After my delay in posting, I take this time to discuss the Phillies bench. With the Phillies being in first place, I am not too concerned with not having the starters play every game. Placido Polanco has been on the DL with a sports hernia. He was reactivated yesterday. Cole Hamels has been placed on the DL with soreness in his throwing shoulder. He should be available Monday. Jimmy Rollins has been placed on the DL with a Grade 2 strain to his groin. Raul Ibanez isn't on the DL yet but he's been out with soreness in his groin. Ryan Howard is missing his start tonight with pain in his foot. No reason to worry, yet. Taking their places are decent back-ups. Pete Orr has been called up from Triple A. Ben Fransisco playing left field for Ibanez. He's a decent player who would be better with more playing time but he's not likely to get much of it. He's a good bat to have when needed. Michael Martinez has been known to fill in at 3rd for Polanco. I think he's green but will be a good player. He's likeable. Wilson Valdez is a good player. He has played 3rd, SS, 2nd, and even pitched an inning. He is good. He tries a little too hard sometimes and that leads to mistakes. The gem has been John Mayberry, Jr. He has been fantastic. He plays hard and hits hard. He's got a bright career ahead of him, I bet. It's nice to know that when the big boys go down, they have some talent to get the team through. It's been a fun season, can't wait for the fall!
Holly
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Jim Thome Home-run #600...and might not make HoF?
Lets get the stats out of the way, before the opinion is made.
Jim Thome -August 27, 1970 in Peoria, IL
Teams - Indians/WhiteSox/Phillies/Twins/Dodgers 1991-2011
Games - 2456
At-Bats 8167
Hits 2263 14th all-time
RBI 1662 27th all-time
Home-runs 600 8th all-time
Extra-base hits 1066 27th all-time
All-Star 1997 1998 1999 2004 2006
Awards 2002 Reberto Clemente Award -
The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to a player who demonstrates the values Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others. ( From MLB)
2004 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award -
It is given to players who best exemplify his character and integrity both on and off the field. Since the award was created in 1955, the name of each winner has been placed on the Lou Gehrig Award plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. ( from Wiki)
At the end of the 2002 season Thome became a free agent. The Phillies at the time were looking to the future and trying to finally bring in some big named free agent, especially since they had a new ballpark about to open in the 2004 season. The Phillies were very good at NOT signing the big names for years. You need to remember this was before the new ballpark, before the winning seasons, before Howard Halladay Lee Oswalt Hamels , back when philly played Football and Baseball in the same stadium and the phillies were lucky to draw 20,000 fans a night.
So along comes Thome and the Phillies do everything they can to wow him into coming to our town and play for our team. When he comes into town back at the end of 2002 the Phillies put together this wonderful presentation, drive em around in a stretch limo, show him the city, but as they were leaving the Presentation at the new offices next to where the new ballpark is being built, the big construction workers union has shown up in numbers. They are all wearing the same shirt that says something like (Welcome to Philly Thome) Now this was not planned by the Phillies. This was done by the union itself. They decided they had so much pride in building this new stadium, and high hopes for the future that they wanted to voice their opinion directly to Thome himself.
So as Thome is pulling away from the offices in this giant stretch white limo, he see's the workers. He demands the driver to pull over, and spends the next hour or so meeting, signing autographs, and just shaking the Union workers hands. Again, this was unplanned and this showed the kind of guy Jim Thome is! He was not above the working man, he appreciated people who work hard and took pride in the work they did. I do not know Jim Thome personally, but stories like this speak volumes to the kind of human being a person is. So I was discouraged this morning upon waking up and reading a few reports that said Thome may not get the votes to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame, simply because he has played in the Steroid Era of MLB.
His numbers speak for themselves, I hope that stories like this one would be taken into account when the writers vote for Hall of Famer's in the future. You cant lump everyone who hit a Home Run in the 90's all into the Steroid era. You need to take into account how a man treats others, and if he says he did not do Steroids, a man like this one I would tend to believe.
Jim Thome -August 27, 1970 in Peoria, IL
Teams - Indians/WhiteSox/Phillies/Twins/Dodgers 1991-2011
Games - 2456
At-Bats 8167
Hits 2263 14th all-time
RBI 1662 27th all-time
Home-runs 600 8th all-time
Extra-base hits 1066 27th all-time
All-Star 1997 1998 1999 2004 2006
Awards 2002 Reberto Clemente Award -
The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to a player who demonstrates the values Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others. ( From MLB)
2004 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award -
It is given to players who best exemplify his character and integrity both on and off the field. Since the award was created in 1955, the name of each winner has been placed on the Lou Gehrig Award plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. ( from Wiki)
At the end of the 2002 season Thome became a free agent. The Phillies at the time were looking to the future and trying to finally bring in some big named free agent, especially since they had a new ballpark about to open in the 2004 season. The Phillies were very good at NOT signing the big names for years. You need to remember this was before the new ballpark, before the winning seasons, before Howard Halladay Lee Oswalt Hamels , back when philly played Football and Baseball in the same stadium and the phillies were lucky to draw 20,000 fans a night.
