TASR: 2009 Topps #390 Joey Votto - Game Dating

This is our second column in our series dedicated to Joey Votto's 2009 All-Star Rookie Cup Card. 

Today we are going to try and Game Date the Photo. For those of you that weren't with us last week you can go here to see the original posting - for purposes of this column here is a reminder of the card:

2009 Topps #390 Joey Votto

Game Dated Card*

I am opening with minor asterisk here by noting I am not positive on this one. The evidence we find in baseball-ref while not conclusive does appear to point to a specific at-bat. That likely plate appearance was in the fourth inning of a Reds game at Shea Stadium on May 10th 2008. 

How did we arrive here?

1) This appears to be Shea Stadium in it's closing season of 2008. Within Getty Images we were unable to find the picture on the card, However there was this series of photos of Votto that were all taken on May 10th    

This doesn't confirm the date but it is similar enough to verify we are dealing with the Mets and Shea Stadium.

2) This is a big one - According to baseball_reference Joey Votto played only 2 games at Shea Stadium. Those two games were on the proposed May 10th date and the following day May 11.

Now that we are down to 2 games we can look at the details. 

3) Now we switch over to retrosheet because their play by play is a tad more descriptive and we find this within the May 10th game:

 

YAHTZEE!!!

It is the only time that "Bunt" is mentioned with Votto in the play by play for either game within retrosheet or baseball_reference. 

That's good enough for me. We got ourselves down to two games and within one those two games we found documentation of a bunt attempt. 

Exceptions: Of course this is not conclusive, Votto could have attempted a bunt in any of his other plate appearances and fouled off the pitch and that would not be recorded by retrosheet or baseball_ref. Regardless we definitely got the card of a potential Hall of Famer down to a single series in May of 2008. 

Bonus Evidence

4) This is all just supplementary evidence that doesn't prove anything but does support the case we made in points 1-3 above

We return to Getty Images and find a photo from the other game (May 11th)

This photo looks a lot different because it's from the opposite camera well. There is another detail of interest. Look at the bat - it's a natural wood stain. Now return to the top and look at Votto's bat when he's bunting. It's black - the 3 photos from May 10 all black bat. 

There is one other photo from May 10 which is from the first base angle and it also shows black bat. 

Now this doesn't mean that Votto didn't have an AB with a black bat May 11 but so far every AB on May 10 is black bat and the only AB on May 11th is natural

Looking Back

In last weeks column we discussed that Joey Votto had 8700 PAs without a sacrifice, well he wasn't sacrificing here either. Votto was leading off the inning so this was not a sacrifice attempt. It was likely a good strategic move, Votto a Left Handed Hitter was leading off facing the tough Southpaw Johan Santana on the mound. Right Handed Slugger Edwin Encarnacion was on deck and in fact did hit a Home Run off Santana. 

Sources and Links

Joey Votto Index

2009 TASR Index

Game Dated Cards Index

baseball_reference

retrosheet

Getty Images

Rich Pilling Photography

TASR: 2009 Topps #390 Joey Votto

Cincinnati Reds Legend and Fan Favorite Joey Votto announced his retirement recently. Amongst active position players he was the longest tenured member of the Topps All-Star Rookie Cup.  That baton has now been passed on to Giancarlo Stanton and Andrew McCutchen who were both named as outfielders to the TASR team in 2011. Justin Verlander (Class of 2007) remains the elder statesman among all active players. 

2009 Topps #390 Joey Votto

This is not Joey Votto's Rookie card, he was in the 2008 Topps base set, it is his 2nd Topps flagship card. Couple of quick Notes on the card: 

-The memorial patch that we can get a glimpse of is for Reds one time young phenom and announcer Joe Nuxhall.

-Joey Votto is not sacrificing here, well at least not successfully. In 8746 career Plate Appearances Joey Votto did not have one Sacrifice Hit. That is the fifth highest number of PAs for a Zero SH player. Carlos Santana has a good chance of passing Votto by the end of the season. 

