40 Years Ago: Randy Jones Makes the Cover of Sports Illustrated

We have reached All-Stat Week in San Diego and it turns out the game will be played on the same date in which Randy Jones appeared on the Cover of Sports Illustrated Forty Years ago.

1999 Skybox Autograph Collection Randy Jones

Several cards from the 1999 Skybox autograph set appear on Sports Illustrated Covers. The Randy Jones cover originally appeared with a Publish Date of July 12 1976. The Issue can be found here in the SI Archive. The corresponding article was penned by the San Francisco Based sports writer Ron Fimrite.

In addition to incorporating the SI cover the Card also features Randy Jones Autograph. A Nice touch on the signature is the Southpaw's uniform Number #35 within the bottom loop of the cursive J in Jones.

The cover photo was taken June 28 1976 or June 30 1976.  Getty Images specifies the earlier date, however the capsule information related to the photo lines up more with 6/30, which I am pretty sure is the correct date.

Jones and the Padres defeated the powerful Cincinnati Reds that day 3-1. It was his 14th Victory of the season. Jones went the distance allowing six hits and a pair of walks against 2 Ks.

The Photo was taken by John G Zimmerman who also took a picture that many Philadelphians are familiar with, the Chuck Bednarik/Frank Gifford Photo.

2008 UD Masterpieces #14 Chuck Bednarik


Flip

1999 Skybox Autograph Collection Randy Jones

For folks interested in such details the Randy Jones card come with a Certificate of Authenticity regarding Jones' signature.


Sources and Links
1976 ASG Index

Randy Jones Index
Game Dated Cards Index
Sports Illustrated Vault
Getty Images - John G Zimmerman
SF Gate
Baseball-ref

1976 ASG +40: Randy Jones 1977 Topps #550

Tonight with the Padres in town for the Phillies first home series we are going to take a look at the the NL Starting Pitcher for the 1976 All-Star game Randy Jones.

1977 Topps #550 Randy Jones

Randy Jones earned the honor by recording an NL record 16 victories during the first half of the 1976 season. Jones got the W in the game pitching 3 shutout innings for the Home Squad, allowing 2 hits and a walk. Jones was a ground ball specialist and induced a double play to eliminate one of those runners. Notables that Jones shut down in those three innings were Rod Carew twice including the DP, as well as borderliner Hallers Bobby Grich, Fred Lynn and Thurman Munson.

It was the 2nd All-Star game for Jones who had also recorded a save in the 1975 Mid-Summer Classic. He was the first player to Earn a Save followed by a W in consecutive All-Star Games.

His first half success continued throughout the season, Jones finished 22-14 with a 2.74 ERA leading the league in Wins, Starts, CGs (25!!), Innings (315+), Batters Faced and WHIP (1.027). It all added up to a Cy Young Award for the 26 Year Old Jones.

1977 Topps
Great Card, The Padres Colors, The 77T All-Star Flair, Randy Jones Warming Up, and his epic 1970s hair.

1977 Topps #550 Randy Jones (b-side)

The text here hits the highlights of Jones' 1976 ASG performance which ties in nicely to both our theme and the the All-Star flair on the front.

I also like the Trivia Toon, Lolich set the LH K record in 1975 and we honored the 40th anniversary of that game in a posting from our 1976 Topps Record Breakers Series.

Instream Sports
If you have any interest in the 1976 ASG and have some free time there is a terrific article at Instream Sports where they basically watch a stream of the game and discuss it with folks that were involved. In the 1976 ASG article the players that are interviewed are Randy Jones and Phillies Alum Al Oliver.

Yes Randy Jones is wearing a Perm, his wife did his first one with a bottle of Toni. 

Sources and Links
1976 All-Star Game Index 

Randy Jones Index
Dave Jordan Instream Sports

Sarasota Herald Tribune 1976 0708

20th ANNIVERSARY: 1995 Ben Davis taken 2nd overall in the June Draft

We have a sort of Phillies related post this AM. 20 years ago this month Ben Davis out of nearby Malvern Prep HS was drafted 2nd overall by the San Diego Padres.

