All Burgundy: Jimmy, Ryan, Chase & Cole

Last week's 1979 Mike Schmidt redux post rekindled my curiosity/obsession with the infamous all burgundy Saturday Night Special uniforms the Phillies wore on May 19th, 1979. Much to my continuous dismay, there weren't many photos taken that night. In fact, in the 33 years later, I have only ever seen four actual pictures from that game.

As I was colorizing the far left Mike Schmidt picture, I started thinking about the current Phillies. The team has participated in both home and away "throwback" uniform games several times in the last couple of years. What would it look like if the current Phillies got to throwback to the magic of the 1979 all-burgundy threads?

1979 Mike Schmidt Topps redux

If this story sounds like the 2012 Phillies, it is only a coincidence...

The 1979 Philadelphia Phillies were coming off of three straight NL East titles and three bitter NLCS defeats. In an effort to push the franchise over the hump the organization signed the biggest available free agent on the market... superstar Pete Rose. With Charlie Hustle wearing red pinstripes, batting lead-off and manning first-base the Phillies were the clear favorites to waltz away with the world championship. Except things don't always go the way you expect in baseball.

Instead the "We are Family" Pittsburgh Pirates won the NL East leaving the Phillies 14 games behind a distant fourth. Then the Pirates went on the win the World Series and Phillies fans were beginning to believe their window of opportunity for a championship was closed for good. It all turned out OK the next year, but 1979 was painful to Phillies fans.

After a mediocre 1978 season, Mike Schmidt returned to his typical elite level in 1979. With Rose now playing first, Schmidt was finally elected as the third base starter for the NL All Star team. He hit 45 home runs and drove in 114 runs. More importantly, for the first time in his career, he walked more times than he struck out. Mike Schmidt had developed into a great player.

My first 1979 redux card used a beautifully lit Heinz Kluetmeier/Sports Illustrated image. It looked great. But  late last night my browser bumped into a rare image of Michael Jack Schmidt sporting the infamous all-burgundy Phillies uniform... and just like that I had a new colorization project. Worn only once on Saturday night May 19, 1979 in a 10–5 loss to the Expos. The all-burgundy "Saturday Night Specials" uniforms never saw the turf of Veterans Stadium again.

Redux Project: 1971 Topps Mike Schmidt

Kicking off a new "Redux Project"... this time I am taking on the career of Phillies Hall of Famer: Michael Jack Schmidt.

The first card features him as a ballplayer at Ohio University. He was a four-year letter-winner for the Bobcats from 1967-1971 and was an All-American shortstop in 1970 and 1971. Ohio appeared in the College World Series in that 1970 season. Schmidt was selected in the second round of the 1971 MLB Draft (30th overall pick) by the Phillies in 1971.

1952 Topps Dick Allen

I couldn't decide if I should do this card for the White Sox or the Phillies.
So, I decided to do both:

DA Legacy Cards using the 1952 Topps design


1952 Topps template here

Parade of Ridiculousness: CANDY-CORN Cal

"Someone said it looked like Halloween candy corn...
Take a picture. You won't see them again."

~ Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter 

August 13th, 2010 after his team donned the "all orange" in Tampa

The 1970s were a strange and wonderful time.

The original Oriole all-orange alternate uniforms debuted on September 16th 1971, the night Frank Robinson hit his 501st home run and Brooks Robinson hit a grand slam. This was appropriate because the fancy new threads were actually sold to the club from the Brooks Robinson Sporting Goods Company.

The unis were only used in three games, twice in 1971 and once more in 1972. Our friends at the Fleer Sticker Project have already collected and documented with a comprehensive set of images so I don't have to.

I started thinking: How fair is this? If Boog Powell, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer, Bobby Grich, Pat Dobson, Earl Weaver and rest of the Oriole dynasty all had to wear those mono-orange uniforms... it only seems fair that Cal Ripken Jr. should have to wear them too.

After numerous requests and the overwhelming guilt I feel when promises I make remain undelivered, I will start posting some of the card templates I have created. Here is a link to the re-tooled 1971 Topps card I used for this post.

