Card O' The Day: 2004 Bowman Chrome Draft #77 J.A. Happ

J.A. Happ is having one hell of a season. Currently 7-0 with a 2.86 ERA for the season, he is 5-0 with a 2.74 ERA as a starter. A few more good starts and he could be a contender for ROY. He could also become a Blue Jay, but that's just random speculation which I don't like to do. Bleh.

Anyway, enjoy this gem of a rookie card. And in case you were wondering, his name is pronounced "Jay." Random bits of information...it's what I'm best at.

Card O' The Day: 1993 Upper Deck #436 Chad McConnell

Be forewarned...it's hot today. And at 7 months pregnant this does not make me a happy camper. That being said, I pulled this card randomly off of the top of a pile of cards that have not been organized yet. No thought or pre-planning was put into this post at all today.

Apparently, Chad McConnell was a "top prospect" back in good ol' 1993 -- at least according to Upper Deck. I can honestly say that I wasn't paying much attention to the prospects back in 1993. After seeing the smug look that Chad is giving the camera, I felt the burning desire to delve deeper into the mystery.

After 2 1/2 minutes of extensive research, here's what I discovered --

1. Chad was on the 1992 Olympic Team.
2. He was drafted in the first round of the 1992 draft. That's right, the same draft that produced Derek Jeter.
3. Poor Chad never made it to the big show, splitting his time between Clearwater and Reading.
4. He finished his career in 1996 with 119 strikeouts for the season.
   

Card O' The Day: 2007 Topps Opening Day Phillie Phanatic

Like most kids, the best part of a baseball game for my 7 year old daughter is the mascots. Luckily for us, the Reading Phillies and Harrisburg Senators (the two minor league teams we frequent) have, at least it seems like, about 5,000 mascots between the two of them. These mascots have autographed everything from hats to shirts to balls and everything in between for us. And we, Abby especially, appreciates every single one. But the end all, be all of mascots is of course the revered Phillie Phanatic. The Phanatic is as much a part of the Phillies as Richie Ashburn or Mike Schmidt and has been since being introduced in 1978. I've never known the Phillies without the Phanatic. Which is what makes this card so essential to my collection.

This specific card (which reached me by way of Collective Troll) is from the 2007 Topps Opening Day set. In the grand scheme of things there is nothing incredibly special about this card -- it's not a certified autograph, or game-used jersey, it has no bright green hair strands encapsulated within it (how cool would that be, though?) -- but it captures the Phanatic in his natural element of entertaining the fans.

BTW, if you're interested...
...the Phanatic stands at 6'6" and weighs 300 lbs.
...he hails from his homeland of the Galapagos Islands.
...I'm not actually sure what he is, but Abby likes to think he is some weird green anteater.

Card O' The Day: 1959 Topps #300 Richie Ashburn

Now, don't get me wrong, I like Jimmy Rollins just as much as the next Phils fan, but he's slumping right now. He came back after a four game vacay to hit leadoff and is now 0 for 27. Which leads me to the Card O' The Day...1959 Topps #300, none other than Mr. Ashburn himself. One of the greatest leadoff batters in major league history (not that I am biased, of course). This card is from the year after Richie beat out Willie Mays to win his second NL batting title, he hit .350 in 1958. Coincidentally, Richie is also the last Phillie to have won a batting title. Richie was traded after the '59 season to the Chicago Cubs and and retired after the '62 season with the Mets. So enjoy the vintage goodness and bask in the glory of Mr. Ashburn.