1995 Topps Traded #74T Ben Davis Draft Pick

Davis' Playing career is really not #2 overall pick worthy. He stuck in the Majors for seven seasons half of which were with the Padres. His best year was 2001 when he led NL catchers in games with 135 with a career High 11 Homers and 57 RBIs.

Ben Davis ended his career with a 2.7 WAR placing him 10th among 1st round draftees for 1995. Among the players the Padres passed on to get Ben Davis were Todd Helton (61.2 WAR), Kerry Wood (27.7), and Roy Halladay (64.6).  The player drafted in front of Davis was Darin Erstad who compiled a rather surprising 32.3 career WAR.

The Phillies never had a chance at Davis and missed on both of their 1995 1st round picks Reggie Taylor (14th, -0.5 WAR) and Dave Coggin (30th, +0.3). The Phillies did score a modest victory with Marlon Anderson in the 2nd round, 42nd Pick 7.2 WAR.
flip

1995 Topps Traded #74T Bend Davis Draft Pick

Today Ben does Color Commentary on Phillies TV Broadcasts. He does a good job and I am happy to have a catcher's perspective in the booth. 

Sources and Links
Baseball-ref
Baseball Cardpedia

Baseball Prospectus #23 Prospect Austin Hedges

On Monday Night San Diego Padres Catching Prospect Austin Hedges made his major league debut.

2014 Bownan Chrome Fire Die Cut #FDC-AHE Austin Hedges

It was a tough assignment, Hedges first AB was a pinch hitting appearance versus 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner. The Rookie Struck out on four pitches.

I am sure there are better days ahead for the prospect who will likely get a start soon.

The 23 ranking by Baseball Prospectus may be a bit high as they have consistently ranked Hedges higher than Basemall America (who did not rank Hedges in the top 100 this year) and MLB.com. Perhaps it is because BP ranked Hedges a year earlier then the other sources.

2014 Fire Die Cuts
The FDC cards are inserted into 2014 Bowman Chrome. Apparently they are a common insert as I found this in a dime box. Hedges is found only in the insert set and not on the base checker for 2014 BowChro. 

I may have seen these bizarre cards previously, but don't remember. They look like somebody shrinky-dinked a chrome card. The b-sides with the floating type are an absolute trainwreck

2014 Bownan Chrome #FDC-AHE Austin Hedges (b-side)

Maybe it is the wording, but I had to read this card a few times before I figured out what the author was talking about. The shape of the card on this side doesn't make me think of a prospect on fire, It looks like a the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz Melting, "I'm Melting!!!" . 

Peanut Gallery
This card was covered by the Underdog Card Collector in March - Their analogy for the shape of the card is "cooked in a microwave"

Sources and Links
The Underdog Card Collector
Baseball Cardpedia
Cardboard Connection 
Baseball-ref
MLB
Michaels

Steve Poltz, John Kruk and Tony Gwynn at Ardmore Music Hall 2014 10 18

On Saturday Night Folksinger/Punk troubadour Steve Poltz brought his talents to the Ardmore Music Hall. I have seen Poltz roughly a dozen times dating back to the early 90s when he fronted the San Diego rock band the Rugburns.

He always gives a entertaining show and his latest performance did not disappoint.

2014 10 18 Steve Poltz at Ardmore Music Hall

The 54 year old Poltz put together a high energy set which spanned his solo career and even reached back to the Rugburns catalog for "Rub somebody the Right Way" and "Tree Hugger". There were at least three songs from his Mercury album "One Left Shoe" - "Silver Lining", "Impala" and "Everything About You" - Poltz mentioned his songwriting with Jewel a couple of times when referencing songs from this era.

Poltz filled his set with a number of funny stories about his life, career and music. When discussing "Silver Lining" he mentioned that he and John Kruk had become friends after Kruk discovered his name being referenced. Poltz said Krukker is supposed to be joining him in San Diego to go Surfing - imagine that. 

A few years back I got Steve to autograph this: 

1988 Topps #596 John Kruk (signed by Steve Poltz)  

I rank this one right up there with my Hall of Fame autographs. 

