1969 Topps #237 Bobby Cox (1941-2026)

Over the weekend we got the sad news of Bobby Cox's passing. He is best known for his Quarter Century managing the Braves in two different stints that covered parts of SIX DIFFERENT DECADES. 

1969 Topps #237 Bobby Cox (image stolen from ebay)

Prior to his Managerial career Bobby Cox had two major league seasons with the New York Yankees in the late 1960s. His 135 games with the 1968 Yankees earned him the spot on the All-Star Rookie Squad. While none of his Rookie Numbers (.229/7/41) are impressive he led all three categories (for 3B). Well sort of - none of the 3B batted enough to qualify for the batting average title. I am giving Cox the nod since he had more than double the number of plate appearances the anyone who had a better average. Yes .229 was the batting leader among Rookie 3B in 1968, Freddie Patek batted .255 in 234 PAs compared to Cox's 490.  

AL Rookie of the Year

The 1968 Rookie of the Year Award went to Cox's teammate Stan Bahnsen who had very impressive Pitching Numbers (17-12, 2.05, 162 Ks). Only one other player received ROY votes, Del Unser. 

Not sure how Unser got 3 ROY votes his batting numbers are similar to Cox (.229/1/30) and honestly a touch worse. Del Unser started his career in CenterField and perhaps voters found that to be a more important defensive position than third base. Modern stats were not available in 1968, if they were voters would have been able to consider Bobby Cox's +0.9 WAR vs Unser's -1.5.

Flip

1969 Topps #237 Bobby Cox (b-side image stolen from ebay)

Couple of interesting things on the flip side. Looking at the text we find out that Bobby Cox was a player in the Braves organization a decade before he started managing Atlanta. The two seasons he played for Braves affiliates were 1966 Austin and 1967 Richmond. 

The other item that caught my attention is the comic, unfortunately I was unable to track down much information on Bobby Cox's Venezuelan League career. According to Tim Deale's SABR Bio Cox played in Venezuela from 1967-1970 

Other Voices

Check out this posting from our friend Jim from Downingtown who discussed this card and Bobby Cox's career as both a player & manager back in 2014.  

Bobby Cox HOF Index

1998 Topps #334 Andruw Jones  Cox Quote re: Jones

Source & Links

SABR Bio - Tim Deale

Baseball-reference

1969 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Index

Phungo HOF Index

Ebay

All-Star Rookie Cups in the 2024 World Series

To kick off the 2024 edition of the World Series we are going to examine the series from a Rookie Cup perspective and see if that can predict a winner. 

Yankees

Juan Soto 2019

Gleyber Torres 2019

Aaron Judge 2018

Carlos Rodon 2016

Anthony Rizzo 2013

Giancarlo (Mike) Stanton 2011

Dodgers

James Outman 2024

Will Smith 2020

Shohei Ohtani 2019

Walker Buehler 2019

Sort of Dodgers

Ryan Yarbrough 2019

Jason Heyward 2011

Turns out Rookie Cups are well represented in this year's World Series with each team rostering 6 players this season. However the Yankees have all 6 of their cups on the Postseason Roster. 

Two of the Dodgers six are no longer with the team Ryan Yarbrough was traded and Jason Heyward released. 

The Yankees have gotten contributions from all of their cups players Especially Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton. Even Anthony Rizzo who had a miserable regular season has performed well in the Playoffs.

For the Dodgers Shohei Ohtani has been a star on the big stage but that is it for the hitters. Will Smith has a couple of Home Runs, but otherwise he has been a member of the Dodgers bottom third of the order which has failed to produce. James Outman has not appears in the Postseason but appears to be on the World Series Roster. Walker Buehler, Like Rizzo struggled during the regular season, however his Postseason has been mixed at best. 

If the cups have anything to do with picking a winner all signs point to the Yankees.

1) More Cups 6-4  

2) More contributions from the Cup Players

2019 Topps All-Star Rookie Cup Team 

Special Shoutout to the 2019 Rookie Cup Team - the cards above are all from the 2019 Cup Class and will all be playing in the World Series this week.  Pretty strong class to have 4 players in a single World Series Five if we count Ryan Yarbrough.

2024 World Series

We will be following the Series this week and giving special attention to the Rookie Cup winners. I will be rooting for the Dodgers so I will be looking for big games out of Ohtani and Buehler.  

 

Sources 

FA Sports Cards Trading Card DB Topps All-Star Rookie Card List

1964T Phil Linz Phungo Variation

Thursday August 20th is an important Anniversary of one of the most significant events in the Storied History of the New York Yankees.

It is the 56th Anniversary of the Harmonica Incident. 

