Sunday Night Baseball Nats @ Mets and Blaster Break of 2015 Allen & Ginter

Picked up a single blaster of 2015 A&G and only got one Phils card.

And it was a card of a player that just got traded. That is ok - 1) Paps really was never loved in PhilaPa 2) Since he got moved to DC I can make this posting as part of our Sunday Night Baseball Series.

Papelbon will be closing for the Nats and if the game between the two division rivals is tight tonight, I will not know who to root against. 

I have one additional quibble with the Papelbon A&G card

Double Vision

Yes Topps used the same image for A&G as they did for the 66T homage 2015 Heritage. I disapprove, but I am sure Topps Sees these sets as Low end, while I see them as premium so we know we really aren't on the same page anyway.

I will display the highlights of the pack in All-Star fashion

Battery

Zach Britton
Edinson Volquez
Matt Barnes
Brian McCann

Pretty week class of pitchers - have to admit Volquez looks pretty nasty here. Overall I am not a fan of the dotting used for shading on the players faces. I am sure there is a artsy name for this technique, I don't know the term, I just know that I think it looks freaky. 

Infield

Ian Desmond 
David Wright
Danny Santana
Jon Singleton

David Wright beat out Manny Machado for the Blaster All-Stars strictly because he is a member of the teams playing tonight (even if he is on the DL). This squad has two shortstops as I did not draw a second baseman from the packs.

Jon Singleton gets the nod at first base strictly because of his one time Phillies Farmhand status.

 Outfield

Billy Hamilton
Mookie Betts
Michael Bourn
Yoneis Cespedes

We have another former Phil in Michael Bourn, while newest Met Yoenis Cespedes appears here representing the Tigers.  

The Bench (Inserts and Extras)

Starting Points Mike Moustakas
Starting Points Dee Gordon (b-side)

I like the 2015 A&G common insert, Starting Points. As a fan of game dated cards this one is aimed at me. At 100 cards I doubt I will seriously look to build the set unless I found a boatload in a dime box one day. There are 5 Phillies on the checker (Rollins, Utley, Howard, Hamels, Maikel Franco) Plus Jayson Werth (Blue Jays) and Cliff Lee.  

The two cards presented above represent games that occurred within days of each other. Moustakas debuted in a 4-2 victory over the Angels, He singled in the 6th off of Ervin Santana for his first career Major League hit.

The Latter card marks the debut of Dee Gordon whose first game occurred in Philadelphia where his father Tom Gordon pitched for several years. Dee pinch ran in the 9th inning of a tight game that the Dodgers lost 3-1.

One of the features of these cards that I like is that in addition to the A-side Player the text mentions other baseball events of the day. Dee Gordon's first game was shared with a Career Milestone for Tim Lincecum and the Pirates Draft of Gerrit Cole.

Val Kilmer
Jeremy Roenick

Topps of the non-baseball base cards are Val Kilmer and Jeremy Roenick. Considering my distaste for Jonathan Papelbon I would have to say that the Flyers related Roenick card is my favorite in the pack. 

Mini Mike Moustakas A&G back
Mini Javier Baez (rc)
Mini Jean Segura 
Mini Kendall Graveman A&G Back
Mini First Ladies Abigail Adams
Mini Black Border Berlin Wall
Mini Black Border Appomattox Court House
Mini Hoist the Flag Mary Read

Turned out to be a Moustakas hot pack as we picked up a pair of inserts of the Royals 3rd Baseman.

The Berlin Wall card is from the short print portion of the minis and is probably the rarest card that was drawn from the blaster. Beyond that we have some pedestrian minis other than the Baez RC Mini.

Keys to the City - Willis Tower Chicago
Ancient Armory - Dane Axe
Menagerie of the Mind - Mermaind

Couple of the full size inserts.  Of the three sets here Keys to the City is the most interesting to me.

Sources and Links
Cardboard Connection
baseball-ref

RTC Braves Howie Bedell 1962 Topps

The Phillies are currently hosting their alumni weekend bring back many of the teams legends from the Past such as Schmidt, Carlton, Dick Allen, John Kruk, Dallas Green, Charlie Manuel and Latest Wall of Fame inductee Pat Burrell.

The Club also brings back some lesser known players such as Howie Bedell

 

1962 Topps #76 Howie Bedell (rookie flair but not a RC)

Howie Bedell only played 9 games with the Phillies and I don't think he ever represented the local team on card. The remainder of his career was 58 games with the Braves - The Team that is town to face the Phillies during the Alumni festivities.

On Opening day of the 1962 Season Bedell made his Major league debut as the leadoff hitters for the then Milwaukee Braves versus the San Francisco Giants and their Hall of Fame starter Juan Marichal. Bedell played Left Field along side Center Fielder Hank Aaron, They backed up Warren Spahn and another Hall of Famer Eddie Matthews started at 3rd Base.

Unfortunately for Bedell and the Braves lost 6-0 that day, but Bedell got his first career hit, a 3rd inning single off Marichal

Chester County Baseball
Bedell is more a representative of the Phillies and the Philadelphia region for his post playing career baseball activities. He did some coaching with the Phillies and more recently has been part of a group trying to bring a minor league team to Chester County.

I haven't heard much about the project recently but at one time there were proposals for West Chester, Where Howie Bedell went to College, and Phoenixville which has made a strong resurgences over the last decade. According to the 2010 Phoenix article cited above Bedell has been involved in the building of close to a dozen stadiums.

I am disappointed that the one that Bedell hasn't gotten done is in ChesCo, but understand there are a lot of factors that aren't positives for a community - including the high monetary cost. Regardless I hope that Howie Bedell, now a few weeks short of his 80th birthday gets a chance to see a local stadium.

