Canada Day - TASR: 1970 OPC #238 Jose Laboy

Happy Canada Day folks. To honor the occasion we are featuring the first All-Star Rookie Cup awarded to the Montreal Expos. 

1970 OPC #238 Jose Laboy (image stolen from tcdb)

Jose "Coco" Laboy had a shared Rookie card in 1969, The 1970 shown here is his first solo. I have always wanted to cover this card - There is just something cool about bat rack cards.  This one is particularly interesting as Laboy is in motion, he is picking out a bat trying to find the one that with a Hit in it no doubt.  None of the bats have numbered knobs, but we can clearly see Laboy's #39 on his jersey. 

In addition to Rookie Cup honors Laboy was also named the Sporting News NL Rookie Player of the Year. This is a different award than the more widely recognized BBWAA ROY which went to the Dodgers Ted Sizemore. The BBWAA vote was not even that close. Sizemore tallied 14 of the 24 votes, while Laboy garned only 3. This is despite the fact that Laboy, a third baseman hit 18 HR and a rookie leading 83 RBI while second baseman Sizemore's hit a more pedestrian 4 HR and 46 RBI. Ted Sizemore did lead rookies with a 4.2 WAR - of course this was unknown to 1969 era scribes, but apparently he passed the eye test. 

1970+

Coco Laboy played four additional seasons in the majors but never matched the success of his Rookie campaign. He retired as a career Expo with 420 games played 28 home runs and a -0.9 WAR. 

His decline may have been due to his advanced age for a MLB rookie, he was well past his 28th birthday. Laboy's Minor League career was spent in the Giants and Cardinals organization where he racked up 138 Home Runs and a career .294 average in well over a 1000 games. Despite these impressive numbers he never got a Major League opportunity until...

 

Bat Rack Connection

1970 OPC #324 Tony Taylor (tcdb)

In 1969 Coco Laboy was selected in the expansion draft by the Montreal Expos. Manager Gene Mauch picked Laboy largely due to the recommendation of Puerto Rican League teammate Tony Taylor (who played for Mauch with the Phillies) 

In a trading card coincidence Tony Taylor is also a member of the 1970 Topps/OPC bat rack club. 

Flip

Noticed since this is a Canada column we are using an OPC card - or course since it's 1970 we won't see much difference from Topps until we flip the card over. 

1970 OPC #238 Jose Laboy (flip/tcdb)

Checking the text of the card we quickly spot the French language translations that are present on OPC. We also see Coco's long minor League career which dates back to the 1950s including a couple of 20 Home Run seasons. 

Comic: Unfortunately we were unable to find any record of Laboy pitching for Springfield in Baseball-Ref.

Topps

1970 Topps #238 Jose Laboy (flip/tcdb)

Here is the standard Topps card. Beyond the language difference we can also see that the text on Topps is completely contained in the blue box, while OPC put this below the demographics section. 

Peanut Gallery

For more on this card check Jim's column over at 1970 Topps Baseball. 

Sources and Links

1970 TASR Index

Coco Laboy SABR Bio (Brian Joseph)

retrosimba (Mark Tomasik)

1970 Topps Baseball

tcdb

baseball-ref

1991 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Index (1990 Award 1991 Card)

This is an Index to our postings related to the 1990 Topps Rookie All-Star Team. The award is for the 1990 season with the cards issued in the 1991 Topps set.

 1991 Topps #339 Larry Walker



C #165 Sandy Alomar Jr.

1B #642 Hal Morris
2B #432 Delino DeShields
3B #461 Robin Ventura
SS #756 Jeff Huson

OF #329 David Justice
OF #368 Felix Jose
OF #339 Larry Walker

RHP #454 Kevin Appier
LHP #299 Scott Radinsky



Source and Links  
Topps All-Star Rookie Card Master Index
trading card db FASportsCards

Gary Carter HOF Index

This is an index to our postings related to Hall of Fame Catcher Gary Carter.

1976 Topps #441 Gary Carter

1976 Topps #441 (SABR BB Cards)

ANNIVERSARY - 1979 July 10: Del Unser 3 consecutive Pinch Hit HRs (1980 Topps #6)

Wednesday July 10 marks 40th anniversary of a Pinch Hitter getting into the MLB record book

1980 Topps #6 Highlights Del Unser

That pinch hitter was the Phillies Del Unser who tied a mark first established a year prior by the Dodgers Lee Lacy.

Unser's streak commenced on June 30th. In the 9th inning of game versus the Cardinals at Busch stadium the Phillies were down 4-2 with 2 out in the 9th inning. Phillies Center Fielder Garry Maddox was on base when Unser was sent to the plate to bat for Manny Trillo. Unser homered off of reliever George Frazier to tie the game which the Phillies won 6-4 in extras.

The 2nd Home Run came in a 3-2 loss to the Mets. Unser hit a solo home run in the 7th inning while batting for Larry Bowa in what was basically a convoluted double change. The victim was starting pitcher Craig Swan.

Del Unser finished his Home Run trifecta facing Padres future Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers. The Phillies went into the 9th inning down 5-1, four batters later the Phillies had pulled to 5-3 on a 2 Run single by Bob Boone.

A hit and an out later Del Unser found himself once again pinch hitting for Larry Bowa. This time out he hit a Walk Off Home Run to give the Phillies a 6-5 victory. 

The streak ended 2 days later when Unser was Intentionally Walked by Fingers. The first time Unser was retired following the streak was July 23, Also by Rollie (strikeout).

1980 Topps Hilights
Hilights opens the 1980 set occupying the first six cards. The subset includes three Hall of Famers across two cards: Lou Brock & Carl Yastrzemski share card #1, While Willie McCovey resides at #2. In addition to Del Unser the Phillies are also represented in the subber by Pete Rose at #4.
 

Dennis Rasmussen?

1987 Topps #555 Dennis Rasmussen

What the heck is Dennis Rasmussen doing in the middle of a Del Unser column??, well lets turn over this card and see.

1987 Topps #555 Dennis Rasmussen (b-side)

Ok we are going to bypass that this card discusses Hall of Famer Larry Bird and move down to the On This Date section. Check it out we have today's hero Del Unser! and it mentions his 1979 Pinch Hit Home Run heroics too!

Finally Topps honors their history by mentioning Unser's 1979T card, lets have a look.

1979 Topps #628 Del Unser

Unfortunately Unser is repping a different team, however it always feels good to post and Expos card. Lets flip this one over and see if we have anymore fun items.

1979 Topps #628 Del Unser (b-side)

Well Check it out, we have another This day in History. This time it goes back to May 8 1968. On that date Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter tossed a Perfect game for the Oakland A's as they defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-0. 

And just because I am chaining together cards today, I am going to add one final card.

1969 Topps #235 Jim "Catfish" Hunter

The first card issued of Catfish following his Perfect Game was in 1969 Topps. This is back when Topps was putting -Toons on the back of cards, surely the Catfish comic would be dedicated to his big Game...

1969 Topps #235 Jim "Catfish" Hunter (b-side)

or.....maybe not

The game mentioned in the cartoon was a 15 inning affair won by the National League 2-1. In Hunter's defense he pitched FIVE innings that day, the difference was a Home Run by Tony Perez.

Topps does mention the Perfecto in the text. It also mentions that Hunter's game earned him a $5000 raise, that is a $36,000 raise in 2018 dollars. 

Game Dated Cards
Ok that is enough card chaining, At some point I will be adding each of these cards to the Phungo Game Dated Cards Index. 

1980 Phillies
Next Year will mark the 40th anniversary of the Phillies first World Championship, I hope to feature that team throughout 2020. Since I am not writing as many columns these days I am getting an early start on the feature and will open my Anniversary series a full six months in advance.

Sources and Links
1980 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies
1980 Topps Hilights
No-Hitter Index
Catfish Hunter index
Larry Bird Index
baseball-ref
Baseball Card Database

Welcon to the Hall of Fame Vladimir Guerrero: 2001 Topps Gallery Heritage #GH10

Today's HOF Recognition posts goes to Vlad Guerrero. He is going in as an Angel but I will think of him more as an Expo. For this reason our Vlad HOF posting features the following Expos card.

2001 Topps Gallery Heritage #GH10 Vladimir Guerrero (image swiped from trading card db)

Topps Gallery returned this past fall and I found the cards pretty meh. For me the apex of  Topps Gallery is the 1965T Homage insert that was produced in 2002. Guerrero is the last of the 10 offerings in the set.

Bill Purdom
The artist responsible for the Guerrero portrait above is the late Bill Purdom who appears to have done the artwork for all ten cards in the set. The paintings are all well done and in my opinion superior to anything I have seen in the latest edition of Gallery.

Purdom has done a number of really cool pieces for various baseball entities including the Hall of Fame. His Phillies related subjects include Robin Roberts and Mike Schmidt during the teams 1976 season when the club hosted the All-Star Game

Mike Schmidt Lithograph by Bill Purdom

During the 1976 season the Phillies celebrated the Bicentennial, among the teams various decorations to honor the occasion is the Happy Birthday sign in Left-Centerfield.

