Welcome to the Hall of Fame Jim Thome

Last night we got the good news that a Phillies Fan Favorite was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. \

2005 Fleer Skybox Autographics #43 Jim Thome

I don't need to get into his HOF credentials here, I mentioned them last month in our HOF ballot series.

The above 2005 Skybox Autographics set gets a fair on my design scale. Nothing really going for it, but inoffensive.

The real reason I was interested in posting this card for the HOF election announcement is the back

Flip

2005 Fleer Skybox Autographics #43 Jim Thome (b-side)

The last sentence in the text mentions Thome's 400th HR which occurred in a game that Team Phungo is very happy to say that we had the chance to attend.

2004 0614 Game Ticket Reds @ Phillies

The Phillies won the game 10-7, Jim Thome wasted no time getting his milestone Homer, a 2-run shot off of Jose Acevedo.  A video of the Home Run along with the call by Harry Kalas can be found here. It was a fun night and I am glad we live in an era when I can dial up the memory check out a video of the event just about anytime I want.

Returning to the b-side of the card I would like to take a look at the second half of the last sentence. Fleer mentions that a day prior to Thome's 400th Homer, Ken Griffey Jr had hit #499. Junior may be universally loved, however...

Check the ticket

Who did the Phillies play the day after Griffey hit #499? The Reds, Who did Griffey play for in 2004? the Reds! Therefore....

Ken Griffey was in town with 499 Career Homers the night Jim Thome hit his 400th Home Run. How cool would it have been to have 400th & 500th HR hit in the same game?!

Well it didn't happen.

Griffey sat out the game and hit #500 a week later.

Other Tributes
The Phillies Room - 2011 Phillies Team S2 #25
White Sox Cards - 2007 Heritage #33
Once a Cub - 1999 Fleer #95 (Game Dated Card)
Indian Baseball Cards Always Sketch card
My PCs one card at a time - 2001 Fleer E-X #48
Card Buzz - Canton Akron Classic Best Card
Padrographs - Custom

Sources and Links
Jim Thome Index
Jim Thome 400th HR Index
Game Dated Cards

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

2018 HOF Candidate: Jim Thome

On December 6 2002 the Philadelphia Phillies announced that the long struggling club was ready for big time when they signed free agent slugger Jim Thome.

Things didn't work out as well as Phillies fans would have liked but the short-lived Thome era did have some fun moments. Over the course of his first two seasons in Philadelphia Thome hit 89 Home Runs including a league leading 47 in 2003. 

2004 Topps #1 Jim Thome (image swiped from Dean's Cards)

Topps honored the league leading season by putting Jim Thome on the #1 card of it's 2004 set (AL HR Leader Alex Rodriguez got 2004 Topps next hero card #100).

Good looking card and I am glad that Thome was recognized by Topps while he wore a Phillies uniform. The team didn't make the playoffs while Thome was here, but it is my opinion he was a key stepping stone to getting the team to a competitive level.

One of my favorite moments of Jim Thome's tenure in Philadelphia was his 400th career Home Run which came during a Phillies 10-7 victory over the Reds on June 14 2004. The game is briefly discussed in our 2006 Wall of Fame posting.  

2004 Topps #1 Jim Thome (b-side image swiped from Dean's Cards)

On the top left of the back of the card we can indeed see that this is the #1 card in the set. 
It also shows Thome's inaugural Phillies stat line which notes his league leading 47 homers in red (as well as his 182 Ks). The short text blurb touches on Thome's other strength, getting on base. The 60 game on-base streak was stopped by pitchers Kris Benson and Scott Sauerbeck during a 2-0 Pirates victory over the Phillies.

Phun Phact
Topps also put Jim Thome on the #1 card of the 2004 Heritage set.

Phungo Verdict
HOF - Big Fan, 600 Home Runs, Great Guy.

Sources and Links
2018 HoF Candidates
Jim Thome Player Collection Index
Dean's Cards
#1 Club

Baseball-Ref

2018 HoF Candidiates Index

This is an Index to player profiles we may do on the new 2018 HoF Candidates.