If you are not familiar with the Harmonica Incident click the link above for a more detailed account, for our purposes the important facts are that Yankees Infielder Phil Linz was playing Harmonica on the team bus following a loss. This upset manager Yogi Berra, yelled "Shove that harmonica up your..." towards the back of the bus. Here is where it gets interesting...

Linz did not hear Yogi and asked Mickey Mantle what he said and Mickey said:

"PLAY IT LOUDER"

Which Phil Linz proceeded to do. This let to a confrontation between Berra and Linz including the harmonica being used as a projectile.

I original heard the story years ago when I first read "Ball Four" and was reminded of it reading Mitch Nathanson's outstanding biography "Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original" 

This got the crew at Phungo HQ thinking, this story needs a baseball card.

 Phungo Variation

1964T Phil Linz Phungo Variation

I went with 1964T as the canvas as that was the year the incident occurred. To capture the humor of the event I went with the comic approach. The comic is not really original - I stole it from the back of Ed Sadowski's 1960 Topps Card

1960 Topps #403 Ed Sadowski (b-side)

Pretty happy with the reproduction of the -toon on my part. I love to envision Phil Linz being in as care free a mood as this comic right before being yelled at by Yogi Berra. 

I sort of kept the colors and lettering from the original 1960 comic. I went with an orange interior border to reflect the creamsicle backs of 1964 Topps.  To match the original Phil Linz card the comic extends out of frame into the team name area which matches the Red/Orange color from 1964T. I did change the player position from INF-OF to SS-3B to better reflect Phil Linz 1964 playing time.

Ed Sadowski was a backup catcher who spent the bulk of his 5 year career with the LA Angels. I did some minor digging and was unable to find more info on Sadowski's musical talents. Regardless his cartoon was good enough for me. 

In a sad note Ed Sadowski's bio revealed that he died in 1993 from Lou Gehrig's Disease. 

Sources and Links

Phungo Original Index

Bob Nightengale USA TODAY

Mitch Nathanson - Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original

Topps Baseball Card DB

Baseball-Reference

Ed Sadowski SABR Bio -  Clayton Trutor

1961 Topps #402 Don Larsen (1929-2020)

When I was a kid I had a thick World Series chronicle that had the box scores for every Series game through somewhere in the late 1970s. One of the things that fascinated me was that for Don Larsen's 1956 Perfect game the entry was a batter by batter, PITCH by PITCH. I had never seen anything like it, and really PxP accounts didn't really exist in the real world until the relatively recent big data revolution. 

1961 Topps #402 Don Larsen Pitches Perfect Game

One of the trading cards that covered World Series achievement was in the 1961 Topps Baseball Thrills subset.

Great card of Larsen's perfect game which occurred on October 8th 1956.

To begin with outside of a swatch announcing the event commemorated by the card the design is minimal. The picture here features our hero Larsen and the line score - perfect way summarize any no-hitter. In addition the remainder of the scoreboard tells us #8 is batting with a 1-2 coutn.  The 8 correctly identifies Dale Mitchell who struck out looking on a 1-2 pitch giving the Yankees a 2-0 victory in the pivotal fifth game of the 1956 series.

The series would got the distance with the Yankees winning.

Flip

1961 Topps #402 Don Larsen Pitches Perfect Game

The newsprint themed text on the card back does a good job of recapturing the Thrill of the perfect game. The author also provides some historical context: "...first pitcher to ever hurl a no-hitter in World Series competition." and "...first in 307 World Series games". I have minor quibble that description fails to mention the games final score 2-0.

1961 Nu-Cards
On the 60th anniversary of the Perfect Game we profiled the 1961 Nu-Card dedicated to the game. That column can be found here.

Baltimore Orioles
One of my favorite fun facts is that Don Larsen started the first game in Baltimore Orioles history, a 3-0 lost to the Detroit Tigers on April 13 1954.

Peanut Gallery
Some other Don Larsen Baseball Card Memorials
The Lost Collector - Various Autographed Cards and a Baseball
The Chronicles of Fuji - 1958 Topps #161 & various Autograph/Relic cards

Sources and Links
1961 Topps Baseball Thrills Index
No-Hitter Index
Game Dated Cards Index
trading card db
Baseball-ref

HoF index: Derek Jeter

This is an Index of our positngs related to Hall of Fame Shortstop Derek Jeter

2015 Topps Chrome #1 Derek Jeter
 

1997 Topps #13 Rookie Cup / HOF Induction
2005 Topps #1 Alex Rodriguez (guest star)
2008 UD National Baseball Card Day #UD10 (Year of the Tiger)
2009 Phungo #24 (Star Spangled Banner)
2010 Topps #269 (Star Spangled Banner)
2011 Topps Lineage #TCS2 Derek Jeter (Pack Break)
2014 08 22 Game Report White Sox @ Yankees 
2015 Topps Chrome #1 Derek Jeter (Career Capper)
2015 Topps Checklist (Pack Break)
2015 Phungo #2 

1962 Topps Retro (Phillies) 
1968 Topps Retro (Trading Card History)

ANNIVERSARY: 2010 Topps Heritage #310 Utley Ties Reggie

November 2nd marks the 10th Anniversary of the Phillies last World Series Game victory. An 8-6 victory over the New York Yankees.

