1976 ASG +40: Larry Bowa

Larry Bowa made Five All-Star teams during his 16 year career. 1976 was the 3rd of those five games. Bowa was beat out at the ballot box by Reds Shortstop Davey Concepcion and did not enter the game until the fifth inning. In his only AB in the game Bowa popped out to Right Field versus Frank Tanana

1975 Topps #420 Larry Bowa

Bowa's 1975T All-Star swatch honors his start in his start in the 1974 Mid-Summer classic hosted by the Pirates. As a batter the most successful ASG for Bowa was 1978 when he went 2 for 3 and scored a run. All five of his appearance came as a Phillies player and the NL won each of those games.

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1975 Topps #420 Larry Bowa (b-side)

The back of Bowa's card mentions his 1974 All-Star Appearance in Pittsburgh along with Bowa's early career fielding accomplishments.

A note on the cartoon, Ping Bodie, The man has a pretty interesting SABR Bio. First off his official name contains neither Ping nor Bodie. He was born Francesco Stephano Pezzolo - through a series of events his name evolved to Ping Bodie. Among other tidbits found in his Bio is that he swung a 52 oz bat and roomed with Babe Ruth when he played for the Yankees.

In the film "the Babe" Ping was portrayed by horror movie actor Ralph Marrero. It was Marrero's last film as he died in a car accident prior to the movies release.

Sources and Links
Larry Bowa Index
1976 All-Star Game Index
Baseball-ref
imdb

1976 ASG +40: Steve Garvey

With the Dodgers hosting the Cubs during the middle games of the NLCS we turn to one of the LA representatives for our 1976 All-Star Game retrospective.

In 1976 Steve Garvey made the third of his ten All-Star teams. He was the only infielder that represented a team other than the Reds.

1981 Topps #530 Steve Garvey

Garvey went 1-3 in the 1976 All-Star Game. In the first inning he picked up an RBI on a triple off of Mark Fidrych and later scored on a ground out by George Foster. The two runs gave the NL Squad a 2-0 lead which they never relinquished in the 7-1 victory.

Steve Garvey always liked the bright lights of big games. He was the MVP of two all-star games (1974 and 1978) as well as a pair of NLCS  - 1978 versus the Phillies, and 1983 with the Padres vs the Cubs.

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1981 Topps #530 Steve Garvey (b-side)

Just one thing I wanted to note from the back - check the Games Played column. 1980 was the last of six consecutive years that Garvey would play 160 games or more. He played only 110 in 1981, but that was because of the strike. He would return to play the full 162 the following season.

Garvey started a consecutive games played run on September 3rd 1975 that would continue until 1983. The streak reached 1207 games on July 29 1983 and ranks fourth on all-time list.

Sources and Links
1976 ASG Index
Baseball-Ref
Baseball-Almanac

1976 ASG +40: Dave Cash

Things been busy here at Phungo HQ and I sort of abandoned our 1976 All-Star Game series around the time of the games Anniversary in July. I wanted to get to all the HoFs and Philllies in the game this year and will do my best to clean up the rest of the profiles in the coming weeks - although I may mail in some of the offerings.

Today we are discussing Phillies second baseman Dave Cash. 1976 was the third and final appearance in the mid-summer classic for Cash, in each of his three appearance he was the back-up behind future hall of famer Joe Morgan. Cash was the only Phillie to get a hit for the Home fans in 1976, He singled off Frank Tanana to lead off the eighth inning and later came around to score on a Ken Griffey base hit. 

1993 Upper Deck BAT  Tri-Fold #26 Dave Cash

Since he was never a starter Cash never got a Topps card with an All-Star flair. I chose a 1993 Retro card from UD to represent Cash. Nice to see a semi-star like Cash get the retro treatment.

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1993 Upper Deck BAT  Tri-Fold #26 Dave Cash (b-side)

You may need to click on the above images to expand the the cards (and the text) to view them more clearly.

Although Cash is featured in his Phillies threads on the front of the card, the first panel discusses his exploits with the Pirates in the 1971 ALCS. UD finally gets to the Phillies on the middle panel. Interesting tidbit here is that the Cash's All-Star 1976 season is mentioned along with his low Strikeout (13) total. In the "Things have Changed" department, last year among players that had a similar K total or less only two had over 100 ABs Yulieski Gurriel (130 AB) and Mike Moustakas (104 AB). Cash totaled 666 ABs for his 13 Ks.

The final Panel reference BAT (Baseball Assistance Team) an organization that helps current in former players in need of Assistance. The organization is still functioning today and a number of testimonials can be found on their website.

A few weeks ago Paul Hagen posted an article on Dave Cash at MLB.com. It sounds like the Phillies former second baseman who is now 68 years old is enjoying a relaxing retirement.

Sources and Links
1976 ASG Index
MLB Paul Hagen
Baseball-ref
MLB Community/BAT

ANNIVERSARY: 1976 07 13 Veterans Stadium Hosts it's first All-Star Game

On the day after the 87th Mid-Summer Classic we are taking a look at the 47th All-Star Game.

