1985 Game 19 - 1985 Fleer #256 Jerry Koosman

Phillies 11, Expos 0
Game 19 - Tuesday Night, April 30th in Philadelphia
Record - 8-11, Tied for 4th Place, 4 1/2 games behind the Cubs and Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Jerry Koosman pitched a complete game shutout, Von Hayes tallied a four-hit game and Glenn Wilson drove in four runs in this 11-0 blowout win against the Expos.

What It Means:  Not a great start to the season, but April wasn't a complete disaster.  The Phillies would enter May riding a four-game win streak and within striking distance of fist place in the N.L. East.

What Happened:  Koosman allowed 11 hits in his complete game effort, but the Expos offense went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.  The Phillies offense scored all 11 runs against Expos starter Bill Gullickson and reliever Rick Grapenthin.  First baseman Razor Shines pitched the eighth inning for the Expos, allowing a hit but not giving up any more runs.

The big blow in the game was a bases-clearing double in the first from Wilson.  The Phillies kept piling on with Hayes, Schmidt and Jeltz each enjoying 2-RBI games.

Featured Card:  This was the 33rd and final complete game shutout in Koosman's 19-year big league career.  He must have done something in this game to aggravate his bad left knee, as he'd go on the disabled list shortly after this start and not pitch again until June 8th.

I clipped the Phillies opening day roster from an April 1985 issue of TV Guide and preserved it within my scrapbook (see below). The listing didn't include Darren Daulton or Kent Tekulve, added to the roster after opening day, so I wrote them in with their uniform numbers.  Kiko Garcia and Luis Aguayo were on the opening day roster, but both had been used so sparingly I assumed they were also "New Players."

Looking at the coaching staff, manager John Felske's bench coach was Lee Elia.  Elia would eventually take over for Felske when his time as Phillies manager ran out in the middle of the 1987 season.  The 1985 Phillies media guide lists Elia's job as dugout coach and not bench coach, which is the term used more frequently today.  Claude Osteen was the pitching coach and Del Unser provided double duty as both the hitting coach and the first base coach.  Dave Bristol coached third, Mike Ryan was the bullpen coach and Hank King (pictured on the Tastykake coaching staff card below) was the team's batting practice pitcher.

Bristol, Ryan and Osteen were all holdovers from Paul Owens' coaching staff in 1984.  To start the 1985 season, Elia replaced Felske as the bench coach and Unser replaced Deron Johnson as the Phillies' hitting coach.

1985 Game 18 - 1985 Donruss Action All-Stars #56 Juan Samuel

Phillies 3, Expos 2 (10 Innings)
Game 18 - Monday Night, April 29th in Philadelphia
Record - 7-11, Tied for 4th Place, 4 1/2 games behind the Cubs, Expos and Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies mounted an impressive come from behind victory capped when Juan Samuel's 10th inning single scored Darren Daulton in this walk-off, 3-2 win.

What It Means:  I'm reminded here that "walk-off" is a relatively new baseball term.  Back in 1985, the sports editor for the Atlantic City Press captioned the boxscore with the mundane "Phils Win in 10th" instead of "Phils Walk-Off in 10th."  Also, I wasn't exactly focused on the straight placement of these boxscores within my scrapbook back in 1985.  This one is particularly crooked.

What Happened:  John Denny and three relievers kept the Phillies in this game, scattering 10 Expos hits and allowing only two runs.  Denny went six innings and earned a no decision, while Kent Tekulve pitched the final 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the Phillies and earned his first win with the club.

The Expos took a 2-1 lead in the second on a steal of home by Tim Wallach.  Mike Schmidt tied it up in the seventh with a solo home run off Expos starter Bryn Smith.  In the bottom of the 10th, with Bert Roberge on the mound, Daulton walked to start the inning and was sacrificed over to second by Luis Aguayo.  Tim Corcoran flew out to right with Daulton tagging up to third.  Samuel's single brought Daulton home for the walk-off win.

Featured Card:  I'm guessing the celebration in 1985 following this win doesn't compare to celebrations today following walk-off victories.  I remember game-ending hits being celebrated back then, but in no way to the extent they're celebrated today.  I'll celebrate Samuel's big hit in my own way with an oversized card from the 1985 Donruss Action All-Stars set.

