Thursday, October 16, 2014

1984 Tastykake Phillies

I updated this post here in November 2020 and this original post is now outdated.
 

Number of Cards:  47
Card Size:  3 1/2" x 5 1/4"
Description:  The 1984 Tastykake set got a little more ambitious than its predecessor by adding cards for all the coaches and a broadcaster card.  The fronts are nearly identical to the 1983 set, with the exception of the Phillies script logo added to the top.  The photographer also requested that everyone remove their hats for this set, which was unfortunate for some of the subjects.  The backs of the cards feature a facsimile autograph of the player, coach or manager, and some of the cards include words of encouragement.

I really wish the Phillies had chosen, "Wherever you go, there you are" for the back of Larry Andersen's card.

How Distributed:  All fans 14 and under attending the Phillies game at Veterans Stadium on April 21, 1984, received a complete 40-card set, shrink-wrapped and containing a logo/checklist card on the top.  The back of the logo/checklist card advertised that additional sets could be purchased from the Phillies via mail order for $3.

The remaining seven cards were issued as an update to the 40-card set at some point late in the season.  Based on my research and correspondence with fellow collectors, it's possible the update cards were released in two groups.  The first group consisting of four cards (Carman, Russell, Stone and Wehrmeister) and the second group consisting of three more cards (Daulton, Fireovid and Jeltz).

UPDATE to the Update (10/20/14):  Per Rick's comment below, apparently the Phillies produced a seven card sheet late in the season that was never released to the general public.  A local baseball card dealer (anyone have his name or contact information?) had the sheets professionally cut and sold the additional seven cards as a set.

Further Update (6/10/16):  Please see this post for a scan provided by reader and fellow collecter Steve F. of an uncut sheet showing the seven "update" cards.

Complete Standard Checklist (40):  The cards themselves aren't numbered, but I'm presenting the checklist below based on the numbered checklist found on the back of the logo card.
  • Logo Card/Checklist
  • Team Photo
  • Phillie Phanatic
  • Veterans Stadium
  • Steve Carlton - Future HOF
  • Mike Schmidt - Future HOF
  • Broadcasters
  • Paul Owens MG
  • Dave Bristol CO
  • John Felske CO
  • Deron Johnson CO
  • Claude Osteen CO
  • Mike Ryan CO
  • Larry Andersen
  • Marty Bystrom
  • Bill Campbell
  • Steve Carlton
  • John Denny
  • Tony Ghelfi
  • Kevin Gross
  • Al Holland
  • Charles Hudson
  • Jerry Koosman
  • Tug McGraw
  • Bo Diaz
  • Ozzie Virgil
  • John Wockenfuss
  • Luis Aguayo
  • Ivan DeJesus
  • Kiko Garcia
  • Len Matuszek
  • Juan Samuel
  • Mike Schmidt
  • Tim Corcoran
  • Greg Gross
  • Von Hayes
  • Joe Lefebvre
  • Sixto Lezcano
  • Garry Maddox
  • Glenn Wilson
Complete Update Checklist (7):
  • Don Carman (7/6/84)           
  • John Russell (6/22/84)
  • Jeff Stone (6/19/84)
  • Dave Wehrmeister (6/3/84)
  • Darren Daulton (N/A)
  • Steve Fireovid (9/1/84)
  • Steve Jeltz (9/1/84)
The entire following paragaph is now null and void thanks to Rick's comment and the UPDATE to the Update above.

Lending credence to my two update set theory is the fact that the first four players in the update set all made their 1984 debuts with the Phillies between the beginning of June and the beginning of July.  I've listed the dates of their Phillies debuts above.  From the second set of cards, Fireovid and Jeltz were September call-ups and Daulton never appeared in a game with the Phils in 1984.  I've honestly never seen the Fireovid or Jeltz cards, and I'd doubt their existence if not for the fact that I added the Daulton card to my collection last year via eBay.  (Thanks again to Matt from Phillies SGA for the head's up!)

One and Done (2):  Fireovid, Wehrmeister
First Appearances (19):  Andersen, Campbell, Carman, Corcoran, Daulton, Garcia, Ghelfi, K. Gross, Hudson, Jeltz, Koosman, Lefebvre, Lezcano, Matuszek, Russell, Samuel, Stone, Wilson, Wockenfuss
Returning Players (12):  Aguayo, Bystrom, Carlton, DeJesus, Denny, Diaz, G. Gross, Hayes, Maddox, McGraw, Schmidt, Virgil

If you're in the market for a Phillies card of either Fireovid or Wehrmeister, this is the set for you.  The First Appearance designation is for players who have never before appeared within a Phillies team issued set.  These players may have already appeared on other Phillies baseball cards.

