Spot the Sig! - 4th Inning HINT

Two orders of business for Spot the Sig! today.

1) I have opened the pack of 2004 Heritage and have documented it over at A Pack to be Named Later.

2) I knew this one would be tough - but I never would have thought that it would be the first Auto to go UNSOLVED. Here is part 1 of a two part hint - I have expanded the window of the auto to see a little more of the card.



And I will also mention a second clue:

The player who signed this is a current member of one of the teams represented by a Spot the Sig! participant.

But since I had to provide a couple of hints, the value of this Auto drops to a double.

Good Luck I will give you till 6pm tomorrow and then we will have to call it quits on the Auto.

A new Spot the Sig! autograph will be presented for the contest on each Sunday Night, All are welcome to join the game at anytime. If you need more Spot the Sig! details click here.

Spot the Sig! Contest - 4th Inning

Welcome to the fourth inning of Spot The Sig!

This weeks Auto is worth a HOME RUN!!!

This is the first Home Run up for grabs in the Fall 09 STS! contest and will almost certainly significantly affect the standings as many participants have men on base. Or a rookie STS! player could get themselves on the board quickly.

Bonus

To get over the Phillies World Series loss I had to go out and get myself some good old Topps Heritage cards - 2004 Topps Heritage Cards to be specific. Opening a couple of packs of Heritage should get me over the misery of the Phils falling short against the Mighty Yankees.

And I am going to let all of you Spot the Sig! participants in on this pack opening therapy. This is the pack I will be opening.

I request each participant to guess the number of active players contained in this 8 card pack. A Bonus of a Single will be awarded to the person who guesses the number of active players in the pack. I will define active has any player that played in a major league game in 2009. Somebody like Tom Glavine that kicked around throwing minor league assignments before being unceromoniously dumped by the Braves does not count. While players that played during the 09 season but retired would count - not that he has announced anything but Ken Griffey Jr would still count as 09 active. Any active player on any card counts also - If there are two players on a card and both are active then that counts as 2 players. I am not really sure of the configuration of these packs but Any Insert Relic or Auto of an active player would also count.

And two or more contestants can pick the same number of cards.

The Bonus will remain open till Monday at 6p Eastern. At which time I will present the contents of the pack.

As an FYI, the 2004 Topps Set homages 1955 Topps.

Spot the Sig! standings Going into the fourth inning.

Paul's Random Stuff - Mets: one run scored. Men at 2nd and 3rd.
Autographed Cards - Royals: one run scored. Men at 2nd and 3rd.
Night Owl - Dodgers: Men on First and 2nd
Nachos Grande - Reds: Men on First and 2nd
The Wax Ripper - Yankees: Man on First
In Search of Pat the Bat - PHILLIES: Man on First
Thought and Sox - Boston Red Sox: Man on First
Beardy - Orioles: On Deck
Indians Baseball Cards Always - Indians: On Deck

A new Spot the Sig! autograph will be presented for the contest on Sunday Night, All are welcome to join the game at anytime. If you need more Spot the Sig! details click here.

STS Profile - Carl Crawford

Congrats to Autograph Cards for picking up a double by spotting this weeks sig of Carl Crawford:

2007 Goudey Graphs #GG-CC Carl Crawford

Carl Crawford was basically THE star of the Rays before they had their improbable 2008 Season. He was almost a forgotten man for that squad as he put up pretty pedestrian numbers during the 08 season. Still he is one of my favorite players, he has always had a good combination of skills that have made him exciting to watch.

At age 27 Crawford has accumulated almost 1300 hits and still has his prime hitting years in front of him. He has led the league in steals four times and is currently 4th on the active list - he will likely be 2nd on that list by the All-Star break of 2010. The three time all-star possesses a career .295 average has achieved a .300 mark four of the last five season.

Earlier this season Crawford tied a modern major league record by stealing 6 bases in a game. He was also the MVP of the All-Star game, an award largely earned for a fine defensive catch stealing a home run from Rockies outfielder Brian Hawpe.

Arguably the greatest tribute to Carl Crawford is that he is the rare player that has an excellent Card Blog dedicated to him.

