My Phavorite Phillies Cards: Top Ten List- #3

3. 1934 Goudey- Charles (Chuck) Klein

This is the oldest Hall of Fame Phillie card that I have in my collection. This card is technically a Cubs card, as Klein was dealt to the Cubs after the 1933 season. But he's still wearing Phillies red, so I count it. Also, it's cooler than the almost identical 1933 issue, because it has the "Lou Gehrig says..." border at the bottom.

---------------------------------->1933 Goudey Chuck Klein<-------------------------------

Chuck Klein is still very clearly one of the most talented offensive players in Phillies history.

Before Ryan Howard, Klein was the Phillies career leader in both OPS and Slugging %.

In 1933 Klein had a triple crown season (.368, 28 HRs, 120 RBIs) and still managed to be the runner up to Carl Hubbell for that year's N.L. MVP.

There aren't many pre-1948 (Bowman era) Phillies Hall of Famers cards, primarily because the Phillies just don't have many Hall of Famers from that era.

One vintage Phillie Hall of Famer card that is at the very top of my wish list is the following:

This is a very rare, very expensive 1915 Cracker Jack Grover Cleveland Alexander card. A thing of beauty- and not likely acquirable until I win the lottery.

My Phavorite Phillies Cards: Top Ten List- #4

4. 2001 Upper Deck Prospect Premiers- Ryan Howard

Upper Deck took a chance including a big, lumbering 5th round draft pick in their 2001 Prospect Premier set, and in doing so, beat every other release of any other Ryan Howard card by 2 years- his next released card was his 2003 Bowman Draft Picks card:

I don't know how Upper Deck decides who to include in these sets, but they took a nice gamble on this one.

Howard is one of my favorite players ever, and I hope the penny-pinching Phillies extend him to the nice long contract that the slugger deserves.

One interesting observation on Ryan's baseball reference page:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/howarry01.shtml

In the "Similar Batters through Age 27" list, suprisingly, not a single Hall of Famer.

Norm Cash, Cecil Fielder, and Mo Vaughn all make the top 5 here, which is interesting when you consider the body shapes of those sluggers, and how they compare with RyHo:

Things that make you go hmmmm? Maybe we shouldn't jump on that extension just yet after all...

Ebay Purchase of the Day: Otto Knabe 1909 T206

For the bargain price of $14.95 (and a reasonable $3 shipping charge), I have received a very nice T206 Phillies card. This is my first ever T206 card- very glad to finally add one to my collection. For those of you who aren't as into baseball cards as I am, T206 was a set that was issued with tobacco cigarettes at the turn of the century. Although there are some tobacco sets that date back to the 1880's, this is the set that put baseball cards on the map- it's also the set that featues the most famous, and valuable card ever- Honus Wagner.

This particular card features no creasing, decent corners and great color for a 100 year old relic.

Otto is sporting a killer sweater as well- wasn't Alysa Milano sporting a hat like that today at the Phils game?

Anyway, let's take a quick look at Knabe- see if I got a decent Phillie, or if he's another Blondy Ryan:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/k/knabeot01.shtml

OK- this guy was a solid 2nd baseman!

Being that he was voted in in the top 20 in the MVP in back to back seasons (1912 & 1913), could steal some bases (143 over 11 seasons), and spent almost his entire career as a Phillie.

The scary part is his career most closely mirrors Ivan Dejesus, the former Phils shortstop - scary only because Ivan was involved in probably the worst deal in franchise history.

for

=

Phillies worst trade ever

My Phavorite Phillies Cards: Top Ten List- #5

To continue on with my favorite cards, I'll be listing them individually, well, because it's fun that way (and to once again be clear, these are cards that I own):

5. 1965 Topps- Richie Allen

Now that is an All-Star Rookie trophy!- I always prefered the large statue trophies Topps used to "hand out" vs. the bowl shaped trophies that they reintroduced in 1987- here's a sample:

(Note- Ruffin's card is NOT in my top ten!!!)

Dick Allen was a manchild- if he had stayed healthy, he would have finished a first ballot Hall of Famer- his early Philly career defintiely appeared to be going in that direction- baseball-reference.com has his age 25 "most similar by age" comparison as Willie Mays!

Although this is technically not Allen's rookie card, I prefer this one for several reasons:

• - The 1965 Topps set has always been one of my favorites, and the 1964 Topps set one of my least favorite.

• - The relative scarcity of this high number card actually pushes the value of the card above the '64 rookie.

• - No dorky black rimmed glasses and no John Herrnstein:
• 
  
  

Allen came into the league a dorky four eyes, and left as a juggling, chainsmoking badass: