to pass up.

Sources and Links

Phungo Originals

Phungo Negro Leagues

Seamheads

Negro League Baseball eMuseum 

Cardboard Connection

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

1964T Phil Linz Phungo Variation

Thursday August 20th is an important Anniversary of one of the most significant events in the Storied History of the New York Yankees.

It is the 56th Anniversary of the Harmonica Incident

If you are not familiar with the Harmonica Incident click the link above for a more detailed account, for our purposes the important facts are that Yankees Infielder Phil Linz was playing Harmonica on the team bus following a loss. This upset manager Yogi Berra, yelled "Shove that harmonica up your..." towards the back of the bus. Here is where it gets interesting...

Linz did not hear Yogi and asked Mickey Mantle what he said and Mickey said:

"PLAY IT LOUDER"

Which Phil Linz proceeded to do. This let to a confrontation between Berra and Linz including the harmonica being used as a projectile.

I original heard the story years ago when I first read "Ball Four" and was reminded of it reading Mitch Nathanson's outstanding biography "Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original" 

This got the crew at Phungo HQ thinking, this story needs a baseball card.

 Phungo Variation

1964T Phil Linz Phungo Variation

I went with 1964T as the canvas as that was the year the incident occurred. To capture the humor of the event I went with the comic approach. The comic is not really original - I stole it from the back of Ed Sadowski's 1960 Topps Card

1960 Topps #403 Ed Sadowski (b-side)

Pretty happy with the reproduction of the -toon on my part. I love to envision Phil Linz being in as care free a mood as this comic right before being yelled at by Yogi Berra. 

I sort of kept the colors and lettering from the original 1960 comic. I went with an orange interior border to reflect the creamsicle backs of 1964 Topps.  To match the original Phil Linz card the comic extends out of frame into the team name area which matches the Red/Orange color from 1964T. I did change the player position from INF-OF to SS-3B to better reflect Phil Linz 1964 playing time.

Ed Sadowski was a backup catcher who spent the bulk of his 5 year career with the LA Angels. I did some minor digging and was unable to find more info on Sadowski's musical talents. Regardless his cartoon was good enough for me. 

In a sad note Ed Sadowski's bio revealed that he died in 1993 from Lou Gehrig's Disease. 

Sources and Links

Phungo Original Index

Bob Nightengale USA TODAY

Mitch Nathanson - Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original

Topps Baseball Card DB

Baseball-Reference

Ed Sadowski SABR BioClayton Trutor




Sunday, August 9, 2020

1974 Topps #47 Dick Ruthven

Dick Ruthven was drafted three times: 1969 (20th round Orioles) 1972 (Twins 1st rd / 8th pick) and finally by the Phillies (1973 Winter #1 overall)

1974 Topps #47 Dick Ruthven

As a highly touted prospect Dick Ruthven made his pro debut at the Major League level. This means no multiplayer RC - Ruthven's first card is the above 1974T and it's a solo. 

It was not a straight line for Ruthven and the Phillies to the World Series. There were a series of trades involving Ruthven which are worthy of their own discussion but the important result was that Ruthven ended up in the rotation for the 1980 Phillies. 

1980 Phillies 
Yes Dick Ruthven was an important member of the 1980 Phillies pitching staff - he was 2nd on the staff (behind Steve Carlton of course) in Wins, Starts, Complete Games, and Innings, however..... I will always remember him for a relief appearance.

Game 5 of the 1980 NLCS

The deciding game of the series saw Phillies closer Tug McGraw blow a save. Dallas Green had already gone through four other pitchers. The staff was shot when Dick Ruthven was called into the 9th inning of the Winner Take All game.  And what does Ruthven do in his only relief appearance of 1980?

Six up Six Down, Phillies Win 8-7.

Ruthven did that on 18 pitches - 2 innings on 18 pitches, including a six pitch inning.

Phungo Original

Phungo Original :1974T Dick Ruthven

I chose this card for our 1980 WSC Phillies sketch for two reasons. 1) it is significant to Dick Ruthven as it is his RC 2) We are clearly focuses on his NLCS Game 5 relief appearance and this shot clearly shows the bullpen in the background. 
 
To further illustrate Ruthven's 1980 NLCS contributions we have made a few minor modifications. The first is adding "RELIEF" to Ruthven's "PITCHER" position. The other change is a fun one, we have added a Bullpen Cart to the image.  The cart is also a nod to a different 1974T card - of a very prominent Phillies Player, Mike Schmidt

Dick Ruthven Index
1975 Topps (2008 Game 5 prep)
1975 Topps Mini (2010 Philly Show Swag: mini w/ 1959T Robin Roberts)

Sources and links
1980 Phillies
baseball-ref

Sunday, August 2, 2020

1980 World Champions: Manny Trillo 1983 Topps #5 Record Breaker

One of the casualties of Fan-less Baseball Games is the Phillies Alumni weekend.  I have been to several of these events over the years and they are always enjoyable.

