Cup of Coffee: John Kennedy

Today our #CupOfCoffee Series features the Phillies first African-American player, John Kennedy, who debuted for the squad on April 22 1957.

Sketch of a 1957 Topps John Kennedy card on a disposable coffee cup

John Kennedy played five games for the 1957 Phillies. Since his Major League career was brief Topps never issued a card of Kennedy. 

We went with the 1957 Topps design which is minimalist - basically I just featured the player name across the bottom. I have chosen to omit the Phillies team name since they chose to ignore black players longer than any other NL team. I attempted to show John Kennedy glancing forward to the future. The hexagon background is a recurring theme in my work which I use to symbolize barriers that need broken. Kennedy's Barrier Breaking season is also noted by the broken coffee cup at the center top - with a coffee cup breaking in a lightning bolt pattern - the year 1957 written on the cup. 

The borders and text of the card are Orange & Green, the colors used on David Hammons African-American flag. 

Integration Pioneers

SABR has this page where you can find John Kennedy and the other Integration Pioneers with links to their biographies. There are a handful of other CupOfCoffee candidates here, hopefully we will get to makes cups for them in the future. 

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

John Kennedy SABR Bio - Michael Marsh

Baseball-reference

Cup of Coffee: Ralph Gagliano

Ralph Gagliano was the middle of three baseball playing brothers. The eldest, Phil, had a twelve year career which included a World Series Championship with the 1967 St Louis Cardinals. Younger Brother Paul went to Vanderbilt on a baseball scholarship and played for the Italian National team in several international competitions including the 1984 Olympics.   

At age 18 Ralph appeared in a single Major League game as a Pinch Runner for the 1965 Cleveland Indians. He entered the game with one out in the 9th inning and Cleveland trailing the Yankees by 5 runs. Unfortunately the ensuing batter, Richie Scheinblum, grounded into a force out at second and Ralph Gagliano's MLB career was over. A batter later New York recorded the final out and defeated Cleveland 9-4. 

Gagliano was sent to A ball in 1966, he had a mediocre season but that was not the biggest factor in ending his baseball Career. In August Gagliano received his Army draft notice. Ralph served three years in Germany rising to the rank of Lieutenant. 

Following his Service commitment Gagliano returned to the Indians organization for two seasons, but by then his baseball skills had eroded. 

Ralph Gagliano was out of pro ball at the age of 24.  

1965 Topps LT Ralph Gagliano on a disposable coffee cup

Ralph Gagliano is half of a 1965T High Number dual rookie card. The other subject of the diptych features fellow #CupOfCoffee alum Jim Rittwage whom we will cover at a later date. 

Below you can see the original card. A couple of minor modifications were made: 1) Added the Lieutenant title in front of Ralph Gagliano's name. 2) The team pennant was changed to the city name of Cleveland 3) Finally below the card we have the card we have the date of Gagliano's game 1965 September 21. 

The Original

1965 Topps #501 Ralph Gagliano & Jim Rittwage (image swiped from PSA)

The image of Ralph Gagliano is notable for having a completely white cap - likely an airbrush job to cover up a Minor League cap, possibly that of the 1964 Dubuque Packers. We made sure to keep the blank. 

Sources and Links

CupOfCoffee Index

Cleveland CupOfCoffee Index (cups inspired by SABR 54)

Once Around the Bases: Richard Tellis

Royals Review

Jim Rittwage Cup of Coffee

Phil Gagliano SABR Bio: Bill Nowlin 

Phil Gagliano BR bullpen

baseball-reference

PSA

Cup of Coffee: Cy Twombly

Next up in our Cup of Coffee Series is Pitcher and Longtime collegiate Athletic Director Cy Twombly. If the name sounds familiar for someone who pitched less than 30 career innings over a century ago it's likely because Cy Twombly is the father to the renowned pop artist of the same name. 

Sketch of Cy Twombly (the Elder) on a Disposable Coffee Cup 

This drawing echoes 1920s era tobacco cards. The dates of Twombly's first and last games June 25th and August 17th 1921 are written at the cups bottom. 

Four pictographs were added to note different facets of Twombly the elder’s post-baseball career. Clockwise from top right: Interlocking Washington & Lee university logo which is where Cy spent over 5 decades in various roles; The lower two icons are for Golf and Swimming, the two programs where W&L saw the most success while Twombly was Athletic Director at the University. The Natatorium is now named for Twombly. Finally top right we have a paintbrush as a nod to Cy Twombly the younger. 

