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 

Still the Home Run Leader for November

This years World Series made it into November, by my count it is the fourth time this season has extended into the 11th month of the year. The previous years were 2001, 2009, 2010 and 2015.

Last week Curtis Granderson added his name to the list of players who have November Homers, a list that is headed by Chase Utley.

2010 Allen & Ginter Highlight Sketches #AGHS1 Chase Utley

During the 2009 World Series Utley hit five Homers, three of which occurred in 2 November games in Philadelphia.

Home Runs 4 and 5 were both hit in Game 5, the most recent World Series Game won by the Phillies and the most recent Series game hosted in Philadelphia. Team Phungo was happy to be at that game and you can read about that very enjoyable night here.
 

2010 Allen & Ginter Highlight Sketches #AGHS1 Chase Utley (b-side)

The flip side of the card goes into a some additional details including the Mention of Mr October, Reggie Jackson, who is the only other player to previously hit five homers in a Series.

Phungo Game Cards

This card is a member of one of my favorite collections: The Phungo Game Collection which is the narcissistic set of cards devoted to games that Team Phungo was fortunate enough to attend. Above is a snapshot of the e-ticket I picked up for the game. I miss hard tickets, but do realize that the time marches on. I do have a paper ticket to this game but it isn't the same as the ones issued by the teams/league.

The Index of Phungo Game Cards can be found here.

Chase Utley 
He is gone but not forgotten. I have a couple of player collection and this posting will act as an index to the Chase Utley related cards in the Phungo Collection

Sources and Links
Phungo Game Cards
Chase Utley Player Collection Index 
Baseball Cardpedia

Team Phungo Shaken :(

We are bummed and sorely disappointed.

Will try to get a good nights sleep and take inventory of our emotions tomorrow - I think we will survive - it's part of being a fan - Like everyone else, we have been through this before.

14 or 15 weeks till pitchers and catchers.

sigh...

Game 6: Philadelphia Phillies @ New York Yankees

2009 08 08 Pedro Martinez

Can this game possibly live up to the hype?

The first World Series Game 6 in over six years.

The defending World Champions are in a must win game versus the most decorated franchise in the history of the sport.

The series features the most productive offenses in each league.

Tonight those offenses are facing Pedro Martinez and Andy Pettitte - The two pitchers are a combined 200 games over .500 in their careers.

2009 03 10 Pedro Martinez pitching for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic

You can watch an awful lot of baseball for a very long time and not get a game of this magnitude with this kind of talent.

Go Phils!

Philadelphia Phillies @ New York Yankees: Yankee Stadium, Bronx NY Thursday November 4th 2009 7:57 PM

Phungo Game Report - 2009 11 02 - World Series Game 5: Yankees 6 @ Phillies 8

As you probably suspect, Team Phungo really wanted to catch a World Series game this year. But, I knew that due to such annoying factors as ticket cost and ticket demand the chances of us catching a World Series game were pretty slim.

well....

Yesterday I made the somewhat impulsive decision to take my girlfriend to the final home game of the Phillies 2009 Season. Turned out it was the right decision.

Last year I got to go to a game, but couldn't get another ticket - it was great to get a second chance and be able to share the experience with her.

Several things fell together so that we could make it to the game.

1) Unfortunately the Phils fell to 1-3 in the Series - however, this resulted in the ticket prices for game 5 falling to a level which I only felt moderately guilty about spending.

2) The weather took a pretty nice turn.

3) I wasn't all worn out from my typical weekend of excessive decadence.

4) This is absolutely key - The Phils had a favorable pitching match-up and this definitely factored into the decision.

It took the confluence of all the events just to get us to make the decision to go.

I monitored prices on Stubhub till about 1p and made a purchase of one of the last pairs of tickets in a section which I considered both good enough and affordable.

We were in the upper level but got to sit behind the plate. That is good enough for me and fits my budget.

The game got off with a slight hiccup but Chase Utley straightened that out in the bottom of the first with a 3 run homer. Utley would add a 2nd dinger a few innings later to give him 5 in the series and tie Reggie Jackson for HRs in a single World Series. Cliff Lee had a good almost great outing. The Phils dicey bullpen gave us a scare, but in the end the Phils Won 8-6.

It was a great experience. The Phils faced eliminations and lived. One of their star players belted 2 homers and had 4 RBIs. And we got to see a reigning Cy Young award winner start in a World Series game against the New York Yankees. What more can you want.

Here are a few picks from a very fun evening (click to enlarge):


Yankees BP - you can see some of the hordes of media down by the visiting dugout on the left.

First Pitch - Hall of Famers Jim Bunning and the 83 year old Robin Roberts

Alanis Morissette - This is the pick of the Celebrity Anthem singers in the Series for my tastes.

I didn't get many good game shots. Just a couple pitcher v batter ones.


Cliff Lee v Johnny Damon

The ESPN Crew including Krukker and Bobby Valentine

And finally...

This Trophy is still property of the Philadelphia Phillies!!
for at least the next couple of days and hopefully longer


One final comment hey Major League Baseball - Get your stuff together, what the hell is the World Series Trophy doing sitting on an 6 inch high Amazon box covered by a piece of cloth. Yes it is sitting there like a foot off the ground - those khakis behind the trophy belong to a SEATED Al Leiter. Ridiculous - throw down a few bucks and build a stinkin Pedastal for the thing.

For all you Spot the Sig! fans, I am running behind this week, I may just fold the Profile into next weeks Auto. Congrats to Autograph Cards on picking Carl Crawford.

Sources and Links
Game Dated Cards Index
Johnny Damon Index