CTB: 1998 Topps #334 Andruw Jones (ASR)

Our Second of Three 1996 HOF Profiles featuring inductees who were also honored on Rookie Cup Cards is of Phillies Nemesis Andruw Jones.  

1998 Topps #334 Andruw Jones (image swiped from tcdb)

On this card we have a quality action shot of Andruw just prior to contact - something that would result in hits 1933 times during Jones 17 year career (2541 hits as a professional). His Career Home Run totals were even more impressive 434 MLB/550 Pro. 

Notice on the card that Jones is wearing the Jackie Robinson 50th Anniversary Patch that all players wore during the 1997 season. Andruw finished 5th in the Rookie of the Year Voting - an Award that has been named after Jackie Robinson since 1987.  Nice seeing Two Hall of Famers represented on a rookie cup (keep reading there's more!) 

Rookie Cup Credentials 

Before his 1997 rookie campaign even started Andruw Jones was already a World Series hero who hit a Pair of Home Runs vs the Yankees, albeit in a losing effort. 

To earn his ROY votes Andruw Jones played a full NL season in 1997 with 18 HR, 70 RBI but only a .231 AVG (93 OPS+ / +3.3 WAR) which was similar to the 3 Cup Team outfielders - Jose Cruz Jr (26/68/.248, 101/+2.2), Jose Guillen (14/70/.267, 82/-3.3). Mike Cameron has a Snub Beef (14/55/.259, 109/+4.4) as does Vlad SR (.302 BA, 117 OPS+). In fact the BBWAA ranked Guerrero ahead of Guillen by a handful of votes on the NL side and Cameron received more AL votes then Guillen did within the NL bracket.  

Flip

1998 Topps #334 Andruw Jones (b-side image also tcdb)   

First we want to look at the demographic info and note that Andruw Jones was the 3rd MLB player from Curacao, after Hensley Meulens (1989) and Ralph Milliard (1996). In the 3 decades since Andruw Jones the number of players born in Curacao has grown to 17 (that is a 560% increase for a territory that had ZERO players 40 years ago)

Moving down the text mentions Jones as both an Offensive and Defensive threat. And he was - Andruw just missed the 20/20 targets during his rookie campaign but did hit them 3 times in his early career. In the Outfield he earned 10 gold gloves. 2005 was his standout season where he led the league in HR & RBI with 51 & 128 respectively (+6.7 WAR) good enough for 2nd place in the NL MVP voting (Albert Pujols 41/117/.330 +8.4 WAR) 

We also get a quote from Andruw Jones' Manager Bobby Cox that invokes the name of another well known CenterFielder, Joe DiMaggio. If you're keeping score at home that is 4 HOF on a single Rookie Cup Card Andruw, Jackie, Bobby Cox (as a Manager) and Joe D. 

Andruw Jones HOF Index

1998 Topps #334 (Rookie Cup)

2001 Topps Stadium Club Pat Burrell (Game Dated Card/Phungo Challenge)

Sources and Link

1998 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Index

TCDB

National Baseball Hall of Fame

Baseball-Ref

1962 Topps #288 Billy Williams

Today's All-Star Rookie Cup posting brings us to Hall of Famer Billy Williams who is the oldest living Hall of Famer to have also won a Rookie Cup. 

The recent passing of Willie Mays has pushed the 86 year old Williams into 8th place among the eldest surviving Hall of Famers - and 6th among players. 

1962 Topps #288 Billy Williams (image lifted from tcdb)

1962 Topps is one of my favorite designs - the novelty of the wood grain only used here and in 1987 keeps the idea fresh. I also like how the rolled up photo illusion slides our eyes into the full size Rookie Cup trophy.

Williams is captured here in follow through of his "Sweet Swinging" form - the rollup flows with the swing here as well. All this adds up to a really great early card of a Future Hall of Famer. 

Rookie of the Year

Billy Williams earned NL Rookie of the Year honors by leading the 1961 freshman class with 25 Home Run 86 RBI and 256 Total Bases.  However...

Even in the pre-analytics days Voters recognized the importance of the catching position with just under of a third of the ballots favoring future HOF Joe Torre. Saving deeper analysis for a future aWARds column, but for today's discussion it's enough to say that Billy Williams led NL rookies in 2 of the 3 Triple Crown categories and it is really hard to argue against those criteria in the Rookie of the Year voting. 

