Roy Halladay Hall of Fame!!

Things have been busy around Phungo HQ with a myriad of activities that have kept me from posting regular columns here. Most of these distractions are good things including one hobby I have picked up in the last year - sketching.

 2011 Topps Roy Halladay NLDS No-Hitter

It may not be great, but it is mine - I had never drawn anything beyond a stick figure prior to last summer and I am pretty happy with some of the outcomes. The pictures never look like the people who I am trying to portray, however they do sort of look like people.  This particular drawing is inspired by a 2011 Topps card, click here for a better look.

I use color pencils and draw inspiration from folks like @Mosely_Mark and @Gummyarts who both put together some fun and exciting cardboard art.

This drawing commemorates one of my favorite games and I am glad to see Roy Halladay get honored by the Hall of Fame.



 

 

sources and links
Roy Halladay HOF Index
Phungo Artwork

2016 Topps first Phillies Card: #237 Carlos Ruiz

There are two Phillies on the current roster that were on the 2008 World Series Championship team Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz.

2016 Topps #237 Carlos Ruiz

The first Phillies Card we pulled from 2016T was this nice looking one of Carlos Ruiz. The emphasis on action shots has been great for catchers. In a run of pitching and batting photos the pictures of catchers often stand out - and this one is not an exception.

In fact this may end up being the best catcher card in 2016T S1. There are bigger catchers like Buster Posey but I will take this shot over any I have seen. 

Guess What Day it Is
One issue I have with the tight shots in recent Topps is it makes it hard to play “Guess the Game”. Many of the pictures give so few clues as to the location that they could be anywhere, a ballgame, a studio, or on Mars.

However, we now have access to Getty Images!

For me scouring Getty for the matching picture isn’t as much fun as identifying an opposing player in the background and cross-referencing their game dates to figure out the exact moment a photo was snapped. Regardless after a little searching we were able to find the matching image on Getty. The Photo of Ruiz was taken during a Phillies Yankees contest on June 24, 2015. It was a 10-2 Phillies loss which was typical of last years squad. Ruiz caught Cole Hamels that day and went 0-4.

The photo may have been taken in the 2nd inning of the game on an attempted sacrifice by Didi Gregorious. Unfortunately for Carlos Ruiz and the Phillies Gregorious did better than a sacrifice as he reached first on the bunt and was credited with a single. Ruiz only had one assist in the game and it was later in that 2nd inning as part of a 5-2-5-1 rundown which put out a runner from third base (who happened to be Gregorious). Judging from the angle of the shot and Ruiz’s posture, I am guessing this is not during the run down.

Those are the two possibilities I see in the Play by Play. Outside of the recorded PxP a third possibility is that Ruiz is fielding a ball that was ruled foul. 

According to Getty the Photo was shot by Jim McIsaac, a busy sports photographer who appears to specialize in Hockey and be an avid bobblehead collector.

Sources and Links
2016 Topps Index
2016 Topps Phillies
Getty Images
Baseball-ref
Instagram @FourStanleyCups (Jim McIsaac)
Zoominfo Jim McIsaac

WAR Stories: Phillies 2016

Last year I was way optimistic on my WAR Projections. This year I am scaling back the project. Instead of dedicating postings to the Phillies WAR projections, I am just going to tack a single sentence/paragraph onto existing posts and see hot that goes.

This is an Index to the Phillies 2016 WAR postings. xxxx Prior to the player name means that I haven't thought about the WAR for that player yet.

2016 Topps #237 Carlos Ruiz

We will start of the one sentence previews right here with Mr Carlos Ruiz - Projected WAR +0.5

xxxx = Jeremy Hellickson
xxxx = Aaron Nola
xxxx = Charlie Morton
xxxx = Jerad Eickhoff
xxxx = Vincent Velasquez
xxxx = David Hernandez
xxxx = Jenmar Gomez
xxxx = Luis Garcia

xxxx = Cameron Rupp
+0.5  = Carlos Ruiz

xxxx = Ryan Howard
xxxx = Cesar Hernandez
xxxx = Maikel Franco
xxxx = Freddy Galvis
xxxx = Darin Ruf
xxxx = Andres Blanco

+2.6 = Odubel Herrera
xxxx = Peter Bourjos
xxxx = Aaron Altherr
xxxx = Cody Asche
xxxx = Darnell Sweeney

+50.0 = Replacement Team

+53.1 = 2016 Phillies

Swag from Night Owl Cards

Recently I received a nice package of cards from Night Owl Cards, Here are some of the Highlights:

1972 Topps #453 Barry Lersch
1970 Topps #324 Tony Taylor

NOC was able to knock a couple of cards off my vintage checker. I don't really have a current list posted but I do have a checklist that I do take to shows. Both of these early 70s cards are in great condition and are welcome additions to the collection.