I loved these oversized sets Donruss put out each year between 1983 and 1987.  This is probably the original card I found in a cellophane wrapper back in 1985 as there's a significant scuff mark on the side.

At the end of each month in my scrapbook, I'd look back at the team's roster and note any significant additions or departures.  35 years ago, I had to rely on TV Guide (!) to provide me with an updated numerical roster as we were years away from the internet and we hadn't yet attended a game at The Vet to pick up a program.  I'll take a look at the Phillies coaches from 1985 in tomorrow's game summary post.

2019 and 2020 Chachi Photo Cards - Signed!

In February, before the coronavirus shut everything down, fellow collector Rick made his annual trip to Clearwater with copies of Chachi photo cards in hand.  He was able to get a number of the photos signed and he was gracious enough to get duplicate cards signed for me as well.

The cards for Jay Bruce, Austin Davis, JD Hammer and Cole Irvin are from last year's photo card set, while the Deivy Grullon and Blake Parker cards are from this year's set.  The Parker card is officially an uncorrected error card, as he's currently and has always been #53 with the Phillies.  He even included his correct uniform number within his signature.

Thanks again to Rick for sending these along, as they brightened up what had been an otherwise glum day.  I hope we're all back to trying to obtain player autographs relatively soon.

And I hope you and your families are staying safe and healthy, helping where you can and focusing on staying positive.

1985 Game 17 - 1984 Tastykake Phillies Phillie Phanatic

Phillies 3, Cubs 2
Game 17 - Sunday Afternoon, April 28th in Philadelphia
Record - 6-11, 5th Place, 5 1/2 games behind the Expos

One Sentence Summary:  Kevin Gross and Larry Andersen handled the Cubs offense as the Phillies squeaked by with a 3-2 win.

What It Means:  The good news was this win allowed the Phillies to crawl out of the N.L. East cellar and they wouldn't spend another day in last place for the rest of the season.  The bad news is the Phillies would pretty much park themselves in fifth place for the rest of the season.  The Pirates were now behind the Phillies in the division and this win helped the Expos overtake the Cubs for the top spot.

What Happened:  With the frequent off days in April, this was the first time the services of the team's fifth starter, Kevin Gross, were needed.  Gross pitched six solid innings, allowing two runs on five hits.  Andersen pitched the final three scoreless innings to record his second save of the season.

There wasn't much offense in the game as two of the Phillies runs were unearned.  In the first, Juan Samuel reached on an erroneous throw from Cubs shortstop Larry Bowa.  Samuel stole second and third and came home when Von Hayes grounded out to short.  In the fourth, Mike Schmidt reached on an error from third baseman Richie Hebner, scoring Hayes who had doubled to lead off the inning.  Ozzie Virgil then singled Schmidt home.  The badly slumping John Russell went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts, dropping his average to .120.

Featured Card:  Many years later, as one of the team's broadcasters, Andersen would comment it seemed to be a strange coincidence how the Phillie Phanatic's birthday always fell on a Sunday with a home game.  The Phanatic's birthday was celebrated before this game with all kids receiving a free Phanatic undershirt.  The Phanatic was left out of the 1985 and 1986 team-issued photo card sets, so here's his card from the 1984 set.

Below is a look at the team's promotional give-aways for the 1985 season.  There's a typo with the Phanatic undershirt, as the giveaway happened on the 28th and not the 23rd.  How many of these did you get?

1985 Game 16 - 1985 Donruss #609 Glenn Wilson

Phillies 6, Cubs 1
Game 16 - Saturday Night, April 27th in Philadelphia
Record - 5-11, Tied for 5th Place, 6 games behind the Cubs

One Sentence Summary:  Shane Rawley won his third game, Von Hayes had three hits and Glenn Wilson drove in three in this 6-1 win over the first place Cubs.

What It Means:  This was the start of a modest four-game win streak and again I was convinced manager John Felske was about to steer the Phillies' ship back on track and back into the pennant race.  He was not.

What Happened:  Rawley went 7 1/3 innings, allowing a run on four hits but also walking four.  Larry Andersen relieved him in the eighth and set up Kent Tekulve for a smooth ninth.  The Cubs scored their only run in the eighth when Gary Matthews had an RBI groundout.

