2014 Topps First Pack

2014 Topps #199 Matt Davidson

Mixed on the first card of 2014. Matt Davidson has been on my radar since last summer when Team Phungo took in the 2013 Futures Game. He hit a home run and took home the MVP honors for the day. This is all great, a RC of a player I am familiar with - The flip side of all this is that Davidson was traded a little over a month ago. He is now a member of the Chicago White Sox. So yes my first 2014 Topps card is a player show representing an outdated team.

The Pack - Base Highlights
 

2014 Topps #134 Josh Donaldson
2014 Topps #211 Dioner Navarro

During the 2013 version of the great WAR vs RBI vs Playoff debate Josh Donaldson's name came up as a second thought behind the big guns of Trout & Cabrera. Donaldson was a factor because he had WAR cred and played on a contender. So yes he beats out Miguel Cabrera in WAR and he is on a Playoff team which knocks out Mike Trout. Of Course we have a Topps fail here as Mr Potential MVP Josh Donaldson doesn't get any type of hero number. He gets stinkin #134.

I posted Dioner Navarro just to showcase Topps photography. Catchers are great for pix and this is a nice example.

The Hits

2014 Topps Upper Class #UC-42 Jim Rice

This is one of two inserts I picked up in pack one. I will cover this set more in a future post, but will mention here that I like the look of the cards.

2014 Topps Red #6 Josh Beckett

Last year the Target Reds moved to a deeper shade which is maintained in 2014. I prefer the red in previous sets as it seems closer to the Phillies colors. 

Remaining Base

2014 Topps JD Martinez, Don Kelley, Brandon League, Garrett Jones, Mike Minor

Verdict
In my opinion the sole purpose of the extension of the white borders into the pix frame is done exclusively for use in creating parallels. Other than that and the duplication of the team name on the tab the design is decent.  The photography throughout the set is good. On day 1 I picked up the above pack plus 2 more and a hanger. The roughly 100 card sampling yielded strong pix throughout with interesting shots at an decent rate.   

Over the next couple o weeks we will take a look at some specific elements of 2014T as well as some of the different insert sets.

Previous Debut Packs
2013 Topps
2012 Topps
2010 Topps Opening Day
2010 Upper Deck

Sources
Beckett 

Seattle and the Phillies: 2007 Topps #UH279 Utley & Ichiro

To honor the Seahawks dominant victory over the Broncos we present a card that features both Seattle and the Phillies. 

2007 Topps UH279 Classc Combo Chase Utley & Ichiro  

Sprinkled throughout 2007 Topps was a subset billed Classic Combos. Many of these two player cards sometimes featured teammates while others contained opponents. Even with interleague play teams like the Mariners and Phillies do not face each other very often so the Utley Ichrio combo is somewhat notable. I am not sure Classic is really the right term, perhaps interesting would have been better. 

Many of these Classic Combo cards within the Updates/Highlights are pix from the All-Star game as is this one. Checking into the box score I believe this pix was taken in the first inning. Ichiro led off the game with a single but was then eliminated on a DP groundout off the bat of Derek Jeter.  It was a good game for Ichiro - The 2007 game in San Francisco featured Ichiro's All-Star Inside the Park HR. For the game he was 3-3 with the HR and a pair of RBIs and he was named the games MVP. The game didn't go as well for Utley who had a fly out and a ground out. The AL won the game 5-4 getting Home Runs from Ichiro, Victor Martinez and Carl Crawford. Alfonso Soriano went deep for the Senior Circuit. 

Sources
Chase Utley Player Collection Index
Phungo Game Dated Cards Index 
Baseball-ref 

Tonights Football Game related Posting: 1969 Topps #17 Mike Marshall

The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks face off over in New Jersey tonight. I am rooting for Seattle, but overall I haven't developed much interest in the game either way. 

50 years ago Seattle didn't have any professional teams, well they probably did but not at the Major level. The Supersonics came in 1967. Then Seattle got BASEBALL. The Seattle Pilots arrived in 1969. The travails of that first team were famously chronicled by Jim Bouton in hsi book Ball Four. 

1969 Topps #17 Mike Marshall 

The first card issued of a Seattle Pilot was the above of relief pitcher Mike Marshall. It is card #17, there are 26 Pilots cards in 1969 Topps, The most notable players are Tommy Davis, Mike Hegan and the Lou Piniella RC (shared with Marv Staehler)

Mike Marshall didn't have much success with the Pilots (3-10, 5.13 ERA). He did eventually find his way to the Dodgers where he became a relief pitching phenomenon. During the 1974 Season he pitched in an impressive 106 games and 208 innings IN RELIEF. The numbers led to a Cy Young award for the then 31 year old righthander.  The Dodgers won the NL Pennant that season but lost to the A's in the World Series. Marshall pitched in all 5 games of the 74 Series. For his career Marshall led the league in Saves 3 times, Games 4, and Games finished 5.    

Phillies
Marshall was originally signed by the Phillies in 1960. He spent 5 minor league seasons in the Phils organization, but only one as a pitcher. Originally Marshall was a shortstop. He hit 32 Home Runs over those 5 years, topping out at 14 for single-A Magic Valley in 1963. Marshall batted .274 in the minors but his average dipped severely at AA and above, likely leading to the position change.  

The time Mike Marshal spent with the Phillies is mentioned on the flip of his 1969 card

1969 Topps #17 Mike Marshall(b-side)

Seattle Pilots
For further info on the cards of the 1969 Pilots check out this great summary post at the 1969 Topps Blog

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
TeamSets4U  
1969 Topps Blog

Happy New Year, Year of the Horse that is - 1994 UD Collectors Choice #253 Curt Schilling

Friday January 31st is New Years, Chinese New Year. Within the Chinese Zodiac we are moving into the Year of the Horse. Over the next couple of weeks we will take a look at a few Year of the Horse ball players.  