The "card" on the cup is backed by a large crayon swirl which echoes the artwork of the younger Cy Twombly   

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

Gagosian - Cy Twombly (the younger)

Baseball-Reference

SABR Bio - Aidan Jackson-Evans

GeneralsSports - Washington & Lee University Sports

Ted Turner (1938-2026)

We learned of the passing of Ted Turner today. In terms of Baseball most of us know of Ted Turner the owner, but he was also a MLB manager... for ONE DAY. And that qualifies him for the Cup of Coffee Club. 

Sketch of Ted Turner on a Disposable Coffee Cup a la 1977 Topps

For the Ted Turner Cup of Coffee we used 1977 Topps for the design. This is the year of Turner's only game as manager - The Braves lost 2-1. 

In the background we see the logos for two of Turner's media outlets channel 17 which broadcast Braves games across the country via cable and his 24 hour news service CNN

The Ted Turner profile drawing is based upon a screen print done by Andy Warhol.

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

Phillips Auctions (Andy Warhol Painting of Turner) 

baseball-reference

Cup of Coffee: Bill Greason

This is part of our Original Artwork series dedicated to players who had a #CupOfCoffee in the Major Leagues.  

Sketch of Bill Greason on a Disposable Coffee Cup a la 1954 Topps

• In addition to Major Negro League experience Bill Greason played 3 games for the St Louis Cardinals in the 1954 National League.
• Prior to his baseball career Bill Greason served as a Marine during WWII, he was among the soldiers that landed at Iwo Jima.
• He became a Baptist Minister and was a parishioner at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church that was bombed on 1963 September 15 killing four young girls. Greason was not present the day of the bombing because he was in Tuscaloosa as part of an effort to get young people involved in Organized Baseball.
• Born in 1924 Greason is MLBs oldest living alumnus. 
• 1954 Topps is used here as this is the year Bill Greason played in the American League. The 1954 set typically contains a black & white action shot, here we see Greason wearing his Clerical Robe. 
• The USMC logo is present top Left where we would typically see a team Logo. 

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

SABR Bio - Frederick C Bush

Baseball-Reference

Baseball Almanac

Cup of Coffee: Moonlight Graham

 

Moonlight Graham

• Moonlight Graham is the epitome of Cup of Coffee Players. His brief baseball career consisted of two innings only in the field, he never got the opportunity to bat.
• However those 2 innings were celebrated in fiction and on screen though the WP Kinsella novel "Shoeless Joe" and the film adaptation "Field of Dreams"
• The canvas for this Cup is the 1908-09 Rose Company Postcards (PC760). A set that Archie "Moonlight" Graham appeared in as a minor leaguer
• The Caduceus symbol is present to represent Graham's career as a Physician.
• Moon appears top right for Moonlight
• A. Graham for Archibald
• Figure in the bottom left is to show that Graham only played in the field.

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

Cup of Coffee: Ginger Clark

Ginger Clark is sort of the Shohei Ohtani of #CupOfCoffee players. Clark pitched in one game, a Cleveland Bronchos 17-11 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Not only did Clark win the game but he also picked up a pair of hits and scored two runs.  It was the only game Ginger Clark ever played, while it may not have been his choice but Clark retired with an undefeated record as a pitcher and a .500 Batting Average as a batter.   

Sketch of Ginger Clark on a Disposable Coffee Cup

T205 is not exactly the right time frame for Ginger Clark but it is close enough and I love the colorful design. The bats and ball are basic to T205, here they do double duty with the bats representing Clark's two hits and the ball his sole win. At the bottom of the cup we have the date of the game 1902 August 11.  

Extra Innings

According to his SABR Bio Ginger Clark kicked around the minor leagues until 1911 after which he went into business as a paint contractor, the same business as his father. I have added some detail photos here to show some of the tools of trade including this paint brush on the left of the card

and a paint roller on the right

Cleveland/SABR 54 CupOfCoffee Index

This post will also serve as an index to our columns on Cleveland Related CupOfCoffee players. Some of these were inspired but SABR54 which was hosted in Cleveland

Ginger Clark: above
Ralph Gagliano: Played one game prior to being drafted into the Army

Elmer Gedeon: Killied in WWII
Willie Mueller: Appeared in the film "Major League"
Jim Rittwage: Pitched a shutout in first Major League start.