That night Chase Utley tied a 30 year old World Series Record.

2010 Topps Heritage #310 Chase Utley (image swiped from trading card db)

The caption sums it up simply "Utley Ties Reggie". Nice to have your named in a comparative with a player who is such a superstar that they only need to be identified by a single name.

Flip

2010 Topps Heritage #310 Chase Utley (image stolen from comc)

The back of the Heritage cards remain faithful to the 1961T originals with scoring plays followed by the line score. The Utley Homers for game 5 can be found in the first and 7th innings of the Phillies portion of the text.

Reggie
Jackson's 5 Home Run Series was also celebrated by Topps in their 1978 set.

1978 Topps #7 RB Reggie Jackson

We covered this card a bit in our 2018 Memorial to broadcaster Keith Jackson. To read more about the card click here.

1961 Topps
2010 Heritage is an Homage to 1961 Topps. The World Series subset parallels the original with Utley's Record card matching with a card dedicated to a Pirates 5-2 victory, also over the Yankees, which featured an 8 out save from Elroy Face.

1961 Topps #310 Face Saves the Day

While both the PA teams were able to defeat the 1960 and 2009 Yankees in Game 5, afterward their fates diverged. The Pirates won the 1960 Series on Bill Mazeroski's famous Home Run while, Utley and the Phillies fell to the Yankees in 6 games. 

Phungo Games
This card reps the Phungo Game collection, read more about that game here.  In addition to the above Heritage card we have previously covered the 2009 Allen & Ginter card dedicated to Utley's World Series Record. This column can be found here.

Sources and Links
Chase Utley Index
Phungo Game Index
2009 World Series
Check out My Cards
Trading Card db
Baseball-Ref

Happy Birthday Mike Schmidt: 1977 Topps #140

On September 27th Mike Schmidt will celebrate his 70th birthday. To mark the occasion we are examining a card that was issued back when Schmidt was 27 just on the cusp of hitting his prime.

1977 Topps #140 Mike Schmidt

In 1976 the Phillies wore a Bicentennial/All-Star Game patch on their left shoulders. The 1977T card which displays the patch most prominently is Mike Schmidt's.

That is probably my favorite aspect of the card. I have two other photo observations:

1) I believe this is Shea Stadium which is the setting for several Phillies cards in the era.

2) Schmidt appears to be swinging a Rawlings bat. Adirondack/Rawlings bats from the middle 70s carried a ring on the bat handle in the team color - seen in red here.

However, during a Louisville Slugger tour I took a few years ago I found out something interesting:

Louisville Slugger Museum

Above we have four Louisvlle Slugger Bats. Schmidt's lumber is the 3rd one from the top, notice the Red ring. Schmidt had an exclusive contract with Rawlings, however at times he felt the need to change bats. To hide the switch, Schmidt disguised the Louisville Slugger bat by creating his own red ring using tape. More detail on this can be found at the PSA Card site.

The four bats top to Bottom are Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray (HR #501, last as an Oriole), Schmidt and George Brett (note the Pine Tar).

 Flip

1977 Topps #140 Mike Schmidt (b-side)

This is the first card issued following Schmidt's Four Home Run game on April 17 1976 and the text leads of with that fun fact. The blurb closes mentioning that Schmidt had 11 Homers in April which is a record - not sure if this is for any month or specific to April. Regardless both records have been eclipsed since 1976. Sammy Sosa holds the MLB Record for HR in a month with 20 (June 1998), While the April Record of 14 is shared by Albert Pujols (2006) and A-Rod (2007).

Talkin Toons
Always good to see a cartoon on the back of the card. The subject of today's comic is Yankees Slugger Hank Bauer and his17 game Wolrd Series hitting streak( 1956 OCT 3 - 1958 OCT 4).  At the time this card was released Bauer had held the record for 18 years. Here we are almost 42 years later and he still holds the record. the 2018 World Series marked the 60th Anniversary of the record.