For the Collector
A Crawford sticker auto card (shared w/ Delmon Young) went for $5.25 (07 UD Exquisite). There were a number of other Crawford rsticker autos (by himself) in the $7.50 range. An 07 UD Black Bat Barrell card went for $12.94 (#d 1/50). A similar looking card out of 05 UD Sweet Spot went for $13.05.

There were no 07 Carl Crawford Goudey Graphs cards found in the recent auctions list. To be honest it doesn't appear as if Goudey Graphs cards are moving much at all on ebay right now. It is a shame as I think they are pretty decent looking. The 07 Goudey cards have a good look to begin with and the Autos are on card. I picked this card up for $4.74 off ebay last November.




Spot the Sig!

This is one of the tougher autos, it appears to say "McG" or something like that. But I felt it was only worthy of a double as I felt the keen eyed collector would be able to identify the card as an 07 Goudey Graph and also gather that the uniform was that of a Tampa Bay Ray.

ZMan from Autograph Cards understandably has a lot of experience checking out autos and spotted Mr Crawford's Signature. Good for a Double and a RUN SCORED. This ties him with Paul's Random Stuff as we finish off the 3rd inning.

One sad order of business for Team Phungo, but good news for Thoughts and Sox - The Phils unfortunately bowed out of the 2009 World Series in six games as Shane Victorino grounded out to Robinson Cano. Adam of Thoughts and Sox correctly named Victorino as the Blob and picked up the bonus.


Spot the Sig! standings after three innings.

Paul's Random Stuff - Mets: one run scored. Men at 2nd and 3rd.
Autographed Cards - Royals: one run scored. Men at 2nd and 3rd.
Night Owl - Dodgers: Men on First and 2nd
Nachos Grande - Reds: Men on First and 2nd
The Wax Ripper - Yankees: Man on First
In Search of Pat the Bat - PHILLIES: Man on First
Thought and Sox - Boston Red Sox: Man on First
Beardy - Orioles: On Deck
Indians Baseball Cards Always - Indians: On Deck

A new Spot the Sig! autograph will be presented for the contest on Sunday Night, All are welcome to join the game at anytime. If you need more Spot the Sig! details click here.

Team Phungo Shaken :(

We are bummed and sorely disappointed.

Will try to get a good nights sleep and take inventory of our emotions tomorrow - I think we will survive - it's part of being a fan - Like everyone else, we have been through this before.

14 or 15 weeks till pitchers and catchers.

sigh...

Game 6: Philadelphia Phillies @ New York Yankees

2009 08 08 Pedro Martinez

Can this game possibly live up to the hype?

The first World Series Game 6 in over six years.

The defending World Champions are in a must win game versus the most decorated franchise in the history of the sport.

The series features the most productive offenses in each league.

Tonight those offenses are facing Pedro Martinez and Andy Pettitte - The two pitchers are a combined 200 games over .500 in their careers.

2009 03 10 Pedro Martinez pitching for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic

You can watch an awful lot of baseball for a very long time and not get a game of this magnitude with this kind of talent.

Go Phils!

Philadelphia Phillies @ New York Yankees: Yankee Stadium, Bronx NY Thursday November 4th 2009 7:57 PM

Phungo Game Report - 2009 11 02 - World Series Game 5: Yankees 6 @ Phillies 8

As you probably suspect, Team Phungo really wanted to catch a World Series game this year. But, I knew that due to such annoying factors as ticket cost and ticket demand the chances of us catching a World Series game were pretty slim.

well....

Yesterday I made the somewhat impulsive decision to take my girlfriend to the final home game of the Phillies 2009 Season. Turned out it was the right decision.

Last year I got to go to a game, but couldn't get another ticket - it was great to get a second chance and be able to share the experience with her.

Several things fell together so that we could make it to the game.

1) Unfortunately the Phils fell to 1-3 in the Series - however, this resulted in the ticket prices for game 5 falling to a level which I only felt moderately guilty about spending.

2) The weather took a pretty nice turn.

3) I wasn't all worn out from my typical weekend of excessive decadence.

4) This is absolutely key - The Phils had a favorable pitching match-up and this definitely factored into the decision.

