Reading the Competition: Jose Alutve 2013 Topps Archives #176

A quick post that allows me to continue complaining about the Phillies lack of youth movement. This week the Houston Astros are in town which gives us the opportunity to cover Jose Altuve.

2013 Topps Archives #176 Jose Altuve

Jose Altuve is having a breakout year. He is leading the league in Batting Average, Hits and Stolen Bases.  Offensively, I think Altuve's output is what the Phillies would like to see from outfielder Ben Revere.

At 24 the Astros 2nd baseman is in his 4th major league season yet he is younger then the entire Phillies Roster outside of Cody Asche and Rookie Ken Giles. Contrast that with the Astros who have 6 of their 8 starters under the age of 25.

1990 Topps
I should really dislike this card, This is my least favorite Topps design. In addition I am not a fan of the Astros 1970s/80s rainbow unis. They may be for some folks, but not me. Strangely the combination, the bright threads and the bright green border work well together. The orange yellow inner border also contributes. It doesn't appear this color combo was used a lot in the original set. The inner boarder appears to be across most Astros cards but the outer border varies with the green not be really common. Veteran pitcher Jim Clancy's #648 card carried this combo, unfortunately he isn't wearing the colorful rainbow Jose Altuve is sporing.  

Sources
Baseball-ref
Baseball Card Database

Reading the Competition: Jerry Koosman 1985 Topps #15

With the Mets in town this weekend (and then some) we are going to turn our RTC segment to a Mets Icon who happened to finish his career with the Phillies

Jerry Koosman was the Left-Handed Anchor for the 1969 Miracle Mets rotation. I limit Koosman to Left-Handed Anchor, because the team had it’s ace in future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver. If you look at the numbers, Koosman was not far behind Tom Terrific. Seaver had a significantly better record (25-7 vs 17-9) but the remaining numbers were close – Pairs with Seaver listed first: 2.21/2.28 ERA, 273/241 IP, 208/180Ks, 165/160 ERA+. For you hip SABR kids, Koosman actually had a better FIP ERA then Seaver with Koosman coming in at 2.67 while Seaver had a much higher 3.11.

1985 Topps #15 Jerry Koosman

Koosman picked up 2 of the Mets 4 Wins during the 69 series including a complete game victory in game 5. He spent 12 seasons with the Mets including a return to the World Series as a member of the 1973 squad. He made 2 all-star squads during his Mets tenure and in 1968 he finished a close 2nd to Johnny Bench for the Rookie of the Year voting. In 1968 Koosman was 19-12 with a 2.08 ERA. Bench posted 15 homers, 82 RBI with a .275 while catching for the Reds. Koosman’s 6.0 WAR was a point higher than Bench. Bench took the award by a point.

A trade prior to the 1979 Season brought Jerry Koosman back to his native Minnesota where he prospered once again. Koosman won 20 games and finished 2nd behind Dennis Eckersley in Pitching WAR, both hurlers lost out in the Cy Young voting to Mike Flanagan who pitched for the AL Champion Orioles. After a couple of seasons in Minnesota and Chicago Koosman was traded to the Phillies

Phillies
Early in 1984 the Phillies acquired Jerry Koosman from the White Sox in a deal that completed the trade of relief pitcher Ron Reed to Chicago. Most folks probably don’t remember Koosman’s stint with the Phils, it came on the heels of the 1983 NL Championship. I am sure that the team thought that the then 41 year old southpaw would fit right in with the Wheeze kids. Koosman had a productive 1984 posting a 14-15 record with a 3.25 ERA. it was his last significant contribution to MLB Baseball, Koosman returned to the Phillies in 1985 but struggled with injuries pitching his final game on August 21.

Koosman finished his career with 222 Wins (73rd all time) and 2556 strikeouts (28th). The Baseball-ref EloRater system currently ranks Koosman 66th all-time among pitchers - that puts him right between two Hall of Famers Jim Bunning and Bob Lemon. 

Retirement
In 2009 Koosman was sent to prison on Tax Evasion charges. According to the IRS, During a 3 year period from 2002-2004 Koosman made over $750,000 and failed to pay as much as $80,000 of that in taxes. The bulk of his earnings were from stock sales totaling over a half million dollars. Koosman’s MLB pension for the period averaged over $40,000 per year.

Sources
New York Daily News
New York Post
Baseball-ref
SABR
hardball times

RTC-Reds: 1983 Fleer #631 Pride of Venezuela Concepcion and Trillo

The Phillies are hosting the Reds this weekend and tonight as part of the Reading the Competition (RTC) feature we are featuring a star combo card from the middle 80s.

