Rookie Cup Series: 1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp

 At 84 Ray Culp is likely the oldest among the Phillies Topps All-Star Rookie Cup recipients. 

1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp

Lots of things to like on the otherwise minimalist 1964 Topps card. First off the Rookie Cup completes the Red/Blue/Yellow primary color troika - IMO The PHILLIES team name being listed atop the card in black hurts the 1964 design. My favorite element of this card is Culp wearing the under jersey warm-up jacket - which even has a collar. 

Ray Culp earned the Rookie Cup by leading qualifying RHP in all three triple crown categories (14-11, 2.97 ERA,  176 K). Those numbers also led all NL Rookies regardless of handedness. This however was only good enough for third place in the Rookie of the Year vote behind Pete Rose (.273, 6 HR, 41 BI) and Ron Hunt (.272, 10, 42 and 13 HBP ). If the vote was held today Culp may fair better as he led the trio in WAR 2.5 Culp - 2.4 both Hunt & Rose. 

It should be noted Ray Culp's three pitching numbers were all 2nd to the LHP rookie leader, Gary Peters who played for the White Sox in the AL and easily won junior circuit Rookie of the Year.

Flip

1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp (b-side)

The back tells about Ray's Rookie Cup win and FIVE Shutouts. Times have changed and among active pitchers only Justin Verlander has more than 5 Shutouts CAREER. Verlander is on the IL and hasn't pitched since March. The last pitcher to record a 5 shutout season is Felix Hernandez in 2012, the Phillies Cliff Lee is the most recent NL pitcher, He had 6 whitewashes in 2011. 

Beyond 1963

Ray Culp had a career that started off great and cut short by injury. He was a two-time all-star pitching a clean inning in each (1963 & 1969) - recording outs vs Future HOF Al Kaline, Yaz and Tony Perez plus Pete Rose. 

Trivia

The trivia/comic at the bottom references a 1952 game where the Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Cincinnati Reds 19-1.  There is a SABR game story you can read here. Among the many other records set during the 15 run inning were most two out runs (12), most BFP (21) and most consecutive batters to reach (19)

Sloppy Topps

However if we look close we have a sloppy topps candidate.  I realize it is lightly written, but can you spot the error in the answer to the trivia question? If not check our posting regarding the 1964T/2013 Heritage  Cardbacks here. 

Ray Culp Index

412 Ray Culp (2013 Heritage Preview)

412 Ray Culp (2013 Heritage Preview b-side)

Sources & Links

1964 Topps Rookie Cup Index

Baseball_Ref

SABR Games Project :1952 May 21 Reds 1 @ Dodgers 19 - Steven C Weiner 

1963 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Team (1964 Topps Set)

This is an index to postings related to the 1963 Topps All-Star Rookie Team which was honored with cards in the 1964 Topps set. The Set includes Phillies pitcher Ray Culp as well as superstar gambler Pete Rose.

1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp

73  Jimmy Hall
85  Pete Ward
109  Rusty Staub (SABR 1964 Topps / Rocky Colavito)
125  Pete Rose (Wax Pack Gods memory)
130  Gary Peters
168  Al Weis
330  Tommy Harper (1963 Topps Rookie All-Star Banquet)

412 Ray Culp (Profile & index) 

435  Vic Davalillo
457  Jesse Gonder (SABR 1963 Rookie Cup Voting / Missing Cup)

Sources and Links
All-Star Rookie Index
Baseball-Ref

 

2013 Topps Heritage Originals - 1964 Topps B-Sides

In my opionion 1964 Topps has a terribly ugly flip side. 

1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp (b-Side)

The ugly part for me is that creamsicle orange.  There have been a few other Topps issues with orange backs, but they are typically a bit darker.  This light orange is just yucky looking to me.  

The rest of the b-side is fine. Minor and Major league stats, Bio info and a brief passage regarding the player.  Can you imagine the buzz a rookie pitcher would get if he tossed 5 shutouts in his rookie campaign? 

One really interesting aspect of 1964 Topps b-side is the trivia question with the scratch off answer. Anxious to find out how Topps Heritage handles this.  It adds a bit of expense to create the card, and I am not sure that collectors will want to deface their cards.