Steve is a pretty big baseball fan, he his friends with Giants Third Base Coach and fellow songwriter Tim Flannery and he has been involved in the sausage race hosted by the Milwaukee Brewers. 

Recently Poltz has written a song to honor Padres Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

Unfortunately Poltz didn't play the new Gwynn song, but I did get him to vogue with a Gwynn Card.

 

2014 10 18 Steve Poltz and 2009 UD Goodwin Champions #135 Tony Gwynn

Poltz tour will take him through the Mid-Atlantic and the southeast in the coming weeks. I recommend the show for fans of any type of music (or comedy). For locals he will be doing a 2nd area show - On Wednesday 10//22 he will be upstains at the Wilmington DE location of World Cafe Live Wilmington.  

Sources
imdb
Hi, I'm Steve Poltz
Tim Flannery

Tony Gwynn 1960-2014

I only got to see Tony Gwynn's play twice, and he didn't start either game. He pinch hit in both games and didn't get a hit either time. So I don't really have any great memories of seeing Gwynn play live. The latter of those two games was Gwynn's final game in Philadelphia. When he came to the plate to bat, he got a standing ovation and tipped his cap.

2002 UD World Series Heroes #57 Tony Gwynn

We have already featured the Tony Gwynn Rookie Card here and I have decided to go in a bit of a different direction here. This 2002 UD card is from just after Gwynn's career ended. The Padres franchise dates back to 1969 but they have only been to two World Series 1984 and 1998. The Series' were 14 years apart and Tony Gwynn played in both of them.

Tributes
Here is a collection of Tony Gwynn Card Tributes, Obits and Memorials:

Padrographs - Great personal story from Rod
Card Buzz - How Gwynn handles autograph signings
Cardboard Icons
Cards that Never Were (1982 Topps Custom)
bdg610 Topps Baseball Card Blog (1983 Topps RC)
30-Year Old Cardboard
Sports Card Info (1982 TCMA Hawaii Islanders #10)
Beckett (1983 OPC RC) 
This Card is Cool 1994 Fleer
All the way to the backstop (2002 Topps)
Lifetime Topps Project (Goodwin Champ Auto)
The Writers Journey (Fleer)
Starting Nine (Various)
Uncle Doc's Card Closet
 
Jayson Stark on Gwynn's incredible numbers

Phungo Tony Gwynn HoF Index
1983 Topps #482 (rc)

Sources
Baseball-ref

Ryne Sandberg and Rick Renteria reunite at Wrigley

Last summer Team Phungo got this snapshot of Ryne Sandberg and Rick Renteria exchanging lineups prior to a Padres Phils game.

2013 09 11 Rick Renteria and Ryne Sandberg

At the time Renteria was a bench coach and Sandberg was likely still Interim Manager. Today (weather permitting) the two will once again meet at home plate. This time it will be as opposing managers during the lineup announecement for the Home Opener at Wrigley Field.

Sunday Night Baseball: Steve Garvey 1986 Fleer League Leaders #15

Yes the Dodgers may have already played a pair of games, but to me MLB Opening Day is still in progress. Tonight the Dodgers visit the division rival San Diego Padres to begin the domestic portion of the season.

1986 Fleer League Leaders #15 Steve Garvey 

I will always think of Steve Garvey as a Dodger, but he did have a significant stint with the Padres. Five years of Garvey's career were spent in San Diego. His tenure there was so successful that the Padres retired #6 in honor of Garvey.

1986 Fleer League Leaders
This is a special edition set that Fleer put together in 1986. The 44 card complete set boxes were distributed at Walgreen's. I think "Leaders" in the set name refers to being a team leader, the cards certainly do not point to any specific statistical category for which the player led the league.

Checker

The 44 card checklist for the set runs in alphabetical order by surname. #38 Juan Samuel is the sole Phillies player on the list, although the set does also include Mariano Duncan, Julio Franco, Keith Moreland, Dale Murphy, Pete Rose and Ryne Sandberg with other clubs. There are several Hall of Famers in there including Tom Seaver, Ozzie, Robin Yount, Carlton Fisk, Ripken, Carew, Gary Carter, Kirby Puckett, and Phil Niekro.