1983 Fleer Super Star Special #631 Pride of Venezuela Concepcion and Trillo

Dave Concepcion is a Hall of Very Good player who played short for the Big Red Machine for close to two decades. Manny Trillo was, of course, the starting second baseman for the Phillies 1980 World Championship squad.

Assuming there is no pre-phototshop cutting and pasting done in this photo, I believe this picture was taken at Olympic Stadium. Both Concepcion and Trillo are wearing Home Whites and the 1982 All-Star Game appears to be the only mid-summer classic where the duo would have crossed paths as members of the host squad during Trillo's tenure with the Phillies.

1983 Fleer Super Star Special #631 Pride of Venezuela Concepcion and Trillo (b-side)

Fleer put together some nice copy here connecting the two Venezuelan Superstars with their homelands while also noting each players outstanding play in the field.

Dave Conecepcion was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 2000 and his #13 was retired by the club on August 25 2007. His name comes up on the Veterans Committe ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but he is not yet inducted. Following his playing career Concepcion returned to his native Venezuela where, despite the countries many troubles, he still resides today.

Manny Trillo stuck around baseball as a coach for at least a little while. He worked in both the Cubs and White Sox organizations, The most recent references found him working with the ChiSox in 2005 during the Ozzie Gulllen era.

Super Star Special was an 18 card subset of 1983 Fleer that ran from #629-#646. The Phillies are represented on 2 other cards in the set, Pete Rose shares a card with the late Willie Stargell while Bo Diaz and Gary Carter who have both passed prematurely are featured on a catchers card.

Sources
Manny Trillo Index
baseballCardpedia
Baseball-ref
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Cincinnati.com
Cincinnati Reds HoF
Cincinnati Reds
SB Nation

Reading the Competition: 1993 Donruss #743 Andy Ashby

Tonight with the Phillies playing in Colorado we present Rockies/Phillies cross team card

1993 Donruss #743 Andy Ashby 

Andy Ashby debuted with the Phillies in 1991, but only pitched in 18 games for the club before being taken by the Rockies with the 25^th pick (The team’s 13^th selection) of the 1992 Expansion Draft. The draft built the team that the Rockies used for their inaugural 1993 season. 

Unfortunately Denver’s thin air gave Ashby incredible problems. He only lasted have a season with the Rockies before being traded to San Diego. With the Rockies Ashby was 0-4 and posted an 8.50 ERA. Interestingly Baseball-ref mentions that during that period Ashby had an FIP of 4.91. FIP or Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) measures the ERA of a pitcher assuming average defensive play behind him.   

San Diego proved to a much better environment for Ashby. Most of Ashby's career highlights occurred with the Padres, he was a member of two of their playoff squads including the 1998 NL Champions and represented the team as an all-star twice. 

Ashby had a 2nd stint with the Phillies in 2000 which had about the same results as his 1993 Rockies campaign.  Ashby pitched through 2004 finishing his career 2 wins shy of 100 with 98.

Post Career  

According to a 2013 interview Ashby is now based out of Scranton PA where he spent parts of two seasons with the Phillies AAA affiliated, the Red Barons. He is an avid outdoorsman and listed Tony Gwynn, Bruce Ruffin, Kevin Brown, Brad Ausmus, Bruce Bochy, and Randy Jones among his fishing buddies.

The article also mentions his mentors included Phillies Ruffin, Terry Mulholland and Dale Murphy. Brown and Trevor Hoffman are cited as influential teammates from his Padres years.     

Sources

Baseball-ref

Mike Long Outdoors

Reading the Competition: Andrelton Simmons 2014 Phungo #64

When I originally conceived of a feature on Andrelton Simmons I was going to run out a parallel with Ozzie Smith. Both are guys I view as Defense first Shortstops – Smith Developed hitting production later in his career, a path I thought Simmons may hop on.
 

2014 Phungo #64 Andrelton Simmons

Looking inside the numbers I found a more interesting and more contemporary comp in another Shortstop the Phillies will see this week Troy Tulowitzki.

Agewise Simmons career arc started a year behind Tulo’s but both had good first full seasons. Last year Simmons (at age 23) hit 17 HR with 59 RBI which is pretty good however his slash line of .248/.296/.396 (86 ops+) was less impressive. Tulo’s first full (2007 at age 22) yielded 24 HR 99 RBI and a .291/.359/.479 (109 OPS+) which earned him a 2nd place finish in the Rookie of the Year balloting,

A year later Tulowitzki regressed to .263/.332/.401 (85 ops+) with only 8 homers, which is pretty close to what Simmons put up in 2013.  

