Bucket or Chuck-It; 2016 Topps Throw Back Thursday Set

Ahh time to return to a feature that we haven't had in a while Bucket or Chuck-It. Bucket is good as in add it to your bucket list. Chuck-It is bad as in Toss it out like a pair of worn sneakers.

2016 Topps TBT #37 Mike Piazza '96 ASG MVP

All seaon Jim from the Phillies Room has been picking up Phillies related Topps Now cards in bulk and passing along cards to other Phils collectors. I find the cards unique and as a fan of game dated cards the concept appeals to me, especially when someone like Jim is dedicated to do all the work of submitting the requests to Topps. There have been at least 6 Phillies Topps Now cards and I would like to get to those and a More dedicated thank you to Jim in a future post.

I myself  hadn't picked up anything directly from Topps until recently when I saw in celebration of the Hall of Fame weekend they issued a "bundle" related to this year's inductees Ken Griffey Jr and Mike Piazza.

The six card set is inspired by the 1962T Babe Ruth Subset with 3 cards dedicated to each of the new Hallers.  The second card of the set features a photo of Mike Piazza receiving an the 1996 All-Star Game award.

This card was appealing to me as a Piazza fan and it is a nice add to my local players collection, but the real draw is that the 1996 ASG is a Phungo Game and This is a card I can add to the Phungo Games collection.

Despite the fact that the image on the card makes Piazza appear as if he had a few to many at the family picnic, I do like the front of this card.

However.....

2016 Topps TBT (b-sides)

Topps mailed it in on the b-sides for the text. The backs of all six cards have identical text. The only thing that differentiates each card is the number and the player name.

 It's a shame, if these are such big events in each players career how about paying a writer and a copy editor (or even an intern) for a couple of days work to come up with a paragraph. This is a $20 set of six cards, that can be produced months in advanced - it's not like they woke up on Wednesday and said "Hey we need to put out a Throw Back Thursday set tomorrow" or maybe they did.

Compare

2016 Topps TBT #37 Mike Piazza '96 ASG MVP (b-side)
1962 Topps #138 Babe Ruth Special (b-side)

Check out this example of an original 1962 Babe Ruth Special. We have a pretty detailed summary of Ruth's rough 1925 season. On the New Piazza card all you get "Hey look at us, we have been making cards for 50 years and Mike shares this documentation with Ken Griffey Jr"


Flip

2016 Topps TBT Ken Griffey Jr 1995 ALDS
1962 Topps #138 Babe Ruth Special

Just for comparison we present the front of one of the other TBT specials with Babe's original.  I think Topps did a decent job on the fronts, just wish they would have carried through to the back.

Verdict
Very disappointed, Great Concept, I think Topps picked a great subset to use for these cards, but the execution of the backs is insulting, especially for a set that runs $20.

Sources and Links
1996 All-Star Game Index
Phungo Mike Piazza HoF Index
Phungo Ken Griffey Jr HoF Index
Phungo Babe Ruth HoF Index
Topps TBT
Baseball-Ref

TRENDY: Ichiroll

The Phillies are in Miami to play the Marlins and Ichiro is in the lineup for the Home Team. The Future Hall of Famer entered the game with 2996 Hits - FOUR short of 3000

Tonight we have a related card sort of....

2013 Phungo BFI - Ichiroll

Team Phungo made the Trek out to Seattle in 2012. Safeco is known for it's many food and drink options - one of which is the Ichiroll, an item on their Sushi Menu. I don't really recall what was in the roll, but I think it was pretty tasty.

Ichiro was traded to the Yankees later in 2012 and I am not sure if the Mariners still sell the Ichiroll, but it would be a nice gesture to continue the honor.  

When I first conceived of Phungo Cards I wanted to have some fun ones in each set, this one certainly qualifies.

Sources and Links
Ichiro HoF Link
Vittles

SuperBowl 50: Jamie Moyer?

My angle on today's Superbowl is the 50 in #Superbowl50

2009 Upper Deck #300 Jamie Moyer

One of my favorite Phillies is Jamie Moyer and he wore the Number 50 for the 2008 World Series Champions. I don't have many Phillies/Moyer cards where the uniform number is highlighted. In the above 2009 UD card you can see the ID on Moyer's left sleeve. The right sleeve displays a VUK patch to honor the memory of longtime Phillies player and coach John Vukovich.