Disclaimer: Going forward, I will share template files when it makes sense. They will be posted as PSD files. A basic understanding of photoshop and layers is required. I will make the layers as simple as I can, but I am not going to be able to help provide tech support. In some cases, you will also need to download a new font to achieve the correct look. In this case, the font used at the top of the card is called MAXIMUS -- it is not a standard font preloaded on most computers. I downloaded it from a very useful website called: DAFONT.COM

Familiar Faces / Strange Places: Jimmy Wynn 1977 Brewers

I've always been a Jimmy Wynn fan. There is no doubt he would have gotten a lot more love and attention if he had played the majority of his games anywhere else but Houston. Of the 291 home runs the man hit... 97 of them where in the cavernous Astrodome.

After spending 1976 and hitting only .208 in Atlanta, he signed with the New York Yankees. The deal was done the day after they signed Reggie Jackson, and went off without much fanfare. The plan for the 1977 Yankees was to put Wynn at designated hitter. He smacked a home run in his Yankee debut, but that turned out to be his final career home run. After falling into a terrible slump (including an 0 for 32 stretch) he lost his job and his stay in the Bronx lasted just 30 games before getting released.

A few days later he signed as a free agent with Milwaukee and finished out the season and his career as a Brewer.

There have been attempts by others to create this 1977 Jimmy Wynn Brewers card, but without a good image... the best photo-chopping in the world doesn't work for me. I have been searching for months for a decent image of the Toy Cannon in a Brewers uniform with no luck, until I ran into this rare gem on eBay.

1980 Topps Dick Allen - Cardinals

DA Legacy Card using the 1980 Topps design

I colorized this image from the original B&W shot

1985 Topps Dick Allen - Phillies

DA Legacy Card using the 1985 Topps design

I colorized this from the original B&W picture.

On this day... Allen shows he is in charge

April 12th, 1965. The Phillies visit the newly renamed Houston Astros to help open their new Astrodome. In the top of the third inning, Dick (then known as Richie) Allen blasts a home run to centerfield driving in the only two runs of the game. It was the first home run ever hit (during a regular season game) in the dome. Phils starter Chris Short goes the distance for the 2-0 shutout win.

According to to the newspaper report, Astros starter Bob Bruce knocked Allen down earlier in the plate appearance with a high inside pitch. After the game, the reigning NL rookie of the year said:

"When that happens. you just have to show who's in charge, him or me"

Note: This article was taken from the Gettysburg (PA) Times. I find it interesting the local press focuses the title of the article on a meaningless error. The rest of the national news reports focused on the actual important part of to the game.

DAHOF Top 100 -- #7 Carlton Fisk

On Tuesday night May 22nd, 1990 the Chicago White Sox were in the Bronx playing the New York Yankees. Deion Sanders was playing in his 24th career major league game. Carlton Fisk was logging his 2,172nd.

The Sox were winning 1-0 with one out in the third inning, Randy Velarde was on third base when Deion Sanders strolled to the plate. He turned Melido Perez's second pitch into weak pop fly towards the shortstop. Rather than run to first (the ball could have dropped for an error) Sanders showed the true character of his heart by trotting to the dugout. Yankee fans booed.

Fisk: Run the fucking ball out, you piece of shit...
Sanders: What? 
Fisk: Run the ball out.

Infuriated, Fisk stewed until Sanders came to the plate again to lead off the fifth inning "I made eye contact with him on purpose the next time he came up (in the fifth inning)," Fisk said. "He mumbled something and I said, 'What?' Then he said, 'The days of slavery are over.' I told him, 'There's a right way and a wrong way to play this game.'

Following the game Fisk was quoted:
"It's the Yankee pride and the Yankee pinstripes involved here, Some of those guys got to be turning over in their graves. Watch. He'll go out and play good now. And I hope he does. I play for the other team, but that even offends me. Now he comes up the second time and he wants to make it a racial issue. There's no racial issue involved. It's professional etiquette. There's something special about Yankee Stadium, and that's why I didn't talk about it (Tuesday) night. I might have said something I'd be sorry for. I'm either old and cynical or old and sentimental. Either way, I know what's right and what's wrong."

