Happy 80th Birthday Willie McCovey and the birth of the Topps All-Star Rookie Team

On January 10th First Ballot Hall of Famer Willie McCovey celebrates his 80th birthday.

To mark the occasion I would like to take a look at McCovey's rookie card.

 1960 Topps #316 Willie McCovey

Not only is this a Rookie Card but it is also Topps first ever All-Star Rookie Cup card.

Therefore here we have a card that historic for not one but two reasons. The card is the beginning of some interesting Topps history. 

Check out the text at the top of the yellow circle. It specifies that McCovey was "Selected by the Youth of America"

What does that mean? Well Topps actually sent out ballots to the Boy Scout, YMCA, Boys Club of America and other youth organizations to vote on the All-Star Rookie team. I believe this was part of a greater effort to attract young collectors.

The Following Ad appeared in an issue of The Sporting News during the summer of 1959.

 The Sporting News 1959 Jul 15  

A couple of things to unpack here, first The trophy looks terrific. The clipart used for the Trophy on early Topps cards looks fine, but here we have a bit more detail, I mean who knew the pedestal was a Top Hat?

The text above is where I got the info on the clubs involved in the rookie all-star election.

Further down in the ad we have additional info:

 

The Sporting News 1959 Jul 15

 

Check it out there was an actual trophy presentation ceremony with an associated bonus of $125! According to the CPI Inflation Calculator that is a little bit over a grand in today's money.

To the right is a "Sample Ballot". Kids write in the players name, team and position, and send their vote to Topps Bazooka office in Brooklyn.

The final thing I want to point out is the "Honorary All-Star Election Committee" which consists of various media representatives plus JACKIE ROBINSON, who is referred to not as Major Leaguer, World Champion, All-Star, or Future Hall of Famer. Nope for purposes of this exercise he was Vice President, Chock Full O' Nuts, Inc.

According to a TSN article the 1959 All-Star Rookie election consisted of 1.5 Million votes. Topps eligibility requirements to make the team were no more than 45 Days in the Majors, 90 Plate Appearances, or 45 innings prior to the season.

Banquet

The Sporting News 1960 Apr 20

And there they are Topps Historic First All-Star Rookie Team. They are pretty much in the order that they appear on the 1960T checklist. Willie McCovey is on the left followed Pumpsie Green, Jim Baxes, Phillies Shortstop Joe Koppe (the shortest guy in the shot) Bob Allison, Ron Fairly, John Romano and Jim Perry. Willie Tasby and Jim O'Toole who could not make the outing are shown in an inset bottom left.

The Subset
The Initial All-Star Rookie subset is unique within the history of the on card award as it is the only time the cards are presented consecutively running from #316-#325.

They also run in position sequence using scoring notation, except they start at 1B rather than pitcher. I don't know if this is luck or if Topps wanted one of the two Rookie of the Year award winners to lead off the subber. The AL ROY was Bob Allison. Regardless if planned or happy accident it is a nice touch that the first All-Star Rookie card EVER went to a 500 Home Run guy and future Hall of Famer. 

 Flip

1960 Topps #316 Willie McCovey (b-side)

The back of the All-Star Rookies are essentially the same as the base backs. Note McCovey took home NL ROY honors despite only getting involved in 52 games. Perhaps it had to do with his HOT start. I always loved how 1960T bullet pointed highlights from the players 1959 season. Check ou the first five of these HighLights for Stretch. The man puts up notable games FOUR days in a row right at the top of his career

Sources and Links
Phungo Willie McCovey HOF Index
1960 Topps Rookie Topps Index
The Sporting News
Baseball Card Database
Cardboard Connection
Baseball-Ref
CPI Inflation Calculator

Happy 50th Birthday Craig Biggio

Just noticed on Twitter that Hall of Famer Craig Biggio is celebrating a Milestone Birthday today.

1991 Score #161 Craig Biggio

I am a fan of the early Biggio cards. Anytime I see one in a dimebox that identifies him as a catcher I will pick it up. 1991 Score captures the young Craig Biggio during his first position switch to Centerfield.

