1980 World Champions: Larry Bowa 1971T #233

We have turned over into a new year (and decade) so we can officially celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1980 Phillies.

1971 Topps #233 Larry Bowa (b-side)

This is not Larry Bowa's rookie card, he shared 1970T #539 with fellow middle infielder Denny Doyle.

However this is Bowa's first solo card and it is a fine card. To start with we have one of the most iconic designs in the Topps canon, 1971. Secondly the photo captures Bowa in a defensive posture, which was his most dominant skill during a long career. Finally this card is part of one of Team Phungo's favorite collections: All-Star Rookie Cards.

The cup was awarded to Larry Bowa for his 1970 campaign that saw him finish 3rd in the Rookie Of the Year voting (Carl Morton, Bernie Carbo).

I would also like to give a shout out to Paterson New Jersey's Johnny Briggs who appears in the background of this shot. Briggs spent the second half of the 1960s on the Phillies roster but was only teammates with Larry Bowa for one year as he was traded early in 1971 season.

1971 Topps #233 Larry Bowa (b-side)

Lots of fodder on the back of Larry Bowa's 1971T card. TOPPS goes all selfie and mentions the award they have given to Bowa. The most noteworthy portion of the text is Topps use of the term '"On-Base" average' which I imagine is one of the earliest on card uses of the term.

Unfortunately Topps use of the word "fine" to describe Bowa's OBA is questionable. At .277 he ranked 53rd among the 56 NL players who qualified. The League Average was .329, Bowa's 21 walks ranked 110th.

The final sentence in the bio refers to Paul Bowa, his baseball-ref page can be found here. 

Not sure where the front image was taken, could be spring training or possibly Shea stadium, but this back photo sure looks like the Vet - Even in b&w.

1970 RoY voting
As mentioned above Bowa finished 3rd in the NL Rookie of the Year voting:

Carl Morton or Bernie Carbo deserved to be 1-2 by both 1970 standards and modern analytics. To be honest I am surprised the BBWAA went with Morton (18-11, 3.60 ERA 154K) over Carbo (.310, 21 HR).

Among the 5 players receiving votes he was clearly the least deserving. However, other than Cedeno he is probably the player to have the most career success. He is also the only player among the lot to win a World Series.

Phungo Originals

This is one of the cards that made the cut for the Phungo Sketch Challenge

Phungo Original 1971T Larry Bowa

I swapped out the Rookie Cup for a World Series Trophy and went with a simplified background. I think Larry looks more like John Vukovich - oh well, my art career is a Work In Progress - perhaps I can say I have a "fine On-Base Average"

Larry Bowa Index
1972 Topps #520 (2008 NLCS)
1975 Topps #420 (1976 All-Star Team +40)
1975 Topps #420 (Larry Bowa Bobblehead night 2015)
1976 ASG Program (1976 ASG +40)
1981 Fleer #645 (1980 Phillies Reunion/Card Show w/ Pete Rose & Mike Schmidt)
1981 Fleer #645 (1980 Phillies +30)
1984 Topps #704 (1983 NL Champs w/ Joe Morgan & Cedeno)

Peanut Gallery (Other columns on this card)
Topps Baseball 1971 (Night Owl Cards)

Sources and Links
1980 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies
1971 Topps All-Star Rookies
Phungo Artwork
1971 Topps Blog (Night Owl Cards)
baseball-ref
SABR Bio Larry Bowa Rich D'Ambrosio 
SABR Bio Johnny Briggs (John Saccoman) 

1970 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Team (1971 Topps Set)

1971 Topps #233 Larry Bowa

C Thurman Munson New York Yankees
1B John Ellis New York Yankees
2B Dave Cash Pittsburgh Pirates
3B Al Gallagher San Francisco Giants
SS Larry Bowa Philadelphia Phillies
OF Bernie Carbo Cincinnati Reds
        Billy Conigliaro Boston Red Sox
        Roy Foster Cleveland Indians
RHP Carl Morton Montreal Expos
LHP Les Cain Detroit Tigers


