Saturday, March 8, 2014

2014 Donruss #38 Cameron Rupp

Orioles 15, Phillies 4
Spring Training Game 10 - Friday Afternoon, March 7th in Sarasota
Record - 1-8-1

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies turned in perhaps their worst game of the spring, getting completely demolished by the Orioles, 15-4.

What Happened:  It's not going well for the Phils at this point.  Every Phillies pitcher to toe the rubber allowed at least one run in this game.  A.J. Burnett (3 IP, 6 ER) and Miguel Gonzalez (1 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 2 BB) were the worst offenders.  All reports indicate that Gonzalez looks no where near Major League ready.

On the field, the Phillies made numerous mental mistakes and they're now batting just .189 as a team - lowest among all teams.

Featued Card:  Cameron Rupp and Darin Ruf both homered in the game.  Ruf isn't featued in the new 2014 Donruss set, but Rupp has cards in the base set and in The Rookies insert set.  I've featured his base card here, which combines elements of the 1978 Topps set with the 1987 Donruss set to come up with something that looks vintage-y, yet modern at the same time.  It's a shame that Donruss doesn't have a Major League baseball license, as these cards would look even better if team logos were included.

Still, it's great to have Donruss back in the fold and I'll happily add this Phillies team set to my collection.  Now if someone would just resurrect the Fleer brand . . .

5 comments:

Jeff said...

I don't know if cameras can take blurry enough pictures these days for a Fleer resurrection.

Jim from Downingtown said...

Re: Miguel Gonzalez

Has Phillies' GM Ruben Amaro learned NOTHING from his past mistakes? He continues to throw huge sums of money at players that can't play.

Amaro knows how to SAY "due diligence", but he apparently doesn't know what it means.

So, Phillies fans are treated to a never-ending parade of Laynce Nix, Ty Wiggington, Delmon Young, Michael Martinez, Bobby Abreu, Chad Qualls, and their ilk, while Amaro says everything will work out because he's paying the players for major-league-quality performance.

Jim said...

Jeff - Perfect comment. Any new Fleer set would have to include blurry and off-center photos.

Jim - But how do you really feel about Amaro? ; )

Steve F. said...

Someone should create a Fleer baseball card app that adds a 1981/1982/1983 Fleer border and then blurs the photo.

Re Roooben, I'm 100% with Jim from Downingtown, a view I have expressed in numerous other websites but that I have tried to stay away from here. But let me add in the point that while Ruben could care less about whether a leadoff hitter has a .302 OBP, the .189 team BA will get his attention (I hope).

Jim said...

There's no way Ruben survives this season if things start to fall apart quickly. His contract takes him through 2015, but my guess (hope) is that he's on a very short leash this year.