Spot The Sig! December 14th

This weeks Spot the Sig! is a sort of personal recognition to someone very special to me – no it is not the player who signed the card above.

This is for my girlfriend Jo. In addition to putting up with me and all the nuisances related to my hobbies - sports, music, and card collecting – AND holding down a full time job AND keeping our lives in order, she has been diligently working on her Master’s degree.

Recently she has completed her Master’s Thesis, I am extremely happy for her and she should be proud of her accomplishments also. I have enjoyed following her quest and I only wish I could have been more supportive. I feel lucky for the moments I was able to make contributions and provide feedback. Now that you have successfully finished your Master’s program, Jo, I congratulate you.

I am sure all you folks that have been participating in STS! May be asking what does this little window into our personal lives have to with this weeks contest? It is the bonus Question.

Jo’s Thesis involved collecting data from students learning a foreign language. The bonus question is: What was the language? Yes, the language is somehow connected to this week’s card.
Signature is good for a Double, Bonus good for a Walk or Stolen Base.

Here are the current STS! standings

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 1 Run in - Victorino on Third
Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 1 Run in - Man on First
Stats on the Back - Stinkin Mets - Man on 3rd
Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First
Night Owl - Dodgers - Matt Kemp triumphantly advances to 2nd.
A Cardboard Problem has gotten the Yankees into the game, they remain on Deck, but I would never count out the Bronx Bombers.

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party - you just may find yourself with a stack of cards come spring training!

Spot the Sig Profile - Bob Feller

2000 Fleer Greats of the Game Autograph Bob Feller

Bob Feller won 266 career games, every one of them with the Cleveland Indians. He was also a member of the most recent Cleveland Indians team to win the World Series in 1948. The 266 Career wins is an even greater accomplishment when you consider that Feller gave up 3 prime years of his career for Military service. Those three years from 1942-1944 were sandwiched between 25 and 26 Win season for Feller.

Feller is frequently outspoken and I admire his convictions. Last year he was in the booth for a very entertaining inning or two during the American League playoffs, as I remember he did not hold back on any criticisms of the current state of baseball or the disposition of the games players.

I will always enjoy the old black and white films of Feller throwing his fastball “racing” against a motorcycle in order to time the pitch. I couldn't find the motorcycle video but I did find a video of him throwing his fastball through some contraption that clocked the pitch at 98 mph.

Bob Feller autographs, are in pretty high circulation on Ebay. You can also acquire one through the Bob Feller Museum , located in Rapid Robert’s hometown of Van Meter, Iowa. The charge is $20 although right now they are running a discount that brings the price to $16.20. I couldn't figure out the shipping charge, but I would imagine that it would bring the item back into the $20.00 range. Twenty bucks for an autograph of a 90 year old Hall of Famer seems like a decent deal to me.

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party - you just may find yourself with a stack of cards come spring training!

Phungo Readers Salute - Night Owl Cards

Today's readers appreciation is for Night Owl Cards.

Sometimes when I am not quite ready start working in the mornings I sneak over to check out what is going on in blogworld. Night Owl Cards is great for this because there is likely to be a posting composed while manning the graveyard shift, thus I have something new to read each morning.

Night Owl covers the primarily the Dodgers teamwise and he can also cast some great riffs on the vintage cards - lots o good early 70s stuff. But best of all Night Owl Cards has an interesting niche posting on Night Cards - Brilliant Concept - Night Cards Posted Over Night.


2002 UD Vintage Night Gamers NG5 Greg Maddux
2002 UD Vintage Night Gamers NG9 Troy Glaus

First off please notice I tried to get the two cards to not point off page (thats a note for Night Owl because he would likely notice)

In 2002 when UD Vintage ripped off the iconic 1971 Topps cards they produced a couple of interesting inserts sets called "Day at the Park" and "Night Gamers". I love 71 Topps, and also enjoy the UD Vintage version. One of the cool things about the two insert sets is they give you informationn on the players performance in Day or Night games depending on the set.

2002 UD Vintage Night Gamers (reverse) NG9 Troy Glaus

Oh and I should also point out that Night Owl Cards is in contention to be added to the Heavenly Seven.

Night Owl Cards, Team Phungo Salutes and Thanks you - keep up the good work and we look forward to a new post tomorrow morning!

Phungo Readers Salute - Capewood's Collections

I would like to close out the year by having a series I will refer to as Phungo Readers Salute. This is my way of thanking Phungo readers for stopping by, checking stuff out, and making this whole blog worthwhile.

I will start by recognizing fellow Phils fan Cliff at Capewood’s Collections. Back in July Cliff became the first of my regular readers, which was pretty cool since his site was one that I was familiar with and he was a Phils fan.

