ANNIVERSARY - Ryan Howard: 2011 Topps Heritage Baseball Highlight Sketches #BHS-10

Ten years ago Ryan Howard became the quickest player to reach 250 Home Runs. On September 8th 2010 playing in his 855th game Howard homered to deep left field. 

Topps commemorated the event with an insert in the 2011 Heritage set. 

2011 Topps Heritage Baseball Highlight Sketches #BHS-10 Ryan Howard 

Highlight Sketches was a 25 card insert set with artwork by Southern California based artist Dave Hobrecht. The set also includes a card dedicated to Roy Halladay's 2011 No-Hitter. 

Howard's Home Runs was part of a 10-6 Phillies victory over the Florida Marlns. It was the 28th of 31 Home Runs that Howard would hit in 2010 - good enough for 8th in the league. 

Flip

2011 Topps Heritage Baseball Highlight Sketches #BHS-10 Ryan Howard  (b-side)

The caption details Howard's Home Run pace and also mentions the record holder Ralph Kiner. 

Kiner's 250th Home Run occurred in 1951 during a Pirates 5-4 loss versus the Boston Braves. 

2010 Ryan Howard at the Crossroads

In 2010 was basically mid-career - the 7th of 13 seasons. He had 855 games in the books and 717 remaining. Unfortunately the bottom half of his career did not match the promise of Howard's start. After averaging 46 Home Runs a season from 2006-2010, Howard would hit 33 in 2011 and then never post more than 25 again. The downward turn due to a combination of a devastating injury that occurred at the end of 2011 NLDS and the rigors of age. 

Ryan Howard's final 717 games would yield 132 Home Runs - Not terrible, but roughly half the pace of those record setting first 250 Home Runs.

Sources and Links

Ryan Howard Index

Game Dated Cards

Baseball-Ref

Dave Hobrecht

Beckett

Sports Card Radio

ANNIVERSARY: 10 Years Ago Today the Phillies Win the World Series

Just wanted to post a couple of pictures to remember a great night from a decade ago.

Game Ticket 2008 World Series Game 5. 2008 OCT 27 & 29

 Pat Burrell prior to the last game he would ever play with the Phillies

Harry Kalas on about to perform his final World Series Broadcast.

 Ryan Howard

Jamie Moyer carrying the rubber from the CBP pitchers Mound

 Jimmy Rollins

Don Zimmer

One of my more common avatars

Links and Sources

2008 World Series Game 5 index

2008 World Champion Phillies Player Indices

Anniversary: 2007 UD Masterpieces

Just got the news that Ryan Howard has been released by the Atlanta Braves. Ten Years ago on May 9th 2007 Howard had a much better day. The events of that day are discussed in the following: 

When I returned to collecting Upper Deck Masterpieces drew quite a buzz. The set had a lot of appeal to me. The cards had a higher quality feel to them with an impressive design. The checklist was small but it had a good mix of current stars, prospects and retired stars. I particularly enjoyed the historical moments

2007 UD #71 Ryan Howard

The Phillies had five cards in the initial Masterpieces set. This is one of two dedicated to Ryan Howard. The two Howard cards are similar and we look to cover that in a future column.

One of the attractive aspects of the Masterpieces is the canvas-like feel of the cards. I believe the cards feature original artwork (based off a photograph). Unfortunately Upper Deck did not identify the artists on the Baseball Masterpieces. This was handled differently with UDs release which credited the artists and sometimes provided website info.

It appears a little dark here but this is one of the Green Parallels. These are the most common Masterpiece parallel and are not serial numbered.

Ten Years Ago Today

2007 UD #71 Ryan Howard

After a synopsis of Howard's accolades from his early career the card back goes onto mention a game played on May 9 2017. After being shutout by the Diamondbacks Randy Johnson for six innings the Phillies were able to put up a series of crooked numbers earn a 9-3 victory.

