2013 12 08 Philly Show - 1963 Fleer #50 Ruben Amaro

1963 Fleer #50 Ruben Amaro

The December version of the PhillyShow was a bit of a mess for a variety of reasons. Shane Victorino was unable to make the show and the promoter failed to update their website.

There are a variety of reasons why cancellations might happen and it is usually excusable. Both local promoter Poppel and regional CSA (who run the Chantilly Show) seems to do a good job of keeping their customers updated.   At the PhillyShow I think there is at least a 50% chance of at least one guest no-show and I have NEVER seen a pre-show announcement by Hunt Auctions or Philly Show regarding a cancellation.  In Fact the Shane Victorino appearance is STILL on the Sports Vault website
(as of 12/17)

Okay enough of that drama. Lets talk about some cards - first up a couple of 1963 Fleer Cards

The Ruben Amaro card above is one of two 1963F Phillies cards that I picked up. The other was #54 Art Mahaffey.

1963 Fleer #54 Art Mahaffey

1963 Fleer is a set that I am fond of and at various times have consider building. The abbreviated set is a mere 66 cards - Due to a legal action from Topps, Fleer was only able to produce a single series. The series is significant for containing the first Maury Wills card.

There are five Philies in the set. The Amaro and Mahaffey cards seen here are the bookends for the 63F Phillies team set which runs from #50-54. The three middle cards are Johnny Callison, Clay Dalrymple and Don Demeter. If you want an easy to build Vintage Phillies team set, this may be the one for you - each of the above cards went for $2.    

For more info on 1963 Fleer please read the Cardboard Connection article by the late Chris Stufflestreet   

Sources
TeamSets4u
Cardboard Connection - Chris Stufflestreet

Phun Cards 1959 Topps #178 Ruben Amaro

1959 Topps #178 Ruben Amaro

Ruben Amaro played 40 games for the 1958 Cardinals, but his first Topps card was issued with a Phillies Logo in the 1959 set.  This is despite the fact that Amaro would not play with the Phillies unitl June of 1960.  Amaro was a member of the Phillies for 6 years including the ill-fated 1964 season.  Amaro was good enough to stick hold down a majore league job for 11 seasons, but that is about it.  He did not really have any offensive standout years and finished his career with 8 home runs and a .234 batting average.  His 11 years were split among 4 clubs including the Angels and Yankees in addition the Phils and Cardinals.  Thanks to the Phillies 1964 collapse Amaro never got a chance to play in the post-season, but he did earn a Gold Glove for his play during that 1964 season.

  

Ruben Amaro is of course the father of Ruben Amaro Jr who is the current GM of the Philadelphia Phillies.  Ruben Amaro JR or RAJ in @TwitterSpeak also played a few unremarkable years with the Phillies.  While doing some Wiki-research I found out that the RAJ is actually a 3rd generation professional ballplayer.  His grandfather Santos Amaro played in the Cuban and Mexican Leagues.  According to Wikipedia Santos played 17 seasson in the Mexican League compiling 1,339 hits and a .314 batting average.  He was elected to the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.  

For the Collector

The 1959 Topps Card for Ruben Amaro is a Rookie Card, but basically a common. I picked up this card up for 30 cents.  A graded PSA 8 Amaro card sold for $243.26 recently.  The PSA 7 graded cards are significantly more affordable with 3 auctions ending at under $26.