Happy 70th Birthday Greg Luzinski 1978 OPC #

Today we are noting a milestone birthday for Phillies Slugger Greg Luzinski born on November 22 1950. 

Luzinski remains active with the Phillies in an baseball ambassador role and as namesake for one of the teams signature restaurants "Bull's BBQ"

To mark the Birthday we are going to feature his 1978 OPC card

1978 #42 OPC Greg Luzkinski

I always the All-Star subset. 1978 has its own icon never used before or since - Topps/OPC gave the cards a dash of Red White and Blue on a shield that kind of looks like an Interstate Route Number sign. 

In 1978 Luzinski played in the final of his four consecutive All-Star games. He went 1-2 with an RBI on a Bases Loaded Walk off of Hall of Fame Pitcher Jim Palmer. Of course the 1978 card represents the previous years ASG in which the Bull Homered, also off of Palmer. 

OPC

1978 OPC #42 Greg Luzinski

Typically I would use an OPC card for a column with a Canadian or French Connection. Today my reason is for the card number 42. 

While the Bull is remember for wearing #19 for almost the entirety of his career, when he came up in 1970 he wore the now league-wide retired #42 which happens also to be his OPC card. Six other Phillies wore the number after Luzinski, the most significant of which was Ron Reed. The last player to wear the number as a Phillies Player was Toby Borland. 

Luzinkski 1978T Card number is 420 - significant to some folks for a totally non-baseball reason. 

Phungo Original

1978T Greg Luzinski

I tackled the 1978T card by going pretty vanilla. I elected to not give the sketch a background and had Luzinski's powerful Rawlings Bat busing out of frame. I also added the discrete position of LF to the All-Star Shield. 

Greg Luzinski Index

1971T #439 (rc) 2013 Philadelphia Sports HOF Induction

1977 Topps #30: 1976 ASG +40 

2003 Fleer Ultra All-Vet Stadium #7 Spot the Sig

1971T #439 Card Show Swag

1974 Kellogs 3D Swag from the Phillies Room

1975T Mini Card Show Swag

1978T #420 Year of the Tiger

Sources and Links

1980 Phillies World Champs

Baseball-Ref

MLB

ANNIVERSARY: 1976 07 13 Veterans Stadium Hosts it's first All-Star Game

On the day after the 87th Mid-Summer Classic we are taking a look at the 47th All-Star Game.

If you have been following along here at Phungo you are aware that we are working on a yearlong series discussing the 1976 All-Star Game which was hosted in Philadelphia. Today Marks the 40th Anniversary of that game.

1976 All-Star Game Program

This is the cover for the 1976 ASG program. It may not appear this way but the cover was designed but an Artist many collectors are familiar with, Dick Perez.

While the cover does a nice job of featuring a behind the plate shot overlaying Independence hall I do find it odd that there is not a Red White and Blue motif to capitalize on the Bicentennial fervor.

The Program opens with a section that includes photos of players enjoying many of the tourist attractions around Philadelphia.

The man with the Liberty Bell is Phillies then President Ruly Carpenter.

The other two pictures are Mike Schmidt and Wife Donna, sporting similar hair styles while exploring Valley Forge Park, which I believe is now a National Park, but is listed as a State park in the above text.

Sheena & Larry Bowa at Independence Hall

The Luzinski's at the Art Museum, and the Garry Maddox family at the Zoo. These pictures are interesting as they feature a couple of kids that went on to play Professional Baseball, Ryan Luzinski and Garry Maddox Jr.. Neither of the youngsters made it to the major leagues.

I picked up the program at a SABR meeting and whomever I inherited it from kept score for the game. Near as I can tell the scoring is pretty accurate.

1976 All-Star Game +40 Series
A full Index to our postings related to the 1976 ASG can be found here. I know there are a lot of notables that we haven't gotten to, rest assured just because we have made it to the games anniversary that doesn't mean that we are done featuring the many players involved in that game. Ideally we will get to all of the Phillies and Hall of Famers that were involved in the game, but well time restraints and laziness always get in the way.

Sources and Links
Larry Bowa Index
1976 ASG Index
Mike Schmidt HoF Index
Baseball Almanac

1976 All-Star Game Index - 40th Anniversary Series

This is an index of our postings related the 40th Anniversary of the 1976 All-Star Game which was held in Philadelphia.