Wilson started the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and added a two-run triple in the sixth.  Hayes' big day raised his average to a team-leading .328.  Mike Schmidt had a single to raise his average to .167 and John Russell continued to scuffle, going 0 for 3 and seeing his average drop to .136.  Luis Aguayo got the start at shortstop to give Steve Jeltz a day off.  Aguayo was on his way to going 0 for April, going hitless in 7 April at-bats.

Featured Card:  Wilson was on his way to his one and only 100-RBI season and the Phillies were about to introduce the world to Glennbo via its TV commercials.  Glennbo was Wilson dressed as a Rambo-inspired character complete with eye black and criss-crossing belts of baseballs across his chest. Sadly, I wasn't able to find any of the original Glennbo commercials on the internet, but I did find the image below.  You're all welcome.

1985 Game 15 - 1985 Fleer #653 John Russell / Steve Jeltz

Cubs 7, Phillies 3
Game 15 - Friday Night, April 26th in Philadelphia
Record - 4-11, Tied for 5th Place, 7 games behind the Cubs

One Sentence Summary:  Jerry Koosman was hammered in his latest outing and didn't make it out of the second inning as the Cubs cruised to a 7-2 win.

What It Means:  This was the second straight rough outing for Koosman after he had shut down the Cubs earlier in April.  He'd make one more start on April 30th before missing the month of May with a bad left knee.

What Happened:  The Cubs scored five runs off Koosman in the first two innings.  Dennis Eckersley was in control for the Cubs from the outset, pitching a complete game and holding the Phillies to three runs (two earned).  Ryne Sandberg and Davey Lopes both had three-hit games for the Cubs with Lopes hitting a three-run home run in the first before the Veterans Stadium crowd of over 27,000 fans had even settled in for the night.

Glenn Wilson prolonged Eckerlsley's outing with an RBI triple in the ninth.  Steve Jeltz had a pair of errors at shortstop and went 0 for 3 to drop his season average to .186.  Mike Schmidt went 0 for 4 and was hitting .157 through the first 15 games of 1985.

Featured Card:  At this point in the season, Juan Samuel had started every game at second, Schmidt had started every game at third and Jeltz had started every game at shortstop.  The slumping Jeltz was about to get his first day off on Saturday night in game 16, and Schmidt would get a few days off a week later.  John Russell and Tim Corcoran had split first base duties with Russell hitting just .158.

1985 Cramer Hawaii Islanders #244

1985 Cramer Portland Beavers #50

Transaction:  The Phillies and Pirates swapped minor league catchers before this game with the Phillies sending Mike Diaz to Pittsburgh and getting back Steve Herz in return.  Neither would appear with their respective new teams in 1985, so this was a strange trade then and a strange trade now.  Diaz, acquired from the Cubs with Bill Campbell in the awful deal that sent Bob Dernier, Gary Matthews and Porfi Altamirano to Chicago, would go on to appear in 247 games with the Pirates between 1986 and 1988.  Diaz hit 16 home runs and drove in 48 as a back-up catcher, first baseman and corner outfielder with the Pirates in 1987.  He'd also spend four seasons playing in Japan between 1989 and 1992.

Herz appeared in 85 games for the Portland Beavers in 1985, his last year in professional baseball.

1985 Game 14 - 1985 O-Pee-Chee #103 Ozzie Virgil

Expos 7, Phillies 6
Game 14 - Wednesday Afternoon, April 24th in Montreal
Record - 4-10, Tied for 5th Place, 6 games behind the Cubs

One Sentence Summary:  For the second game in a row, the Phillies fell short again against the Expos, despite three home runs in the 8th and 9th innings.

What It Means:  The good news for John Felske's club is the offense was starting to heat up, but the pitching was still a mess.  Starting pitcher John Denny lasted five innings and allowed four runs on eight hits and four walks.  Pat Zachry relieved Denny and allowed three more runs (two earned) in his two innings of work.

Following this game, the Phillies headed back to Philadelphia.  After an off-day on Thursday, they'd open up an 11-game homestand against the Cubs, Expos, Astros and Reds.