Bauer's 17 game hitting streak is also the record for consecutive postseason games as well. He shares the record with Derek Jeter (1998-1999) and Manny Ramirez (2003-2004).  The Astros George Springer has an active streak of 14 games

Bauer Toons
A couple of Hank Bauer own cards have comics that feature the record including 1960 and 1961.  My favorite is a manager card from 1969.

1969 Topps #124 Hank Bauer (b-side / baseball card datbase)

Rather than featuring a lengthy text bio the Manager cards from 1969 featured a full size cartoon that include a nice profile sketch.

Artsy
Speaking of sketches and bringing this back to our original subject, I created my own version of the 1977T Schmidt card.

1977T Mike Schmidt (Phungo Original)

Drawing 1997 Topps doesn't present any unusual challenges. The Team names are italicized which is a minor hassle. I like the drop shadow on the pennant.

I elected to leave the team logo and number off the uni, which are largely covered in the original - unfortunately this leaves a lot of blue space on the drawing and elongates Schmidt's Torso.

1980 Phillies
I am including this post as part of our 1980 Phillies Series. I hope to return to Schmidt again next year as he is not only one of the  most significant members of that particular team but also the franchise history.

Sources and Links
Mike Schmidt HoF Index
1980 Phillies World Champs Index
Phungo Artwork Index
Baseball Almanac
PSA Card
baseball card database
mlb.com / Astros 
Baseball-Ref

In Memoriam: Jim Bouton (1939-2019)

"I learned Math from Baseball & Jim Bouton taught me How to Read"

Not entirely true, but there is a lot of truth there.

Prior to college I think I only finished maybe...  three books, "1984", "Wired" the Biography of Jim Belushi, and "Ball Four". All those novels we were supposed to read in High School (Hester Prynne, Silas Marner, Macbeth, Huck Finn, etc Who Knows What Else)  - I read exactly none of them.

But "Ball Four" it spoke to me.

"Ball Four" - Jim Bouton (1970 2nd Edition)

I have read the book three times once as a teenager. Again in my 20s or 30s, and most recently in my late 40s in preparation to see Bouton at the NYC SABR convention.

The SABR panel was incredible. That weekend it was publicly announced that Jim Bouton had a brain disease related to dementia. Regardless with the help of his wife Paula Kurman he was up to the task of discussing his life and Ball Four in a panel dedicated to Bouton and the book. A fan of the book and the man could asked for nothing more. Bouton was funny, touching, and informative. He was "Ball Four" personified.

He was also good enough to pose for pictures while signing books and other memorabilia.

 Jim Bouton (2017 Jul 01)

The Photo on the left page is one that I took at the event. The book is a 2nd edition

Ball Four (2nd Edition)

Here is Ball Four sans jacket.

That's it for now. Over the coming weeks I would like to mine the Phungo Museum for some other Bouton related content. Today, I would just like to recognize that he will always be a favorite author and I am glad I was introduced to his unique point of view early in my life and have been able to enjoy it to this day.

Memorials & Tributes
SABR (Mark Armour)

Sources and Link
Jim Bouton Index
SABR Bio (Mark Armour)
SABR47 NYC

ANNIVERSARY - 1979 July 10: Del Unser 3 consecutive Pinch Hit HRs (1980 Topps #6)

Wednesday July 10 marks 40th anniversary of a Pinch Hitter getting into the MLB record book

1980 Topps #6 Highlights Del Unser

That pinch hitter was the Phillies Del Unser who tied a mark first established a year prior by the Dodgers Lee Lacy.

Unser's streak commenced on June 30th. In the 9th inning of game versus the Cardinals at Busch stadium the Phillies were down 4-2 with 2 out in the 9th inning. Phillies Center Fielder Garry Maddox was on base when Unser was sent to the plate to bat for Manny Trillo. Unser homered off of reliever George Frazier to tie the game which the Phillies won 6-4 in extras.

The 2nd Home Run came in a 3-2 loss to the Mets. Unser hit a solo home run in the 7th inning while batting for Larry Bowa in what was basically a convoluted double change. The victim was starting pitcher Craig Swan.

Del Unser finished his Home Run trifecta facing Padres future Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers. The Phillies went into the 9th inning down 5-1, four batters later the Phillies had pulled to 5-3 on a 2 Run single by Bob Boone.

A hit and an out later Del Unser found himself once again pinch hitting for Larry Bowa. This time out he hit a Walk Off Home Run to give the Phillies a 6-5 victory. 

The streak ended 2 days later when Unser was Intentionally Walked by Fingers. The first time Unser was retired following the streak was July 23, Also by Rollie (strikeout).

1980 Topps Hilights
Hilights opens the 1980 set occupying the first six cards. The subset includes three Hall of Famers across two cards: Lou Brock & Carl Yastrzemski share card #1, While Willie McCovey resides at #2. In addition to Del Unser the Phillies are also represented in the subber by Pete Rose at #4.
 