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

SABR54 Cleveland Cup of Coffee Sub-Index

SABR Bio - Chris Rainey
Baseball-Reference

Harry O'Neill (1917-1945)

This Memorial Day Weekend we honor one of the two MLB players killed during WWII, Harry O'Neill. The other was Washington Senator Elmer Gedeon.

O'Nelll's baseball career lasted one game, on July 23  1939 he came in as a defense replacement at catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics. The A's were down 15-3 when O'Neill entered the game, the deficit would expand by an additional run during his single inning of Major League play. 

O'Neill never batted in that game and his MLB career was over. 

In September 1942 O'Neill enlisted in the US Marine Corps. On March 6 1945 Harry O'Neill was killed in Action as a 1st Lieutenant at the Battle of Iwo Jima. He is one of an estimated 7,184 USMC deaths that occurred during the 36 day Battle.

The brief baseball career of Harry O'Neill does not appear to have yielded any cards during his playing days. 

As part of our #CupOfCoffee project honoring players with Short MLB Careers we created a cup for Harry O'Neill

Phungo Original: 1953 Topps Marines Harry O'Neill (2021)

We based our illustration off of one of the few photos we could find of Harry O'Neill. I turned around O'Neill's ball cap so that we can see the A's logo and added color to the B&W image. The stars and blue field are used as a background to give us a flag motif. 

On the nameplate we also added the shortened version of the Marine Corp Motto Semper Fidelis which is Latin for Always Faithful. 

Finally above and below the borders we have added #CupOfCoffee designation and the date of O'Neill's game 1939 July 23. 

The design is borrowed from the minimalist 1953 Topps Fighting Marines Set which features simple thin line frames of red and blue borders. For more on the 1953T Marines issues check out Cardboard Connection. 

1953 Topps #43 Iwo Jima! (tcdb)

To find out more about Harry O'Neill please read his SABR biography which can be found here. 

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

Harry O'Neill SABR Bio by BIll Nowlin, Gary Bedingfield and Frank Fitzpatrick

Pritzker Military Museum & Library

Marines.com

Cardboard Connection

On This Day in Sports

Cup of Coffee: 2007 Topps Jeremy Brown

Welcome to Cup of Coffee Series 3. Our first player is somebody who's story you may know even if you don't recall him. 

2007 Topps Jeremy Brown Cup of Coffee

Jeremy Brown is the fat catcher from the book/film "Moneyball". Billy Beane made Brown the 35th overall pick of the 2002 draft. Brown played six games for the 2006 Oakland A's logging 3 hits in 10 ABs. despite the solid .300 Batting Average Jeremy Brown never returned to the majors, he retired following the 2007 season. 

Moneyball

Jeremy Brown was a major character in the book Moneyball - Author Michael Lewis dedicated an entire chapter to Brown. 

However Brown barely made it into the movie, present as a moment of comic relief towards the end of the film. 

The film "Moneyball" was released a decade ago today, September 9 2011. By then the books was 8 years old and the successful players were mid-career - while others like Jeremy Brown were finished. 

Some things haven't changed: BIlly Beane is still in Oakland (as club president) and Tony LaRussa is still managing - in Chicago. 

Canvas

2007 Topps is one of the very few card of Jeremy Brown. My biggest addition to the card is a baseball that echoes the cover of the "Moneyball" book. We went with a lavender border color rather than black just to brighten things up a bit. The image is a bit tighter than on the actual card. 

Sources and Links

Cup of Coffee Index

Momeyball Index

baseball-ref

imdb

Cup of Coffee: 1951 Eddie Gaedel

This past March when we introduced our Java feature on Twitter. One of the first comments was from @HeavyJ28 who mentioned a very notable Cup of Coffee player, Eddie Gaedel.

Five months and 17 cups later we grant HeavyJ His Wish.

1951 Topps Eddie Gaedel

Today marks the 70^th Anniversary of the Eddie Gaedel game. 

On August 19^th 1951 Gaedel pinch hit for Frank Saucier in the bottom half of the first inning of a St Louis Browns Game versus the Detroit Tigers. The 3’7” Gaedel walked and then was removed for pinch runner Jim Delsing. The strategy did not help the Browns who lost 6-2.

His SABR Biography is worth a read, sometimes inspiring but mostly tragic (https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gaedeed01.shtml)

Canvas:

1951 Topps, the same year as the game. The image is based off of the AP Photo most baseball fans should find familiar. 

Eddie Gaedel 

For the game portion of the card we chose "WALK", in the top right we have Gaedel's uniform number 1/8, and across the bottom we have the date of the Game. 