1971 All-Star Rookie Set Proofs (SABR Basseball Cards Tim Jenkins)


Sources & Links
Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Master Index
Baseball-Ref

1976 ASG +40: Larry Bowa

Larry Bowa made Five All-Star teams during his 16 year career. 1976 was the 3rd of those five games. Bowa was beat out at the ballot box by Reds Shortstop Davey Concepcion and did not enter the game until the fifth inning. In his only AB in the game Bowa popped out to Right Field versus Frank Tanana

1975 Topps #420 Larry Bowa

Bowa's 1975T All-Star swatch honors his start in his start in the 1974 Mid-Summer classic hosted by the Pirates. As a batter the most successful ASG for Bowa was 1978 when he went 2 for 3 and scored a run. All five of his appearance came as a Phillies player and the NL won each of those games.

flip

1975 Topps #420 Larry Bowa (b-side)

The back of Bowa's card mentions his 1974 All-Star Appearance in Pittsburgh along with Bowa's early career fielding accomplishments.

A note on the cartoon, Ping Bodie, The man has a pretty interesting SABR Bio. First off his official name contains neither Ping nor Bodie. He was born Francesco Stephano Pezzolo - through a series of events his name evolved to Ping Bodie. Among other tidbits found in his Bio is that he swung a 52 oz bat and roomed with Babe Ruth when he played for the Yankees.

In the film "the Babe" Ping was portrayed by horror movie actor Ralph Marrero. It was Marrero's last film as he died in a car accident prior to the movies release.

Sources and Links
Larry Bowa Index
1976 All-Star Game Index
Baseball-ref
imdb

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

Larry Bowa Bobblehead Night Tueday August 18th

On Tuesday August 18th the Phillies are hosting Larry Bowa Bobblehead night to mark the Shortstop/Coach/Managers 50 years in Baseball

1975 Topps #420 Larry Bowa

1975 was the first of three times that Larry Bowa picked up an All-Star game flair the other years were 1979, and  1980.

The 1975 All-Star game celebrates Larry Bowa starting the previous years all-star game. An honor he earned despite his season long WAR of 1.2. National League Shortstops that had a Higher WAR than Bowa  included Bill Russell, Chris Speier, Bud Harrelson, and Most Notably Dave Concepcion (5.5 WAR)

Sources and Links

Larry Bowa Index
Philadelphia Phillies
Baseball Card Database
Baseball-ref

1983 NL Champions: Joe Morgan 1984 Topps #705 NL Active Stolen Base Leaders

One of the most notable Wheeze Kids was Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. 

1984 Topps #705 NL Active Stolen Base Leaders Morgan Cedeno Bowa

Regardless of what folks may think of Morgan as a broadcaster he was a helluva ballplayer.  Most people remember him from his days with the Big Red Machine, but he was also played second base for the Phils during their 1983 NL Pennant winning season.  

Morgan was down to his penultimate season by the time he got to the Phillies and his age was showing.  He only batted .230, but he did have a good World Series. He hit a game tying Home Run in the only game of the series which Phillies won. In the last post season AB of his career Morgan Tripled off of Scott McGregor. It was the last hit of the Phillies season. 

The Big Red Machine
The Reds are The Great Eight of the Big Red Machine. The centerpiece of the event will be Joe Morgan weekend which will feature the unveiling of a statue of the Hall of Famer. For more information on Joe Morgan Weekend click here.   

1984 Topps Active Leaders
The Active Leaders Subset from 1984 is a great one for Phillies fans. The set celebrates Career Leaders in 9 different categories and since the Phils were the Wheeze kids in 1983, they are well represented. Morgan, Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Larry Bowa, and Tony Perez all make appearances. The set consists of 18 cards (9 per league) and runs from #701-#718

Other Voices
Andy from High Heat Stats did an in depth analysis of the SB leaders on the old Baseball-ref blog

1983 NL Champions Series  
Darren Daulton
Bo Diaz  
John Denny
Garry Maddox  
Tony Perez
Pete Rose
 
Steve Carlton Passes Walter Johnson


Sources & Links
Larry Bowa Index
Baseball Card Database
Cincinnati Reds 
Baseball-ref.com

Philly Show Returns this Weekend

 

1981 Fleer #645 Triple Threat Schmidt, Rose, Bowa



Team Phungo will not be able to make it to the next edition of the Philadelphia Sportscards and Memorabilia Show which is happening this weekend. 