Dennis Rasmussen?

1987 Topps #555 Dennis Rasmussen

What the heck is Dennis Rasmussen doing in the middle of a Del Unser column??, well lets turn over this card and see.

1987 Topps #555 Dennis Rasmussen (b-side)

Ok we are going to bypass that this card discusses Hall of Famer Larry Bird and move down to the On This Date section. Check it out we have today's hero Del Unser! and it mentions his 1979 Pinch Hit Home Run heroics too!

Finally Topps honors their history by mentioning Unser's 1979T card, lets have a look.

1979 Topps #628 Del Unser

Unfortunately Unser is repping a different team, however it always feels good to post and Expos card. Lets flip this one over and see if we have anymore fun items.

1979 Topps #628 Del Unser (b-side)

Well Check it out, we have another This day in History. This time it goes back to May 8 1968. On that date Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter tossed a Perfect game for the Oakland A's as they defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-0. 

And just because I am chaining together cards today, I am going to add one final card.

1969 Topps #235 Jim "Catfish" Hunter

The first card issued of Catfish following his Perfect Game was in 1969 Topps. This is back when Topps was putting -Toons on the back of cards, surely the Catfish comic would be dedicated to his big Game...

1969 Topps #235 Jim "Catfish" Hunter (b-side)

or.....maybe not

The game mentioned in the cartoon was a 15 inning affair won by the National League 2-1. In Hunter's defense he pitched FIVE innings that day, the difference was a Home Run by Tony Perez.

Topps does mention the Perfecto in the text. It also mentions that Hunter's game earned him a $5000 raise, that is a $36,000 raise in 2018 dollars. 

Game Dated Cards
Ok that is enough card chaining, At some point I will be adding each of these cards to the Phungo Game Dated Cards Index. 

1980 Phillies
Next Year will mark the 40th anniversary of the Phillies first World Championship, I hope to feature that team throughout 2020. Since I am not writing as many columns these days I am getting an early start on the feature and will open my Anniversary series a full six months in advance.

Sources and Links
1980 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies
1980 Topps Hilights
No-Hitter Index
Catfish Hunter index
Larry Bird Index
baseball-ref
Baseball Card Database

Keith Jackson (1928-2018) Baseball Broadcaster?

Over the weekend we got the sad news of the passing of Sports Announcer Keith Jackson.

1994 Action Packed #66 Keith Jackson (image swiped from COMC)

Most of us know him as the voice of College Football, but he called a variety of sports including baseball.

One of the most famous ballgames he called was game 6 of the 1977 World Series.

That night Reggie Jackson hit 3 Home Runs and the Yankees defeated the Dodgers 8-4 clinching their first World Series Win in 15 years. The TV broadcast of the game can be found on YouTube. I did not check out the entirety of the broadcast, but I did drop into a few spots. It is a good listen despite the fact that Howard Cosell elephants his way into all the big moments. Also of interest is that the third man in the booth is Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver.

1978 Topps #7 RB Reggie Jackson

Reggie's 3 Homer game is commemorated in the 77 Record Breakers Subset at the top of the 1978 Topps.

1978 Topps #7 RB Reggie Jackson (b-side)

The back of the card does a real nice job of summarizing the MANY accomplishments of Reggie Jackson during the 1977 Series. Right at the top we see the 5 Homers hit by Jackson, A record that was matched in 2009 by the Phillies own Chase Utley, however that was in a losing effort.

All three of Reggie's Game 6 Homers can be found on the YouTube link cited above, unfortunately as I mentioned Cosell walks all over Jackson on each Homer.

I always like Newsprint themed cards, not sure this really considered one as there is no Header or dateline. There is a Headline and a tear at the bottom, I suppose that is close enough.

Sources and Links
Reggie Jackson HOF Index
Game Dated Cards 
Baseball-Ref 
imdb
COMC
YouTube
@KevinCooney (Twitter h/t for the heads up on Jackson covering the 1977 WS)

2018 HOF Candidate: Johnny Damon

This year our first profile of a non-Phils HOF Candidate goes to Johnny Damon.

If you have been following the Ryan Thibodaux Hall of Fame vote tracker it is pretty obvious Johnny Damon is going to be a one and done candidate.

As of January 2 2018 Thibodaux had recorded 159 ballots, Johnny Damon received one vote. It was from Rick Telander who put together a complementary paragraph to justify his Damon selection.

He’ll never get in, but the guy thrilled many of us during those magical Red Sox-Yankees battles when the Theo Epstein-led Sox were emerging from their Cubs-like title drought. In 2002, Damon led the American League in triples. In 2004, he was second in the AL in runs scored. He sported wild hair and a lumberjack beard years before the latter became fashionable. I dug it.