If you have been following along here at Phungo you are aware that we are working on a yearlong series discussing the 1976 All-Star Game which was hosted in Philadelphia. Today Marks the 40th Anniversary of that game.

1976 All-Star Game Program

This is the cover for the 1976 ASG program. It may not appear this way but the cover was designed but an Artist many collectors are familiar with, Dick Perez.

While the cover does a nice job of featuring a behind the plate shot overlaying Independence hall I do find it odd that there is not a Red White and Blue motif to capitalize on the Bicentennial fervor.

The Program opens with a section that includes photos of players enjoying many of the tourist attractions around Philadelphia.

The man with the Liberty Bell is Phillies then President Ruly Carpenter.

The other two pictures are Mike Schmidt and Wife Donna, sporting similar hair styles while exploring Valley Forge Park, which I believe is now a National Park, but is listed as a State park in the above text.

Sheena & Larry Bowa at Independence Hall

The Luzinski's at the Art Museum, and the Garry Maddox family at the Zoo. These pictures are interesting as they feature a couple of kids that went on to play Professional Baseball, Ryan Luzinski and Garry Maddox Jr.. Neither of the youngsters made it to the major leagues.

I picked up the program at a SABR meeting and whomever I inherited it from kept score for the game. Near as I can tell the scoring is pretty accurate.

1976 All-Star Game +40 Series
A full Index to our postings related to the 1976 ASG can be found here. I know there are a lot of notables that we haven't gotten to, rest assured just because we have made it to the games anniversary that doesn't mean that we are done featuring the many players involved in that game. Ideally we will get to all of the Phillies and Hall of Famers that were involved in the game, but well time restraints and laziness always get in the way.

Sources and Links
Larry Bowa Index
1976 ASG Index
Mike Schmidt HoF Index
Baseball Almanac

Reds Retire Pete Rose's #14

Over the weekend the Cincinnati Reds Retired Pete Rose’s number.

1977 Topps #450 Pete Rose
The Reds drew 40,805 fans for the ceremony and 120K+ for a three game series versus the Padres for Pete Rose weekend.  Outside of an early season Saturday Game against the Cubs and the Home Opener versus the Phillies, the trio of games rank as the Reds top 3 draws of the season. 
 
1976 ASG
In 1976 Pete Rose made his 10th All-Star Team. However, it was his first at Third Base the fourth different position he played in the Mid-Summer Classic. Rose batted leadoff in the game and recorded a single off of AL Starter Mark Fidrych. Pete went 2 for 3 in the game wit the 2nd hit coming off of Luis TIant. After Five innings Rose was replaced at third by the Home Town player and future teammate Mike Schmidt.

During Rose's first AB in the All-Star Game a fan in the stands can be heard screaming "Where's Mike Schmidt" 

Reds alums present for the number retirement ceremony on Sunday included 3 of Rose’s Reds teammates that were on that NL ASG squad in ’76, Tony Perez, Johnny  Bench and David Concepcion.
 
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1977 Topps #450 Pete Rose 

Just wanted to show off the cartoon on the back of the card. As far as I know the 30+ year old factoid remained true until the stadium closed. In 2008 Josh Hamilton came close during the Home Run Derby and there is also a debate as to the possibility of Josh Gibson hitting one in a 1930s Negro League game. For a New York Times article regarding those homers and other long ones at the House that Ruth built click here.

Sources and Links 
1976 All-Star Game summary
Pete Rose Non-HoF Index
Baseball-ref
Cincinnati Reds
New York Times 2008 07 16
YouTube - 1976 All-Star Game 

1991 Bowman #3 Rod Carew

Tonight in honor of the Phillies rare trip to Minnesota (and as part of our 1976 All-Star Game Coverage) we take a look at Twins Hall of Famer Rod Carew.

1991 Bowman #3 Rod Carew III

When he played in Philadelphia's Bicentennial All-Star Game Rod Carew was 30 years old and was playing in his 10th major league season.

Incredibly He was also a member of his 10th All-Star Team.

In every one of his eight previous All-Star games (Made team but DNP 1970) Carew played 2nd Base. 1976 was the first mid-summer classic which Carew played at his new position, First Base.

The Seven time batting champion did not fare quite as well in All-Star game play. In 1976 Carew was 0-3 with a walk and a stolen base. At the time the performance brought his career numbers to 2-24 a .083 Batting Average. Quite an anomaly for a player who batted .328 in the regular season through that point in his career.

Carew's All-Star performances would improve during the 2nd half of his career, he finished with a career .244 BA in 48 ABs. His best performances was in 1978 when he had a pair of triples and scored two runs.

1991 Bowman
I went with the 1991 Bowman card over one of the many Rod Carew All-Star cards.

This is because I am fond of the #29 Jersey stamp on the upper right. The flair represents Carew's uniform number that was retired by the Twins on July 19 1987.

Recently Rod Carew suffered a major heart attack, and may possibly need a heard transplant. Subsequently in partnership with the Twins Carew and his wife Rhonda launched a project to raise funds for the American Heart Association - the name of the initiative is The Heart of 29 Campaign.