Brad Lidge
Kevin Millwood VETO
Jamie Moyer HOF
Scott Rolen HOF
Jim Thome HOF

Chris Carpenter
Johnny Damon HOF
Livan Hernandez
Oliver Hudson
Aubrey Huff
Jason Isringhausen
Andruw Jones
Chipper Jones
Carlos Lee
Hideki Matsui
Johan Santana
Omar Vizquel
Kerry Wood
Carlos Zambrano

My Goal is to cover the Five Phillies related players and selected others. Most likely of the others will be Damon, Vizquel, and Kerry Wood. 

Our indices for Previous first timers are below
2017 HoF Candidates
2016 HoF Candidates
2015 HoF Candidates   
2014 HoF Candidates


Sources and Links
SB Nation

Jim Thome: Welcome to the Wall!

The Philllies are adding a Jim Thome plaque to their Wall of Fame tonight. I won't be there for the induction but do plan on getting down to the park at some point this weekend.

Thome's tenure here was short but he did provide some great memories

2005 Topps #25 Jim Thome

Remember a few years back when there was a buzz regarding Topps giving players card numbers that matched their uniform numbers. This Thome card is pre-buzz but it does fall on his #25.

2005 Topps #25 Jim Thome (b-side)

One of the reasons that I like this card is the fun fact, "On June 14, 2004, Jim Became the 37th Major Leaguer to reach 400 home runs." First off I respect the accomplishment and I am happy that the prodigious home run hitter reached the milestone while with the Phillies.

More selfishly I think it is cool that it was a game attended by Team Phungo.

Citizens Bank Ballpark was brand new at the time, there was always buzz at the stadium - even more so with a potential Thome Milestone. June 14 2004 was a rainy Monday night in which the Reds were in town to make up a game that had already been postponed once. None of this could damper the spirits of the fans there to see if Thome could hit #400. He didn't make us wait long - He homered in the first inning.

Except that there was the issue of a potential rainout - what would happen if the game didn't go the required 5 innings?

The clubs played through some rain and there were delays but the clubs eventually finished the contest (officially) with the Phillies winning 10-7 in a weather shortened 8 innings.

Someday I will dig through my ticket stubs and add one to this post.

Sources and Links
Phungo Jim Thome HR #400 Index
Phungo Jim Thome Player Collection
Phungo Games Index
Baseball-ref


 

2016 Wall of Fame inductee Jim Thome

The Phillies have announced that this year’s Wall of Fame inductee will be Jim Thome

2003 Donruss Studio #165 Jim Thome

Jim Thome’s tenure in Philadelphia was short but it had an impact. He may not have been a member of the playoff teams but he was an important piece that the organization needed to generate publicity while ramping up to opening of a new stadium.

The numbers for Thome’s 3+ Years are impressive, 101 Home Runs including an NL leading 47 in 2003 when he finished 4th in the MVP voting. He followed that up with an All-Star appearance in 2004. During each of his first two seasons in Philadelphia he finished top 10 NL in a number of offensive categories Homers, RBIs, Walks, SLG, and OPS.

2003 Donruss Studio
Picked this one because it features Thome in front of Veteran’s Stadium – the outgoing stadium. Regardless the building was good to Big Jim, He hit 28 dingers in the building including one on September 27 2003 which was the Final Home Run ever hit at the Vet. Later in that game he would also be plated on a Chase Utley single as the winning run in the Phillies final Veteran’s Stadium Walk-off Win.

One of the things I like about this picture is that just beyond Thome’s shoulders it features one of the giant statues that were set at the entrances of the Vet.  The sculptures were retained when Veteran's stadium was imploded and now sit around the former stadium’s perimeter.

Sources and Links
Phillies Wall of Fame Index
Phungo Jim Thome PC index
Baseball-ref

Topps #1 Club: 2004 Heritage Jim Thome (and a short print)

The Phillies recently posted their 2016 Wall of Fame ballot, Right at the top of the list is Slugger Jim Thome.

We are going to use this opportunity to extend our tour of #1 cards to include Topps Heritage.