It took the confluence of all the events just to get us to make the decision to go.

I monitored prices on Stubhub till about 1p and made a purchase of one of the last pairs of tickets in a section which I considered both good enough and affordable.

We were in the upper level but got to sit behind the plate. That is good enough for me and fits my budget.

The game got off with a slight hiccup but Chase Utley straightened that out in the bottom of the first with a 3 run homer. Utley would add a 2nd dinger a few innings later to give him 5 in the series and tie Reggie Jackson for HRs in a single World Series. Cliff Lee had a good almost great outing. The Phils dicey bullpen gave us a scare, but in the end the Phils Won 8-6.

It was a great experience. The Phils faced eliminations and lived. One of their star players belted 2 homers and had 4 RBIs. And we got to see a reigning Cy Young award winner start in a World Series game against the New York Yankees. What more can you want.

Here are a few picks from a very fun evening (click to enlarge):


Yankees BP - you can see some of the hordes of media down by the visiting dugout on the left.

First Pitch - Hall of Famers Jim Bunning and the 83 year old Robin Roberts

Alanis Morissette - This is the pick of the Celebrity Anthem singers in the Series for my tastes.

I didn't get many good game shots. Just a couple pitcher v batter ones.


Cliff Lee v Johnny Damon

The ESPN Crew including Krukker and Bobby Valentine

And finally...

This Trophy is still property of the Philadelphia Phillies!!
for at least the next couple of days and hopefully longer


One final comment hey Major League Baseball - Get your stuff together, what the hell is the World Series Trophy doing sitting on an 6 inch high Amazon box covered by a piece of cloth. Yes it is sitting there like a foot off the ground - those khakis behind the trophy belong to a SEATED Al Leiter. Ridiculous - throw down a few bucks and build a stinkin Pedastal for the thing.

For all you Spot the Sig! fans, I am running behind this week, I may just fold the Profile into next weeks Auto. Congrats to Autograph Cards on picking Carl Crawford.

Sources and Links
Game Dated Cards Index
Johnny Damon Index 

Spot the Sig! 3rd Inning

Welcome to the Third Inning of the Spot the Sig! competition. This is the first ever World Series edition of Spot the Sig! - To be honest, as you may have noticed I am sort of interested in tonight's game, so this posting was written well in advance. That being said I will try and check in here between innings to see how everybody is doing.

We have another Double for this weeks Spot the Sig! entry:

And For the Bonus you will need to pick the 2009 World Series Blob. For those of you not familiar with the Blob concept, please consult Night Owl Cards. The Blob is basically the batter that makes the last out of the game. And taking the concept one step further the World Series Blob is the player who makes the last out of the final game of the World Series.

For purpose of the STS pick the blob bonus I am adding a stipulation regarding a Walk-Off Win. In the event of a Walk Off Win the Blob would be the pitcher that gave up the game winning hit. If no one picks the blob, this weeks bonus will be awarded the batter who made the last out prior to the actual blob (or pitcher who gave up the most recent baserunner prior to the blob pitcher).

oh yeah if there is a base running blunder for the final out, I reserve the right to make the runner the blob - My contest My Rules.

The same player may be picked multiple times (i.e. if everybody picks A-Rod and he is the blob, everybody gets the bonus). The Bonus is worth a Walk. The bonus will be open for guesses until 7:00 pm on Monday Night (Eastern)

Spot the Sig! standings after Going into the 3rd inning.

Paul's Random Stuff - Mets: one run scored. Men at 2nd and 3rd.
Night Owl - Dodgers: Men on First and 2nd
Nachos Grande - Reds: Men on First and 2nd
Autographed Cards - Royals: Men on First and 2nd
The Wax Ripper - Yankees: Man on First
In Search of Pat the Bat - PHILLIES: Man on First
Thought and Sox (who I incorrectly IDd as Tribe Cards last week) - On Deck
Beardy - Orioles: On Deck
Indians Baseball Cards Always - Indians: On Deck

All are welcome to join the game at anytime, Paul's Random Stuff is the only team to score at this point and it remains anybody's ballgame. For more Spot the Sig! details click here.