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.
   

Random Junky Pack Break

I recently purchased 2 boxes of 1988 junk wax on eBay for the steep price of $1.25 (plus shipping, of course). What can I say -- it was an impulse buy. Anyway, said junk arrived on my doorstep today and I decided to bust open one pack in search of some Phillie goodness.

I think today we will start with good ol' Topps. According to the wrapper, I could win a trip to 1989 Spring Training!

First things first, 21 year old gum that is surprisingly in one piece. Abby desperately wanted it, but I couldn't do that to a child.

410 Tony Pena
230 Pat Tabler
509 Bill Dawley
227 Ed Correa
343 Greg Gagne -- according to Wikipedia Greg is "arguably the greatest shortstop in the history of the Minnesota Twins."
222 Steve Farr
218 Dan Shatzeder
694 Eric Nolte
15 Chili Davis
308 Lee Mazzilli
384 Neil Allen
202 Glenn Hoffman
151 Bob Knepper
510 Dave Winfield -- guess this is the "hit" of the pack.
152 Jody Reed

No Phillies. Hmm, that was uneventful.

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.

2009 Phillies Wantlist

Last Updated: 7/26/2009

This is just a list of base cards; I'm also interested in any inserts, parallels, etc. also. You can email me at phightinphils5 at verizon dot com.

BOWMAN
6 Jimmy Rollins
14 Ryan Howard
63 Raul Ibanez
70 Cole Hamels
75 Jayson Werth
103 Jamie Moyer
154 Brett Myers
159 Shane Victorino
195 Andrew Carpenter RC

BOWMAN CHROME PROSPECTS
BCP25 Jeremy Hamilton
BCP29 Tyson Brummett
BCP62 Michael Stutes
BCP120 Jason Knapp AU

BOWMAN PROSPECTS
BP25 Jeremy Hamilton
BP29 Tyson Brummett
BP90 Michael Cisco

FAT HEAD TRADEABLES
3 Chase Utley
31 Brad Lidge
111 Jayson Werth
114 Ryan Howard
129 Jimmy Rollins
132 Cole Hamels
147 Shane Victorino
L21 Philadelphia Phillies

FINEST
6 Ryan Howard
11 Jimmy Rollins
26 Chase Utley
35 Cole Hamels
39 Brett Myers
50 Jamie Moyer
104 Raul Ibanez
126 Andrew Carpenter RC

O-PEE-CHEE
10 Jimmy Rollins
29 Jamie Moyer
175 Cole Hamels
191 Ryan Madson
257 Pedro Feliz
286 Carlos Ruiz
341 Greg Dobbs
366 Jayson Werth
528 Phillies CL
534 Delgado/Dunn/Howard

SP LEGENDARY CUTS
6 Ryan Howard
11 Jimmy Rollins
26 Chase Utley
35 Cole Hamels
126 Mike Schmidt
127 John Kruk
128 Steve Carlton

SPx
31 Cole Hamels
38 Ryan Howard
80 Jimmy Rollins
92 Chase Utley
108 Greg Golson AU (RC)
114 Lou Marson AU (RC)

TOPPS
12 Andrew Carpenter RC
20 Brad Lidge
73 Shane Victorino
81 Howard/Dunn/Delgado LL
103 Kyle Kendrick
107 Pedro Feliz
139 Matt Stairs HL
147 Howard/Wright/GOnzalez LL
191 Shane Victorino HL
200a Chase Utley
207 Joe Blanton
245 Pat Burrell
278 Phillies HL
291 Chris Coste
299 Cole Hamels HL
397 Carlos Ruiz
428 Jamie Moyer
475b Mike Schmidt SP
500 Ryan Howard
525 Jimmy Rollins
557 Jayson Werth
632 Brett Myers
650a Cole Hamels
650b Steve Carlton SP

TOPPS ALLEN & GINTER
30 Ryan Howard
68 Jamie Moyer
148 Brad Lidge
151 Cole Hamels
156 Jayson Werth
162 Shane Victorino
165 Chase Utley
183 Pedro Feliz
187 Brett Myers
198 Raul Ibanez
350 Jimmy Rollins

TOPPS ATTAX
52 Pedro Feliz
73 Cole Hamels
90 Raul Ibanez
115 Brad Lidge
138 Brett Myers
170 Jimmy Rollins
197 Chase Utley
202 Shane Victorino
210 Jayson Werth

TOPPS ATTAX CODE CARDS
10 Ryan Howard

TOPPS ATTAX GOLD
10 Ryan Howard

TOPPS ATTAX SILVER FOIL
15 Cole Hamels
21 Raul Ibanez
27 Brad Lidge
45 Jimmy Rollins
56 Chase Utley

TOPPS HERITAGE
31 Raul Ibanez
103 Brad Lidge
138 Andrew Carpenter RC
140 Lou Marson (RC)
185 Kyle Kendrick
222 Charlie Manuel MG
238 Ronny Paulino
300 Ryan Howard
334 Jimmy Rollins
385 Chase Utley WS
387 Carlos Ruiz WS
388 Ryan Howard WS
389 Jayson Werth WS
415 Jayson Werth
416 JC Romero
438 Chris Coste SP
451 Shane Victorino SP
466 Thompson/Dubee/Lopes CO SP