In addition to the #50 on Moyer's sleeve there is one located at the bottom of the card next to the player position.

I also like this card because it would be a hero number if it was a Topps Card - #300.

2009 Upper Deck #300 Jamie Moyer (b-side)

There is your proof, 300. Of course this is UD so it is not a Hero card, 300 simply falls in a sequence of cards where the majority of Phillies players reside in 2009 UD. Cards 289-302 are all Phils Most of which were members of the 2008 World Series Championship Team.

2012 Topps
There are some cards on different teams that showcase Moyer's  #50 more prominently.

2012 Topps #US123 Jamie Moyer (Orange Parallel - Image Swiped from Ebay)

One of those cards that I am interested in today is a special Moyer card from the 2012 Update Series. In addition to having an easily visible #50 we also see that Jamie Moyer is featured in a Colorado Rockies, a team that share a community with one of today's Superbowl teams, the Denver Broncos.

And the Broncos are the team I will be rooting for today. I am rooting for Peyton Manning to go out a Winner. I fight it often but sometimes I must admit I am older and stories where the old guys win appeal to me.

Returning to the card, it notes Jamie Moyer becoming the Oldest Player to win a game. This game occurred on April 17 2012 versus the San Diego Padres. Moyer would break his own record a month later when he earned the W in a Rockies 6-1 victory over the Diamond Backs on May 16th.

I conclude with a Go Broncos! 

Sources and Links
bdj610s Topps Baseball Card Blog
baseball-ref
baseballcardpedia
ebay tscardstore
mlb
 

2016 Hall of Fame Ballot

It isn't as exciting as the postseason or even the regular season but Awards Season is upon us. This will all culminate with the Hall of Fame Voting in January. 

There are 15 new names on this years Ballot, none bigger than Ken Griffey Jr.

1994 Topps #388 All-Star Outfielders Len Dykstra & Ken Griffey Jr

We will all likely see a lot of cards of Junior over the next couple of weeks. This is a fun one that also happens to feature the Phillies centerfielder of the era Len Dykstra. Something tells me that Griffey's HoF ballot count will be significantly better then Dykstra's sole appearance - the 2002 ballot. 

Lenny received a single HoF vote, which is more than he deserved. 

I did a few searches but was unable to find the BBWAA that voted for Dykstra. It is almost comical to think of he and Junior getting equal billing on a card. For the most part I think Griffey is one of the most well regarded professional athletes while Lenny is pretty much viewed as a cretin.

flip

1994 Topps #388 All-Star Outfielders Len Dykstra & Ken Griffey Jr (b-side)

Kind of a cool idea for an All-Star card with the pre- and post- break stats. Both Griffey and Dykstra had impressive OBP for the entirety of 1993, I am a little surprised the stat made it onto a 1994 card. Dykstra had a bit of a dropoff in the 2nd half, but his numbers remained impressive.

Dykstra finished 2nd to Barry Bonds in the 1993 NL MVP Voting, while Griffey came in 5th in the junior circuit - despite having the 2nd best WAR (8.7) which led AL position players. 

RookiesThe 15 new comers on this years ballot are listed below

Garret Anderson
Brad Ausmus
Luis Castillo
David Eckstein
Jim Edmonds
 
Troy Glaus
Ken Griffey Jr
Mark Grudzielanek 
Mike Hampton
Trevor Hoffman
 
Jason Kendall
Mike Lowell,
Mike Sweeney
Billy Wagner
Randy Winn

I am going to try and cover a couple of these players prior to the HoF announcement in January.  At a minimum I expect to put together columns on Billy Wagner, Hoffman, and Ballot Snub Chan Ho Park.

There are 17 holdovers from the 2015 ballot giving us a total of 32 candidates. Some of those folks got mentioned in our 2015 HoF Ballot coverage which is can be found here.


Sources and Links
2016 HoF Candidates Index
CNN/SI - Jay Jaffe
Baseball Hall of Fame
baseball-ref

ANNIVERSARY: August 31 1990 Griffey & Griffey Jr Join same lineup

25 Years ago on August 31 1990 Major League Baseball saw the first Father Son Game as Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr were both in the same lineup for the first time.

1991 Score #841 the Griffeys

Baseball is often called the game of Fathers and Sons. The above black n white Score card captures that sentiment well - the two legends are a portrait of happiness. 