The C-CF on the card has to be an on card rarity. First you have the positions involved, how many Catchers are speedy enough to play center. Secondly you have Score differentiating the specific Outfield position - something that Topps (and others) still don't bother with a quarter century later.

1991 Score #161 Craig Biggio (b-side)

Along with several other accolades the text on the flip side mentions Biggio's unique position change. Nice guest appearance from Moneyball Manger Art Howe with the Quote.


Sources & Links
Phungo Biggio HoF Index
Baseball-ref

HoF 90th Birthday Yogi Berra: 1961 Topps #472 MVP

On Tuesday May 12th Yogi Berra will celebrate his 90th birthday. 

1961 Topps #462 Yogi Berra MVP

The 1961 Topps MVP subset honors 16 MVPs of the 1950s. Yogi Berra along with Catching Contemporary Roy Campanella are the most decorated players in the subber, each having won three MVPs during the era.

Yogi's three were in 1951, 54 and 1955. Berra didn't lead the AL in WAR any of those years, but his 59.5 career mark does rank 5th among catchers all-time.

Flip

1961 Topps #462 Yogi Berra MVP (b-side)

The reverse of the card mentions the 3 MVPs, and Yogi's HR Record for catchers which was 318 at the time. He went on to hit 40 more Home Runs to finish his career with 358. Since then Berra has been passed by Mike Piazza, Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk and now ranks fourth all-time.

Yogi's granddaughter Lindsay is a reporter with MLB.com. She authors an entertaining Twitter feed @lindsayberra which occasionally has great historic pictures and other info for Yankees fans. 

Sources and Links
Phungo Yogi Berra HoF Index
Baseball-ref
cardboard connection

Bernie Parent Turns 70 - Flyers Hall of Fame Goalie

Flyers Hall of Fame Goalie Bernie Parent turns 70 today.

2012 March 6 - Bernie Parent greets fans prior to Mark Howe Number Retirement Ceremony

Parent is a great Ambassador for the Philadelphia Flyers and can often be found at Flyers games. The photo above is from a game in 2012 when the Flyers were honoring Mark Howe. There were a lot of great players in the house that night including Mark's father Gordie Howe. 

Sources and Links
Hockey-Ref

Steve Carlton Turns 70

Tomorrow December 22nd  Phillies Hall of Fame Pitcher Steve Carlton turns 70.

1981 Donruss  #481 Steve Carlton Cy Young Award Winner 

There was a twitter exchange last week where Andy from @HighHeatStats noted this will make a lot of us feel old.

Andy is correct. As a hero of my youth Steve Carlton remains perpetually 35, the age he was the night he started and won game 6 of the 1980 World Series.

1981 Topps #404 Phillies Win the World Series

That season Carlton won the Cy Young Award, leading the league in Wins (24), Strikeouts (286), Starts, and Innings. His 10.2 WAR led all players, not just pitchers - Teammate Mike Schmidt took home the 1980 MVP award with a respectable 8.8 WAR. Carlton's 2.34 ERA in 1980 was 2nd to Don Suttom (2.20) but his SABR numbers ERA+ (162) and FIP (2.42) led the league

Of course the calendar inevitably turns and Steve Carlton did not stay perpetually 35. He did pitch pretty well for another couple of seasons (Another Cy Young in 1982) but eventually age and 24 years of fastballs took their toll. In 1988 Carlton retired at the age of 43.

1981 Donruss
Since the above Steve Carlton card was published in 1981 it is likely the photo was taken 35 years ago during his magical age 35 season. A man in the middle of a Cy Young season on the edge of winning a World Championship. 

1981 is the inaugural set for Donruss. The 600 card checker consists strictly of players with a couple of Manager and Coach cards. There are no subsets cards with the exception of four special cards for the MVPs (George Brett and the Phillies Mike Schmidt) and Cy Young (Steve Stone and Carlton)

I remember opening these in 1980. I enjoyed the card being new and different. I thought the backs had a fresh and interesting approach, but they also seemed cheap. They were thinner and if I recall correctly they had a lot of card dust from the cutting process.

