Sunday Night Baseball: Alex Gordon 2010 Topps CYMTO #55

THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS ARE ON SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL!!!

I wonder if that sentence has ever been written before. The Phillies are out of it and Team Phungo will need to look elsewhere for playoff baseball this season. One of the teams we will be rooting for is the KC Royals. Hopefully their long playoff drought will end in 2014 and their fans will get to experience October baseball for the first time in about a generation.

2010 Topps CYMTO #55 Alex Gordon 

Beyond their playoff exile the other reason I can get behind the Royals is they have a local minor league (Lo-A) affiliate, The Wilmington Blue Rocks. In recent years I have made it to about one Blue Rocks game a year. Consequently the names of some of their players are familiar to me. Those players include Mike Moustakas, Chrstistian Colon, and Kelvin Herrera.

Alex Gordon bypassed Wilmington during his accelerated ascent to the majors, but he did play a handful of games with the Blue Rocks in 2010 when he was experiencing a prolonged slump. He has had an odd career. In 2005 Gordon was the #2 overall pick in the MLB draft, he was in the majors by 2007 (but not 2006 - see below). He was a big enough star that Topps made buffoons of themselves over him. After a decent sophomore effort in 2008 at age 24, Gordon's career tanked. This hit bottom in 2010 when he found himself all the way back in A ball.

Somewhere in there The Royals moved Alex Gordon from 3rd base to the left field. This is where he has become an all-star. He has won 3 gold gloves at his new position and his offensive production has reached a point expected of a high first round pick. Currently his 5.6 combined WAR ranks 3rd among AL position players. He has a healthy .283/.356/.457 slash line yielding a 124 OPS+. His 17 Homers and 61 RBI lead the Royals. Hopefully his offensive production continues down the stretch and he can help the Royals reach the Postseason.    

2006 Topps RC
It is hard for me to believe that the MLB/MLBPA Rookie Card guidelines  have been in effect for eight years. Basically the MLB rules stipulate that a player must have played in a Major League game prior to appearing on a baseball card. For reasons I don't understand minor league centered sets like Bowman fall outside this realm.

When the new RC standards were introduced in 2006 there was a controversy over the Topps #297 Alex Gordon card. The card was included in the base set, including Rookie Card Logo, but Gordon hadn't yet reached the majors.  Topps withdrew the card.

There are a bunch of odd cutout versions of the card floating around. Topps literally cut out the image of Gordon's yet still issued the card. This is discussed on the flip of the above card:

2010 Topps CYMTO #55 Alex Gordon  (b-side)


I believe Topps has stated "it was an honest mistake" when discussing the card. They didn't say that it was a Publicity Grab to whip the media into a frenzy in the hopes that billions of people will start buying baseball cards again.

Regardless Topps withdrew the cards which is unfortunate for set collectors, because unless they have very deep pockets for a singular card oddity (or they are Keith Olbermann) they will have a gaping hole in their 2006 Topps Complete set. Or they can just use this CYMTO card.

One oddity about the CYMTO Gordon is the 2nd Topps logo. The Red logo in the top right is what appeared on the original 2006 Topps card. The ghosted grey one just upward of middle left is on the CYMTO card only.

 
    

Sources & Links
2014 Playoff Previews
Baseball CardPedia
Baseball-ref
ESPN Darren Rovell

Phillies 2015 AFL roster: Logan Moore 2011 Bowman #BDPP44

The Phillies 2014 season is in a shambles and we have been looking ahead to Phillies future since prior to the All-Star break. This week the Arizona Fall League rosters were announced. This gives us a glimpse into some of what the Phils may be thinking regarding 2015 and beyond.

2011 Bowman #BDPP44 Logan Moore (rc)

Tommy Joseph was the top catching prospect in the Phillies system, but he has had multiple health issues the last few seasons which may leave an opening for Logan Moore.  Unfortunately Moore's offensive output has been light (.226 /.290/.339 combined A & AA in 2014). On the plus side he has spent the majority of the season in Reading which is up a level for his age.

The Phillies entire minor league system appears pretty soft, and catcher is no exception. When the time comes to replace Carlos Ruiz, I am not sure the answer will be Cameron Rupp, Tommy Joseph or Logan Moore.   If he is adequate defensively Logan Moore may be able to contribute at the Major league level simply because he is a left-handed hitting catcher. This will help him get a nod as a platoon backup and situational pinch hitter.

The Phillies will send seven players to their AFL rep, the Scottsdale Scorpions. Joining Moore will be Pitchers Ryan O'Sullivan, Colton Murray, Nefi Ogando, and Ethan Stewart, along with Shortstop Roman Quinn (BA #10 Phillies Prospect). The final spot is TBA.

Other than Quinn, there doesn't appear to be a lot to get excited about in that list. Hopefully one of the pitchers will find themselves during the fall and can emerge as a 2015 prospect.  

Updated 2014 10 08
Adam Morgan has filled the TBA spot according to Williamsport Crosscutters via Twitter (@crosscutters) 

Sources & Links
Arizona Fall League (twitter)
Baseball-ref
@ChrisEckstein via That Balls Outta Here 
Baseball-America
@crosscutters

Snapshots 2014 08 22 White Sox @ Yankees

Team Phungo took a road trip to New York this past weekend to catch what is likely our last Derek Jeter home game. 

Derek Jeter (Tyler Flower Catching - I believe this is in the 1st inning)

We may have been there to see the Captain but the evening belonged to Martin Prado.  The veteran super utility player got both a Home Run and a Walk off single accounting for 3 of the Yankees runs in the 4-3 victory.