So along comes Thome and the Phillies do everything they can to wow him into coming to our town and play for our team. When he comes into town back at the end of 2002 the Phillies put together this wonderful presentation, drive em around in a stretch limo, show him the city, but as they were leaving the Presentation at the new offices next to where the new ballpark is being built, the big construction workers union has shown up in numbers. They are all wearing the same shirt that says something like (Welcome to Philly Thome) Now this was not planned by the Phillies. This was done by the union itself. They decided they had so much pride in building this new stadium, and high hopes for the future that they wanted to voice their opinion directly to Thome himself.
So as Thome is pulling away from the offices in this giant stretch white limo, he see's the workers. He demands the driver to pull over, and spends the next hour or so meeting, signing autographs, and just shaking the Union workers hands. Again, this was unplanned and this showed the kind of guy Jim Thome is! He was not above the working man, he appreciated people who work hard and took pride in the work they did. I do not know Jim Thome personally, but stories like this speak volumes to the kind of human being a person is. So I was discouraged this morning upon waking up and reading a few reports that said Thome may not get the votes to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame, simply because he has played in the Steroid Era of MLB.
His numbers speak for themselves, I hope that stories like this one would be taken into account when the writers vote for Hall of Famer's in the future. You cant lump everyone who hit a Home Run in the 90's all into the Steroid era. You need to take into account how a man treats others, and if he says he did not do Steroids, a man like this one I would tend to believe.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Topps Lineage fun.
Ok, so some might say that card collecting is a guy's hobby. I say it is for everyone. There is a line for every taste. As a kid, I collected baseball cards with my brother. We loved when we got Phillies. The rest we traded with each other as prizes for games of Go Fish. We flipped them at each other and kept them bound with rubber bands we stole from the morning newspaper or we kept them in shoe boxes. As we grew up, they went by the way side and got tossed in the garbage. Thanks, Mom. LOL I honestly, didn't even know they were still making them. I hadn't seen them in years. I hadn't thought of them in years. Greg saw the special on the MLB network and told me that he wanted to start collecting. He had me watch the special and I was hooked, too. We started small and got a few packs here or there. We decided to get the base sets and focus primarily on Phillies cards. I decided to take it further and collect Tim Lincecum cards. We've sampled various products. We really liked the Gypsy Queen cards. They are nice to look at and different. I collected the Opening Day series. That is simple set and it has fun inserts. The mascots are what did it for me. I finally got the Phillie Phanatic ( just look at the top picture of the blog) and was appeased. We have tried the new Allen and Ginter line and that is a nice set with good inserts. I had a major hit with a hobby box of Allen and Ginter when I pulled a Stephen Stasburg Topps 60th Anniversary autograph. Sweet! Recently, we tried the new Topps Lineage line.
I really like it. It's a nice base set with a heavy presence by older players.
The backs of the base sets do not feature stats but rather a short synopsis on the player. I think that will appeal more to women, like myself, who really don't get into the stats in a major way. I like reading a little write-up about the players. The inserts are cute. They look like the cards of my childhood, with bright colors.
I have not gotten a lot of them, yet, but hope to get at least a blaster box for myself. The collecting that Greg and I have done so far has brought us closer and has gotten our daughters interested in the cards. Rory has her own set of Brewers cards and Hailey has her own collection of Shane Victorino and Brian Wilson. Will anything come of this hobby? Who knows, but our family is having fun with it.
Holly
I really like it. It's a nice base set with a heavy presence by older players.
The backs of the base sets do not feature stats but rather a short synopsis on the player. I think that will appeal more to women, like myself, who really don't get into the stats in a major way. I like reading a little write-up about the players. The inserts are cute. They look like the cards of my childhood, with bright colors.
I have not gotten a lot of them, yet, but hope to get at least a blaster box for myself. The collecting that Greg and I have done so far has brought us closer and has gotten our daughters interested in the cards. Rory has her own set of Brewers cards and Hailey has her own collection of Shane Victorino and Brian Wilson. Will anything come of this hobby? Who knows, but our family is having fun with it.
Holly
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
The luck of the draw...or the baseball card gods smile on my wife.