2000 Topps Dick Allen - Cardinals

DA Legacy Card using the 2000 Topps design

Parade of Ridiculousness: Vida Blue in the Bronx Zoo

“Charlie, I’m at Comiskey and just heard from Johnny about your sales. I don’t like the look of these sales at all. I’m putting everything on hold until I can decide whether or not to stop them. I want you to know that. I’ve advised the Red Sox and Yankees.”

“Commissioner, it’s none of your damn business. You can’t stop me from selling players. Guys have been selling players forever, and no commissioner has ever stopped them.”

“Commissioner, I can’t sign these guys. They don’t want to play for ol’ Charlie. They want to chase those big bucks in New York. If I sell them now, I can at least get something back. … I can sign amateurs and build the team again. … I know how to do it. You know I do. You’ve seen me do it. And you shouldn’t be thinking about getting into this. ... This free agency thing is terrible. The only way to beat it is with young players. That’s where I’ll put the money,”

"Shorn of much of its finest talent in exchange for cash, the Oakland club, which has been divisional champion for the last five years, has little chance to compete effectively in its division. Whether other players will be available to restore the club by using the cash involved is altogether speculative although Mr. Finley vigorously argues his ability to do so. … Public confidence in the integrity of club operations and in baseball would be greatly undermined should such assignments not be restrained. While I am of course aware that there have been sales of players contracts in the past, there has been no instance in my judgment which had the potential for harm to our game as do these assignments, particularly in the present unsettled circumstances of baseball’s reserve system and in the highly competitive circumstances we find in today’s sports and entertainment world."

“Kuhn sounds like the village idiot. He’s continuing a personal vendetta with me... We’re going to haul his tail into court Monday. His Highness can’t make decisions that are contrary to the law of the land.”

“A true genius is rarely appreciated in his own time. A true asshole almost always is. Major League Baseball quickly recognized that Charles O. Finley, maverick owner of the Athletics in the 1960s and 1970s, was the latter. They still haven’t a clue that he was the former, as well.”

Parade of Ridiculousness: The 'Best Interests of Baseball'

Working on my recent Joe Rudi DAHOF Top 100 post reminded me about the June 1976 "deal" that Oakland owner Charlie Finley made with the Red Sox. If you don't know the story: Charlie O saw the new world of baseball free agency emerging... and didn’t like it. In a prehistoric version of the modern day "fire sale"* he sent two of his star players, Rollie Fingers and Joe Rudi to Boston for $1M each.

The deal was voided by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who invoked the “best interests of baseball” clause as justification. Finley was pissed and called Kuhn "the village idiot" and sued MLB, but lost the case when the court ruled that the commissioner had the authority to determine what is in the best interest of baseball.

Rudi and Fingers would leave Oakland and Charlie after the ’76 season, signing big free agent deals with California and San Diego respectively.

* Later that same night, Finley also "sold" Vida Blue to the Yankees for $1.5M. Stay tuned for a Vida/Yankees 1976 card.

2005 Topps Dick Allen - Phillies

DA Legacy Card using the 2005 Topps design

2006 Topps Dick Allen - Phillies

DA Legacy Card using the 2006 Topps design

2008 Topps Dick Allen - Phillies

DA Legacy Card using the 2008 Topps design

Familiar Faces / Strange Places & On This Day: Bob Watson / Red Sox

September 15th, 1979. After hitting a single in the second, a double in the fourth, and tripling in the eighth, Red Sox first Baseman Bob Watson completes a natural cycle with a home run the in the ninth inning of the Red Sox 10-2 victory over the Orioles in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. The win holds the Orioles magic number for the AL East crown at "1". He also becomes the first modern major leaguer to hit for the cycle in both leagues having already accomplishing the feat with Houston in 1977.

Watson was originally a catcher in minors, but he was converted to a first baseman / outfielder by the time he made it to the majors in 1966. He spent most of his career as a solid and dependable contributor in Houston making it to two All Star games (1972 & 1975). A big strong player, there is no disputing the fact his power numbers were negatively impacted by playing in the Astrodome. Of the 184 career home runs he did collect, 117 of them came on the road.

