1962 Topps Phillies List

Trying to get a headstart on next year's Topps Heritage inspiration.

17 Johnny Callison
46 Jack Baldschun
77 Tony Taylor
104 Ted Savage R.C.
111 Dallas Green
146 Don Demeter
157 Wes Covington
181 Paul Brown R.C.
212 Jim Owens
220 Roy Sievers
249 Ed Keegan R.C.
269 Bob Oldis
284 Ruben Amaro
294 Phillies Team
303 Frank Torre
328 Ken Walters
352 Frank Sullivan
374 Gene Mauch
434 Clay Dalrymple
453 Cal McLish
494 Sammy White
521 Jacke Davis R.C.
534 Tony Gonzalez
550 Art Mahaffey
571 Billy Klaus
581 Mel Roach
593 Rookie Parade Pitchers SP
w/Hamilton

2010 Phillies Mid-Year Hopes and Dreams or Can the Summer Save Your Soul

When you think of the Phillies of the silver age (2007-present), what comes to mind first? For me, it is the arcing flyballs into the stands, the resilience of numerous comeback victories in the 8th and 9th, a defense which made few errors and anchored by an ace, and savvy runners on the bases.

2010 has not been a season that has conformed to established and successful standards. It has been a trying year with injuries and unexpectedly negative performances and stretches of team-wide slumps. Even with this, the Phillies are still in thick of the playoff race at 47-40, 1.5 games behind the wild card leader (in a grouping of 6 teams) and 4.5 games behind the formidable Braves and possibly overperforming Mets. Their record is not really that different from last season. But can they really depend on a historical record of being a 2nd half team? In baseball, there are only short trends and shorter memories.


How Did We Get Here?

The Phillies have not been particularly lucky or unlucky. They are only one win behind their first order Pythagorean record (48-39) (inserting second parenthetical: the Pythagorean is a record which basically uses runs scored and runs allowed to
calculate an expected record to that point).

It seems the offense has been struggling. They did score 3 runs or less in half their games. Taken as an aggregate, though, the offense splits show a .756 OPS in April (5.2 runs/game), a .752 OPS in May (4.3 runs/game), a .733 OPS in June (5.0 runs/game), and a .672 OPS thus far in July (4.1 runs/game). Their run-scoring capabilities have not necessarily corresponded with their performance or their record. This statement of course does not take into account game situations. The surprising part of their offensive performance has been that they have been shutout 8 times this year, beating the total of 7 for all of last year and matching 2008's total as well.

The pitching has been anchored by a league best total in innings pitched by the starters, though the bullpen ERA does not reflect the performance that such rest should afford them over the course of the season. The pitching staff has been weak against lefties (.805 OPS allowed) and have shown a decided vulnerability on the road (.780 OPS allowed, 4.3 runs/game). April and June were the biggest trouble. Hopefully, with the return of the full complement of relievers and the establishment of the starting rotation as a more consistent force, these struggles will cease.



Where Are They Going?

They are astride the broad shoulders of Roy Halladay for the pitchers and Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins for the batters. However, unlike basketball, three players does not a winning team make. The following need to happen for the dreams of a 4th consecutive division title come true.

1. The bullpen has to take advantage of its matchups
2.Jaime Moyer needs to continue his ways.

3. Victorino and Rollins have to increase their OBP
4. Ibanez has to improve or make way for the next LF inhabitant
5. Ryan Howard needs to enhance his power stroke
6. Joe Blanton needs to not be terrible or JA Happ needs to replace him

7. Cole Hamels needs to continue his streak of quality starts.
8. Chase Utley has to return at full strength in 6 weeks

9. Ruben Amaro has to not be limited in his thinking about only wanting to trade for pitching.

Here's to the second half, it's going to be an exciting ride. All the divisions leaders have leads of less than 5 games. It's time for the trading deadline hour followed by the push for the playoffs and the privilege to play in the swirling winds of October