The stat that drew these two players together for me was Defensive WAR, both players led their respective seasons (Simmons 2013, Tulo 2007) in Defensive WAR, both did it as Shortstops and both did it at a young age in their first full seasons. That Defensive WAR crown is for all positions, not just shortstops – The traditional analysis back up the SABRmetrics as well - in 2013 Simmons led all NL Shortstops in Assists and Putouts, six years prior Tulowitzki did the same.

At this early juncture of the 2014 season both Tulowitzki and Simmons are hitting well, Tulo is NL leader in Defensive WAR. If the two stay healthy they could be an interesting young player and veteran SS pair to follow for the next couple of seasons. 
 
Phungo Cards
I am not sure when I became aware of the Natural sign at the Phillies Ballpark. I know I thought it would be cool to capture the right player with the sign as a backdrop. Fortunately Andrelton Simmons had a great season and took pre-game fielding in the right spot for me. I was very happy to get the shot and was happy to put it on a Phungo Card. 

For 2014 we have added "Hardware" notes on a few cards. For any of the Major Awards I could track down and World Series winners I have added some sort of emblem on the card. Andrelton has "NL GG SS 2013" for NL Gold Glove Shortstop in 2013. It is a nice addition that I plan to bring forward for future sets.
 
Sources
Baseball-ref

Opening Day: 2009 UD Piece of History CSC-UK Utley & Kinsler

We have already had Australia Opening Day and ESPN Opening Night. Today we finally get to Phillies Opening Day.

2009 UD A Piece of History #CSC-UK Chase Utley and Ian Kinsler

Five years ago both the Phillies own Chase Utley and the Rangers Ian Kinsler were coming off exceptional seasons. Among second basemen, Utley led all of Major League baseball in Offensive WAR, Kinsler was 2nd in the AL to Dustin Pedroia.

Today both players find themselves at a significantly different stature. Utley (age 35) hasn't played 140+ games since 2009, and Kinsler (31) has been jettisoned by the Rangers in favor of younger talent.

Reading the Competition
RTC will be returning for 2014. I hope to feature some two team cards like the Utley-Kinsler combo above.  I expect this will present us with some interesting pairings and players for discussion.

Source
Chase Utley Player Collection Index
Baseball-ref.com

Reading the Competion: Paul Goldschmidt 2012 Topps #GF-24

The Phillies 10 game set versus NL West opponents closes with the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend. The D-Backs were a candidate to win the West before the Dodgers went on their post All-Star break tear.  One of the offensive leaders for Arizona has been First Baseman Paul Goldschmidt.

                                     

2012 Topps Gold Futures #GF-24 Paul Goldschmidt

Paul Goldschmidt emerged as a power hitting First Baseman during the 2011 season. He has continued his hot hitting in 2013. Going into the Series with the Phils Goldschmidt was the league leader in Home Runs (31), RBI(100) , Total Bases, and OPS+. Those numbers were good enough to make him an All-Star for the first time.  Paul Goldschmidt will turn 26 in a few weeks and has his best hitting days right in front of him. I expect him to be an MVP candidate for the next half dozen years.

Local Kid
While looking into Goldschmidt's numbers I found that he was born in Wilmington Delaware, however according to his Wiki bio he was raised in Texas. His 59 career HRs already rank him 6th among players born in the First State.  With a decent 2014 he will surpass top total of 96 held jointly by Randy Bush, John Mabry, and Dave May.

 

2012 Topps Gold Future2012 Gold Rush s
The Gold Futures set is a member of the onslaught of Gold Inserts which Night Owl Cards very successfully lampooned in this column. The design is decent for a subset and carries the look of base cards from a more midline superstars set. Of course this means that one can tell that patch display factored into the design.

In Series 1 the set consists of 25 cards, devoted to upcoming prospects. Notables include Freddie Freeman, Aroldis Chapman, Anthony Rizzo, Mike Stanton, Mike Trout, Jason Kipins and Goldschmidt.  The set continues with an additional 25 players in Series 2. Matt Moore, Buster Posey, Chris Sale, Jason Heyward and Stephen Strasburg are all present in S2.  The Phillies are represented in the second set by Domonic Brown who shows up on #GF38.