2008 Season and ROY

Joey Votto had his first full season in 2008 and it was a very productive one (.297/24/84 3.3 WAR) which was good enough to earn him the Rookie Cup at first base. The nearest competitor was Chris Davis (.285/17/55 1.1 WAR)   

In fact Votto's year was so good he was also in the running for NL Rookie of the Year. He finished 2nd in the voting to Cubs Catcher Geovany Soto (.285/23/86 3.3 WAR). Those numbers are very similar but Soto received 31 of 32 first place votes. He had the edge on Votto for two reasons 1) Playing catcher rather than first base 2) Soto's Cubs won the NL Central finishing 23.5 games in front of the Reds. 

Overall the 2009 Rookie Cup Team ended up being a solid class that included Votto's longtime teammate Jay Bruce, Evan Longoria, Denard Span and Alexei Ramirez. Clearly the best players were now fellow 2023 retiree Longoria and Votto.  Both have very similar offensive numbers with Votto edging out Longoria due to many more walks (1365 vs 730). Of course Longoria played the more challenging position of 3rd Base and has a more significant postseason resume. 

Among the first 52 Rookie Cup Classes 2009 ranks in the top third of the years for which we have tabulated stats (1960-2011). The most prominent key number for the 2009 team is Home Runs, the squads 1475 dingers rank 13th - Votto, Longoria and Bruce combined for 1014.  

Rookie Cup Team: Longest Tenured Actives

With Joey Votto's exit a struggling Anthony Rizzo has become the Rookie Cup's longest tenured first baseman*.  Here is a complete list of longest tenured TASR winners

C	Travis d'Arnaud	2015
1B	Anthony Rizzo	2013
2B	Ian Happ	2018
3B	Nolan Arenado	2014
SS	Jose Iglesias	2014
OF	Jayson Heyward*	2011
OF	Andrew McCutchen	2010
OF	Giancarlo Stanton	2011
LHP	Wade Miley*	2013
RHP	Justin Verlander	2007
RP	Craig Kimbrel	2012
DH	Miguel Sano	2016

*I believe both Justin Heyward and Wade Miley have been released and are possibly retired. The Heyward slot would be succeeded by Mike Trout and Bryce Harper (both 2013, Harper was an OF on the team), 2nd in line for LHP is Carlos Rodon  

Also since Bryce Harper was an outfielder on the Rookie Cup Team he remains so for this exercise, otherwise he would be tied with Rizzo for first base honors. 

Extra Innings

Turns out that Joey Votto Rookie Cup card has so much going on that we will need to expand this into multiple postings. Look for some additional info next week. 

Joey Votto Index

2009 Topps #309 Game Dating

Sources and Links

2009 TASR Index

baseball_reference

Getty Images

Game Dated Cards: 1978 Topps #52 Jim Lonborg

There are so many trading cards that most are never considered deeply. 

One thing that is good about an active social media collecting community is it gives us an opportunity to examine random cards based on the whims of others. This happened to me over the weekend. The V Family(@CollectibleVs) posted a TTM of the 1978 Topps Jim Lonborg card.

1978 Topps #52 Jim Lonborg

1978 Topps has a couple of action cards but not many and I thought "Hey is that Candlestick". It was a Saturday Night and I quickly got a lot of confirmations including one from Night Owl Cards - who did do some research on this fine card and covered the card here. Turns out it is one of several 1978T cards featuring the -Stick. 

Greg had come to the conclusion that the photo was taken during a game played on July 21 1977 which was a Night Game and qualified the card for the NOC Night Games collection. 

I perused the comments on the NOC post and Lo and Behold apparently I had followed up Greg's initial research and basically confirmed his findings adding some Phillies specific background.  

I had obviously forgotten any of this but it does make me happy to find out that I have been looking into game dated cards for eight years now. 

1977 July 21

Not sure how much I looked into the game in 2016, but turns out the game had a crazy twist that involved Lonborg. Philadelphia Inquirer sportswriter Bruce Keidan described the outing with this bit of Hyperbole: 

What was Keidan referring to? See if you can spot what happened here:

It's blurry so here is the baseball-reference link. 

Turns out that Lonborg left the game after 5 innings with the Phillies DOWN 6-0. Manager Danny Ozark sent Tommy Hutton up to pinch hit for Lonborg, who likely went to the shower expecting to take an L. 