I have always enjoyed the show and encourage anyone interested in card collecting to attend.  Although it appears that the show is becoming more and more an autograph show then a show for card vendors.  

There is a BIG 1980 Phils Reunion going on for the show with roughly 20 members of the 1980 World Series team scheduled to appear either Saturday or Sunday.  The Big Names are all scheduled to be there on at least one of the two days Carlton and Schmidt on Saturday - Pete Rose on Sunday. 

I tend to think Autos at these shows are a bit pricey - but I think when you stack him up against the rest of the field Steve Carlton at $39 is the best deal of the big names (Roy Halladay is $149).  I like Keith Moreland at $12 in the bargain set - I don't think he is really affiliated with the Phils right now and he would be one of the tougher ones to get in person.  The complimentary auto with the weekend admissions is from Philadelphia Eagle Trevor Laws.

Admission to the Show is $8 - You can usually get $1 off coupons in the weekend Philadelphia Papers. 


For reports on some of the past Philly Shows click the dates below

2010 09 25
2010 03 13
2009 12 05
2009 12 05 (special 1959 Topps Edition)
2009 09 27

Sources & Links
Larry Bowa Index

1980 Phillies 30th Anniversary

1981 Fleer #645 Triple Threat Schmidt, Rose, Bowa

One of the things I failed to mention during the State of the Blog post is that I am also plan on marking the 30th anniversary of the 1980 Phillies World Champioinship.

Ideally a couple of players from the team will be featured each month throughout 2010. I figure if I average 2 or 3 a month I should be done by the time the 2010 World Series rolls around. Of course I completely missed January and am I already a month behind.
I would like to try and to feature as many different card editions as possibly. As you are likely aware I am basically a Topps guy so you are going to see the Topps run from 75 to 85 plus a dozen other cards or so.

As part of the retrospective I will also be looking at the 1950 National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies who are marking their 60th anniversary this season.

Phungo Roman Numeral Challenge

I also wanted to note that PatSearcher has been named as the winner of the Phungo Roman Numeral Challenge. He picked out three of the cards while Padrographs and Play at the Plate each figure out 2.

So far in 2010 Challenges and Pop Quizzes we have had 3 different Winners
PatSearcher - Roman Numerals
Padrographs - Joe Jackson/JD Salinger
Nr-Mt - Randy Johnson Retirement

Sources and Links
Larry Bowa Index

Phillies World Series Teams - 1980 World Champions - Happy Anniversary

28 Years ago Today...
1981 Fleer #645 Triple Threat Mike Schmidt Pete Rose Larry Bowa

The Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-1 in game 6 of the 1980 World Series.

Team Phungo is hoping that the 2008 Phillies will be joining them as the Phillies next World Champion.

Game 3 Phillies @ Dodgers

1972 Topps #520 Larry Bowa
1979 Topps #290 Davey Lopes

Today the Phillies head out to LA to face the Dodgers in the enemy territory of Chavez Ravine. Davey Lopes spent the first 10 years of his Major League career manning 2nd base for the Dodgers. During that same era, Larry Bowa was playing Shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies. Currently they have swapped teams for their post playing career work. There is some symmetry in their coaching postions too. Lopes has moved to the first base coaches box which is just to the left of 2nd base, while Bowa has moved to the right of shortstop and into the third base coaches box. I loved Bowa as a player but I am cheering for Lopes' new team this weekend. Hopefully Davey can help the Phils runner steal some bags just like he did for so many years at Dodger Stadium and come back to Philadelphia as a member of the National League Champs.

Sources & Links (added 2020 0108)
Larry Bowa Index