SuperBowl 50: Jamie Moyer?

My angle on today's Superbowl is the 50 in #Superbowl50

2009 Upper Deck #300 Jamie Moyer

One of my favorite Phillies is Jamie Moyer and he wore the Number 50 for the 2008 World Series Champions. I don't have many Phillies/Moyer cards where the uniform number is highlighted. In the above 2009 UD card you can see the ID on Moyer's left sleeve. The right sleeve displays a VUK patch to honor the memory of longtime Phillies player and coach John Vukovich.

In addition to the #50 on Moyer's sleeve there is one located at the bottom of the card next to the player position.

I also like this card because it would be a hero number if it was a Topps Card - #300.

2009 Upper Deck #300 Jamie Moyer (b-side)

There is your proof, 300. Of course this is UD so it is not a Hero card, 300 simply falls in a sequence of cards where the majority of Phillies players reside in 2009 UD. Cards 289-302 are all Phils Most of which were members of the 2008 World Series Championship Team.

2012 Topps
There are some cards on different teams that showcase Moyer's  #50 more prominently.

2012 Topps #US123 Jamie Moyer (Orange Parallel - Image Swiped from Ebay)

One of those cards that I am interested in today is a special Moyer card from the 2012 Update Series. In addition to having an easily visible #50 we also see that Jamie Moyer is featured in a Colorado Rockies, a team that share a community with one of today's Superbowl teams, the Denver Broncos.

And the Broncos are the team I will be rooting for today. I am rooting for Peyton Manning to go out a Winner. I fight it often but sometimes I must admit I am older and stories where the old guys win appeal to me.

Returning to the card, it notes Jamie Moyer becoming the Oldest Player to win a game. This game occurred on April 17 2012 versus the San Diego Padres. Moyer would break his own record a month later when he earned the W in a Rockies 6-1 victory over the Diamond Backs on May 16th.

I conclude with a Go Broncos! 

Sources and Links
bdj610s Topps Baseball Card Blog
baseball-ref
baseballcardpedia
ebay tscardstore
mlb
 

Snapshots: 2015 05 23 Cooperstown Classic

Couple of Pictures from the Cooperstown Classic which was played just down the street from the Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday May 23rd 2015.

Team Knucksie: Yount, Fingers, Niekro, Baldelli, Trammell, A Soriano, Pudge, B Molina

The teams were broken down loosely into AL and NL squads although the AL Captain was Braves Rep Phil Niekro.

For the Alan Trammell supporters here we have a pix of the Tigers Shortstop at the Hall of Fame.

The Wizards: Smith, Glavine, Steve Woodard, Jack Wilson, E Taubansee, Kerry Robinson, Mark Loretta, John Franco, David Delucci, Ron Cey, Vinny Castilla, Bobby Abreu - Tony Perez Foreground, Baldelli and Trammell background

Apologies to Night Owl, but Ron Cey is shielded here. The Phillies had at least six alums in the game including Abreu, David Delucci and Perez.

Roy Oswalt vs Rick Ankiel

As you can see it was a Beautiful day for a game. Short time Phillies Pitcher Roy Oswalt represented the Astros.

Jim Eisenreich & Bobby Abreu

A pair of Phillies Outfielders at First Base.

Ozzie Smith and Rick Ankiel

 NL Captain Ozzie Smith taking care of some third base coaching duties

Jeff Idelson with Phil Niekro 

HoF Prez Jeff Idelson and Phil Niekro likely discussing Pete Rose's reinstatement prospects

Vinny Castilla 

Prior to the game there was a Home Run contest which was won by Colorado Rockies Thirdbaseman Vinny Castilla

Aaron Rowand

The Bob Feller award for Game MVP was given to Aaron Rowand who Homered off Steve Avery. For the HOF game Rowand who played a couple of seasons with the Phillies Represented the Chicago White Sox. 