The comeback was all started by the Grand Slam mentioned on 2007 UD #71. Howard did not hit his blast off of Randy Johnson. In fact manager Charlie Manuel elected to not start Ryan Howard versus the Big Unit. However, in the 7th inning Johnson loaded the bases and was over 100 pitches. The situation forced Arizona manager Bob Melvin to go to his righty reliever Brandon Medders. Ryan Howard hit the first pitch for the Homer, tallying his fourth career Grand Slam.

According to Baseball-Ref the hit had a WPA(Win Probability Added) of +35%.



Sources and Links
2007 UD Masterpieces Index
Philly.com
baseball-ref
Baseball Cardpedia
USA Today / Andrew Bagato
Teams Sets 4 U
COMC

2007 UD Masterpieces Index

When I was posting more frequently I thought a Series to commemorate the tenth anniversary of UD Masterpieces would be fun. While I don't anticipate hitting all 90 cards, I would like to dedicate some time to the set during the course of the season.

This is an Index to the postings related to our 10th Anniversary Series on 2007 UD Masterpieces

2007 UD Masterpieces #71 Ryan Howard

1 Babe Ruth
2 Babe Ruth
3 Bobby Thomson
4 Bill Mazeroski
5 Carlton Fisk
6 Kirk Gibson
7 Don Larsen
8 Lou Gehrig
9 Roger Maris
10 Cal Ripken, Jr.
11 Bucky Dent
12 Ryan Howard
13 Brooks Robinson
14 David Ortiz
15 Hideki Matsui
16 Roger Clemens
17 Sandy Koufax (2015 posting: 50th Anniversary of Perfect Game)
18 Reggie Jackson
19 Ozzie Smith
20 Ty Cobb
21 Walter Johnson
22 Babe Ruth
23 Roy Campanella
24 Jackie Robinson
25 Carl Yastrzemski
26 Sandy Koufax
27 Daisuke Matsuzaka RC
28 Kei Igawa RC
29 Ken Griffey, Jr.
30 Derek Jeter
31 David Ortiz
32 Vladimir Guerrero
33 Chase Utley
34 Troy Tulowitzki (RC)
35 Joe Mauer
36 Travis Hafner
37 Miguel Cabrera
38 Albert Pujols
39 Frank Thomas
40 Mike Piazza
41 Josh Hamilton
42 Tony Gwynn / Cal Ripken, Jr.
43 Ichiro
44 Hideki Matsui
45 Ken Griffey, Jr.
46 Michael Jordan
47 John F. Kennedy (2013: Anniversary Assassination)
48 Randy Johnson
49 Albert Pujols
50 Carlos Beltran
51 Delmon Young (RC)
52 Johan Santana
53 Cal Ripken, Jr.
54 Jackie Robinson / Yogi Berra
55 Cal Ripken, Jr.
56 Hanley Ramirez
57 Victor Martinez
58 Cole Hamels
59 Bobby Doerr
60 Bruce Sutter
61 Jason Bay
62 Luis Aparicio
63 Stephen Drew
64 Jered Weaver
65 Alex Gordon RC
66 Howie Kendrick
67 Ryan Zimmerman
68 Akinori Iwamura RC
69 Chien-Ming Wang
70 David Wright
71 Ryan Howard
72 Alex Rodriguez
73 Justin Morneau
74 Andrew Miller RC
75 Richard Nixon
76 Bill Clinton
77 Phil Hughes (RC)
78 Tom Glavine
79 Chipper Jones
80 Craig Biggio
81 Chris Chambliss
82 Tim Lincecum RC
83 Billy Butler (RC)
84 Andy LaRoche (RC)
85 1969 Mets
86 2004 Red Sox
87 Roberto Clemente
88 Chase Utley
89 Reggie Jackson
90 Curt Schilling

Other UD Masterpieces Cards
2008 Football
14 Chuck Bednarik (2015: Obituary)

Sources and Links
Baseball Cardpedia

Topps Now #362: Thanks Phillies Room!!

I am sending out a big Thank You to the fine crew over at the Phillies Room.