1962 Topps #288 Billy Williams (flip)

 

Little hard to make out but here we see the rest of Billy Williams numbers for his ROY campaign. The 146 games is noteworthy as that his a high number for a rookie by today's standards and the phrase "played everyday" definitely applied to Williams. For a decade from 1962-1971 averaged 161 games and was just below superlative threshold numbers (29 HR /98 RBI/.298 AVG)

 

I also want to point out in the demographics section that specifies Williams' Home as "Whislter, Ala." Which is of course the tail end of his nickname "Sweet Swingin' Billy from Whistler"

Always a fan of cards with comics. The presentation on 1962T is a bit different - it is more of an illustration than a comic. A lot of the rookie cup cards in the early era of the subset have comics focused on the cup. This one is ok - cup is a bit distant and I cannot tell which character is giving or receiving the award. 

Note that the card makes no mention of Williams Rookie of the Year award.

 

More Rookie Iconogaphy

 

1962 Topps is not the only time that a Billy Williams card features rookie related iconography 

 

1961 Topps #141 Billy Williams

 

In just 1961 and 1962 Topps added a Star Icon to a few of the rookies in the set. Other notables from 1961 were Carl Yastrzemski and Phillies Catcher Clarence Coleman. Hall of Famer Juan Marichal's rookie card is in 1961T but did not get a Rookie Star Icon.

Sources and Links

1962 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Subset Index

Billy Williams HOF Index

Baseball-Ref

NBC Bay Area

Welcome to the Hall of Fame Jim Thome

Last night we got the good news that a Phillies Fan Favorite was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. \

2005 Fleer Skybox Autographics #43 Jim Thome

I don't need to get into his HOF credentials here, I mentioned them last month in our HOF ballot series.

The above 2005 Skybox Autographics set gets a fair on my design scale. Nothing really going for it, but inoffensive.

The real reason I was interested in posting this card for the HOF election announcement is the back

Flip

2005 Fleer Skybox Autographics #43 Jim Thome (b-side)

The last sentence in the text mentions Thome's 400th HR which occurred in a game that Team Phungo is very happy to say that we had the chance to attend.

2004 0614 Game Ticket Reds @ Phillies

The Phillies won the game 10-7, Jim Thome wasted no time getting his milestone Homer, a 2-run shot off of Jose Acevedo.  A video of the Home Run along with the call by Harry Kalas can be found here. It was a fun night and I am glad we live in an era when I can dial up the memory check out a video of the event just about anytime I want.

Returning to the b-side of the card I would like to take a look at the second half of the last sentence. Fleer mentions that a day prior to Thome's 400th Homer, Ken Griffey Jr had hit #499. Junior may be universally loved, however...

Check the ticket

Who did the Phillies play the day after Griffey hit #499? The Reds, Who did Griffey play for in 2004? the Reds! Therefore....

Ken Griffey was in town with 499 Career Homers the night Jim Thome hit his 400th Home Run. How cool would it have been to have 400th & 500th HR hit in the same game?!

Well it didn't happen.

Griffey sat out the game and hit #500 a week later.

Other Tributes
The Phillies Room - 2011 Phillies Team S2 #25
White Sox Cards - 2007 Heritage #33
Once a Cub - 1999 Fleer #95 (Game Dated Card)
Indian Baseball Cards Always Sketch card
My PCs one card at a time - 2001 Fleer E-X #48
Card Buzz - Canton Akron Classic Best Card
Padrographs - Custom

Sources and Links
Jim Thome Index
Jim Thome 400th HR Index
Game Dated Cards

1991 Upper Deck Final #50F Dennis Martinez

Tonight Denny Martinez is scheduled to throw out the first pitch prior to game six of the World Series.

This gives an opportunity to present a fun card of Martinez from his Expos days.

1991 Upper Deck Final #50F Dennis Martinez Perfecto!

Hopefully I will return to this post at some future time, but for now I will just mention that the card was part of UDs 1991 Final Set and honored the Perfect game pitched by Martinez earlier that year - which as close as we got to Topps Now in 1991.

flip

1991 Upper Deck Final #50F Dennis Martinez Perfecto! (b-side / image swiped from COMC)

Nice summary on the back of the card including quotes from not just Dennis Martinez but also his catcher Ron Hassey. Your not going to get that kind of quality write up on any card much less a Topps Now issue today.