Sources & Links
Phungo Steve Carlton HoF Index 
Baseball-ref
Cardboard Connection
Bob Lemke's Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards    

Al Kaline 80th Birthday

On Friday December 19th Al Kaline will celebrate his milestone 80th Birthday.

1959 Topps #463 Baseball Thrills Al Kaline 

60 years ago on this date Al Kaline turned 20, the following year he would pace the American League with 200 hits and a .340 batting average. The above 1959T card celebrates Kaline's batting title.  Kaline finished 2nd in the MVP voting that season, the award went to Yankee catcher Yogi Berra.

We have already featured this card in July of 2013, but I wanted to put up a fun card for Kaline's birthday, additionally this is one of the 1959 Topps BT cards that we have yet to cover in our subset series.

1959 Topps #463 Baseball Thrills Al Kaline (b-side)

The flip side of the card goes into some more detail on the first few seasons of Kaline's Hall of Fame career. 

In 1955 Al Kaline was the youngest Batting Champ and I believe he remains the player with that distinction today almost 60 years later. That season he collected 200 of his 3007 hits.

The 15 time all star played his entire 22 year career with the Tigers, Winning a World Series Title in 1968. His career 92.5 WAR ranks 7th all time among Right Fielders.

Happy 80th birthday to one of the all-time greats

1959 Topps
This card is examined in more detail over at the Commish Bob's Site 1959 Topps one f/g card at a time

Al Kaline HoF Index
1954 Topps #201 (rc)
1959 Topps #463 (RTC posting from 2013 July)
1965 Topps Embossed #13
2008 Donruss Threads #23
Kaline's SABR bio can be found here


Sources and Links
1959 Topps Baseball Thrills
Phungo HoF Index
baseball-ref

Happy Anniversary Bob Gibson 3000 Ks: 1975 Topps #3

Busy here Phungo HQ, but I wanted to put up this quick posting.

Thursday July 17th marks the 40th anniversary of the ngiht Bob Gibson recorded his 3000th Strike out.

 

 1975 Topps #3 '74 Highlights Bob Gibson Throws 3000th Strikeout 

Topps honored the event with the #3 card of their 1975 Set,

 1975 Topps #3 '74 Highlights Bob Gibson Throws 3000th Strikeout (b-side)

Sources & Links
Phungo Bob Gibson HoF Index
Game Dated Cards Index

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. 

Jamie Moyer 50

2009 Phungo #50 Jamie Moyer

Above is a card of Jamie Moyer from the innaugural Phungo set of 2009.  This past weekend Moyer turned 50. This past season he made headlines for several starts he made with the Colorado Rockies in which age related records were broken.  Unfortunatley time caught up with Jamie Moyer in 2012 and he was released. 

Milestones

I have not seen an official announcement of Moyer's retirement, and maybe we won't get one.  I hope he gets another shot.  Moyer is the only player to pitch in the 2012 season that is older then I am.  For whatever reason as long as there is somebody out there playing baseball that is older then me, it helps me feel younger - and I like being able to hold onto that feeling. 

Mickey Morandini Unassisted Triple Play Anniversary and a Mystery Solved

Today during Andy's High Heat Stats This day in Baseball History feed he noted that today is the 20th Anniversary of Mickey Morandini's Unassisted Triple Play.  Despite the UATP the Phils took the loss 3-2 to the Pirates in extras.   

At the time it was only the second UATP in MLB history turned by a 2nd Baseman. - Bill Wambsganss turned the first during the 1920 World Series.  There have been three by second baseman since including one by Phils utility man Eric Bruntlett in 2009.

1993 Score #415 Mickey Morandini
1993 Topps #262 Mickey Morandini 

First off the pix on these cards feature a Double Play not the Triple Play mentioned above.

I had always assumed the Topps card featured the Phils ill-fated day game blue caps which were ejected after a few games because 1) the players didn't like them 2) they lost the few games when they wore them.

Mystery Solved

 
I assumed wrong.  The years didn't add up.  Turns out the cursed hats were from 1994 - The cards above are from 1993. After some Turn Back the Clock Game research I found that the Phillies wore there 1948 throwbacks for a game on June 21 1992.