Night Owl recently his best vintage discover of 2015 was the Bat Rack photos scattered throughout 1970 Topps. The Tony Taylor card is one of four cards that NOC featured in this post - you have to scroll down pretty far to get to the relevant text, but as always the remainder of the column is pretty interesting.

2011 Topps #219 Carlos Ruiz (Cognac Parallel)

There was a team bag full of cards which consisted of many recent Phillies, however so many players have been traded recently many of those players are no longer with the club. Among the players remaining on the current roster Chooch and Ryan Howard were the biggest names.

In 2011 Topps celebrated their Diamond Anniversary (60th) and had a couple of Diamond Parallels. The Cognacs are a variation on the Diamonds, they sort of look like they took a Diamond card and dipped it in Coca Cola. 

2010 Topps #MTOG Tales of the Game Roy Halladay

This card notes a series where the Phillies at Blue Jays series was moved to Philadelphia. Roy Halladay pitched game 1 of the series. I love cards that can be tied to specific games and we may take a longer look at this one in the future.

Chase

2009 UD O-Pee-Chee #OPC-10 Chase Utley

Yes I have a Chase Utley Player Collection. I have no formal "Have/Need" list for the collection - I am guessing it is less than a hundred cards.  This UD 1975 Topps knock off is a fine addition to the collection.

2015 Topps Stadium Club #99 Chase Utley


The more I see of 2015 Stadium Club the more I am impressed. Love this shot and glad to add it to the Phungo Collection.

Sources and Links
Night Owl Cards

Baseball-ref

Christmas Greetings from Play at the Plate

For me one of the great things about having a hobby is the folks I meet that have a common interest.

And those relationships often go beyond the hobby - we make friends, banter about other topics family successes, failures, good times and bad.

Recently Brian from the Texas Rangers related blog mentioned that he was sending out Holiday Cards. Just another great way of keeping in touch - in an old school sort of way, that really has nothing to do with the Hobby, except when you include MLB Stickers

Thanks to Brian and every at PATP I hope and his family had as good a Christmas as all the folks hear at Phungo HQ. 

2015 MLB Stickers
Nice Selection of mostly recently departed Phillies except Chooch. The Lot also includes a Player PATP fans are familiar with, former Ranger Cliff Lee.

Fortunately for Phillies Team Collectors the 2015 MLB Stickers checker includes the Phanatic - He will always bea Phillie. 

Links
Chase Utley Player Collection Index

WAR Stories: Phillies 2015+ Carlos Ruiz

Pitchers and Catchers report to Clearwater today which gives us the opportunity to take a look at Carlos Ruiz in our WAR projections segment.

2013 Gypsy Queen #CP-CR Carlos Ruiz

Everybody remembers that Chooch was part of the 2008 World Series team but he isn't held in the same esteem as Rollins or Utley nor he held to the standards of a Ryan Howard or Cole Hamels.

Ruiz is universally respected for his handling of pitchers and has been fortunate enough to catch some pretty good ones - in addition to Hamels there are Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and lets not forget Pedro.

He has survived a violation of the leagues substance abuse policy, and had a pretty solid 2013.

The 2012 All-Star recently turned 36 and any offensive production are probably a bonus from a catcher.

a look at Carlos Ruiz's sim scores echoes this sentiment. The number of his top 10 that had 1.0 Career WAR remaining at age 36+ (two) matches the number of players that never caught another game. The most encouraging comp is Greg Zaun who is also the most recent (2010). During his age 36 season (2007) Zaun posted a 2.3 WAR over 110 games. He batted .242 with 10 Homers. Like Ruiz, Zaun boosted a mediocre Batting Average with a few walks and that .242 BA was part of a bit more impressive .341 OBP.

After that Zaun stuck around for 3 more campaigns never playing more than 100 games and never achieving a WAR above 1.0 again.

Phungo Verdict
I pick Chooch to match Zaun's 2007 campaign +2.3 WAR. For a summary of our 2015 Phillies projections click here.