But that's not what happened. Look at the line score, the Phillies put up 8 runs in the top of the 6th, they sent 13 batters to the plate. The fatal blow was a bases loaded triple off the bat of pinch hitter Jerry Martin. The Triple was a misjudged line drive towards converted infielder Derrel Thomas who was in his first year as a Center Fielder. 

Here is the detailed account of the scoring from the following days Inquirer:

  

According to Keidan the Phillies turn at-bat, which included 2 pitching changes, lasted 25 minutes. 

Flip

The win referenced in the text on the reverse put the Phillies into the postseason for the first time in over a quarter century. Jim Lonborg pitched a complete game versus in Montreal that day holding the Expos to four hits. A two-out double by Future Hall of Famer Andre Dawson in the sixth inning was the only thing that stood between Lonborg and a shutout.

Lonborg quickly got that run back on his own when he singled home Garry Maddox in the following inning - picking up one of his 43 career RBI. The Phillies big blow came on a 3-Run Homer by Greg Luzinski. 

Lonborg would go on to start two postseason games for the Phillies losing both. He retired in 1979 just missing the 1980 world championship squad.  

This concludes our deep dive into 1978 Topps #52 Jim Lonborg - 2 game dated card columns for the price of 1, and thanks to Night Owl Cards for discovering this card Eight Years ago. 

References and Links

Game Dated Cards Index

Baseball-ref

CollectibleVs

Night Owl Cards

Philadelphia Inquirer (Bruce Keidan)

ANNIVERSARY - Ryan Howard: 2011 Topps Heritage Baseball Highlight Sketches #BHS-10

Ten years ago Ryan Howard became the quickest player to reach 250 Home Runs. On September 8th 2010 playing in his 855th game Howard homered to deep left field. 

Topps commemorated the event with an insert in the 2011 Heritage set. 

2011 Topps Heritage Baseball Highlight Sketches #BHS-10 Ryan Howard 

Highlight Sketches was a 25 card insert set with artwork by Southern California based artist Dave Hobrecht. The set also includes a card dedicated to Roy Halladay's 2011 No-Hitter. 

Howard's Home Runs was part of a 10-6 Phillies victory over the Florida Marlns. It was the 28th of 31 Home Runs that Howard would hit in 2010 - good enough for 8th in the league. 

Flip

2011 Topps Heritage Baseball Highlight Sketches #BHS-10 Ryan Howard  (b-side)

The caption details Howard's Home Run pace and also mentions the record holder Ralph Kiner. 

Kiner's 250th Home Run occurred in 1951 during a Pirates 5-4 loss versus the Boston Braves. 

2010 Ryan Howard at the Crossroads

In 2010 was basically mid-career - the 7th of 13 seasons. He had 855 games in the books and 717 remaining. Unfortunately the bottom half of his career did not match the promise of Howard's start. After averaging 46 Home Runs a season from 2006-2010, Howard would hit 33 in 2011 and then never post more than 25 again. The downward turn due to a combination of a devastating injury that occurred at the end of 2011 NLDS and the rigors of age. 

Ryan Howard's final 717 games would yield 132 Home Runs - Not terrible, but roughly half the pace of those record setting first 250 Home Runs.

Sources and Links

Ryan Howard Index

Game Dated Cards

Baseball-Ref

Dave Hobrecht

Beckett

Sports Card Radio

1961 Topps #402 Don Larsen (1929-2020)

When I was a kid I had a thick World Series chronicle that had the box scores for every Series game through somewhere in the late 1970s. One of the things that fascinated me was that for Don Larsen's 1956 Perfect game the entry was a batter by batter, PITCH by PITCH. I had never seen anything like it, and really PxP accounts didn't really exist in the real world until the relatively recent big data revolution. 

1961 Topps #402 Don Larsen Pitches Perfect Game

One of the trading cards that covered World Series achievement was in the 1961 Topps Baseball Thrills subset.

Great card of Larsen's perfect game which occurred on October 8th 1956.

To begin with outside of a swatch announcing the event commemorated by the card the design is minimal. The picture here features our hero Larsen and the line score - perfect way summarize any no-hitter. In addition the remainder of the scoreboard tells us #8 is batting with a 1-2 coutn.  The 8 correctly identifies Dale Mitchell who struck out looking on a 1-2 pitch giving the Yankees a 2-0 victory in the pivotal fifth game of the 1956 series.

