MLB Debut on Opening Day as Phillies Centerfielder: Larry Hisle

This week Odubel Herrera became the first Phillies Centerfielder to make his Major League Debut on Opening day in over 40 years.

1970 Topps #288 Larry Hisle (rookie cup)

The last man to do it was Larry Hisle on April 10 1968. As can be seen by the Rookie Cup on his card Larry Hisle had a pretty good rookie campaign. Of course since the Cup is on a 1970T card it honors his performance during the 1969 campaign,  not the 1968 season when he debuted with the Phillies.

Larry Hisle was the first Draft Pick the Phillies ever signed - He was taken in the 2nd round of the MLB Inaugural 1965 draft. The team failed to sign first round pick Mike Adamson.

Among all outfielders drafted in 1965 Hisle ranks 2nd in career WAR(24.9) behind only Rick Monday, although at least Two players who became outfielders were drafted at other positions, Amos Otis and Hal McRae (both at SS).

It should be noted that Larry Hisle had his best seasons for the Twins after being traded away from Philadelphia. He played 300 games with just short of 1100 PAs for the Phils and racked up 1.2 WAR. His five seasons in Minnesota resulted in 17.2 WAR.


Obdubel Herrera
If  Odubel Herrera manages to have a Rookie Cup caliber season either this year or next I would be pretty happy.

Odubel Herrera in a Spring Training Game on 2015 03 06

I don't think I have a Herrera card in the phungo collection yet, so I will take this moment to put together some WAR projections for the Rule 5 Outfielder.  I see some commonalities between Herrera and 2011 Ben Revere. That is the 23 year old season for each, both had partial seasons in AA where they recorded comparable .300+ BA/.370+ OBP numbers with no pop.

In 2011 Ben Revere posted a 0.9 WAR, which would have been better if Revere wasn't such a poor fielder. I know that Herrera is new to the outfield, but I can't help but believe that he will be better fielder than Revere. I am going to go 1.3 WAR for Herrera, which was Revere's 2011 oWAR

1970 Topps
One of the things I have in the someday file is working up some postings related to the Phillies Rookie Cup winners. Don Money (shortstop) also represented the Phils on the 1970 Topps Rookie Cup Team. The other two outfielders to letter were Carlos May and Lou Piniella.   

Peanut Gallery
For some great rookie cup coverage check in with the Rockies Cards from the Quarry Blog. They appear to be on hiatus right now but they ran a nice series on on rookie cup cards that would be nice to see someone else continue.  

Sources and Links
2015 Phillies WAR Projections
SABR Bio by David E Skelton
Baseball-ref

1990: Year of the No-Hitter - April 11 Mark Langston & Mike Witt

The First No-Hitter of 1990 was pitched on April 11th, it was the first No-Hitter for one man and the second for another.

1991 Score #699 No-Hit Club Mark Langston/Mike Witt

The California Angels were playing their third game of the 1990 Season when they sent out Free Agent Acquisition Mark Lagnston for his first ever start for the club. 

Langston came through in his team debut in a big way. 

He no-hit his former club, the Seattle Mariners for 7 innings but, Like Nolan Ryan two days prior had to leave the early season game. In fact the game was still knotted at 0-0 when Langston finished his day. Fortunately for him and the Angels, they would score the in the bottom of the 7th.

The Angels also had a no-hitter secret weapon. The Langston signing had left them with an extra starting pitcher, relegating Mike Witt to bullpen duty. He was a nice piece to have in a no-hitter because he knew what it was like to pitch one. Witt authrored the Angels most recent previous No-No, A Perfect Game versus the Rangers on September 30th 1984  

Witt had no trouble finished off the game easily retiring all six batters he faced including a strike out of 2016 Hall of Fame Candidate Ken Griffey Jr for the final out.

1991 Score No-Hit Club

The Langston/Witt No-Hitter card is part of a 9 card subset in 1991 Score. This is the initial offering in the set, but it appears somewhat different then the remaining cards due to the use of two pitchers. 

We get both pitchers on the front of the card which is presented landscape style to accommodate the photos. The remaining eight cards in the set are all in the traditional portrait format.

1991 Score #699 No-Hit Club Mark Langston/Mike Witt (b-side)

The Flip side of each card contains a head shot of the pitcher (two pitchers here) along with a box score for the game.

Interesting Box notes here include that Opposing pitcher Erik Hanson had his own shutout going before being lifted. In addtion to the aforementioned Griffey Jr the Mariners lineup included career .312 Hitter Edgar Martinez - back when he was still a third baseman. The Ms catcher was Dave Valle who would just miss being on the good side of a no-hitter a few weeks later.