1991 Score #841 the Griffeys (b-side)

The back of the card has what appears to be a sketch and text mentioning the game on August 31st which was a 5-2 victory by the Mariners over the Royals.  The card goes on to mention a game two weeks later when the Griffey's hit back to back Home Runs off Angels Pitcher Kirk McCaskill in Anaheim. Despite giving up the Homers The Angels prevailed in the latter game 7-5.

Box Notes 
The Mariners Starting pitcher for the first Griffey/Griffey game was 2015 HoF Inductee Randy Johnson and boderline HoF Edgar Martinez was in the lineup PLAYING THIRD BASE. The Away Royals featured former Phillie Steve Jeltz and Future 1993 NL Champion Phillie Jim Eisenreich. The starting Center Fielder for the Royals that day was Brian McRae, son of Hal McRae.

The latter game once again featured Edgar at 3rd for the Ms. The Angels had a number of interesting names in their lineup none bigger than Dave Winfield. Others are Dick Schofield, another second generation player who shares a name with his father. Dick the elder his the Grandfather of Jayson Werth, while the younger is Werth's uncle. Bryan Harvey got the Save for the Angels and will likely be the father of a major leaguer some day, his Son Hunter is in the Orioles system.  Phils connected players in the Angels lineup include Catcher Lance Parrish and First Baseman Rick Schu. The Winning Pitcher for the Angels that day was current Phillies Pitching coach Bob McClure

Sources and Links
Baltimore Sun
Baseball-ref

The Kid is on Deck

The Hall of Fame inductions for the Class of 2015 are in the books.

Today we look ahead to next year's ceremony.

Which brings us to one of the most iconic baseball cards.

1989 Upper Deck #1 Ken Griffey Jr

Something tells me we will be seeing a lot of this card in the next year. Today, In the weeks leading up to the HoF Balloting in January and finally next July.

The 2016 Hof Induction will be a celebration. Junior's induction will be a respite from the PED talk. He is the "clean" champion from the steroid era.   All 630 Homers all 2781 Hits.

With so many Villains in the Steroid Story, it will be good to see one of the good guys win. And I hope the Arc remains that way.

Sources & Links
2016 Hof Candidates Index
Baseball-ref

1990 Seattle Mariners host Guaranteed No-Hitter Night

On June 16th of 1990 the Seattle Mariners Guaranteed a No-Hitter

The idea of the Guarantee was conceived by the Mariners promotion department as the baseball public got caught up in the excitement of the the 1990 No-Hitter Frenzy - Mark Langston had pitched one on April 11th, The Mariners own Randy Johnson June 2nd, and Nolan Ryan earlier that week.

1994 Topps #34 Nolan Ryan

Another impetus for the M's was that they were hosting Nolan Ryan's first start after his June 11th No-Hitter.

Had Ryan actually been able to redeem the Guaranteed No-Hitter for the Mariners he would have matched a feat only otherwise done by Johnny Vander Meer - Consecutive No-Hitters.

1991 Score #126 Matt Young

For their part Seattle sent out journeyman pitcher Matt Young.

The No-Hitter didn't get very far, Matt Young retired 4 batters before giving up a hit to John Russell. Harold Reynolds got the first hit off of Ryan in the bottom of the 3rd.

Despite being the significantly less noteworthy pitcher Matt Young was the closest of the two to get a no-hitter. Young pitched the last of 5 career shutouts only allowing 3 hits (Russell, Ruben Sierra, and Rafael Palmiero) all singles.

The promotion worked for the Ms, The 37,248 fans they drew to the Kingdome may seem pedestrian now, but it was the 4th best attendance number for the 1990 Mariners. It was also the most fans that got to see a Mariners win.

Note: In a practice common in Minor League Games the Mariners Guaranteed No-Hitter Game came with the caveat that if there was not a no-hitter, fans would get a free ticked to a future game. The free ticket was a $4.50 General Admission ticket to the July 11th game versus the Angels. The Mariners won that game as well. It was a 2-1 victory by Erik Hanson over the aforementioned no-hit pitcher Mark Langston. It doesn't appear many fans took advantage of the no-hit redemption as 18,357 which was a tick below the teams 18,638 average for the season.    

1994 Topps
I like this card, it was issued the season after Ryan retired. Topps noted his career accomplishments by placing Ryan on card #34, his uniform number.