 
2004 Topps Heritage #1b Jim Thome (sp)

In 2004 Topps put Jim Thome on card #1 in both flagship AND their heritage set. At the time Thome was coming off of his first season with the Phillies, a year in which he had led the NL in Home Runs with 47.  Not sure if it was a factor getting Thome on the #1 card but there was also a lot of buzz around Phillies as the team opened Citizen's Bank Ballpark in 2004 as well.

Near as I can tell the #1 Heritage Thome Card has no connection with the subject of the original 1955T card which was Dusty Rhodes.

1955 Topps #1 Dusty Rhodes (image swiped from Baseball Card Database)

Rhodes earned the top spot by hitting a pair of Home Runs and collecting 7 RBI while helping the New York Giants to win the World Series over the Cleveland Indians. Amazingly Dusty Rhodes didn't start a game in the 1954 Series and only played in 3 games, with 7 total plate appearances. But he made them count - one of the Homers was a Walk off in Game one. In game 2 he had a game tying hit in the 5th inning followed by a lead extending Homer later in the game. Those three hits all came off of future Hall of Famers (Bob Lemon G1, Early Wynn G2)

2004 Heritage #1

2004 Topps Heritage #1 Jim Thome (sp, b-side)

Returning to Jim Thome we post the back of his card and you can clearly see the #1 in the top left. We also have a minor connection to the Dusty Rhodes card - the cartoon/trivia Q on the Thome card does happen to reference Dusty's team, the Giants.

Short Print

2004 Topps Heritage #1b Jim Thome (sp)
2004 Topps Heritage #1 Jim Thome (base)

If you have been paying attention you will have noticed that the card we are discussing is a short print. The SP is the top card above with Thome shown holding the bat. The common #1 card is the latter of the pair with and action shot of Thome holding the bag at first. The Facsimile auto is moved a tad to better match the inset shot, other than that the Base and SP are identical.

2nd Flip

2004 Topps Heritage #1b Jim Thome (sp, b-side)
2004 Topps Heritage #1 Jim Thome (base, b-side)

And one final flip just to demonstrate the two cards have matching backs.  This is 2004 and Topps is in the pre-serial code era, that small print above the stats doesn't clue us in to which card is a base and which is a shorty. I pulled the two cards within a string of 3 packs or I may noticed myself.

Sources and Links
#1 Club
Jim Thome Player Collection
Baseball Card Database
Phillies
Baseball-ref

Player Collection Index: Jim Thome

This is an Index of our postings related to Jim Thome

2004 Topps Heritage #1b Jim Thome (SP - Batting)

2003 Donruss Studio #165 (Wall of Fame Induction) 

2004 Topps #1 (2018 HOF Candidate)

2004 Heritage #1b

 

2005 06 14 - Index to Posts related to Career HR #400

 

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

2008 SP Authentic

2009 Heritage Hi Number

2011 Phungo Cards

2011 Topps Heritage New Age Performers #NAP-2 (2011 Heritage Hobby Box Break)

2012 Topps Heritage #296 (1963 Topps: 2012 Topps Value Box Break)

Snapshots 2012 06 10 - Phillies 4 @ Orioles 5

Team Phungo took a road trip to see the Phillies play at Camden Yards on Sunday.  Unfortunatley the good guys lost 5-4 in extra innings on a hot afternoon.

 

 

We got to see up close what we have been seeing out of the Phils much of the year.  Trouble hitting with men on base, letting  a struggling pitcher of the hook.  The loss guaranteed it will be mid-june at the earliest before Cliff Lee records a Victory. 

 

It was another series loss for the Phils, Their shortcomings as a team are showing up daily at this point.  Total lack of relief pitching to get to Papelbon, no power hitting, poor clutch hitting, and good 2nd tier players, however they clearly aren't the type of guys that should be starting 120 games for a championship caliber team.

 

Snapshots (click on any pix to enlarge) 

 

Carlos Ruiz Matt Weiters

Not a great shot, with both palyers turned away, but graphically I think the above photo shows the difference between the Phillies and the Orioles.  Both players play the same position, but Weiters looks like an absolute giant compared to Chooch. 

Weiters was the hero of the day for the O's picking up the game winning RBI double in the 10th. 

