50th Anniversary of the June Draft - 36th overall pick Johnny Bench

This week the MLB will be holding their annual amateur draft. 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the event which was first held in 1965. With the Phillies in Cincinnati to face the Reds it is an apt time for us to discuss the best hitter taken in the initial MLB draft. 

2014 Topps Heritage #65MLB-JB2 Johnny Bench

With their 2nd pick (36th overall) the Cincinnati Reds took Catcher Johnny Bench from Oklahoma City OK.

Using WAR as a barometer Bench (75.0) was the most successful position player taken in the original draft. The runner up to Bench was Graig Nettles (68.0 WAR, Twins - 4th round 74th pick)

There were also two prominent pitchers taken in 1965: Tom Seaver (Dodgers - 10th rd 193rd pk - did not sign, 110.5 WAR) and Nolan Ryan (Mets - 12th rd 295 pk, 81.8 WAR)

Among backstops 2nd place went to 1st round and 7th overall pick Ray Fosse (Indians 12.9 WAR)

The Phillies most successful selection from the 65 draft was Larry Hisle (24.9 WAR - 2nd round, 38th overall). The club failed to sign their first pick Mike Adamson (18th overall) but that is a subject best saved for another posting. 

2014 Heritage - 1965 Draft Insert Set

2014 Topps Heritage #65MLB-JB Johnny Bench

The 2014 Heritage 1st Draft insert set is a bit peculiar. There are only four cards which fall 1 in every 12 packs - the entire set can be built from 2 hobby boxes. The set only has three subjects because Johnny Bench appears on two cards. The other two players are Ryan and Nettles.

2014 Topps Heritage #65MLB-JB Johnny Bench (b-side)


Sources and Links
Johnny Bench HoF Index
baseball-ref
Cardboard Connection

1965 April 9 - The Astrodome Opens

Fifty Years ago the Astrodome opened. Last year Topps honored the anniversary as part in the Heritage Baseball Flashbacks set.

2014 Topps Heritage Baseball Flashbacks #BF-A Astrodome

The card had the date and the venue's catchy nickname "The Eight Wonder of the World". The game played on April 9th was not the first official game played at the Astrodome, rather it was an exhibition game versus the New York Yankees.

2014 Topps Heritage Baseball Flashbacks #BF-A Astrodome (b-side)

The B-side covers the basics of the game. But there are a variety of fun facts regarding the game.

The game was a sellout (47876), First Pitch was thrown by former Phillies right-hander Turk Farrell.  The first batter of the game was Mickey Mantle who doubled and later hit the venue's first Home Run.

That was the sole run for the Yankees in a low scoring affair that went into extra innings tied 1-1. The Astros won the game on a 12th inning pinch single by Future Hall of Famer Nellie Fox who was beginning his final season. The first Astro to bat in the new ballpark was a Rookie Second Baseman who would also have a Hall of Fame career, Joe Morgan.

2010 Obak #77  Roy Hofheinz

One of the principle folks in getting Houston an MLB franchise was Roy Hofheinz. A former mayor of the city who also helped to get the Astrodome built.

In 2010 Tristar/Obak honored Hofheinz with a baseball card. The quirky series circumvents the MLB licensing issues by focusing on Former Players, Minor Leaguers and the History of the Game both on and off the field. 

2010 Obak #77  Roy Hofheinz (b-side)

The Flip side of the card briefly discusses the contributions of Roy Hofheinz to Houston baseball.

Astrodrome Today (er well in 2012)
Recently Deadspin ran an article based off of anonymous photos taken by a troika of brothers that had snuck into the dome. Click here to view the adventure.

Sources and Links
Astros Daily
Obak
Baseball-ref
deadspin

Happy Anniversary "The Sound of Music"

50 Years ago this week the film "The Sound of Music" was released.

2014 Topps Heritage Flashback - The Sound of Music

Last year Topps commemorated the event as part of the Heritage Flashback Subset.

2014 Topps Heritage Flashback - The Sound of Music (b-side)


The flips side of the card discusses Jule Andrews, Christopher Plummer and discusses the Awards bestowed upon the film. 

Much more than I want to get into here, but I will just mention that this film and musical was a large part of the entertainment world in the team Phungo household when I was a kid.

Checker Checking 2014 Heritage/1965 Topps Phillies

Topps Heritage is designed to homage an original Topps set from decades ago. There are several items that Heritage nods towards in replicating the originals. one of the obvious ones is replicating the design. A second is giving attention to the Checklist. Tonight I would like to take a look at how the Phillies 2014 Checker compares with the original from 1965.