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1991 Bowman #3 Rod Carew III (b-side)

The post career card highlights Carew's accomplishments during the 1970s including his six batting titles and 1977 MVP award.

Sources and Links
1976 ASG Index
Rod Carew HoF Index
Minnesota Twins
Baseball-ref
Cardboard Connection

Fathers Day - 1976 Topps #67 Father & Son Ray and Bob Boone

 For Father's Day the Philies have a number of things going on including a book signing with Bret Boone promoting his new book "Home Game". Bret is of course the son of former Phillies catcher Bob Boone.

Bob is also the son of a Major Leaguer, their relationship is recognized on a 1976 Topps card - which is a perfect one for us to feature as part of our 1976 All-Star Game coverage. 

1976 Topps #67 Father & Son Ray and Bob Boone

Bob Boone is the middle member of three generations of Boone's. His Father Ray played for 13 seasons mostly with the Tigers and Indians while Sons Aaron and Brett spent 12 and 14 years in the league respectively.

Pretty impressive careers for each but Bob is by far the MLB tenure leader, he spent 19 seasons in the league including a decade with the Phillies

All-Star
Bob Boone made the first of four All-Star teams in 1976. He entered the game in the fourth inning as a defensive replacement for Hall of Famer Johnny Bench. Boone remained in for the balance of the game. He went 0-2 facing Luis Tiant and Frank Tanana. Among the four NL pitchers he caught that day was another future HoF, Tom Seaver.

In 1979 Boone got to start the All-Star game and got to catch teammate Steve Carlton. However that Battery is a bit of an oddity, For the bulk of Lefty's games in that era his receiver was Tim McCarver.

Boone appeared in two other All-Star Games 1978 and 1983 (as an Angel).

1976 Topps Father & Son

1976 Topps #67 Father & Son Ray and Bob Boone

Interesting part of the text here is Bob mentioning that he started his career at third base. In 1972 Boone moved from Third Base to Catcher to make room for Mike Schmidt.

The Father-Son subset is five cards running from #66-#70 the other four pairs are Gus & Buddy Bell, Jim & Mike Hegan, Joe Coleman Sr & Jr, and Roy Smalley Sr & Jr. 

1980 Topps 
Despite appearing in four All-Star Games Boone was never issued a Topps card with an All-Star flair. As noted above he started the 1979 game, however Topps tagged the All-Star ballot winner Ted Simmons with the designation - Simmons had to skip the game due to injury.

Don Sutton Win #300
A just a quick toss back to our posting earlier in the week if you want to read about Don Sutton's 300th victory, a game that was caught by Bob Boone.

Sources and Links
1976 ASG Index
Baseball-ref
Amazon

1976 ASG +40: Don Money 1979 Topps #265

The Phillies hosting the Brewers for a four game set this weekend gives us the chance to discuss a 1976 All-Star with ties to both clubs.

1979 Topps #265 Don Money (AS)

1976 marked the second time that Don Money made the All-Star Team but it was the first time that he got to play in the game.

Money came into the 1976 ASG in the 6th inning replacing George Brett at Third Base. He would later bat in the 9th popping out versus Astros Pitcher Ken Forsch. Looking back today the AB is a bit of an oddity as at the time, Money was repping the AL as a Brewer and Forsch the NL as an Astro, Since then the two teams have flipped leagues.

1979 Topps
I selected 1979T card for our Don Money posting because it is the one time that he received the All-Star flair from Topps. This does cause a bit of a discrepancy...

Notice that we specified that Money played Third in the 1976 ASG, however are cover card lists second base as the position. To accommodate the Brewers Free Agent Signing of Sal Bando the Brewers moved Don Money to 2nd Base prior to the 1977 season.

The move worked out for Don as he would eventually get his only starting assignment as an All-Star in 1978. Money went 0-2 in the game including going down on strikes versus Vida Blue. The 1978 ASG was played in San Diego which will be also be the home of the 2016 Mid-Summer classic.

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1979 Topps #265 Don Money (AS - bSide)

Not sure how accurate it is but despite

The game referenced in the text at the bottom of the card was a 7-1 Brewers victory over the expansion Seattle Mariners.  The Pitcher who induced all those ground balls was rookie Larry Sorensen who pitched a complete game in only his 4th career start. 

Don Money was the 5th player to achieve the feat. Since 1977 five other second baseman have recorded a dozen assists in a game including the Phillies own Juan Samuel in 1985 and Former Phillies Manager and Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg (1983).

Stray Observation: Larry Sorensen made his only All-Star Appearance in the 1978 game that Don Money started. Sorensen pitched 3 shutout innings for the AL squad which was the strongest outing among the squads six pitchers.

Baseball Dates
A fun nuance of 1979 Topps is the Baseball Dates feature on each player card. Jim Umbarger recorded the unusual unassisted Pitcher DP while pitching for the Texas Rangers in a 2-1 Win over the Cleveland Indians. I could not find any additional footage or Info on the DP beyond the Box. It did occur with the bases loaded pop up. I can only assume that it was a Hit and Run or a freak play where the Infield Fly Rule was invoked and a runner got caught off a bag.