Since this is Fleer each Box contains six random team stickers. Keeping with today's theme, this pack happened to be a Padres Hot Box:

1984 Padres
This season the Padres who are struggling for current success are once again celebrating the 1984 squad, who they just honored in 2009. 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Padre, which took the NLCS from the Cubs despite losing the first 2 games of the 5 game series.  Steve Garvey was the MVP of the series, He batted .400 with a team leading 7 RBIs including 5 in game 4 which he also ended with a Game Winning Home Run.


Welcome back baseball - I hope to continue with the Sunday Night Baseball postings throughout the season. Perhaps the Phillies will find some success in 2014 and find themselves on the big show at some point.
 

Sources
Baseball-ref 
Padres
Bob Lemke's Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards
Gaslamp Ball
2009 Padres

In Memoriam: Jerry Coleman (1924-2014) 1956 Topps #316

Team Phungo profiled Jerry Coleman in this 2012 posting

1956 Topps #316 Jerry Coleman


Additional Jerry Coleman Memorials
Bleedin' Brown and Gold
Von's Cards - 1957 Topps

Bucket or Chuck-It: 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Bargain Blaster

2012 AnG Blasters running for $13 at the local target.  Bucket Or Chuck-It?

Phillies

No Base cards but a Ryan Howard Insert and a Cliff Lee Mini

Speaking of Minis

Justin Upton

Freddie Freeman A&G Back

Erin Andrews Black Frame!

Nick Hagadone A&G backs, 

Jorge De La Rosa

Adam & Eve Bible insert

Adrian Gonzalez

Solid group of inserts - SportsCasting Beauty Erin Andrews draws center square in this lot. 
 

Hit

Heath Bell Relic w/ the Pix representing the Padres, the Relic may or may not be from the Padres or any other actual game or event or something like that.

Standard Size Inserts  

 

Not Sure the Smoltz pix looks a lot like him. The Willis Tower is the Sears Tower in Chicago, Dempster is card #342 SP.  .

Whats in a Name

That is Tony Gwynn the Hall of Famer in the Middle. Donnie Baseball on top and Jacoby Ellsbury last. 

The Box yielded one other Hall of Famer in base card form

Stan Musial

Bucket or Chuck-it

No Base Phils is a bust but gettting two inserts makes the Phils up for that, Erin Andrews makes the minis a win, meh on the other inserts. I imagine the hit rate for relics is about even for an AnG blaster. Overall, we give it a bucket.  I got $13 of enjoyment out of opening that box.  

ReWind - Past Ginter Blaster Breaks

2011 Allen & Ginter (Bargain Blaster - Carlos Ruiz Mini, Jim Nantz Relic, James Shields #NNO mini)

2010 Allen & Ginter (Chase Utley This Day in History)

2010 Allen & Ginter (Bargain Blaster - Buster Posey RC)

2008 Allen & Ginter (Michael Young Relic)

2009 Allen & Ginter Phillies Group Break (Cole Hamels black border Mini, Jamie Moyer Mini 

Note the 2012 Bargain Blasters are buck more than the 2011 and 2010 A&G Blasters were a few months ago. 

Sources
Baseball-Cardpedia.com
 

Reading the Competition: 1983 Topps #482 Tony Gwynn RC

A quick Question, What Jersey Number is Tony Gwynn wearing on this Topps Rookie Card? I did a quick search and found nothing. Does anyone have an early 80s Padres media guide that may has a 40 man roster listing Gwynn? I am a little surprised that with all the information out there, that this remains a mystery.

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This week the Phillies are on the Road in Southern California, facing the Padres during the week followed by the Dodgers over the weekend. To mark the first part of the road trip we are very happy to examine the Tony Gwynn Rookie card(s)

1983 Topps #482 Tony Gwynn

2013 marks the 30th anniversary of one of my favorite Topps Sets, 1983. I Iike the design and the dual photos. Another bonus is the impressive checklist that includes 3 HoF RCs - Gwynn, Ryne Sandberg, and Wade Boggs.