Ticket

The Baseball Hall of Fame has a ticket to the perfect game on display as part of their Viva Baseball exhibition.  It is one of 45,560 tickets that the Dodgers sold for the game.

Notice that the Viva Baseball exhibit is curated with the artifact descriptions presented in Spanish - and the Spanish is expressed first.  

Sources and Links
No-Hitter Index
Hall of Fame
VWellsArt 
Baseball Almanac
Cleveland.com
Check Out My Cards

25TH ANNIVERSARY: George Brett Wins Batting title in 3rd different decade

Twenty-Five George Brett picked up his 3rd batting title.

1991 Topps #2 Record Breaker George Brett - Batting Titles in 3 Decades

All three titles were in different decades which had not been done prior. Topps honored the achievement with teh #2 card in the 1991 set.

1991 Topps #2 Record Breaker George Brett - Batting Titles in 3 Decades (b-side)

On the final day of the season Brett singled during a 5-2 loss to the Indians in front of a massive Municipal stadium crowd of 5,196. The hit came off of journeyman reliever Mauro Gozzo. George Brett's .329 average bested fellow Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson by four points. Rickey never won a batting title, his .325 in 1990 was a career high as was his 2nd place finish. Henderson did however lead the league in OBP (.439) in 1990 and won the AL MVP Award. Advanced analysis now also reveal that Henderson led the league in WAR (9.9)

Score

1991 Score #769 HL George Brett Batting Champion

Another card that noted Brett's Batting title was 1991 Score #769.

1991 Score #769 HL George Brett Batting Champion (b-side)

Score tells us a bit more about the course of Brett's 1990 campaign. His final .329 season average only came about because of an impressive second half where he batted .388.

I like the shot on the back of the card. Brett carries three Bats on his shoulder likely symbolizing his three titles - each of the bats carries his uniform #5 on the knob.

Sources and Links
Phungo George Brett HoF Index
Baseball-ref

2015 Hall of Fame Inductee Craig Biggio

Baseball Hall of Fame weekend is here and it is a lot more joyful to have four players going in than a year like 2013 when the BBWAA failed to find a consensus on any players.

The top vote getter in 2013 was Craig Biggio, who despite racking up 3000 hits is viewed as a borderline Hall of Famer.  Borderline or not, the Career Astro is now a member of the Hall.

1991 Score the Franchise #802 Craig Biggio

Craig Biggio will go into the hall as a second baseman, but he debuted at the Major League Level as a catcher. Anytime I see a Biggio Catcher card in a dime box, I add it to the Phungo Collection.

This one is one of my favorites. It is clear Biggio is wearing the tools of Ignorance and I like that the catcher helmet identifies him with the #7 that the Astros have now retired in his honor.

1991 Score the Franchise #802 Craig Biggio (b-side)

The text on back of this 1991 card captures Biggio at the moment he is transferring away from the catcher position. He would moved to the Outfield before settling in at second base for the bulk of his career although he would do time back in center in 2003.

1991 Score
The Franchise is a 26 card subset with one star card to represent each of the Major Leagues then 26 teams. The Phillies Rep in the set is Lenny Dykstra. 

Craig Biggio Hall of Fame Index
1989 Donruss #561 (2013 HoF Ballot Resume)
1991 Score #161 (50th Birthday Posting)
2009 Phungo BFI (vs Cole Hamels)

Sources and Links
Baseball-ref
Cardboard Connection

Pete Rose 2012 Leaf Living Legend Auto

The Phillies are facing the Reds in Cincinnati which gives us the perfect opportunity to show off the Pete Rose auto we picked up via a 2012 Living Legends Blaster.

2012 Leaf Living Legend Pete Rose #AU-37

The signature itself is a little shaky but I do like the photo. I don't know what the break down of images for this set are, but it is nice that we got one with Rose wearing a Phillies Uniform.

Leaf had to airbrush out some of my favorite details so I dug up this version of the shot which I found at the now dormant Fielder's Choice Blog. 

Of course as Dave noted in his Fielder's Choice posting this picture will likely bring back the memory of a certain Fleer card for many Collectors

1982 Fleer #640 Pete & Re-Pete 

The phot on the above Fleer card was taken by Bob Bartosz. For a GREAT interview regarding Bartosz career as a baseball photographer check out Baseball Cards Come to Life.