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
wikipedia.org
Night Owl Cards
baseballcardpedia.com

Reading the Competition: 2011 Topps Heritage #76 Freddie Freeman (RC)

The Braves currently carry the best record in baseball and this week the Phillies are in Atlanta to face the NL East division leaders.  

As the best team in the league the Braves have a couple of guys that are being discussed as MVP candidates.  One of those players is First Baseman Freddie Freeman. 

Freeman is among the top ten in several offensive categories on the NL Leaderboards. He is third in the league in RBI (79) and 5th in OBP (.390).  In 2011 Freeman was runner up to teammate Craig Kimbrel for Rookie of the Year. This season Freddie made his first All-Star team. 

Freddie Freeman is in his 3rd full season and he won't turn 24 for another month, as you can tell his career is off to a pretty good start. So good that the #1 age relavant comp for Freeman is Hall of Famer Eddie Murray.   

2011 Topps Heritage #76 Freddie Freeman (RC)

Warning shot for 2014 Topps Heritage.  I am a pretty big fan of the original 1962 Topps design. With 2011 Heritage, Topps proved to me that it isn't all about design. There were way to many headshots and hatless pix in 2011 Heritage - when paging thru a binder the set looks pretty bland.

That being said the Freddie Freeman pops a little since it isn't a head shot. I do have a question.  One question, What the heck is with the lighting.  There is a pink square of light on the side of Freddie's cap and face - kind of an oddity on a baseball card.  must be the sun going down at Disney.  


Flip

2011 Topps Heritage #76 Freddie Freeman (RC) b-side


If you can read the -toon here you find that Freeman was the Braves 2010 minor league player of the year.  The Phils 2010 player of the year went to outfielder Domonic Brown, who is in the middle of his own breakout season.

1962 Topps #76
The #76 card from the original 1962 Topps set belonged to then Milwaukee Brave Howie Bedell who went on to play with the Phillies.  With any luck we will be featuring Bedells 62T card later this week.

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
Baseball Card Database
Phillies.com   

Reading the Competition: 1959 Topps #463 Baseball Thrills Al Kaline

With the Phillies making a rare trip out to Detroit today we take a look at a great subset card of Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline.

1959 Topps #463 Baseball Thrills Al Kaline

I have a particular fondness for this Topps Subset.  I believe it is the first subset of cards other than All-Star cards featured in 1958 and rookies in 1959. There are a couple of other Futures HoFs in the set including Mantle, Mays, and Ernie Banks.

Curiously the Baseball Thrills go back further than the previous season.  This one goes back 4 years to the 1955 campaign in which Al Kaline won the batting title at age 20. This is documented on the back of the card in a psuedo-newspaper format which I am a sucker for.  

1959 Topps #463 Baseball Thrills Al Kaline (b-side - click to enlarge)

I think this might be the first baseball card set to ever echo the newspaper theme. not sure.  probably should verify with Night Owl. 

Al Kaline won a batting title at age 20, but then never accomplished the feat again. It isn't that he was a one year wonder, he just didn't repeat the feat.  We have covered his career numbers a bit more in depth here. 

FTC - Baseball Thrills

The Baseball Thrills Subset of 1959 Topps consists of 9 cards that run from #461-470. Al Kaline is the 3rd card of the set at #463.  The card shown above was picked up for $3.50 at a card show in 2011. It has the pencil mark on the back but in otherwise good shape. Current Lobay auction for #463 finished at $2.49 shipped.  

I am too busy to add the graded card pricing at this time, but may return to that at some point. 

Sources & Links

Phungo Al Kaline HoF Index

baseball-ref.com

baseball card database

ebay.com

Reading the Competition: 1959 Topps #514 Bob Gibson (RC)

The Phillies are on the road visiting the St Louis Cardinals this week and I thought it would be a good time to revisit a favorite card.

1959 Topps #514 Bob Gibson (RC)

We have discussed Bob Gibson Hall of Fame credentials previously and I will just re-mention here that he won 251 games, 2 World Series Rings, and a league MVP (1968). 

FTC
The 2009 posting link above is one of the first where I did an e-bay check to look at pricing on a card. Today we re-examine those numbers.

Bob Gibson RC Low Prices for Ungraded Card

Date	$$$
2009-06-xx	$61
2009-12-07	$30
2009-12-xx	$35
2013-07-xx	$48
2013-07-xx	$58
2013-07-xx	$59

Back when I first looked at this card in 2009 it had a low auction of $61.  This was during the season which may have buoyed the price. Also back then the eBay recent auctions function may not have spun back as far as it does currently.  When I ran a similar check in December of that year the low auction was $35.  The green $30 price was for the card pictured, which was picked up at a show in Valley Forge.