All season long Jim has has been keeping his eye out for Phillies Topps Now cards. He has been picking them up in bulk and passing along a card to Phungo HQ.

2016 Topps Now #362 Chase Utley

While not a Phillies card this is certainly one in spirit. There are very few folks Phillies fans are going to miss more than Chase Utley. I am glad to see him in the postseason even if it is with the Philllies west coast rival from my youth.

There are a number of things I love about this card. This is the kind of even that Suits Topps Now well especially for a club like the Phillies who are a bit short on highlights for the 2016 season.

The card also represents a Phungo Game. It was a 15-5 Phillies loss, but I definitely had a good time, you can read more about the game here.

2016 Topps Now #362 Chase Utley (b-side w/ Ryan Howard)

Typically I like some interesting copy on the back of the card, but I think Topps makes the right decision here. Sometimes you can say everything without saying anything at all.

Phungo Pix


I tried to capture a similar idea with this Photo I took at the Utley Return game. I like taking two player photos especially of opponents. It is interesting to see what relationships exist within the sportsworld.

Both of the images on the Topps card were captured by Philadelphia based Photographer Mitchell Leff. The Front of the card is here and the back here. 




Sources and Links 
Phungo Games Collection
Chase Utley Player Collection
Ryan Howard Player Collection
Mitchell Leff
Getty Images
Baseball-ref

Updates
2016 10 11 Added Paragraph regarding Photograher Mitchell Leff

SNAPSHOTS: 2016 08 30 Nationals 3 @ Phillies 2

Just a couple of pictures from the most recent Team Phungo trek to the ballpark, a 3-2 loss to the Division leading Nationals.

2016 0830 Max Scherzer vs Cameron Rupp @ Philadelphia PA

The Phillies may look ugly on the diamond but the field still can look nice.

2016 0830 Max Scherzer vs Ryan Howard @ Philadelphia PA

The Phillies didn’t have many highlights in the game. Both runs came courtesy of a Ryan Howard Homer. The above in the above shot is not the from the Home Run AB, this is the Bottom of the 5th - one of two times when Howard Struck Out.

2016 0830 Max Scherzer

The Star of the night was Max Scherzer who took a no-hitter into the sixth and struck out 11 over eight innings. As a batter he also successfully executed a suicide squeeze to give the Nats their third run – which ended up being the difference in the game.

I am Pretty happy with this photo as it sort of captures the oft mentioned differences of Scherzer's eye color

2016 0830 Jerad Eickhoff

The Phillies starting pitcher, Jerad Eickhoff, fought through some early control issues and was able to give the club six innings. If it weren't for a misplayed fourth inning fly ball by Aaron Altherr in the fourth inning, Eichoff may have left the game deadlocked 2-2 with the Nats and Scherzer. 
 

2016 0830 Trea Turner

Nats Rookie Trea Turner is having a good season. The outfielder had a pair of hits on Wednesday boosting his average to .344.

Familiar Faces

 Ben Revere

Jayson Werth

Sources and Links
Baseball-ref

Game Report: Dodgers 15 @ Phillies 5 - Chase Utley Returns

There are things you expect - Chase Utley Getting a Standing Ovation, and there are things that your happy to see but don't really expect - Chase Utley's Ovation extends for a second beat, and he needs to settle the fans so the game can start or Chase Utley hits a Home Run in his return.

Then there are thing that you wonder if they would ever happen - Chase Utley gets a Curtain Call as an opposing player

And Then there are miracles - Chase Utley and Ryan Howard turned back time.

Utley Hit a Grand Slam and got a second curtain call, at this point what was a game at moved into theater. It was watching "the Natural' unfold in real life.

Later Ryan Howard would hit a moonshot Home Run into the Phillies Bullpen, after narrowly missing one earlier in the game.

It was as much fun as a fan can have in a 15-5 Loss.

The Philllies may have been down 10 runs, but for a few hours it felt like 2008 again. The crowd was good size, Everyone was excited and engaged - and I felt eight years younger, Now that's a miracle!