Steven Tolleson 
The Orioles other O's hitting hero - Tolleson had a 3 run game tying home Run in the 4th inning. 

Hunter Pence

I am no batting expert, but it certainly appears to me that there is a lot going on in that swing.  No surprise that Pence may experience some peaks and slumps at the plate.

Adam Jones 
Jones had a walk off Homer for the Orioles on Sunday.  Fine action shot here.   

Charlie Manuel and Jim Thome

 

Back together again.

 

Not a great day or weekend for the Phillies, but Camden Yards is always an enjoyable trip for team Phungo.  The O's are hosting the cross state Pirates this week - debating hitting one of those games.

 

 

2012 Topps Value Pack

Value Boxes are back for 2012.  I have limited my pickups for 2012 to a Hanger and Rack for Flagship and a Blaster and a Rack for Heritage. 

With that few cards in the collection, I figured adding a Value Box would not dupe up to many cards I had already picked up.  The Box went for $15.10 at a big box store - (14.99 +/- PA Sales Tax/Store Discount Card)     


Highlights

2012 Topps Heritage #296 Jim Thome

2012 Topps #259 Michael Stutes
2012 Topps #307 Vance Worley
2012 Topps #98 Dominic Brown

The Worley is a dupe.  I also got a dupe of the NL Pitching leaders in one of my Heritage packs.

2012 Topps Heritage #279 Matt Kemp
2012 Topps Heritage #108 Vladimir Guerrero

Both Michael Taylor RCs (#253, #407)

2012 Topps Inserts - Of course the Thome here is my favorite.  The Koufax is the bonus GG.  Golden Greats is probably my favorite of the 2012 inserts, so getting 2 of those is a bonus for me.   

2012 Topps Bonus Chrome #MBC1 Mickey Mantle

The Stats

Flagship
30 Base Cards including 3 Phils Base Cards
2 Golden Greats (Ripken, DiMaggio)
1 Golden Giveaway (Braun) 
1 Timeless Talents (Molitor-Braun)
1 Golden Moments (Ellsbury)
1 Gold Standard (Seaver)
1 Walk Off (Thome)
1 Gold Futures (Kimbrel)
1 87 Mini (Bourn) 
1 GoldRefractor thingy (Juan Nicasio - Rockies)  
Note - I don't believe packs are retailer specific, so there are no red or blue parallels.    

Heritage
16 Base (1.5 Phils - Thome, NL pitching leaders)
2 Floating Head Stickers (Starlin Castro, Nelson Cruz)  

Bonus
1 Golden Giveaway (Koufax)
Mickey Mantle Chrome teaser Card


For The Collector - Value Box??? 


Click here for yesterday's dollar cents analysis of what is in a Topps Value Box.

Sources and Links
Vladimir Guerrero HOF Index

Congratulations Jim Thome - 600 Homers

2011 Phungo #25 Jim Thome

Jim Thome now ranks 8th career in Homers and 4th among Lefties (Bonds, the Babe, and Junior)

I am very happy to see Thome reach the milestone, he will always be one of the best players that I was able to see play on a regular basis.  I hope he sticks around for another season and gets another crack at a ring.  

For more info on the above card click here.

2011 Topps Heritage NOT Hot Box

As usual, I am a little behind - everybody is checking out Gypsy Queen and I am busting Topps Heritage, but at least I am busting a box from the current year.

Backstory

I was initially on the fence about building 2011 Topps Heritage - A recent Posting by A Cardboard Problem speculated on the rumour that the Hot Boxes (containing green tint chrome cards) were packaged differently.  At the CSA show in Oaks PA a few weeks back I found one of these Potential Hot Boxes.  In the name of Trading Card Research I was compelled to break the box.

Unfortunately, The Box was not a Hot Box but remained a fun box to open and I am happy to be building 2011 Topps Heritage.  It is the first Topps Baseball Set I have elected to build since 2008 Heritage.  I am pretty sure that at some point I will look into 2009 Goodwin Champions, but right now that project is still in the thinking about stage.

Box Toppers

The Box had two toppers - A 50th anniversary of Don Clendennon and a David Price Baseball Fiver. 

