Showing posts with label Philadelphia Phillies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philadelphia Phillies. Show all posts

Saturday, July 2, 2011

The Collective Troll's Card o' da Day - The Rules and da Card...

Just in case someone is wondering what it takes to get to the plateau that is the CT CodD, there are a few things that can really help your cause...
1. I must own the card. You can send it to me, its okay...
2. If you send me the card AND a front and back scan, that would speed things up... Otherwise some more realistic reasons to find your way here include...
3. Being from one of my favorite sets including 1963 Topps, 1964 Topps GIANTS or 1965 Topps baseball OR on a better day 1887 Allen and Ginter.
4. Being a fav player of mine (and there are a BUNCH) helps...
5. I like cartoons and a cool cartoon makes any card Card o' da Day material...
6. Have a nickname. A cool one. Nicknames ARE Nitty Gritty. Even better when there is mystery and I can't figure out why you are referred to as the (insert bad ass moniker here)
7. There are way more than 6 factors, BUT I fear I am loosing you (I'm bored myself) so I will end it here... The final way to guarantee CodD status is to be a bad-ass player with ties to the great state of Oklahoma...
Okay, with the rules specified, lets get down to bizness and show off today's Collective Troll Card o' da Day. This card exemplifies numbers 1, 2, 3 AND 7. There is a chance this guy had a nickname too, but I don't know what it is. Do you? That information could push him into #4 as well... Anyhoo, hailing from Qualls, Oklahoma, the CT Card o' da Day is from 1963 Topps Baseball, card #434 of Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Johnny Callison. Callison was coming off a breakout year in '62 when he became an All Star (twice) for the first time (at age 23), paced the NL in triples (10), topped 100 runs scored (107), blasted 23 homers and hit .300 the only time in his 16-year big league career. The next year he made his third All Star appearance and took over in right field for Roberto Clemente. He was hitless in his first 2 plate appearances, but in the bottom of the ninth inning, with 2 outs and 2 men on, Callison delivered... He delivered by crushing a homerun to deep right field, breaking the tie and giving the NL the victory 7-4. It was the 3rd walk-off homer in All Star game history and Callison joined Ted Williams and Stan Musial as the 3 legends to hit 'em. The homer earned Callison MVP honors for the game. Despite his team's late season collapse that year, Callison finished strong himself and ended the 1964 season with a batting line of .274, 31 homers and 104 RBI. His Phillies finished second in the NL to the Cardinals and Callison finished second in the MVP vote to Cards third baseman Ken Boyer... The one thing his career lacked was October experience... With 4 different teams over 16 seasons Callison never made it to the postseason, but he has made it to the CT Card o' da Day! My 1963 Topps need list is of course up to date, so don't hold back and check it out right here...A HUGE thank you goes out to reader Brian G. for the card AND THE SCAN!!! Thanks for reading! Go Rays! troll out.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Plays at the Plate, Vintage Style!

Tonight the Rangers are going to stick the final nail in the Yankees coffin AND get to celebrate in front of the home crowd. I hope my buddy Brian from Play at the Plate has tickets and will be there to cheer the team on. The game starts at 7:30 PM Eastern. I am looking for the Rangers to start the power show early... In the meantime I am going to show off 3 Play at the Plate cards which will soon become part of the Play at the Plate Blog Collection. Starting with my current blog header pic showing Vic Power sliding into home plate on card #67 from 1956 Topps. A great base runner, Power once stole home twice in one game. He scored 91 runs in 1955 for the Athletics and made his first of 6 All Star appearances. He also switched to first base that year and would be fantastic at the position. From 1958 to 1964 he won 7 consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. It probably could have been more, but the Award wasn't given out for each League until 1958 and Power was the dominant fielding first baseman in the AL.

Next is card #45 of Gus Zernial, Power's power hitting teammate on the KC A's. The Play at the Plate shows Ozark Ike beating the throw and sliding in safe at home. Zernial spent 11 seasons playing in the American League and finished in the top-10 in homers six times. In 1951 he paced the league in both homeruns and RBIs.

My third and final Play at the Plate card from 1956 Topps is card #197 of Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Granny Hamner. Hamner was a key member of the Phillies Whiz Kids team that won the National League Pennant in 1950. In the Phils loss to the Yankees Hamner batted .429 in the Series. He was a 3-time All Star and one of the defensive leaders of the Whiz Kids. He also brought some pop to the plate, especially when he topped 20 homers in 1953. He held the record for homers by a shortstop for the Phillies which stood for over 50 years before Jimmy Rollins broke the mark in 2006. Brian, these are all yours for the claiming.
I love this game, I love this hobby! Go RANGERS! Beat them damn Yankees! For more 1956 Topps cards which don't show plays at the plate, click here.
Also please be sure to check out the New World Order takeover and giveaway over HERE. troll at the plate out.