The Double Play occurred in the 2nd inning and was a big help towards giving Umbarger the W in the game.  According to the b-ref Win Expectancy chart for the game, prior to the play the Rangers had a 45% chance of victory. The double play increased that number by 17 points to 62%, the greatest impact of any single AB in the game.

The Indians batter was Catcher Alan Ashby, B-ref does not indicate the runner but the 3 men on base at the time were Rico Carty, Charlie Spikes and Buddy Bell.

Jim Umbarger was only involved in 5 other Double Plays in the remaineder of his 4 year 133 game career.

WAR Stories
Don Money put up much better career numbers that I realized. Among Third Baseman his career 36.3 WAR ranks just above Hall of Famer Pie Traynor (36.2). Among notable contemporary players he ranks somewhere between Troy Glaus (37.9) and Ryan Zimmerman (35.1)

More Money
1972 Ticketron Phillies

Sources and Links
1976 All-Star Game Index 
Baseball-ref
Baseball Almanac (1978 ASG)
Baseball Almanac (Assist Record)

1976 ASG +40: Joe Morgan 1976 Topps #420

This weekend the Phillies open a nine game homestand with a three game set against the Reds. Forty years ago when the All-Star game was held in Philadelphia the Reds sent an entourage of seven players plus manager Sparky Anderson.

1976 Topps #420 Joe Morgan AS

Among the seven was the teams entire infield including future Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. At the time of the 76 All-Star game Morgan may have been at the height of his 22 year career. He was in the middle of his 2nd consecutive MVP season. The Reds won the World Series during both of Morgan's MVP campaigns. The only folks that separated Joe Morgan from winning both of those MVP awards unanimously were his Reds teammates (Pete Rose 2 Votes in 1976 & George Foster 5, 1976).

And from an advanced stats perspective, the Voters were correct, Joe Morgan was a monster. 1976 was the 5th of  six consecutive seasons in which the second baseman would lead the league in Offensive WAR. Four of those years he would lead all Position Players in WAR, during both MVP years he led all players in WAR.

1976 All-Star Game
Morgan started the game along with the rest of the Reds Infield, He went 1 for 3 including a single off of HoF Pitcher Cafish Hunter in the 3rd. Later in the inning he would score on a Home Run by teammate George Foster.

The 1976 All-Star Game was the 7th of 10 trips to the Mid-Summer Classic including 1972 when he was the Games MVP. Morgan started and played all nine innings of that game, He only picked up one hit, but it was an important one. With one out and Nate Colbert at second base Morgan punched a single off of Dave McNally to drive in the game winning run.

1976 Topps #420 Joe Morgan AS (b-side)

Just posting the b-side so you can see Morgan's 1975 MVP Stat line.

For more on this card and a lot of info on his playing career plus a couple of videos check out Project Baseball 1976.


Sources and Links
1976 ASG 40th Anniversary Index
Joe Morgan HoF Index
Project Baseball 1976
Baseball-Ref

ANNIVERSARY: George Brett Sets Record for Consecutive 3-Hit Games

Forty years ago George Brett set a bit of an odd record. He logged 3 or more hits in six consecutive games.

1977 Topps #231 Record Breaker George Brett 

I am a little amazed that in the pre-BigData era that anyone (probably Elias in this case) was able to research this record. The Streak began on May 8 1976 in Baltimore where Brett recorded 3 hits in the last two games of a three game set. The Royals then returned home to face the Twins, Brett collected 3 hits in each of the three games of that series and then he was able to repeat the feat for one game versus the White Sox.

During the six games Brett went 18 for 26 and added a pair of Walks for an average of .692 and an OBP of .714. His long hits were a Double and a Homer for a slugging number of .846.

The Royals went 5-1 during the streak.

Brett's Victims
May 8 vs Orioles - Ken Holtzmanman (2), Doyle Alexander (3rd Hit in 8th inning),
May 9 vs Orioles - F Jim Palmer (2), Ross Grimsley,
May 10 vs Twins - HoF Bert Blyleven (3, Double, 3rd Hit in 8th, but batted in 9th),
May 11 vs Twins - Jim Hughes (2), Tom Burgmeier
May 12 vs Twins - Joe Decker (2), Vic Albury
May 13 vs White Sox - Bart Johnson (2, HR), Francisco Barrios (3rd Hit in 8th Inning

During the streak Brett saw his average rise from .277 to .396. Pretty good for mid May.

 1977 Topps #231 Record Breaker George Brett (b-side)

According to Baseball-Ref the record still stood as of 2009. Although B-Ref also mentions a streak by Dodgers second baseman Ted Sizemore in 1970 that is overlooked by Topps. 

1976 All-Star Game
We ran a column on George Brett and the 1976 ASG previously, just wanted to take this opportunity to post a couple of screenshots and addendums to that post:

George Brett introduced himself as "Ken Brett's baby Brother"

During his first At Bat ABC put up his stats and it is easy to see why Brett made the All-Star game.

Brett tailed off a bit but still ended up leading the league in batting with a BA of only .333. He also led the league in Hits, Triples, Total Bases and Offensive WAR. For a more detailed discussion of the 1976 AL MVP voting check the post from last month. 

