ANNIVERSARY: 2010 Topps Heritage #310 Utley Ties Reggie

November 2nd marks the 10th Anniversary of the Phillies last World Series Game victory. An 8-6 victory over the New York Yankees.

That night Chase Utley tied a 30 year old World Series Record.

2010 Topps Heritage #310 Chase Utley (image swiped from trading card db)

The caption sums it up simply "Utley Ties Reggie". Nice to have your named in a comparative with a player who is such a superstar that they only need to be identified by a single name.

Flip

2010 Topps Heritage #310 Chase Utley (image stolen from comc)

The back of the Heritage cards remain faithful to the 1961T originals with scoring plays followed by the line score. The Utley Homers for game 5 can be found in the first and 7th innings of the Phillies portion of the text.

Reggie
Jackson's 5 Home Run Series was also celebrated by Topps in their 1978 set.

1978 Topps #7 RB Reggie Jackson

We covered this card a bit in our 2018 Memorial to broadcaster Keith Jackson. To read more about the card click here.

1961 Topps
2010 Heritage is an Homage to 1961 Topps. The World Series subset parallels the original with Utley's Record card matching with a card dedicated to a Pirates 5-2 victory, also over the Yankees, which featured an 8 out save from Elroy Face.

1961 Topps #310 Face Saves the Day

While both the PA teams were able to defeat the 1960 and 2009 Yankees in Game 5, afterward their fates diverged. The Pirates won the 1960 Series on Bill Mazeroski's famous Home Run while, Utley and the Phillies fell to the Yankees in 6 games. 

Phungo Games
This card reps the Phungo Game collection, read more about that game here.  In addition to the above Heritage card we have previously covered the 2009 Allen & Ginter card dedicated to Utley's World Series Record. This column can be found here.

Sources and Links
Chase Utley Index
Phungo Game Index
2009 World Series
Check out My Cards
Trading Card db
Baseball-Ref

2018 HOF Candidate: Johnny Damon

This year our first profile of a non-Phils HOF Candidate goes to Johnny Damon.

If you have been following the Ryan Thibodaux Hall of Fame vote tracker it is pretty obvious Johnny Damon is going to be a one and done candidate.

As of January 2 2018 Thibodaux had recorded 159 ballots, Johnny Damon received one vote. It was from Rick Telander who put together a complementary paragraph to justify his Damon selection.

He’ll never get in, but the guy thrilled many of us during those magical Red Sox-Yankees battles when the Theo Epstein-led Sox were emerging from their Cubs-like title drought. In 2002, Damon led the American League in triples. In 2004, he was second in the AL in runs scored. He sported wild hair and a lumberjack beard years before the latter became fashionable. I dug it.

2010 Heritage #309 Damon Steals 2 Bags on 1 Pitch

To honor Damon's career we pick a Topps Heritage card that shows off Johnny Damon's base running skills at the expense of the 2009 Phillies.

The play occurred during game four of the World Series. Damon came to the plate in the 9th inning of a 4-4 tie. There were 2 outs and nobody on base. He singled to left field to get the go-ahead run on base. The Phillies used a defensive shift versus Left-Handed batting Mark Teixeira. Damon stole 2nd on the first pitch easily beating a short throw from Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz. Damon then popped up and took off towards an unguarded third base.

Thus as the card says he stole "2 Bags on 1 Pitch".

Damon would later score on an Alex Rodriguez double, the scoring did not end there as the Yankees racked up 3 runs and took the game 7-4.

2010 Heritage #309 Damon Steals 2 Bags on 1 Pitch (b-side)

Interesting back of the card, where Topps mimics the 1961 World Series cards which Heritage echoes. Not sure but I believe 1961 is the only year that Topps used the "How They Scored" approach on the back of World Series cards. I don't think I need to see it every year but it is interesting to see it once.

The original 1961T #309 card also featured a big play at second. During the 1960 World Series the Yankees were the victims while the Pittsburgh Pirates were on offense.

The runner involved was Pirates left fielder Gino Cimoli. With the Pirates down a run in the fifth Cimoli beat a fielders choice throw to 2nd base. He would eventually be the first of three runs to score during the inning. That was all the Pirates needed to post a 3-2 victory.

One more thing
Johnny Damon is a Thai-American. That is the same Heritage as my own!

And in 2013 he chose to represent Thailand in the World Baseball Classic. Thailand didn't get very deep in the WBC, but Damon did get the opportunity to help develop the game there.

Hopefully someday I will get to see the Thai baseball team or even a baseball game in Thailand.

Until then I am happy to wear the above Thailand WBC cap whenever I get the opportunity. 

Verdict
HOF, I gotta go with Johnny Damon and his Asian roots here.

Johnny Damon Player Index

2009 Heritage #163 - Damon plays for Thailand WBC
2009 Topps T206 #261 - Pack Break
2008 Topps Chrome X-Fractor #106 - Swag Posting
2005 Leaf Century Collection #58 - Year of the Ox


2009 1102 - Game Report (World Series Game 5)
Wilmington Blue Rocks Number Retirement Ceremony


Sources and Links
2018 HOF Candidates
Game Dated Cards 
Chicago Sun-Times Rick Telander
BB HOF Tracker
Sports on Earth Pat Jordan
New York Times
Baseball-Ref