2013 Gypsy Queen CP- Collisions at the Plate
The GQ Collision at the Plate insert consists of 10 cards. There are Seven contemporary catchers and 3 Hall of Famers: Bench, Fisk and Gary Carter.

The Carlos Ruiz card is from a game played on May 25, 2012.  The baserunner on the play was fellow catcher Yadier Molina who was out. The play happened in the bottom of the 8th inning with the scored tied 3-3.

A video of the play can be found here. It is the 2nd of the four clips. The moment of the pix on the card can be found at the :40 second mark.



Molina was attempting to score on a Matt Adams double - a run would have allowed the Cardinals to turn the game over to closer Jason Motte. The tie forced Motte into pitching 2 innings - in the 2nd of those innings Motte yielded a 2 run homer to Hunter Pence.

Molina had a strange day - he was 2-5 with an RBI however he was thrown out twice on the bases and also grounded out to end the game. 


Sources and Links
WAR Stories Phillies 2015+ Index
Baseball-ref
Cardboard Connection
MLB

2015 Topps Index

This is an Index of 2015 Topps related Postings

2015 Topps Carlos Ruiz

First Pack
Hobby vs Retail

Card #1 - Derek Jeter vs other Topps #1
Card #100 Flagship - Retail and the Koufax Kershaw Connections
2015T Phillies Checker
Rookie Cup (#318 George Springer)
Future Stars (#318 George Springer)
Variation Greg Holland
Variation Martin Prado (also a Phungo Game Collection Card)  
 
Cost of 2015 Topps (#662 Darin Ruf)
Baseball History First Pitch
Free Agent 40  (#F40-7 Andre Dawson)
Highlight of the Year

2015 Topps Hobby vs Retail

For the 2015T Hobby vs Retail we have pitted a Hanger Pack and 3 Looseys from a big box store against a Jumbo Pack and 3 Hobby Packs from a Card show. Both purchases were similar in price.

The Retail came to $16, The PA Tax and Target Red Card discount are almost a push which brings everything back to near list price. The Hobby offering was $11 for the Jumbo and $2 each for the Hobby Packs. The dealer unexpectedly charged tax on the purchase pushing the sale to $18.

Here is the scorecard:

 

Retail 
$16 - 1 Hanger & 3 Looseys

5 - Phillies (4 Base - Best = Chooch, 1 Robin Roberts insert)
84 - Unique Base Cards (23% - includes 4 Phils above)
    Best = Stanton, Puig, George Springer, Felix Hernandez
10 - Inserts (including aforementioned Roberts)
 -2 Archetypes (Aaron, Ryan)
 -2 First HR (Mattingly, Matt Carpenter
 -2 Highlight of the year (1968 Catfish, 1973 Ryan)
 -1 Jackie Robinson story
 -1 Inspired Play (Pirates Stargell-McCutchen)
 -1 Free Agent (Fisk)
 -1 Baseball History (1955 Robin Roberts)
1 - Variation (Greg Holland - Gatorade)
13 - Duplicates
102 Total Cards

Hobby
$18 - 1 Jumbo and 3 Hobby
1 - Phillies Card (Bastardo)
68 - Unique Base Card (19%)
     Best = Pence WS, Posey, Springer, Tom Koehler
9 - Inserts
 -2 Archetypes (Puig Jeter)
 -2 Highlight of the Year (1965 Marichal, 2001 Ripken JR)
 -1 Inspired (Pirates AGAIN)
 -1 Free Agent (Dawson)
 -1 Baseball History (1957 Red Schoendienst)
 -1 First Pitch (Keflezighi)
 -1 Call Your Shot (Is anybody using these)
1 - Buy Back (1978 Topps #361 Chris Knapp)
2 - Duplicates
80 Total Cards

The Verdict
Retail Wins NO CONTEST. This isn't even close. Breakdown
Phils Card - RETAIL - Wins on Number, Talent and Inserts
Base Cards -  RETAIL - Volume and Talent
Inserts - HOBBY - The first pitch puts Hobby over but barely
Hit - RETAIL - Buy back of Chris Knapp, and it is in garbage condition for a 1978 card.

There it is Retail tops Hobby in a route.

Collation
The cards came from four different sources (Hanger, Loosey, Hobby Jumbo, Hobby Pack) so there are no conclusion one can draw on collation other than that within each of those 4 segments the draw was fine.

Unfortunately there was heavy duplication across platforms. In addition to the 15 cards duplicated within each market there 18 across the two sets (plus one insert).

