Saturday, November 29, 2014

1975 Phillies Photocards

I updated this post here in September 2020 and this original post is now outdated.

 

Number of Cards:  39
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  As was the case with all Phillies photocards issued throughout the 1970s, these cards feature a black and white photo with the players' name below.  The backs of the cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1975.  Some of the cards contain blue facsimile autographs, as noted on the checklist below.

How Distributed:  The cards were handed out to fans individually and supplied to the players in order to reply to fan mail or honor autograph requests.  I could be wrong, but I don't believe the cards were ever available in complete set form.

It should be noted that the one card from this set in my collection (to date) features an actual autograph from Johnny Oates.  The original Oates card was distributed without an autograph - facsimile or legitimate.

Complete Standard Checklist:  The cards are unnumbered, but I've presented them below ordered by uniform number.
  • Cy Acosta (auto)
  • Dick Allen
  • Mike Anderson
  • Alan Bannister (auto)
  • Carroll Beringer CO (auto)
  • Bob Boone (auto)
  • Larry Bowa
  • Ollie Brown (auto)
  • Steve Carlton
  • Dave Cash (auto)
  • Larry Christenson (auto)
  • Larry Cox (auto)
  • Billy DeMars CO (auto)
  • Jim Essian (auto)
  • Gene Garber
  • Don Hahn
  • Terry Harmon
  • Tom Hilgendorf
  • Joe Hoerner
  • Tommy Hutton
  • Jay Johnstone
  • Jim Lonborg
  • Greg Luzinski
  • Garry Maddox (auto)
  • Jerry Martin
  • Tim McCarver
  • Tug McGraw
  • Willie Montanez (auto)
  • John Oates
  • Danny Ozark MG (auto)
  • Ray Rippelmeyer CO (auto)
  • Mike Rogodzinski
  • Dick Ruthven
  • Mike Schmidt
  • Ron Schueler (auto)
  • Tony Taylor
  • Wayne Twitchell
  • Tom Underwood (auto)
  • Bobby Wine CO (auto)
One and Done (3):  Acosta, Bannister, Hahn
First Appearances (6):  Hilgendorf, Maddox, Martin, McGraw, Oates, Underwood
Returning Players (25):  Allen, Anderson, Boone, Bowa, Brown, Carlton, Cash, Christenson, Cox, Essian, Garber, Harmon, Hoerner, Hutton, Johnstone, Lonborg, Luzinski, McCarver, Montanez, Rogodzinski, Ruthven, Schmidt, Schueler, Taylor, Twitchell

This set is only hope of finding Phillies baseball cards for Acosta, Bannister and Hahn.  Acosta's card (click here) is particularly interesting to me, as his 1973, 1974 and 1975 Topps cards feature a relatively clean cut pitcher while his card in this set features '70s hair gone wild.

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):  Ozark
Coaches (4):  Beringer, DeMars, Rippelmeyer, Wine
Phillie Phanatic (0)
Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (0)

Variations/Rarities:  According to the set's entry at The Trading Card Database, there's a Johnstone variation featuring him kneeling in lieu of the standard portrait photo.  Per Rick's comment below, there's also a Cash card available with no autograph.
  • Dave Cash (no auto)
  • Jay Johnstone (kneeling)
Also See:  1975 Phillies Photo Album
Trivia:  I found the Oates card featured here through an eBay search for "Phillies Postcard."  It was only through the awesome photos provided at The Trading Card Database for this set that I was able to identify these cards as being from 1979.  Collector Dave Sosidka uploaded the checklist and scans of all cards to the databse back in 2011.

The Beckett.com entry for this set lists only 31 cards and omits the cards for Acosta, Martin, Oates and Ruthven.  The set's entry at The Trading Card Database omits the Essian, Hahn, Montanez and Rogodzinski cards but I've added them here per Rick's comment below.
Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Add Dave Cash (no auto), Jim Essian (auto), Don Hahn (no auto), Willie Montanez (auto) and Mike Rodgodzinski.

Jim said...

Updated! Thanks again Rick.