The series would got the distance with the Yankees winning.

Flip

1961 Topps #402 Don Larsen Pitches Perfect Game

The newsprint themed text on the card back does a good job of recapturing the Thrill of the perfect game. The author also provides some historical context: "...first pitcher to ever hurl a no-hitter in World Series competition." and "...first in 307 World Series games". I have minor quibble that description fails to mention the games final score 2-0.

1961 Nu-Cards
On the 60th anniversary of the Perfect Game we profiled the 1961 Nu-Card dedicated to the game. That column can be found here.

Baltimore Orioles
One of my favorite fun facts is that Don Larsen started the first game in Baltimore Orioles history, a 3-0 lost to the Detroit Tigers on April 13 1954.

Peanut Gallery
Some other Don Larsen Baseball Card Memorials
The Lost Collector - Various Autographed Cards and a Baseball
The Chronicles of Fuji - 1958 Topps #161 & various Autograph/Relic cards

Sources and Links
1961 Topps Baseball Thrills Index
No-Hitter Index
Game Dated Cards Index
trading card db
Baseball-ref

Happy Anniversary Prince Fielder 2009 Topps #1

September 6th 2019 marks the 10th anniversary of one of the more memorable moments of Prince Fielder's career.

2009 Topps #1 Prince Fielder

The Brewers defeated the Giants 2-1 in extra innings that day, the winning blow was a Walk-Off Home Run by Fielder. To celebrate the Brewers executed a choreographed bowling style celebration. The moment polarizes old and new school fans. I suppose if you want to pinpoint a moment where MLB decided that maybe it is ok to celebrate big Home Runs might have been Prince Fielder September 6 2009.

The image of that moment was honored by Topps with the lead-off card for their 2010 set.

I did some digging and I believe the photograph was taken by Morry Gash and can be found at AP-Images.  There are a number of similar shots across the net, but this is the only one that I was unable to find any discrepancies between the card and photo.

Flip

2009 Topps #1 Prince Fielder (b-side)

Fielder didn't get the #1 slot just for the September 6th Walk-Off.  He was a superstar player at the peak of his career. Checking his numbers on the card back we notice he lead the NL in RBI with 141. The 46 Home Runs trailed only Albert Pujols (47).

The text also mentions Fielders 2009 HR Derby victory.

2009 HR Derby Cards

As part of the Derby Topps created a set of jumbo cards that were on display at Citifield for the All-Star game.  I took the above photo at the Futures game.

Stray Observation
The pitcher that gave up the Home Run was reliever Merkin Valdez. In 74 career games Valdez only took the Loss in one game, this was the one. 

Sources & Links
Topps #1 Club
Game Dated Cards Index
AP Images - Morry Gash
baseball-ref

2019 ToppsNow #529 Bryce Harper/Rhys Hoskins honors July 18th Phillies Victory

I finally got to see a 2019 game that the Phillies actually won. And Topps was good enough to create a ToppsNow card for that game.

2019 ToppsNow #529 Phillies (Bryce Harper/Rhys Hoskins)

There were several key performers in the Phillies 7-6 victory over the Dodgers which featured FIVE lead changes (1-0, 1-2, 3-2, 3-4, 7-5). Topps chose to cover the days card with the Phillies big names Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins. However the hero could have also been 2017 First round pick (8th overall) Adam Haseley who tallied his first Major League Home Run.

Solid picture choices on both players. On the left we have a nice shot of Bryce Harper's emotional slide into second which I clearly remember from where I was standing. The latter photo features Rhys at the plate, anytime you can get the ball just prior to impact that's a win.

2019 ToppsNow
I would prefer that Topps go with a single image here but this was pretty much a team win and lets face it ToppsNow may not feature many Phillies this year. Otherwise this is an ok design, I would like to see the date more prominently displayed since NOW is a feature of the card. This is a two player card, but as far as I can tell the player position is not on single player cards.

There were six ToppsNow cards issued for July 18 2019. The Phillies had the largest print run for the day (464) even eclipsing the reigning AL MVP Mookie Betts and Hall of Famer Ted Williams.