1977 Topps #30 Greg Luzinski (NL All-Star)


1976 Bicentennial ASG Index
Bob Boone - 1976 Topps #67 Father n Son with Ray Boone
Larry Bowa - 1975 Topps #420
Dave Cash - 1993 UD BAT Trifold #26
Greg Luzinski - 1977 Topps #30
Mike Schmidt

Robin Roberts

Johnny Bench
Ron Cey
Ken Forsch - 1977 Topps #632 Big League Brothers 
George Foster
Steve Garvey 1981 Topps #530
Dave Kingman
Randy Jones - 1977 Topps #550
Jon Matlack
Bake McBride - 1975 Topps #174
Joe Morgan - 1976 Topps #420
Pete Rose - 1977 Topps #450 AS (Red Jersey Retirement)
Tom Seaver

George Brett - 1982 Topps/Kmart 20th Anniversary #34
George Brett - 1976 Topps #231 Record Breaker (consecutive 3 hit games)
Rod Carew - 1991 Bowman #3
Mark Fidrych
Carlton Fisk
Bobby Grich
Catfish Hunter
Fred Lynn
Ron LeFlore - 1977 Topps #240
Don Money - 1979 Topps #265
Thurman Munson
Luis Tiant - 1976 Topps #130
Carl Yastrzemski

Sparky Anderson - 1978 Topps #401 (As Manager/As Player)
Bob Uecker - 1967 Topps #326
Bob Lemon
Gene Mauch

Night Owl Cards 40th Anniversary Posting

1976 All-Star Game Program (Ed Larry Shank, Chris Wheeler)
1977 Topps Blog
YouTube - 1976 All-Star Game
Stars and Strikes - Dan Epstein
baseball-ref
baseball almanac

NEW FEATURE 1976 All-Star Game 40th Anniversary: Greg Luzinski - 1977 Topps #30

Annually we here at Team Phungo attempts to put a year long feature dedicated to a single team. Past editions of the Phungo Annual have included the 1964 and 1983 Phillies as well as a feeble attempt at the 1915 NL Pennant Winners last year.

This year we are going with a different type of feature. 2016 Marks the 40th anniversary of the Bicentennial All-Star Game which was held at Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia. To mark the occasion we are going to put together several postings related to the event. I don't anticipate hitting every player that made the team but if I am going to cover a good chunk of them we are going to have to start now..

And we lead off with a Clean Up Hitter.

1977 Topps #30 Greg Luzinski (NL All-Star)

Five Phillies made the 1976 NL All-Star roster but only one of them got to start the game in his home city. Greg Luzinski played Left Field and batted fifth, unfortunately he went 0-3 in the game. It was the second All-Star appearance for the Bull and His first of three consecutive starts in the mid-summer classic.

Luzinski's All Star Game qualifying resume at the break included a slash line that read .307/.360/.502 with 12 Homers and 57 RBIs. His All-Star campaign continued as the Bull finished 8th in the 1976 MVP voting.

SABR Star?
Despite the impressive power numbers mentioned above Luzinski's 1976 WAR was +2.3 which ranked a pedestrian 40th in the NL and 19th among outfielders. In general Greg Luzinski's defensive shortcomings probably would prevent him from being a SABR star in any given year. His Peak WAR was +5.2 in 1978 which was 11th in the league and 5th among outfielders.

Regardless he was a slugging machine over his four year all-star period running from 1975-78, averaging 32 Home Runs with 112 RBI while maintaining a .295 BA and an impressive 150 OPS+.

1977 Topps
The starters for the 1976 All-Star teams are honored in the following years Topps set so if I follow through with this feature plan on seeing plenty of 1977T AS cards. This is my favorite type of All-Star card, take the base card and add a flair to them - In the case of 1977 it is more fo a banner, but still solid. During our 1976 ASG redux, I am going to try and hit a few different years and I am sure the relative merits of the different flairs will be over-analyzed.

Lots to like about the the image on Luzinski's card - The All-Star flair, the powder blue road uni, and The uphill dugout roof that draws the photo focus to the Bull's powerful swing. Luzinsnki's uniform #19 appears to be inked on the bat knob - there is a patch on his right shoulder not sure but it may be a bicentennial patch. A final note of interest is the shot appears to be taken at Shea Stadium where Luzinski made his MLB debut on September 9 1970.

1977 Topps #30 Greg Luzinski (NL All-Star / b-side)

The text on the back of the card refers to the Phillies 4-1 NL East Clincher. Luzinski's two out 3-run homer broke a 0-0 tie in the 6th inning. The Plate Appearance had a +34 WPA, which was the best in the game. 
 
Something tells me we will be hearing from Joe Morgan later in the 1976 All-Star Game feature - he would extend his 100 Walk Season streak to 6 in 1977.

