Spot the Sig - 6th Inning

I think somebody is going to score a run tonight, as this weeks Auto is worth a Home Run!

Through 5 innings we have had five different Spot the Sig! winners.  Everybody has been diligently working on the bonus questions, so there are a lot of ducks on the pond.


Bonus
Team Phungo was at the Philly Show this weekend and spent way to much cash.  Your task for the bonus is to guess the Year of the earliest card that was added to the Phungo collection.  I will let you know that $57 was spent on cards that were not autos or relics, and that the most money that was spent on a single card was $1.    Ground Rule:  Guesses for the bonus must be unique.  Duplicate entries will be ignored

STS! Standings Going into the 6th inning.   

Too Many Grandersons - Tigers: 1 Run in and Bases Loaded     

Night Owl Cards - Los Angeles Dodgers:  1 Run in Bases Loaded

The Daily Dimwit - Astros; 1 Run in Bases Loaded    

 

Plaschzke/Argyle - Brooklyn Dodgers: Bases Loaded
  

Waxaholic - Braves: Men on First and Third.  

Card Buzz- California Angels: Man on Third 
 

Autograph Cards - Kansas City Royals:  Men on 1st and 2nd

DawgBones - Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs: 1st and 2nd 

Phillies Room: 1st and 2nd

Nachos Grande - Reds: 1st  and 2nd

Steven:  1st and 2nd
Rhubarb Runner - Twins: 1st and 2nd  

CSD's Custom Cards - White Sox:  1st and 2nd

Orioles Magic: 1st    

The Angels ln Order - LA Angels:  On Deck 

UncleMoe of 2008 Topps Set : On Deck
Play At the Plate - Rangers : On Deck
Nathan - A's: On Deck

Thoughts n Sox - Bosox: On Deck

You are welcome to join the game at anytime. If you need more Spot the Sig! details click here.

Philly Show Returns this Weekend

The Philly Show returns to Valley Forge this weekend, March 4-6.  The show comes to the area three times a year and I enjoy it every time I attend.

2011 Phungo #50 Jamie Moyer


The most disappointing part of the show is that it becomes more expensive autograph autograph show and les card show every year.  This weekend the big autograph day for baseball is Saturday.  Friday is primarily Flyers and Sunday is basically dedicated to the Eagles.

Jamie Moyer is one of the signers on Saturday.  I already have Mr Moyer's autograph, so I doubt I will shell out the $40 for his signature.  The Free Auto on Saturday is former Phils pitching coach Joe Kerrigan.  I will likely will wait in the 2 minute line for his autograph.  Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda will be part of Saturday's festivities ($30).  Mr Hockey, Gordie Howe, will be autographing items for $89.

Note the scheducled Dick Allen signing has been CANCELED.  This unfortunately has become a pattern of the Philly Show.  At almost every show there is a major cancellation or postponement.  Last Year both Jim Palmer and Roy Halladay were not present for their announed shows.      

Friday is Flyers day with several past and present players including Danny Briere, Bernie Perant, Dave Schultz, Rick Tocchet, and Reggie Leach.

Sunday is dedicated to the Eagles. The Free Auto is Calvin Williams.  Harold Carmichael at $25 is the deal of the day to me.  Brian Dawkins, Brian Westbrook, and DeSean Jackson are all over $60.

I expect to be at the show on Saturday hunched over a dime box looking for cheap singles.  If anyone plans to attend the show let me know and we can hook up.

Admission to the show is $8.  There is usually a $1 off coupon in the local weekend papers.


For reports on some of the past Philly Shows click the dates below:


2010 09 25
2010 03 13
2009 12 05
2009 12 05 (special 1959 Topps Edition)
2009 09 27

STS Profile Garret Anderson and a Retirement

Garret Anderson made his Spot the Sig! debut on Sunday - in honor of that he announced his retirement after a very productive 17 seasons.

1996 Leaf Signature Series Bronze - Garret Anderson 

Garret Anderson will be remembered as an Angel - He patrolled their Outfield for 15 seasons through all three of their recent location names (Los Angeles, Anaheim, and California).  Anderson retires with 2529 career hits Hits, 287 Homers and a World Championship (2002). 

Pretty much makes him a Hall of Very Good player. 

The card above is from the 1996 Leaf Signature Series.  There were three different levels of autos in 96 Leaf. The Bronze cards were the lowest level.

STS!
This was likely an easy one for Spot the Sig! reigning champion Card Buzz who is an Angels fan and avid auto collector.  I am sure he has seen Garret's signature hundreds of times.  That expert knowledge was good enough for an Erick Aybar leadoff Triple that has gotten Card Buzz a base runner in this edition of Spot the Sig! 

Bonus

Section 423 Row 7 Seat 4


CSDsCustomCards picks up the Section Bonus (416) edging Captain Canuck (432).  Canuck did ok one of 3 participants picking up the Seat Bonus(5) - the other two were CSDs(5) again and Daily Dimwit(3).  Dimwit, who narrowly missed the auto for a second time, was able to get 2 bonuses as he nailed the row number as did Night Owl.