1982 Fleer #640 Pete & Re-Pete (b-side)

Back in 1982 Pete Rose was not yet the all-time hit king, but as noted on the card in 1981 he passed Stan Musial as the NL career Hits Hits Leader.

2012 Leaf Living Legend Pete Rose #AU-37 (b-side)

And just to wrap up we present the flip side of the Pete Rose Auto which limits itself to your typical COA verbiage.

Pete Rose Index
1977 Topps #450 AS - 1976 ASG feature / #14 Reds Jersey Retirement
1983 Topps #101 Super Veterans
1985 Andy Warhol Portrait
1986 Topps #206 Rose Breaks Ty Cobb's Lifetime Hits Record

I know Pete ain't in the Hall of Fame. I am not going to get into that discussion here, but I am going to add him to our HoF Index as an honored star of the game.

Sources and Links
Baseball Cards Come to life

Snapshots: 2015 05 23 Cooperstown Classic

Couple of Pictures from the Cooperstown Classic which was played just down the street from the Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday May 23rd 2015.

Team Knucksie: Yount, Fingers, Niekro, Baldelli, Trammell, A Soriano, Pudge, B Molina

The teams were broken down loosely into AL and NL squads although the AL Captain was Braves Rep Phil Niekro.

For the Alan Trammell supporters here we have a pix of the Tigers Shortstop at the Hall of Fame.

The Wizards: Smith, Glavine, Steve Woodard, Jack Wilson, E Taubansee, Kerry Robinson, Mark Loretta, John Franco, David Delucci, Ron Cey, Vinny Castilla, Bobby Abreu - Tony Perez Foreground, Baldelli and Trammell background

Apologies to Night Owl, but Ron Cey is shielded here. The Phillies had at least six alums in the game including Abreu, David Delucci and Perez.

Roy Oswalt vs Rick Ankiel

As you can see it was a Beautiful day for a game. Short time Phillies Pitcher Roy Oswalt represented the Astros.

Jim Eisenreich & Bobby Abreu

A pair of Phillies Outfielders at First Base.

Ozzie Smith and Rick Ankiel

 NL Captain Ozzie Smith taking care of some third base coaching duties

Jeff Idelson with Phil Niekro 

HoF Prez Jeff Idelson and Phil Niekro likely discussing Pete Rose's reinstatement prospects

Vinny Castilla 

Prior to the game there was a Home Run contest which was won by Colorado Rockies Thirdbaseman Vinny Castilla

Aaron Rowand

The Bob Feller award for Game MVP was given to Aaron Rowand who Homered off Steve Avery. For the HOF game Rowand who played a couple of seasons with the Phillies Represented the Chicago White Sox. 

Bob Dernier

Good Guy Award goes to Bob Dernier, although it may not be just because he is fan friendly. Bobby D was the RF ball boy and happened to be next to the stands and signed dozen of autographs between innings.

Quick Notes
--I have never seen a steal of Home in a real Game but saw one at the Classic, Brady Anderson the back end of a double steal.
--Saw two players lose bats into the stands (Ankiel, Homer Bush). That probably should not happen in an exhibition game of this type.
--I am pretty sure Brian Holman's career ended due to injury and I can see why. It took everything the man had to push the ball 60 ft 6 inches.
--Greg Cadaret who I am not at all familiar with was awful. In a game where the only job for a pitcher is to get the ball over the plate and every pitch is a strike Cadaret could not throw one.
--The Baseball Hall of Fame Jersey is Ugly (see Robin Yount in Pix 1 or Ozzie in pix 2 above)
--
Sources and Links
Baseball Hall of Fame
Baseball-ref

Bobby Abreu to represent Phillies at 2015 Hall of Fame Classic

The Hall of Fame Classic is an Alumni game played at Doubleday Field in downtown Cooperstown.

1998 Topps #351 Bob Abreu

Like the Major League All-Star game the HoF Classic gathers players from each Major League Team to play in the contest. In addition to the Bobby Abreu several other Phillies Alums will be on hand representing other teams including Tony Perez, Bob Dernier, Jim Eisenreich, Aaron Rowand, Roy Oswalt, and David Delluci.

There are six Hall of Famers scheduled to be on hand for the day. The Team Captains are Ozzie Smith and Phil Niekro with Perez, Tom Glavine, Robin Yount and Rollie Fingers acting as coaches.  

For further information on the classic click here.