2010 Heritage #309 Damon Steals 2 Bags on 1 Pitch

To honor Damon's career we pick a Topps Heritage card that shows off Johnny Damon's base running skills at the expense of the 2009 Phillies.

The play occurred during game four of the World Series. Damon came to the plate in the 9th inning of a 4-4 tie. There were 2 outs and nobody on base. He singled to left field to get the go-ahead run on base. The Phillies used a defensive shift versus Left-Handed batting Mark Teixeira. Damon stole 2nd on the first pitch easily beating a short throw from Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz. Damon then popped up and took off towards an unguarded third base.

Thus as the card says he stole "2 Bags on 1 Pitch".

Damon would later score on an Alex Rodriguez double, the scoring did not end there as the Yankees racked up 3 runs and took the game 7-4.

2010 Heritage #309 Damon Steals 2 Bags on 1 Pitch (b-side)

Interesting back of the card, where Topps mimics the 1961 World Series cards which Heritage echoes. Not sure but I believe 1961 is the only year that Topps used the "How They Scored" approach on the back of World Series cards. I don't think I need to see it every year but it is interesting to see it once.

The original 1961T #309 card also featured a big play at second. During the 1960 World Series the Yankees were the victims while the Pittsburgh Pirates were on offense.

The runner involved was Pirates left fielder Gino Cimoli. With the Pirates down a run in the fifth Cimoli beat a fielders choice throw to 2nd base. He would eventually be the first of three runs to score during the inning. That was all the Pirates needed to post a 3-2 victory.

One more thing
Johnny Damon is a Thai-American. That is the same Heritage as my own!

And in 2013 he chose to represent Thailand in the World Baseball Classic. Thailand didn't get very deep in the WBC, but Damon did get the opportunity to help develop the game there.

Hopefully someday I will get to see the Thai baseball team or even a baseball game in Thailand.

Until then I am happy to wear the above Thailand WBC cap whenever I get the opportunity. 

Verdict
HOF, I gotta go with Johnny Damon and his Asian roots here.

Johnny Damon Player Index

2009 Heritage #163 - Damon plays for Thailand WBC
2009 Topps T206 #261 - Pack Break
2008 Topps Chrome X-Fractor #106 - Swag Posting
2005 Leaf Century Collection #58 - Year of the Ox


2009 1102 - Game Report (World Series Game 5)
Wilmington Blue Rocks Number Retirement Ceremony


Sources and Links
2018 HOF Candidates
Game Dated Cards 
Chicago Sun-Times Rick Telander
BB HOF Tracker
Sports on Earth Pat Jordan
New York Times
Baseball-Ref 

Sunday Night Baseball: 1965 Topps #137 Bouton Wins Again

It would not be a stretch to say that I learned math from the back of baseball cards, nor would it be any further from the truth say that Jim Bouton taught me how to read.

Tonight the Yankees are visiting the Cubs on Sunday Night baseball, while this week the Phillies will host a rare series with the Mariners.

The player I have chosen to tie together these two series is Bouton.

1965 Topps #137 Bouton Wins Again

Bouton is remembered for two careers. The first was as a baseball player in the New York Yankees organization. His other career was as an author while employed by Seattle's first MLB tenant the Pilots.

1964 Yankees

The card above is from an eight card subset (#132-#139) in 1965 topps. Each of the first seven cards in the set represents a game in the series. Card #137 above speaks to game 6 which the Yankees won 8-3 behind Jim Bouton's strong pitching and a trio of Home Runs by Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Joe Pepitone.

Flip

1965 Topps #137 Bouton Wins Again (b-side)

The B-side gives a detailed box score which includes fielding stats but ignores RBIs (early SABRmaticians no doubt). In addition to the box the card text provides a concise synopsis of the games events.

After 1964 Game 6 the Yankees would not win another World Series game until 1977.


Ball Four
Jim Bouton is going to one of the guest speakers at this years SABR convention in New York City. In Preparation for the event I have just begun reading "Ball Four" for what I believe is the 3rd time. I first encountered the book when I was in my early teens. I re-read the book as an adult, probably in my 30s and now approaching my milestone 50th birthday I am giving the work a third pass.

I will always enjoy the anti-establishment humor of "Ball Four" and am looking forward to this reading.

I anticipate this will be my most enjoyable session with the book. Through my rediscovery of baseball cards I have become more familiar with the players and stories from the "Ball Four" era, hopefully this re-read will generate some fun posts.