Sources and Links
1976 All-Star Game Index
1977 Topps Record Breakers Index
George Brett HoF Index
Baseball-Ref
YouTube - 1976 ASG
Baseball Almanac

1976 ASG +40: Catfish Hunter 1988 Topps 87 ASG #11

We have a lot going on with our Sunday Night Baseball posting this week. 

ESPN is back in New York for another Red Sox v Yankees match up. The Big Apple venue gives us a chance to discuss one of the sadder of our 1976 All-Star Game subjects, Jim "Catfish" Hunter.

1988 Topps 87 All-Star #11 of 22 Jim Hunter

The 1976 All-Star game was the final of Catfish Hunter's eight appearances on the Mid-Summer Classic Roster. He represented the A's six times and the Yankees twice.

Overall 1976 was a mediocre season for Catfish, his ASG roster spot was earned with four consecutive top-4 Cy Young finishes in the seasons prior. His 1975 Cy 2nd included leading the league with 23 Wins and 30 Complete Games. His the most recent player to break the 30 CG mark and will probably be the last of my generation

Hunter was the 2nd AL pitcher to take the mound in the 76 ASG. He pitched the 3rd and 4th innings giving up a pair of runs on a 2-run bomb by Reds Outfielder George Foster. Hunter faced 3 HoF players in the two innings:

Joe Morgan - Singled and scored in front of  Foster's Home Run
Johnny Bench - Stuck Out to end the 3rd Inning
Tom Seaver - Stuck Out to end the 4th Inning

So really he faced only 2 HoF Hitters, we are being precise here - blogging is important.

The sole Phillies batter he faced was Greg Luzinski who flew out to Left.

1988 Topps All-Star Commemoratives
Picked this card because Catfish was not issued an All-Star card as a Yankee during his playing days.

The 1988 Topps Commemoratives which were placed in rack packs included two 1987 ASG Honorary Captain cards. Hunter represented the AL while Billy Williams received the honor for the NL. The two were inducted into the Hall of Fame later that summer.

Sloppy Topps
Details kids, the 1987 All-Star game was held in Oakland and Catfish wore the colors of his original team the A's for the occasion.

Catfish Hunter All-Star
Catfish Hunter spent his entire career in the AL during an era when the NL dominated the All-Star Game. The Junior Circuit lost all eight games in which he was on the roster, and truth be told he didn't help the AL very much.

Hunter pitched in six of those eight games including a fine performance in his first ASG in 1967. The game went 15 innings and Catfish pitched the final 5. Hunter only gave up two hits through his first four innings, unfortunately he gave up a Home Run to Tony Perez in the 15th.

The games outcome is noted in the -toon on the back of Hunter's 1969T card.

1969 Topps #236 Jim Hunter (b-side)

In today's terms giving up a run in an All-Star game seems about average, the cartoon neglects to mention that the single run occurred in an outing that went 5 innings.

And an Anniversary
Turning our attention to the text, the card mentions Catfish Hunter's No Hit Perfect Game. Today happens to be the anniversary of that Perfect Game a 4-0 A's victory over the Twins on May 8 1948. Hunter's 1969 Topps card is the first one issued after the game, therefore the first of his cards to include the words "Perfect Game". I imagine that prior to this card the only Topps Cards that mentioned "Perfect Game" were dedicated to Don Larsen, Jim Bunning and Sandy Koufax.

According to Baseball-Ref Catfish Hunter made $23,500 in 1968. Assuming that is his post bonus number, the $5,000 raise mentioned on the card is an increase of 27%. The US Department of Labor Inflation Calculator estimates that five grand is the equivalent of $34,000 in 2016 Dollars.

Here is a look at the front o the card

1969 Topps #236 Jim Hunter

Hunter's other ASG appearances were all mediocre at best

1966: DNP
1967: See above
1970: 3 Earned runs including a Home Run to Dick Dietz, while recording only a single out.
1972: DNP
1973: His Best ASG 1 1/3 no runs 1 hit, no walks. outs recorded vs HoF Joe Morgan and Hank Aaron plus Pete Rose.
1974: 2 Innings allowed a Home Run to Reggie Smith, Struck out 3 batters including Perez.
1975: Allowed 2 ER in 2IP - although the runs were both allowed in by Goose Gossage after Hunter exited the game without recording an out in the 9th.
1976: See Above

Sources and Links
1976 ASG 40th Anniversary Index 
Catfish Hunter HoF Index
No-Hitter Index
Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards - Bob Lemke  
Getty Images
YouTube - 1976 ASG
Baseball Almanac
Baseball-ref 
Bureau of Labor Inflation Calculator

1976 ASG +40: Luis Tiant 1976 Topps #130

The Yankees are at Fenway for a weekend Series which means that they are once again on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball....even if Curt Schilling won't be part of the festivities.

We tie into the evening by featuring Red Sox alum Luis Tiant as part of our 1976 All-Star Game 40th Anniversary coverage.

