Field Report Miller Park 2016 0527 Reds 5 @ Brewers 9

This happened a couple of weeks ago but Team Phungo is still recovering from our recent Trip.

We spent a week in Madison and Milwaukee which gave us an opportunity to knock another stadium off our list. In the game the Brewers hosted the Cincinnati Reds. The two teams are battling for the cellar of the NL Central, consequently the game itself was secondary to the stadium visit.

Robin Yount

The Brewers have a series of statues outside the stadium including this one that honors Robin Yount, the Franchise All Time Leader in Games, ABs, Hits, Runs, RBIs, Doubles, Triples, and WAR. Ryan Braun is the only Brewer who has more Home Runs than Yount.

Hank Aaron

The man who broke Babe Ruth's Home Run record only played two seasons with the Brewers but he spent an additional dozen seasons in Milwaukee as a Member of the Braves. Hank Aaron is rightfully honored here by the Brewers.

Miller Park

From this angle Miller Park looks like a Spaceship whose design was inspired by a tarantula. I took this picture while walking up a path from the location of old County Stadium, where Hank Aaron hit his last Home Run.

Chorizo y Hot Dog

I was pretty excited for the sausage race. Here are Chorizo and the Hot Dog hanging out pregame. 

Retired Numbers

Bob Uecker's 50 Year Plaque is in a nice neighborhood with Hall of Famers Paul Molitor and Robin Yount nearby. 

Miller Park from the Upper Deck. 

Roof Opens! 

The Roof was closed when we arrived, but was opened just prior to game time. Miller Park only remained an outdoor venue for about 3 innings when oncoming rain forced another closure. 

John Lamb

Oh Yeah there was a game.  The Brewers defeated the Reds 9-5. Neither starting pitcher was particularly sharp and both were gone before the end of the 6th inning, although Brewers Pitcher Zach Davies was hurt by his defense.

The Starting pitcher for the Reds was John Lamb, For some reason his look here reminds me of Tyrion from Game of Thrones. Lamb was lifted after just 3 2/3 innings which saw him give up 6 runs.

Aaron Hill Warming up

Must of been a good warm up as Hill had a great game with a pair of Home Runs.

Ryan Braun & Brandon Phillips

Braun and Phillips are likely discussing their own trade prospects.

 Chris Carter

Carter is off to a hot start ranking 3rd in the league in Homers at the 1/3 mark in the season.

Bernie Brewer

We got to see Bernie Brewer hit the slide, I believe this was on the Aaron Hill's 2nd Home Run. Notice at the top of the picture signs are lit up that say "Get Up, Get Up, Get Outta Here, Gone!" the signature Home Run Call of Brewers Broadcaster Bob Uecker.

There was a lot more to take in at the Brewers game and I have a lot more pictures that I hope to share at some future point.

Sources and Links
Baseball-ref
Milwaukee Brewers
Baseball Almanac 

RTC Braves Howie Bedell 1962 Topps

The Phillies are currently hosting their alumni weekend bring back many of the teams legends from the Past such as Schmidt, Carlton, Dick Allen, John Kruk, Dallas Green, Charlie Manuel and Latest Wall of Fame inductee Pat Burrell.

The Club also brings back some lesser known players such as Howie Bedell

 

1962 Topps #76 Howie Bedell (rookie flair but not a RC)

Howie Bedell only played 9 games with the Phillies and I don't think he ever represented the local team on card. The remainder of his career was 58 games with the Braves - The Team that is town to face the Phillies during the Alumni festivities.

On Opening day of the 1962 Season Bedell made his Major league debut as the leadoff hitters for the then Milwaukee Braves versus the San Francisco Giants and their Hall of Fame starter Juan Marichal. Bedell played Left Field along side Center Fielder Hank Aaron, They backed up Warren Spahn and another Hall of Famer Eddie Matthews started at 3rd Base.

Unfortunately for Bedell and the Braves lost 6-0 that day, but Bedell got his first career hit, a 3rd inning single off Marichal

Chester County Baseball
Bedell is more a representative of the Phillies and the Philadelphia region for his post playing career baseball activities. He did some coaching with the Phillies and more recently has been part of a group trying to bring a minor league team to Chester County.

I haven't heard much about the project recently but at one time there were proposals for West Chester, Where Howie Bedell went to College, and Phoenixville which has made a strong resurgences over the last decade. According to the 2010 Phoenix article cited above Bedell has been involved in the building of close to a dozen stadiums.

I am disappointed that the one that Bedell hasn't gotten done is in ChesCo, but understand there are a lot of factors that aren't positives for a community - including the high monetary cost. Regardless I hope that Howie Bedell, now a few weeks short of his 80th birthday gets a chance to see a local stadium.

Sources and Links
The Phoenix
baseball-ref
Topps Baseball Card Database

Hank Aaron 80th Birthday 1959 Topps Baseball Thrills #467

Today Hank Aaron turns 80, which gives us this excellent opportunity to return to our Baseball Thrills series. 