Sources and Links
The Phoenix
baseball-ref
Topps Baseball Card Database

Phillies Wall of Fame Inductee Pat Burrell

Tonight the Phillies will add Pat Burrell to their Wall of Fame

2001 Topps #144 Pat Burrell (r-Cup)

To mark the occasion we are going to take a look at Burrell's 2001 Topps Card which features a rookie cup flair. The then 23 year old outfielder earned the honor by leading all rookies in RBI with 79 and finish second to Lance Berkman in Home Runs (18 vs 21)

 2001 Topps #144 Pat Burrell (b-side)

Good summary of the drafting of Burrell and his Rookie season. 2001 Topps B-sides are pretty decent with a 2nd photo plus a ghost of the a-side.


More Rookie Cup

2008 Topps #AR81 Pat Burrell

Topps marked the 50th anniversary of the All-Star Rookie team with this insert set done in the design of the 1960T Rookie Cup Subset.

 2008 Topps #AR81 Pat Burrell (b-side)

The back of the 1960T cards have bullet points of season highlights. Cool feature when looking back at a players rookie season.

2005 Topps Rookie Cup #118 Pat Burrell (Orange #d 397/399)

2008 was not the first time that Topps leveraged their Rookie Cup cache. In 2005 they released an entire set dedicated to the Rookie Cup. While the design of the 150 card set is rather bland I do like this card of Burrell blowing a chewing gum bubble while presuming playing first base - his position early in his career. Also note that he is wearing the 2000 era #33 rather than his more familiar #5. 

2005 Topps Rookie Cup #118 Pat Burrell (b-side )

All three cards mention Burrel'sl Debut Game on 2000 05 24. The first two cards discuss his early success while the latter two mention Pat's numbers with the bases loaded.

For a more detailed look at Pat Burrell cards check the In Search of Pat the Bat blog.

Sources and Links
Phillies Wall of Fame
Baseball-ref
Baseball Cardpedia

ANNIVERSARY: Nolan Ryan 300 Wins

25 years ago Nolan Ryan won his 300th game, a 11-3 decision over the Milwaukee Brewers. Ryan went 7 2/3 innings in the victory giving up all 3 runs (1 earned) while recording 8 Ks. The 1 and 2 hitters for the Brewcrew that day were future Hall of Famers Paul Molitor and Robin Yount.

1991 Score #417 Nolan Ryan HL 300 Career Victories

Score honored the accomplishment with a card in their Highlights subset. The Front Shot shows Ryan acknowledging the fans.

1991 Score #417 Nolan Ryan HL 300 Career Victories (b-side)

The flip of the card contains an action shot and game summary. Note the 146 pitches thrown by Ryan in the victory. The 55,097 attendance was the 3rd largest Brewers crowd of the 1990 season, and the #1 draw for a weeknight game.

This is not a no-hitter card, but Ryan is obviously the most prominent member of the Year of Clan and we will be adding this card to the extras in our 1990YotNH index. 

Sources and Links
Nolan Ryan HoF Index
1990 Year of the No-Hitter Index
baseball-ref

Reading the Competition: Blue Jays Roy Halladay

Phillies are in Toronto for a quick two game series, which gives us a chance for a Roy Halladay posting. We have featured Doc a number of times as a Phillie, but I don't believe we have posted him as a Blue Jay until now.

1999 Bowman Best #136 Roy Halladay 

While Roy Halladay has a number of career highlights with the Phillies, the bulk of his career with the Blue Jays.

Among players on the Blue Jays All-Time Roster Halladay ranks #2 in WAR behind only Dave Stieb. Halladay won 148 games as a Blue Jay including a league leading 22 in 2003 when he won his first of two Cy Young Awards.

1999 Bowman Best #136 Roy Halladay (b-side)

When this card was issued Halladay had only two career MLB starts. The text on the back of the card refers to the 2nd of these starts when Temple Alum Bobby Higginson spoiled a potential no-hitter by Homering off of Hallday with two outs in the 9th inning. The Blue Jays beat the Tigers 2-1 that day giving Halladay the first of his 203 career victories. He threw mere 95 pitches in the complete game - 73 for strikes.

Sources and Links
Year of the No-Hitter Index
baseball-ref

Year ot the No-Hitter: Scott Garrelts near-hitter

On July 29th 1990 Scott Garrelts could have pitched the record setting 8th no-hitter of the Major League season but he missed it by one out. He and the San Francisco Giants had to settle for a one-hit 4-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds as Paul O'Neill singled to center with 2 outs in the 9th. Garrelts subsequently retired Eric Davis to complete the shutout.

1991 Score #541 Scott Garrelts

Garrelts pitched 10 years in the Major, his entire career was spent with the Giants. The one-hitter was the last Shutout and Complete Game of his career.

1991 Score #541 Scott Garrelts (b-side)

The text on the back of Garrelts card mentions the Near-Hitter towards the bottom. It also goes on to mention his 1989 campaign when Garrelts led the NL in ERA, WHIP and W/L percentage. good enough for 6th in the Cy Young voting.

Sources and Links
Year of the No-Hitter Index
New York Times
baseball-ref

The Kid is on Deck

The Hall of Fame inductions for the Class of 2015 are in the books.

Today we look ahead to next year's ceremony.

Which brings us to one of the most iconic baseball cards.

1989 Upper Deck #1 Ken Griffey Jr

Something tells me we will be seeing a lot of this card in the next year. Today, In the weeks leading up to the HoF Balloting in January and finally next July.

The 2016 Hof Induction will be a celebration. Junior's induction will be a respite from the PED talk. He is the "clean" champion from the steroid era.   All 630 Homers all 2781 Hits.

With so many Villains in the Steroid Story, it will be good to see one of the good guys win. And I hope the Arc remains that way.

Sources & Links
2016 Hof Candidates Index
Baseball-ref