1976 Topps #130 Luis Tiant 

1976 was the 3rd and final All-Star game for Luis Tiant. He entered the game in the fifth inning and immediately gave up a Triple to Pete Rose. However El Tiante was able to get out of the inning unscathed. Steve Garvey hit a sharp grounder to third which may have gotten down the line had George Brett not been holding Rose on the bag. Rose's Reds Teammates Joe Morgan and George Foster than followed with a Pop Out and Ground Out. Tiant set down the NL in order in the sixth separating pop out of Phillies Greg Luzinski and Bob Boone with a strikeout of Astros Outfielder Cesar Cedeno.

Luis Tiant's other All-Star games were in 1968 and 1974 he took the loss in both games.

 1976 All-Star Game Luis Tiant vs Cesar Cedeno

We scanned the video of the 1976 ASG to check out Tiant's distinct delivery. Above he is facing Cesar Cedeno, even in this blurry image you can tell that Tiant has his back to the plate.  The catcher in the shot is Tiant's Red Sox teammate Carlton Fisk.

Tiant spent all but two months of his career in the AL, consequently the 76 All-Star Game is the only tie he pitched at the Vet. Yes in those pre-interleague days Luis Tiant pitched 19 seasons and 573 games but the only way you got to see him inside the Philadelphia city limits was to got to the 1976 All-Star game. Similarly his only appearance in the Astrodome was the 1968 All-Star Game.
 
Phungo Luis Tiant Index
I have created Indices for many Hall of Fame players, to these I have been adding a few for noteworthy non-hallers. Tiant is now part of this group.
1975 Topps #430 (This is a great card)

Sources and Links
1976 ASG 40th Anniversary Index 
YouTube - 1976 ASG
Baseball Almanac
Baseball-ref

1976 ASG +40: Bob Lemon 1956 Topps #255

The Phillies are hosting their first Home Inter-League Series of 2016 this weekend. The rare meeting with the Indians gives us the opportunity to discuss Hall of Famer Bob Lemon as part of our 1976 All-Star Game Anniversary coverage.

1956 Topps #255 Bob Lemon

The 1976 inductees for the Hall of Fame were Pitchers Bob Lemon and the Phillies own Robin Roberts.

As part of the All-Star game festivities the two were made honorary captains for the squads. Lemon who spent his entire career with the Indians was affiliated with the AL while Roberts repped the NL.

Haller
Bob Lemon was a borderline Hall of Famer who had been on the Ballot over a dozen times prior to being elected in 1976. His resume is by a World Championship with the 1948 Indians. Lemon recorded 2 wins in the series including the game six clincher.  The seven time All-Star garnered AL Pitcher of the Year honors from the Sporting News three times, He won 20 games seven times and lead the AL three times. Lemon was a durable starter leading the league in complete games five times, innings four times and Strikeouts and Shutouts once each. 

Lemon spent three years during the early part of his career in the Navy. The time lost was likely a significant consideration for Hall of Fame voters. 

Flip

1956 Topps #255 Bob Lemon (b-side)

I want to start with the last cartoon. I like how they point out Bob Lemon moved from the infield to pitching. The switch was made following Lemon's return from the service. Note that the cartoon has the hitter batting left-handed and the pitcher throwing righty, which matches the description of Mr Lemon.

Now I want to take a look at the middle panel. In the politically correct 21st century I am not sure we would see this cartoon on the back of a baseball card.

Getty Got It
According to the Getty Images archive the posed action shot was taken on September 28 1954, the day prior to game one of the World Series. However, I doubt the accuracy of that info as Lemon is wearing Home White on the card and in the photo and game 1 of the '54 series was played at the Polo Grounds.

However, if the photo is from prior to 1954 Game 1 it is connected to this card in the 1959 Topps Set. Yes that is correct, that is the game in which Willie Mays made "the Catch" at the Polo Grounds.

The Bob Lemon Action Shot is from the Otto Bettmann Collection.

Bob Lemon HoF Index
1978 Topps #574 (As Player/As Manager)

Sources and Links
1976 ASG 40th Anniversary Index
YouTube - 1976 All-Star Game
SABR Bio Jon Barnes
baseball-ref
baseball almanac
Getty Images 

1976 ASG +40: Bob Uecker 1967 Topps

The Phillies make their annual trip to Milwaukee over the weekend which gives us the opportunity to roll out one of my favorite vintage commons.

1967 Topps #326 Bob Uecker

No Bob Uecker did not play in the 1976 All-Star game. By the time the Bicentennial rolled around His career was over by almost a decade and as you may suspect the Career .200 Hitter never did play in an All-Star game.

Bob Uecker did make it to the All-Star game as a part of the broadcast team for ABC Sports. He worked alongside Warner Wolf and Pirates announcer Bob Prince.

Warner Wolf and Bob Uecker on ABC Broadcast of 1976 ASG

For the broadcast Bob Uecker drew the AL Assignment, In his pregame comments he singled out Yankees Catcher Thurman Munson and Rangers Shortstop Toby Harrah as statndouts, However the player the was really looking forward to seeing was Mark Fidrych.