Curisously 15 first inning runs is not the record. In 1894 the Boston Beaneaters had a 16 run first.  The Dodgers put the 15 spot on the Reds in a game on May 21, 1952.  At one point in that first inning the Dodgers had 14 consecutive batters reach base. 

Sloppy Topps
And here we have a sloppy topps candidate.  The Dodgers didn't move to Los Angeles until 1958 so there is a bit of an inaccuracy in the trivia answer.  Good thing there weren't card blogs forums and twitter to back Topps for shoddy Quality Control in 1964.

Prior 1964 Topps the Originals Postings 

1964 Topps Design (Ray Culp, Lou Brock, Gus Triandos) 

1964 Topps Rookie Cards (Dick Allen)

1964 Topps League Leader Cards (Hank Aaron, Ken Boyer, Bill White) 

1964 Topps Team Cards (Phillies, Reds)  

More info on 1964 Topps

The full series is in the process of being covered at the 1964 Topps Blog 

The Phillies Room has a posting on the 1964 Topps Phillies as part of the ongoing Topps Phillies Series.

Dean's Cards

Beckett

Other Sources & Links

Ray Culp Rookie Cup Index
Bob Lemke's Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards 
eBay
Surf Baseball Card Collectiblies, Philadelphia Phillies 

2013 Topps Heritage the Originals - 1964 Topps

Ok we have a couple of weeks to go gaga over 2013 Topps. In today's 72 hour news cycle world it is well beyond time to move on - well except for that Pete Rose blip last week.

We have about two weeks to prepare for the onslaught of 2013 Topps Heritage. I will once again embark on a project that I do not know if I will finish, but wanted to look back at the original 1964 Topps upon which 2013 Heritage is based. 

1964 Topps #412 Ray Culp 

1964 Topps is the first set I encountered as an adult collector that I was unaware of as a kid. When I first saw it at my first returning collector card show, I winced.  It was just to boring.  Since that day in probably 2006 or 2007 the design has grown on me a bit, but I still typically bypass the cards from this set when I come across them in a mixed bin.

I would think 1964T is for the collectors that lean towards minimalist design. The design is more than functional with team name prominently displayed across the top and a player nameplate with position on the bottom. Topps gave the Phils the blue nameplate which works as a complimentry color to the red team colors. I am not nuts about the black lettering for the team name which is a bit bland.

The Player photo is pretty large for the era and I do llike the way the caps (or glove in Ray Culp's case) bleeds from the photo above frame into the team name. There is a likely a graphic design term for this - for whatever reasons it is a concept that Topps has gotten away from - it does show up sparingly in 2010 Topps but you have to look. So yes we have had about 20 consecutive years of chrome but no overbleed photography.  Lets mix it up Topps.

Caps Above the Line 

  

1964 Topps #29 Lou Brock

Here ia a favorite 64T card in the Phungo HoF collection. I liked Lou Brock as a kid for a variety of reasons. I am also a fan of cards of players on teams other then the one for which they are best known. Brock was traded in the middle of the 1964 Season - this is his last card as a Cub. The Cubs are represented by at least 4 Hall of Fame players in 1964 Topps - Brock, Ron Santo, Billie Williams, and Ernie Banks.  

The 64 Topps Lou Brock Card is a fine example of the cap reaching into the Team Name portion of the card. There is a lot to like about the shot.  I particularly like the Cubs logo on the uni sleeve.

1964 Topps Gus Triandos

I wonder if Topps will photoshop free agent/traded players in 2013 Heritage.  In the original 1964T set they simply left players in their old caps while changing the team name on the card.  I would like to see Topps stick to the 1964 format in 2013. The Phils even conveniently picked up a Detroit Tigers player in Delmon Young for 2013 which would make it real easy for Topps to rhyme a Heritage card with this Gus Triandos 1964 Topps original. 

Looking ahead

I am working on a look at the 1964 Topps Rookie Cards - hopefully we will have a posting ready for Wednesday.   

More info on 1964 Topps

The full series is in the process of being covered at the 1964 Topps Blog 

The Phillies Room has a posting on the 1964 Topps Phillies as part of the ongoing Topps Phillies Series.