1983 is near the outset of the MLB awarding multiple trading card licenses and there are actually at least three Gwynn RCs.  Plus there is a 1982 TCMA card and the 1983 OPC Gwynn. For me I am a Topps guy and the 1983 #482 card above is the Gwynn Rookie Card.

HoF Career  
We have covered the career of the first ballot Hall of Famer previously. His career accomplishments are worth reiterating 3141 Hits, 1300+ Runs, 1100+ RBI, 300 SB, 7 batting titles, 15 time all-star. He was also a member of both of the Padres World Series teams, 1984 and 1998.

According to Wikipedia Tony Gwynn has been battling various health issues (some weight related) but he remains active as the coach of the San Diego State Aztecs. The biggest name that Gwynn coached with the Aztecs is likely Stephen Strasburg. In 2013 Tony Gwynn's son Tony Gwynn Jr remains in professional baseball, playing at the AAA level of the Dodgers system in Albuquerque (batting .321/ .400 OBP at press time)

For the Collector

This makes me sick. Tony Gwynn is a first ballot Hall of Famer, His Topps Rookie Card is 30 years old and had recent auctions close as low as $2.10 Shipped! Hell, a year ago Cardboard Connection selected the card as one of the 10 most valuable RCs of the 1980s.

Why the hell would anyone buy a pack of 2013 Topps S2 when for the same price you could have Tony Gwynn's Rookie Card?  At least two other auctions ended under $3.

The 1983 Donruss #598 came in as low as $3.48 while the 1983 Fleer #360 came in at $3.50 - A graded (PSA 5 EX) version of the Fleer card went for $3.99.  

All 3 cards could be found multiple times for under $5 and All 3 cards are each currently available BIN under $10. 

On the other end of the spectrum graded version of the cards sold as follows:

Topps #482 Tony Gwynn PSA GEM MT 10: $454 
Fleer #360 Tony Gwynn PSA GEM MT 10: $75
Donruss #598 BGS GEM MT 9.5: $53 

HoF Index
2005 Topps Pristine #105 (#d/999)
2012T A&G What's in a Name
2011 Topps Tier One
2002 UD World Series Heroes #57  (Memorials and Tributes)

Sources
30 Year Old Cardboard
Cardboard Connection
Old Cardboard
ebay.com
Baseball-Ref.com
San Diego State Baseball
Wikipedia

Sorting through some 2012 Allen Ginter Minis and this gave me a chuckle....

A couple of months ago I was at a card show and picked up about two dozen minis out of a dime box.  I finally got around to sorting them out and these two game up back to back. 

 

 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter #102 & #286 Street-Walker

 

Padres to Honor Broadcaster, WWII Veteran, and Yankees Alum Jerry Coleman

It is statue week here at Phungo.  Yesterday we talked about Cal Ripken who is being honored by the Orioles tonight.  Today we would like to recognize Jerry Coleman. 

Saturday the Padres are hosting Jerry Coleman Day. The Padres will honor Coleman with a statue of the teams long time broadcaster.  Coleman has been associated with the club for 40 years. In 2005 he recieved the baseball Hall of Fame Ford C Frick Award for broadcasting. 

 
 

1956 Topps #316 Jerry Coleman

Jerry Coleman spent his entire 9 year career with the Yankees and was a member of 4 World Series Championship Teams.  He was an All-Star in 1950 and was the Worlld Series MVP (vs the Phillies) that year as well. 

Beyond his baseball career Coleman also earned honors for his Military Service during Wolrd War II and the Korean conflict. 

For The Collector

1956 Topps is a good looking and popular set.  The Jerry Coleman card is a fine example - you get a nice portrait and with an interesting action shot.  Cards #181 and above are considered High Numbers.  I don't know what I paid for this card but you can typically find off condtion Hi# commons of 1956 Topps in the $3 range. 

