12 May 2014

phillie memorial patches for tug mcgraw and paul owens

the phillies wore a memorial patch for two of their own in 2004.  former reliever and 1980 world series hero tug mcgraw and former gm and manager paul "pope" owens both passed away between the 2003 and 2004 seasons.  the patch is visible on these three 2005 topps opening day cards - placido polanco (turning two)
mike lieberthal
and jimmy rollins
it's there on their right sleeves, and looks like this - a banner for owens and a shamrock for mcgraw
the best example i have in my collection is jim thome's 2005 donruss card
i appreciate the fact that this patch has some color, similar to the king clancy patch.

mcgraw is one of the few players to be memorialized by multiple teams (ralph kiner is being so honored this season by the mets and pirates), while owens was a lifelong phillie - from the minors through to his role as scout, gm, and ultimately manager of the big league club - and more than worthy of a memorial patch of his own.

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