 

1959 Topps #467 Baseball Thrills Hank Aaron

The Hank Aaron Baseball Thrills card honors his game 4 Home Run in the 1957 World Series. 

Click that box score link - this was an amazing game!

The Braves were hosting the Yankees down a 2-1 in the Series, and 1-0 in the game when Aaron hit his lead changing blast. Later that inning future Phillie Frank Torre tacked on an additional Home Run giving the Braves a 4-1 lead with Warren Spahn on the mound. Spahn held the Yankees to that single run until the 9th inning. Unfortunately for the Braves with 2 outs and 2 men on Elston Howard came to the plate and tied the game. The Yankees would go on to take the lead in the 10th, but lose it in the 11th on a Home Run by HoF Eddie Mathews. 

   

1959 Topps #467 Baseball Thrills Hank Aaron (b-side)

The flip side of Aaron's BT card chronicles game 4 a bit and also mentions that Hammerin Hank had 3 HRs in the series. He did not, however, get the MVP award. That went to Lew Burdette who went 3-0 in the Series tossing 2 shutouts. 

The Braves and Aaron made it back to Series in 1958 losing to the Yankees. Those were Hank Aaron's only two trips to the World Series. The Braves would return to the playoffs in 1969, losing the NLCS to New York's newer team the Miracle Mets despite 3 Home Runs from Aaron. 

Home Run 715

arhive.org has a audio of HR calls for Aaron's record breaking HR here.

Phungo Talks Aaron

1974 Topps #1 Hank Aaron

1964 Topps #11 NL LL RBI Aaron, Ken Boyer, Bill White

Other Voices

59 topps: one f/g card at a time - Once again we turn to the 59 topps blog to do the heavy lifting of researching the photo on this card. Turns out that the photo the pix is based upon isn't from Aaron's HR nor is it from the 1957 World Series. Click the previous link to find out the story - The Catch in the pix is Yogi Berra, so yes this card features two Hall of Famers.    

 

1959 Topps Baseball Thrills Series

#467 Hank Aaron

#469 Ernie Banks

Sources

Baseball-Ref

59 Topps: one f/g card at a time

archive.org 

Reading the Competition: 1959 Topps #225 Johnny Logan - Milwaukee Braves

This weekend the Phillies are visiting Milwaukee to face the Brewers who later this season will be honoring Johnny Logan who played shortstop for Milwaukee's previous tenant the Braves. 

1959 Topps #225 Johnny Logan

Like the Phillies who have added many Philadelphia A's to their Wall of Fame the Brewers have honored their baseball past by adding Milwaukee Braves to their Wall.

Johnny Logan gets the well deserve honored this season - he has been a leader in the effort to keep the them histoyr of the Braves time in Milwaukee alive. Logan need not enter a teams wall of fame on ambassador credentials alone.  He had one of those really decent, if forgotten, careers. His 13 years in the majors included 11 with the Braves in both Boston and Milwaukee and the balance with the Pirates. He was the starting shortstop on two Braves World Series teams including the 1957 squad which won the World Championship in 7 games. Between 55 and 59 Logan made 5 All-Star appearances. His best year was probably 1955 when he led the league in Games Played and Doubles while batting .297 (116 OPS+, 6.0 WAR ranked 6th in the NL). He also stacked up well defensively, leading the NL in assists at short 4 times during the 1950s.

He has a very interesting SABR Bio that is worth a look if you have some time.  Logan lost 2 minor league seasons to the service during WWII, but he also attributes that time to helping him learn the fundamentals of the game while playing for the Army team based out of Camp Wheeler Georgia. 

While in the Army Logan was sent to Japan, the Bio isn't specific, but this may have factored into him playing in Japan after his Major League career ended with Pittsburgh. Logan joined the Nankai Hawks for a single season. The Hawks won the Japan Series that year making Johnny Logan the first player to be on winning World Series squads in both the US and Japan. Logan also homered in both series

Rewind
Last year the Brewers honored broadcaster Bob Uecker with a statue near the stadium - briefly mentioned in this post last year.

CommishBob covered the 59 Topps Johnny Logan card on his Set blog back in 2011.


For The Collector
I picked up the Johnny Logan card featured above as part of an ebay lot in April of 2008.  The card went for about 40 cents - it is in ok condition, couple of creases the number 16 (Logans Uni # w/ the Bucos) in pen on the front and a small 'x' written on the back.  At larger card shows Topps 1959 commons often be found for 50 cents.

The Topps Rookie Card of Johnny Logan is #158 the 1953 Set. It has sold recently for a low of $15 (there was an off condition card for $5.75 from a questionable seller). The high for the card was $42.50 for a card graded NM by somebody known as Starx Cards, whomever they are.

The 1953 Topps Logan card lists his name as John rather than Johnny and it is the only card where he is a member of the Boston Braves.  He has a Topps card for every year from 53-63 excluding 1955. In 55 Bowman had a Johnny Logan offering (#180).  His last Braves card is in 61, the final two cards are with the Pirates.
   

References
Baseball-Ref
SABR Bio
Pipe Dream - Binghamton University Student Paper
Ebay
Baseball Card Database