So we have been collecting Baseball cards, more specifically, Topps series cards for the past few months. It started with MLBnetwork showing a special called Cardboard Treasures back in March. This special basically discussed the history of Topps baseball trading cards and the 60th anniversary of their first real set. The mythical 1952 Topps series. This set still is considered by many to be the holy grail and the start of the true baseball card. Even though many years prior cigarette company's like Piedmont and others had released some sets inserted into packs of smokes. This 1952 set still has one of the highest selling cards going. 1952 Mickey Mantle. Card #311
Anyway...I will go more into our personal collection in future blogs, but for now I wanted to mention a special card that we (specifically Holly) pulled the other day. I will also try and explain why for some odd reason it seems that she pulls the best cards we get, but that is another time. lol
Last year Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals was called up to the Majors, which set off a fire sale of his baseball cards. His card was so hot that one of them ended up selling for more then $20,000.00 dollars! Yes a Rookie baseball card sold for sums of money unheard of for a prospect. On Average, his autograph baseball cards sell for over $100.00 now.
So we have been lucky in the past and out of Topps series 1 and 2 pulled no autograph cards, only relic cards (that would be a piece of bat, game used jersey piece, heck for all I know maybe a damn shoelace, lol). Out of a box of Topps Gypsy Queen we got lucky with 1 Auto and 1 relic. From a 2007 box of Topps series 2 we felt lucky to get a Pedro Martinez relic card.
We have been very happy with our purchase, of a Topps Triple Threads relic card a few months ago. I will post that picture soon.
So back to the newest and Holly's best pull to date. Got a hobby box of 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter , which had 24 packs, 8 cards per pack, and a guarantee of 3 hits ( either auto, relic, or some other odds/ends) Each of the 3 hits, Holly got them in the packs she opened. They were decent relic cards, with a peice of jersey, no autos, no other special thing....then in the final pack ...she screams and jumps up out of bed. Omg she runs down the stairs and grabs a card holder. I sitting next to her, am going...ok wth could she have seen. Maybe a Lincecum or a good Phillies card...nope. she pulls a very hard to find, very special insert.
The best part of the whole card being pulled by her is the conversation we had not even 3 days prior, she asked me "How do people get these huge card hits? I mean how lucky do you have to be to get one of those cards that sell for $200-$300?" Well apparently you have to have your luck Holly!
Last year Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals was called up to the Majors, which set off a fire sale of his baseball cards. His card was so hot that one of them ended up selling for more then $20,000.00 dollars! Yes a Rookie baseball card sold for sums of money unheard of for a prospect. On Average, his autograph baseball cards sell for over $100.00 now.
So we have been lucky in the past and out of Topps series 1 and 2 pulled no autograph cards, only relic cards (that would be a piece of bat, game used jersey piece, heck for all I know maybe a damn shoelace, lol). Out of a box of Topps Gypsy Queen we got lucky with 1 Auto and 1 relic. From a 2007 box of Topps series 2 we felt lucky to get a Pedro Martinez relic card.
We have been very happy with our purchase, of a Topps Triple Threads relic card a few months ago. I will post that picture soon.
So back to the newest and Holly's best pull to date. Got a hobby box of 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter , which had 24 packs, 8 cards per pack, and a guarantee of 3 hits ( either auto, relic, or some other odds/ends) Each of the 3 hits, Holly got them in the packs she opened. They were decent relic cards, with a peice of jersey, no autos, no other special thing....then in the final pack ...she screams and jumps up out of bed. Omg she runs down the stairs and grabs a card holder. I sitting next to her, am going...ok wth could she have seen. Maybe a Lincecum or a good Phillies card...nope. she pulls a very hard to find, very special insert.
The best part of the whole card being pulled by her is the conversation we had not even 3 days prior, she asked me "How do people get these huge card hits? I mean how lucky do you have to be to get one of those cards that sell for $200-$300?" Well apparently you have to have your luck Holly!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The series thus far with San Fransisco.
Today, is the last game in the four game series in San Fransisco. The Phillies have taken the first 3 games. The first game was superbly pitched game by Cliff Lee. He was brilliant. He threw a 3-0 complete game shut-out. The Phillies offense has been hot since acquiring Hunter Pence before the trade deadline from Houston. The second game was another great performance by Vance Worley. He's been terrific in his rookie season. Again, the Phillies offense was hot. In the 6th inning, the Phillies were up 8-2. Giants reliever, Ramon Ramirez drilled Phillies centerfielder, Shane Victorino, in the back. Shane took a step towards the mound, Ramirez took a step toward the plate and chaos ensued. Giants catcher, Eli Whiteside, bounced around like he was itching for a fight and tried to tackle Placido Polanco. Benches and bullpens clear and it was a few minutes before things calmed down. Tensions ran high on both sides. Ramirez, Whiteside, and Victorino were ejected and suspensions are expected. The Phillies went on to win the game 9-2. The third game was a complete game pitched by Cole Hamel, who helped the Phillies win 2-1. The fourth game will be played later today. Roy Oswalt will pitch for the Phillies in his first start since going on the DL in June. He will face my favorite Giant, Tim Lincecum. I look forward to watching a great game and don't expect a lot of scoring. Both pitchers are terrific. Can't wait for game time.