Sources & Links
1990 Year of the No-Hitter Index
LA Times
Baseball-ref
baseball-almanac
baseball cardpedia
baseball card database

1990: Year of the No-Hitter - June 2 Randy Johnson

A star is Born.

On June 2nd Randy Johnson authored the second no-hitter of the 1990 Season.

1991 Score #700 No-Hit Club Randy Johnson

Back in April Johnson's teammate Brian Holman had come within an out of a perfect game, but he lost it on a Ken Phelps Home Run.

Randy Johnson's start would end up differently. He retired the last five batters he faced, his 9th inning went Strikeout, Pop Out, Strike Out. The final batter was journeyman catcher Mike Heath who went down swinging on an 0-2 pitch.

While it was a No-Hittter, Johnson was far from perfect. He allowed six walks, and Mariners Shortstop Mike Brumley committed an error.

Box Notes

1991 Score #700 No-Hit Club Randy Johnson (b-side)

Couple of good hitters that Johnson had to sit down, including Cecil Fielder and perennial Hall of Fame snub Alan Trammell. The "Williams" in the 9 spot of the Tigers Order is Ken Williams, the current GM of the Chicago White Sox.

The defense behind Randy Johnson included Ken Griffey Jr, Pre-DH Edgar Martinez, and MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds. The right fielder for the Mariners was Jay Buhner who was traded for the aforementioned Ken Phelps, the man who spoiled Brian Holman's no-hit bid. 

The No-Hitter was the first of two for Randy Johnson, 14 years later he threw a Perfect Game versus the Atlanta Braves as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Relics

1990 0602 Cap Worn by Randy Johnson when he pitched the No-Hitter

Team Phungo made a brief stop at the Hall of Fame recently and we spotted this item in the Randy Johnson HoF display.  Pretty cool item here with the Classic Seattle Logo, which probably most synonymous with the career of Young Ken Griffey Jr.

The HoF visit was quick but fun. While I dedicated most of the day to the Cooperstown Classic, I did manage a quick HoF tour and we will show of some items/displays over the next couple of weeks.


1990 Seattle Mariners
There Mariners were 51 games into the 1990 season and had been involved in two no-hitters Plus Brian Holman's near perfect game. The teams promotions department would attempt to capitalize on the events by sponsoring a Guaranteed No-Hitter Night. We will cover that game in a a future post, I will just let you know that one of the starting pitchers that evening was Nolan Ryan.

2015 Randy Johnson
Part of the reason I wanted to do a series on Year of the No-Hitter is with so many pitchers involved there are just tons of great stories. We have already had the Mariners involved in 2 no-hitters (one on each side) and a near perfect game. We have had Mike Witt who completed a no-hitter after years earlier pitching his own perfect game.

And now we see a future Hall of Famer just as he emerges into greatness.

I am a fan of Twitter and one of the more interesting follows has been Randy Johnson. He dedicates a lot of time to his photography, and due to his resources he has premium access for great places and events which makes for some great shots. Right now his account appears dormant but his website is still operational - @rj51photos

Sources & Links
1990 Year of the No-Hitter Index
Phungo Randy Johnson HoF Index
Baseball Hall of Fame
LA Times
baseball-ref
Chicago White Sox

2016 Hall of Fame Candidates Index

This is an index of players who will likely be on the 2016 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot.

First Time Candidates

Ken Griffey Ken Griffey pt 2

Jim Edmonds

Jason Kendall

Troy Glaus

Mike Hampton

Luis Castillo

Randy Winn

Garret Anderson

Mike Lowell

Billy Wagner Veto

Trevor Hoffman

Mark Grudzielanek

Mike Sweeney

Chan Ho Park HOF

David Eckstein

Jeff Weaver

Brad Ausmus

Russ Ortiz

Gary Matthews

Cristian Guzman

Jose Guillen

Bob Howry

Bengie Molina

Fernando Tatis

Russ Springer

Returning to the Ballot

Mike Piazza

Jeff Bagwell

Tim Raines

Curt Schilling

Roger Clemens

Barry Bonds

Lee Smith

Edgar Martinez

Alan Trammell HOF (final Ballot)

Mike Mussina

Jeff Kent

Fred McGriff

Larry Walker

Gary Sheffield

Mark McGwire (final Ballot - VETO)

Sammy Sosa

Nomar Garciaparra

Source and Links
2015 HoF Candidates

Baseball-ref

1979 Topps #31 Tom House: Relief Pitcher and Quarterback Coach?

I have started hearing Tom House's name a lot recently.