1961 Topps Phillies List

Here's the formal list-Update 12/13/10: 3 to go!
3 John Buzhardt

20 Robin Roberts

59 Jim Woods R.C.

78 Lee Walls

93 Tony Gonzalez

103 Ruben Amaro

111 Jack Meyer

144 Jim Coker all-star rookie

154 Bobby Del Greco

179 Joe Koppe

202 Al Neiger R.C.

219 Gene Mauch

234 Ted Lepcio

262 Tony Curry all-star rookie

281 Frank Sullivan

299 Clay Dalrymple

316 Bobby Gene Smith

341 Jim Owens

359 Dallas Green

377 Ruben Gomez

394 Ken Walters

411 Tony Taylor

433 Art Mahaffey

468 Johnny Callison

479 Jim Konstanty 1950 MVP NL

491 Phillies Team

502 Clarence Coleman R.C.

530 Bobby Malkmus

558 Don Ferrarese

569 Frank Herrera AS

My First Topps Million Card Giveaway Result

I have only bought four packs of 2010 Topps this year, so I feel fortunate to have pulled one Million Card Giveaway card...at least for the thrill of receiving the unknown. I placed the card code in the box, and I was lucky to pull this:



1958 Topps Harry Hanebrink

I was happy. What's the over/under on unrealistic trade offers for this one through the site?

Junk Wax Giveaway at a Pack to Be Named Later

Leave a comment at A Pack To Be Named Later to win an undisclosed amount of junk wax (because that's what you have to guess). Just imagine all the fun you can have discovering unopened cards in wax, mylar, and foil packs. You have until July 13 to enter. Good luck!

Group Break Cards from The Sandlot

One of the newer guys on the blogger block, Joe from The Sandlot, held a completely free group break a few moons ago. I was lucky enough for both of us to claim the Phillies (Joe is a Mets fan.) There was a bevy of unique and interesting boxes busted for the foil and cardboard treasure within. Here are some of my favorites that I received.

1996 EX-L Gregg Jefferies, Ricky Botalicco, and Darren Daulton: I really liked the 1995 E-motion set. The colored framed borders on this incarnation lent a certain degree of gravitas to the heavyweight emotions of "crashing", "fearless", and "pursuing". Though Darren Daulton has lately had dreams of being pursued of gigantic, doom-seeking numbers spelling "2012".

The set did drop the adjectives in later versions (EX-2000, EX-2001, etc), though the design was still a strong selling point.
1997 Metal Universe Mickey Morandini and Scott Rolen: Ultra-futuristic, comic style, avant-garde, cartoony marks distinguish this set from 1996-1998. They're not in this silvery tone though. Scanning metallic sheened objects is quite the ordeal if you want to showcase the vibrancy. Rolen looks like he's been grabbed by the Leviathan.
2002 Upper Deck Vintage: Nick Punto/Carlos Silva Rookies: This duo of rookies was traded for Eric Milton before the 2004 season. Punto went onto cult hero status in Minnesota and Silva became a decent pitcher in Minnesota before getting a big payday with the Mariners and losing his sinker. He was then traded to the Cubs for Milton Bradley before this season and has seemed to have found the drop again. Not a good trade. Though I do like the 1971 Topps homage of this set.
2003 Topps Chrome Gold Refractor Tomas Perez: You can blame him as one of the culprits for the spreading of the "pies in the face" meme. As a utility infielder (who played nearly every position except catcher)
2003 Topps Chrome Placido Polanco: This was the first go-round with Polanco, when he played 2B, and then was pushed out for the beginning of Chase Utley, though he could have easily been moved to 3B to push out Dave Bell. Instead, he was traded for Ugueth Urbina (who I think ended up in prison after that season) to continue Ed Wade's fetish of trading for relief pitchers during the season.
1998 SPx Curt Schilling: All the base cards were numbered in this set (I think this one was numbered out of 9000 or something like that) and there were five subsets all numbered differently. In addition, there were parallels (Spectrum and Radiance) that had lower numbering throughout all the subsets with numbers ranging from 1-4500. It was a layered mess; I wonder who tried collecting this set. The cards look nice though.

Thanks Joe. Let me know if you need any Mets cards.

1961 Topps Phillies Team Set Chase Part 2

Here are more cards I have acquired to collect the 1961 Topps Phillies team set rather than going for 2010 Heritage. First and second impressions: they were not a good team.