The Angels catcher was Lance Parrish who previously caught a Jack Morris No-Hitter as a member of the Tigers. Between his Tigers and Angels years Parrish spent a couple of unremarkable seasons with the Phillies in which he did not catch a no-hitter. 

Sources & Links
1990 Year of the No-Hitter Index
baseball cardpedia
baseball-ref

No-Hitter Index

This is an Index of columns related to the Phungo "1990: Year of the No-Hitter" Series. These Postings first ran in 2015 commemorating the 25th anniversary of the events.

1991 Score #706 Terry Mulholland


No-Hitters, Lo-Hitters, Near-Hitters and Perfect Games

 
1956 1008 - Don Larsen World Series Perfect Game (1961 Topps / Memorial)
1956 1008 - Don Larsen World Series Perfect Game (1961 Nu-Cards)
1965 0909 - Sandy Koufax Perfect Game and Fourth No-Hitter
1968 0508 - Jim "Catfish" Hunter Perfect Game 
1974 0619 - Steve Busby
1974 0719 - Dick Bosman
1974 0928 - Nolan Ryan's 3rd No-Hitter


1990: The No-Hitters
1990 0411 - Mark Langston & Mike Witt
1990 0602 - Randy Johnson
1990 0611 - Nolan Ryan
1990 0629 - Dave Stewart
1990 0629 - Fernando Valenzueala
1990 0701 - Andy Hawkins (rescinded)
1990 0712 - Melido Perez (rescinded)
1900 0815 - Terry Mulholland (above)
1900 0902 - Dave Stieb

   1990: The Near-Hitters, Lo-Hitters & Milestones
   1990 0409 - Nolan Ryan Lifted from No-Hitter on Opening Day  
   1990 0420 - Brian Holman Near Perfect Game
   1990 0527 - John Smoltz takes no-hitter into 9th versus Phillies
   1990 0604 - Ramon Martinez 18Ks in a 3 Hitter  
   1990 0607 - Greg Harris starts 1-Hitter (Switch Pitcher)
   1990 0729 - Scott Garrelts one out away from no-hitter
   1990 0731 - Nolan Ryan 300th Victory
   1990: Other Heroes and Villains  
   1990 0411 - Lance Parrish - Catcher for Langston/Witt No-Hitter
   1990 0411 - Bruce Hornsby and the Range - Mark Langston Connection
   1990 0527 - Len Dykstra Breaks up Smoltz No-Hitter

  
1991 0523 - Tommy Greene (Phillies)
1991 0728 - Dennis Martinez (Perfect Game)
1995 0603 - Pedro Martinez Perfect through 9
2003 0427 - Kevin Millwood
2007 0418 - Mark Buehrle
2010 0529 - Roy Halladay Pitches Perfect game for the Phillies
2010 1006 - Roy Halladay NLDS No-Hitter vs Reds
2015 0727 - Cole Hamels No-Hitter (Last start with Phillies)
2015 0727 - Cole Hamels No-Hitter 5the Anniversary

Sources and Links
Baseball Cardpedia
Stew Thornley

#tbt Official Major League Baseball from the past

During the off-season Bud Selig retired from the position as Commissioner of Major League Baseball. 

Official Major League Baseball

That means that as of this week Major League baseballs will no longer contain the "Allan H Selig" signature.

Thus we have a "Throw Back Thursday" item - dubbed #tbt in the Social Media Realm. Yes The Bud Selig baseball is now an artifact, albeit from the relatively recent past - Regardless, it is part of a world that no longer exists.

I have about a dozen MLB baseballs in the Phungo Collection, most or possibly all of which came from foraging after Batting Practice Homers. The above ball is likely one of these. Every single MLB Ball I have is of the Bud Selig variety.

Hopefully during the new season we will be adding one with the Rob Manfred signature to the collection. 

2009 Upper Deck 20th Anniversary #1014 Subway Series/Interleague Play 

Baseball didn't always carry Selig's signature. Prior to the interleague play and the homogenizing of the leagues the AL and NL had different baseballs. The above card from the massive UD 20th Anniversary set shows the NL ball signed by one time Phillies player and NL President Bill White along with it's AL counterpart carrying the autograph of Bobby Brown. 

Sources and Links
SABR Bio Bobby Brown by Mike Huber
SABR Bio Bill White by Warren Corbett

1965 April 9 - The Astrodome Opens

Fifty Years ago the Astrodome opened. Last year Topps honored the anniversary as part in the Heritage Baseball Flashbacks set.

