Opening Day: 2009 UD Piece of History CSC-UK Utley & Kinsler

We have already had Australia Opening Day and ESPN Opening Night. Today we finally get to Phillies Opening Day.

2009 UD A Piece of History #CSC-UK Chase Utley and Ian Kinsler

Five years ago both the Phillies own Chase Utley and the Rangers Ian Kinsler were coming off exceptional seasons. Among second basemen, Utley led all of Major League baseball in Offensive WAR, Kinsler was 2nd in the AL to Dustin Pedroia.

Today both players find themselves at a significantly different stature. Utley (age 35) hasn't played 140+ games since 2009, and Kinsler (31) has been jettisoned by the Rangers in favor of younger talent.

Reading the Competition
RTC will be returning for 2014. I hope to feature some two team cards like the Utley-Kinsler combo above.  I expect this will present us with some interesting pairings and players for discussion.

Source
Chase Utley Player Collection Index
Baseball-ref.com

2013 Topps Heritage 3-Pack Black Border Cards

Picked up one of those 2013 Topps Heritage 3 Packs yesterday to see what the parallels look like.  Topps has been doing this for a few years now, As far back as 2011 at least. The 3-Packs run $9.49 or $10.06 when you factor in PA Sales Tax.  That is a savings of 50 cents over picking up 3 loose packs plus you get the 3 bonus cards.

2013 Topps Heritage Black #479 Ian Kinsler

2013 Topps Heritage Black #350 Matt Cain

2013 Topps Heritage Black #477 Yadier Molina

The black border treatment for 2013 is much better then 2012 Heritage, where only the top 2/3 of the card could be black bordered.  It just looked awkward. The Black Border 2013 Topps Heritage do echo 1971 Topps.

Either I got a bit lucky with my bonus pack or the SPs are not an issue for the black borders, because both Kinsler and Molina are both among the High Numbered shorts.

Other Inserts

2013 Topps Heritage Memorable Moments - Teddy Wins First Presidential Races

2013 Topps Heritage Refracter #HC61 Yoennis Cespedes (#d/564)

The Teddy card is up for card of the year for me, and I am happy to pack draw him.  Not sure that 2012 memorable moments really belong in Heritage.  The Cespedes is a Refractor Parallel.  My other insert was the Then/Now of Whitey Ford/Felix Hernandez.  The Stat was shutouts - although in 1964 Whitey Ford did not lead the league in shutouts - that honor went to Dean Chance.

Base

The 24 base cards yielded a grand total of ZERO Phillies cards so team Phungo is still seeking our first 2013 Topps Heritage Phillies card. The other thing we noted is some of the caps look huge when they spill over the border. This to me is the defining characteristic for 1964 Topps. It's a set I didn't love at first put the beyond the border does help the headshot pop a little.  Since profile pix are the norm across Heritage it is a design element that works for the retro set. 

  

  

Phungo Game Report - 2009 09 07 Rangers 4 @ Orioles 5

Saturday was a great day for a game and the Phils were on the road so I ventured down to Camden Yards in Baltimore to catch the Orioles hosting the Rangers.

The O's are fielding what one would think is a pretty forgettable team and are attempting to not suffer a hundred losses. As dreadful as this sounds they are not awful to watch - in fact since there is no one at the stadium, it is a good opportunity to catch some of their young talent which will hopefully help the O's compete in the future.

Three of the O's Baseball America Top 5 Prospects were in action Saturday - Catcher Matt Weiters (#1), Left Fielder Nolan Reimold (5) and 2008 #4 overall pick Brian Matusz got the start.

The Texas Rangers are potentially playoff bound and feature a good mix of young talent and some veterans. Sadly Josh Hamilton is on the shelf and was out of the lineup.

After a rough start Matusz settled down and managed to pitch 6 good innings after a shaky 3 run first highlighted by a David Murphy home run. For the game Matusz gave up 4 runs over 7 innings on 6 hits and only 1 walk. It was good enough to give the O's a 5-4 Win. Former Phil Kevin Millwood did not pitch nearly as well - first he could not hold the 3 run lead that the O's spotted. Millwood would leave after only completing 5 innings and giving up 5 runs.

The Offensive highlights were provided by long time Oriole Melvin Mora who was 3 for 4 with a Homer and 3 RBIs. It may be Mora's last great game with the O's.

Some Snapshots:
Good Guy Awards go out to the Rangers Derek Holland, Julio Borbon, and I think this is Michael Young who were all spotted signing autographs. Robert Andino signed a few Autos on the home side.

It was Negro League Recognition Day at Camden Yards and the Widow Hall of Famer Leon Day (foreground) threw out one of the ceremonial first pitches.

2009 09 05 Mrs Leon Day

2009 09 05 Melvin Mora
Melvin Mora was the offensive hero of the day. As part of the Negro League Celebration the Orioles wore the uniforms of the 1949 Baltimore Elite Giants (Pronounced E-Light)



2009 0905 Brian Matusz v Ian Kinsler

Good seats for everyone. The payed attendence was a shade under 18,000 but I am not sure that half that many actually showed up.