1965 Topps
In addition to the original artwork I like how Topps has brought forward the classic 1965 Design. The colors on the card are really sharp and really pop off the cardboard.

Flip

2001 Topps Gallery Heritage #GH10 Vladimir Guerrero (b-side - image swiped from trading card db)

The design carries through to the back. The blue is significantly brighter than on the originals but that doesn't bother me. 

2001 Topps Gallery Heritage Checklist
GH1 Todd Helton
GH2 Greg Maddux
GH3 Pedro Martinez
GH4 Orlando Cepeda
GH5 Willie McCovey
GH6 Ken Griffey, Jr.
GH7 Alex Rodriguez
GH8 Derek Jeter
GH9 Mark McGwire
GH10 Vladimir Guerrero

I am thinking of building this Set and this posting will be an index for those cards. As things stand it appears this set will have 7 or 8 Hall of Famers. Todd Helton who debuts on the 2019 ballot  and A-Rod are the "Maybe" players while Mark McGwire appears doubtful.

Peanut Gallery
Dime Boxes 1998 Topps #5 and others (top 5)
Orioles Card o The Day 2011 Bowman #167
Sports Card Info 1995 Bowmans Best Refractor #2
Padrographs Custom

Vladimir Guerrero Index
1998 Topps #5 HOF Candidacy / Game Dated 1997 05 21
2012 Heritage #108  Pack Break
2009 UD Rivals #R9 Pack Break

Sources and Links
The Art of the Game
Andrews Mortuary
Tom's Old Days
ebay/brotherly love memorabilia
2014 Heritage/1965 Topps Index
Trading Card Database

2017 Hall of Fame Candidate: Vladimir Guerrero

Getting to the 2017 HoF Candidates a little late this year. There are at least a half dozen players I would like to profile including a couple of prominent players who spent time with the Phillies.

We open this series with a longtime member of the Phillies division rival Montreal Expos, Vladimir Guerrero.

1998 Topps #5 Vladimir Guerrero 

Vlad deserves HOF nod just for this card alone. One of my gripes about recent Topps is the plethora of action shots. While 1998T might not have the best design, at least there is some interesting variations in the photography.

1998 Topps #5 Vladimir Guerrero (b-side)

The text on the back discusses a play early in Vlad Guerrero's career where he scored from second on a sacrifice fly. The run gave the Expos a 2-1 lead versus the Braves and future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. Unfortunately for Montreal Ugueth Urbina would later give up a 2 Run Homer to Keith Lockhart which would give Atlanta a 3-2 victory. 

Regardless the rare 2 base sacrifice score gave us a glimpse into the talent of the young Vlad Guerrero. The fly out came off the bat of Doug Strange who hit the ball to Right Fielder Michael Tucker.

The play was featured on a 1998 Stadium Club Card

 1998 Stadium Club #3 Vladimir Guerrero (image swiped from Play at the Plate)

A nice analysis of this card was done by the fine crew at Play at the Plate (who else).  I may need to add this card to the Phungo Collection just as a companion for the 1998 Base card.

Phungo Verditct

HOF


The scoring from 2nd on a Fly Out is the kind of hustle that makes one want to cast a Yes HoF vote.

Sources and Links
Vladimir Guerrero HOF Index
Play at the Plate
2017 HoF Candidates Index
Phungo Game Dated Index
Baseball-ref
Check Out My 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

ANNIVERSARY: September 16 1976 - Jerry Morales Sets Pinchhitting Mark

Check it out an Expos Posting!

1977 Topps #233 Record Breaker Jose Morales Most Hits, Season, Pinchhitter

40 Years ago the manager Charlie Fox did something that he and the Expos previous manager Karl Kuehl had already done 73 times in 1976 - He sent Jose Morales to Pinch Hit.

Montreal was clinging to a 1-run lead but had the bases loaded. The scheduled batter was reliever Steve Dunning. Morales who had recorded 24 pinch hits on the season was the clear choice for the critical AB. 

Facing future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter, Jose Morales came through one more time. He hit a bases clearing double to put the Expos up 4-0, o their way to an eventual 4-3 victory. A grand total of 2877 Fans witnessed the feat - which is probably the appropriate number for a team that would go on to lose 107 games.

1977 Topps #233 Record Breaker Jose Morales Most Hits, Season, Pinchhitter (b-side)

The flip side of the card has a synopsis of the game and includes nods to the previous record holders Dave Philley (who did play for the Phillies but not during his record setting season) and Vic Davalillo. Philley Remains the AL Record Holder today - A standard he has maintained for 55 Years.