That is a solid checker for the Phillies. 17 cards featuring 18 players. You would have to dig deep to find a snub, Pitchers AJ Burnett who came to the team late or Kyle Kendrick would be the closest. Carding Mayberry and Ruf could be seen as questionable. Halladay is either an honorarium or laziness on Topps part.

The original 1965T Phils team set checked 29 players on 27 cards (2 rookie pairs) plus a team card and the Gene Mauch manager card.

For 2014 Heritage, Topps chose to rhyme four subjects with the original set.

#20 Jim Bunning and Cliff Lee
This is a good pair, Bunning is a low tier Hall of Famer. Cliff Lee is an All-Star with significant Postseason exposure.

#107 Rookies Corrales/Shockley(65) Martin/Ruf (14)
I would like to think that the Ethan Martin Darin Ruf pairing will have a better career than the Pat Corrales/ Costen Shockley combo

#280 Dick Stuart and Ryan Howard
These two match on match on position, both were power hitters and both won World Series Rings - although Stuart won his with the Pirates. In fact on his 1965T card Stuart appears to be wearing Pirates threads. In addition to the similarities above the two share a reputation of poor play in the field, a rep that earned Stuart the nickname Dr StrangeGlove.

#310 Johnny Callison and Dom Brown
These two share a position and both were reigning All-Stars at the time of set production. Callison made 3 all-star games. At this point in his career Dom Brown's all-star selection appears it could be a one and only despite the outfielder being only 26.


Sources 
My Baseball Card Blog
Cardboard Connection
Team Sets 4 U
PSA Card
Baseball-ref

2014 Heritage the Originals - 1965 Topps Embossed #13 Al Kaline

Congrats to all who guessed Al Kaline

1965 Topps Embossed #13 Al Kaline

As I noted earlier today, I have no idea how you would figure out who this is without the name attached. Al Kaline is age 79 now, and if somebody told me the image on this card was of a 79 year old man, I would believe them. The image looks closer to a groundskeeper from "Eight Men Out" then he does to a mid-1960s All-Star ballplayer.  

The original 1965 Topps Embossed cards were inserted randomly to regular packs. Similarly their 2014 Heritage counterparts will be inserts. The set size is not very similar, In 1965 the set consisted of 72 cards. The present day checker consists of 15 cards, which leads me to believe that these will be a pretty tough Heritage pull. The Dodgers get 3 Reps in the small set, with the Tigers, Orioles and Yankees all posting 2. None of the 15 players in Heritage Embossed are Phillies, but they need not be upset - The World Champion Boston Red Sox and NL Champion Cardinals also came up empty as well.  

1965 Topps/2014 Heritage Index   

Base - #534 John Herrnstein 

Rookie Cup - #460 Dick Allen 

Rookie Stars - #282 Dick Estelle & Masanori Murakami 

League Leaders - #4 HRs Mays, B Williams, Callison, Cepeda, Jim Hart

World Series - #139 The Cards Celebrate

2010 Topps Vintage Collection - #VLC2 Johnny Mize

 

More info on 1965 Topps
The entire 1965 Topps Series was covered by Kevin B of Orioles Card "O" the day on The Great 1965 Topps Project
Cardboard Connection
Sports Collectors Digest (TS O' Connell)
Golden Age of Baseball Cards
Dean's Cards
Beckett

PSA

Sources & Links
Phungo Al Kaline HoF Index
Cardboard Connection
Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards

Phungo Challenge: 2014 Heritage the Originals - 1965 Topps Embossed

Do you have any idea who this is?

1965 Topps Embossed ????

Yes I have blurred out the player name and team. This is to demonstrate just how weak Topps Embossed was. The only way to differentiate the players is by reading the text.

Did baseball caps really look like that in 1965??? 

Tonight we will discuss this card further and it's relationship to 2014 Heritage.

2014 Heritage the Originals - 1965 Topps #4 League Leaders Home Runs

The typical format of the 1965 Topps League Leaders has been referred to by Night Owl Cards as Olympic Podium style. The League Leader on the Top, with two smaller photos of the 2nd and 3rd  place finishers. Of course in many categories there are ties. Take the 1964 Home Run Leaders

1965 Topps #4 League Leaders Home Run

This LL card is packed full of players - It is kind of a cool one for Phillies Fans. You get Johnny Callison plus 3 Hall of Famers.  I am sure it is a must have for Giants fans as well, I mean how many LL cards have 3 players from the same team.