Typically Alumni weekend occurs in early August and have a theme including the honoring of a player on the clubs Wall of Fame. This year the Phillies were scheduled to honor the 1980 Phillies with Manny Trillo getting added to the Wall.


1983 Topps #5 Record Breaker Manny Trillo

It is a shame that the Phillies are unable to honor Trillo this year. I have been to a several Alumni weekends, and don't recall Trillo participating and was looking forward to his 2020 induction.

1983 Topps RB
To rep Trillo in our 1980 Phillies Series I have chosen his 1983 Topps Record Breaker. The card honors Manny setting the record for consecutive chances fielded for a second baseman. Trillo's achievement occured during a 98 game stretch in 1982.  The streak began on April 9th during a Phillies 2-0 victory vs the Expos. It ended during another 2-0 victory, this time versus the Cubs. The beneficiary of the Trillo miscue was Bill Buckner - Who would make his own error a few years later.

Flip

1983 Topps #5 Record Breaker Manny Trillo

The blurb is written as a newspaper byline from the day the streak ended. It also goes on to mention the previous record holder Jerry Adair. As expected Adair was also a very good in the field. It isn't as specific date wise but Adair's 1967T card has a 2 panel cartoon that notes the streak.


1967 Topps #484 Jerry Adair (detail/comic)

In that 2nd shot I guess he is carrying a basket full of error free games

Phungo Original Jesus Trillo
For my Manny Trillo Phungo sketch I took the 1983 RB card and turned it to landscape format.

 1980T RB Jesus Manny Trillo

I noticed that the borders for the 1983 Record Breaker Card are Blue Red and Yellow. Those match the colors of the flag of Manny Trillo's native of Venezuela. This was the genesis of the idea to go with a flag motif for the card. In the bottom left I modified the 1982 Record Breaker logo to reflect this years Phungo series 1980 World Champs. The various scorebook tags listed on the card are the 33 fielding plays that Trillo made during that series.

Now I direct you to the bottom of the card - Jesus Manny Trillo. This isn't Trillo's given name - but it is closer than just Manny. His first name really is Jesus but through typical Phillies ignorance the organization messed up both his first and last names. Read more about it in his SABR Bio here.

Finally I direct you to the 4 stars that arc through the card/flag. The Venezuelan Flag has 8 stars representing the countries 8 provinces. Here I have chosen to feature four stars as a nod to the 4 times that Manny Trillo made the All-Star team.

Peanut Gallery
For a bit more on this card and a progressive record of the Error-less streak check out the 1983 Topps Blog.

Manny Trillo Links
1983 Fleer #631 Pride of Valenzuela
1983 Topps Blog

Sources & Links
1980 Phillies
Phillies Wall of Fame
Baseball-Ref
SABR - Leonte Landino
Encyclopedia Britannica

Thursday, July 30, 2020

ANNIVESARY: 1980 Topps #270 Mike Schmidt - Hall of Fame Induction

25 years ago today (July 30 1995) Five baseball legends were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Among them were Richie Ashburn, Leon Day, Vic Willis and 19th century Executive William Hulbert.

The fifth inductee is the one we will discuss tonight. The only one to have played his entire career with the Philadelphia Phillies.

1980 Topps #270 Mike Schmidt

This is the first Mike Schmidt card tagged with an All-Star flair, honoring his first ever start for the NL squad in the mid-summer classic.

If your curious as to how well Mike fared in that game all you need to do is flip over the card.

1980 Topps #270 Mike Schmidt (b-side)

The Triple was in the first inning off of another Haller Nolan Ryan.  The hit plated Steve Garvey for the NLs first run in a 7-6 victory.

Schmidt made 12 All-Star teams and was named a starter 7 times.

1980 World Champions 
It is obvious I am not going to dedicate as much ink to the 1980 Phillies as I would like, but I am still trying to highlight as many players as possible.  For more of these postings see the link below.

Sources and Links
1980 World Series Champions Index 
Mike Schmidt Index
Baseball Card Database
Baseball-Ref
Baseball Hall of Fame

Saturday, July 25, 2020

ANNIVERSARY: 2015 JULY 25 - Cole Hamels No-Hits Cubs

Don't worry I am not really returning to blogging, I just wanted to make sure that Cole Hamels 2015 No-Hitter versus the Chicago Cubs didn't not go unnoticed.

2016 Topps Wrigley Celebrates 100 Years WRIG-21 

How cool is it to be featured in an insert set that is dedicated to another team.

Cole Hamels 5-0 no-hit victory versus the Cubs was a bittersweet moment.  On the one hand you have the excitement of the monumental accomplishment of one of the franchises most important players, however on the other hand it would be Hamels last appearance in a Phillies uniform.