Interesting thing you have above is two cards, different manufacturers, same play - possibly same photographer.

If you check the box link above, you can see in the 4th inning Andre Dawson singled followed by Mark Grace hitting into a 6-4-3 DP. I am pretty sure that is what we are seeing here.

Sources
Wikipedia.com
Baseball-Ref.com

Phun Cards: 1998 Bowman #181 Jimmy Rollins (RC)

Jimmy Rollins notched career hit number 2000 on Tuesday night.  

1998 Bowman #181 Jimmy Rollins (RC)

Recently and throughout his career has taken some heat for not hustling and other shortcomings at the plate.  Regardless the man has managed to rack up 2000 major league hits and he isn't just a slap hitter.  There are a lot of extra base hits among those 2000.  He also will always be the Shortstop for the 2008 World Champions and the 2007 NL MVP.   

Rollins joins Hall of Famers Ed Delahanty, Richie Ashburn, and Mike Schmidt in the Philllies 2000 hit club.  That is pretty good company.  If he stays healthy Rollins has a good chance of becoming the Phils all-time hit leader.

For The Collector 

The above 1998 Bomwan Card is the Jimmy Rollins rookie card - sorry about the darkness of the pix.  I recently picked this card up a box of 1998 Bowman Series 1 for $19.  There are a couple of other RCs in the set.  However, any rookies in the set are not real special - they are pretty much near Rollins level at best.  A recent auction for the card concluded as low as $2.98.  Complete sets of 1998 Bowman, includging both Series 1 and 2, are low-listed at BIN $21. 

2009 Phungo Cards Felix Hernandez

2009 Phungo #34 Felix Hernandez
Congrats to Felix Hernandez on his Perfect Game. 

This pix is from a game where Hernandez faced the Yankees at the old stadium in 2008.  Unfortunately for him he did not fare as well v the Bombers as he did agaisnt the Rays.  Johnny Damon had a big day off of King Felix with 3 hits - A Homer and 2 doubles as the Yankees won 6-1. 

Unfortunately Team Phungo let an ugly typo go through on this card as I have incorrectly named Felix "Feliz"

Maybe Topps Knows Something About Barry Bonds

As noted by High Heat Stats and others, Today is the 5th anniversary of Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron's Home Run Record

This may be my favorite Bonds Card. 

2005 Topps Home Run History #666 Barry Bonds

666 - Maybe Topps is saying something.  I mean how many other cards feature the demonic number so prominently?   

Jamie Moyer v Tony Perez - 1986 08 22

On Wednesday night Jamie Moyer earned another win resetting his own record of holding the distinction of being the oldest player to win a Major League ballgame AND he set a record with his BAT by recording an RBI an RBI - which has never been done by anyone older. 

Today I want to take a look at an event on the other end of Jamie's career that involved a Future Hall of Famer who also recently reached an age plateau. 

1984 Topps #385 Tony Perez (image swiped from Baseball Card Database)

On Monday 5/14/2012 Tony Perez celebrated his 70th birthday.  Here comes your Phun Phact - Jamie Moyer once pitched to Tony Perez - recording 3 Outs vs the Future Hall of Famer while recording a 3-2 victory in August of 1986.

The Topps RC for Tony Perez is the #581 card in the 1965 set.  Hard to believe that there is an active pitcher that pitched to someone who played in 1964 and had a card issued in 1965.

Moyer has pitched to batters whose birth years have ranged from 1942 to 1990 (Starlin Castro). 

Happy 100th Birthday Fenway Park and GO CHECK OUT THE BASEBALL CARD BLOG

For anyone that is relatively new to reading card blogs GO AND READ THE BASEBALL CARD BLOG

Way back in the beginning for me there was DayF at Cardboard Junkie, Chris at Stale Gum, Gellman at SCU, and Ben Henry at The Baseball Card Blog.  Ben has been less prolific recently, but right now he is putting up a series of postings celebrating the 100th birthday of Fenway Park by posting 100 cards that feature Fenway. 