May 7 1969
In his entry for May 7th Jim Bouton mentions a disagreement he had with manager Joe Schultz over his role on the team. Schultz (as well as pitching coach Sal Maglie) wants Bouton to mix in more fastballs and curves with his knuckler. Bouton counters that Phil Niekro throws mostly knuckleballs. The ensuing argument devolves into a petty negotiation over Niekro's pitch selection. 

That day Seattle lost 5-4 to Boston in a game that did not involve Bouton. Red Sox Shortstop Rico Petrocelli had a Home Run for the victors.  

not so Phun Phact
The pitcher who lost to Bouton in game 6 of the 1964 World Series was former Phillies southpaw Curt Simmons

Jim Bouton Index
1964 Topps (Fred C Harris)
1991 SI Greats of the Game Autograph
Seattle Pilots 40th Anniversary Reunion (2009)
50th anniversary of Ball Four (2019)

Sources and Links
Game Dated Cards
VittlesWords
Cardboard Connection
baseball-ref

VittlesWords

This is an index of our postings related to Books and Authors

1968 Topps #562 Jim Bouton

Eliot Asinof "Eight Men Out" (1962)
Jim Bouton "Ball Four"
Bill Conlin "Batting Cleanup" Signing 1997 07 xx
Stefan Fatsis Signing 2008 07 22
Stefan Fatsis (Word Freak Review by Nachos Grande) 
Rob Fitts (Masanori Murakami bio signing) 2015 06 27
Charlaine Harris signing 2010 05 25
Tim McCarver signing 2008 08 21

Happy 75th Birthday Paul Simon

On October 13th Music Icon Paul Simon will be celebrating his 75th birthday.  I don't believe there are any Paul Simon cards in the Phungo collection, however I think we have found a worthy substitution.

2012 Topps Archivess #138 Joe DiMaggio

I also don't have any Joe DiMaggio  cards from his active years (likely out of Phungo budget ranges), but I do have a  handful of retro cards of the Yankees legend.

As I am sure most folks are aware DiMaggio is named dropped in Simon's song "Mrs Robinson" from "the Graduate".

Paul Simon is still a baseball fan, earlier this summer he was shown on TV at an Orioles game after being spotted the previous day in Pittsburgh watching the Pirates. Pretty cool trip for any fan.

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2012 Topps Archivess #138 Joe DiMaggio

The day Paul Simon was born Joe DiMaggio was enjoying one of the first few days off following his celebrated 1941 season. That was the year DiMaggio authored his 56 game hit streak while on the way to his 2nd of 3 MVP awards. The streak was so Compelling that DiMaggio won the MVP award over Ted Williams who hit .406 in 1941, a mark that has been unmatched since.

The Hitting streak is noted in the cartoon on the back of the archives card. A solid choice with some rather fun artwork.

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1980 Topps #300 Ron Guidry

The Archives card draws from Topps 1980 issue. For Yankees cards the homage is satisfactory, the design and colors definitely evoke the original. If one were to quibble I supposes there could be complaints about the font sizes of the text on the two pennants, but I think it is close enough for Archives.

Sources and Links
Joe DiMaggio HoF Index
imdb
MLB Network

ANNIVERSARY: October 8 1956 - Don Larsen Throws World Series Perfect Game

October 8th marks the 60th Anniversary of Don Larsen's perfect game, which he threw in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.

1961 NU-Cards Baseball Scoops #418 Larsen Hurls Perfect World Series Game

Larsen and the Yankees defeated the crosstown rival Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0 that day. Offensive Heroes including Mickey Mantle who clubbed a fourth inning Home Run and Hank Bauer who plated the games other run with a single in the sixth.

The event was honored by this beautiful 1961 Basesball Scoops Card. Nice touches include a decent photo for the era and a date line specific to the game. I am also a fan of the title logo which contains the bouncing baseball iconography rather in place of the OOs in scOOps.

The pivotal game five victory gave the Yankees a 3 games to 2 advantage over the Dodgers in a Series that would eventually go the distance. The Yanks won game 7 and Larsen took home MVP honors.

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 1961 NU-Cards Baseball Scoops #418 Larsen Hurls Perfect World Series Game (b-side)

Great back of the card for a game that certainly warrants the attention.  Four Paragraphs of text! Some of it is a little awkward - the 2nd Paragraph has two sentences that essentially state the same fact about 3 ball counts. Pee Wee Reese's first inning AB is mentioned both here and in the final paragraph. Regardless I still love the card.

Topps honored Larsen with a similar card in their 1961 set which can be found here.