One May 4th, 1975 Watson became the answer to an interesting (yet flawed) baseball trivia question. He was credited with scoring the 1,000,000th run in major league history. In the second inning, Watson walked, stole second base and scored Milt May's 3-run homer at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. It was known that the 999,999th run had already scored, with sponsored updates being provided by and to every ballpark. Despite the lack of in-game urgency, Watson ran at full speed, reaching home plate approximately four seconds before Dave Concepción, who had just homered in Cincinnati and was also racing around the bases. For his effort, Watson who won $10,000 and one million Tootsie Rolls provided by the event's sponsor. It has later been determined that inaccurate records prevent us from really knowing who scored the "one millionth" run.

After 14 seasons in Houston, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in June 1979 for what turned out to be two unknown players (Pete Ladd and Bobby Sprowl) and cash. He played in 84 games as a member of the Red Sox before leaving as a Free Agent at the end of the 1979 season.

He signed with the New York Yankees before the 1980 season and played on two Yankee playoff teams (1980 and 1981) before being traded to the Braves seven games into the 1982 season. He ended up helping the surprising 1982 Western Division Champion Braves, managed by Joe Torre. He spent the next two seasons in Atlanta, mostly as a pinch hitter, and retired after the 1984 season.

He was named as the General Manager of the Houston Astros at the end of the 1993 season becoming the first black man MLB history to hold that role. He later became the GM for the New York Yankees and teamed up with Joe Torre to deliver the 1996 World Series championship. He has worked in the MLB front office since 1997, were he has been in charge of discipline, rules and on-field operations. In 1997 he has been lampooned by the Boston media for his efforts to make sure manager Terry Francona wears the proper uniform.

1969 Letters in the Dirt: Colorize This!

A couple years ago I posted about Chuck Brodsky's Dick Allen tribute song "Letters in the Dirt". The timeless legend of the words "BOO", "COKE", and "Oct 2" remains part of mythology that accompanies Dick Allen even to this day. If you have never heard the song, treat yourself to a couple of minutes of our friend Chuck Brodsky.



<--- I am not sure what DA is writing in this picture. It looks to me like "GRAS". The problem is I have never read any story referring to a word with these letters involved. Anyone who can help me solve this mystery will be rewarded with a free 8x10 print of their choice from my personal collection.

Anyway, I recently found some nice clean images of DA scratching words into the dirt at Connie Mack Stadium. Today, while I was sitting on a boring "real work" conference call I decided to take another swing at colorizing a black and white image. I chose the infamous "Boo" image because it perfectly summarizes the 1969 Phillies season and Dick Allen's first tour of duty with the Phillies.

After I was done modifying the photo -- I thought the resulting image would make a great new unique computer wallpaper. Here is my 1280x800 version.

Let me know if there is any interest in a larger resolution.

June 1975: Colorize This!

I have added several Dick Allen images to my collection recently. Inspired by Sunday's throwback uniforms -- I decided to colorize one of my new favorites. Based on the other images that were part of this set, this frame was taken on June 18th, 1975 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Original image

Colorized image

As often happens in May in Chicago, the game was delayed twice by rain. Steve Stone (future Cy Young Award winner and current White Sox broadcaster) started the game for the Cubs and Wayne Twitchell started for the Phils. The score was tied with one out in the top of the ninth inning when Dick Allen singled. He scored when pinch hitter Tommy Hutton (current Florida Marlins broadcaster) hit a home run to deep right field off of (soon to be released and retired) Bob Locker and the Phils went on to win 9-7.

July 1971: Colorize This!

One of my favorite features when I read the UNIWATCH blog is Phil's recurring "Colorize This!" posts. I am often inspired by the wonderful work people send over to him. This afternoon I found a nice clear 1971 Dodgers photo of DA and decided to take out my crayons (aka photoshop) and have at it.


Doing some research, the Chicago Cubs made the trip out to Los Angeles twice during the 1971 season. They played a two game series in early April and a four game series in early July. At no time during the first (April) series were the Cubs ever leading a game by the score of 4-1, so this picture had to have been taken during the July games.

On July 7th the Dodgers played the Cubs in a double header, and Dick Allen played third in both games. During the first game he came to the plate in the 6th inning (and struck out) with the Dodgers behind 4-1. The photo has to be from that at bat, because Allen never came to bat against the Cubs at Dodger Stadium with a 4-1 score any other time during that 1971 season.