John Vander Wal
Morales was surpassed in 2005 by Catcher John Vander Wal who logged 28 Pinch Hits for the Rockies.

Sources and Links
1977 Topps Record Breakers Index
Stand and Deliver: A History of Pinch Hitting - Paul Votano
Baseball Almanac
Baseball-Ref
 

Happy 45th Birthday Bobby Higginson - 1991 Phillies Draftee

Why is a marginal player like Bobby Higginson showing up in a Phillies blog.

Well the man has a couple of Philadlephia connections. He was born in the City of Brotherly love and went to school locally at Frankford High and Temple U.

In addition to all that he was selected by the Phillies in the 18th round of the 1991 draft. Unfortunately the Phillies were unable to sign Higginson.

2002 UD Vintage #94 Bobby Higginson

The Phillies planned to move Higginson from the Outfield to second base. Since Higginson was not comfortable with the approach he asked for a signing bonus of $20,000 which was 14k more than the Phillies offered. The draftee wanted the bonus to insure that the Phillies would not give up on him too quickly if his play at second didn't go well initially.

The Phillies never countered the 20K number. A year later Higginson was picked in the 12th round of the Tigers who signed him as an Outfielder for 10 grand, plus an additional 10 thousand college provision.

It turned out to be a good move for the Tigers. Bobby Higginson had an 11 year career spent entirely in Detroit.

War and the Draft - 1991
At the top of this article I dismissed Bobby Higginson as a marginal player, well this is simply not true. He had a career WAR of 23.0. This ranks #1 among all players the Phillies Selected in 1991. 2nd Round pick Kevin Stocker ranks #2 at 5.9. #10 overall pick Tyler Green pitched 70 games for the big club but yielded a negative WAR (-0.5)

Among all outfielder picked in 1991 Higginson ranks #3 Behind Mike Cameron (46.5) and Shawn Green (34.5). Fourth and fifth place on the list are held by Phillies Alums Raul Ibanez (20.1) and Doug Glanville (10.9).

Among all #473 Picks in the history of the Draft Higginson ranks #1 in WAR. Glenn Hubbard (19.1) and Phils Alum Dick Ruthven (18.6) are the only other players drafted at that position to have positive WAR numbers.  Bobby Higginson also achieved the standard for his selection in the 1992 draft - He outpaced Rick Honeycutt (22.3) and five other players that made the majors including Orioles Outfielder David Lough who remains active. 

Higginson's 23.0 career WAR is in the top 100 among Left Fielders, this ranks him in front of Bernard Gilkey, Carlos Gonzalez (Active), Hideki Matsui, 1987 AL MVP George Bell, 1962 Hit, Batting and RBI Champ Tommy Davis, the aforementioned Raul Ibanez, and this years Phillies Wall of Fame inductee Pat Burrell.

 1971 Topps #94 Don Hahn

2002 UD vintage stole their design from 1971 Topps. The Card occupied by Higginson was originally the residensce of Montreal Expos outfielder Don Hahn.

Don Hahn played a few games for the Phillies at the tail end of his career. As far as I know he was never issued a Phil, but apparently he did make it into the teams photocard set.

2002 UD Vintage #94 Bobby Higginson (b-side)
1971 Topps #94 Don Hahn (b-side)

UD changed the color of the flip sides just to show they weren't totally pilfering the original Topps design. Interesting that UD moved around the stats, and opted to drop Total Bases - actually giving LESS info on the updated card.

Four Consecutive HR Club
Didn't want to leave this article without mentioning that Bobby Higginson once hit four Home Runs in four consecutive At Bats. It wasn't four in one game or Four Plate Appearances in a row - there were some walks mixed in there, but it was four Homers in four official ABs. It is a fairly rare accomplishment - I think most recently by Carlos Gonzalez (2012). Phillies Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt hit four in a row during an 18-16 victory over the Cubs on April 17 1976.

Sources and Links
the Phillies Room
WAR and the Draft Index
Philadelphia Inquirer - Sam Carchidi
baseball-ref
MLB
History Channel 

1995 June 3rd Near-Hitter Pedro Martinez

We are going to be hearing a lot from the Martinez Family over the next few weeks. Some of it will be HoF related, some of it will be No-Hitter and Anniversary related but not all of it will be Pedro Related.

Today fits the Anniversary category. Although this Pedro Near Perfect Game occurred in 1995 it is not at all part of Year of the No-Hitter, I will post it in the addendum of the 1990: Year of the No-Hitter Index.