Update (2020 01 02)
1961 Topps #402 Baseball Thrills / Don Larsen memorial

Sources and Links
Phungo No-Hitter Index
Phungo Game Dated Cards Index
Check out My Cards
Baseball Card Database
Baseball-ref

Bucket or Chuck-It; 2016 Topps Throw Back Thursday Set

Ahh time to return to a feature that we haven't had in a while Bucket or Chuck-It. Bucket is good as in add it to your bucket list. Chuck-It is bad as in Toss it out like a pair of worn sneakers.

2016 Topps TBT #37 Mike Piazza '96 ASG MVP

All seaon Jim from the Phillies Room has been picking up Phillies related Topps Now cards in bulk and passing along cards to other Phils collectors. I find the cards unique and as a fan of game dated cards the concept appeals to me, especially when someone like Jim is dedicated to do all the work of submitting the requests to Topps. There have been at least 6 Phillies Topps Now cards and I would like to get to those and a More dedicated thank you to Jim in a future post.

I myself  hadn't picked up anything directly from Topps until recently when I saw in celebration of the Hall of Fame weekend they issued a "bundle" related to this year's inductees Ken Griffey Jr and Mike Piazza.

The six card set is inspired by the 1962T Babe Ruth Subset with 3 cards dedicated to each of the new Hallers.  The second card of the set features a photo of Mike Piazza receiving an the 1996 All-Star Game award.

This card was appealing to me as a Piazza fan and it is a nice add to my local players collection, but the real draw is that the 1996 ASG is a Phungo Game and This is a card I can add to the Phungo Games collection.

Despite the fact that the image on the card makes Piazza appear as if he had a few to many at the family picnic, I do like the front of this card.

However.....

2016 Topps TBT (b-sides)

Topps mailed it in on the b-sides for the text. The backs of all six cards have identical text. The only thing that differentiates each card is the number and the player name.

 It's a shame, if these are such big events in each players career how about paying a writer and a copy editor (or even an intern) for a couple of days work to come up with a paragraph. This is a $20 set of six cards, that can be produced months in advanced - it's not like they woke up on Wednesday and said "Hey we need to put out a Throw Back Thursday set tomorrow" or maybe they did.

Compare

2016 Topps TBT #37 Mike Piazza '96 ASG MVP (b-side)
1962 Topps #138 Babe Ruth Special (b-side)

Check out this example of an original 1962 Babe Ruth Special. We have a pretty detailed summary of Ruth's rough 1925 season. On the New Piazza card all you get "Hey look at us, we have been making cards for 50 years and Mike shares this documentation with Ken Griffey Jr"


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2016 Topps TBT Ken Griffey Jr 1995 ALDS
1962 Topps #138 Babe Ruth Special

Just for comparison we present the front of one of the other TBT specials with Babe's original.  I think Topps did a decent job on the fronts, just wish they would have carried through to the back.

Verdict
Very disappointed, Great Concept, I think Topps picked a great subset to use for these cards, but the execution of the backs is insulting, especially for a set that runs $20.

Sources and Links
1996 All-Star Game Index
Phungo Mike Piazza HoF Index
Phungo Ken Griffey Jr HoF Index
Phungo Babe Ruth HoF Index
Topps TBT
Baseball-Ref

Alex Rodriguez: Exclusive Member of Topps #1 Five Timers Club

Last Year in the wake of the commotion regarding Topps awarding the #1 Card to Derek Jeter we took a look at the other lead off cards from Flagship. One of the things we found out was that the Captain had not made the top spot previously.

 However one of his teammates had done it a number of times

2005 Topps #1 Alex Rodriguez

This isn't A-Rod's first #1 but it is the first time he was honored with the top spot as a member of the New York Yankees. I am not positive but I am pretty sure that is Derek Jeter hovering in the background. The photo and the card is a summary of Alex Rodriguez's Yankees career. No matter what he did Jeter would always be looming.

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2005 Topps #1 Alex Rodriguez (b-side)

Given his polarizing career and personality, I found the Buck Showalter Quote and related Text on the back of A-Rod's 2005 Card pretty amusing.

"A Good Man with a Pure Heart" and "One of the game's Classiest Emissaries" are definitely not in the narrative I most often see associated with Alex Rodriguez.

Five Timers Club
Alex occupied the top spot four other times including three with the Yankees. He is the sole 5 time member of the Topps #1 Club.   

(Four Scans below are from Baseball Card Database)

Realizing that Alex Rodriguez is a Five Time Topps Lead-Off player reminded me of "The Five Timers Club" sketch on Saturday Night Live. Essentially anyone that has hosted the show five times a member of an exclusive club. Folks in that club include Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Paul Simon and Justin Timberlake.

Alex is the charter member of the Five Timer Club related to #1 Cards in Topps.

Sources and Links
Topps #1 Club
Baseball Card Database
NBC