TOPPS TARGET
12 Andrew Carpenter RC
20 Brad Lidge
44 Geoff Jenkins
81 Howard/Dunn/Delgado LL
103 Kyle Kendrick
107 Pedro Feliz
139 Matt Stairs HL
147 Howard/Wright/GOnzalez LL
186 Ryan Madson
200 Chase Utley
207 Joe Blanton
245 Pat Burrell
278 Phillies HL
291 Chris Coste
299 Cole Hamels HL

TOPPS WALMART BLACK BORDER
12 Andrew Carpenter RC
20 Brad Lidge
44 Geoff Jenkins
73 Shane Victorino
81 Howard/Dunn/Delgado LL
103 Kyle Kendrick
107 Pedro Feliz
139 Matt Stairs HL
147 Howard/Wright/GOnzalez LL
186 Ryan Madson
191 Shane Victorino HL
200 Chase Utley
207 Joe Blanton
245 Pat Burrell
278 Phillies HL
291 Chris Coste
299 Cole Hamels HL

UD A PIECE OF HISTORY
71 Chase Utley
72 Ryan Howard
73 Jimmy Rollins
119 Greg Golson (RC)
124 Lou Marson (RC)

UPPER DECK
290 Ryan Howard
291 Chase Utley
292 Jimmy Rollins
293 Pedro Feliz
294 Pat Burrell
295 Geoff Jenkins
298 Brad Lidge
299 Cole Hamels
300 Jamie Moyer
301 Adam Eaton
302 Matt Stairs
422 Greg Golson (RC)
472 Chase Utley CL
799 Jimmy Rollins
802 Chris Coste
803 Ryan Madson
804 Chan Ho Park
806 Kyle Kendrick
808 Cole Hamels
809 Brad Lidge
810 Greg Dobbs
811 Scott Eyre
812 Eric Bruntlett
813 Ryan Howard
814 Chase Utley
963 Jimmy Rollins AW
968 Brad Lidge AW
972 Raul Ibanez CL

UPPER DECK 1ST EDITION
224 Greg Golson (RC)
225 Joe Blanton
225 Ryan Howard
227 Chase Utley
228 Jimmy Rollins
229 Pat Burrell
230 Shane Victorino
231 Brett Myers
232 Brad Lidge
233 Cole Hamels

UPPER DECK GOUDEY
151 Cole Hamels
152 Lou Marson (RC)
153 Chase Utley
156 Greg Golson (RC)
157 Pat Burrell
158 Shane Victorino
159 Brad Lidge
225 Steve Carlton SR SP
229 Mike Schmidt SR SP
241 Cole Hamels SR SP
279 Ryan Howard HU SP
280 Chase Utley HU SP
281 Jimmy Rollins HU SP

UPPER DECK SPECTRUM
73 Chase Utley
74 Ryan Howard
75 Jimmy Rollins
106 Lou Marson AU (RC)
115 Greg Golson AU (RC)

Personal Confession Time, pt. 1

Ok, I'm sorry that's not really true. False blog advertising, I guess.

Actually, this post is about my insomniac, e-bay addicted husband. Normally these two afflictions of his are a source of pain in the rear end for me. Sometime, just sometimes, it actually works in my favor. Today is one of those days.

He must have run out of motorcycles and GI Joes to look at because he won some auctions for me.

First up is a 1982 Topps Phillies team set. Obviously this is not a picture of the actual cards I will be receiving...I hope. If it is, then the seller is one confused individual. But they should look quite similar to some of those cards below.

Next up is a lot of 17 1975 Topps Phillies cards. Those cards look a little something like this...

Crazy ugly, I know.

Lastly, for now, a lot of 27 different 1961 Topps Phillies. Mmm, vintage goodness.

So, there you have it -- you know where I will be -- waiting by my mailbox, possibly drooling slightly in anticipation of ripping open some envelopes.

Werth Last Minute Addition to All-Star Roster

Outfielder Jayson Werth is set to replace the injured Carlos Beltran on the NL's All-Star Team. Jayson joins Phillies already going -- Shane Victorino, Rauuuul Ibanez, Chase Utley, and reservist Ryan Howard.

Did You Know...
Jayson comes from a very sporty family? His dad played in the Cardinals' farm system in 1978, his mom competed in the Olympic Trials in the long jump and 100 meter dash, his grandfather and uncle were both MLB infielders, and his stepfather played with the Royals and Yankees from 1978-1982.

He was a first round draft pick in 1997? He was chosen by the Orioles.

Victorino Headed to St. Louis

Victorino beat out Pablo Sandoval, Mark Reynolds, Matt Kemp, and Cristian Guzman with a record 15.6 million votes to make the NL All-Star Team.

Some Random Facts About Shane:

He was born in Wailuku, Hawaii.
He is an Eagle Scout.
Nicknamed "The Flyin' Hawaiian" and "The Pineapple Express."
Hit his first ever major league grand slam of off CC Sabathia in Game 2 of the NLDS.