Phillies Cards that Never Were - Michael Young

The Phillies have officially bid farewell to Michael Young after a 126 game stint.

There have been only a few Michael Young cards with him representing the Phillies, and I don't think I have picked up any of them yet.  As a Phillies player I think Young can be found in 2013 Topps Heritage and A&G.

However there are Cards that Never Were

2011 Faux Topps Michael Young

This seasons Phillies starting lineup cards still feature 2011 Topps.
 
And

Scoreboard Card - Michael Young

This season the Phillies also feature these Scoreboard Bios that have a Baseball Card Motif.  The design echoes 2003 Topps.

Michael Young's is off to the Los Angeles to see if he can make get involved in the Postseason with Dodgers. A decade from not it will be hard to remember Young played for the Phillies at all.

Regardless best of luck to Mr Young in LA, at least we will have one Phils player to root for in October. 

Sources
ESPN bottom line

Phungo Challenge Resolved: Pat Burrell and Andruw Jones 2000-06-19

Uncle John's Band who publishes the entertaining Cards that Never Were blog was the only person to submit an entry for our Phungo Challenge on a Pat Burrell card roughly a month ago.

 

 

2001 Topps Stadium Club Pat Burrell

 

For this card UJB went with June 19th 2000.  I think he got the right series but I am leaning towards a game that was played the previous day Sunday 6/18. 

 

The series is pretty easy to drill down,  Burrell's rookie season is the only one he played at first base.  6/16-6/19 was the only Phils home series hosting the Braves that featured a Burrell appearance.  The Guest Star on the card is obviously Andruw Jones - pretty strong guest appearance there.  Surprisingly not many of Jones' ABs during those 4 games match up with the evidence in this Photo.

 

I pretty much brought it down to a few plate appearances in the games on June 18th and June 19th.  In the end, I am pretty sure this is a day game and that is why I went with 6/18.  It is true that there is significant daylight early in a night game in June, but the AB for Jones would not have taken place until at least the 3rd inning on 6/19 which would have been likely after 8p.  I can't see there being that much light at that time of day.  The other half of that theory is that I think Topps and their photographers generally use day games, because of the better lighting. 

 

I also worked under the theory that Jones could have been safe on the play.  And indeed on Sunday June 18th in the fourth inning Jones did have an infield single.  There were other possible outcomes - obviously the ground out, which happened on 6/19 and back end of a fielders choice which may have happened on 6/19.  

There is a chance that Uncle John's Band is correct and he hti the correct series so UJB you are the winner of the first Phungo Challenge of 2012!

Sources & Links

Game Dated Cards Index

Andruw Jones Index

Phungo Game Report - 2010 08 17 Giants @ Phillies

Great night to be at the Ballpark - The Confluence of several events made for a great evening.

1) Going into the game the Phillies and Giants were both playoff contenders locked in a virtual tie for the wild card spot in the NL playoff race.

2) Pat Burrell also returned to Philadelphia, playing left field for the Giants.

3) The game was the 2nd home start for recent acquisition Roy Oswalt.

4) There was one final bit of spice that added to the electricity of the evening - Phils All-Star 2nd Basemen Chase Utley returned to the lineup after several weeks on the DL.

I must also add that it was a rare perfect night for baseball, in what has been an extremely hot and steamy summer here in the Northeast.

SnapShots

Cards That Never Were

Roy Oswalt - notice that the 2009 Topps Style card specifies Oswalt as RHP rather then just P for pitcher.

Mike Sweeney - the new Number 5

The Old Number 5

Pat Burrell was given a short ovation when he batted and cheered positively when lineups were announced. He got booed a lot more after he hit a line drive 2-run homer in his first at bat.

Good Guy Awards

Tim Lincecum was doing his thing signing many autographs and interacting with fans. I also saw Buster Posey sign a couple of autos and Giants First Base Coach Roberto Kelly signed an item for a fan.

Game Notes

Roy Oswalt pitched 7 good Innings. He gave up 3 runs off 2 homers, Burrell's 2 run dinger, and a solo shot by Jose Guillen. Barry Zito kept the Phils off balance for the first 4 innings but ran into some trouble in the 5th and could not get an out in the 6th. Zito Left the game down 4-2 giving up 4 earned on 8 hits and 1 walk over 5+ innings.

The Phils would eventually put up a 5 spot on the Giants Bullpen in the 8th to turn a tight game into a blowout. A controversial bulk call, in which Jimmy Rollins would have gotten picked off otherwise, extended the inning - likely contributing to the Phils final 2 runs.

The Phils did something they have not done well all season. They got hits in key situations. It is a rare night when you will see the Phils score 9 Runs without aid of a Homer. Placido Polanco was key in that effort collecting 4 hits in 5 ABs. Rollins, Carlos Ruiz and Shane Victorino all had hits that plated multiple runners. Utley was the only Phils position player to not record a hit or score a run. He did reach once on an error and hit one flly ball pretty well to center.

For a Look back at a previous Game Report Click Here to read about the Team Phungo trip to see some A-Ball between the Salem Red Sox and Wilmington Blue Rocks.

The last Phillies Phungo Game Report was on a July game vs the Braves.

The most recent Phungo Game Report featuring the San Fransisco Giants was last September.

1953 Topps Richie Ashburn!!

Is a card that does not exist.

However, over at Topps Archives they have found the artwork.

And thanks to Punk Rock Paint we have what the card may have looked like had it been produced.

This is what the blogosphere is about - people merging their talents and resources and yielding great stuff for the rest of us fans to enjoy.

Thanks to Topps Archives and Punk Rock Paint.

For a look back at another Richie Ashburn card that never was click here to see a custom version for the 1955 Topps Set.

Cards that never were - 2009 Topps Placido Polanco

Faux 2009 Topps Placido Polanco

I have noted the baseball lineup cards featured at Phils games several times in this space. This year the Phils have retained the card design from 2009 Topps. This means for players that did not have a card last year, a new card had to be created. This is the one for Placido Polanco, who of course did have a 2009 Topps Card but it was with the Tigers.

These lineup cards were on display during the Phils on-deck series this weekend. We went down for the Saturday game of the series. The game did not count in the regular season standings, but it was a beautiful day and a great opportunity to get down to the ballpark. If I can get some real life stuff done this week, I will try and put together a game report.

Yesterday during the Phils Home Opener Polanco had a fine Phillies Re-Debut which included a Grand Slam and 6 RBIs.

For a look a custom Polanco card check out 2010 Chachi #2 over at The Phillies Room.

Cards that Never Were

When one enters Citizen's Bank Ballpark via the Centerfield gate, you can find the games lineup on Gigantic Baseball cards. An oddity is that the Phils have not bothered to update the card template since 2006. This has resulted in some huge cards that never were. The Photo above is of the cards for Eric Bruntlett, who was with the Astros in 06, and Kyle Kendrick who was still in the Phils minor league system at the time.