NitPicking 2011 Topps Vintage Chrome: #VC47 Domonic Brown

What a difference a fortnight makes.  You go a abroad for a few weeks and floundering prospect turns into a the most dangerous hitter in the league. With each passing game the Phillies look more and more like a .500 team, but at least Domonic Brown gives fans a reason to look forward to the future. 

2011 Topps Vintage Chrome #VC47 Domonic Brown

Shortly before hitting the road I posted the first Phungo Card of Dom Brown and noted he was doing well but:

"he is going to need to hit better than .250 with a .301 OBP for the Phils to succeed"

Well I don't think Dom Brown reads Phungo, but if he does, I would like to think he was inspired.  Since that posting on Monday May 13th he has been on fire.  He has batted .355 with 13 Homers and 29 RBIs in 24 games. His slugging percentage rose 187 points over the period of 93ABs, pretty good for a man already 132 bats into his season.  His 162 game projection for the period is 88 Home Runs and 223 Hits.  Oh and 41 Stolen bases as well.

Symmetry 

1996 Topps Charlies Hayes #255

This is a bit odd, one player is batting and the other is in the field but the Dom Brown card on the Left sort of evokes the Charlie Hayes pose on the right.  Both players in shades heads tilted in roughly the same direction.

Nitpicking 2011 Topps Vintage Chrome Inserts
Maybe I get a a bit more uppity then I should when Topps is messing up minor details when just making cards of a design they have already produced.   But if your to lazy to come up w/ new designs you deserve to be harassed.  

There are a couple of issues I found with the 1996 redux in 2011 all minor but interesting.

First off there is a change that I like - the 2011 variety has the player name in bright yellow.  It is much easier to read then the originals.  This is a noteworthy difference but a bonus.

Now for the differences I attribute to pure laziness on Topps part. 
1) the inset pix next to the players name isn't angled
2) B-side: The photo on the flip side of the card is a recycle of the front shot.  This wasn't done in 1996.
3) B-side: What is with the home plate color? 

 Here is your overanalysis on the differnces:

Inset pix

1996 Topps #385 Heathlciff Slocumb

Check the inset pix next to Heathcliff's name.  It is angled slightly forward, dont' see it? check the 'P' on Slocumb's cap - much more italicized on the inset.  It is kind of a cool feature gives the whole card just a touch of forward movement.  I don't think this happens on every 1996 Topps card but it occurs on a lot of them.  Near as I can tell Topps didn't do this with any Vintage Chrome cards.

Flip-Side

We can clearly see violations on the both the picture and the Home Plate graphic.

Brown's b-side pix matches the photo at the top of the post from the front.  While Charlie Hayes has an new pix on the back.

The second issue boggles my mind a bit more.  Why the red pate on the Dom Brown card?  I think in 1996 the Plate graphic came in either green or red, but the Red was reserved for AL players, while NLers like the Phillies are on a green plate. Not sure if this was the intention but the colors match the ones uses for the NL and AL stat books that were available commercially in the 80s and early 90s.

I have a small sampling of 2011 VCs and all of them are NL and all of them feature red plates.  I don't get it - sheer laziness on Topps part.  


More Recycling

This is a reuse of the image on the b-Side of the Dom Brown VC card isn't the end of this cards duplication.  The pix on this card first appeared on the Dom Brown 2011 Topps base card that sparked a "Twink Controversy" among collectors.  You can read more about the base card and the Twink in this column at The Phillies Room


Sources
Baseball-Ref
BaseballCardPedia.com
RadiCards

Happy Trails Brad Lidge

Last last night I heard the news that Brad Lidge is retiring. 



DayF Original Brad Lidge 1/1

This is one of  the favorite cards in the Phungo collection.  And Why not - it is a 1/1, marks a great moment in Phillies history and it is an original work of art by one of my favorite card bloggers DayF the Cardboard Junkie.

 

Brad Lidge will always have a permanent place in Phillies history for his contributions to the 2008 championship 48 for 48 in saves and the moment captured in the DayF work above - The final out of the game 5 clincher.

 

 

Last season I was pretty nervous when Lidge went to the Nationals. I honestly thought he had a few good years left in him.  Obviously I was wrong. Immediatley after the World Series Championship Season Lidge had an absolutely miserable 2009. 2010 and 2011 were mixed with Lidge bouncing on and off the DL and in and out of the closer role.  This past season he really was unable to contribute for the Nationals at all.

 

 

Lidge will be 36 by the end of this month and sadly Light Out must turn the lights out on his career. 11 Seasons, 225 career saves, averaged 11.9K/9 innings for career.  1 World Championship, Pitched in 3 World Series (05, 08 and 09)  His Post Season Numbers include an ERA of 2.18 with 18  Saves.

 

 

Past Lidge Postings   

 

 

The Original DayF Brad Lidge Posting is here.  Includes a couple of other great WS Cards. 

 

Brad Lidge Phungo Card here

 

Phillies 2008 WSC puzzle - featuring Lidge

Snapshots - Mike Lieberthal Phillies Wall of Fame Induction

Mike Lieberthal and his son get the red carpet treatment from the Phillies

I appreciated the Mike Lieberthal WoF induction significantly more then I thought it would.  Some great players returned for the occasion, the Phils video team put together another great production which gave me and other Phillies fans a chance to re-examines the long-time catchers career.

Lieberthal has caught more games for the Phils than any other player including Bob Boone (one time MLB record holder for Games), 1993 NLCS champ team Captain Darren Daulton and current All-Star receiver Carlos Ruiz.  Lieberthal also has the team Home Run record for the position.  He was a two time all-star and earned a gold glove behind the plate.

Ceremony  

Bob Boone

I wasn't sure who would introduce Lieberthal.  The Phillies made an nice choice in bringing back Bob Boone.   

Phillies PA announcer Dan Baker and Mike Lieberthal 

Lieberthal recognized the late John Vukovich among others when speaking about is early career.

Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt

 If I get time, I will get a posting up on the actual game sometime this weekend - which includes another HR batting stance (unfortunately not Chase Utley's).  I also have a Phungo 5 with Kerry from Cards on Cards in the On-Deck bin.