There is a Jerry Coleman autograph card that is part of the 2003 UD Yankee Signature Series.  No auctions for the card have finished recently, but there are 2 separate BINs of the card listed for under $9. 

Sources

Baseball-Ref Jerry Coleman

Wikipedia Jerry Coleman

ebay

Phun Cards: 1974 Topps #173 Randy Jones

This card might be from the first pack of baseball cards I ever opened - I have no way of knowing now.  I know that it was a pack of 1974 Topps.  And I bought it at a 7-Eleven.  I think the packs had 10 cards for 9 cents.  My first experience with inflation was when packs jumped to a dime for 9 cards the following year.  The idea of cards costing more than a penny a piece was preposterous - although I probably didn't have the world PREPOSTEROUS in my vocab back then. 

1974 Topps #173 Randy Jones (RC) 

 

Randy Jones is one of the non-Phils stars that I remember from my youth.  He was a pitcher who I briefly grouped with Seaver and Carlton. Turns out Randy Jones had more of meteor ride then a career.  He had an All-Star season in 1975 and won the Cy Young Award in 76, unfortunately he was injured in his final start of the season, afterward he was never really the same.  Nobody has thrown 25 or more complete games in an NL seasons since Randy Jones reached that number during that 1976 season - Rick Langford had 28 for Oakland in 1980.

 

Jones persevered for the remainder of the 70s but was done in 1982 at the age of 32. According to his wikipedia page Randy Jones is the only Cy Young Award winner with a career losing record.  Indeed he finished 23 games under .500 at 100-123.

 

Post Career

Jones #35 uniform has been retired by the San Diego Padres. Once again, I would think Randy Jones likely has one of the worst Win-Loss records among starting pitchers with retired numbers. Regardless his peak seasons of 1975-76 make Randy Jones jersey retiring worthy.  In addition to his on field accomplishments Jones has had a good post career in San Diego serving the team in an ambassador capacity.  He also runs a sports bar in San Diego that appears to have a solid craft beer selection. 

 

For The Collector

The above card is from my legacy collection of my childhood - thus it's rather rough condition.  I am sure if you didn't care about the wrinkles and the corners you could find this card in a dime box. 

 

It was unknown where the Padres would play in 1974 and many of their cards can be found with NAT'L LEA as the team name rather than Padres.  For under $3.00 you can pick either the Padres or the NL variation of a RC of a Cy Young Award winner.   

Flip Side

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1974 Topps #173 Randy Jones (RC b-side) 

 

1974 All-Star Rookie Cup

Despite leading the league with 22 losses Randy Jones was the LHP representative for the 1974 Rookie Cup team. The Voters must have seen something as Jones as he went on to win 20 games each of the next two seasons. He finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting in 1975 to Tom Seaver and won the award in 1976. 

Randy Jones Index

This is an index to our postings related to Randy Jones

1974 Topps #173 (See Above)

1977 Topps #550 (1976 ASG 40th anniversary)

1999 Skybox Autograph Collection (Sports Illustrated Cover 40th Anniversary)

Links & Sources

1974 Topps Rookie Cup Index

 

Team Phungo Meets Padrographs!!!!

We had the opportunity to visit Rod from Padrographs while my wife was at a conference in Portland, Oregon. 

Rod from Padrographs w/ Team Phungo Author, me

Rod is responsible for a bookstore that sells the used books from the county library.  Near as I can tell Portland must have one of the most successful library systems in the country.  In fact shortly after I left Rod, I was at Voodoo Donuts and the young man working the counter saw a book that I had bought at the start and congratulated me for having a library book while on vacation.  
 
We only met for maybe a half hour but Rod was able to give us some good background on Portland's history, geography, and culture.  He also showed us around the store pointing me in the direction of the baseball books.  The book I picked was a copy of  "The Corporal was a Pitcher" about 50s era Philadelphia Athletic Lou Brissie.

I think Rod is only the third card blogger I have met in person - once again it was a pleasure.  Rod is just as funny in person as his writing. One of my favorite parts of the afternoon was when one of the customers got upset with us for talking to loud while he was perusing books. 