Bob Dernier

Good Guy Award goes to Bob Dernier, although it may not be just because he is fan friendly. Bobby D was the RF ball boy and happened to be next to the stands and signed dozen of autographs between innings.

Quick Notes
--I have never seen a steal of Home in a real Game but saw one at the Classic, Brady Anderson the back end of a double steal.
--Saw two players lose bats into the stands (Ankiel, Homer Bush). That probably should not happen in an exhibition game of this type.
--I am pretty sure Brian Holman's career ended due to injury and I can see why. It took everything the man had to push the ball 60 ft 6 inches.
--Greg Cadaret who I am not at all familiar with was awful. In a game where the only job for a pitcher is to get the ball over the plate and every pitch is a strike Cadaret could not throw one.
--The Baseball Hall of Fame Jersey is Ugly (see Robin Yount in Pix 1 or Ozzie in pix 2 above)
--
Sources and Links
Baseball Hall of Fame
Baseball-ref

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

2014 HoF candidate: 2002 Topps #552 Todd Jones

This years Hall of Fame Candidates with Phillies connections is even worse than last year.  Curt Schilling returns as does Phoenixville native Mike Piazza who never played with the Phillies but remains noteworthy in the area.  The lack of Phillies on this years ballots may partially explain their hopelessness in the 90s and early aughts.

Over the next couple days we will take a look at the Phils Alums on the ballot as well as some other notables

2002 Topps #552 Todd Jones

I am not sure if there are any cards out there of Todd Jones in a Phillies Uni.  This weeks theme appears to be 2002 Topps as this is a card of Todd Jones in the Phungo Collection.  Todd Jones is on the ballot mostly because he qualifies on the 10 year requirement and had a few good years.  He is the first to admit he is not a Hall of Famer.

The Todd Jones "I am not a Hall of Famer" is pretty refreshing in a baseball coverage world that will nitpick and name-call repeatedly between now thru July 2014 and beyond over this years ballot results.  To be honest I enjoy the debates - I don't get to invested in the arguments. There are guys I think are HoF and ones I don't - My opinion is certainly no more valid then the next bloggers and not nearly as valid as anybody in the BBWAA.

Todd Jones spent the bottom half of the 2004 season with the Phillies. In '04 Jones was a set up guy and the Phillies had Billy Wagner as the closer. Jones did earn one save for the Phils after Wagner blew a save in Florida.   

It was one of 319 Saves Jones had in his career which ranks him 16th all time. He once led the league in Saves with 42 for the 2000 Tigers for whom he spent half of his 16 year career.  The 42 saves were good enough to get Jones his only All-Star nod and his only Cy Young award votes. 

Jones was a member of 2 postseason squads including the 2006 Tigers who won the AL Pennant.  Jones earned 4 playoff saves for the '06 Tigers. The last save was the only game Detroit won in that World Series.

2014 HoF Candidates
Mike Piazza (2013 Profile)

Curt Schilling (2013 Profile)
.
2013 HoF Rejects (no longer on ballot)

Jeff Conine

Kenny Lofton

Jose Mesa

Sources
baseball-ref.com
Big League Stew
     

Don't be afraid of the Future - 2013 edition

All-Star Future's Game that is.  Check out this photo of players involved in the 2006 edition of the game held in Pittsburgh.

Troy Tulowitzki, Cameron Maybin, Hunter Pence, Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, Nick Adenhart, Howie Kendrick, Ryan Braun.  (2006 07 09) 

First there is the sadness of seeing Nick Adenhart (#21 removing his cap) in the photo with the rest of the superstars.  You see all that talent standing around him and....well you just wonder.  

Braun, Tulo, and Pence went 1-2-3 in the 2007 Rookie of the Year voting.

The World Team that day featured future 2010 NL MVP Joey Votto. 
Gio Gonzalez and Carlos Carrasco were the Phillies reps in 2006.  Other players that took the field that day included Stephen Drew, Nolan Reimold, Neil Walker, Phil Hughes, Homer Bailey, CarGo, Yovani Gallardo, and Pablo Sandoval.   