This means I picked up 34 duplicates from a bounty of 182 cards or 18.6%.  The number of unique base between bother purchases was 134 cards (38%). Had I been lucky enough to have no Duplicates I would have picked up 167 cards (47.6%)

Sources and Links
2015 Topps Index
Cardboard Connection

2015 Topps First Look

First 2015T purchase was at my local big box. I picked up what has been my traditional first purchase the last couple of years: Three 12 card packs for $1.99 each plus one hanger pack $9.99 (72 Cards).

I believe this is the same prices as a year ago.   

This is just a quick look at a couple of cards from the bounty.

First Card

2015 Topps Bryce Brentz

A prospect in the Red Sox organization, I am familiar with him from seeing him play at the 2013 AA All-Star game in Reading

First Phillies Card 

 

2015 Topps David Buchanan

The first Phillies card of the year was of David Buchanan who will likely be a back end of the rotation starter this season.

Almost at the same time I found the above Buchanan card, my assistant Ms Phungo found this card.

2015 Topps Carlos Ruiz 

CHOOOOOCH! The man who Buchanan will be pitching to this season. Good looking card, action preceding a play at the plate.

2015 Topps Checker Derek Jeter

There was a bit of a twitter kerfuffle over Derek Jeter being on Card #1 of 2015T. I didn't get it, he is an iconic player why not card 1. This however is not card 1 this is a checklist that falls later in the set.

2015 Topps Yamani Grandal

There is some great photography in Topps the last couple of years. I think the tattoo Grandal is sporting is a Tazmanian Devil in catchers gear. If it is, I have total respect for the man.

2015 Topps Khris Davis

I like this one for both the in action and the Pirates font on the wall distance sign

2015 Topps Jackie Bradley Jr

I love this. Corner to Corner for Jackie Bradley Jr

Inserts

Archetypes Hank Aaron Nolan Ryan

I didn't really look into the inserts, just posting some quick pix.

Jackie Robinson Story Insert

The Jackie Robinson card is from a special insert set produced for Target. It appears this replaces the red parallel cards.

First Home Run Matt Carpenter & Don Mattingly

These two cards were at the end of the Hanger pack, I think they are a regular insert. Cool idea to honor different players first homers.

2015 Topps Index
This post will act as an index for my musing on 2015 Topps
Variation: S1 #216 Greg Holland

Thats a Wrap


Sources & Links
Cardboard Connection

Swag from Nachos Grande

Picked up a bunch o cards in the lastest Nachos Grande break. Posting some of the highlights here

2014 Topps Stadium Club Auto Mario Hollands

I was the big winner in the Topps Stadium Club portion of the break. Yes it is a rookie card auto, but considering some of the other possibilities of autos in 2014 TSC this is a disappointment for the group break.

With Antonio Bastardo out of the picture, I imagine Hollands is in the mix for LH bullpen guy.

2013 Panini Triple Play Cole Hamels, Carlos Ruiz

I wasn't a fan of 2012 TP, the images were a too vague for me. I think they is a significant upgrade in the artwork for 2013.

2012 Spotsclix Figurne Randy Wolf

This is a W - Randy Wolf is a bit of a Team Phungo Favorite. He has taken a spot on the Phungo Shelf of Fame.

Munnatawket Custom Cards - 2008 A&G mini tribute

These special bonus cards are an ABSOLUTE Highlight. To me the Munnatawket Customs look better than the cards produced by Topps in 2008 - How cool is it to get an Auto from the Nachos Grande Author. We  are less than 3 weeks into 2015 and this may be the best card I get all year!

Sources and Links

Nachos Grande

Cardboard Connection

2014 Phungo #51 Carlos Ruiz

Crazy busy week hear at Phungo HQ, but I wanted to take a second to honor an accomplishment of the local nine.

2014 Phungo #51 Carlos Ruiz

The Phillies now veteran catcher took home NL player of the week honors. The Phils have hung around in April 2014. This past week the Phils put together a 6-4 West Coast trip and Chooch was a significant contributor to those Ws. Ruiz batted .500 for the week ending April 27th - He led the league in RBIs (7) and Total Bases (20) while his 11 Hits and and eight runs scored ranked 2nd.