Jim Woods: # of years on Phillies-2 (1960-1961), Best Season as a Phillie (1961): .229/.296/.417 (89 OPS+) with 2 HR and 9 RBI
Joe Koppe: # of years on Phillies-2+ (1959-1961), Best Season as a Phillie (1959): .261/.327/.386 (89 OPS+) with 7 HR, 7 3B, 68 R and 28 RBI.
Jack Meyer: # of years on Phillies-7 (1955-1961), Best Season as a Phillie (1955): 6-11 with 3.43 ERA, led the league with 16 saves, 97 K in 110 IP.
Lee Walls: # of years on Phillies-2 (1960-1961), Best Season as a Phillie (1961): .280/.329/.425 (100 OPS+) with 8 HR and 30 RBI
Jim Coker: # of years on Phillies-4 (1958-1962), Best Season as a Phillie (1960): .214/.289/.329 (69 OPS+) with 6 HR and 34 RBI
Bobby Del Greco: # of years on Phillies-3 (1960-1961, 1965), Best Season as a Phillie (1960): .237/.355/.417 (111 OPS+) with 10 HR, 26 RBI, and 54 BB.
Phillie Team Card: I like the design element of the solid color background.


More to come as the chase emboldens the seeker.

My All-Star Rosters....

.....designed for maximum retail value.

Every year there are debates about the all-stars. Fans pick starters, players pick reserves, managers pick pitchers and more reserves, and every team gets represented...like T-ball. Unfortunately, this decides home-field advantage for the World Series. This aspect should not be a part, especially when the games aren't really being played to win, but to get everyone on the roster (except one pitcher) onto the field at some point or another.

I have decided to pick my all-stars based on who I want to see the play the most. I am a fan after all. I'm also going to throw out the one player per team rule and exclude currently injured players.

AL

Catcher
Starter: Joe Mauer
Reserves: Carlos Santana and Mike Napoli

1st Base
Starter: Miguel Cabrera
Reserves: Justin Morneau and Paul Konerko

2nd Base
Starter: Robinson Cano
Reserves: Ian Kinsler

Shortstop
Starter: Derek Jeter
Reserves: Elvis Andrus

3rd Base
Starter: Evan Longoria
Reserves: Michael Young and Alex Rodriguez

Outfield and DH
Starters: Josh Hamilton, Ichiro, Carl Crawford, Vladimir Guerrero
Reserves: Brennan Boesch, Alex Rios, Nelson Cruz, Brett Gardner, Franklin Gutierrez

Pitchers
David Price, Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, Justin Verlander, Jered Weaver, Phil Hughes, Jon Lester, Felix Hernandez, Naftali Feliz, Mariano Rivera


NL
Catcher
Starter: Brian McCann
Reserves: Buster Posey and Miguel Montero

1st Base
Starter: Albert Pujols
Reserves: Joey Votto and Adrian Gonzalez

2nd Base
Starter: Brandon Phillips
Reserves: Dan Uggla and Martin Prado

Shortstop
Starter: Hanley Ramirez
Reserves: Jimmy Rollins and

3rd Base
Starter: David Wright
Reserves: Scott Rolen and Ryan Zimmerman

Outfield and DH
Starters: Matt Holliday, Ryan Braun, Justin Upton
Reserves: Colby Rasmus, Andrew McCutchen, Andre Ethier, Jayson Werth

Pitchers
Roy Halladay, Ubaldo Jimenez, Josh Johnson, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Tim Lincecum, Tommy Hanson, Jaime Moyer, Roy Oswalt, Jonathan Broxton

Who do you think would win this match-up of these theoretical rosters?

In Dire Straits: Phillies Edition

Today, came the announcement that Chase Utley had thumb surgery and will probably not return for 8 weeks, which basically means September in baseball time. Utley's been known to have superhuman healing powers before (see hip surgery from a couple years ago: projected healing time of 8 months vs. actual healing time of 6 months), but the thumb is an stubborn, slow-healing appendage (I'm speaking from my own experience here).

From a pessimist's point of view, this is a possibly team-debilitating injury. Granted, Utley was not playing up to his previous high levels, but he was still the best hitting 2B in the NL (Cano surpassed him in the AL the year) and definitely the best fielding 2B (by many metrics). And in a normal situation, Polanco would cover at 2B. And there's the rub, this is not a normal situation; the injury demons have also accursed Placido Polanco.

He has been afflicted with a sore elbow since April 21, and as a result, has been subjected to extended rest since shorter periods of rest did not lead to healing. This now leaves two key positions on the diamond (2B and 3B) and in the lineup (2nd and 3rd) woefully undermanned.

Here are the potential replacements with some comments:

Gregg Dobbs: He can only play against right handed pitchers and even then he has become a below-average hitter. Combine that with a below average glove at 3B, and you have a non-viable replacement.