Phungo 5 with Padrographs

The Phillies early season west coast swing continues with a trip to San Diego.  Today we check in with Rod from Padrographs, our books and baseball man on the west coast.

1) Do you think that Cameron Maybin is a Future All-Star?   

Cameron Maybin maybe an all star because is the only one with any name recognition for people to vote on.  Or he will be chosen as the Padres lone rep this year.      

2) Do you collect any specific team from the Pre Padres era?

there was baseball before 1969, seriously though I collect a few players from pre 69, notably Rube Wadell

3) Did Bruce Bochy managing the Giants get you to root for them in the World Series?

 Bruce Bochy didn't, the fact that Tim Flannery is the third baseball coach did.

1984 Topps #684 Tim Flannery (image from Baseball Card Database) 

4) What is the Best Baseball Book you have read in the last year? 

Willie’s Boys, The 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, the Last Negro League World Series, and the Making of a Baseball Legend by John Klima 

5) Who would play your charater on "Portlandia"

John Kruk could play me on Portlandia, 95% of which is true.  

Scorecard

easy 4 out of 4 - I will withhold the Cameron Maybin point for a bit.  However, the assumption that the mandatory team rep will end up making Maybin an All-Star is quite likely.  What more can you ask for out of a P5 - we have Rube Wadell, John Kruk, Tim Flannery and Willie Mays!

But most importantly I am very pleased to find out that "Portlandia" is closer to documentry than fiction

Replay

Phungo 5 with Padrographs 2010

Phungo 5 with Padrographs 2009

2012 Phungo 5 Postings
Philadelphia Phillies - The Phillies Room.

Miami Marlins - 30-Year Old Cardboard

New York Mets - Paul's Random Baseball Stuff

Pittsburgh Pirates - Pirates Treasure Room

Oakland A's - The Fuji Chronicles

Seattle Mariners - Emeral City Diamond Gems 

Texas Rangers - Play at the Plate

Junk of the Month - January 2012

I am attempting to resurrect Junk of the Month for 2012.  We will see how things go....

I didn't open up any 2012 Topps until Wednesday, therefore none of that dreck qualifies for JotM 2012-01. To be fair I like 2012 Topps more than most opinions I have seen - promised thoughts on this hopefully will be published in the coming week. 

So in January I didn't open many packs, but still manage to find some junk.  One of the things I found was a pack of the bargain bin ubiquitous 2006 Fleer Ultra.  You think 2012 Topps has a lot of inserts - go out and grab a $1.59 pack of 06 Fleer Ultra. 

Junk of the Month

2006 Fleer Ultra Home Run Kings #HRK15 Mike Piazza

What the hell is this? Piazza hit a grand total of 22 dingers for the Padres.  Does anyone remember his bit 06 season for the Fighting Friars?  The card is actually commemorating Piazza's two 40 home run seaons from last century, 1997 with the Dodgers and 1999 with the Mets.

Pull of the Month

2011 Topps American Pie Walk of Fame Leslie Nielsen

For the fun of it, Team Phungo picked up a pack of Topps American Pie last month.  The otherwise worthless pack (that contained both the Twitter and the Google cards and No Frank Zappa) did yield this gem.

This is a nice looking insert set that I think I could get behind. All kinds of whacks have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame so I am sure there is some variety in this set.

And in a release that is not baseball product, we do get a baseball related card in the form of Lt Frank Drebin.  

Sources and Links
Mike PIazza HoF Index

Swag from Nachos Grande - Tier One plus A&G nno

Still catching up on postings - Last month Nachos Grande ran a Tier One Group Break.  Here is the good stuff.     

2011 Topps Tier One Tony Gwynn (Base #d to 799) 
2011 Topps Tier One Hunter Pence (Base) 
2011 Topps Tier One Cole Hamels (T4 #d 199)
2011 Allen & Ginter NNO Roy Halladay

Tier One as the name states is a Tiered product with several parallels.  The break was of the 15 team variety where you get a team you choose plus one at random.  My random squad was the Padres - Tony Gwynn is about as well as I could do personally for a Padres base card as he is one of my favorite players.  The Pence Base card may be my first of him as a Phil.  The Hamels was my best pull from the Tier One portion of the break. 