1997 Bowman Chrome #53 Pedro Martinez

Twenty Years ago in San Diego Pedro Retired the first 27 Batters Padres he faced. Typically this would be a perfect game, unfortunately the Expos offense failed to score a run until the 10th inning.

Montreal took a 1-0 lead in the 10th on a Jeff Treadway single. Martinez took the mound in the bottom of the 10th inning and got Bipped. Yes Bip Roberts ruined the Perfect Game and No-Hitter with a double. Mel Rojas then came in to complete the shutout.

Relics

Pedro Martinez Game Used Baseball from Near Perfect Game pitched on 1995 June 03

Team Phungo took a trip to the baseball Hall of Fame recently and the above baseball is part of the HoF display dedicated to Pedro Martinez's upcoming enshrinement.
 
1997 Bowman Chrome
This Set contains a rookie card of a pitcher that did complete a perfect game and he did it for the Phillies. Card #212 is of Roy Halladay, He represents the Canadian Team that is still in the MLB, Toronto Blue Jays

Sources and Links
Baseball Hall of Fame
Pedro Martinez HoF Index
1990: Year of the No-Hitter Index
Cardboard Connection
Baseball-ref

Year of the Horse 1954: Ellis Valentine 1981 Topps #445

Today we return to our Chinese New Years postings - in hindsight spacing these out across several postings may not have been a great idea. Today finds us on birth year 1954.

1981 Topps #445 Ellis Valentine (image swiped from baseball card database)


Iconic cards come in a couple different varieties.

The obvious ones are Cards of Superstars like Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays and Hall of Fame rookie cards. 

Less obvious are the quirky cards such as Oscar Gamble 1976T Traded or the 1975 Topps Kurt Bevacqua bubble gum champ card. The 1981T Ellis Valentine fits into this category. The partial face mask is one of the most memorable looks in baseball card history.  

Valentine wore the face mask to protect a jaw that was busted by a Roy Thomas pitch in an Expos Cardinals game on May 30 1980. The injury put Valentine on the DL for six weeks. The rest of the 1980 campaign went fairly well for Valentine, but he never really was the same hitter following that season.

Last year Jeff Pearlman (formerly of SI) published a very interesting interview with Ellis Valentine who credits Larry Doby as being a mentor early in his career. Valentine also discusses his drug use, apparently part of the turnaround was the beaning. After that Ellis could see his career would conclude at some point and he wanted to put 5 more years together to help with his finances and take care of his parents.

Those changes have led Ellis Valentine to a career in counseling. According to his linkedIn profile he is involved the mental health care field with a couple of organizations based in the Dallas Texas area.

If you want to keep up with Valentine he has a pretty active twitter feed @EValentine17. There is also a Ellis Valentine website where he offers the T-Shirt that evokes the half face mask featured on the 1981T card above.

Year of the Horse 1954
1954 YTH features a pretty stellar class of Hall of Famers including Ozzie Smith, Gary Carter, Dennis Eckersley and Valentine's Expos teammate Andre Dawson. Other 54 YTH are former Phil Keith Moreland, Willie Randolph, Ken Phelps Denny Martinez and two players that died young Mark Fidrych and Donnie Moore.

Year of the Horse Index
1954 Ellis Valentine
1966 Curt Schilling
1978 Jimmy Rollins
1990 Yasiel Puig

Sources
Jeff Pearlman
baseball-ref.com
LinkedIn
baseball card database

2014 Hall of Fame Candidate: 1991 Topps #339 Larry Walker

Since it took all of two days to get through all of the former Phillies on the ballot, team Phungo is going to take a look at some of the other candidates. Today's feature is Larry Walker.

 1991 Topps #339 Larry Walker

This isn't the Larry Walker Topps RC (It is preceded by 1990 Topps #757 plus a number of other cards by Score, Donruss, Fleer and others ) but not of those cards have the fine Topps All-Star Rookie Trophy.

Larry Walker is generally remembered for his decade with the Rockies, but he did come up with the Montreal Expos with whom he spent six seasons.  Walker is a career .313 HR with 383 Home Runs. Those numbers may have gotten a guy in the HoF a few generations ago, but that hasn't yet happened for Walker who is now on his 4th ballot.

Without checking I would not put Larry Walker in the HoF. Digging around in Baseball-Ref I found the following. Walker won the 1997 MVP award which he deserved according to WAR ratings. He had 2 Batting Titles (Coor assisted). His other LL included OBP, slugging, and OPS each twice and Homers once. His Awards mantle includes 7 Gold Gloves and a trio of Silver Sluggers.