A lot of big Bonuses this week as Both Daily Dimwit and Night Owl plate runners. The amazing thing here is that both of these guys were able to do this by faithfully getting on board for the bonus questions every week.  

STS! Standings after five Innings. 

Too Many Grandersons - Tigers: 1 Run in and Bases Loaded     

Night Owl Cards - Los Angeles Dodgers:  1 Run in Bases Loaded

The Daily Dimwit - Astros; 1 Run in Bases Loaded    

 

Plaschzke/Argyle - Brooklyn Dodgers: Bases Loaded
  

Waxaholic - Braves: Men on First and Third.  

Card Buzz- California Angels: Man on Third 
 

Autograph Cards - Kansas City Royals:  Men on 1st and 2nd

DawgBones - Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs: 1st and 2nd 

Phillies Room: 1st and 2nd

Nachos Grande - Reds: 1st  and 2nd

Steven:  1st and 2nd
Rhubarb Runner - Twins: 1st and 2nd  

CSD's Custom Cards - White Sox:  1st and 2nd

Orioles Magic: 1st    

The Angels ln Order - LA Angels:  On Deck 

UncleMoe of 2008 Topps Set : On Deck
Play At the Plate - Rangers : On Deck
Nathan - A's: On Deck

Thoughts n Sox - Bosox: On Deck

You are welcome to join the game at anytime. If you need more Spot the Sig! details click here.

Pull N Junk of the Month - February 2011 - Mostly Catchers Edition

I had intended to do a whole Retail v Hobby comparison of 2011 Topps, but sort of lost my momentum on that one as I (and many others) seemed to be suffering from new release fatigue.

I picked up three packs each of Topps Retail and Topps Hobby this month plus 1 rack pack.  Out of those seven packs I was pretty happy to come up with this pull:

2011 Topps Legends Variation #198 Johnny Bench

Amazingly enough this came out of a Target gravity feeder.

Apparently the Legends Variations are pretty rare, with a 1:80 seed ratio for HTA boxes according to BaseballCardPedia.

The #198 Bench Variation shares #198 with the San Francisco Giants fine young catcher Buster Posey.

(click to enlarge)

My question to you is if you only bought 3 packs at a retail outlet and got a hit, would you:
A) return to the same store and pick up another set of packs
B)go to another retail outlet knowing that the first store was tapped out of hits
C)quit while you were ahead?

2011 Topps Phillies

2011 Topps Carlos Ruiz

Six packs plus a rack pack and I come up with 1 stinkin Phillies card. But we have a Catchers theme posts going so The Ruiz card is appropriate

Junk of the Month

(click to enlarge)

The team cards all have season highlights on the back, unfortunately one of the BoSox Highlights happens to be a Phils low-light when Joe Blanton through a clunker of a game which included giving up a Grand Slam Home Run to Daniel Nava in Nava's first career AB on the first pitch the rookie saw at the major league level.

Honorable mention:

Yet another Catcher themed card - These are CYMTO 2011 to me.  who needs them.   

2010 Pull of the Year
 
I also wanted to take the time to note the 2010 Pull of the Year.  And we have another great pick featuring one more catcher - but he is a very special catcher.      

2009 Goodwin Champions Black Border Mini Gypsy Queen Back #62 Yogi Berra

Thanks all for helping me pick out the 2010 Pull of the Year via a series of Poles - And also Junk of the Year.

2010 was the year of the mini for me - so it is very appropriate that the Pull of the Year was a mini and a 2009 Goodwin, which is one of my favorite sets that I discovered in 2010.

Previous 2011 Pull N Junk Posts
2011 January

Spot the Sig - 5th Inning

We are up to the 5th inning of the 2011 Edition of Spot the Sig! already.  This years competition has been very entertaining with four different winners for the first 4 autos.  To be honest all four sigs must have been way to easy because the answers came in pretty darn quick.

This auto may be a bit tougher.  The first person to identify the author of the following sig will earn a Triple in the 5th inning of STS!

Bonus

We have come to the mystery ticket round.



As you know by now Cliff Lee has returned to the Phillies after a year traveling through the Junior Circuit's western division.

This weekend the Phils have started playing grapefruit league games in Florida against the New York Yankees.  The last time Lee pitched for the Phils he was facing the Yankees in this game:

I have painted over the section row and seat number on the ticket.  For the bonus your task is to guess the numbers for the Section Row and Seat.  The bonus is good for a walk.

Ground Rules

There will be 3 different bonuses awarded.  One each for the Section, Row, and Seat.  Whoever is closest to each will be awarded the bonus.  Duplicate answers will be allowed.  One person can get multiple bonuses.  Therefore it is possible for one person to earn Three Bonus Walks this inning. 
   
STS! Standings entering the 5th Inning. 