Last Years Futures Game included Manny Machado, Jurickson Profar, Billy Hamilton, Wil Myers, Mike Olt, Nick Castellanos, Zack Wheeler and many others.  

This year the Futures Game will  be held at 2pm (edt) Sunday July 14 at the Mets home Citi Field and Team Phungo will be there!!! Tickets to the showcase can be found on Stubhub for as little as $6 for SRO. 

  
The 2013 Futures Game will air on ESPN2.

2013 Phungo Cards #17 Todd Helton - First Baseman, Drunk Driver

The Phillies miserable midwest road trip conludes this weekend in Colorado where they will once again see First Baseman and Drunk Driver Todd Helton.

2013 Phungo #17 Todd Helton

I am not sure if Todd Helton has surpassed Larry Walker as the most noteworthy of the Rockies, but he has past far by him in service time.  In fact this weekend Helton will pass Walker in Games played for the Rockies by 1000 Games. His career numbers (all with Colorado) stand at 360 Home Runs, 1371 RBIs, 2454 Hits and a Career .319 BA, with an OBP of .417 (#2 Active, #22 All-Time).

The five time all-star has won 3 gold gloves and finished 2nd for 1998 Rookie of the Year (Kerry Wood).  He has been a member of 2 Rockies Playoff Squads including the 2007 NL championship squad that eliminated the Phillies while on thier way to the Series.        

Unfortunately Helton's borderline Hall of Fame career is crawling to an end.  He is merely accumulating numbers onto his peak years now, and looks like he will fall a tad short of milestons like 400 Homers and 3000 Hits.  A combination of the near miss and inflated stats from playing his home games at Coors will probably cost him a shot at the hall.

Helton is having a mediocre 2013 which is about where he has been the last 4 seasons.  He hasn't played more than 130 games since 2009. The one time perenial .300 hitter has slipped to .268 for that period which included only 35 Home Runs.

Off the Field

I always give a guy points for mainting a quality career with a single team, but as stated in the title I really can't forgive anyone much less a multi-millionaire for drunnk driving.  I am no angel, and may have been a bit rotten in my youth, but I just have no room for drinking and driving. Any good spirit Todd Helton earned he my book was burned this winter.   

In my opinion DUI convictiions should be handled at least as harshly as PED violations. I have no idea of the status of the Helton case at this point, but I don't think a 50 game suspension for a DUI or related offense is out of line.  It is a stand worth taking for the MLB as well as the other major sports.

Jamie Moyer 50

2009 Phungo #50 Jamie Moyer

Above is a card of Jamie Moyer from the innaugural Phungo set of 2009.  This past weekend Moyer turned 50. This past season he made headlines for several starts he made with the Colorado Rockies in which age related records were broken.  Unfortunatley time caught up with Jamie Moyer in 2012 and he was released. 

Milestones

I have not seen an official announcement of Moyer's retirement, and maybe we won't get one.  I hope he gets another shot.  Moyer is the only player to pitch in the 2012 season that is older then I am.  For whatever reason as long as there is somebody out there playing baseball that is older then me, it helps me feel younger - and I like being able to hold onto that feeling. 

2011 Phungo Cards - Jamie Moyer

I wanted to take a timeout to recognize Phungo Phavorite and all-around good guy Jamie Moyer on becoming the oldest pitcher to record a Win in a Major League game.   Moyer went 7 strong for the Rockies last night in their 5-3 victory over the Padres.  The two runs that Moyer gave up were partially due to an error by Troy Tulowitzki on a routine grounder.

2011 Phungo #50 Jamie Moyer

It was career win number 268 for Moyer, tying him for 35th all-time with Jim Palmer.

Photo on the above Phungo Card was from prior to a game in 2007 - On many of Moyer's off days he would go from dugout to foul pole signing autographs.  This is one of several reasons I frequently salute Moyer as part of the Good Guy Club. 