Capewood’s Collections is based in the Houston area so in addition to covering the Phils also covers the Astros. Cliff also comes through with music videos, movie reviews, bonsai trees and more. Capewood appeals to my interest in card sites that are more than just card sites. Cliff, thanks for your input and support and keep up the good work over at Capewood's Collection.

1996 Zenith #105 Bob Abreu

Since Capewood keeps us updated on both the Phillies and Astros, I have posted one of the few cards of Bobby Abreu in an Astros uniform. The obvious choice here would probably be Brad Lidge, but I am saving him for a future World Series Profile.

Yes Bobby Abreu was an Astro for about half a season a long time ago and now he is a Yankee. To me at least part of him remains a Phillie. He took a lot of heat in Philadelphia for spotty defensive play and not producing in the clutch. For me the criticism was a bit harsh. He played every day for the Phils for 8+ seasons consistently hitting .300 with a .400+ OBP. He’d also throw in 20 dingers, 100 RBIs and 30 Stolen Bases. Abreu is now a free agent, he spent this past season batting in the 3-Hole for the New York Yankees. I think he will do ok in the market.

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Today we also present the new updated STS! Standings.

PTBNL won Spot The Sig! for the second week in a row, and once again hit the bonus. I sure would like to know how he picked out Russ Martin last week. I don't think I alluded to Martin in a previous post, but I may have.

All that is good for a Shane Victorino Double for PTBNL which scores Jimmy Rollins from third. The run ties PTBNL with Cardboard Junkie for the STS! lead. Victorino advances to third on a stolen base for the bonus. Stats on the Back and Night Owl both get their own stolen bases.

The updated STS! scoreboard appears as follows:.

PTBNL - repsresentin those Fightin Phillies - 1 Run in - Victorino on Third

Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 1 Run in - Man on First

Stats on the Back - Stinkin Mets - Man on 3rd

Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First

Night Owl - Dodgers - Matt Kemp triumphantly advances to 2nd.

A Cardboard Problem has gotten the Yankees into the game, they remain on Deck, but I would never count out the Bronx Bombers.

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party - you just may find yourself with a stack of cards come spring training!

Team Phungo is on vacation this weekend and I got bunches of stuff to do to get ready, therefore I am holding the profile portion of the Bob Feller STS! post for Hall of Fame Thursday.

Spot the Sig! - Round 4

This week’s Spot the Sig! is good for a Double - I don't think this one is to rough. Here it is:

In honor of the Veteran’s committee coming out with their Hall of Fame Selection this week, the Bonus question is HoF related. Name any Hall of Famer that Team Phungo has seen play for an American League team. Of course this eliminates any Phillies I have seen, but there are still roughly a half dozen AL players that qualify.

Recapping the STS! standings thus far:

Cardboard Junkie - Braves - 1 Run in - Man on First
PTBNL - I think repsresentin the Phillies - Man on Third
Stats on the Back - Stinkin Mets - Man on 2nd
Cardboard Addiction - Bosox - Man on First
Night Owl - Dodgers - The very patient Matt Kemp on first

For further information regarding the Phungo Spot the Sig! contest click here and join the party - you just may find yourself with a stack of cards come spring training!

2008 Score Football First Pack

#333 Matt Ryan

The Stats

1 retail pack 2008 Donruss Score Football Kmart $3.17
1 Franchise – Larry Johnson
2 Hot Rookie – Devin Thomas, Darren McFadden
1 Scorecard – Buster Davis #d Parallel (463/649) (injured in 2^nd season)
1 Decal Marshawn Lynch
2 Vikings – (EJ Henderson, Tavaris Jackson)
No Eagles

#HR-4 Darren McFadden

5 Rookies within the Base including Matt Ryan and PSU alum Dan Connor

#385 Dan Connor

Overall this pack didn't do much for me. I liked this pack better than the Jumbo I got from Topps simply because I got some Vikings. An injured and a benched Viking, but it’s better than no Vikings. There were two Penn State Alums in the Pack Connor and LJ. I picked this pack for the cover card of Matt Ryan, a local product that I wanted a card of and was happy to find. Between this pack and the Topps pack I haven’t gotten any Eagles.

#179 EJ Henderson

The pack was a bit light on star power. Football definitely isn't my thing card wise, unless the Vikings win a playoff game, I may be done with football cards for 2008.

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I would also like to remind everyone that it is Sunday and that means it is Spot the Sig! day. I expect to have a post up around 9:30pm eastern.

Greg Maddux Penultimate Game

At the time we didn't really know. An astute observer may have suspected.

Yes, when Greg Maddux came into game one of the NLCS on October 9th, he was making one of his final appearances. He would be called upon only one more time, in Game 5 of the series, for a long relief stint.

The Picture above is of Maddux warming up to pitch in game 1. It was the last appearance Maddux would ever make on the road. Penultimate is defined as "next to last", thus October 9th 2008 was Greg Maddux's penultimate performance.

I feel lucky to have been there.