Willie Mays and Billy Williams sort of get equal billing, although Mays had 14 more Home Runs then Williams (47-33). Callison and the other folks on the bottom tier each tallied 31 dingers.  This can all be seen on the flip of the card:

 

1965 Topps #4 LL Home Runs (b-side)

Kind of interesting feature here, the HR hitters are listed down to 18 and then we are presented with a separate list of all the players that hit a Grand Slam. The latter list includes the only career grand slam hit by Pete Rose, which was off the Phillies and Dallas Green.  

Traditional 1965T Olympic Podium

1965 Topps #3 LL Home Runs (image swiped from baseball card database)

The AL counterpart to our titular card is a fine example of the 3 man LL card, with some stellar reps in Harmon Killewbrew, Boog Powell, and Mickey Mantle. 

MLB 2013 did feature some ties in the LL categories, it will be interesting to see how this is handled for Topps in 2014 Heritage.

More Banished Chris Short
A few weeks ago we discussed the omission of Phillies pitcher Chris Short from Topps cards prior to 1967. The fine creative folks over at Cards that Never Were figured out that this meant that Topps had to create an NL ERA LL card without Short, who placed 3rd in 1964. CTNW put together their own custom card that is pretty sweet.  Cards that Never Were is on a bit of Chris Short binge - their example of the 1965T Chris Short card is here. (hat tip to Chris Short fan Jim From Downingtown for pointing me to the CTNW LL posting)

1965 Topps/2014 Heritage Index   

Base - #534 John Herrnstein 

Rookie Cup - #460 Dick Allen 

Rookie Stars - #282 Dick Estelle & Masanori Murakami 

2010 Topps Vintage Collection - #VLC2 Johnny Mize

World Series - #139 The Cards Celebrate

More info on 1965 Topps
The entire 1965 Topps Series was covered by Kevin B of Orioles Card "O" the day on The Great 1965 Topps Project
Cardboard Connection
Sports Collectors Digest (TS O' Connell)
Golden Age of Baseball Cards
Dean's Cards
Beckett

PSA

Sources

Night Owl Cards 

Cards that Never Were

baseball card database

baseball-ref.com

2014 Topps 

2014 Heritage the Originals - 1965 Topps #139 World Series The Cards Celebrate

There are two Subsets in 1965 Topps, the League Leaders cards that run #1-12 and the World Series cards which run #132-139. Today we look at the last card in the latter set.

1965 Topps #139 World Series the Cards Celebrate

The eight card 65T World Series Subset consists of one card for each game of the classic 64 series plus the single wrap-up card shown above.  The 2013 World Series Last year only went 6 games, I suspect Topps will short the Heritage subset to 7 cards. One other coincidence with the 2014 Heritage subber is that the Cardinals will be featured once again, except this time they will be on the losing side. 

Sources
Cardboard Connection

2014 Heritage the Originals - A Cardinal Problem

Trying to knock one more 1965 Topps post before Heritage goes live tomorrow. The 65T design is well liked and has been featured by Topps in several inserts and subsets. A few years ago I came across this abomination.

1964 Topps #415 Curt Flood

2010 Topps Vintage Legends Collection #VLC2 Johnny Mize 

The Abomination isn't the big red inkage on the top left of the vintage Curt Flood card. My issue is with the VLC Johnny Mize card. For me Topps mailed in the "CARDINALS" name on the pennant - it just doesn't look right.  I understand that there are legal/copyright issues involved in creating retros,  but it isn't the only place where the VLC Mize card is wanting. What is with the player name? the font is wrong and the color has been changed. Hell. the card is far enough off that if UD produced it, I am not sure Topps could sue them. 

As mentioned previously there are various other 1965 Topps copies throughout the years, during the Heritage frenzy we anticipate talking about some of them.

2010 Topps Vintage Legends Collection

Vintage Collection is a 25 card insert for 2010 topps with 24 Hall of Famers plus Thurman Munson appearing on card designs from outside of their playing careers. The Phillies rep in the set is Mike Schmidt who draws 1960 Topps

Other Voices 

The Great 1965 Topps Blog - As always Kevin does a nice job of summarizing Flood's career and struggling dealing with the MLB reserve clause
 

1965 Topps/2014 Heritage Index  

Base - #534 John Herrnstein 

Rookie Cup - #460 Dick Allen 

Rookie Stars - #282 Dick Estelle & Masanori Murakami

2010 Topps Vintage Collection - #VLC2 Johnny Mize 

More info on 1965 Topps
The entire 1965 Topps Series was covered by Kevin B of Orioles Card "O" the day on The Great 1965 Topps Project
Cardboard Connection
Sports Collectors Digest (TS O' Connell)
Golden Age of Baseball Cards
Dean's Cards
Beckett