Not sure how I feel about Topps QC on this one, The Clendennon card is in reasonable shape if I was picking it up at a show as a 50 cent common, but this card is in fair shape and horribly cut.

Don't get me wrong the Anniversary cards are my favorite box topper, I just think that at 1 in every other box Topps could do a little better on the buyback end.  I was also hoping for a baseball buck and Price is a nice one to get.

Base Set

Low Numbers 194/425 (45%)

Phillies 7/17 (41%) 0/2 Hi Number

Hi Numbers 8/75 (10%)

Babe Ruth 5/10

checklist 3/6

Hits

CCR-JJ - Josh Johnson Clubhouse Collection

#143b - Jackie Robinson Story SP

Chrome

C12 Batting Leaders (Refractor 212/562) 

C27 Omar Infante (1941/1962)

C35 Casey Blake (1690/1960)

I don't get including the leaders cards in Chrome.  It is only a 100/200 card set why bother with duping a couple of floating heads on a single card.
 

Baseball Flashbacks

BF-4 Robin Roberts - would of liked him more in a Phils Uni for this one. 

BF-5 Yaz

New Age Performers

NAP-2 Jim Thome

NAP-7 Joey Votto

I love Thome, but I don't think of him as a New Age Performer at this point in his career.  Votto might be my favorite non-Phil young player of the moment.

News Flashbacks

NF-4 JFK/Cuban Embargo

NF-9 Jamaican Indepence

gotta love any card that celebrate Ganga and Reggae Music

 

Then and Now

TN-5 Mantle & Prince (this is a dupe of a retail I already pulled)

TN-7 Killebrew & Bautista 

every year this is my least favorite insert in heritage - although they are the easiest to make fun of. for example I refer to the Mantle/Fielder card as a celebration of Drunk Vegetarians - which reminds me of every "art student" I knew in college.

 
Phungo Says

 
Yes I was disappointed this was not a Hot Box, but I am happy with my decision to build 2011 Heritage.  I remain a fan of heritage,  and have always enjoyed the 1962 Topps set.  For the most part the inserts are interesting and the 50 or so Heritage cards I already picked up had enough unique cards to get me over the half way point in the set.         

 

2011 Phungo Cards - JIm Thome

2011 Phungo #25 Jim Thome

Here is Jim Thome and his trademark pre-swing stance.  Thome does this prior to every pitch and I have seen him to it many times in many different uniforms - Indians, Phillies, White Sox, and the Twins.

This photo was taken on the 19th of June when Thome came to pinch hit with a couple of runners on.  At the time I really didn't mind - I was sitting in the best seats I ever had at the Phils new ballpark, and the Phils were enjoying a comfortable five run lead in the 9th inning.

Then Thome hit one of his most majestic Home Runs.  The shot cleared dead center by a good 30 feet.  Later in the inning Joe Mauer would hit a 2 run dinger to tie the game.  In the end it wasn't the Phils day as they lost 13-10 on a very sultry day.

It was a tough loss but we were enjoying a Saturday with good friends and some adult beverages so it wasn't all bad - plus I got a couple of nice shots for the Phungo collection.

2010 Pull N Junk Playoffs: Best Pull - 2nd Quarter

The Best Pull Tourney Turns the page to the best pull of the 2nd Quarter of 2010.  Here are the candidates.

April
Two Topps Heritage Inserts make the cut for April 2010.   

2010 Topps Heritage Chrome #C90 Troy Tulowitzki (#d 288/1961)

2010 Topps Heritage Then & Now #TN10 Shutout Leaders Whitey Ford & Roy Halladay

click Here to find out more about these cards. 

May
May features a trio of entries that came out of UD bargain packs I picked up this past spring.  


2008 UD X Xponential 2 #X2-JT

2008 UD Baseball Heroes Copper #10 Brian McCann (#d100/149)
 
2009 UD 20th Anniversary #638 Steve Carlton

A couple of favorite players and a serially numbered McCann Card. 

For More Info on the May Cards click here.

June

1988 Donruss #539 Greg Maddux

Even Junk Wax can yield a Pull of the Month.  This is a Pre-Cy Young Greg Maddux.  At the time of issue Greg Maddux had a career W-L record of 8-18, He would go on to win 347 more games.