1998 Topps
This is the first Topps issue Bobby Abreu on a Phillies card. He was known as Bob Abreu to Topps until 2003.

2011 60 Years of Topps #60YOT-47 Bob Abreu (right)

The 1998 Abreu card made the cut for the 60 Years of Topps series.  The name plate on the cards is different. The same style of Phillies logo shows up on both cards but on the 60YoT version on the riht the liberty bell is white, while on the original it is red.

The Flip side of the card mentions Roberto Clemente - I assume the connection is both are Latin American players. But they could have gone with a more direct connection of one of Clemente's countryman like Roberto Alomar, Ivan Rodriguez, or Carlos Delgado.

2011 60 Years of Topps #60YOT-47 Bob Abreu (b-side)

Of course my other less likely thought is that Topps mentions Roberto Clemente here because they used to call him Bob, just like they at one time referred to Bobby Abreu as Bob.

Below we have a picture of the box Top referred to in the text of the 60YoT card. 

1998 Topps Box (image swiped from Baseball Cardpedia)

Sources and Links
Baseball Hall of Fame
baseball cardpedia
Topps Baseball Card Database

2013 Topps Heritage the Originals - 1964 Topps League Leaders Cards

There are a couple of subsets in 1964 Topps, the first of which numerically are the League Leaders cards.

1964 Topps #11 NL League Leaders RBI

Last year Night Owl Cards put together bit of analysis of the league leaders card. To me this olympic podium design is the best. Decent size picture of the overall leader followed by two smaller pix of the runner up and third place finishers.

The LL cards in 1964 fit the overall design well. The two fonts on the card title are similar to the rookie cards and the player name plates carry over the feel of the base cards.

There are 12 League Leader cards in 1964 Topps. 1 card per league for each of 6 categories ERA, Pitching (Wins), Strikeouts,  Batting (avg), HR,  and RBI

For the Collector

The above LL card was picked up at a card show last year for $2. It is in ok condition, not bad for the price of a 2013 retail pack you get a vintage card with Hank Aaron in the lead spot! - that is like stealing. Low recent ebay auction closed at $1.54 shipped. A graded PSA 9 card was the Hi end at $308.00.

Prior 1964 Topps the Originals Postings 

1964 Topps Design (Ray Culp, Lou Brock, Gus Triandos) 

1964 Topps Rookie Cards (Dick Allen)

More info on 1964 Topps

The full series is in the process of being covered at the 1964 Topps Blog 

The Phillies Room has a posting on the 1964 Topps Phillies as part of the ongoing Topps Phillies Series.

Dean's Cards

Beckett

Other Sources
Bob Lemke's Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards 
eBay
Surf Baseball Card Collectiblies, Philadelphia Phillies 

Phun Cards 2006 Topps #UH20 Jeff Conine: 2013 HoF Candidiate

The Phillies traded for Jeff Conine in August of 2006 to give them a Left handed bat for the stretch run.  Conine got into 28 games for the 06 Phils who finished 3 games out of the wild card slot.

I was always a fan of Conine despite the fact that he basically beat the Phils single-handily in a critical game I attended in September of 2003. In addition to a double, Homer, and 3 RBIs, Conine was also a star in the field coming up with 2 big outfield assists. Overall it was one of the greatest all-around games I have ever seen a player have. To sum up his day a friend of mine who was also at that game quipped "If I had a gun I would have shot him"

2006 Topps #UH20 Jeff Conine

For His Career Conine had 1982 Hits and 214 Homers.  I am sure he is a member of several Marlins All-Time teams as he is one of the few members of both their 1997 and 2003 World Champoinship squads.  For his career Conine appeared in 6 Post Season series and was on the winning side of all of them.

Jeff Conine had a great career and will always be identified with the Marlins World Series teams.  His Numbers are good but not Hall worthy.  I do hope that he gets a goodguy vote out of the comittee, as he has always seemed like a class act.

2013 HoF Candidate Postings

Jose Mesa

Mike Piazza

NSCC Loot 1975 Topps Mini - HoFs

I have a bunch of scans from the NSCC way back in early August which I have yet to post.

1975 Topps Minis

As with a lot of other vintage collectors I am a sucker for 1975 Topps Minis. 

These were a buck a piece which is more then I would typically go for a 75 Mini, but the lot is all Hall of Famers.  I have no serious interest in building the whole set, but I have thought of collecting all of the sets HoF cards.  The August show was a huge step towards that goal.    