Wilson Valdez:31 year old utility man who has a good glove reputation (not sure if it's true or not). Definitely does not hit for power (though 2 HRs in 3 games belie that fact) nor average.

Juan Castro: Much older utility man with undeserved good glove reputation. Does not have enough range to be an above-average shortstop nor arm strength for a 3B. He has less than a .500 OPS this year...um, not good.

Brian Bocock: Minor league utility man who had a .470 OPS in AAA. I'm not sure how he will contribute.

As you can see not one of them can lay claim as being at least an average major league starter. I'm afraid that the Phillies have reached a turning point for the season with the aforementioned injuries ( and this does not include the losses of Ruiz, Happ, Durbin, Bastardo, Madson, long stretches without Rollins) unless someone on the team steps up large. Maybe we'll find out the inner workings of the mind of Dane Sardinha or maybe Jaime Moyer is the guru they were searching for.

It's a Box Break! Finale, 2009 Tristar Obak Packs 16-20

Pack 16
61:Steve Bilko-1956 Minor League player of the year
82:Dummy Hoy-first known deaf player

93:Albert Spalding: sporting goods magnate
73:Bud Hillerich and Pete Browning: Louisville Slugger founders
84:Francis Scott Key-Star Spangled Banner author
Mini 16:Mike Stanton-current player, Marlins system


Pack 17
44:Steve Dalkowski-regarded as fastest pitcher ever
16 1910 back variation and black parallel:Tommy Hanson-current player, Braves system
59:Gary Redus-holds single season batting average record (.462)
12:Gordon Beckham-current player, White Sox system
24:Carlos Santana-current player, Indians system
Mini 13:Jesus Montero-current player, Yankees system


Pack 18
48: Spook Jacobs
60: Joe Wilhoit-hit safely in 69 straight games
58 1910 back variation: Ron Necciai
91: Fritz and Louis Rueckheim-Henry Eckstein-invented crackerjack
75:Henry Chadwick-"Father of Baseball", creator of box score***

Mini 11:Jason Heyward-current player, Braves system


Pack 19
22:Jarrod Parker-current player, Diamondbacks franchise
5: Brett Lawrie-current player, Brewers franchise
43: Walter Carlisle-only known outfielder to record unassisted triple play
69: Moose Skowron-1952 minor league POY

65: Ron Kittle-1982 minor league POY

Mini 12: Austin Jackson-current player, Tigers system


Pack 20
92:Frank Shaughnessy-created minor league playoff system
16: Tommy Hanson-current player, Braves system

28: Pat Venditte-current player, Yankees system, amidextrious

16 1910 back variation: Tommy Hanson
55: Vince Coleman-'80s speedster,
Mini 54: George H. Rawlings-Rawlings sporting goods founder

***Why is Henry Chadwick known as the "Father of Baseball". By all accounts, he did not play the game much (he was a shortstop for the Knickerbockers in 1847), lead a team, nor organize a league. He was essentially a journalist and baseball publicist. He convinced the New York Times to report results in the paper, and as baseball editor, he introduced the easily digestible box score to compare one player's accomplishments against another. He also was the first to publish guides and yearbooks and sat in on rules discussions, and served as umpire in exhibition games to test out the rules' effectiveness. He was essentially the public and respected face that championed baseball over cricket. He was also an opposition voice to the infamous Spalding commission that placed baseball's origins at the hands of Abner Doubleday. He called the announcement "a masterpiece of special pleading" that baseball was a unique game founded by some "ingenious American lad"

Summary to come.

It's a Box Break! Part 3, 2009 Tristar Obak Packs 11-15

The best part about opening this box are the strangely distorted images from the nineteenth century (ok, that's not really true.) Let's continue.

Pack 11
88: Patrick T. Powers-1st president of the minor leagues
81: Elias Howe-inventor of the sewing machine
63: Bobby Grich- 1977 minor league player of the year, all-star 2B
45: Oscar Eckhardt- highest professional career batting average
13: Tim Beckham-current player, Rays system
Mini 53: Jack Norworth-lyric writer of "Take me out to the ballgame"

Pack 12
57: Grover Lowdermilk-holds minor league single season K record
38: Ryne Sandberg-HOF
23:Buster Posey-current player, Giants system
83: Arthur Irwin-inventor of full-fingered fielding glove
80: Harrison Horwood-baseball manufacturer
Mini 27: Ted Williams 1910 Back Variation