What Happened:  Ozzie Virgil hit a pair of home runs - one off Expos starter Bryn Smith in the second and another off reliever Dan Schatzeder in the eighth.  Garry Maddox and Mike Schmidt both homered off Schatzeder in the ninth to turn what had been a sure blow-out into a close game.  Tim Burke recorded the final out to earn his first save of the season.  The home run from Schmidt was his first of 1985, and the 426th of his career.

The Expos scored three runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings, led by Tim Raines who had an RBI triple in the fifth and an RBI double in the sixth.

Featured Card:  Virgil was on his way to a default All-Star Game appearance in 1985 as the Phillies sole representative, initially.  Glenn Wilson would later be named to the team too, replacing an injured Pedro Guerrero on the National League roster.

If you had traveled to Montreal with the Phillies for this road trip, perhaps you would have come across this Virgil card in a fresh pack of 1985 O-Pee-Chee cards.

1985 Game 13 - 1985 Donruss #381 Tim Corcoran

Expos 5, Phillies 4 (10 Innings)
Game 13 - Tuesday Afternoon, April 23rd in Montreal
Record - 4-9, Tied for 5th Place, 5 games behind the Cubs and Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies battled back to tie this game in the fifth inning, only to lose in the 10th on a bases loaded walk courtesy of Charles Hudson.

What It Means:  This game happened 35 years ago, but seeing the ninth inning sequence still makes me cringe.  Checking my symbol key from the first page of my scrapbook, I got to break out the purple marker for this box score.  The purple circle above the boxscore indicates this was an extra inning game.  Good stuff there.

What Happened:  Hudson relieved Kent Tekulve, who had pitched another two scoreless innings of relief.  Hudson allowed a single to Andre Dawson to start the ninth, and struck out Hubie Brooks with Dawson stealing second.  He intentionally walked Herm Winningham to set up the force at any base, but then proceeded to walk Tim Wallach and Vance Law in succession.  Game over.

Steve Carlton started this game and allowed four runs on nine hits in his seven innings of work.  All four Expos runs allowed by Carlton came in a shaky first inning.

Tim Corcoran tied the game in the fifth with a two-run single to right, scoring Jeff Stone and Von Hayes.  The Phillies offense went 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position.  Kiko Garcia appeared in a game for the first time in 1985, becoming the last player on the roster used by manager John Felske.  He'd appear in only three more games before getting released on May 17th.

Featured Card:  I most likely won't have a lot of chances to post any of Corcoran's cards in these posts, so I'll take advantage of the opportunity now.  First base was a black hole for the Phillies at the beginning of the 1985 season.  Niether John Russell nor Corcoran would prove to be a viable answer at the position and ultimately the Phillies ended up moving Mike Schmidt to first and calling up top prospect Rick Schu to play third.  Corcoran would make 38 starts at first base, serving as Schmidt's back-up between May and the end of the season.

1985 Game 12 - 1985 Topps #235 Garry Maddox

Phillies 9, Expos 1
Game 12 - Monday Afternoon, April 22nd in Montreal
Record - 4-8, Tied for 5th Place, 5 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Juan Samuel, Garry Maddox and Von Hayes each enjoyed three-hit games with Shane Rawley and the bullpen pitching effectively in this 9-1 win over the Expos.

What It Means:  The winning streak was up to three games as the Phillies scored nine runs or more for the second day in a row.  Maybe it was just a scheduling quirk, but the Phillies played three weekday afternoon games in Montreal for some reason, starting with this game.  Only 6,249 souls witnessed this Monday afternoon game in person inside Olympic Stadium.

What Happened:  Maddox got the rare start in center with Hayes switching over to left.  This was to be Maddox's last full season playing and he broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth with a two-run double.  He'd add an RBI single in the eighth.  Hayes' three hits were all singles and he'd drive in four runs.  Glenn Wilson hit a two-run home run off future Phillie Dan Schatzeder in the eighth.  Mike Schmidt doubled to raise his average to .132.

Shane Rawley picked up his second win of the season, allowing a solo home run to Andre Dawson in his 5 2/3 innings of work.

I'm very familiar with most of the names appearing in these boxscores, but the name of the first Expos reliever in this game was unfamiliar to me.  Rick Grapenthin appeared in 19 games for the Expos between 1983 and 1985, going 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA.  He never appeared on a mainstream baseball card, which is probably why I hadn't heard of him before.