A week later Hamels was traded to the Texas Rangers along with reliever Jake Diekman. The return was a bunch of ballplayers that have had varied degrees of major league time. The big chip so far has been Jorge Alfaro who the Phillies flipped for JT Realmuto.

Since leaving Philadelphia Hamels has pitched well and made the postseason with both the Rangers (2015-16) and oddly enough the Cubs in 2018.

Unfortunately he is now with the Phillies division rival Braves - however he is currenlty on the 45 day IL

5 Years Ago
For our original posting on the No-Hitter click here.

Sources and Links
NoHitter Index
Baseball-Ref
Amazon
mlbTradeRumors

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Happy 75th Birthday John Fogerty

Just want to take a quick second to recognize the 75th birthday of musician John Fogerty. We are mostly baseball here but we are also dabble in pop culture. Occasionally these two interests intersect.

John Fogerty "Centerfield" (1984)

What baseball fan is not familiar with the title cut from John Fogerty's 1984 Album "Centerfield". Blogger doesn't like the single word spelling but I do - strictly based off of Fogerty's use of it on this album cover. Everything about it is beautiful, the Beat Up Glove, the Baseball Style lettering and the classic tone.

"Centerfield" is such an iconic piece of Fogerty's catalog that he had a custom guitar made just for the song:

"Slugger" 

The guitar was on display when I last visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015. If you expand the photo you can read the display card that credits Philip Kubicki as the craftsman who created the guitar which is named Slugger. 

Happy Birthday to Musician and Baseball Fan John Fogerty

Sources & Links
VittlesTunes

discogs - Centerfield 
imdb
Kubicki - Factor

Sunday, May 24, 2020

ANNIVESARY: 2000 May 24 Pat Burrell MLB Debut

May 24th marks the 20th anniversary of Pat Burrell's MLB Debut in a Phillies 9-7 victory versus the Houston Astros.

2008 Topps 50th Anniversary All-Rookie Team #AR81 Pat Burrell

in 2008 to mark the 50th anniversary of Team Phungo's favorite subset, All-Star Rookies, Topps issued and 110 card Insert set. Among the 110 players included was Pat Burrell.

The 2008 card format echoes the seminal 1960 Topps subset. For a look at those cards see our posting on Hall of Famer Willie McCovey.

Flip
2008 Topps 50th Anniversary All-Rookie Team #AR81 Pat Burrell (b-side)

The backs also mirror 1960T including the Season Highlights section bottom left. Notice the first bullet cites Burrell's MLB Debut and mentions a Triple he hit in that game. An oddity for a man who would finish with 16 career. That first Triple tacked on an insurance run in the 9th inning. It came off of Burrell's future teammate Billy Wagner. 

Burrell's originally made the 2000 team that was honored in the 2001 Topps.

2001 Topps #144 Pat Burrell 

Sources and Links
Pat Burrell Index
2001 Topps Rookie Cup Index (2000 honorees)
Baseball-Ref 
Check Out My Cards

Monday, May 18, 2020

Phyllis George (1949-2020) the Woman who came between Pete Rose and Andy Warhol


Phyllis George and Bill Kurtis (1985 Jan 18/ Getty Images)

While researching "The Andy Warhol Triple Play" for SABR48 in Pittsburgh one of the fun tidbits that I found out that got dropped from the final presentation involved 1971 Miss America Phyllis George.
Andy Warhol "Pete Rose" Test Print

Carl Solway had conceived the ides of having Andy Warhol painting a portrait of Pete Rose in April of 1985. To produce the painting in a timely (thus "pop") manner meant that for Pete Rose to sit for Warhol the meeting would need to happen during the baseball season.

The Reds only traveled to New York once during the remainder of the 1985 Season. That was a week day series from July 22 through 24th.

1985 Cincinnati Red Schedule (RedsCardCollector 2015 Oct 06)

Unfortunately for Solway and Warhol, Rose had a lot going on. In addition to the normal rigors of playing AND managing for the Reds Pete Rose also maintained a very busy press schedule.

Rather than sitting with Warhol while in New York Rose elected to spend his free morning on the CBS Morning News with Phyllis George.  And we know about it because Rose covered in his journal of the 1985 season "Countdown to Cobb" Co-Written with Philadelphia based author Hal Bodley.

 Countdown to Cobb - Rose/Bodley

The interesting passage above is the 2nd paragraph (click to enlarge) where Rose mentions he already was familiar with Phyllis from guesting on "NFL Today"

"I took the Greek’s (Jimmy the Greek) spot and talked about each of the NFL games."

Certainly not a shock, but it is a bit comical to know that Pete Rose was handicapping games on NFL Today.

So that is the story of how Phyllis George came between Pete Rose and Andy Warhol.