More info here. 

Vote

Please Vote for your favorite Phungo Pull of the 2nd Quarter in the comments:

1) Troy Tulowitzki
2) Roy Halladay/ Whitey Ford
3) Jim Thome
4) Brian McCann
5) Lefty
6) Greg Maddux

Card Show Report 2010 08 27 - Exton Mall, Exton PA

First off before I get to the last card show I was at, I would like to mention that there is a Card Show at the Concorde Mall in Wilmington Delaware this weekend. Team Phungo will be there on Saturday probably after 2pm. I will be wearing my World Baseball Classic Shirt - thats my card show shirt - if you spot me say hello - I will likely be hunched over a dime box in a daze.

Card Show Report 2010 08 27
Now to recap the last show I was at only two weeks ago. I am really mailing this one in, but it will give you an idea of some of the stuff that is moving for cheap right now.

There were only 8-10 tables at the Exton show a few weeks back, but there were at least 4 cheap-o boxes just for me.

Phillies

The Rollins Card was $1 - this is the Green Bordered version of Rollins 09 UD Heads up card. The Alexander was a Quarter. The Rest are dimes. Those are fairly old-school minis from the 1999 and 2000 Pacific Private Stock sets. Those cards are just slim enough to fit into a mini-sheet

Dime Serials Yum

picked up about 30 topps gold cards from various years in a dime box. The Uggla is of the #/29 variety - I don't care if it is M&M, for a dime it goes in the Phungo Collection.

25/Dollar
The Hunt card had some paper loss on the back. Reggie is soft all around - but I love any card with a box score on the b-side. The Torii Hunter cards is sharp looking and will find it's way into my type collection. I have no idea who Dusty Brown is, but I love Knothole cards.

2010 Allen Ginter Blaster Break and Review

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter This Day in History
#TDH1 Chase Utley/Wright Brothers

Time to open and review a Blaster of 2010 Allen & Ginter. First off I would like to state that this was a fun product to open. I sort of soured on Ginter in 2008. I was already building a variety of current sets at the time, and I felt that 08 Ginter was pretty bland. In general the A&G cards have a fairly plain appearance. For me the spice is in the oddball cards and the non-baseball insert sets - which in A&G do not feel out of place.

Opening a Blaster full of 2010 Allen & Ginter was just a box of good old fun - there is a History and or pop culture lesson in just about every pack. These packs actually even drew some interest from the future Mrs Phungo. Thats right I said the future Mrs Phungo. I don't really get into many personal messages here, but yes I am very happy to let everyone know that I have been given the promotion from Boyfriend to Fiance. Jo is on my mind a lot currently as she is traveling abroad for a long term work assignment and we will be apart for the next several months.

The Review
Product
1 blaster of 2010 Tops Allen & Ginter ($21.59 incl PA Sales Tax).

Specs
8 Packs @ 6 Cards/Pack = 48 cards.

Phillies Cards - Strike Out
ugh - 8 packs, 4 base cards a pack - 30 teams in the league. You do the math - one should get at least a single base card from their favorite team. I haven't really analyzed the checklist but my guess is that the Phils likely have more than their share of 2010 Topps A&G base cards. Well none of those have found their way into the Phungo collection yet. I did manage a Phils insert - see above - which sort of makes up for not getting any of the base cards.
2010 Topps Allen & Ginter (click to enlarge)
#73 Avery Jenkins
#145 Jim Thome
#264 Nemo
#277 Regis Philbin

Base Cards - Line Drive Single
The rest of base cards were solid enough. I picked up a good mix of Favorite Players, Former Phils, Hated Villains and Oddball guests. I think I would have handed out a Double here had I received any Phils in the Box.

I love the Avery Jenkins card. Until my late 30s I was involved in the Philadelphia's areas Ultimate Frisbee league. My legs, knees, ankles and resistance to staying in good shape eventually conspired to force my retirement. About a year ago on the suggestion of card blogger Lake Effect Baseball Cards, I took up a little Disc Golf. It's a fun hobby, we have a very short course near our home and get out to it a few times a month when the weather if favourable. If anybody comes up with the relic or auto of this one, let me know - perhaps we can work a deal.