Manager (1):  Owens
Coaches (5):  Bristol, Felske, Johnson, Osteen, Ryan
Phillie Phanatic (1):  Uses the same ATV photo from the 1983 Tastykake set.
Broadcasters (1):  Chris Wheeler, Harry Kalas, Andy Musser and Richie Ashburn
Commemorative Cards (2):  Carlton and Schmidt get Future Hall of Famer cards.  The back of the Carlton card features a list of all-time victories leaders, while the back of the Schmidt card features a list of all-time home run leaders.
Other Cards (3):  Logo/checklist card, team photo and Veterans Stadium

Variations/Rarities:  There are no known variations or rarities, although I've had a difficult time tracking down the 7-card update set.  Through the kindness of fellow bloggers, I'm down to needing just the Fireovid and Jeltz cards.

Also See:  The Curious Case of Dave WehrmeisterMemories of 1984 Phillies Photo Day
Trivia:  Beckett's online database does not include the three final update cards.
Resources:  Phillies SGA 1984Beckett.com14,000 Phillies - Dave Wehrmeister, Worst Phillies Card of All Time; Fellow collector Steve F.

4 comments:

Steve F. said...

Nice post once again--I am looking forward to the rest of this photocard series!

So my own white whales include Fireovid and Jeltz too. This past February, someone on eBay had a listing entitled something like "1984 Phillies postcards - 47 card set". I wrote to the person to confirm, who wrote back: "Hi, yes, I have the 2 cards. Even tho the checklist claims 40 cards, the additional 7 I have are:
#41 D. Carman, # 42 J, Russell, # 43 J. Stone, # 44 J. Wehrmeister, # 45 S. Jeltz, # 46 S. Fireovis, & # 47 D. Daulton. Hope this helps, & thanks for your interest."

So I set all sorts of alarms and reminders to bid just before it was up, but not too far ahead so it didn't turn into some $100 bidding war with people like everyone reading this! Anyway, I was getting my car serviced and I logged my iPhone onto the dealer's wifi. With about 20 seconds left I placed my large bid to top the person who was at the minimum bid of $4.99. And it froze up on the wifi. Had I left wifi off and just gone with the ample wireless service in that spot, I could have the two mythic cards now (perhaps for a large amount...), but instead someone else has them for $4.99. Arrgghh. If it was someone reading this, congrats, I suppose.

Now I never log onto wifi if I have some urgent matter and can use the wireless network instead. Lesson learned.

Jim said...

Aggh! So I guess this gets us closer to confirming that these cards actually exist.

I'm definitely looking forward to going through each of the team issued sets. If nothing else, it's keeping me awake during the late non-Phillies playoff games.

Unknown said...

FYI: When the Phillies did the 1984 set they printed a sheet that included the 7 cards you are calling the update set. The Phillies never released the other 7 cards. The dealer had the sheets cut into cards and sold them as a set. It has been over 15 yrs since I was in contact with the dealer and don't remember his contact info or if he is still around. The cards do exist and I have the complete set signed. I looked to see if I had any extras of them for you guys but only have a single single and unsigned of each with no plans to part with them.

There were 2 sets in 1989: One that was issued as a set in shrink wrap available for sale at the Phillies news stands and the other was given away as a promotion:

89 Tastykake Photocard Night: darker tint than the standard issue, but the photos are identical.

Variations:
Bruce Ruffin top, instead of lower left
Floyd Youmans lower right instead of lower left
Steve Ontiveros top center instead of top right
Don Carman right center instead of bottom left
Mike Ryan top center instead of top left.

15 Floyd Youmans
25 Steve Lake
30 Steve Jeltz
31 Mark Ryal
41 Steve Ontiveros
52 Todd Frohwirth
7 John Vukovich
49 Jeff Parrett
3 Darold Knowles
2 Larry Bowa
4 Dennis Menke
5 Mike Ryan
6 Dwayne Murphy
8 Juan Samuel
9 Von Hayes
10 Darren Daulton
12 Tony Taylor
16 Nick Leyva
17 Ricky Jordan
20 Mike Schmidt (black)
21 Dickie Thon
22 Bob Dernier
24 Curt Ford
26 Chris James
28 Tom Herr
33 Greg Harris
40 Steve Bedrosian
42 Don Carman
43 Ken Howell
44 Mike Maddux
46 Larry McWilliams
47 Bruce Ruffin

Jim said...

I will be updating this post, and I'll need to update my Missing Links posts to indicate that Fireovid did in fact have a Phillies card . . . now to find one!

Thanks as always for the information Rick.

(And I've purchased one of the sets of 1989 uncut sheets from eBay. I'll hold off on my 1989 post until it arrives.)