Couple of favorites here.  The HR League Leaders features two Phillies, Schmidt and Dick Allen who led the AL in 74 while playing w/ the White Sox.

The Mantle - Wills card features a Card that Never Was if my memory is correct.  Topps had yet to sign Maury Wills in 1962 and he was never issued a 62 Topps card.  For the 1975 MVP series the Topps simply created the card that never really existed.

Phun Cards 1952 Topps #216 Richie Ashburn

I am a little bit amazed that I have really not given a lot of ink to Richie Ashburn on the Phungo Pages.  Although his playing career was long over before I was born, Ashburn was a large part of the Phillies experience for any fan of my generation.  He was the color analyst for Harry Kalas from the time I started watching the game until his death in 1997. 

Despite ranking up more hits then any other player during the decade of the 1950s and 2574 for his career Richie Ashburn was dropped from the Hall of Fame ballot in 1982.  Eventually he would enter the Hall in 1995 as a selection of the Veterans committee.  Ashburn led the National League in Batting average twice (1955,1958) and OBP 4 times (54, 55, 58, 60).  He was a 6 time all star selection and was a member of the 1950 Whiz Kids.  His #1 is one of 5 numbers retired by the Phillies. 

1952 Topps #216 Richie Ashburn

1952 Topps #216 Richie Ashburn (b-Side)


For the Collector

 

This is the 2nd Topps card issued of Richie Ashburn.  A recent ebay auction of a rough conditioned 52 Topps Ashburn finished at $9.62.  The Hi auction for a slabbed PSA 9 Mint card was $1710.32.  6 auctions of cards in pretty good condition concluded between $26 and $43. 

The above '52 Topps Ashburn was procured for the Phungo collection off an ebay auction for $18.97 in July of 2009.

More Richie Ashburn
1950 Bowman #84
1952 Topps #216

1959 Topps #317 (with Willie Mays)

2009 Phungo #1

1955 Topps Cards that never were (link to Bob Lemke Custom Card)
 

Hall of Fame Profile - Frank Robinson

While at the National earlier this month, I heard a couple of the signings had been moved or cancelled for health reasons.  This sort of news is always a bummer - I suppose we always think of our sports idols as being invicible super heroes.  Unfortunately time is a cruel reality - it moves on for everyone regardless of their stature in any field. 

Frank Robinson's Hall of Fame credentials really don't need debated - 2 World Series Rings (1966 1970 both with the Orioles), 2 MVPs, Rookie of the Year,  14 All-Star teams, 586 Home Runs, 2943 hits, 1800+ in both Runs and RBIs.  Robinson Homered 10 times in 149 Postseason plate appearances. 

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982 on his first ballot.  Hank Aaron was inducted the same year.            

2010 Topps CMT-6 Frank Robinson

2006 Topps ROTW-8 Frank Robinson

For The Collector 

According to the handy rescource at Old Cardboard there are several early regional issues of Frank Robinson cards that are considered Rookies.  For collectors on a budget, like myself, the most likely Rookie Card one would find is his 1957 Topps #35 Card.  The lowest recent auction finished at $24.45 with 5 separate sales concluding under $30.  A PSA-8 graded card went for $697.44. 

Neither of the cards above are the real 1957 Topps RC of Frank Rboinson - both are recent reprint/homages to the original 1957 rookie card.  Both of these re-issues can be found in dime boxes.  .

1959 Topps #435 Frank Robinson

I picked up the 1959 Topps card abover for $8.61 July of 2009.  At least a half dozen recent auctions for the 1959 Topps Frank Robinson have concluded under $8 - a fair condition card went as low as $4. 

On the other end of the spectrum a PSA-8 (NM-MT) came in at $206.50

Sources and Links
Phungo Frank Robinson HoF Index
ebay
Baseball-ref

Updates
2015 0830 Sources and Links added

NSCC Loot 1954 Bowman #95 Robin Roberts

Most of the cards that I picked up at the National came out of dollar bins.  This one did not.  

 

 

 

1954 Bowman #95 Robin Roberts

 

 

This card went for $5.50 and was my last purchase of the show.  The card is in good shape, no writing - good back, just a slight blemish on the bottom left corner.  

 

I have always been a fan of 1954 bowman - the design is simple with just a splash of color.  

 

Robin Roberts died in May of 2010, At the time several bloggers wrote columns on Roberts.  I have collected several of the Posts here along with links to additional Robin Roberts content at Baseball-ref Wikipedia and other resources.

