1967 Topps Phillies

1967 Topps #37, #126, #248 and #268

Before you read this post, you should go check out the post from Jim from Downingtown on the 1967 Phillies on his 1967 Topps Baseball blog.  I'll wait until your back and listen to a little more Sgt. Pepper's, which I'm playing to get me in the mood to write about the Phillies during the Summer of Love.  (By the way, my favorite song from the album is still "A Day in the Life," but "Getting Better" continues to grow on me.)

You're back?  Far out.  Now that you know everything you should know about the '67 Phillies and their baseball cards, here's my humble contribution to the topic.

The Set

1967 Topps #326 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  There are 609 cards in the set, the largest number of cards in a set to date for Topps.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  I like it.  Off the top of my head, if I had to rank the Topps sets from the '60s, this would be in third place behind the '65 and '63 sets.    It would have received higher marks from me if the Phillies team name was in red instead of yellow.

Notable competition:  Topps is over a decade away from any type of real competition.  In 1967, Phillies players could be found in the Bazooka set or in one of the first ever safety sets, the 1967 Phillies Safe Driving set featuring 13 players.

1967 Phillies

Record and finish:  The team took a few steps backward, finishing in fifth place with a record of 82-80 and 19 1/2 games behind the pennant winning Cardinals.

Key players:  Third baseman Richie Allen paced the offense (.307, 23 home runs, 77 RBIs) despite missing time with a hand injury.  Left fielder Tony Gonzalez finished second in the league in batting with his .339 average, behind Roberto Clemente's .357 average.  Jim Bunning finished with a 17-15 record and 2.29 ERA and lost five 1-0 games, according to The Phillies Encyclopedia.  Chris Short also pitched well (2.39 ERA in 199 1/3 innings) despite his 9-11 record.

Key events:  Both first baseman Bill White and Allen missed significant playing time in 1967 due to freak accidents.  White tore his Achilles tendon while playing paddleball at home.  Allen, while pushing a car down a street, inadvertently broke through one of the car's headlights with his hand.

1967 Topps #187, #326, #427 and #508

1967 Phillies in 1967 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 35 Phillies cards in the 1967 Topps set, besting the previous high of 30 cards in the 1965 set.

Who’s in:  Here's the break down -

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#53 Clay Dalrymple (c), #290 Bill White (1b), #595 Cookie Rojas (2b), #450 Dick Allen (3b), #466 Bobby Wine (ss), #548 Tony Gonzalez (lf), #376 Don Lock (cf), #85 Johnny Callison (rf)

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 5 cards

#560 Jim Bunning, #229 Larry Jackson, #395 Chris Short, #37 Rick Wise, #359 Dick Ellsworth

• Base cards of other players who played with the Phillies in 1967 - 13 cards

#14 Phil Linz, #68 Bob Buhl, #126 Tony Taylor, #142 Jackie Brandt, #187 Pedro Ramos, #205 Dick Groat, #268 John Briggs, #326 Bob Uecker, #427 Ruben Gomez, #443 Tito Francona, #489 Doug Clemens, #508 Dick Hall, #529 Gary Wagner

1967 Topps #402

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1967 - 1 card

#48 Terry Fox, who spent 1967 in the minors

• 1967 Rookie Stars cards - 2 cards

#402 Grant Jackson/Billy Wilson and #587 Gary Sutherland with the Mets' Don Shaw

• League Leader cards - 3 cards

#238 Strikeout Leaders with Bunning, #242 RBI Leaders with Allen and #244 Home Run Leaders with Allen

• Manager card - 1 card for Gene Mauch, #248
• Team card - 1 card, #102
• Combo card - 1 card, #309 Hurlers Beware with Allen and Callison

Who’s out:  Outfielder Billy Cowan appeared in 34 with the Phillies, but he was left out of the set.  Reliever John Boozer was also omitted, despite appearing in 28 games.

Phillies on other teams:  #18 Gene Oliver with the Braves, #190 closer Turk Farrell with the Astros and #198 Chuck Hiller with the Mets

What’s he doing here:  Wilson shares a card with Grant Jackson, but he wouldn't debut with the Phillies until 1969.

Cards that never were candidates:  Topps had cards for all the main players in the 1967 season (except Cowan and Boozer), so there's not a lot to choose from here.  Farrell deserves a Phillies card since he's featured as an Astro in the set.  Dallas Green wrapped up his 8-year career with 8 games with the Phils and long-time Phillie Terry Harmon was just starting his career when he appeared in two games in July as a pinch-runner.

Favorite Phillies card:  This one's easy.  The Hurlers Beware card featuring Allen and Callison epitomizes 1960's Phillies baseball, and it could be the best Phillies baseball card of the decade.

1967 Topps #190, 2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #143,
2010 Topps The Cards Your Mom Threw Out #CMT74 and 2001 Topps Archives #340

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Similar to the 1966 Topps design, Topps has only come back to this design a few times for its Archives sets and retro-based inserts.

Blogs/Websites:  As referenced at the start of this post, please check out the fine 1967 Topps Baseball blog for more appreciation and general information on the 1967 Topps set.

Did You Know?:  On the day the Beatles released their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, June 1st, the Phils defeated the Dodgers in Los Angeles by a score of 6-1.  Allen had four RBIs, including a 3-run home run in the sixth off Claude Osteen.