2011 A&G NNO Roy Halladay

Nachos Grande had won a box of 2011 A&G and he through cards from that box that he didn't need for his PC into the break.  Fortunately one of those cards was arguably the best card in the box.  A No Numbered Roy Halladay Mini.  This is only my 2nd nno mini.  I have a Cole Hamels from a different break I was involved in a few years back. 

Chris also gave each participant a team set of 2011 Topps Lineage, so in addition to the above cards, I also picked up the Phils and Padres Topps Lineage cards.

Right now over at Nachos Grande a group break featuring 5 turn of the century products. Phils from that era aren't not nearly as exciting as the current crew - maybe pick up a couple of cool Scott Rolen cards.  

Where are they Now - Ben Davis

1995 Topps Traded #74T Ben Davis Draft Pick

I wanted to reference a recent article in our paper about former Padres catcher Ben Davis. Davis is from the Philadelphia area and was the 2nd overall pick in the 1995 draft. He spent parts of 7 seasons in the Majors with he Padres, Mariners, and White Sox.

Ben is still playing professionally but not at the Major League level - and not as a Catcher. Ben is trying to get back to the Majors as a Pitcher for the Camden Riversharks of the independent Atantic League.

One of Davis' Riversharks starts was even mentioned in Paul's Random Stuff.

The Ben Davis card above is his rookie card from the 1995 Topps Traded set which is an odd set due to the strike that ended the 1994 season. In addition to the many draft picks and other prospects in the set there is a solid group of veterans that changed clubs due to being unsigned during the strike.

1995 Topps Traded #74T Ben Davis Draft Pick (b-side)

It is interesting to get a look at the flip side of the Davis card. It features his high school batting numbers. Due to playing here in the northeast there is an incredibly small sample size of at-bats. I am sure that Davis played on many a travel team while learning his craft.

Best of Luck to Ben Davis. He was never a Phillie, but he is a local guy and this is a fun story to follow.

Phungo 5 with Padrographs

Team Phungo has been away for a much needed week of vacation in the Outerbanks of North Carolina. It is a great place to both have fun and relax, especially if you can go with a dozen very good friends.

Upon my returning home I do get to do another thing I enjoy, and that is getting the Phungo blob back up and running with some current info. Today we kick off June with the return of Phungo 5 and a chat with Rod from Padrographs.

Aside from giving us a rundown on San Diego Padres Autograph cards (largely TTMs), Rod also helps keep us up to date on the literature surrounding the sport. This past winter Padrographs also hosted very fun and successful edition of Spot the Sig!

Are the surprising Padres a playoff team?
I hope so, but I am afraid to get up hopes up after 1984 and 1998.

What trading card set has been the most conducive for TTM requests for a Padres fan.
Topps Total and Upper Deck 40 man. Since then I like the Allan & Ginter

2009 Topps American Heritage #99 Ralph Ellison

You list Authors among the cards you collect. What sets contain your favorite author cards?
So far the Topps American Heritage set, but the more I look there are a lot of author cards from lots of years, even some cool vintage sets.

There have been several baseball related books to be released in the past several years, in your opinion why is this happening?
Cause everything is cyclical. The authors have seen the cycles in the card industry are investigating what is happening. And they know that the main people collecting are not kids but adults who want to know more about cards or want to reflect on what cards mean to us.

What is the best thing on the McDonalds Menu?
The McRib when they have, although I have used Mickey D's to super size me and am now avoiding it so I can downsize me.

Phungo 5 Box Score

Wow where do I start - High marks all around, Thanks for bringing the McRib back. I doubt I will ever try one again - those can't be healthy at all, but I sure did like them when I could still frequent the golden arches.

Also Interesting insight into the book world and how it affects our hobby. 5 out of 5 for Padrographs.

Looking Back

For a look back at a previous Phungo 5 Click here for to see our conversation with Thoughts and Sox