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.

Don't be afraid of the Future...

All-Star Future's Game that is.  Just check out this photo of a few guys that were involved in the 2006 edition of the game which was 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.   
  
The host team Royals own Wil Myers will be one of the players to watch in the 2012 Futures Game.  The Orioles are sending Dylan Bundy and Manny Machado who are both highly rated prospects. Reds speedster Billy Hamilton is on the roster as well.  The Phils are sending two lower level prospects to the game Lisalverto Bonilla and Julio Rodriguez.  Both players are pitchers at AA Reading.


The 2012 Futures Game will air Sunday July 7 at 5p East on ESPN2.

Baseball America Futures Game coverage here.

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.