1979 Topps #31 Tom House

For me, the former major league relief pitcher first reappeared in connection with the Million Dollar Arm film.

More recently House has emerged locally in discussions of the Football team. The Philadelphia Eagles have picked up Tim Tebow as a QB based off of Tom House's endorsement.

The trivia in the Tom House Bio doesn't end with Film and Football. In a 2005 USA Today article he admitted to using steroids as far back as the 1960s. He estimated 6-7 pitchers on every team were experimenting with Steroids or HGH.

On a much happier note, House is also the know for catching Hank Aaron's record break 715th Home Run.

I hope that Tom House is right about Tim Tebow, I find him fun to watch and he is always great press.

I also hope House is wrong about the steroids. 

Sources and Links
Business Insider - Tony Manfred
USA Today

1990 Year of the No-Hitter: Perfect Game Near Miss Brian Holman

I understand we have more "Lo-Hitter" than No-Hitter postings right now, but I assure you the real ones are coming.

1993 Donruss #385 Brian Holman

On April 20th 1990 the Seattle Mariners found themselves involved in their second no-hitter moment of the young season. During the opening series of the season they were the victims of a combined no-hitter by Mark Langston and Mike Witt.

Nine days later the M's Brian Holman was facing the Oakland A's and was perfect for 8 2/3 innings.

Alas, Brian Holman was not destined to pitch the 8th Perfect Game in Major League History. With the A's down to their final out manager Tony LaRussa sent out Ken Phelps to pinch hit for Mike Gallego. 

Phelps Homered to deep right field.

In one pitch Holman lost perfect game, No-Hitter and shutout.

In a bit of Irony after failing to retire Ken Phelps,  Holman struck out Future Hall of Famer and on-base machine Rickey Henderson.

Box Score Notes
Yes the Ken Phelps that broke up Holman's perfect game is the same Ken Phelps that Frank Costanza confronts George Steinbrenner about in a 1996 episode of Seinfeld.

The most intriguing oddity of the box score is that despite this being an AL game, Brian Holman made a plate appearance. In the 9th inning Holman batted because DH Pete O'Brien came in as a defensive replacement for Alvin Davis. For better or worse Holman reached on a Mike Gallego error. This meant that Holman also had to run the bases late in the game.

Who knows, maybe batting or being on the bases tired Brian Holman out just enough that he didn't get everything on a the pitch he threw to Ken Phelps and that late to the fateful hit.

This would have likely happened regardless of the error, but Ken Phelps was pinch hitting for.....You got it Mike Gallego.

1990 was Ken Phelps final year in baseball and the Perfect Game busting hit was the last Home Run of his career.

In addition to Rickey Henderson the A's formidable lineup included the Bash Brohters, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.

The Ms defense behind Holman included Ken Griffey Jr covering Center Field and the pre-DH Edgar Martinez at third base. Dave Valle was the man behind the plate.

Flip

1992 Donruss #385 Brian Holman (b-side)

Check the transaction at the bottom of the card. Holman was traded for Mark Langston, who pitched the first Year of the No-Hitter Gem, and was traded with Randy Johnson, who we will be hearing from a bit later in the season.

It is a shame that Holman was unable to finish his no-hitter, How many trades involve 3 different players that have been able to accomplish the feat? 

2015 Brian Holman
Today Holman works as a motivational speaker and pitching instructor.

Sources and Links
Year of the No-Hitter Index
Baseball-ref
Brian Holman (linkedin)
Hardball Times
MLB 

2014 Topps #US-280 Cole Gillespie: Error Card?

Anybody run into this in this years Topps Update?

2014 Topps #US-280 Cole Gillespie

 Perfectly fine card of journeyman outfielder Cole Gillespie with a Seattle Mariners jersey and logo on the card. but then flip the card over:

 

2014 Topps #US-280 Cole Gillespie  (b-side)

Also a fine 2nd side to the card. but check out the top left corner. It lists Gillespie with the Toronto Blue Jays. This is actually correct - Gillespie did finish the season with the Blue Jays after being waived by the Mariners as is mentioned on the cards b-sidel.

Is this basically an Uncorrected Error. Gillespie isn't a prominent player, so can't imagine a corrected version with his photo as a Blue Jay on the front being released

Or has anyone found other cards in 2014 Topps that have the traded to team on one side with the former club repped on the front?