Source
mlb

2014 First Phillies Card: Topps #182 Carlos Ruiz - and Phillies Series 1 Checklist

The first Phillies card of the year is this fine one of Carlos Ruiz

2014 Topps #182 Carlos Ruiz

Catcher make for great photography and this is a fine example. Ruiz is shown here in action firing the ball down to second base, although In action may be a stretch. For some reason this appears to be a between innings warm up toss down to second.

2014 Topps Phillies Checker
4 Cody Asche
74 John Mayberry
90 Ethan Martin
105 Ryan Howard
122 Jonathan Papelbon
180 Ben Revere
182 Carlos Ruiz
196 Cole Hamels
296 Domonic Brown
312 Jimmy Rollins

After missing out on the playoffs in consecutive seasons the Phillies can no longer be considered a perennial contender, so coming up with 11 cards in series 1 is about right.

2014 Topps has it's share of inserts and the Phillies represent a bit. One of the insert sets I was happy to see pop was the return of Super Veterans, which was a subset in 1983 Topps. The 2014 Topps version has only 15 cards in S1 but the Phillies manage to get 2 reps, Roy Halladay and Jimmy Rollins.  The checker for various 2014 Phillies Inserts listed below.

Phillies Inserts
Super Veterans (15 card checker)
SV-8 Jimmy Rollins
SV-14 Roy Halladay

Silk (100 card checker)
SC-20 Domonic Brown Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-21 Cole Hamels Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-22 Carlos Ruiz Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-23 Jimmy Rollins Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-24 Ben Revere Philadelphia Phillies®
SC-25 Ryan Howard Philadelphia Phillies®

Upper Class (50)
UC-26 Ryan Howard

Before they were Great (30)
BG-20 Mike Schmidt
BG-21 Steve Carlton

Topps Mini Die Cuts (50 subjects)
TM-16 Mike Schmidt

Power Player (110)
PP-2 Cole Hamels
PP-10 Ben Revere
PP-54 Ryan Howard
PP-65 Ethan Martin
PP-105 Carlos Ruiz

BEFORE THEY WERE GREAT AUTO (14)
BGA-MS Mike Schmidt

BEFORE THEY WERE GREAT AU-GU (10)
BGAR-MS Mike Schmidt

Various Relics
TR-MS Mike Schmidt
UCR-RH Ryan Howard
BGR-MS Mike Schmidt
TMR-MS Mike Schmidt
SVR-JR Jimmy Rollins
ITN-CL Cliff Lee
ITN-DB Domonic Brown

ManuPatch
CP-23 Chase Utley

Sources
Beckett

Bucket or Chuck-It: 2011 Topps Allen & GInter Bargain Blaster

Your results may vary but a recent Bargain Blaster was definitely a Winner for team Phungo.

So yes if you get the chance to pick up a Bargain Blaster of 2011 A&G Bucket List it:

The box went for $11.99 + Tax at a local big box store. 

Phillies

2011 Topps Allen & Ginter
#31 Jimmy Rollins
mini #249 Carlos Ruiz
#179 Shane Victorino

3 Phillies cards one of which is a Chooch Mini.  The Box is a #Winner right there.

Minis

2011 Allen & Ginter Minis
Ginter Back #113 Miguel Montero
#171 John Lackey 
#137 Black Border Carlos Beltran
Pemultimacy #PP7 Antonio Salieri
Uninvited Guests #UG8 Winchester Mystery House
Worlds Most Mysterious Figures #WMF5 DB Cooper

I think 2011 is the last year for 1/pack minis in AnG. Starting last year I think the popular minis dropped to 1:2 packs with several insert sets moving to the conventional card size.

Nice set of non-baseball minis in ths box. I think I was actually at the Winchester Mystery House when I was a younger. It is kind of creepy cool if your a kid. That was during my first visit to California, and is likely the first time I had Tacos. Salieri is the Character played by F Murray Abraham in Amadeus - 2014 will mark the 30th anniversary of the films release. Abraham is still active at age 73.   


Box Hit??

2011 Allen & Ginter Mini NNO James Shields

This card is listed as #222 for the base version.  Not sure if this is a box hit or not. According to Baseball-CardPedia there are No Numbered Minis seeded 1:190 packs, but those are supposed to be serialed to /50. This card of course as no serial so I am confused.  Any Help Gintermaniacs?


Non-Baseball Relic

2011 Allen & Ginter #AGR-JNA Jim Nantz Jacket Relic

Kind of cool picking up this relic card coinciding with the US Open coming to Merion in nearby Ardmore PA. Also Nantz put together a Father's day related book and that sort of fits the present calendar.