How cool is that - It's a timely, creative and fun use of blogging. 

2011 Topps Opening Day #90 Chase Utley

This is one of several 2011 cards featuring Chase Utley at Fenway. For a look at more Chase at Fenway check out this posting over at the Phillies Room.

Random Thoughts on Wilt's 100 Point Game

Here in Philadephia and througout the sporrts world we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlains 100 point game. 

I am not a big basketball historian but because of the heroics and oddities surrounding that game I tend to retain trivia regarding the Willt 100 game in the rolodex of my brain. 

Personal Connection

The game was played in Hershey rather then Philadelphia which makes the game an anomaly for that fact alone.  Hershey was the closest thing we had to an arena in south central PA - I probably was there for a dozen or so events as a youngster and the place holds a lot of memories.  My first Hockey game was certainly there, First College Hoop gm - Penn St v Maryland - Greg Manning shot out hte lights as the Terps romped.  And also I saw One of my first concerts there, Crosby Still and Nash.  In the last 20 years I think I have only seen my alma mater play in one game and that was a Basketball State Playoff game in Hershey Arena - They lost.  

But they may have played on the same court that Wilt had his 100 point game on.  I don't think Hershey Arena is in use as a basketball stadium anymore. 

Apparenlty the basketball floor was salvaged.   

And tonight you can get a piece of it at the Sixers game.  pretty cool promotion.  everyone admitted gets a 2"x2" square from the floor.  I checked this AM and tix were still available.  StubHub had tix for as little as $20.  Pretty nice promotion - you can get a pretty nice piece of history for the cost of a blaster.   

Random Info on Wilts 100. 

There is apparently no Video of the game and the only audio of the game, which feature Bill Campbell, was "discovered" relatively recently. 

No one knows how the 99th and 100th points were scored 

According to Elias the highest 2 teamate scores in any one game doesn't break 100 in any other game. 

Kobe's 80 pt performance a few years ago is the 2nd highest point total in a game - this means the 1 and 2 highest scoring games were accomplished by Philadelphians. 

The 100 written on a piece of paper and held by Chamberlain in the iconic photo was written by
Sixers Statistician Haarvey Pollack.  Pollack is accepted as the father of basketball statistics and came up with many of the stats in use today.  He was honored the 76ers with a bobblehead a few years ago, I think he may also hold the Wordl Record for consecutive days wearing different T-Shirts or something like that.

Sources and Links

Wilt Chamberlain 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.

Presenting Team Phungo - Pull of a Lifetime

If you have been paying attention you may have noticed that there hasn't been much output from Phungo Headquarters recently.  There hasn't been a posting in three weeks, and that wasn't even baseball related.

You may have heard me refer to Team Phungo in this column from time to time.  Well, Team Phungo made it official this past week as We were joined in Marriage in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Fiancee Phungo has made me very happy and has graciously agreed to become Mrs Phungo.


It was a great day and week made possible by lots of work by our friends and families.

2011 05 30 Team Phungo

Congratulations Jamie Moyer

2008 Topps #173 Jamie Moyer

Jamie Moyer earned his 250th career win today. Moyer has been a key player for the Phillies since arriving here late in 2006 and I am very happy to see Moyer reach the milestone. Some analysts may see the accomplishment as merely the accrual of wins over a long career. I choose to see it as the product of a smart and tenacious pitcher diligently working hard so that he can succeed every time he pitches.

If 250 wins isn't remarkable to you, check the Baseball-Reference list of active pitchers with the most career wins. Jamie is currently 2nd or 3rd depending on the status of Tom Glavine, and has a chance of being the active pitcher with most career wins if Randy Johnson retires prior to Moyer. Also notice that if admitted steroid abuser Andy Pettitte does not reach 250, the next pitcher to reach the milestone may be Tim Hudson and he still needs over 100 wins to get there.

To symbolize the 250 victories I have shrunk the Moyer card above and dupicated it 250 times.


If you click on the above and then imagine it six times as big that would be roughly the size of 250 Jamie Moyer Cards.