This card reminds me of the 60s variations that would be the same card but some of them would have a Waiver or Trade statement if the player got moved during the off-season.



Sources/Links
Baseball-ref

Bucket or Chuck-it: 2014 Topps Chrome Blaster Break

I picked up a blaster of 2014T Chrome a couple of weeks ago, immediate remorse. $20 for 32 cards that I have basically already seen.

Highlights

2014 Tops Chrome #174 Chase Utley


I got one Phillies card which is the average in a 30 card break and it was a good one, so I can't complain. Bummed to see Chase occupying a lowly common number here but other than that very happy to pick up this card.

I didn't have this card from flagship so I hadn't really taken a close look at it prior - I am going to dedicate an entire posting to this card at some point in the future, but For now I will just reiterate that I am really glad it is now in the Phungo Collection.

 2014 Topps Chrome #10 Masahiro Tanaka (rc)

My first 2014 Tanaka card. An obvious +1 for this blaster, nice to get one of the key 2014 rookies.  I also have it on the Phungo agenda to discuss Mr Tanaka's cards in a future post. Who knows if we will get to it.


*Fractors

2014 Topps Chrome #3 Enny Romero (rc -Refractor)

2014 Topps Chrome #67 Wilmer Flores (rc - refractor)
2014 Topps Chrome #122 Shin-Soo Choo (refractor)

Presenting Mr Flores with his base card and power play parallel. Shin-Soo Choo was in 2014 Topps earlier this year as a member of his former team.  

Refractor b-Sides

The Refractors specify "Refractor" in the bottom right corner (above the Topps Logo). I think they have only done this the last couple of years, but they don't bother distinguishing between the vanilla refractors, rainbows, or x-fractors - Romero is an x-fractor while the other two are the commons.
 
Purple

2014 Topps Chrome #166 Hunter Pence (refractor purple)
2014 Topps Chrome #53 Chase Headley (refractor purple)  
2014 Topps Chrome #62 Zach Walters (rc-refractor purple)  
2014 Topps Chrome #123 Jose Bautista (refractor purple)

Blasters include 4-pack of parallels. Pence and a Rookie Card, highlight the "bonus" pack.

2014 Topps Chrome Connections #CC-RC Robinson Cano

Here we have whatever these are - these puzzle piece cards seem more suited for opening day. I can see a lot of dealers wanting to figure out ways to put these cards together.

Flip

2014 Topps Chrome Connections #CC-RC Robinson Cano (b-side)


The Chrome Connections card runs off and makes a comparison to Junior. For those of you who are interested Ken Griffey Jr WAR through age 31 season was 78.0. Robinson Cano 51.5

Rookies

 

2014 Topps Chrome #91 Christian Bethancourt (rc)

2014 Topps Chrome #127 Tanner Roark (rc)

2014 Topps Chrome #107 Hyn-Jin Ryu (rookie cup)

2014 Topps Chrome #191 CJ Cron (rc)

As usual Chromes late season release date allows for a good mix of rookies. The Ryu isn't a RC but I included it here for the Rookie Cup. 

Bucket or Chuck-It

After opening a blaster of Topps Chrome, I was reminded why I am a flagship collector. $20 for 32 cards is just out of my league - For me Chrome is a Chuck-It, A Blaster is more than I really am interested in, one of those 3 packs with a "Bonus" pack of parallels is probably more my speed.

There is an argument for chrome, the cards are nice and sturdy. the shiny works over the white borders. The checker for Chrome may also be better. Chrome gleans the top talent and rookies which are probably the most interesting subjects from the collects S1 and S2 sets


Sources & Links
Chase Utley Player Collection Index
Cardboard Connection
baseball-ref

Snapshots 2014 08 19 Mariners @ Phillies

The Seattle Mariners spoiled Ryan Howard Bobble Head Night by beating the Phillies 5-2 in a game that really wasn't that close

Snapshots

The Phillies may not have looked that good, but the August Sunset did provide some nice views
 

 Ryan Howard did connect with a Double in his 1-4 night which pretty much made him the Phillies offensive star on a rather dismal night for the squad.