Today the lowest finsher is $48, I included the three lowest auctions for comparison.

Bob Gibson RC Auction Population for Ungraded Cards (2013 07 21) 

Price Range	Auctions
< $59	3
$67-73	5
$79-90	9
$95-107	5

 
The three auctions under $59 are the three mentioned in the first table.  I sort of broke the table out into ranges that cards fell together.  Pretty much one can assume the Bob Gibson RC can be found ungraded for under $75 if your willing to look aound for it.  Below $50 would be quite good.

Bob Gibson RC Graded

Graded	$$$	Date
BGS 7 VG+	$140	2009 - 06 -xx
PSA 8 NM	$925	2009 - 06 -xx
Graded ???	$1,384	2009 -11 -22
SGC 5.5 (EX+)	$152	2013 - 07 - xx
PSA 6 (EX-MT)	$203	2013 - 07 - xx
PSA 7 (NM)	$435	2013 - 06 - 09
PSA 8 (NN-MT)	$843	2013 - 05 - 19

Finally the above chart tells us what the card is going for in various grades. For the $1,384 card I didn't bother recording the condition, but I certainly hope it was MT.      

Other Voices
'59 Topps: one f/g card at a time - a loving tribute to the Bob Gibson RC

Phungo Bob Gibson HoF Index
1964 Topps #460
1969 Topps #162 (Record 17Ks in 1968 World Series Game 1)
1970 Topps #530 (HoF Profile)
1975 Topps #3 (3000 Ks)

sources
baseball-ref.com
ebay.com

Reading the Competition: 1970 Topps Scratch-off Tom Seaver

The Phillies are in New York to visit the Mets and that gives us one last opportunity for an All-Star Game related post. It was great to see the Mets bring out Tom Seaver on Tuesday night. Despite being a Phillies fan I was always in awe of Seaver as a kid. His driving delivery and all those Ks really grabbed hold of my 10 year old imagination.  

1970 Topps Scratch Off Tom Seaver

Seaver's Hall of Fame career really doesn't need redocumented by me - but I will quick-hit some highlights, 3 Cy Young Awards, 1969 World Champion, 1967 Rookie of the Year, 12 time All-Star, 311 Wins (100+ games over .500), 3,640 career Ks, 5 time strikeout champ. His Career pitching WAR of 106.3 is 7th all-time and still the all-time leader among folks that pitched during my lifetime in the non-steroid division - which means he is behind Roger Clemens.

Seaver was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1992, receiving close to 99% of the BBWAA vote, Which remains the record. He got the thumbs up on 425 of 430 ballots.

Scratch Off
In 1969 and 70 Topps released a subset of scratch off cards. The set was limited in size (24 cards?) so it is all pretty much superstars. At a show I will pick up any HoF or name player scratch off card that is a buck or less.

1970 Topps Scratch Off Tom Seaver (inside)


The scratch offs can be used to be pay a baseball game, fortunately this one is untouched.  I have flirted with the idea of using one of these for an online game, but have never been that ambitious.     

Rookie Card
Seaver's RC is 1967 Topps #581 has a low recent auction of $156 in good but certainly not mint condition.  Ungraded cards appear to be running just over $200 with a half dozen auctions ending between $200 and $210.

On the high end the card went for between $839 and $1,034 for PSA8 NM-MT.
 
Sources
Old Cardboard - HoF Rookie Cards
baseball-ref.com
ebay.com
wikipedia.com

Reading the Competition: 1978 Topps #317 Dave Johnson

This week the Phillies are hosting the reigning NL East champion Washington Nationals for a 4 game set. The Nats will be led for one last season by one time Phillies infielder Davey Johnson. 

1978 Topps #317 Dave Johnson

Davey Johnson put together a nice career the bulk of which he spent with the Orioles including two World Championship Teams (1966, 1970). The four time all-star reached the postseason a total of five times, four with the Orioles and once with the 1977 Phillies.

He collected 1200+ hits including 136 homers across 13 seasons. It appears that Davey Johnson was pretty good at working pitchers enabling him to grind out a decent .340 OBP despite only being a .261 hitter. He was also good in the field collecting 3 gold gloves at 2nd base.      

Davey Johnson moved from Baltimore to Atlanta in 1973 and had a truly unique season - As an Oriole he had 66 dingers in just under 3500 ABs. His first year with the Braves he hit 43 (2nd to Willie Stargell 44).  That would be a call for a PED test if it happened today.