2019 ToppsNow CheckList for July 18 2019
#526 Mookie Betts/Ted Williams (Print Run = 352)
#527 Brian Anderson (131)
#528 Chris Sale (182)
#529 Phillies (464)
#530 Stephen Strasburg (300)
#532 Donovan Solano (162)

Flip

2019 ToppsNow #529 Phillies (b-side)

The Text on the back of the card gives a concise two sentend summary of the Phillies 7th inning comeback. Not to self: use the word "cut" when I want to discuss a team making a comeback.

2019 ToppsNow #529 Phillies, 2019 JUL 18 Dodgers @ Phillies

And since this card is from a game that Team Phungo attended it will be going into the Phungo Games binder. Always excited to share a combined trading card/ticket photo on the blog.

Sources and Links
Bryce Harper Index
Rhys Hoskins Index
Phungo Game Dated Cards Index
baseball-ref
ToppsNow 

Frank Robinson 1934-2019

I have covered Frank Robinson a few times on this blog but not nearly enough. While I never got to see him play, I did get to see an historic game in which he was involved.

2005 Topps Update Nationals Inaugural Lineup #NI-TEAM

The April 2005 game was so historic that Topps honored it with a trading card - It was the first game in the history of the Nationals.

Robinson appears prominently on the card twice. First in the top photo he is at the center to the left of home plate, while the Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel guards the other. The inset photo on the bottom left features Frank Robinson even more prominently. The two images are clearly from different games - note that the smaller picture features the Nats in their Home uniforms at RFK.

The Phillies won the game 8-4 you can read more about the game at the SABR Baseball Game project.

I go into this card more in depth here, but at the time I didn't mention Frank Robinson. 

Tributes
SABR BB Card Blog
1960s Baseball Card Blog 
Fresh Air - Terry Gross Terrific interview (13 mins audio & text) includes Robinson's views on integration/segregation.

Links and Sources
Frank Robinson HOF Index
2005 0404 Nationals inaugural game at Phillies
SABR games project
Baseball-ref

ANNIVERSARY: 10 Years Ago Today the Phillies Win the World Series

Just wanted to post a couple of pictures to remember a great night from a decade ago.

Game Ticket 2008 World Series Game 5. 2008 OCT 27 & 29

 Pat Burrell prior to the last game he would ever play with the Phillies

Harry Kalas on about to perform his final World Series Broadcast.

 Ryan Howard

Jamie Moyer carrying the rubber from the CBP pitchers Mound

 Jimmy Rollins

Don Zimmer

One of my more common avatars

Links and Sources

2008 World Series Game 5 index

2008 World Champion Phillies Player Indices

Happy Birthday Matt Stairs 2009 Topps #139

Matt Stairs celebrates his 50th Birthday on February 27th. Of course Matt will always be remembered for one of the biggest Home Runs in Phillies history.

Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS Playoffs:

2009 Topps #139 Matt Stairs (image swiped from topps card db)

In the 8th inning of a 5-5 tie Stairs came in to pinch-hit and blasted a 3-1 pitch from Dodgers pitcher Jonathan Broxton deep into the Dodger Stadium bleachers. It is one of the hardest hit balls I have ever seen. The homer capped the scoring as the Phillies won the game 7-5 and took a 3-1 series lead. 

2009 Topps #139 Matt Stairs (b-sides /image swiped from topps card db)

The back of the card has a similar synopsis as we have written above along with the RHE box. Fumy how it is unlabeled bit all baseball fans know what it means. Stairs line for the game consists of his single PH AB - 2 RBI nobody Left on Base!


Pix

2008 Oct 13 Matt Stair Home Run in Game 4 of the NLCS

I was able to find the original image but it there is no associated photo credit in the accompanying Philly.com article. Notice that on this 2009 card the umpire has been digitally removed. Of course this meant that something had to be added in the umps absence. It looks like Topps took a crowd from a different game and inserted them in the space vacated by the ump. Check Stairs head then move to the right. The first guy is a match, Kid in orange shirt missing, Blue shirt w/ blue cap and shades over cap also missing. Same thing on row below - matches end with the person in the maroon shirt. ahh The joys of Photoshop.