1994 UD Collectors Choice #253 Curt Schilling

Thanks to former Phillies GM Ed Wade, Curt Schilling is the perfect poster boy for Year of the Horse. Wade once famously quipped Schilling was a "horse" every fifth day, and a "horse's ass" the other four.

I think that pretty much makes Curt Schilling our Year of the Horse rep for birth year 1966, but there are a few other notables 
  

1966 baseball Horses:
Greg Maddux 
Tom Glavine

Larry Walker (nicknamed booger)

Tim Wakefield

Jose Mesa

David Justice

Jeff Conine

Mark Whiten

Shawn Abner (from Mechanicsburg PA)

Past Chinese New Years Postings
Year of the Snake (2013)
Year of the Dragon (2012)
Year of the Rabbit (2011)
Year of the Tiger 2010
Year of the Ox (2009)

Sources
Finger Food
Baseball-ref.com
 

1966 Topps #397 Bill White Happy 80th Birthday!

To mark the 80th birthday of Bill White we are putting together a quick posting. Those of you expecting 2014 Topps will just have to wait a bit.

1966 Topps #397 Bill White

White is known as a Cardinal, but he did spend a few years (1966-68) at the end of his career with the Phillies. He was a member of the Cardinals squad that overtook the 64 Phillies team we have been highlighting recently. Those Cardinals went on to beat the Yankees in the 1964 World Series. Other highlights of the First Baseman’s distinguished career include making 8 all-star teams (over 5 seasons), posting four .300 seasons and a like number of 100 RBI seasons and collection 7 Gold Gloves.

His best season with the Phillies was 1966 when he posted 103 RBIs on 22 HR with a .276 BA. He won the last of his Gold Gloves that season, all good enough for a very solid 5.3 WAR. Among contemporary players he compares most similarly to Aubrey Huff.

Post Playing Career
White went into broadcasting even before his career was over, hosting a radio program while with the Cardinals. This helped him land post career gigs behind the mic with the Phillies and Yankees. White spent 18 years with the Yankees and has specifically mentioned enjoying the opportunity to work with Phil Rizzuto. In 1989 While was elected to the Office of NL President, a post he held until 1994. In 2011 White published his autobiography “Uppity: My Untold Story About the Games People Play” covering his live in baseball including his playing days and stint as commissioner.

According to his Wikipedia entry Bill White still lives in the Philadelphia area. 

1966 Topps
At card number #397 Bill White falls in a mid Number series for 1966 Topps. Cards 371-446 are the lowest and most common of the sets 3 mid/high series. Typically I look for a price point of $1-$1.50 for cards in this # range, for comparison I would expect the 66 commons (low numbers) to be found in the a 3 fer a buck bin. Those prices would be for an off condition card similar to the one pictured - soft corners, possibly light creasing.

Sources
Stan Hochman - philly.com
Mike Morsch - Montgomery Media 
Wikipedia
Baseball-ref.com

1998 Topps #351 Bobby Abreu Welcome Back

Today we welcome back Bobby Abreu.

1998 Topps #351 Bobby Abreu

2011 Topps 60 Years of Topps #60YOT-47 Bobby Abreu

No you're not seeing double, these are actually different cards. The one on the Left is the original, the latter card is from Topps self induldgent 60 Years of Topps series.

1998 Topps #351 Bobby Abreu 2011 Topps 60 Years of Topps #60YOT-47 Bobby Abreu

An insert set is truly bloated if you have this non-descript card of a semi-star on the checker. Bobby Abreu always took a lof of heat in Philadelphia and last week when is minor league signing was announced last week I was extremely happy it was on a snowy day when a lot of folks were off work. It gave us all a bit of time to joke about both Bobby and the Phillies. If the Philllies stink in 2014 at least we can entertain ourselves by joking about their age and Ruben Amaro ineptness as GM. Of course, I suppose that will get old at some point as well.

2014 Phungo #43 Ringo Starr - Beatles Grammys

Tonight the Grammys are on TV. Team Phungo will probably drop in for bits and pieces. I am still a pretty big music fan even though I rarely download or buy CDs and don't get to nearly as many concerts as I would like but I still sort of pay attention to what is happening out there.

2014 Phungo #14

Tonight the Beatles are getting a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys - not sure they need the recognition or a reintroduction. I am pretty sure every generations rediscovers the quartet on their own at some point. Regardless it will give old-heads like myself a chance to reconsider the Beatles catalog once again. 

Last spring Team Phungo spend some time in the UK and trekked out to Liverpool to check out the Lads old neighborhood and ventured on a Beatles tour. The one we chose visited the Childhood homes of Paul and John. It was a history lesson on 1950s/60s England as much as it was an insiders look at icons. 

The Phungo card above is one of a series of sculptures set upon a chain hotel in the Beatles district. There is one for each of the Fab Four. John Lennon has the prominent corner spot, while Ringo here is down the street a bit. I am pretty happy with the way this Phungo card came out. I sort of went with a Yellow Submarine color scheme and I think the card captures that era/theme. 

There are a couple of other non-baseball subjects in 2014 Phungo, I hope to get to post some of the other onse in the future. 

Grammys 

I never got into awards shows much, but the advent of Twitter has made the awards season more fun - There are a lot of creative folks in the baseball world, some of them are very funny and quite snarky. Hopefully there will be a few chuckles this evening

More UK
If you want more info on our UK trip click here