Virgil Trucks 1917-2013

Earliar this week the baseball world got the sad news that Virgil Trucks had passed away. 

1953 Topps #96 Virgil Trucks
Virgil Trucks, a star of the 1940s and 50s, was not a Hall of Famer but is noteworthy throughout the hobby largely because he was known as an enthusiastic TTM(Through the Mail) signer of autographs.

I have never gone delved into the TTM area of collecting and cannot really speak to its signficance. Fortunately the terrrific blog Foul Bunt covers both TTM and Virgil Trucks and put together this farewell posting for Mr Trucks.

Another noteworthy baseball autograph signer and baseball collector, Pat Neshak marked Virgil Truck's passing via Twitter:

Baseball world lost a great man today in Virgil Trucks. Can't say enough good words about him. He set the standard in player/fan interaction
— Pat Neshek (@PatNeshek) https://twitter.com/PatNeshek/status/316727826785128448">March 27, 2013

Nice praise from a member of the current generation of players, who gets how important the fans are to his profession.

Neshak also noted that he once wrote to Trucks for pitching related advice - Trucks returned a four page letter filled top to bottom. 

On The Field
Virgil Trucks won 177 games and would have likely won more had he not spent two of the early years of his career in the service. He was a member of the 1945 World Champion Detroit Tigers and made a pair of All-Star teams. In 1952 Trucks threw 2 no-hitters - both games were won by a score of 1-0.

For more in depth analysis of Virgil Trucks career check John Autin's column at High Heat Stats.

For he Collector
the 1953 Topps card is a bit of an anomaly in the catalog of Virgil Trucks cards, he only played one season for the Browns and it was the last season ever for the team.  In 1954 they moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles. I am not sure what this beauty went for, but  yes it is in loved condition and quite a bit off center. Still Virgil Trucks is a star and I also consider the rare St Louis Brown card a bonus.  For 1953 Topps cards in the low series in questionable condition I typically look for a price point of $2, add a dollar premium for it being a St Louis Brown and another dollar or two for Mr Trucks being a star and a gentleman - I could see this card being found for $4 - $5.  Indeed the recent low eBay sale for a 1953 Topps Virgil Trucks in signficantly better condition then the one above was $2.61.  On the other end of the scale a graded (PSA EX-MT 6) card went for $29.24.

Phungo two cents
Even though his career ended long before I was born, it is important that we remember people like Virgil Trucks. MLB and all of sports could use more alums that remember that the most important element of sports and entertainment is the fans.

One final fun note I found, Virgil Trucks is related to musician Derek Trucks - The Derek Trucks Band and Susan Tedeschi have been on my radar as bands to see for a while, but really haven't made it to any of their shows at least partially due to being so obsessed with baseball.

2010 Topps First Pack

This is no longer news for the rest of you, but it is for me. I finally got my hands on My First Pack of 2010 Topps yesterday. I bought five packs, this is pack number 1. It is a retail pack that I picked up at the local bargain chain store Five Below (everything is $5 and under) The Pack went for $2.11 including PA sales tax.

The first 2010 Topps card of the year is:

2010 Topps #148 Cody Ross

Sort of anti-climatic. Outfielder for a Phils rival. One time journeymen who has found a home with the Marlins, especially now that they have finally given up on Jeremy Hermida.

Since everyone has seen these already I will to a quick blow by blow of the pack.
2010 Topps #273 Pat Neshek
Blogosphere favorite who I didn't realize pitched last year.


2010 Topps #15 Bobby Abreu (click to enlarge)
Former Phil - with the back of the card. 2100 Hits at the age of 36...


2010 Topps #40 Josh Johnson
2010 Topps #56 Andy Pettitte

Among Phils Rivals Johnson is a Phungo Favorite. He was the ace of the team Phungo Fantasy Squad pitching staff that took the 2009 title.

Good Photo of Pettitte, but he Beat Phils in final game of 2010 Series >:| Getting past that - one wonders - Does Pettitte have HOF credentials?


2010 Topps #5 Texas Rangers
2010 Topps #72 Franchise History Milwaukee Brewers

The above two cards came up back to back. Having both versions of team cards in the base set is confusing. I am not sure the regular team card is necessary - I would have preferred another middle reliever be thrown in there. I do like the Franchise History cards and may collect them as as a faux set. Although what is with Topps placing a Beer Ad smack dab in the middle of a Baseball card?? (click to enlarge and see alcohol ad)

2010 Topps mom 2004 Topps #600 Alfonso Soriano
2010 ToppsTown #TTT16 Kevin Youkilis

Pretty sure this is a Photoshop Special with Soriano in a Home Jersey AND the Yankees in the dugout also wearing the home duds. This card is of the SP back variety.

2010 Topps #HOTG17 History of the Game - 1957 Dodgers and Giants Move to California (click to enlarge)

This insert set is likely on the to do list.

2010 Topps #62 Kevin Millwood
2010 Topps #91 Erik Bedard

Ranger heavy pack. As a Brave Millwood is 29 games over .500, the Rest of his career he is +5.
He has not reached the Postseason since being traded to the Phils after the 2002 Season.

Notice both the Millwood and Bedard Cards were fed through the foil stamper incorrectly. The Players name (in black) is now in an ugly mess below the foil. Curiously the names are more readable when fed through a scanner - they are not when viewing the card for real. The Topps logo glances off the top border of the card and the players postition is also raised. nice job Topps.

Two Cents from Phungo

I picked up a total of 5 packs on Friday and will be back throughout the weekend with additional thoughts.

I have very little new thoughts to add to what has already been stated elsewhere. I am happy with the look of the cards. The borrowed design does not bother me. The team logo is a bit large but not to much so. I could do without the foil. Solid Photography and Interesting inserts.

For those of you that keep track of such things, the cards are listed in the order in which they came out of the pack. To keep the pix face center, I may have flipped some of the card pairs in the scans.

Pull of the Pack

I am going with Josh Johnson here, Had the Yankees not just beaten the Phils in the Playoffs, I would likely go with Pettitte. I have always like Bobby Abreu, but everyone knows fielding isn't Bobby's strength. Soriano Mom SP is likely a favorite for many collectors

Meh of the Pack

Erik Bedard easily. The Mis-foiling of the card plus Bedard's rep as a soft pitcher when he was in Baltimore all add up to a Meh card.