As a part time player for the 1977 Phillies Johnson batted .321 with good numbers for his meager 156 ABs.  Those numbers fell off in 1978 he was traded to the Cubs where is playing career ended.

Skipper    
I have no idea what gets a guy into the Hall of Fame as a manager, but I think Davey Johnson may be qualified.  He has managed for five different franchises, and won division titles with four of them. He has won 5 division titles (6 if you count the 1994 Reds strike shortened season) and he of course was the leader of the 1986 Mets squad that beat the Red Sox.  1300+ Wins and counting. 

1967 Topps #363 Dave Johnson

Carded 
Davey Johnson's rookie card is 1965 Topps #473 which is shared with Paul Blair. His 1966 #579 is also a shared card so he doesn't show up solo on a card until 1967 Topps #363  (above). The amazing thing here is after showing up on 2 Rookie Stars cards he finally gets a solo card and it has a rookie cup. This means that Topps issued cards specifying Johnson as a rookie for 3 consecutive years.  The 1957 #363 card is also Johnson's first card that is not part of a more limited hi-number series.

 I think the 1978 Topps card at the top is the only one with Johnson representing the Phillies. His last card as a player is 1979 #513 with the Cubs. My research in the Topps Baseball Card Database indicates that every card lists him as Dave Johnson, rather then the Davey Johnson that I have always heard.

References
Baseball-Ref.com
ebay.com
baseball card database       
         

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.

---
 
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

Reading the Competition - 1970 Topps #510 Tony Oliva

This week the Phillies are in the Twin Cities and tonight we are taking a look at the career of Hall of Very Good contender Tony Oliva. 

1970 Topps #510 Tony Oliva

I liked Tony Oliva when I was a kid.  No idea why - cool sounding name, older guy had a .300 average are among my guesses. Probably read a gushing article in Baseball Digest somewhere along the line.

One has to wonder how close Oliva's career was to never happening.  I don't know a lot about the Cuban revolution, but I would have to think that Tony Oliva had to be among the last players to come out of Cuba in the era - According to Baseball-ref he has minor league experience dating back to 1961.  Following a  couple of cups of coffee in 62 and 63 Tony Oliva began playing regularly in 1964 when he earned Rookie of the Year honors.  In his debut he led the league in Batting Avg (.323) , Runs 109 , Hits 217  Doubles (43) and Total Bases (374). Those numbers were also good enough for 4th in the MVP voting, an award which he would finish runner up for in both 1965 (teammate Zoilo Versailes) and 1970 (Boog Powell).

Oliva played his entire 15 year career with the Twins. He represented the team in 8 consecutive All-Star games, starting with his rookie campaign. He led the league in Batting 3 times and hits 5.  In 1971 He led the AL in both AVG and slugging. For his career Oliva batted .304 good enough for 154th all time - much of his career was played during a pitching heavy era.  He finished just short of some milestone numbers, 1917 Hits and 947 RBIs with 220 Home Runs.

Oliva helped the Minnesota reach the playoffs in 3 different seasons, 1965, 69 and 70 But the Twins lost all 3 series. The 1965 World Series the Twins and Dodgers battled 7 games with the Dodgers taking the finale behind a Sandy Koufax 3 Hitter.  Oliva did have a Home Run off of Don Drysdale in game 4 of the series.  

Post playing career Tony Oliva has been involved with the Minnesota Twins in varying roles and still maintains ties to the community. 

For The Collector 
1970 Topps commons can sometimes be had for a dime, but for a semi-star like Oliva one would likely have to look for the card in a quarter or 3/buck bin.

His rookie card is 1963 Topps #228 and Identifies Tony as "Pedro Oliva".  The card is shared with Ed Kranepool and two other players.  Low eBay for an off condition of this card was $4.04.  $8.50 will get you the card in a bit nicer condition.

For those of you with a little extra cash laying around a PSA 9 MINT version of this card finished at $1699.00.  Yes a buck shy of  Seventeen Hundred Dollars!!! PSA 7 NM cards went far cheaper with five auctions ending between $60 and $85 and one being under $50. 

Topps had Tony Oliva on a slow progression.  His 2nd yr card is also a shared card #116.  Finally on 1965 #340 Topps granted Oliva a solo card - which is also a rookie cup card. Although Oliva is present in the Topps Super set at card #44.  His last Topps Card is 1976 Topps #35  

Sources
Baseball-ref
wikipedia
SABR Bio
Baseball Card Database