Other Voices
I am sure we will be checking in with The 1977 Topps Blog numerous times during this series. The posting on the 1977T Luzinski card can be found here.

Sources and Links
1976 All-Star Game 40th Anniversary Index
Baseball Almanac 
Baseball-Ref

Swag from the Phillies Room: Billy Hamilton the Hall of Famer

A few weeks back Jim from the Phillies Room let me know that he had an extra pack of Phillies Baseball Heroes Playing Cards. I told him that Team Phungo was definitely interested

2010 Phillies Baseball Heroes 7-Clubs Billy Hamilton

I had seen some of these around, but never the full set. I figured there would be some interesting selections and was happy to see that there is a suit pretty much dedicated to the Phillies early days. I would love my collection to have a card of every significant Phillies player - it would be great if it was possible to have cards from when the player was active. Unfortunately team Phungo is functioning on a budget and is plenty happy to have cads such as this one of the HoF Billy Hamilton. 

Bonus

1974 Kellogs 3D Wayne Twitchell
1974 Kellogs 3D Greg Luzinki

There were some bonus cards in the package including these two Kellog 3Ds, which are my first Phillies cards from this set.  I like how Kellogs goes to the trouble of noting Luzinski's specific outfield position. If Kellogs could do this 40 years ago, why can't Topps handle the detail today.

Thanks to the crew at the Phillies Room. Great Cards to help us Phillies fans to get through a long winter until baseball returns. 

Welcome to the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame Greg Luzinski: 1971 Topps #439

Tonight Greg Luzinski is being inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame

1971 Topps #439 Greg Luzinski/Scott Reid (RC)

Not only was Luzinski a great slugger for the Phillies in the late 70s and a member of the 1980 World Championship squad - He also remains active in the community and is a team ambassador. 
 
It is great to see him get inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. This is the 10th induction class for the PSHoF and they still don't have a home, but it is good to know that enough interests remains and that they continue to host annual inductions and dinners.

This years baseball honorees include 1930s Phillies pitcher Bucky Walters and Umpire Shag Crawford. Other notable inductees from across the world of sports include Eddie George, John LeClair, The Eagles Bob Brown, and Andrew Toney.  For more information about this years class check out the PSHoF site here.   

For the Collector
The split Greg Luzinski Rookie Card above is regarded a tad above a common. I picked this off condition card out of a pretty decent buck bin at a show in 2009. In recent ebay auctions the card has finished as low as $2.96. On the high end the card finished at $5.91 ungraded - There was a $76 Lot with a graded Luzinski RC, but the anchor of that lot was a 62 Topps Clemente (graded EX).       

More Luzinski
2003 Fleer Ultra All Veterans Stadium Team #7 of 12 Greg Luzinski

2008 Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame Inductees 
Mickey Vernon with Links to additional postings
someday I will get around to returning to posting on the other classes.

Sources
Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
ebay.com
baseball-ref.com
  

Card Show Report 2011 12 10 - Bucks Technical High School

This was my first show at Bucks Technical.  After going to a pair of more larger regional shows over the last month the Bucks show was a little disappointing.  There were many 10-15 dealers with a decent variety of items.  There wasn't much of a selection in the cheap vintage category, which hurt my day a bit.

Still Team Phungo was able to bring home some cool items:

2007 Topps Finest Ryan Howard ($4 #d to 50)

I try and collect cards that relate to games I have been to, so yeah I am the one guy that is interested in annoying stuff like UD Documentry or Moments and Milestones.  Trouble is, I am only interested in specific cards in those set.  Howard actually hit a pair of homers in this game as I remember.  The Philllies pummeled Matt Cain.  I think Moises Alou took out his knee running into a wall. 

2007 Topps Finest is actually pretty decent as far as these cards go.  The Description on the back is actually particular to the game specified on the card and the player pictured on the card is the one talked about on the reverse (unlike documentry and M&M)

More Phils

83 OPC Mike Schmidt
89 Topps Mike Schmidt Special (Card Number = L)
06 A&G Ginter back mini Chase Utley
75 Topps Mini Greg Luzinski
87 OPC Mike Easler

The OPC Schmidt, Utley Mini and Luzinski cards all went for a buck each while the remaining cards were dimers, I believe.  The Easler is a bit of an oddity in the OPC Phils collection as it isn't part of the Topps set for 1987.  The Utley card is a mini from the first issue of A&G.  A buck is typically higher then I would go for a 75 mini but the bull is worth it.  The 89 T Schmidt card appears to be a box bottom, I haven't bothered to find out where exactly this card originited.
 