Featured Card:  Maddox was released following the season but resigned with the Phillies less than a month later.  In 1986, his bad back limited him to just six games before he announced his retirement in May.  Maddox finished with 1,803 career hits and he'd be inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 2001.

1985 Game 11 - 1985 Tastykake Phillies #12 Glenn Wilson

Phillies 10, Mets 6
Game 11 - Sunday Afternoon, April 21st in Philadelphia
Record - 3-8, Tied for 5th Place, 5 games behind the Cubs and Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Glenn Wilson had a big day at the plate, hitting his first home run of the season and driving in three runs as the Phillies defeated the Mets, 10-6.

What It Means:  The boxscore headline describes the win as a bombardment, which is probably a little too favorable.  Still, the win gave the Phillies a modest two-game win streak and knocked the Mets out of sole possession of first place.  Following the game, the team would head to Montreal for a three-game set with the Expos.

And little did I know at the time, but 25 years after this game was played, our youngest son Ben would be born.

What Happened:  After a dominating performance in his prior outing, Jerry Koosman couldn't escape the third inning against his former team.  Kevin Gross turned in an effective long relief outing, giving up a run over 4 1/3 innings.  Kent Tekulve made his Phillies debut and pitched two scoreless innings.

The Phillies offense produced 13 hits, their best showing of the season so far.  Wilson and Juan Samuel homered off Mets' starting pitcher Ron Darling.  In a four-run seventh, Ozzie Virgil and Wilson contributed back-to-back RBI singles and pinch-hitter Greg Gross brought them both home with a double.

Featured Card:  It was the first Sunday home game, and all kids 14 and under attending the game received a set of Tastykake player photo cards.  This was a 47-card set and I summarized the set and its checklist with a post a few years ago here.  The set contains the only Phillies cards issued for pitchers Pat Zachry and Rich Surhoff.

Here's the complete fourth page from my 1985 Phillies Scrapbook.  On to page five tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Ben!

And just like that, our youngest son Ben is 10!  It's going to be a little different this year as we won't be able to get together with family and friends to open presents and share cake, but we'll still make Ben's day today as special as possible.  We've also promised some sort of blow-out celebration once everything is finally back to normal.

Ben continues to amaze us.  He's intelligent, funny, crafty, curious and kind.  He started taking piano lessons this year, and he's already very impressive.  I love hearing him practice piano and it's wonderful that technology allows him to continue with virtual piano lessons.  Tennis and swimming are on hold for now, but he still plans to start working on his garden soon.  When he's not playing piano, riding his bike or somehow accumulating more stuff in his extremely messy room, he's busy playing Roblox.  He's a great kid and I'm so proud of him.

Happy birthday Ben!

Memory Lane

2010 - Welcome Ben!

2010 - Ben is born, Roy Halladay wins, all is right with the world

2011 - Ben turns one as Roy Oswalt pitches the Phillies past the Padres

2012 - Happy 2nd Birthday Ben!

2013 - Happy 3rd Birthday Ben!
2014 - Ben is Four!
2015 - Ben is Five!
2016 - Ben and Chewbacca
2017 - Ben is Seven!
2018 - Ben is Eight!
2019 - Ben at the Grand Canyon
2020 - Ben is Ten! (Social distancing version)

1985 Game 10 - 1985 Donruss #624 Jeff Stone

Phillies 7, Mets 6
Game 10 - Saturday Afternoon, April 20th in Philadelphia
Record - 2-8, 6th Place, 6 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Jeff Stone drove in five runs as the Phillies squeaked by the first place Mets, 7-6.

What It Means:  This was the Phillies' second win in their first 10 games, and they nearly gave it away.  With the tying run on first base and nobody out in the top of the ninth, Larry Andersen induced a ground ball out and then struck out Wally Backman and Mookie Wilson to end the game.

What Happened:  Stone and Von Hayes hit back-to-back home runs off Ed Lynch in the third to tie the game at three.  Stone struck again with a three-run home run in the fourth followed by an RBI double from Mike Schmidt a few batters later.  John Denny pitched into the ninth before running into trouble and getting relieved by Andersen.