Holly
Holly
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Phillies fan who likes Lincecum
The Phillies are in San Fransisco for a 4 game series. The Giants beat the Phillies last year in the NLCS and went on to win the 2010 World Series. Philadelphia fans don't forget that. I admit it that I like some members of the Giants a lot. I am a big Tim Lincecum fan. I collect his baseball cards and follow his career. It started in 2009 when Greg and I went to a game at Citizen's Bank Park to watch the Phillies win against the Giants. It was a fantastic night for me. It was my first time at CBP and I got to see Pedro Martinez pitch for the Phillies and Tim Lincecum pitch for the Giants. Lincecum has long hair. I like long hair, not going to lie here. Fast forward to 2010 and the Phillies were facing the Giants in the post-season. While I was crushed that the Phillies lost, my liking for Lincecum grew. The announcers for FOX made a big deal about Lincecum and showed him or talked about him in probably every inning, even in the games he wasn't starting. Greg and I adopted the mantra of WWTLD? Every thing we talked about we finished up with, "What would Tim Lincecum do?" It lasted all through the off-season. When Greg started collecting baseball cards, I decided while we collect Phillies cards, I was going to collect Lincecum cards. We both decided we liked Brian Wilson of the Giants, because he makes us laugh. It's hard to be a Lincecum fan in Philadelphia. It's not accepted in this area to like someone not on your home team. I love the Phillies. I will always be a Phillies fan. I can be a Lincecum fan and root for him when he's not facing the Phillies. The Phillies will always come first. That being said, he is slated to start in tomorrow's game in San Fransisco against the Phillies. Roy Oswalt is taking the ball for the Phillies and I'm looking forward to seeing the matchup. I want Lincecum to take the loss though. I would love to see the Phillies close this series out with a sweep. I will be able to watch the Franchise next week happily, seeing the losses to the Phillies on it. There was a big benches clearing brawl in the second game of the series and that will have to be a post all on it's own. More on that later.
Holly
Holly
Friday, August 5, 2011
Introduction to our life
Welcome to our blog. My husband, Greg, and I decided that we would start this blog about our passion for baseball. We are lifelong Philadelphia Phillies fans. There hasn't been a time either of us can remember where baseball wasn't in our lives in some fashion. Our baseball fever has escalated over time and now most of our kids are fans. Our youngest daughter, Rory, who is 4, can name just about every team by their logos and has pronounced herself a Milwaukee Brewers fan. Our oldest daughter, Hailey, who is 13, is a Shane Victorino fan. Our youngest son, Collin, who is 6, loves to play in the backyard. He calls himself "ColeGate" because he wanted a nickname like the Phillies get. Greg and I love to watch anything baseball, talk anything baseball, collect any baseball card we can get our hands on. Collecting cards and watching games has reinvigorated our friendship and we hope to share that with anyone who reads this.
Holly
While my wife, Holly, will give the female/wifes point of view on baseball I will try and give a different version. Not the quote "Mans" unquote point of view, just a different view. I will be doing more of the baseball card and stats perspective.
Our passion about baseball goes further back then how long we have known each other, the baseball card side of things is brand new. We started collecting after seeing the Topps 60th Anniversary special on MLBnetwork. It showed how much cards and collecting have changed over the years, and we were more then happy to be sucked into the world of cards. Our collection grows every day, and now we own some pretty decent cards. She is a huge Phillies fan, but likes to collect Tim Lincecum, I on the other hand just like any Phillies. I prefer guys like Ibanez or Pence, for the simple fact that everyone says they are nice guys. Sometimes nice guys do finish first.
We will try and give a update after most games and try to give a better breakdown weekly. I can't wait to see how this turns out.
Greg
Holly
While my wife, Holly, will give the female/wifes point of view on baseball I will try and give a different version. Not the quote "Mans" unquote point of view, just a different view. I will be doing more of the baseball card and stats perspective.
Our passion about baseball goes further back then how long we have known each other, the baseball card side of things is brand new. We started collecting after seeing the Topps 60th Anniversary special on MLBnetwork. It showed how much cards and collecting have changed over the years, and we were more then happy to be sucked into the world of cards. Our collection grows every day, and now we own some pretty decent cards. She is a huge Phillies fan, but likes to collect Tim Lincecum, I on the other hand just like any Phillies. I prefer guys like Ibanez or Pence, for the simple fact that everyone says they are nice guys. Sometimes nice guys do finish first.
We will try and give a update after most games and try to give a better breakdown weekly. I can't wait to see how this turns out.
Greg
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