Noteworthy

2007 A&G Box Loader N43 Joe Frazier ($2)

Couldn't lett this one got for $2,  this is the 2nd A&G boxtopper I have picked up pretty cheaply in the last year.  Kind of a pain to store, but nice to have a few.

Hall of Fame

All-Star Stand Up Ricky Henderson
2000 Topps #44 Hank Aaron

These were both dimers - Henderson is a popout/stand up card made by Leaf in the mid 80s to commemorate the All-Star game.  These are similar to the 60s era standups that were homaged in 2011 Lineage.

In 2000 card #44 in the Topps set was dedicated to Hank Aaron, ala #7 for Mickey Mantley both prior and since.  As far as I know this is the only year which Topps reserved #44 for Aaron.  2000 Topps is a minimalist design, which I like and consider a hidden gem in the Topps Pantheon.

Spot the Sig! Heads Up

The Bull Says "Don't Forget Spot the Sig! is hosting a special Saturday edition this Week - STS! is happening Tonight Saturday Feb 5th at 9:30p Phungo Time (That is Eastern)"

Team Phungo is off to the show today - Concorde Mall Card Show outside of Wilmington DE.  Stop out and say Hi.  I will be the crazy looking guy navigating a dime box looking for a 1959 Topps Hank Aaron Card.

Happy New Year - Year of the Tiger!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese Zodiac.

2010 is The Year of the Tiger as well as the past years 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962, 1950 ,1938 and beyond at 12 year intervals.

We at team Phungo will celebrate by posting a few cards of some Tigers.

1962 2009 Topps Allen & Ginters #68 Jamie Moyer

Hard to believe that Jamie is starting his 5th cycle of the zodiac and has a chance to be a pitcher this season. He has been a great player and member of the community and I hope he can return for one more season.

Looking ahead a year, if Moyer were to be issued a 2011 Topps Heritage card, he would probably be the first active player to have a Heritage card from his birth year. Not sure if Julio Franco hung on that long or not.

1938
1965 Topps #220 Billy Williams
1990 Donruss #716 Bart Giamatti

A Hall of Famer and a major league president that faced the task of disciplining a player that had a Hall of Fame career.

1950

1978 Topps #420 Greg Luzinski
2007 UD SPXcitement SPX-29 Julius Erving

Two Philadelphia Giants.


1974

2008 UD Nationals Baseball Card Day #UD10 Derek Jeter
2000 Topps #38 Bobby Abreu

A pair of former teammates. 4800 Hits, 480 Homers and 650 Stolen Bases between them. Alanis Morissette, who is featured on a 2010 Phungo Card is also a 1974 Tiger.

1986
2008 Topps Trading Card History #TCH75 Felix Hernandez
2009 UD Goudey #152 Lou Marson

Felix Hernandez is on a card featuring the design from his birth year, which is pretty cool. Not many players can say that - unless they are a member of the Chicago White Sox or perhaps next year Jamie Moyer.

2009 10 31 Card Show Swag - Concord Mall, Wilmington DE

1975 Topps #185 Steve Carlton

I am going to be featuring a couple of posts this week on some of the cards I picked up at Concord Mall card show last weekend.

I was very pleased with the show - the 2.5 hours I allotted myself was clearly not enough time.

I spent the bulk of my time filling in some Phillies cards - both recent and 70s vintage as well as 50s vintage and 60/70s HOFs.

Today I will feature some of the 70s cards. At the top of this post is a 1975 Steve Carlton card which was in small batch of Phils cards that I picked up for 25 cents a pop.


1971 topps #439 Greg Luzinski/Scott Reid RC

There was a dealer there that had tons of off-condition vintage dating back to the 50s all at a buck a card. This Greg Luzinski Rookie Card was among the cards I pulled out his stash. We all know that Luzinski had a great career with the Phils and has lent his name to one of the Phils marquee concessions in their new ballpark. Scott Reid's baseball career was significantly different - He appeared in 38 career games for the Phils in 1969 and 1970.

In two separate purchases I picked up both Ollie Brown cards from the Topps 1975 set.


1975 Topps #596 Ollie Brown (mini and base)


Topps offered a miniature version of their 1975 set as well as the regular sized version. I really like the minis and tend to pick them up whenever I see one, definitely if it is a Phils player. The 1975 is a fairly iconic set and I wonder if I would like the minis as much if they were done for a less notable set like 1970 Topps. The Mini came from the same quarter bin as the 75 Carlton above. The base card came out of a dime box.