UPDATE: I have found the source photo, it was taken by Chris Carlson and can be found here.  

Matt Stairs Index
1991 ProCards #259 (Swag)
2007 Topps #UH119 (Gold / Canadian Baseball HOF induction)
2009 Phungo #12

Sources & Links
2008 World Series Champs
Game Dated Cards Index
Topps Card DB
Baseball-Ref
Philly.com
AP Images

Update:
2018 0228: AP Image found
 

Happy Birthday & Anniversary Alan Trammell

On Thursday February 21st Alan Trammell celebrates his 60th birthday. His first as a Hall of Famer.

1981 Topps #709 Alan Trammell (pix swiped from Topps Baseball Card Database)

In this photo on his 1981 Topps card the Tigers Shortstop has a "You have Got To be Kidding Me" expression. An expression that many a SABRmetrician had each year when Alan Trammell was rejected for Hall of Fame induction.

This past December after a long wait Alan Trammell was selected for Hall of Fame induction by the latest incarnation of the Veteran's Committees.

Fifteen tallies and Trammell never got more than 50% of the vote. That is an awful lot of NO votes.

Trammell's HOF case is complicated. His career numbers are a tick below the traditional "Hall of Fame Thresholds". Hits = 2365, HR = 185, RBI = 1003. He checked the box on a World Champions and has some All-Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger hardware. Unfortunately he did not come up with the MVP, However....

Two years ago in my HOF ballot discussion of Trammell I examined the 1987 MVP award which I felt he deserved over George Bell. While I felt that two candidates were pretty even overall for me one big factor pushed Trammell past Bell. He performed better down the stretch when the players two teams were vying for the same division title.

For my complete Alan Trammell HOF Analysis click here.

1981 Topps
In general I like the 1981T design. I think the use of a cap as the palate for the Team & Position info is unique in the Topps canon. In fact I am not sure baseball cap icons have been used on many sets Topps or otherwise. However, I am not fond of the color combo given the Tigers by Topps. Purple & Black just appear to go together in this format, Works for Rockies Pinstripes but not 1981 Topps.


Flip
Check the Title of this posting. First we mentioned a Birthday, which we covered in the first sentence. But we also specify an Anniversary well...


 
1981 Topps #709 Alan Trammell (b-side)

Check out the first -toon. Yep In addition to being Alan Trammell's 60th Birthday, it is also his Wedding Anniversary. Since the Trammell's Wed on Alan's 20th Birthday it is also a Milestone Wedding Anniversary as well #40.  If Alan is reading this, the gift for the 40th Anniversary is the Ruby.

June 12 1979
The latter cartoon notes a Steal of Home by Trammell during a 9-2 Tigers victory over the Oakland A's. I am not sure, but this steal may be a borderline violation of an unwritten rule. The Tigers had an 8-2 in the bottom of the 8th inning.

The steal was so insignificant that it did not even make the Sporting News Write up for the game.

Although the write up does mention that the game was one of two led by Dick Tracewski who was holding the post on an interim basis until Sparky Anderson could take over. Perhaps Tracewski was trying to get the team in a more aggressive mode prior to Sparky showing up. 

Alan Trammell Index
1980 Topps - 1987 MVP aWARd / 2016 HOF credentials

Sources and Links
Game Dated Cards
Polish Sports Hall of Fame
Sports Illustrated Jay Jaffe 
Baseball-Ref
Topps Baseball Card Database
AnniversaryGift.Org 

Oscar Gamble (1949-2018)

Earlier this week we got the sad news that baseball card icon Oscar Gamble died. I was a little surprised to find out that I had never posted anything on Gamble or his cards. Today we rectify that situation.

Oscar Gamble falls into that category of players that played when I was a kid and I knew about but I never knew spent time with the Phillies. There are a couple of these guys out there, Fergie Jenkins is pretty notable as are Larry Hisle and Ken Brett. 

When I returned to collecting as an adult I was pleasantly to see Oscar Gamble show up in the early 1970s issues bearing Phillies pinstripes.