Congrats to Jamie on the victory, and I hope he racks up a few more.

Junk of the Month - March - 2012 Topps Heritage Rookie Stars

 Junk of the Month goes to All 4 of these Heritage Rookie Star Cards.

(click to enlarge)
 2012 Topps Heritage #407 Rookie Stars
2012 Topps Heritage #29 Rookie Stars (DeFratus - Savery)
2012 Topps Heritage #321 Rookie Stars
2012 Topps Heritage #253 Rookie Stars

This post is an ode to the ridiculousness of having a single player on mutliple rookie cards.  At least I can play a fun game of How do you get from Brad Peackock to Nate Spears in 3 moves or less (just follow the arrows) 




Looking Back

Junk of the Month - February
Junk of the Month - January 

Swag from Nachos Grande

In January Chris from Nachos Grande ran a group break involving a bunch of boxes from the early 2000s.  If you're a Phils Fan the early aughts is a pretty quiet time - typically this means a lot of Scott Rolen and Bobby Abreu - neither of which is a fan favorite.  Despite this the Nachos Grande break was a fun one and provided us with a bunch of nice cards.  Here are some of the highlights:

 A couple of Phils from my childhood.   These are from the UD Vintage set.  These are the cards that mimic 1975 Topps.

Fleer Vintage cards that homage 1954 Topps.

Topps Finest Bobby Abreu and Todd Helton - The NG break featured one random team, Team Phungo got the Rockies.  Not a great one if you like classic cards, I mean who are they going to put in the Vintage sets Larry Walker?   

 Fleer Inserts of Pat Burrell and Die Cut of Phungo Favorite Randy Wolf

2010 Pull N Junk Playoffs: Best Pull - 2nd Quarter

The Best Pull Tourney Turns the page to the best pull of the 2nd Quarter of 2010.  Here are the candidates.

April
Two Topps Heritage Inserts make the cut for April 2010.   

2010 Topps Heritage Chrome #C90 Troy Tulowitzki (#d 288/1961)

2010 Topps Heritage Then & Now #TN10 Shutout Leaders Whitey Ford & Roy Halladay

click Here to find out more about these cards. 

May
May features a trio of entries that came out of UD bargain packs I picked up this past spring.  


2008 UD X Xponential 2 #X2-JT

2008 UD Baseball Heroes Copper #10 Brian McCann (#d100/149)
 
2009 UD 20th Anniversary #638 Steve Carlton

A couple of favorite players and a serially numbered McCann Card. 

For More Info on the May Cards click here.

June

1988 Donruss #539 Greg Maddux

Even Junk Wax can yield a Pull of the Month.  This is a Pre-Cy Young Greg Maddux.  At the time of issue Greg Maddux had a career W-L record of 8-18, He would go on to win 347 more games.

More info here. 

Vote

Please Vote for your favorite Phungo Pull of the 2nd Quarter in the comments:

1) Troy Tulowitzki
2) Roy Halladay/ Whitey Ford
3) Jim Thome
4) Brian McCann
5) Lefty
6) Greg Maddux

Pull of the Month - April 2010 - Heritage Chrome Troy Tulowitzki

It is a good thing I got involved in the Cardboard Junkie Heritage Blaster League - or else I would have a very little fodder for Pull of the Month.


2010 Topps Heritage Chrome #C90 Troy Tulowitzki (#d 288/1961)

I was also pretty happy with this Topps Heritage Then & Now Insert that came out of the box.

2010 Topps Heritage Then & Now #TN10 Shutout Leaders Whitey Ford & Roy Halladay

Not exactly sure how Topps came up with this one. According to the card back Ford actually finished 8th in shutouts in 1961. And if the stat doesn't match up there isn't much of a reason to pair up the HoF lefty with The Phils new staff ace.

I could also mention some of the cards I picked up in a group break from Nachos Grande that would be Pull of the month worthy, but I am sticking to packs I actually opened this month.