Featured Card:  Stone went 3 for 4 with 5 RBIS and two runs scored in his big game.  As the Phillies regular left fielder, Stone was batting .314 through the first 10 games of the season.

Transaction:  In a transaction that absolutely thrilled me, and as announced shortly after this game ended, the Phillies traded reliever Al Holland and minor leaguer Frankie Griffin to the Pirates for their long-time closer Kent Tekulve.  Tekulve had always been one of my favorite players, and the thought of him in maroon pinstripes had me giddy at the time.  Tekulve was excited for the deal, but Holland was not according to media reports.

In announcing the trade, club President Bill Giles noted that Holland was in the last year of his contract and the team had decided not to extend him.  When asked if he was bitter about the trade, Holland's quote was, "No comment."

Tekulve would be a fantastic reliever for the Phillies for 3 1/2 seasons, departing following the 1988 season for the Reds.  Holland would appear in 38 games for the Pirates, pitching relatively well, before being dealt in August with John Candelaria and George Hendrick to the Angels.

1985 Topps Traded #117T

1985 Topps Traded #55T

1983 TCMA Reading Phillies #6

Here's the updated 25-man Phillies roster following the trade:

Starting pitchers (4) - Steve Carlton, John Denny, Jerry Koosman, Shane Rawley
Relief pitchers (6) - Larry Andersen, Don Carman, Kevin Gross, Charles Hudson, Kent Tekulve, Pat Zachry
Catchers (3) - Darren Daulton, Ozzie Virgil, John Wockenfuss
Infielders (6) - Luis Aguayo, Kiko Garcia, Steve Jeltz, John Russell, Juan Samuel, Mike Schmidt
Outfielders (6) - Tim Corcoran, Greg Gross, Von Hayes, Garry Maddox, Jeff Stone, Glenn Wilson
Disabled List (2) - Bo Diaz, Joe Lefebvre

1985 Game 9 - 1985 Fleer #250 Bo Diaz

Mets 1, Phillies 0
Game 9 - Friday Night, April 19th in Philadelphia
Record - 1-8, 6th Place, 7 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Reigning Rookie of the Year Dwight Gooden dominated the Phillies lineup, outdueling Steve Carlton in the process, as the Mets clipped the Phils, 1-0.

What It Means:  This was the first of four meetings in 1985 between Gooden and the Phillies.  He'd go 3-0 with a 1.45 ERA over 31 innings pitched, striking out 35 to just 7 walks.  This was his only appearance in 1985 at The Vet as his other three starts against the Phillies were all at the Mets' home ballpark, Shea Stadium.

What Happened:  Gooden allowed only three Phillies hits while striking out seven.  Jesse Orosco pitched a perfect ninth to record the save.  Carlton pitched well too, only allowing a pair of Mets hits over his seven innings of work and he departed with the game in a scoreless tie.

In the ninth, Charles Hudson allowed a lead-off single to Wally Backman.  Don Carman would relieve Hudson a few batters later and Backman scored on a Keith Hernandez single.

1985 Cramer
Portland Beavers #42

Featured Card:  Now a backup catcher to Ozzie Virgil, Bo Diaz gets the featured card for this game based on the note below.

Transaction:  Prior to the game, the Phillies placed Diaz on the 15-day disabled list with a broken right wrist and recalled catcher Darren Daulton from Triple-A Portland.  The newspaper clipping shown above provides more detail, as the injury was suffered during an exhibition game against the Double-A Reading Phillies the day before.  Diaz's bad luck would continue into May when he had to have surgery for kidney stones.  His Phillies tenure would eventually come to an end with an August trade to the Reds.

This was to be Daulton's second stint with the club after appearing in a pair of games in 1983.  He'd serve as Virgil's back-up while Diaz recuperated throughout May and again after Diaz was dealt to Cincinnati.

1985 Game 8 - 1982 Donruss #119 Keith Moreland

Cubs 5, Phillies 4
Game 8 - Wednesday Afternoon, April 17th in Chicago
Record - 1-7, 6th Place, 6 games behind the Cubs and Mets

One Sentence Summary:  A seventh inning rally capped by a bases clearing double from Keith Moreland led to this 5-4 win by the Cubs over the Phillies.