Hisashi Iwakuma

Credit has to be given to the Mariners starting pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma who is having an incredible season. He pitched 8 innings struck out 11 while walking NONE and yielding only 4 hits, Howard's double and three singles. For the season Iwamura is posting a very healthy 10.0 K/BB ration (120-12). A year ago Iwakuma led the AL in Pitchers WAR. 

AJ Burnett

The Tuesday night start by AJ Burnett put him over some sort of Game Started Threshold that netted the veteran more coin then Team Phungo takes home in a year. Postgame it was revealed that Burnett mentioned that he doubts he will pitch in 2015.

 

The Phanatic gives Robinson Cano some pointers. 

I was watching a rebroadcast of the game (Team Phungo is a glutton) and Tom McCarthy mentioned that Cano gave Phillies coach Larry Bowa a Rolex Watch as a thank you gift for all the help that Bowa had given Cano while both were with the Yankees. 

I was impressed with Cano's field presence, while he had an unremarkable game (single in 4ABs, RBI, Run Scored) he showed some leadership. He captained the infield on shifts and appeared to be frequently discussing hitting with rookie 3B Kyle Seager  

GGA

  Felix Hernandez

Good Guy Award goes out to Felix Hernandez who signed A TON of autographs. Other GGAs for The Phillies Cody Asche and the Mariners Fernando Rodney. Several of the Mariners signed a couple of autographs. Pretty good for a club that is right on the edge of the playoff hunt. Princeton Alum Chris Young also appeared to hosting some local fans and invited them down on the field for BP.

 Bobblehead

Just wanted to note that the Ryan Howard comes with a busted bat, which seems pretty appropriate.

A few seasons ago every Phillies game was a sellout and Bobble Head nights were a particularly tough ticket. This week they Honored one of their biggest starts the Phillies drew less than 32 thousand fans.

Seattle and the Phillies: 2007 Topps #UH279 Utley & Ichiro

To honor the Seahawks dominant victory over the Broncos we present a card that features both Seattle and the Phillies. 

2007 Topps UH279 Classc Combo Chase Utley & Ichiro  

Sprinkled throughout 2007 Topps was a subset billed Classic Combos. Many of these two player cards sometimes featured teammates while others contained opponents. Even with interleague play teams like the Mariners and Phillies do not face each other very often so the Utley Ichrio combo is somewhat notable. I am not sure Classic is really the right term, perhaps interesting would have been better. 

Many of these Classic Combo cards within the Updates/Highlights are pix from the All-Star game as is this one. Checking into the box score I believe this pix was taken in the first inning. Ichiro led off the game with a single but was then eliminated on a DP groundout off the bat of Derek Jeter.  It was a good game for Ichiro - The 2007 game in San Francisco featured Ichiro's All-Star Inside the Park HR. For the game he was 3-3 with the HR and a pair of RBIs and he was named the games MVP. The game didn't go as well for Utley who had a fly out and a ground out. The AL won the game 5-4 getting Home Runs from Ichiro, Victor Martinez and Carl Crawford. Alfonso Soriano went deep for the Senior Circuit. 

Sources
Chase Utley Player Collection Index
Phungo Game Dated Cards Index 
Baseball-ref 

Seattle Post - 2014 Phungo #34 Kevin Millwood

Team Phungo will be rooting for the Seahawks in the NFC half of Championship weekend. To show our support we post a Phungo Card from the Seattle baseball squad.

2014 Phungo #34 Kevin Millwood

When we had the Team Phungo Seattle road trip, I was a little bummed to see Kevin Millwood as the starting pitcher for our game. He sort of symbolized some really crummy Phillies teams and he never lived up to being an Ace while here. Truth is Millwood is more of  a decent 3 maybe a 2 starter.

Initially Millwood ended up on the discard photo pile, but I rechecked his numbers and the man had a decent career. In 1999 he was the best pitcher on the Braves NL Championship squad, and finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting. While pitching for the Indians in 2005 he won the AL ERA title and finished 6th on the Cy Young ballot. He authored a No-Hitter with the Phillies and started a second one while with the Mariners.

2014 Phungo Card    
This card has the first error I have spotted, This pix is from a game played May 8, 2012 not 2013. These are the things that happen when you defer a card for a year. Other than that I am happy with the card even if it is a touch blurry. The light blue to grey fade is pretty sharp and catching a pitcher at this point in his motion always looks good on a card.  