The follow up question from lead broadcaster Warner Wolf was about how Uecker liked to spend his All-Star Break. The reply was pure Self-Depracating Bob Uecker

"Well what I used to do was load my catchers equiment into my car rent a motel room for three days lock myself in and scream my head off because I didn’t make it again. "

I should note that it is not entirely correct that Uecker was never an All-Star....

1967 Topps #326 Bob Uecker (b-side)

According to the second -toon on the back of the card Uecker was an All-Star selection in 1961. There is something in error here, as in 1961 Bob Uecker played for the Louisville Colonels of the Ammerican Association not the NL.

Bleacher Seats
For more on Bob Uecker and this card (his last as an active player) check out the 1967 Topps Baseball Posting.

Sources and Links
1976 All-Star Game Index
1967 Topps Baseball
baseball-ref
YouTube - 1976 All-Star Game

1976 All-Star Game +40: Ron LeFlore

Tonight ESPN Sunday Night Baseball was supposed to be airing from Detroit but the Tigers game with the Yankees had to be postponed due to inclement weather.

Here at Phungo HQ we are up to the challenges of the elements and will continue our 1976 All-Star Game retrospective with a look at Tigers Alum Ron LeFlore

1977 Topps #240 Ron LeFlore All-Star

1976 was probably LeFlore's best season and he was rewarded with his only All-Star nomination. He started Left Field and led off for the AL squad. Unfortunately LeFlore was erased on a double play ground out so he didn't get to show off his speed during the game. His 455 career steals rank 52nd all time and include leading each league once (68 SB AL 1978, 97 SB NL 1980).

LeFlore is an interesting baseball figure. A troubled youth he found himself in prison for armed robbery at the age of 22 in 1970. While in prison he picked up baseball and was discovered by Tigers manager Billy Martin. The story was chronicled in his (auto)-biography "Breakout: From Prison to the Big Leagues" co authored with Tigers writer and Spink Award Nominee Jim Hawkins. The book begat the film "One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story" which was starred LeVar Burton as LeFlore and was directed by prolific TV filmmaker William A Graham

1977 Topps
Nice to see LeFlore get honored with the 77T All-Star Flair, plenty of players in the 1970s era made multiple ASGs but never get an All-Star card.

1977 Topps #240 Ron LeFlore All-Star (b-side)

The text covers LeFlore's All-Star game appearance and also mentions a 30 Game Hit streak he had in 1976. The streak lasted from the Tigers fourth game on April 17th through May 27th. Yankees Pitchers Ed Figueroa and Tippy Martinez shut down LeFlore on May 28th, 1976.

Also I would like to point out the demographics note LeFlore was both born and lived in Detroit. Definitely despite a troubled past (and present) a Tigers favorite.

Finally the Cartoon. Love this one as it covers Frank Robinson winning MVP awards in both leagues. This was discussed in our posting on Robinson's 1967T #100 card, which mentions the fact in the text and has it's own -toon mentioning his 1966 AL MVP award.

Voices in the Crowd
This card was covered by the Baseball 1977

Sources and Links
Baseball 1977
1976 All-Star Game Index
Robert Niemi: History in the Media: Film and Television
Jim Hawkins - Toronto Sun (2013 0226)

BBWAA
Baseball-ref

1976 All-Star Game +40: Sparky Anderson 1978 Topps #401

With the Phillies in Cincinnati for Opening Day it gives a chance to look at the leader of the NL All-Star Squad and manager of a Reds squad that placed seven players on the 76 squad.

1978 Topps #401 Sparky Anderson

George Lee "Sparky" Anderson earned the privilege of managing the 1976 All-Star Squad by leading the Reds to capturing the prior years pennant en route to a World Championship. It was the first of three World Series Wins for the Hall of Fame manager who managed in five of them, Four with the Reds and one with the Tigers.

The Five League Pennants meant that Anderson got to helm a like number of All-Star teams. His record was 3-2 in the contests with all 3 of the victories coming for the NL.

The 1976 Reds and their 7 all-stars would go onto win 102 games and the final World Series of their 1970s era dynasty.

Anderson was likely an Hall of Fame manager based on his Reds resume alone, if there was any question an additional World Championship with the 84 Tigers rebuffed most doubts.

1978 Topps Managers
I am a fan of these cards, it is a nice variation on an solid and underated base design. The dual pictures which couples a current photo with a shot of the manager from their playing days is a concept that I would like to see Topps reprise in a flagship set - it doesn't have to happen every year, but we shouldn't have to wait 40 years for it to return. 

Source and Links
1976 All-Star Game Index
Sparky Anderson HoF Index
Baseball-ref
Baseball Almanac

Opening Day...Night!