Snapshots

 Chase Utley in Blue :(

Warm Ups

Utley and Ryan Howard Pregame. I think Howard is saying "well if you hit a Home Run, I am going to have to hit one too.."

Just a few #26 Jerseys

Utley signed a number of autographs pregame. The fans were four of five deep down the Left Field line. Good Guy Awards go out to Corey Seager and Chris Taylor who also were spotted signing for the fans.

Fifth Beatle?

Ryan Howard MopTop

Last night was Beatles Night - in celebration of the 50th anniversary of an appearance of what turned out to be the bands US Farewell tour.

Field Report
Our friends over at the Phillies Room were also at the game and they have their own field report which can be found here.

Sources and Links
Chase Utley Player Collection Index
Baseball-ref
Beatles Bible

2016 Topps Perspectives #P20 Ryan Howard: Catch or No Catch?

It has been out for what 3+ Months now and we are returning to our look at 2016 Topps.

One of the more favorably received inserts in 2016T is the Perspectives set. A 25 card insert with a photography focus. It sort of gives flagship collectors a glimpse into the Stadium Club brand.

2016 Topps #P-20 Perspectives Ryan Howard

The only Phillies card in the set is of Ryan Howard. While a nice picture, the shot selection is a bit perplexing. Why do you take a player known for one thing and one thing only - Hitting Home Runs and show him fielding?

While I admire the man's effort, Howard was mediocre at First Base even at his best.

Safe or Out? 
So did Ryan Howard make the catch next to the tarp? We will let you know later in the posting. 

Flip

2016 Topps #P-20 Perspectives Ryan Howard (b-side)

I think part of the Perspectives theme is the players off the field Philanthropic efforts, although I saw no such mention on the Ryan Braun Perspectives entry. Of course, it appears the Big Piece Foundation's website (mentioned on the Topps card) appears to be defunct, so who knows where the $200,000+ they raised went.

I do like how the text on Perspectives is laid out over a shot of the field from the Perspective of the batters box. 

Getty Got It
We were able to find the original image in the Getty library and we have the verdict on the play....

no catch.

I know your shocked, The play was from a Reds 11-2 victory over the Phillies on June 29, 2015. The foul ball was off the bat of Zach Cozart - Not sure which AB. However we do know it was not during Cozart's first plate appearance when he hit a Grand Slam, according to B-Ref that Home Run occurred on a 0-0 count so no foul ball.

The photo was taken by sports photographer Jamie Sabau.

Sources and Links
2016 Topps Index
Game Dated Cards (Phungo Game Cards) 
2016 Topps Phillies
Philly Inquirer
Getty Images
Jamie Sabau
Cardboard Connection
Baseball-ref 

Swag from Nachos Grande

Couple of highlights from a recent Nachos Grande Box Break

2015 Topps Heritage #596 Freddy Galvis

We lead off our Swag posting with a rare Freddy Galvis card. Topps seems to snub Galvis for some reason. He is not exactly a star and really more of a reserve player, but he is right at the top of the list of Phillies that don't get Topps cards.

This card is from the Heritage High  Number set, likewise #596 was a high number in the original 1966T  but it did not correspond to a Phillies player. The original card was as Rookie Card issued to Nate Colbert with Houston. I was unaware that Colbert debuted with the Astros until I saw the RC. He eventually moved to the Padres as an expansion draft pickup. Colbert shares his dual RC with Greg Sims who had a grand total of 7 career MLB Plate Appearances.

2014 Topps Stadium Club Chase Utley Base & Black Parallel 

He's gone and may have to sign a minor league contract to hook up with a team in 2016 but that won't stop us from being fans. Nice to pick up this short print in the break. 

2011 Topps Wilson Valdez 

There are not a lot of cares of Phan Phavorite Wilson Valdez. 

2013 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor Ryan Howard Purple 

Picked up a couple Purple Refractor shorties, The more notable of the two is the above Ryan Howard...