Jeter went 1-5 in the game with the ht being a single. Regardless the Yankees crowd was glad to see him play and showed their appreciation.


Snapshots

Shane Greene vs Tony Abreu

The Three White Sox runs came courtesy of a Home Run by Cuban Rookie of the Year candidate Tony Abreu.  The photo above is of the pitch upon which Abreu hit is homer. The ball just cleared the wall in left center. Greene settled down after a miserable first inning and was able to pitch into the 6th. 

John Danks vs Jacoby Ellsbury (5th inning) 

We didn't sit there much but our tix were int he CF bleachers. It was a fun atmosphere for a game. We had an obstructed view that kept us from seeing Left Field, but it to allow me to take some ok shots of the action at the plate.

In my opinion Yankee Stadium is better lit than Citizen's Bank Park. There is a bank of lights behind the plate that were not even lit during the game. Not sure of the reasoning, but adequate illumination form the remaining lights does seem a possibility

Retired Numbers

The Yankees retired Joe Torre's #6 the day after our game, so I imaging Friday night was the last time that the Retired number board had "only"17 numbers displayed.

Sources
Baseball-ref

On The Road: 2014 0822+ NYC

Highlights
Central Park
Caxellula
 
Recomended
Citiizen M
Yankee Stadium (White Sox 3 @ Yankees 4)
Whitney Museum
Balkanika
 

Meh
The Breslin
This is Our Youth

Overrated/Disappointing
NJ Transit

On The Road: 2014 0812+ DC

Highlights
Stupid F-ing Bird (and Wooly Mammoth)
Jose Andres Pepe
National Portrait Gallery
Compass Rose

The Swann House
 
Recomended
the Board Room
Hilton Dupont Circle
Tryst
National Zoo
Proof
Filter

American History Museum

Meh

Annoying

I-95 In a rainstormDC Driving

Snapshots 2014 08 19 Mariners @ Phillies

The Seattle Mariners spoiled Ryan Howard Bobble Head Night by beating the Phillies 5-2 in a game that really wasn't that close

Snapshots

The Phillies may not have looked that good, but the August Sunset did provide some nice views
 

 Ryan Howard did connect with a Double in his 1-4 night which pretty much made him the Phillies offensive star on a rather dismal night for the squad.

Hisashi Iwakuma

Credit has to be given to the Mariners starting pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma who is having an incredible season. He pitched 8 innings struck out 11 while walking NONE and yielding only 4 hits, Howard's double and three singles. For the season Iwamura is posting a very healthy 10.0 K/BB ration (120-12). A year ago Iwakuma led the AL in Pitchers WAR. 

AJ Burnett

The Tuesday night start by AJ Burnett put him over some sort of Game Started Threshold that netted the veteran more coin then Team Phungo takes home in a year. Postgame it was revealed that Burnett mentioned that he doubts he will pitch in 2015.

 

The Phanatic gives Robinson Cano some pointers. 

I was watching a rebroadcast of the game (Team Phungo is a glutton) and Tom McCarthy mentioned that Cano gave Phillies coach Larry Bowa a Rolex Watch as a thank you gift for all the help that Bowa had given Cano while both were with the Yankees. 

I was impressed with Cano's field presence, while he had an unremarkable game (single in 4ABs, RBI, Run Scored) he showed some leadership. He captained the infield on shifts and appeared to be frequently discussing hitting with rookie 3B Kyle Seager  

GGA

  Felix Hernandez

Good Guy Award goes out to Felix Hernandez who signed A TON of autographs. Other GGAs for The Phillies Cody Asche and the Mariners Fernando Rodney. Several of the Mariners signed a couple of autographs. Pretty good for a club that is right on the edge of the playoff hunt. Princeton Alum Chris Young also appeared to hosting some local fans and invited them down on the field for BP.

 Bobblehead

Just wanted to note that the Ryan Howard comes with a busted bat, which seems pretty appropriate.

A few seasons ago every Phillies game was a sellout and Bobble Head nights were a particularly tough ticket. This week they Honored one of their biggest starts the Phillies drew less than 32 thousand fans.

Sloppy Topps Photoshop: 2009 Topps Heritage #563 Pedro Martinez

A few weeks ago we discussed the Hall of Fame qualifications of Pedro Martinez. While Pedro did play for the Phillies, I elected to present a Red Sox Card in the post. He played for several clubs beyond the Sox and Phils but to me he is part of Red Sox Nation.

Tonight we return to Pedro and post him as a Phil. 

2009 Topps Heritage #563 Pedro Martinez 

2009 Heritage homages the horizontal 1960 Topps Set which also features two photos. The large color photo is a portrait while the smaller black & whilte photo is a non-game "in action" shot.

On this card I believe that both of these pix are likely photoshopped. Martinez only pitched a dozen times for the Phillies - I forgive Topps for not getting a pix of him in a real live Phils Jersey.

PhotoSloppy
I do want to draw your attention to a bit of sloppiness on Topps part on the smaller B/W shot. Notice in the shadow of Perdo's left arm you can see his uniform number. It is a little hard to make out so Check out this enlargement:

The front number is fine on a Mets jersey. However that isn't the csse with a Phillies uniform - To my knowledge the Phillies don't carry a number on the A-side of any of their current jerseys.

I don't think this is a photoshop disaster, just an oddity you find out about when you look at too many cards. 

Sources & Links
Pedro Martinez HoF Index 

Baseball-ref
HoF Candidate Pedro Martinez