As I mentioned above the Luzinski dealer featured tons of vintage cards a at dollar a piece. Among the were these two early 70s gems.

1970 Topps #462 Hank Aaron All-Star

1971 Topps #160 Tom Seaver

To me any Hall of Famer from prior to 75 is worth a buck especially for top tier HOFs like Aaron and Seaver. If you are looking for big time stars of the era, the All-Star cards are always more affordable then the base. I like almost any newspaper themed cards so the 70s All-Stars are among my favorites.

Tom Terrific is a Met, but it isn't often your going to find a card of his from the early part of his career for only a buck.


A few weeks back Dayf posted a vintage Falcons insert card to mark one of the teams victories. I had remembered similar Hockey Cards from the 70s. As luck would have it I found this beauty in the dollar bin.

1977+ O-Pee-Chee Glossy #3 Bobby Clarke

Both OPC and Topps issued this insert set which came 1 per pack in each manufactures 1977+ set. The insert apparently also comes with square corners, I have only seen the rounded corners as pictured here.

That concludes the 70s era portion of the Concord Mall Card Show. Hopefully later in the week I will get a chance to post some of the 1950s topps cards that were available.

The Bull says there is less than 24 hours left in the John Hughes Memorial Trading Card Contest!

Team Phungo brings you another Photo from the Phils Alumni Weekend. This is Greg Luzinski signing autographs for fans at the Bulls BBQ Competition stand. Each year the Bull's Teammate Garry Maddox hosts a charity Barbecue competition and since Luzinski lends his name to a BBQ establishment at the Phils Ballpark he always has a stand at the event.

While singing a youngsters hat the Bull was mentioning how important it was for everyone to enter the...

John Hughes Memorial Trading Card Trivia Contest!

So far we have entries by Dayf, White Sox Cards, and 72 Topps Baseball.

The Phungo Judges have assured me that none of these trivia aficianados have run the table however and you can still win the competition and be declared the King or Queen of the Eighties!

Why watch the Bosox and Yanks tonight when you can spend it combing the internet for John Hughes Facts?

Spot The Sig - Greg Luzinski - Congrats Dayf

2003 Fleer Ultra All Veterans Stadium Team #7 of 12 Greg Luzinski

Congratulations to Dayf for being the first to Spot the Sig. Should have known he would come through. Stay tuned for next weeks Sig - If I get enough support there may be a contest in the works. More on that below.

This card connects two eras of my Phillies Phandom. The Phillies gave each fan, who attended the final Veterans Stadium game in 2003, a set of 12 cards commemorating the All-Vet team. The Bull was the All-Vet representetive for the Left Field postion. I suppose it is fitting that Dayf was first to figure out this Auto, since the Braves defeated the Phils that day 5-2. After picking up this card at the last game at the Vet, I also took it down to the first game at Citizens Bank Ballpark where Greg Luzinkski signed it out front of the brand new Bull's Barbecue.

Yes, similar to Camden Yards in Baltimore, The new Phils park has a Barbecue area beyond centerfield. In Baltimore they have Boog's Barbecue presided over by "Boog" Powell. The Phils have Bull's Barbecue, with Greg Luzinski at the helm. The Bull has become an ambassador for the Phillies, appearing in the area and on TV and radio a good bit. And of course he also puts in time at Bull's Barbecue which is located on Citizens Bank Ballpark's Ashburn Alley. I find Barbecue a bit messy for my taste on most game days but have enjoyed a few sandwhiches there over the years.

Anyone on the late 70s and 1980 World Championship Phillies teams are among the first players I can remember. Of course Luzinski is among the most memorable of this group - Big dude lots of pop and of course that Polish last name. One of my favorite moments of the Phils run in 1980 is during one of the post season games Luzinski had been removed for pinch runner Lonnie Smith who stayed in the field. Howard Cosell was the color analyst for the game and had apparenly forgotten about the replacement. When Smith eventually came to bat in Luzinkski's spot in the order, Cosell said "And now the question is 'Can the Bull do it again?'". I will post a card here eventually but in case you don't know, Lonnie Smith don't look much like the Bull.

I am sure Cosell was only looking off his scorecard but it was a moment that still remains funny to me today.

And since this Card commemorates Veterans Stadium, I also find it appropriate to post here during the week of Veterans day.

I plan on running Spot the Sig weekly throughout the Baseball off-season. As of now I would like to get the next STS up on Sunday night. I am thinking of having a contest that will run the duration of the feature. Probably will award a stack of cards to whomever spots the most Autos during the contest.