2013 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor Jonathan Pettibone

Pettibone had Shoulder surgery during the summer of 2014 and was expected to return to the Phillies by spring of this year but never made it to the mound in an official game. He is not currently on the 40 man roster.

2015 Topps Ken Giles

One of the few bright spots for the Phillies the last few seasons has been reliever Ken Giles. With contenders looking for closers and the rebuilding Phillies not reall needing one there is a chance that Giles will be on the move this winter. 

2015 Topps Heritage Odubel Herrera 

The Phillies rule 5 pickup Odubel Herrera also provided a few highlights during the Phillies 2015 campaign.

2015 Topps Chrome Ryan Howard

Still good to see cards of one of the 2008 Phillies last remaining heroes.

Bobby Abreu 
Darren Daulton
Ricky Otero

Some other heroes from the past were part of the break

2008 Topps Home Run Derby Chase Utley

Closing with another Chase Card.

Sources and Links
Baseball Card Database
Baseball-reference
Phillies - Todd Zolecki
Philly.com - Jake Caplan 

Game Report Braves @ Phillies Alumni Weekend

Made it to two games as part of  the Phillies Alumni Weekend versus the Braves, a 12-2 victory on Saturday Night and a 6-2 Loss on Sunday.

 Snapshots

2015 0801 Pat Burrell operating the Hot Dog Gun

By far the highlight of the Phillies Season has to be Pat Burrell firing the Hot Dog Cannon. Add to this the massive uhm Shoulder Bag that he is carrying and you have a perfect image.

Alumni weekend provided plenty of entertainment. Burrell tried to make a few awkward jokes during his speech, but he fared well enough otherwise. 2008 World Series Champ Manager Charlie Manuel gave a great intro and it was great to see him get loud ovations all weekend.

Pat Burrell's new Wall o Fame plaque was added next to 2014 Inductee Charlie Manuel. 

Franchise Four

On Satyrday Night the Phillies honored their Franchise Four. You may remember MLBs promotion from last month - the Phillies four were Richie Asburn, Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton and Mike Schmidt. Carlton is in the 80s era powder blue roadie. To his right is Richie Ashurn's grandson and on his left is one or Robin Robert's sons. Mike Schmidt is hidden by Bob Boone on the left side of the photo.

The four other gentleman in the pictures are all catchers. Each of the Franchise Four took part in a four pronged first pitch with a Phillies Catcher. Boone is on the far left, Darren Daulton and Mike Lieberthal are next to the obscured Mike Schmidt while current Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz is on the far right.

Game Pix

Cameron Rupp 2015 0801

Saturday night has a bunch of heroes. The offense put up a season high 12 runs, three of which came on a Homer by Cameron Rupp.

Adam Morgan

The Phillies have two rookies in the rotation right now. Aaron Nola got the W on Friday night, Adam Morgan didn't fair as well on Sunday. He struggled through five innings giving up four runs. The Braves had runners on in each of those innings with the big blow coming in the 5th, a three-run homer by Jace Peterson

 Julio Teheran

Julio Teheran who has had a mixed season looked more like the pitcher he was during his All-Star 2015 campaign. He scattered 8 hits and 2 runs over 7 innings without a walk.

Ryan Howard

Over the two games Ryan Howard looked like 2008 or maybe 2011 as he went 5 for 8 with a couple of doubles and RBI. He has hits in eight consecutive games and as been a big contributor to the Phillies recent success.

GGA

Aaron Harang

Couple of Phillies signing autograph's on Sunday. Harang was out in the sun for a good 30 minutes. Maikel Franco and I think Cody Asche were also out there for short stints.

Blue err Orange Moon

There was a bit of excitement over the Blue Moon this weekend. I took this shot on Saturday night, so it is a day past full. I have no idea what structures are in the shot, I think they are generally East of the stadium. 

 2015 0801 Ticket Braves at Phillies

2015 0802 Game Ticket Braves @ Phillies

Sources and Links

Baseball-ref