Getty Images
Getty Images / SI - Chuck Solomon (1985 JUL 24)

Amazingly Getty Images has photos of Rose playing in the 3rd game of the Red Mets Series.  

Andy Warhol
Getty also has Photos of Warhol during this time frame.
Andy Warhol and Debbie Harry demonstrate the Amiga Computer (Allan Tannenbaum 1985 Jul 23)


Warhol also has his own journal for 1985, The "Warhol Diaries" confirms that he and Debbie Harry were doing a promotion for Commodore Computers at Lincoln Center that day.

The Diaries also states Warhol thought his "drawing" of Harry was "terrible".

Scheduling Conflicts
There you have it. Rose was in NYC for 3 days. Monday Rose elected to appear on CBS - previewing his upcoming book. Tuesday Warhol was busy at Lincoln center and Wednesday was a day game.

That was the one chance for the two icons to meet, Warhol ended up doing the painting from photographs. You can read more about that here.

Sources and Links
Phungo Andy Warhol - Pete Rose Index
imdb
Countdown to Cobb - Pete Rose / Hal Bodley
Carl Solway
Baseball-ref
Getty / CBS (1985 Jan 18
The Andy Warhol Diaries

Sunday, May 17, 2020

2000 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Team (2001 Topps Set)

This is an index to postings related to the 2000 Topps All-Star Rookie Team which was honored with cards in the 2001 Topps set. The Set includes 2008 World Champ Pat Burrell.

2001 Topps #144 Pat Burrell 

91    2001 TOPPS MIKE LAMB
144    PAT BURRELL
271    BENGIE MOLINA
278    TERRENCE LONG
293    JAY PAYTON
319    RAFAEL FURCAL
514    ADAM KENNEDY
653    MARK REDMAN
720    KAZUHIRO SASAKI
721    MARK QUINN

2008 Topps TASR 50th Anniversary #AR81 Pat Burrell

Saturday, April 25, 2020

1976 Topps #251 Rick Monday

It happened on April 25 1976.

During the Bicentennial 44 years ago Rick Monday became a Patriotic Hero by saving an American Flag from being set afire at Dodger stadium. 

1976 Topps #251 Rick Monday

This is the card that Topps issued of Monday in 1976. Couple of things I like about this card - first off collectors recall the simple design of 1976T which features a team related color with a complimentary color on the name plate. The photo appears to be taken at Spring Training - notice that Monday is wearing a Home Uni yet there is a palm tree in the background beyond his left elbow.

I am always a fan of identifying bat knobs on cards. Here we can sort of see Monday's #7 which he wore most of his career.

The Position Icon

The final item I want to point out is the position icon. It is a point of interest in that becomes the focus on a 1976T design. Each position has a different icon including unique artwork for Left and Right handed pitchers.  For outfielders like Monday the player is show flagging down a fly ball.

Baseball iconography is actually pretty rare in Topps designs. This is really sad and it is getting rarer as Topps moves to using generic formats that can be used for multiple sports, films and other media.

The Photo
Rick Monday Rescues American Flag (Vice/James Roark)

Photographer James Roark caught the above iconic image of Rick Monday saving the flag.  The picture was nominated for the 1976 Photographic Pulitzer which ended up awarded to a different photo taken in April of 1976 that also involved a flag.

Phungo Originals  

For me the Outfielder icon used on 1976 Topps echoed the James Roark photo - it easy to see the fielder running with a Flag rather than Flagging down a baseball. 

This similarity inspired me to create a Phungo Original...

1976T 0425 Rick Monday

For the most part I tried to keep the everything about the card the same as the Topps. I enhanced the Cubs logo a tad and kept the palm tree because I liked how it balanced the image. The 7 on the bat knob is enlarged as well.

The most significant change is adding the American Flag and making it prominent in the frame.

I have always liked when a trading card can tell a story and I am happy that 1) this idea came to me and 2) I was able to execute it to my satisfaction. 

Sources and Links
Rick Monday Index

Vice.com (David Davis / James Roark)
NPR

Sunday, April 5, 2020

1967 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Team (1968 Topps Set)

This is an Index to our postings related to the 1967 Topps Rookie All-Star Team. The award is for the 1967 season with the cards issued in the 1968 set.

 1968 Topps #487 Lee May (Topps All-Star Rookie Cup)


45TOM SEAVER HOFMetsRHP1968
61REGGIE SMITHRed SoxOF1968
80ROD CAREW HOFTwins2B1968
104DICK DIETZGiantsC1968
126BOBBY ETHERIDGEGiants3B1968
172WALT WILLIAMSWhite SoxOF1968
209TIM CULLENSenatorsSS1968
253Dick HughesCardinalsRHP1968
282Rick MondayA'sOF1968
339Rich NyeCubsLHP1968
487LEE MAY Reds1B1968