Sources & Links

Cup of Coffee Index

baseball-ref 

LA Times

SABR BIo

Cup of Coffee: 1963 Topps John Paciorek

The column has been quiet because I have been spending my free time with a sketchbook. 

This does not mean I have given up on baseball or card collecting, most of the sketches are of baseball cards. 

One of the projects that I have been working on is a series of "Cup of Coffee" players drawn on, yes, Coffee Cups. 

The first subject of the Series was John Paciorek who at the age of 18 had a perfect batting day during a Houston Colts 13-4 victory over the New York Mets.  Paciorek started in Right Field went 3-3 with a pair of walks and scoring four times. 

 

                Phungo Original: 1963T John Paciorek

That game was played on September 29 1963, John Paciorek would not play another Major League Game. 

He already had a bad back that would only get worse the following spring. He eventually had spinal fusion surgery which helped his back but hurt is game. In 1968 he retired from professional baseball. 

John Paciorek was never issued a baseball card during his career however he was immortalized in a comic:

1980 Topps #481 Tom Paciorek (b-side)

John's brother Tom also made it to the majors, he was fortunate enough to have an 18 year career. The comic on the back of Tom's 1980 Topps card features a nod to John's game with the 1963 Colts.  

Canvas

Since John did not have a baseball card, i needed to create one for the cup. Going with 1963 Topps was an obvious design choice, for the cards image I used a photo that was on the cover of John's biography. 

That's right, there is a biography of John Paciorek, a Cup of Coffee player who appeared in a single major league game. 

Perfect - Steven K Wagner

Beyond that I wanted to add the phrase "Cup of Coffee" to each Cup and the date of the players game. For John Paciorek I put the date on the lid. 

To date we have put together 16 Cups featuring 18 subjects which I have been releasing periodically on Twitter. I hope to also post the cups here to create a more permanent record of the players and their accomplishments. 

If you have an idea for a Cup of Coffee player, please let us know and we will put them on the roster. Thanks Team Phungo.  

Sources & Links

Cup of Coffee Index

Basenall-ref

MLB

Kronozio

Goodreads

#CupOfCoffee Index

 This is an Index of our #CupOfCoffee Postings

Phungo Original: 1908-09 Rose Company Postcards (PC760) Archibald "Moonlight" Graham

Archie "Moonlight" Graham: the epitome of Cup of Coffee Players.(1908-09 Rose Company Postcards - PC760)

Jeremy Brown: Catching prospect from "Moneyball" (2007 Topps)
Ginger Clark: - Pitcher for one game and went 2-4 scoring 2 runs at the plate  (T205)
Eleanor Engle: Signed a contract to play for the 1952 Harrisburg Senators (1953 Topps)
Eddie Gaedel: 3' 7" pinch hitter for the St Louis Browns (1951 Topps)  

Ralph Gagliano: Pinch Ran once prior to being drafted into the Army (1965 Topps Rookie Stars)
Elmer Gedeon: Killed in Action World War II (1953 Topps Fighting Marines) 
Bill Greason: Negro League Player that served at Iwo Jima (1954 Topps)

John Kennedy: Integrated the Phillies (1957 Topps)
Harry O'Neill: Killed in Action World War II (1953 Topps Fighting Marines) 
John Paciorek: Perfect Hitting Day in only Major League Game (1963 Topps) 

Sidd Finch: Fictional Character from 1985 Sports Illustrated (1985 Topps)
Ted Turner: Owner of the Atlanta Braves who Managed One Game (1977 Topps)
Cy Twombly: Athletic Director Washington & Lee University, father of pop artist Cy Twombly (1920s Tobacco) 

Other #CupOfCoffee that have been created but not yet documented

Joe Cleary
Erskine Thomason 
Doc Daugherty
Larry Colton
Dick Thoeren
John Carden
Lino Urdaneta
Sam Hairston
Johnny Hairston
Rafael Quiricos
Lariel Gonzalez
Al Lamacchia
Tom Chism