The five time all-star was a part of 3 playoff teams including the 2004 Cardinals who took the NL Pennant before losing to the Curse-Breaking Red Sox team.

HoF related metrics on Baseball-ref
-Of his top 10 Sim Scores 3 are HoF (Snider, DiMaggio, Mize), 6 are either active or still awaiting HoF consideration. Only 1 is Out (Ellis Burks)
-His Black/Gray Ink test are both below the HoF average. Black is close - Grey not so much
-However is HoF monitor and HoF standards somewhat above the category averages

Advanced Metrics
This is the WAR numbers where I am taking it on faith that all these folks are doing their calculations correctly.
-WAR RF (72.6): The average WAR for HOF RF is 73.3, but this is at a position that includes Babe Ruth. Every WAR RF above Walker is in the HoF. Walker ranks above at least a dozen RFs already in the Hall plus Joe Jackson.
-WAR7(44.6): this tracks a players 7 best WAR seasons. The RF HoF average is 42.9. Once again every RF above Walker is HoF and Walker ranks above 12+ HoF. 
-JAWS RF (58.6):  JAWS(developed by Jay Jaffe) accounts for a players 7 year Peak along with their career WAR. Among Right Fielders Larry Walker ranks 10th in JAWS.  and as with the previous WAR related categories Walker ranks above at least a dozen RFs already in the Hall plus Joe Jackson.

Phungo Verdict: HOF - This is a pleasant surprise, Walker ranks right at the average player for his WAR. His number may be Coors inflated, but from what understand WAR should account for this issue. Beyond WAR he has decent Sim scores and has always been represented as a good dude. The one drawback on his resume beyond the Mile High Home games is his lack of playoff experience and no World Championship.


2014 HoF Candidates
Todd Jones
Mike Piazza (2013 Profile)
Curt Schilling (2013 Profile)
Mike Timlin
.
2013 HoF Rejects (no longer on ballot)

Jeff Conine

Kenny Lofton

Jose Mesa

Larry Walker HOF Index
1991 Topps #339 Larry Walker (HoF Candidacy 2013)

Sources and Links
1991 Topps Rookie Cup Index
baseball-ref.com

Card Show Report - 2010 04 18 Granite Run Mall, Media PA - DIme Box

For my tastes I would give the Poppel.Com show at Granite Run Mall in Media a fair rating. I didn't count the tables, but I think the 50 estimate was way high, but there were several tables featuring everything but baseball cards. I only found two dealer peddling anything that I was interested in. Of course that was still good enough for me to blow $25+ on cards and close to 3 hours on a Saturday afternoon.

Today I will feature some Highlights out of the Dime Box where I threw down $10 bor roughly 100 cards.

80s HOFs

1983 Topps #370 Gary Carter
1980 Topps #335 Willie McCovey

Nice looking card of McCovey - Sick stats on the back of this card. McCovey was a Four Decade man and would only hit one more homer after this 1980 Topps card was produced. As usual the Dime Box was loaded with early 80s cards of HoF players.

Retro Cards


2003 UD Vintage # 107 Edgar Martinez
2008 UD Goudey (mini) #90 Kelvim Escobar
2006 Topps Allen & Ginter #68 Rickie Weeks
2006 Topps Allen & Ginter #311 Andy Irons

I picked up about 20 Retro/Heritage cards. Quite a few of these were from the 2006 A&G set, which are starting to show up in dime boxes finally.

Inserts



2009 Topps Heritage #NF4 News Flashbacks Dwight Eisenhower Signs Civil Rights Acts
2002 Topps T206 #206 Magglio Ordonez (mini)

I was a little surprised to find a 2009 Heritage Insert in the dime box - more proof on the lack of demand for the non-baseball cards. I picked up a handful of minis for the 02 T206 set - and finally broke down a picked up a box of sheets for the minis - now I will need to collect them more seriously. The Escobar Mini above would also be considered a mini.

Links
Willie McCovey Index

STS Profile Orlando Cabrera

1999 Skybox Autographics Orlando Cabrera

Pop Quiz: How many postseason plate appearances does Orlando Cabrera have? Would you believe 155? Cabrera won a World Series Ring as the starting shortstop for the 04 "Why Not Us" Bosox. Since 04 he has been to the playoffs every year except 2006. A few weeks back Cabrera hit a key go-ahead Homer in the 7th inning of the one game AL Central Division tie-breaker game. This helped the Twins defeat the Tigers and get into the 2009 Playoffs.

Paul's Random Stuff is on a roll as he has picked the auto in both of the first two weeks of this years competition.