What It Means:  The Cubs completed the three-game sweep on my Mom's birthday.  These were two teams going in opposite directions.  The Phillies started the season at 1-7 while the Cubs were the inverse at 7-1 and tied for first place with the Mets.

What Happened:  The Phillies held a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh thanks to an RBI single from Steve Jeltz in the fifth and a two-run home run from Ozzie Virgil in the seventh.  Starting pitcher Shane Rawley yielded to Kevin Gross in the seventh after allowing the first two Cubs batters to reach on singles.  Gross allowed a third single before a passed ball scored Steve Lake.  Moreland then delivered his game-changing double to score Bob Dernier, Ryne Sandberg and Davey Lopes.  Moreland was thrown out at third by Glenn Wilson trying to stretch his double.

The Phillies would score again in the ninth off Cubs closer Lee Smith, but it wasn't enough.  Mike Schmidt had another 0 for 4 day and through the first eight games of the season he was batting .043.

Featured Card:  It was Moreland's turn to victimize his former team as he went 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs.  Moreland hit .307 with 14 home runs and a career high 106 RBIs in 1985, earning N.L. MVP votes at the end of the season.  I'm featuring one of Moreland's Phillies cards here, but a few years ago I took a look at the ex-Phillies featured on Cubs cards within the 1985 Topps set with this post.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! (Social Distancing Version)

Tax day has been pushed back to at least July 15th this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.  However, that didn't stop my best client, my Mom, from paying for her tax services in advance and in full.  As has been the tradition in recent years, she took it upon herself to wipe out my Ten Most Wanted list from my sidebar as payment for preparing her tax returns.  The payment received does not come close to matching the value of the services rendered, but she insists on overpaying and I'm certainly not complaining.

These Most Wanted lists are getting more difficult to populate as I've slowly accumulated most of the Phillies cards from the Bowman and Topps sets of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.  The cards remaining on my want lists from those sets are mostly high priced cards I'll eventually track down one at a time.  Here's a look at the cards from my Mom and an update on where I stand with completing some landmark Phillies team sets.

1952 Topps #187 Bob Miller and #281 Tommy Brown - This might be it for a little while in terms of progress on my 1952 Topps Phillies team set.  The remaining cards I need are all from the high number series, meaning they're all somewhat pricey.  As of this writing, I need four more cards for a complete 1952 Topps Phillies team set.

1953 Topps #22 Howie Fox - This card completes the 9-card 1953 Topps Phillies team set for me.  I still have Johnny Lindell (#230) on my want list, as Lindell appears in the set with the Pirates but he played in 1953 with the Phillies.


1956 Topps #7 Ron Negray and #60 Mayo Smith - I always feel a little selfish adding second versions of these cards to my collection.  My Dad and I collected the entire 1956 Topps set together, and now I'm adding second copies of the Phillies cards from the set to my 1950s Phillies binder.  I'm four cards away from completing a Phillies team set (for the second time).  I'm pretty sure these Negray and Smith cards are in better shape than the cards in our actual 1956 Topps set.

1957 Topps #332 Bob Bowman - This completes my 27-card Phillies team set from the 1957 Topps set.  I've never been a big fan of the 1957 Topps set, but these cards look incredible together.

1966 Topps #595 Larry Jackson - With the addition of this card, I'm one card away from completing this Phillies team set as well.  I'm down to needing only the Roger Craig card (#543) which is one of the pricier Phillies cards from the 1966 Topps set.  (I tracked down the elusive Grant Jackson Rookie Stars card a few years ago.)

1967 Topps #244 N.L. Home Run Leaders - This might be my favorite card out of this lot.  Featuring two Hall of Famers with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, and someone who should be in the Hall of Fame - Dick Allen.  I still need to track down the high-number Rookie Stars card of Gary Sutherland to complete my 1967 Topps Phillies team set.

1970 Topps #539 Doyle/Bowa and #654 Oscar Gamble - These two cards close out my 1970 Topps Phillies team set.  Larry Bowa looks so young here.


Finally, I've scheduled this post to publish on my Mom's birthday.  I'm eternally grateful for her health, her humor, her good spirits and her constant encouragement.  I can't wait to celebrate properly when everything gets back to normal.  Happy birthday Mom!