Series Preview - Mets at Phillies: April 19th to April 21st

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 7:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Mets 5-6, Tied for 2nd place in the N.L. East, 4 games behind the Nationals
Phillies 6-7, Tied for 2nd place in the N.L. East, 4 games behind the Nationals

Mets Probables:  Noah Syndergaard (1-0, 0.69), Logan Verrett (0-0, 1.29), Bartolo Colon (1-1, 2.13)
Phillies Probables:  Jared Eickhoff (1-1, 1.50), Vince Velasquez (2-0, 0.00), Jeremy Hellickson (1-1, 4.30)

At the Ballpark:  There's not much in the way of promotions and giveaways for this three game series against the Mets.  Tonight's a Dollar Dog night and there are several ticket discounts for various themes - Asian Pacific Celebration and After Tax Day Discounts tonight, Autism Awareness and Red Goes Greek on Tuesday night.

Mets Leaders
Average:  Michael Conforto - .313
Runs:  Yoenis Cespedes - 7
Home Runs:  Yoenis Cespedes and Neil Walker - 3
RBIs:  Yoenis Cespedes - 9
Stolen Bases:  David Wright - 2

Wins:  Five tied with - 1
ERA:  Noah Syndergaard - 0.69
Strikeouts:  Noah Syndergaard - 21
Saves:  Jeurys Familia - 3

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Maikel Franco - .267
Runs:  Three tied with - 4
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 4
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 7
Stolen Bases:  Three tied with - 1

Wins:  Vince Velasquez - 2
ERA:  Vince Velasquez - 0.00
Strikeouts:  Vince Velasquez - 25
Saves:  Jeanmar Gomez - 4

1970 Topps #83

1970 Topps #270

1970 Topps Appreciation:  Today's pairing features two players who were teammates on the Phillies between 1957 and 1960.

Don Cardwell spent the first three seasons of his 14-year career pitching for the Phillies.  One of the team's primary starters between 1957 and 1959, he went 17-26 in 76 games with the Phils, making 59 starts.  On May 13, 1960, Cardwell was traded with Ed Bouchee to the Cubs for Cal Neeman and Tony Taylor.  In his first start with the Cubs, on May 15th, Cardwell pitched a no-hitter against the Cardinals.

For the 1969 Mets, Cardwell was directly involved with their miraculous pennant run, going 5-1 with a 1.82 ERA from August 1st through the end of the regular season.  He finished up his career in 1970, appearing in 16 games for the Braves.

Long-time Phillie Chris Short was nearly at the end of his Phillies (and baseball) career in 1970. Short went 9-16 that season with a 4.30 ERA, serving as a third starter behind Rick Wise and Jim Bunning in the rotation.

2012 Phungo #1 Harry Kalas

Phillies 4, Pirates 3
Spring Training Game 33 - Monday Night, April 2nd in Philadelphia
Record - 13-16-4

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies played a warm-up game in Citizens Bank Park, winning on a go-ahead triple in the seventh from Freddy Galvis.

What It Means:  They played baseball in South Philly last night, which means that spring has officially sprung.

What Went Right:  The Phils put up solo runs in the first three innings playing small ball.  Juan Pierre doubled to start the game and eventually scored on a Jimmy Rollins sac fly.  In the second, Shane Victorino tripled and scored on a Ty Wigginton ground out.  And in the third, Rollins doubled home Pierre who had reached on a hit by pitch and then stole second.  Is this the new offensive style of the Phillies?

Joe Blanton pitched 4+ strong innings, allowing a couple of runs on three hits while striking out three.

Featured Cards:  Birds are chirping, bees are buzzing, the Phils are playing again and Phungo Cards are back!  I love this time of year.

I received two packs of Phungo cards from Phungo World Headquarters yesterday - a hot of the presses pack of 2012 Phungo cards and a vintage 2011 Phungo pack.  The best thing about packs of Phungo cards, other than the Phungo photography, are the guaranteed vintage hits within each pack of cards.  (Here's a look back at my packs of 2009 and 2010 Phungo cards.)

2012 Phungo #5, #42 and #20

I really like the 2012 design, which borrows heavily from the 1982 Fleer set with its oval name plate.  The card at the top of the post features a close-up of the Harry Kalas statue that greets fans outside Harry the K's restaurant in the left field bleachers.

2011 Phungo Phillies Alumni Night

And this really reminds me of old-school Fleer cards.  This is a special two-card panoramic shot of a group of Phillies from the team's 2009 Alumni Night.  As originally featured in a past Phungo post, the photo was notable at the time for featuring all four living Phillies Hall of Famers.  Sadly, Robin Roberts has left us since this photo was taken.  Here are the players featured from left to right:

Roberts, Mike Schmidt, Jim Bunning, Bobby Wine, Mitch Williams, Fred Wenz, Tony Taylor, Rich Surhoff, Jimmie Schaffer, Dickie Noles, Al Neiger and Steve Carlton.

1976 Topps #624, 1959 Topps #314 and #503 and 1975 Topps #242

My packs also yielded quite a few vintage hits which, as luck would have it, were all Phillies cards appearing on my want lists.  There were also two 1971 Topps cards that I just happened to need for my set.  What are the odds?

1983 Topps Stickers #274, #329, #320, #288 and #319

Finally, I found this beauty.  It's a strip of stickers from the 1983 Topps Stickers set, but they're all connected.  I'm very familiar with the 1983 Topps Stickers set, but I honestly don't remember them ever being sold in strip form.  This goes right into my Bob Dernier player collection.

Thanks again Phungo!