Everybody will need to be on their toes as PRS has knocked out both autos pretty quickly.

2002 UD Piece of History 500 HR Club Jersey #HR-RJ Reggie Jackson (b-side/edit - click to enlarge)

Mr October

The Reggie Jackson Relic card may say Athletics on the front, but according to the reverse the jersey on the card is from the Angels.

Congrats to Night Owl, Nachos Grande and Autograph Cards for all picking up the bonus. I have to give a nod to everybody who participated as all four of Reggies teams were picked - Including Beardy picking his hometown Orioles, with whom Jackson only played for a season.

For the Collector

I am a fan of the Skybox Autographics Series - they are on card and the design works well for an autograph card. This particular card went for $2.11 (shipped) via auction.

The cheapest recent ebay Orlando Cabrera auto went for $4.49 - Donruss Leather and Lumber sticker auto. There are several 98 Donruss Signature (on card) that have sold, but feedback scores for the sellers were mixed.

Several Reggie Jackson Relics (Jerseys and Bats) have sold for between $4.23 and $8.50. The auctions generally don't specify what team the Uni Relics are from.

The 02 UD Piece of History HR Club set featured 9 players, (Killebrew, Jimmy Foxx, Reggie, Mantle, Banks, Eddie Mathews, McGwire, McCovey, and Mel Ott). There were jersey cards produced for each player other than McGwire and Autograph versions for both Ernie Banks and Reggie Jackson. None of these relics have sold recently - there are a few BINs on eBay priced at $20 and up.

Spot the Sig! standings after 2 Innings of Play

Paul's Random Stuff - Mets: With a big David Wright RBI Double the PRS Mets are the first team on the board with one run. They also have men at 2nd and 3rd.

Night Owl - Dodgers: Men on First and 2nd
Nachos Grande - Reds: Men on First and 2nd
Autographed Cards - Royals: Men on First and 2nd

The Wax Ripper - Yankees: Man on First
In Search of Pat the Bat - PHILLIES: Man on First

Thought and Sox (who I incorrectly IDd as Tribe Cards last week) - On Deck
Beardy - Orioles: On Deck
Indians Baseball Cards Always - Indians: On Deck

Beardy and Adam welcome to the game and anyone else please feel free to join the game at anytime. For more Spot the Sig! details click here.

Phungo 5 with Trader Crack's

1994 Fleer Extra Bases Second Year Star #12 of 20 Pedro Martinez

Today we are taking a break from the Harry Kalas memorial posts so that we can go off to the Great White North for Phungo 5 with Trader Crack's. The Phils are in DC to play the Nationals and I thought this would be a good opportunity to find out some info on a part of the Nationals past, the Montreal Expos. While Trader Crack's is not an Expos blog specifically Ryan does have a pretty firm knowledge of the team and Canadian Players. Here is his Phungo 5:

1) Do you have any idea how many former Expos are still playing?

Off the top of my head, there’s Vladdie Guerrero. I’ve forgotten if Bartolo Colon stopped feasting on the hot dogs and got a team this year. Same sort of scenario for Brad Wilkerson, Pedro Martinez and Jose Vidro, minus the hot dogs. Then you’ve got Randy Johnson, Orlando Cabrera and Fernando Tatis. Jason Bay and Grady Sizemore came up in the Expos organization before being shipped to other teams. The last few years were a whirlwind of activity so I’m sure there’s plenty of other guys who suited up in Montreal and are still around.

Perhaps the most interesting former Expo still “playing” is their mascot Youpii, who has now taken over as the mascot for the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens.

2) The Expos were leading the NL East when the 1994 strike occured, do you think a playoff berth could have saved baseball in Montreal?

The Expos would have made it to the World Series in ’94 but I don’t think anything could have saved baseball. The Canadian dollar was very low at the time and there seemed to be tremendous frustration and apathy towards the team seeing as how the Expos were a farm team of sorts for the All-Star Game.

3) Is Matt Stairs playoff HR vs Dodgers the hardest ball ever hit by a Canadian?

Probably not. Can I prove it? Nope.

4) Any hints for my Hockey Playoff Brackets?

I heard that Wayne Gretzky is pretty good. They made a cartoon about him and he even had his own Barbie doll.

5) The McKenzie Brothers or Kids in the Hall?

Have the Kids in the Hall gotten their own MacFarlane figures? I didn’t think so.

I am glad to see that Youpii has found good work, and will likely outperform all the Expos. Apparently there is a virtual all-star team of Expos still playing. I will stick my personal assertion that Matt Stairs NLCS dinger is the hardest ball I have ever seen hit - Trader Cracks gets a 4 out of 5 in this weeks Phungo 5.