2011 Topps Allen & Ginter Crack the Code #104 Huston Street

Special Crack/Code card with funkcy corners that make it look like somebody wrote on them.

2011 AnG Various Inserts/Notables

I think 2011 might be the first year that AnG had the full size inserts including the Floating Fortress (Le Napoleon) , Minds that Made (Dmitri Mendeleev - Periodic Table), and Ascent of Man.

#Winner
As I noted above 3 Phils including a mini out of a blaster makes the box a W for Team Phungo.

Unlike most other folks, I am not a huge fan of AnG. I find the design theme bland, but do enjoy seeing it each year. That being said, I find 2011 Ginter a bit busy designwise.

Another oddity is I find that Ginter is insert heavy, which I do find fun, but for whatever reason that doesn't seem to annoy collectors as much as it does for other Topps releases.

OtherWords - Other reviews of 2011 Allen & Ginter
Daily Dimwit - Hobby Box
Stale Gum - Video
References
Baseball CardPedia - 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter

2013 Phungo Cards #51 Carlos Ruiz

He's Back!

2013 Phungo #51 Carlos Ruiz

The Phils welcomed back Carlos Ruiz over the weekend, and I thought that was a good opportunity to put up his Phungo card from the 2013 set.  Good Shot hear - sort of in action (its a warmup throw) on a Sunny Day in Baltimore.

Regardless of his PED issues I am glad to see Ruiz back in the fold.

Welcome back Chooch!

Rewind - Previous Phungo Cards for Ruiz 
2012 Phungo #20 Carlos Ruiz
2011 Phungo #51 Carlos Ruiz

2012 Phungo Cards #20 Carlos Ruiz and a Rant

I am so depressed about Carlos Ruiz getting the hook for violating the MLB PED policy.  2012 was a tough season all around for Philies fans. Somewhere in that darkness Carlos Ruiz emerged as a rock while the 2012 campaign was crumbling.  Now the good feelings of Ruiz's breakout season have turned into a rotten apple that induces one to want to vomit.

2012 Phungo #20 Carlos Ruiz

I am going thru the process of putting together 2013 Phungo Cards right now. Each year Ruiz is one of the first cards I make. There are several reasons for this.  He was always sort of an under the radar player. He's a catcher so he is in tons of shots. He is a little guy - love rooting for the Davids in sports.  And near as I can tell prior to today, I always thought of him as a pretty decent guy.

The Pix on this Phungo card was taken during a Phils 9-3 victory over the Giants in August of 2010.  #Chooch had a double 2 RBIs and a pair of run scored.  He caught one of the first games pitched by Roy Oswalt as a Phillies Pitcher.  Two months later the same Phillies team would lose to the same Giants team in the NLCS.  For more info on the game on 8/17/2010 click here. 

Rant

First and foremost Carlos Ruiz is the one responsible for his misuse of whatever he was taking, but I want to blame everyone else.

Charlie Manuel - To be honest Charlie's record speaks for itself - He is a good manager with a World Series and NLCS crown under his belt.  My #1 Beef w/ Charlie is a lot different then other folks.  I firmly believe that Manuel sticks with his vets way too much.  Carlos Ruiz is not a big man and he is playing the most grueling position on the diamond.  He has had increasing games every season from 2009-2011.  This would have continued in 2012.  Manuel rarely takes the opportunity to use his stars in the DH role whenever the opportunity is presented in interleague play.  I realize there are issues with DHing a Catcher but it can be done.  Ruiz needs more days off.  Manuel need to honor this.

Ruben Amaro Jr - Amaro is responsible for putting together the roster. I honestly don't really believe in blowing a lot of money on your 2 catcher, but Brian Schneider hit so poorly that it put Manuel in the position where he had to start Carlos Ruiz everyday.

Chase Utley - At the beginning of 2012 the Phils were really short on offense with both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard being out of the lineup.  I am not sure where the communication broke down but Utley seemed to think he would be ready for the 2012 season - he was not. 

Carlos Ruiz was stuck with carrying the offense early in the 2012 season and did a remarkable job. Now we find out that he was taking Aderall. 

Post Mortem 2012

I have likely that bottled up since it became clear the Phillies season was going south way back June, feels good to put pen to paper.  cmon spring training.