Regis Philbin and I are within a degree of separation. A co-worker of mine appeared on "Millionaire" about a decade ago. I think She won $125,000. I can' t remember what question she went out on, but I remember there was a Question regarding Magnum's baseball cap.



2010 Topps Allen & Ginter (click to enlarge)
#334 Brett Myers(sp)
#302 Daric Barton(sp)
#311 Chone Figgins(sp)
#304 Carlos Pena(sp)

Short Prints - Ground Rule Double
A former Phil, plus Phungo favorite Chone Figgins. Is it me or are the Figgins and Pena cards recycled images?


Inserts
This Day in History - Home Run

Love this set!!!

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter This Day in History (click to enlarge)
#TDH48 Matt Holliday/Queen Elizabeth I
#TDH67 Josh Beckett/Women Suffragettes: Susan B Anthony & Elizabeth Cady Stanton
#TDH20 CC Sabathia/Andy Kaufmann
#TDH34 Troy Tulowitcki/USNA opens


2010 Topps Allen & Ginter This Day in History (click to enlarge)
#TDH8 Yunel Escobar/KDKA initial commercial radio broadcast
#TDH53 Nick Markakis/First Session of Congress
#TDH61 James Shields/Louisiana Purchase

Yes, I like this set, Plus my one Phils card was the December 17th Chase Utley/Wright Brothers Aviation card above. Not sure at 1 per pack I will feel this way down the road, as I will likely open at least one more blaster of A&G this year.

Sketch Card
2010 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball Sketches #AGHS4 Mariano Rivera
I suppose according to the Odds, This is the hardest card in the box to pull. The Card is nice enough, Not sure who the Phillies rep is in this set.

2010 Allen & Ginter Mini
#243 Jim Zapp (negro leaguer)
#177 Pedro Feliz
#315 Bobby Abreu (sp)
#201 KF Panda (AnG back)

Minis - Ground Rule Double

Former Phils Pedro Feliz in the black border format, A Negro Leaguer. John Milton is a great Wordsmith - If I decide to build a mini insert set the Wordsmiths would likely be the one.

2010 Allen & Ginter Lords of Olympus #LO20 Thanatos (Personification of Death)
2010 Allen & Ginter Monsters of the Mesozoic #MM7 Spinosarus
2010 Allen & Ginter World's Wordsmiths #WGWS8 John Milton
2010 Allen & Ginter National Animals #NA3 Falcon of Iceland
2010 Allen & Ginter National Animals #NA34 Condor of Colombia



Not sure if the Dinosaurs work in a mini format - Oxymoron violation.

Overall - Double
Nice cards, Cool Subsets, Fun to bust - Only drawback was a low Phils count.

Phungo 5 with Rhubarb Runner

Today the Phils host the Minnesota Twins in the rubber match of their three game Series. To give us some insight on the AL Central Division leaders today we have Rhubarb Runner of é rayhahn, rayhahn.

How has playing at Target Field affected the Twins?

The Twins have drawn well the past few years (good teams will do that), but obviously the new, beautiful ballpark has been bringing in the fans big-time. A big question in the media was how would the ballpark play for HRs? One of our regulars at WGOM did a three part study (it was even referenced at the Wall Street Journal, and although the footprint is similar to the Metrodome, the temperature/humidity/wind was expected to keep HRs down in all but the hot days of mid-summer, and that has shown to be true. Twins are fielding just as well now that they're off turf, but we have one of the more generous official scorers.

Which Twins pitcher are you looking forward to watching bat? Heh - good question! Been a while since Johan swung his hot bat for the Twins...I'm going to say Kevin Slowey. He's my favorite of the starters, and there's no reason "Slowtime" can't have a little luck at the plate. I was wanting to add #59 and a slow moving vehicle sign to the back of my Twins uni shirt, but haven't pulled the trigger on that yet.

2010 06 19 Kevin Slowey - check it out no batting gloves.

How did you acquire so many Oddball cards?