Jim Rittwage

Cleveland(SABR54) Index

Phungo Artwork Index

Books & Other CupOfCoffee resources

Once Around the Bases (1998) - Richard Tellis 

Cup of Coffee (2003) - Rob Trucks

Bitter Cup of Coffee (2019) - Douglas J Gladstone

Baseball's Untold History The People (2015) - Michael Lynch 

One Shining Season (1991) - Michael W Fedo

Our Game (column)- John Thorn

Cup of Coffee Index

This is an Index to our Cup of Coffee postings

Series 1:

Tom Paciorek

Archie "Moonlight" Graham

Joe Cleary

Sidd Finch

Erskine Thomason

Doc Daugherty

Larry Colton

Dick Thoeren

John Carden

Harry O'Neill

Series 2:

Lino Urdaneta

Sam Hairston

Johnny Hairston

Rafael Quiricos

Lariel Gonzalez

Al Lamacchia

Bill Greason

Tom Chism

?????

?????

Series 3:

????

2014 Topps #498 Steve Susdorf

Things have been crazy busy here at Phungo HQ, some good Vacations & travel, some uhh more menial obligations and work ugh.

Somewhere in the last couple of weeks we were able to pick up some 2014 Topps Series 2 cards.

2014 Topps #498 Steve Susdorf

I picked up a hanger box and a single pack. Time permitting we will present some of them here - no major hits, but some fun ones and a couple of Phillies were in the lot.

Steve Susdorf is my odd selection for the first Phils cards from S2 to present here. Susdorf has been in the Phillies system forever. A collegiate player drafted in 2008 he finally made his major league debut last year at the age of 27. He only got into 3 games and unfortunately for him, in his only major league start he dropped and easy fly ball. I am not sure if Susdorf's fielding is that bad,  but if it isn't I hope that single error doesn't prohibit his major league return.

The Phillies season is looking like a loss and they will likely be sellers a month from now. That may open a spot for Susdorf to get onto the team for the last couple of months of the season. While he doesn't really have corner outfielder power, he is career .300 batter in the minors with a respectable .283 average at AAA in 2014.

Despite not being a really notable player, I do like this card. I like the Susdorf is shown in the Phillies road uni. He only played in three games and all 3 of those games were on the road.  Also Now that the RC logo has been around a while, it is kind of nice to see on these cards of players with limited debuts. This may just be hathead but the RC logo is an interesting counterpoint to what appears to be a bit of a receding hairline for the not so young Mr Susdorf.  Regardless the man is in a Major League game and he is smiling.

Ok, that is probably as much as anyone will ever write about a Steve Susdorf baseball card.

Sources 
Baseball-ref

   

Viral Snowplow Video has Phillies connection - Hilly Flitcraft

This week the video below featuring a reporter from our local Fox affiliate went viral

Fox 29 Reporter Steve Keeley vs the snowplow

The video has gotten around a good bit has been featured on all the nighttime talk shows Fallon, Kimmell, Letterman's top ten list, and The Daily Show's moment of Zen.

Most outlets had an abbreviated version of the video, this clip shows the beginning of the reportt where Steve Keeley mentions that he is in Woodstown New Jersey, a small town across the river from Wilmington Delaware. Then he goes on to mention that one of the town's notable natives was Hilly Flitcraft who played three games for the 1942 Philadelphia Philllies.

Who was Hilly Filtcraft?
Sounds like a good time to do some research on Mr Flitcraft. The 1942 Phillies struggled mightily, and due to the WWII military draft they also had a depleted roster. This did give Hildreth Milton Flitcraft his opportunity. "Hilly" was only 19 at the time and was the youngest player in the NL. Unfortunately for him, his inexperienced showed, Flitcraft got into 3 games pitched 3 1/3 innings. It was the 1/3 of an inning that got him. In an outing on September 6th he faced five batters 4 reached base - Flitcraft was charged with 3 runs 2 earned.

Hilly returned to Phillies spring training in 1943 (which was held in Hershey PA) but it appears that he was called into the service prior to the season. Flitcraft returned to baseball, but never made it out of the minor leagues. One of his minor league stops was with the 1945  Wilmington Blue Rocks who were at the time affiliated with the Phillies. Following his career Hilly Flitcraft was involved in the Insurance business locally and later moved to Boulder Colorado, where he lived until passing away in 2003 at the age of 79.

Fun Fact
Hilly Flitcraft only played in 3 games with the Phillies but wore 2 different uniform numbers,  16 and 8.

Sources
Baseball-ref
Larry Shenk - PennLive.com
Historic WoodstownGoogle Maps
Janice Flitcraft Obituary - Daily Camera (Boulder CO)