MLB Opening Day/Night is happening in Kansas City this evening. To mark the occasion we are publishing the second posting in our series on the 1976 All-Star Game. Who better to Rep the Royals than Hall of Famer George Brett

1982 Topps/Kmart 20th Anniversary #34 George Brett

Brett made his first All-Star team in 1976, the first of xx times he would receive the honor. During the ’76 contest he went 0-2 with a walk. The BB came off NL Starter Randy Jones, one of the outs was a Fly Out v fellow HoF Tom Seaver.

aWARds – 1976 MVP
There is an argument that George Brett should have won the MVP award in 1976. He finished 2nd in the voting to Yankees Catcher Thurman Munson. Brett Clearly won the WAR +7.5 to Munson’s +5.3, Both were on division winners, although the Yankees won 7 more games than the Royals (while playing three fewer games). For folks that are only interested in oWAR Brett wins that battle as well – His +7.1 number led the AL while Munson clocked in at +5.3. Munson’s most compelling argument is that he was the captain of the first Yankees squad to make the post season since the Mantle Years.

As far as traditional stats are concerned…
Brett led the AL in Batting Average, Hits and Total Bases during the 1976 season while Munson's big offensive grey number was finishing 2nd on the circuit in RBI to the Orioles Lee May. Munson was as always among the top 5 catchers in several defensive categories.

It should be noted that Yankees Third Baseman Graig Nettles all AL batters in WAR with a nice +8.0 number (finished 16th in the MVP voting) but the overall League leader was Rookie Phenom Mark Fidrych (+9.6) who ended up 11th in the MVP and 2nd in the Cy Young balloting behind Jim Palmer (+6.6) - The Bird did take home the Rookie of the Year Award.

1980 AL MVP George Brett

 

1982 Topps/Kmart 20th Anniversary #34 George Brett (b-side)

Brett eventually did get an MVP award in 1980. In addition to leading the league with a .390 BA, tops since Ted Williams .406 in 1941 he also put up superlatives in the SABRmetric stats +9.4 WAR and +8.5 oWAR numbers led all AL players. 

The Kmart Retro card is a reprint of the Brett's 1980 Topps #450 card.

Sources and Links
1976 All-Star Team
George Brett HoF index
aWARds Index
Baseball-ref
Baseball Card Database

NEW FEATURE 1976 All-Star Game 40th Anniversary: Greg Luzinski - 1977 Topps #30

Annually we here at Team Phungo attempts to put a year long feature dedicated to a single team. Past editions of the Phungo Annual have included the 1964 and 1983 Phillies as well as a feeble attempt at the 1915 NL Pennant Winners last year.

This year we are going with a different type of feature. 2016 Marks the 40th anniversary of the Bicentennial All-Star Game which was held at Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia. To mark the occasion we are going to put together several postings related to the event. I don't anticipate hitting every player that made the team but if I am going to cover a good chunk of them we are going to have to start now..

And we lead off with a Clean Up Hitter.

1977 Topps #30 Greg Luzinski (NL All-Star)

Five Phillies made the 1976 NL All-Star roster but only one of them got to start the game in his home city. Greg Luzinski played Left Field and batted fifth, unfortunately he went 0-3 in the game. It was the second All-Star appearance for the Bull and His first of three consecutive starts in the mid-summer classic.

Luzinski's All Star Game qualifying resume at the break included a slash line that read .307/.360/.502 with 12 Homers and 57 RBIs. His All-Star campaign continued as the Bull finished 8th in the 1976 MVP voting.

SABR Star?
Despite the impressive power numbers mentioned above Luzinski's 1976 WAR was +2.3 which ranked a pedestrian 40th in the NL and 19th among outfielders. In general Greg Luzinski's defensive shortcomings probably would prevent him from being a SABR star in any given year. His Peak WAR was +5.2 in 1978 which was 11th in the league and 5th among outfielders.

Regardless he was a slugging machine over his four year all-star period running from 1975-78, averaging 32 Home Runs with 112 RBI while maintaining a .295 BA and an impressive 150 OPS+.

1977 Topps
The starters for the 1976 All-Star teams are honored in the following years Topps set so if I follow through with this feature plan on seeing plenty of 1977T AS cards. This is my favorite type of All-Star card, take the base card and add a flair to them - In the case of 1977 it is more fo a banner, but still solid. During our 1976 ASG redux, I am going to try and hit a few different years and I am sure the relative merits of the different flairs will be over-analyzed.

Lots to like about the the image on Luzinski's card - The All-Star flair, the powder blue road uni, and The uphill dugout roof that draws the photo focus to the Bull's powerful swing. Luzinsnki's uniform #19 appears to be inked on the bat knob - there is a patch on his right shoulder not sure but it may be a bicentennial patch. A final note of interest is the shot appears to be taken at Shea Stadium where Luzinski made his MLB debut on September 9 1970.

1977 Topps #30 Greg Luzinski (NL All-Star / b-side)

The text on the back of the card refers to the Phillies 4-1 NL East Clincher. Luzinski's two out 3-run homer broke a 0-0 tie in the 6th inning. The Plate Appearance had a +34 WPA, which was the best in the game. 
 
Something tells me we will be hearing from Joe Morgan later in the 1976 All-Star Game feature - he would extend his 100 Walk Season streak to 6 in 1977.

Other Voices
I am sure we will be checking in with The 1977 Topps Blog numerous times during this series. The posting on the 1977T Luzinski card can be found here.

Sources and Links
1976 All-Star Game 40th Anniversary Index
Baseball Almanac 
Baseball-Ref