Pack 13
62: Gene Conley-two sport basketball and baseball star, 2 time POY
77: Candy Cummings-credited with discovery of curveball

98:BO Jackson-needs no comment

96: Sammy Baugh-HOF QB from the Redskins

90: Branch Rickey-created framework of minor league system, among other things***


Mini 15 black variation (2/50): Buster Posey


Pack 14
11: Lars Anderson-current player, Red Sox system
40: Duke Snider HOF
78: Washington, James, and Benjamin Duke-cardboard advertisement inserts with baseball players?
A41 (92/200): Robert Forrest "Spook" Jacobs auto-1948 Tri-star league MVP

Mini 67: George Schmutz


Pack 15
6: Brian Matusz-current player, Orioles system
34: Satchel Paige-HOF
99:Wiliam Howard Taft-president and Supreme Court justice
1: Pedro Alvarez-current player, Pirates system
15: Naftali Feliz-current player, Rangers system

Mini 66: Ten Million


***A Story of Branch Rickey

Branch Rickey was a long time around the game of baseball. He was with the Cardinals in the '20s, the Dodgers in the '40s, and the Pirates in the '50s. He is most famous for his signing and support of Jackie Robinson. Maybe this story is not so well known.

When he was in college at Ohio Wesleyan in 1903, the best player on the team was an African-American first baseman named Charles "Tommy" Thomas. There was an incident when they played University of Kentucky, where they refused to take the field (at Ohio Wesleyan). Rickey basically called them out as cowards. Thomas did play. When traveling to Notre Dame, Thomas was not allowed to stay in the hotel in South Bend until Rickey persuaded the manager to let him stay in his room by threatening to take his team's business elsewhere. Rickey later remarked, "whatever mark the incident left on the black boy, it was no more indelible than the impression made on me."

The Rolen Identity

Scott Rolen began his career as a hard-charging, no-nonsense, slick-fielding, run the bases while holding my gloves 3rd baseman on August 1, 1996 as a Philadelphia Phillie. He was the golden prospect. Finally, "there would be an heir apparent to Mike Schmidt!", sung the Philadelphia Inquirer in the 1997 Phillies season preview. (This says nothing about the rest of the team at that time). And Rolen lived up to most, if not all of his promise, to start. He was no Schmidt or Brett, but he was an all-star 3rd baseman (who deserved it) with some almost gaudy stats.

He unanimously won the ROY in 1997 with 93 R, 21 HR, 92 RBI and .846 OPS (121 OPS+). In 1998, he became a legitimate star with 120 R, 31 HR, 110 RBI, and .923 OPS (139 OPS+). He also won his 1st Gold Glove. 1999 and 2000, though not as spectacular statistically, showed similar performances by Rolen with around a .900 OPS. This is also around the first time period when the ubiquitous back problems appeared.



It was around 2001 when Rolen decided he didn't want to be a Phillie anymore. The Phillies had traded away Schilling the previous season and seemed to be going nowhere (although 2001 was a ultimately a winning season). Rolen allegely was offered a lucrative contract extension (I remember 8 year, $90 million), but turned it down before the 2002 season. The Phillies were stuck and Rolen was playing like he was stuck (career low .830 OPS through 100 games).



He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Placido Polanco, Mike Timlin, and Bud Smith. There, placed in a lineup with Jim Edmonds, Edgar Renteria, and Albert Pujols and also getting far away from the so-called Philadelphia boobirds, he was able to revive his career. This revival was punctuated by a career-best 2004 season in which he posted a 1.007 OPS (157 OPS+) with 34 HR and 124 RBI.



By 2007, injuries hit and he was traded to Toronto before the 2008 season. Canada did not heal him as he continued posting below average power numbers (though his range at third never diminished). Surprisingly, he was traded to the Reds at the trading deadline in 2009, and it was seen as a shortsighted move. He was expensive and clearly fading as a hitter.

All that changed in 2010 as he is now hitting .99/.360/.573 with 15 HR and 46 RBI in 65 games. This is the rate production he showed during his first few seasons. Is it sustainable? That is a question the future will hold. But there is no end for the Rolen identity as he still grits his teeth and uses that slightly awkward swing to be a successful baseball player.

P.S. He was my favorite player when he was a Phillie. It's nice to see him succeed again, though I would boo him if he played the Phillies. It's in my nature.