2014 Topps Heritage Baseball Flashbacks #BF-A Astrodome

The card had the date and the venue's catchy nickname "The Eight Wonder of the World". The game played on April 9th was not the first official game played at the Astrodome, rather it was an exhibition game versus the New York Yankees.

2014 Topps Heritage Baseball Flashbacks #BF-A Astrodome (b-side)

The B-side covers the basics of the game. But there are a variety of fun facts regarding the game.

The game was a sellout (47876), First Pitch was thrown by former Phillies right-hander Turk Farrell.  The first batter of the game was Mickey Mantle who doubled and later hit the venue's first Home Run.

That was the sole run for the Yankees in a low scoring affair that went into extra innings tied 1-1. The Astros won the game on a 12th inning pinch single by Future Hall of Famer Nellie Fox who was beginning his final season. The first Astro to bat in the new ballpark was a Rookie Second Baseman who would also have a Hall of Fame career, Joe Morgan.

2010 Obak #77  Roy Hofheinz

One of the principle folks in getting Houston an MLB franchise was Roy Hofheinz. A former mayor of the city who also helped to get the Astrodome built.

In 2010 Tristar/Obak honored Hofheinz with a baseball card. The quirky series circumvents the MLB licensing issues by focusing on Former Players, Minor Leaguers and the History of the Game both on and off the field. 

2010 Obak #77  Roy Hofheinz (b-side)

The Flip side of the card briefly discusses the contributions of Roy Hofheinz to Houston baseball.

Astrodrome Today (er well in 2012)
Recently Deadspin ran an article based off of anonymous photos taken by a troika of brothers that had snuck into the dome. Click here to view the adventure.

Sources and Links
Astros Daily
Obak
Baseball-ref
deadspin

Phillies to celebrate 100th Anniversary of the 1915 NL Pennant Winning Team

As part of their Opening Week festivities the Phillies will salute their 1915 team which the franchise first National League Pennant Winner. 

The Phillies will honor the 1915 team by wearing throwback caps from the era as will their opponent the Boston Red Sox. The then pre-curse Red Sox were the AL rep the Phillies faced in 1915.  The Phils are also offering fans free mini pennants as part of the festivities

Also found out that the first pitch will be thrown out by a former President....

Woodrow Wilson, well actually by an impersonator. Woodrow Wilson was the President when the two teams faced off for the 1915 Series.

I sincerely doubt the team will be able to bring back any living alums for the event.

2001 Before there was Topps #BT9 Grover Alexander 

The 1915 Phillies had Three Hall of Famers on the roster, the most prominent of the troika was Pete Alexander who also went by his birth name Grover Cleveland Alexander. According to his SABR bio by Jan Finkel Alexander is the only baseball player to be named after a President who was also played by one on Film (Ronald Reagan).

Pete Alexander recorded the only Win for the Phillies in the 1915 World Series and prior to 1980 he had the only Series Victory in franchise history.

While he came up short as a member of the 1915 Phillies, Alexander did eventually win a World Series ring at age 39 as a member of the 1926 St Louis Cardinals. He was the key pitcher for the Redbirds notching two complete game victories and posting a 2 inning save in game 7. 

The Right Handed Ace spent eight of his 20 major league seasons with the Phillies, for whom he pithhed 190 of his 373 career victories. Alexander Led the league in Ws and Strikeouts six times each and ERA four times.  Advanced metrics were of course not used at the time, but he stacks up well there leading the NL in WAR five times and six times for pitchers.

In 1938 Alexander became the 9th player enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Grover Cleveland Alexander died in November of 1950 at the age of 63.

2001 Before there was Topps
Topps BT is an insert set featuring 10 players who played prior to Topps baseball cards. Alexander is the sole Phillies player in the set that features the true icons of the game - Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson etc. 

Pete Alexander HoF Index
2006 Phillies Toyota Wall of Fame Postcard

Sources and Links
Phungo 1915 NL Champion Philadelphia Phillies Index 
baseball-ref
SABR bio by Jan Finkel
Baseball Cardpedia

#WalletCard goes to the Beach

Team Phungo spent a very busy Easter Weekend in Rehoboth Beach Delaware.

#WalletCard at Rehoboth Beach DE

Temps were a bit cooler than I would have liked and it was really windy. We did have a really nice Sunny getaway day and the Chase Utley Wallet card made it out for an appearance.

Highlights
Tasting Menu at A(Muse)
Rubber Banded Junk Wax Packs

Recomended
Dogfish Head
Salt Air
Fins

Meh
Pig and Fish - always enjoyed previously, little disappointing this time out
Wind
Traffic