The card number is 34 which Millwood wore for much of his career including his Phillies stint. It is, however, not his Mariners number which was 25. Once again on the Phungo cards we differentiated handedness for pitchers, RHP for Millwood. The line beneath the player name is a dark blue rather than the light blue border as a nod to the Mariners accent color.

Sources
baseball-ref

Bucket or Chuck-It 2013 Topps Chrome Value Pack

The break in the 2013 PostSeason gives us the chance to clear out some old stuff from the Draft Folder.  Today we add to our Bucket or Chuck-it with a "Value Pack" of 2013 Topps Chrome.

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2013 Topps Chrome #208 Cliff Lee

I have admitted it before, parallels are lame and rarely show creativity, but boy am I a sucker for them. Not to the point where I would pick up a hobby box, but I typically pick up a couple of packs each year.  

Opening a pack is generally fun, even if most of the cards are ones that I have seen previously.  The Cliff Lee card above is the base chrome. It is the same photo featured on his series 1 card

Highlights 

 1972 Topps Retros appear once again.  Yu Darvish is probably one of the better players in the set.

As with 2011 Value packs contain 3 Orange parallel cards.  This is the best card I picked up among the bonus cards.  I don't see Gerrit Cole on the S1 or S2 checker for 2013 Topps, so this may be what the Cole card will look like in 2013 U&H.

 Refractors are the lowest level parallel in Chrome. I picked up one player from each of the FLA franchises as the two parallels.

 

Selected foursome of the base cards, Mike Nunino and Alex Colome RC. Former Phil Hunter Pence, in what I believe is a photoshopper.  Victor Martinez here to fill out the quartet. 

 The Last 2 orange cards were Wainwright and Nick Maronde RC.

Topps Chrome Curse?

Topps Chrome comes out and finally puts an Oriole on the cover, 5 minutes later Manny Machado rolled his knee.

Bucket or Chuck-it Verdict

I got a pretty good pack, but the $9.50 price point for 15 cards takes some of the fun out of busting packs - Verdict = Chuck-it. 

And what makes this a value pack.  The Target I was at didn't sell individual packs at all, so there were only 2 ways I could pick up Topps Chrome - Value Packs and Blasters (32 cards/ $20). Shenanigans.

1991 Topps Stadium Club #195 Omar Vizquel - Future HoF?

For the first time in my life everybody single player on an Opening Day roster was younger then me.  The last man to take the field that was older than myself was gold glove shortstop Omar Vizquel. 

1991 Topps Stadium Club #195 Omar Vizquel

Vizquel and Phungo favorite Jamie Moyer were the last two guys to play that were older my present 45. Omar Vizquel turns 46 today. It is an odd milestone, and really only meaningful to myself.  Regardless I did note its passing with a pang of sadness.

Hall of Fame Resume
Omar Vizquel came up with the Mariners in the late 80s and was traded to Cleveland following the 1993 season to make room for some big prospect that would turn out to be a steroid gobbling oddball.

In Cleveland Vizquel made 3 all-star teams and was the starting Shortstop for five consecutive playoff teams, The Best of which were the 97 Indians who took the Marlins to extra innings in game 7 of a very memorable World Series.  For his career Vizquel appeared in 57 Postseason games. His postseason numbers include 23 Stolen Bases in 26 attempts.

Vizquel is a borderline Hall of Famer - He would get my vote. The four decade mans big stats are largely accumulaters but he did it as a good glove man at a premium position.  His career BA of .272 may not be impressive but he did rack up 2877 Hits.  There are only 3 HoF eligible players above Vizquel in Hits that are not in the Hall (Bonds, Rafael Palmiero, and Biggio).  The only Shortstops ahead of Vizquel are Jeter and Honus Wagner.

His defensive accolades include 11 Gold Gloves (2nd only to HoF Ozzie Smith),  Most career Games and Double Plays had Short, and 2nd in career fielding pct (Troy Tulowitzki)

1991 Topps Stadium Club #195 Omar Vizquel (b-side)

This is an early Omar Vizquel card. I like how Topps posted the players RC on the flip of Stadium Club Cards.  It was one way that Topps could take advantage of their history in the Hobby.  If Vizquel does get into the Hall, I think his Rookie card will still be found at reasonable prices as 1989 Topps are pretty ubiquitous. Not sure that this is also true for the traded set, but it looks like you can pick up the complete 132 card set for under $15 and it includes the Topps RC of both Ken Griffey Jr and Randy Johnson.