 

#VoteChooch - 2008 Topps All-Star Rookies #AR73 Carlos Ruiz

I am sure that it will be talked about more then it needs to be but Carlos Ruiz is scheduled to catch R A Dickey in tonights All-Star Ggame.  Chooch is a professional and if he can handle the Phillies erratic relievers I think he can do a servicable job with RA Dickey's Knuckler.

2008 Topps All-Star Rookies #AR73 Carlos Ruiz 

I love this card - These were inserts with 2008 Topps.  This was a year before the 2009 Heritage set came out which homaged the 1960 Topps set.  

It is a card of a player who isn't known around the league as well, but is loved by his fans in Philadelphia. The card honors the start of his career as he was named to theTopps Rookie All-Star Squad.  Tonight he becomes a full fledged All-Star as he reps the Phillies and the NL in Kansas City.  Go get um Chooch

1960 Topps B-Sides
 

2008 Topps All-Star Rookies #AR73 Carlos Ruiz (b-Side)  

Just wanted to show the flip side of this card - in the 1960 set in the bottom left they list a bunch of season highlights.  This is something I would like to see Topps bring back for the base set.  I would not want to see it every year, but it really hasn't been done (other than in 09 heritage) since then.

2011 Phungo Cards Carlos Ruiz - #VoteChooch

2012 Phungo #51 Carlos Ruiz

I don't know how often the update the All-Star Voting, but last week when I was at a Phillies game Carlos Ruiz was in 3rd place among catchers.

Source

Phillies Scoreboard w/ All-Star Voting for Catchers 2012 06 19

FWIW I really didn't have the right to bitch to much last week since I had not yet voted.  I don't take the All-Star game voting too seriously.  For me it used to be more fun when you had to do it at the ballpark - now that I can do it anytime it seems less urgent.  Sort of like how I blow off TV shows that are ON-Demand, then I never come back to watch them. modern problems. 

As I said I don't take it too seriously, but over the weekend I did go on and #VoteChooch.  Of course the rest of my ballot was a farce - Chase Utely hasn't set a foot (or bad knee) on the field and I voted for him.  A lot of times I just vote for guys from my area, but I had trouble finding one - Chris Heisey wasn't on the ballot.  I voted for Marlon Byrd (NL OF) just because I am pretty sure he was last spotted playing for an AL team (BoSox).  Chris Davis got a vote just for earning a Pitchiing Win in a game despite the fact that he is a position player.  They are like jokes only for myself. 

#VoteChooch

There are hashtags on Twitter to reference specific people, subjects, events etc.  One of the ones that has emerged is #VoteChooch to remind folks to Vote for Carlos Ruiz in the All-Star Balloting.  I am farily sure this is the first time that I have referenced a #hasntag here, and I got off my butt and voted - so  Twitter you have finally made a difference.

Snapshots 2012 06 10 - Phillies 4 @ Orioles 5

Team Phungo took a road trip to see the Phillies play at Camden Yards on Sunday.  Unfortunatley the good guys lost 5-4 in extra innings on a hot afternoon.

 

 

We got to see up close what we have been seeing out of the Phils much of the year.  Trouble hitting with men on base, letting  a struggling pitcher of the hook.  The loss guaranteed it will be mid-june at the earliest before Cliff Lee records a Victory. 

 

It was another series loss for the Phils, Their shortcomings as a team are showing up daily at this point.  Total lack of relief pitching to get to Papelbon, no power hitting, poor clutch hitting, and good 2nd tier players, however they clearly aren't the type of guys that should be starting 120 games for a championship caliber team.

 

Snapshots (click on any pix to enlarge) 

 

Carlos Ruiz Matt Weiters

Not a great shot, with both palyers turned away, but graphically I think the above photo shows the difference between the Phillies and the Orioles.  Both players play the same position, but Weiters looks like an absolute giant compared to Chooch. 

Weiters was the hero of the day for the O's picking up the game winning RBI double in the 10th. 

Steven Tolleson 
The Orioles other O's hitting hero - Tolleson had a 3 run game tying home Run in the 4th inning. 

Hunter Pence

I am no batting expert, but it certainly appears to me that there is a lot going on in that swing.  No surprise that Pence may experience some peaks and slumps at the plate.

Adam Jones 
Jones had a walk off Homer for the Orioles on Sunday.  Fine action shot here.   

Charlie Manuel and Jim Thome

 

Back together again.

 

Not a great day or weekend for the Phillies, but Camden Yards is always an enjoyable trip for team Phungo.  The O's are hosting the cross state Pirates this week - debating hitting one of those games.