Meh of the Month


2009 UD Signature Stars #90 Ryan Garko

This product only has 100 veterans and Ryan Garko gets a card marking his 40 games as a San Francisco Giant?

If you want to find out more about the rather bland UD Signature Stars set check out my pack break over at A Pack to be Named Later.

Previous Pull of the Month Posts

2010 March

2010 February

2010 January

Phungo 5 with Tulo Trader - Phillies @ Rockies

2007 Bowman Heritage Rainbow Foil #248 Troy Tulowitzki

This weekend the Phillies play Colorado and for the 2nd installment of Phungo 5 we go out to the Rockies, actually I think we are traveling to the sunshine state as our Phungo 5 Guest is a transplant.

We are getting some help from the Tulo Trader for today's 5. Tulo Trader focuses on the young phenom shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, but also covers the rest of the fine Rockies team. Colorado has several other young players, however they are on the cusp of ushering in an era of change as Matt Holliday has been traded, Todd Helton is getting older and coming off a disappointing 2007. Thanks to Tulo Trader for all his interesting answers and comments.

1) Two years ago the Rockies swept the Phils in the playoffs then their 08 seasons went dramatically different directions. What must the Rockies do to get back on track?

That's the million dollar question and I can't help but look at pitching. The Rockies will have to have a little bit of luck on their side if they want to make another run like 2007 as Coors Field keeps the big pitchers out of town, not so much for the thin air, but for the vast outfield. As we've seen before, the marquee pitchers of the league will stay as far away from Coors Field because they weren't built for it. The Rockies will almost exclusively need to raise sinker-ball pitchers in the farm system and hope for their future big league success. Outside of that, the Rox will have to keep their starting eight healthy. In 2008, Troy Tulowitzki went down early and Todd Helton played only 83 games while playing 154 in 2007. Additionally, with the exit of Matt Holliday prior to the '09 season, the Rockies will have to rely on small-ball tactics to win some games in true National League fashion, though I could see players like Ian Stewart filling that void in the future.

Phungo Note: We are also hoping for big things from Stewart as he was the last batter added to the Phungo Fantasy Squad.

2) I believe that the Rockies are not your home team, how often do you get to see the Rockies.

From 2005-2008 Coors Field was my front yard. Now I'm two time zones away and it is extremely difficult to catch Rockies games. I usually make it back to Denver for at least a few games a year, but outside of that I'm relegated to watch the few nationally televised games on TV at home or run up to the sports bar to cure my fix. Fortunately, I didn't miss much last year.

3) I see that you are a Brett Myers Fan, He has a somewhat checkered history both on and off the field. How did you become a Brett Myers fan.

Ah, Brett Myers. The sole reason as to why I started collecting his cards was because of the infamous "Boom... outta here" interview in 2008. Many thanks to Jim Rome for keeping that going.

4) Is my Joe Koshansky autograph card I picked up for 2 bucks worthless?

I was a little upset to see JoKo go, but the Rockies are inundated with young infielders with big potential that have no place to go. I'm guessing the outlook on Koshansky was that when Todd Helton finally rides off into the sunset, the Rockies would move Garrett Atkins to first base opening up third base for touted prospect Ian Stewart. I have plenty of Koshansky cards as well and I'd like to think that they won't be worthless... of course, a card is only as valuable as its owner holds it.

5) Rocky Mountain Oysters, Yes or No ?

I'm originally from the Chesapeake Bay area... I'll take those oysters over the Rocky Mountain variety any day of the week.

We are awarding another 5 for 5. Good to get some positive feedback regarding Ian Stewart and Joe Koshansky.....I have never experienced the culinary pleasure of Rocky Mountain Oysters but I will defer to TT's opinion.

Thanks to the Tulowitki Trader for writing my column today. If you want to look back at the previous Phungo 5 with Cardboard Junkie Click Here.