I also want to take this opportunity to post some football cards. A couple of weeks ago Trader Crack's posted that he had a bunch of Daunte Culpepper cards looking for a home. I didn't realize how many he had. Here are some of the highlights:

1999 Collector's Edge #160 Daunte Culpepper

2006 Topps Turkey Red #244 Daunte Culpepper

1999 Donruss Rookie Gridiron Kings #RGK3 Daunte Culpepper (#d 2558/5000)

2005 Topps Heritage #26 Daunte Culpepper

I would love to thank Ryan for his generosity - and I would also like to mention that in the box there were some duplicates and I would like to pay those forward. If anyone is interested please email me, my address is in my profile.

For a look back at a previous Phungo 5 click here for a look at Tulo Trader's Phungo 5.

STS 4th Inning Recap - Milton Bradley and Mr Hockey Gordie Howe

How many times do you think you will see these two guys in the same post?

Well there is a method to my madness - Sunday was Hockey day for STS! In celebration of the NHL All-Star game being played in Montreal (The East won in a shootout - Alex Ovenchkin hit the clincher) we selected a Montreal Expos auto and a Mr Hockey card for this weeks Spot The Sig! subjects.

Despite all of his antics and issues on and off the field I remain a fan of Milton Bradley. I like his funny name and the fact that way back in 1999 down by 3 runs in the deciding game of the Eastern League championship he hit a walk off grand slam for the Harrisburg Senators. At any level that is pretty exciting. Bradley is an offensive force who will be playing for the Chicago Cubs this year. If he can stay on the field and he should add even more pop to a quality lineup that already includes Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Geovany Soto. It will be interesting to see how Bradley performs under the scrutiny of Cubs media and fans - Chicago may not be New York, Boston, or Philadelphia but it ain't Montreal, San Diego, Oakland or Arlington either.

2000 Fleer Impact Autographics Milton Bradley

This auto is from the 2000 Fleer Autographics set. It's a good looking auto from early in Bradley's Career, although it appears his signature has devolved somewhat over the years. Milton Bradley Autos are running from $ 6-8 on ebay. I would think that they will increase in value as Bradley gains more visibility in Chicago. I got this one of eBay for $4.50.

The other card featured in the STS! is from the 2008 Goudey Hit Parade of Champions insert set. These are about as small a card as you will see on today's card market. I have been trying to mix up the bonus Q between baseball trivia, miscellaneous Phungo Phacts, and Cards past and present. I hope that has been an interesting formula for everyone. This week was a gift for anybody that knows a little hockey and was familiar with recent card issues. Hit Parade of Champions is a 30 card set made up of stars the four major sports past and present. The checklist includes Nolan Ryan, Yogi Berra, Cal Ripken, Lebron, Kobe, Gretky, Lemiuz, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and many others.

2008 Upper Deck Hit Parade of Champions #HPC-10 Mr Hockey Gordie Howe

This card doesn't identify Gordie Howe by name on the back. With some dismay I must recall that a card blogger who did an early 08 goudey box break commented "Somebody only identified as Mr Hockey" when talking about the card. Howe is known as Mr Hockey for a reason, He was a member of four Stanley Cup champions, He won six league MVP awards (Hart Memorial Trophy) and six NHL scoring titles. His NHL career spanned Five, FIVE, different decades and he played a single game for the IHL Detroit Vipers in a 6th. There is an official Gordie Howe website where you can pick up autographed items as cheap $25 plus shipping (looks llike another $5). The site is actually dedicated to Mr and Mrs Hockey and mentions Gordie's wife Colleen several times.

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He's back! PTBNL was the early in this week, and I suspect he Id'D the auto directly off the shot. Too easy this week. We will be back with something more challenging next weekend. With that PTBNL racks up yet another run. Cardboard Junkie got the bonus and now has a couple of runners in scoring position.

The current STS! standings after four innings:

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 6 Runs - Men on 1st and 3rd.
Night Owl - Dodgers - 1 Run in men on 2nd and 3rd
Stats on the Back - Mets - 1 Run in - Man on 3rd
Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 1 Run in - Men on 2nd and 3rd
Card Buzz - Angels - Chone Figgins on 2nd.
Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First
A Cardboard Problem - Yankees - Johnny Damon on first.
Covered in Wrappers - Cardinals - On Deck
Nachos Grande - Reds - On Deck

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party - you just may find yourself with a stack of cards come spring training!

Also Very Important Information - Next Week's Spot the Sig! will be posted on SATURDAY January 31st.