Too Many Grandersons - Tigers: 1 Run in and Bases Loaded     

Plaschzke/Argyle - Brooklyn Dodgers: Bases Loaded
Night Owl Cards - Los Angeles Dodgers:  Bases Loaded  

Waxaholic - Braves: Man on Third.  

Autograph Cards - Kansas City Royals:  Men on 1st and 2nd

DawgBones - Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs: 1st and 2nd 

Phillies Room: 1st and 2nd

The Daily Dimwit - Astros; 1st and 2nd   

Nachos Grande - Reds: 1st  and 2nd

Steven:  1st and 2nd
Rhubarb Runner - Twins: 1st and 2nd  

Orioles Magic: 1st    

The Angels ln Order - LA Angels:  On Deck 

UncleMoe of 2008 Topps Set : On Deck
Play At the Plate - Rangers : On Deck
Card Buzz- California Angels: On Deck 
Nathan - A's: On Deck

Thoughts n Sox - Bosox: On Deck

You are welcome to join the game at anytime. If you need more Spot the Sig! details click here.

2011 Topps Diamond Duos - Alcholism

2011 Topps Diamond Duos #DD-CC Ty Cobb and Miguel Cabrera

Ron Shelton directed the fine 1994 film "Cobb" which starred Tommy Lee Jones as the crazed and troubled Detroit Tigers legend Ty Cobb.

The present day Tigers have another troubled star on their roster in the form of the talented Miguel Cabrera.

Some may think it is a bit heavy comparing the 27 year old Cabrera to Cobb talent wise - consider this:

According to Miguel Cabrera's Baseball-Reference page the three players in the history of baseball whose careers most closely match Miguel Cabrera's at the age of 27 are:

Frank Robinson
Hank Aaron
Ken Griffey Jr

That is some pretty good company.   

Being associated with those great names does not mean that Miguel Cabrera doesn't have a problem or absolve him from getting behind the wheel of a car while consuming a bottle of whiskey.

To me no one has an excuse for driving drunk - especially someone who has made 54 million dollars.

STS Profile Josh Johnson

Congrats to CalJr3000 of Too Many Grandersons who quickly spotted this weeks auto of Marlins Ace Josh Johnson.  

2010 Topps Peak Performance Autograph #PPA-JJ Josh Johnson

Pop Quiz:  Who led the NL in ERA last season?  

It wasn't Roy Halladay, Adam Wainwright, or Ubaldo Jiminez - It was Josh Johnson.  Johnson isn't near there yet but if he had enough innings to qualify he would lead all active pitchers in career W-L percentage.  

For the Collector 

Despite the fact that Johnson is a potential Cy Young award winner Johnson's autos are pretty affordable.  I picked up the above card for $4.24 last yr via auction.  The same card has gone for $5 and $5.26 recently.  The 2011 Topps auto (also a sticker) went for $6.25.  The rather bland 06 Topps Auto (on card) went for $8.50.  Josh Johnson Autos peaked out at $45.00 for an 06 Topps Chrome (BGS Slabbed).

Spot the Sig!

Magglio Ordonez comes up with an RBI Single for Too Many Grandersons.  TMG takes the first lead in this Edition of Spot the Sig! - and also picked up a bonus and will have the bases Loaded going into this wkends STS!

Bonus

8 of 13 contestants picked up bonuses - The Bulk of the Phils rotation was picked, congrats to observant readers like mmmmRhubarb who did their research and found out that Closers like Jon Rauch were among the pitchers that Team Phungo witness win games.

STS! Standings after 4 Innings

Bonus answer in parens - if there is a "+", the answer was correct, if there is a "x" the answer was inccorect.

Too Many Grandersons - Tigers: 1 Run in and Bases Loaded  (Oswalt +)   

Plaschzke/Argyle - Brooklyn Dodgers: Bases Loaded (RA Dickey +)
Night Owl Cards - Los Angeles Dodgers:  Bases Loaded (Blanton + ) 

Waxaholic - Braves: Man on Third. (Tim Hudson x )  

Autograph Cards - Kansas City Royals:  Men on 1st and 2nd (Kendrick x )

DawgBones - Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs: 1st and 2nd (Lidge x , Sorry no bonus for Saves)

Phillies Room: 1st and 2nd (Moyer +)

The Daily Dimwit - Astros; 1st and 2nd (Halladay +)  

Nachos Grande - Reds: 1st  and 2nd (Brian Bergensen +)

Steven:  1st and 2nd (Hamels +)
Rhubarb Runner - Twins: 1st and 2nd (Jon Rauch +)  

Orioles Magic: 1st    

The Angels ln Order - LA Angels:  On Deck 

UncleMoe of 2008 Topps Set : On Deck
Play At the Plate - Rangers : On Deck
Card Buzz- California Angels: On Deck (Durbin x) 
Nathan - A's: On Deck (Hamels x Duplicate answer)

Thoughts n Sox - Bosox: On Deck

Thanks all for playing so far.  There are a lot of runners on base already - look like we are in for an exciting competition.   

You are welcome to join the game at anytime. If you need more Spot the Sig! details click here.