2011 Phillies Team Issue Set

2011 Phillies Team
Issue #12

Since the mid-80's, the Phillies have released a postcard-size (sometimes larger) set of baseball cards, for sale exclusively at the ballpark.  I picked up this year's set on Saturday night, and I'll feature a lot of the cards from the set in game summary posts throughout the season.

There are 36 postcards this year, and the front of the cards features a clean picture with a small Phillies script logo in one of the top corners.  The bottom of the cards feature the player's name, position and number.  I like the clean look this year, but I don't quite follow what the designer was hoping to accomplish with the modern-ish jagged blue stripe above each player's name.  I guess it's edgy?  Backs contain the requisite biographical statistics and full career statistics.

The set does a great job with player selection, although Pete Orr's inclusion on the team's Opening Day roster caught the checklist's designer off guard.  Reliever David Herndon also got the shaft.  Here's the break-down of the set:

Manager (1) - Charlie Manuel
Coaches (6) - Sam Perlozzo, Juan Samuel, Mick Billmeyer, Greg Gross, Pete Mackanin and Rich Dubee
Active Players (23) - Ryan Howard, Ross Gload, Shane Victorino, Ben Francisco, Jimmy Rollins, John Mayberry, Jr., J.C. Romero, Michael Martinez, Wilson Valdez, Brian Schneider, Placido Polanco, Raul Ibanez, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, Roy Oswalt, Ryan Madson, Carlos Ruiz, Jose Contreras, Danys Baez, Joe Blanton and Antonio Bastardo
Disabled List (3) - Domonic Brown, Chase Utley and Brad Lidge
In the Minors (1) - Delwyn Young
Broadcasters (1) - Chris Wheeler, Larry Andersen, Scott Franzke, Gary Matthews, Tom McCarthy and Jim Jackson
Best Mascot in Baseball (1) - Phillie Phanatic

The set is notable for the first "official" Phillies cards in my collection for Michael Martinez and Juan Samuel as a coach.  If the Phillies release an update set, similar to last year, I'm hoping that Herndon and Orr both make appearances.