Back when I lived in Los Angeles during the dark days of the Junk Wax Era, I used to pick up a lot of stuff that had Twins in them -- Toys 'R Us box sets, baseball card magazine insert pages (back when Beckett wasn't the monopoly and MLB Licensing didn't crack down on it), cereal/string cheese/Crackerjack/etc. food issues -- you name it. I didn't know many other team collectors, so never had much opportunity to trade the non-Twins. Nice to finally see them begin to find good homes now, though, thanks to the great internet neighborhood of collectors out there.

Do Pre-Twins Washington Senators Cards have much appeal for you?

You know, the pre-1961 Washington Senators have a LOT of appeal to me, but I just don't collect them. There are so many Twins cards - I have to draw a line somewhere, so I don't pursue the Senators cards, nor to I collect minor league cards (unless they say specifically "Minnesota Twins" on them). On a related note, I really wish the Twins organization gave their Senators history more acknowledgement. My God, guys like Walter Johnson, Sam Rice...they deserve some team recognition SOMEWHERE, and it shouldn't be the Nationals.

Phungo Note - Last year we found out from our friends at Texas Rangers Cards that the Rangers own the rights to the Senators Name, Colors, and Brand. This surely impacts the ability to market the connection in the Twin Cities.

What is the best dish featuring Rhubarb?

Oh my gosh, they're ALL good. I love a good rhubarb crisp, but I've had delicious rhubarb ice cream, Amish rhubarb/cherry jam...mmm, rhubarb! Now you have me really looking forward to the trip nort' this summer to the "hometown" county fair.

Phungo Box Score
4 out of 5 - I have actually had an aversion to Rhubarb since I was a kid - my father was a big fan and I never got the attractions. As an adult - I have had a few things and while my tastes have developed, Rhubarb has not become a favorite.

I may also be a bit upset at press time, as I attended yesterday game where the Twins came from 5 runs down in the 9th to beat the Phils. I know it's a knee-jerk reaction, but it's my blog my rules - 4 out of 5.

Game Photos

I was at the first two games of the Phils Twins series - The Slowey Photo above is from the Saturday Fox game - if you watched the game you likely saw Team Phungo in the stands. we pretty much sat directly opposite the camera that ISO'd Left-handed hitters.


2010 06 19 Jim Thome - Click to enlarge

This is Thome's Pinch Hit appearance - moments after a I took this picture Thome would send an absolute rocket into center field.

2010 06 18 Ryan Howard - Click to Enlarge

And this is the Big Man who replaced Mr Thome at first base for the Phillies. This is a BP shot from prior to Friday night's game when Howard had one of the best offensive nights I have ever witnessed (4-4, 2 HR, 3bh, 2bh, 3 RBI, 3 Runs )

Bonus Coverage

For even more coverage of the Twins @ Phils check out this post from Sport Card Info.


Looking Back

For a previous Phungo 5, click here to read our interview with Padrographs.


for a bll

Pull of the Month - May 2010

The Pull of the Month comes from one of several bargain packs that I picked up at the big K a few weeks back. This was one of two insert cards to come out of a .99 cent pack of 08 UD X.



2008 UD X Xponential 2 #X2-JT

The X2 cards have a UDs version of a chromey finish and are pretty sharp looking - the Chisox black and white particular fits the card type. The back of the card commemorates Thome's 500th homer on 9./16/07. I was present for His 400th homer when he played for the Phils.

Thome was always a class act in dealing with difficult situations in Philadelphia and I hope his career can end on an up note.


Contenders


2008 UD Baseball Heroes Copper #10 Brian McCann (#d100/149)
2009 UD 20th Anniversary #638 Steve Carlton

Two more cards out of the same lot of bargain packs mentioned above. Check out the that shirt on Lefty.

Meh of the Month


Garbage from 2008 Topps U&H. I bumped the scanner while running this card through. but liked the image - it only emphasizes the stupidity of placing the TOPPS logo in the top center of the photo. He we have the major leagues tallest pitcher being squashed by the branding mechanism. ugh.


Past Pulls of the Month

2010 April
2010 March

2010 February

2010 January

Other Sources and LinksJim Thome Index
Game Dated Cards Index