Dean's Cards

Beckett

Links

Lou Brock HoF Index

Ray Culp Rookie Cup Index

At least one 2012 Topps Heritage Variation Has a Precedent

I doubt there will be any discussion, sarcasm, or vitrol regarding the 2012 Topps Heritage Variations...

But at least one of the variations does have precedent:



1963 Topps #29 1962 Rookie Stars
1963 Topps #29 1963 Rookie Stars


For more information regarding these cards click here

For more information on the 2012 Topps Heritage variations/errors/SPs check Cardboard Connection.

Old School Phillies Variations - 1963 Topps

There have been a lot of blog talk regarding the 2010 Topps variations with the Yankees Parallel versions, and the Lincoln Cards.

As you know Topps has had variations for ages, but back in the 60s these were more often honest mistakes corrected during subsequent print runs.

This all brings us to the Phungo Vintage Phillies Collection. Every once in a while happy accidents occur. I am in the process of collecting the entire Topps Run of Phillies cards through 1980. Most of my focus has been on the 1952-1974 cards so far. Until recently one of the card that I did not have was the 1963 #29 Rookie Stars card.

Then in roughly the same week, due to a bookkeeping snafu, I ended up with a duplicate of this card. One from a trade with Rhubarb_Runner and one via auction. For a second I was a little dismayed about the mix-up, but then I quickly realized that I had both ends of a variation!

1963 Topps #29 1962 Rookie Stars Ellis/Culp/Gonder/Boozer
1963 Topps #29 1963 Rookie Stars Ellis/Culp/Gonder/Boozer

Near as I can tell the cards match except for the year. The 1962 card is the "error" as the rest of the Rookie Quads in the 1963 set all specify 1963 rather than 1962.



1963 Topps #29 1962 Rookie Stars Ellis/Culp/Gonder/Boozer (b-side)
1963 Topps #29 1963 Rookie Stars Ellis/Culp/Gonder/Boozer (b-side)

The erroneous "1962" carries over to the flip-side of the card. Other than the title line the cards are identical.

I believe this is the first year that Topps featured the multi-player rookie cards. And this is the first of the card type in the set making this Topps first ever muli-player rookie card. Card #54 in the set is also a rookie card and also has the 1962/1963 variation.

For whatever reason the higher numbered multi-RCs are titled "1963 Rookie Stars" on the back rather than "1963 Rookie Parade". One of these cards is the #537 Pete Rose Rookie, which is on the heavy hitters of forged cards.

Swag from Rhubarb_Runner

I highly Recommend trading with Twins fan Rhubarb_Runner from é rayhahn, rayhahn


Need I say anything more?!?!

Oh and he sent me some Phillies Cards too.

The New

2010 Topps #23 Shane Victorino
2010 Topps #300 Chase Utley
2002 Post #14 Scott Rolen
2010 Topps #146 Jimmy Rollins

I only picked up a couple packs of 2010 Topps so far, and really haven't gotten many Phils. It was great to get the three of these, who are all stars - The J-Roll card is my first Opening Day card of 2010.

The Rolen card is of course from the Post set of a few years ago. I have posted it here for comparison.

The Vintage
1963 Topps #29 Rookie Stars Including Ray Culp and John Boozer
1961 Topps #179 Joe Koppe
1963 Topps #13 Phillies Team Card

David knocked out several cards from my vintage want lists including the above gems from the early 60s.

The Retro
2010 Topps Peak Performance #PP-6 Steve Carlton

This Carlton card is an insert from 2010 Topps. It honors Carlton's 1972 Cy Young Season. Every once in a while you learn something from a baseball card. Carlton threw THIRTY Complete Games in 1972. It has not been done since in the National League, and likely will not be done again. Catfish Hunter completed 30 for the 1975 Yankees and is the only player to accomplish the fete in the Junior circuit.

With Glavine, the Unit, Smoltz all retired or semi-retired and neither Pedro or Bartolo Colon both not hooked up yet - there are only 4 active pitchers with over 30 CAREER CGs (Halladay, Liv Hernandez, Wakefield, and Jamie Moyer)

I could dedicate about 5 posts to the cards David sent me. He has a very comprehensive want list and I recommend you look it over. Plus he is pretty organized and can send you out great trade lists with lots o vintage.