1972 Topps #423 Oscar Gamble

All of the bright colors of 1972 Topps with "PHILLIES" jumping off the top of the card fit Oscar Gamble perfectly. I also like the photo that appears to have been taken at the Phillies Spring Training facility in Clearwater Florida. As I look at Gamble posing for the shot with the follow through on a swing I wonder if the lean figure in the background with the beige jacket is Paul Owens.

This is one of three cards Topps issued of Gamble with the Phillies. He has a shared Rookie Card in 1970 and has a great action shot in 1971.  Nice cards all, but I chose his last Phillies card not for the front but for a fun fact I knew at one time but have likely forgotten multiple times.

1972 Topps #423 Oscar Gamble (b-side)

First off I am not referring to the vocabulary lesson in the cartoon - a good one I suppose, a phrase I never use, but it really doesn't need much explanation.

The Phun Phact I like on this card discusses the last game a Connie Mack Stadium. On October 1st 1970 the Phillies defeated the Expos 2-1 in extra innings. And as described in the excerpt on the above Oscar Gamble singled off Howie Reed plating Tim McCarver. It was the last hit and RBI ever recorded at the venerable building

The Inning in Baseball-Ref appears as follows

For a more old school look here is the box score that appeared in the Sporting News

The Sporting News 1970 Oct 1

In addition to Gamble looks like Tim McCarver had a nice day while scoring the stadiums final run. Larry Bowa is the only player in the box that would eventually play during the Phillies late 70s glory years. The big name for Les Expos is Rusty Staub, however twitter star @JohnnyBateman7 is also present.
 

Other Oscar Gamble Tributes
Night Owl Cards - tremendous posts where with a great discussion about card backs.
Baseball Happenings - 1976T Traded and great photos from 2012 DiMaggio Legends game @ Ft Lauderdale
Baseball Card Breakdown - American Pastime Autograph, Printing Plate of 1979T, 1979 OPC
Starting Nine - 9up page featuring 1976T Traded in the center
MLB 1960s - 1972 Topps
80s Baseball Collector - 1979 Topps
 
NY Daily News obituary

Chicago Sun-Times obituary

Sources and Links
Game Dated Cards
Baseball-Ref
COMC
Baseball Card Database
The Sporting News
NY Daily News
Chicago Sun Times

2018 HOF Candidate: Brad Lidge

We made it!

Somehow after barely posting for the last year, we were able to get through all 5 of the Phillies related HOF Candidates - and for some reason I am happy about that

2009 Allen & Ginter's Baseball Highlights #AGH23 Brad Lidge

Other than a terrific DayF original this is my favorite of the many cards that have been dedicated to Brad Lidge closing out the 2008 World Series. 

I am not as big a fan of A&G base as other folks, but I do love the highlight cards. For me the attraction is honoring the games great moments, and it is cool to have a card dedicated to a Championship won by your favorite team. 

Lidge was a perfect 41/41 in saves during the regular season and then went on to complete 7 additional saves in the postseason.

Baseball-Reference snippet of Brad Lidge 2008 Saves (regular season)

The above is how Baseball-Reference sums up Brad Lidge's 2008 save efficiency. Nothing like looking at perfection.


Flip

2009 Allen & Ginter's Baseball Highlights #AGH23 Brad Lidge (b-side)


Clear and concise, the card mentions the 41 saves of the regular season, followed by the most important one of the postseason - The Phillies 4-3 World Series Clincher versus the Rays. We have posted a few times about this game, check here if you would like to read more.

Verdict
Brad Lidge got the final out in one of the best games that I have ever had the chance to attend HOF !!

Sources and Links
2018 HoF Candidates
Brad Lidge Index
2008 World Series Champions
Baseball-Ref

2004 Jun 14: Jim Thome 400th Career Home Run index

This is an index of postings related to the June 14 2004 game in which Jim Thome hit his 400th Home Run


Game Ticket June 14 2004 Reds @ Phillies

2005 Topps #25 (Wall of Fame Inductions / 400 Home Runs) 
2005 Sykbox #43 (Hall of Fame Election Results

Other Milestone Home Runs
2008 UD X Xponential #X2-JT (500th HR 2007 09 16)

Other Sources and Links
Jim Thome Index
Game Dated Cards Index