2015 ASG Franchise Four Johnny Bench

Tonight MLB concluded their Franchise Four promotion. It ended with a ceremonial first pitch that was thrown by Don Sutton and caught by the Reds own Johnny Bench.

1978 Topps #700 Johnny Bench

I wouldn't immediately think of Bench at one of the four greatest living players.

Further research has revealed he has the highest career WAR of all catchers in History and he won two World Championships including 1976 when he was Series MVP.

During his 17 year career the first ballot Hall of Famer represented the Reds on 14 All-Star teams at one of the games most grueling positions. 

1978 Topps 
Johnny Bench's 1978T #700 was his second of six hero number cards. Judging by the era and condition of this card I believe it is from the v1.0 Phungo Collection.

Johnny Bench HoF Index 
2011 Topps #198 Legends Variation
2014 Topps Heritage Draft Pick Cards

Sources and Links
2015 ASG Coverage
baseball-ref
baseball card database

Your 2015 Phillies All-Star Jonathan Papelbon 2013 Topps Heritage #104

Tonight we open our 2015 All-Star Game Coverage

Last night Major League Baseball announced the All-Star Reserves. This is about as exciting as the 2015 Phillies get. Rightfully the team did not have any starters elected to the squad.

And despite the fact that the Phillies have the worst record in baseball, the rules, customs and decorum of the mid-summer classic dictate that the Phillies to get a minimum of one roster spot on the All-Star Team.

2013 Topps Heritage #104 Jonathan Papelbon

Closer Jonathan Papelbon was selected to represent the Phillies in Cincinnati. This is Papelbon's sixth all-star selection and second as a Phil.

 2013 Topps Heritage #104 Jonathan Papelbon (b-side)

Presenting the flip here for a couple of reasons, First off I like the trivia question. Secondly Papelbon's partner for card #104 in the original 1964T release was Art Mahaffey and I want to take a closer look at these two cards in the future.

As far as the Trivia Question, I thought it was due to 2 runners scoring on a single sacrifice, however the answer has to do with an error being committed on a dropped fly. The Runner scores/advances on the error, and the batter is ALSO awarded a sacrifice. Baseball Reference has a posting on four occurrences of triple sacrifice innings. 

2015 All-Star Coverage
Bobby Abreu
Johnny Bench
Rickey Henderson
Art Mahaffey
Robin Roberts
Pete Rose
2014 All-Star Coverage

Sources and Links
baseball-ref