PSA

Sources

baseballcardpedia

2014 Heritage Rookie Stars: 1965 Topps #282 Dick Estelle & Masanori Murakami

We are a week away from 2014 Topps Heritage, today we bring you one of my favorite cards from the original 1965 set:

1965 Topps #282 Giants Rookie Stars Dick Estelle & Masanori Murakami

Masanori Murakami was the first Japanese MLB player way back in 1964. He preceded Hideo Nomo by three and a half decades. As a lefthanded relief pitcher Murakami pitched farily well for the Giants. Unfortunately due to a variety of contract issues and failed negotiations between the Giants, MLB and the Japanese League Nankai Hawks Murakami would return to Japan after a mere two seasons in the States.  

For further information, I highly recommend this Masanori Murakami biography that I believe was written by High School student in New York City. The Bio- further cites "Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game" which as it's name infers is mostly Murakami commenting on his career - not terrific writing but an interesting read.   

Murakami was honored by the Giants in 1995, throwing out the first pitch prior to a game versus the Dodgers. Coincidentally the LA starter that night was Hideo Nomo who took a no-hitter into the 7th inning, Royce Clayton broke up the Nomo No-No which was the only hit for the Giants. 

1965 Topps
I had thought Masahiro Tanaka would have been a great candidate for the #282 card in 2014T Heritage, but Ben Henry as pointed out over at the Baseball Card Blog that Tanaka's signing may have happened to late for Topps to send the card to print.  I hope that Topps figures it out, Tanaka would be a nice bonus for 2014 Heritage.

1965 Topps featured a number of Rookie Stars cards including 3 and 4 player varieties. 

1965 Topps #597 Rookie Stars Twins
1965 Topps #561 Rookie Stars Dodgers

No idea why Joe Nosseck got the prime spot in the Twins card. Perhaps alphabetic order. Rich Reese had the best career of the three Players. As far as the Dodger card, Jim Lefebvre was probably the most successful - in 1965 he even beat out Joe Morgan for Rookie of the Year. 

Other Voices
The Great 1965 Topps Blog - Kevin has a lot more info on the Dick Estelle half of the above card.

1965 Topps/2014 Heritage Index
Base - #534 John Herrnstein
Rookie Cup - #460 Dick Allen
Rookie Stars - #282 Dick Estelle & Masanori Murakami

More info on 1965 Topps
The entire 1965 Topps Series was covered by Kevin B of Orioles Card "O" the day on The Great 1965 Topps Project
Cardboard Connection
Sports Collectors Digest (TS O' Connell)
Golden Age of Baseball Cards
Dean's Cards
Beckett

PSA

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
HSMSE Sports Journalism Blog
Sports Illustrated 

1964 Phillies @ 50: Dick Allen 1965 Topps #460

In 1964 the then 22 year old Dick Allen was the starting third baseman for every one of the '64 Phillies 162 games. He batted .318 with 29 Homers and 91 RBI and led the league in both Runs scored (125) and total bases (352).

1965 Topps #460 Richie Allen

Not only was Allen a member of the Topps All-Rookie team, He was also the overwhelming NL selection for Rookie of the Year, receiving 18 of the 20 RoY votes cast. His rookie numbers were so good that he finished 7th in the MVP voting and likely deserved better finishing 3rd in the league in WAR(8.8) trailing only Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Ron Santo.

The 64 Phillies may have collapsed in September, but none of that can be blamed on Dick Allen. Even during their 10 game losing streak he batted .415, slugged .634 - good enough for an OPS of 1.076.  

For various reasons Dick Allen wore out his welcome in Philadelphia and in 1969 he was traded. Allen and the Phillies eventually resolved their differences and he returned to the Phillies in 1975. A year later he helped the Phillies to make the playoffs, it was Allen's only appearance in the Postseason.

I believe that someday Dick Allen will get in the Hall of Fame. In addition to his Rookie of the Year award he took home MVP hardware in 1972 (White Sox).  For his career Allen hit 351 Homers and racked up 1119 RBI. He led the league multiple times in several key offensive categories: Home Runs (twice), OBP (twice 2), Slugging (3 times), OPS (4). His MVP was earned as he led the league in oWAR that season, the second time that he had done so (1966).  