Negro League Stats up at Baseball-Reference

Baseball-Reference has announced that they have added Negro League Stats to their database.  The data may be incomplete but regardless it sure is fascinating. 

2010 Phungo #42 Judy Johnson

One of the first players I looked up was Delaware Rep and Hall of Famer Judy Johnson.  Career .293 hitter batted over .370 two different times 26 career Home Runs.

Nachos Grande Survey - Autographs

Recently Nachos Grande posted a survey related to Autograph collecting.  I collect Autographed cards of all types of players. Most of the players are noteworthy to me for some reason, usually something insignificant, as I generally try and find the $5 an under cards - a lot of those I use for Spot the Sig! fodder.  Others are favorite players and Hall of Famers. 

 

The Phungo Auto collection likely stands at a few hundred cards and I think I can provide some interesting insights into autograph collecting. 

 

1.  What is the best autograph you own?

    Today, Joe Frazier - More on that Later

    otherwise Mike Schmidt on a book.  My best card Auto is probably Steve Carlton Leather Cuts.  
2.  What is the best autograph that you've ever pulled from a pack of cards?

    Paul Molitor (Goudey Graphs 2008), Brooks Robinson 09 OBAK. 

2009 Obak #A48 Brooks Robinson (#59/200)

3.  What is the worst autograph you've ever pulled from a pack of cards?

    07 Sweet Spot Chirs Capuano - The box was only $45 and I still felt stiffed - althought the RC Auto was of Hunter Pence.  

    Brad somebody from the Astros in Donruss 08 Product.  See the card at shows for $2 all the time.

4.  Do you try to get autographs through the mail?  If so, what sort of success (or failure) stories do you have?    No - this facet of the hobby has not capture my attention yet.  

5.  Who was the subject of your first ever autograph?

    It was either Scott Fitzkee (TE w/ the Eagles) or Greg Manning(Collegiate Hoop star w/ the Maryland Terrapins - I think he may now be a radio broadcaster w/ the team)

    As an  adult, I think Jay Bell may be the first auto I got at the ballpark - it is all faded now.       
6.  Do you actively collect any autographs (certain players, teams, brands, etc)?

    I have an affection for certain brands but no aspirations for a set.  Among my favs are Sweet Spot, A&G, UD Goodwin Champs, SI Greats of the Games, 1996 Leaf, UD Goudey

7.  Which is better:  Autographs or Relics?

    Autographs - I for the most part dismiss relics
8.  What do you think of cut autos?

    I don't have any yet - would like to add one to my Type collection but that is about it right now.       
9.  What is your favorite autograph design (say in the last 5 years)?

    In general Sweet Spot.  A&G, and I like the Goodwin Champs design in general. 

10.  If you could get the autograph of any five people (dead or alive) who would you want a signature from (and why)?

    Couple names off the top of my head without much thought - Richie Ashburn, Martin Scorcese, Jim Morrison, Fran Tarkenton, Dali - Ashburn would probably be on that list any day the rest of those folks would likely change depending on my mood.

 

I dashed this off the top of my head, so some of the set/yr names may be a lil off, but I am in the general area.  It is a solid survey that asks some interesting questions.  I sort of fell into Autograph collecting and it is one of the areas of the hobby I really don't have much of a checklist - perhaps that helps keep it enjoyable.

Hall of Fame Day - Congratulations Pat Gillick

The Baseball Hall of Fame welcomes Pat Gillick today.  Gillick was the reigning GM when the Phillies won tghe 2008 World Series.  His key acquisitions for that club included Jamie Moyer, Jayson Werth, and Joe Blanton.

2008 World Champions

Gillick was also involved with The Toronto Blue Jays teams that won World Championships in 1992 and 93 as well as successful teams in Baltimore and Seattle. 

In addition to Gillick Philadelphia area Baseball columnist Bill Conlin will also be inducted into the Hall today.

As you likely know the big time inductees today are Bert Blyleven and Robert Alomar. 

The Hall of Fame Welcomes Pat Gillick!

He is a Hall of Famer to Team Phungo and Phils fans Everywhere.

Original 2008 World Series Posting

CNNSI.Story

Early Wynn may have something to Say to A-Rod

To find out what it is check out the latest Phungo Post at A Pack to be Named Later.

1956 Topps #187 Early Wynn