Today Dick Allen is 71 and near as I can tell he is based out of Western Pennsylvania and maintains a fairly active Twitter account. He is a regular at Phillies Alumni events and always appears to be enjoying the festivities. 

1965 Topps
This card is doing double duty, in addition to being part of the 1964 Phillies retrospective, we are also using it as part of our 1965 Topps series. On this card we see the Rookie Cup Trophy icon which was in use for the 6th time in 1965.  The 64 Topps Rookie team is well represented in the 1965T set with members including Bert Campaneris, Rico Carty, Tony Conigliaro, and Tony Oliva.

In 2014 Heritage the Rookie Cup third baseman will be Nolan Arenado of the Rockies who we have seen already in flagship.  Since Dick Allen is #460 in 65T that means his card number will fall in the short print series in Heritage. It will be interesting to see what route Topps takes with the #460 card, They could put in current Phillies rookie 3B Cody Asche. or match the RC trophy with Arenado or more likely ignore Dick Allen altogether. 

Richie Allen
Early in his career Dick Allen played under the name Richie, which is his Topps On card name through 1969. In 1970 Topps he becomes Rich Allen, He finally becomes Dick Allen in 1973 Topps  

2014 Topps Heritage the Originals Index
Base Cards (John Herrnstein)
Rookie Cup (Dick Allen)

Sources & Links

1965 Topps Rookie Cup Team
1964 Phillies Series 
Dick Allen Player Collection Index
Baseball-ref
Wrigley Wax
baseball Card Database

2014 Heritage the Originals - 1965 Topps #534 John Herrnstein

In less than three weeks MLB teams will be in the heart of Spring Training and collectors will be talking about the latest edition of Topps Heritage. This year Topps will be moving on to the much loved 1965 Topps set.
 

1965 Topps #534 John Herrnstein

There is a lot to like about 65T. The pennants are dominant feature and almost always a winner. For 2014 I am sure the team logo will be updated, I will always be a fan of the Phillies Cap featured here. The blue border always works for Phillies colors and it is pretty close to the powder blue shade that the Phils wore for Roadies in the Late 70s and 80s. The player position is right there above their name. It is a very solid design, straightforward, colorful, simple yet elegant.

I am sure this will be one of the most anticipated edition of Heritage, even with plain designs (like 1964/2013) there is excitement around Heritage. Of course this level of excitement inevitably leads to disappointment upon release. Perhaps this is because we get over-excited for Heritage. Or maybe it is just the retro-fatigue. I tend to think it just Topps ignoring the brand. I have always liked 1962 Topps, but when the Heritage version came out in 2011 it was horrible. The pix were bland and almost all alike. I understand this is a nod to the look of the original set, but I think mixing up the image styles for Heritage and flagship would help both brands. 2014T has done pretty well with interesting shots, but the previous 2 years I think there have been to many action shots. Throw in a little variety, Headshots, bench, battersbox etc.

John Herrnstein 
In addition to introducing our feature  on the 1965T flashback, We are going to double duty this post for our 1964 Phillies feature. John Herrnstein was a rookie for the 64 squad, He batted .234 with 6 Homers and 25 RBIs across 125 games. His 64 games at first base were enough for him to lead the team at the position.

Unfortunately for Herrnstein those 125 games would be the most he would ever play in a season. After the 64 campaign Herrnstein batted less than 200 times at the Major League level. Early in the 1966 season The Phillies traded Herrnstein and future Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins to the Cubs for veteran pitcher Larry Jackson. I would have to think that trade is on the loser list for the Phils.  
 
Prior to his professional baseball career Herrnstein was a star Running Back at Michigan. In 1956 he led the Big Ten in TDs with 7 and the Wolverines finished ranked 7th in the nation. 

Following his career Herrnstein returned to his native Ohio and maintained a career in banking and finance. This past fall his grandson Justin Herrnstein was a member of the Division II Tiffin Dragons football team of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  

Other Voices
The Great 1965 Topps Project - #534 John Herrnstein

1964 Philies Series 
Johnny Callison
Tony Gonzalez
John Herrnstein 
Tony Taylor 
Frank Thomas

 
More info on 1965 Topps
The entire 1965 Topps Series was covered by Kevin B of Orioles Card "O" the day on The Great 1965 Topps Project
Cardboard Connection
Sports Collectors Digest (TS O' Connell)
Golden Age of Baseball Cards
Dean's Cards
Beckett

PSA
 
Sources
The Year of the Blue Snow: The 1964 Phillies
Baseball-ref.com
Tiffin Dragons