Game 24 - Bullpen, Offensive Woes Continue in Latest Loss

Philadelphia Phillies	1
New York Mets	5

1988 Fleer #636

Tuesday Night, April 22nd

Citi Field - Flushing, NY
13-11, 2nd Place, 4 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Not much went right for the Phillies in this 5-1 loss to the Mets.

What It Means:  I'm catching up on the last two games on Thursday, so we already know the Phillies would eventually be swept in this series by the Mets.  What a crappy week to be a Phillies fan.

What Happened:  Perhaps more concerning than the loss was the fact Cristopher Sanchez departed this game after two innings with soreness in his left forearm.  Joe Ross did an admirable job with three innings of shutout pitching in relief, but the Phillies offense couldn't overcome the early 2-0 deficit.  Orion Kerkering allowed three more runs to score in the seventh, all but putting the game out of reach.  Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm both had multi-hit games, but the offense overall went 2 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

Featured Card:  My intense dislike of the Mets predates this card.

2025 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2025 Season Summary Index / 2025 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 15 - Phils Sleep Through Sunday Matinee in St. Louis

Philadelphia Phillies	0
St. Louis Cardinals	7

1988 Fleer #308

Sunday Afternoon, April 13th

Busch Stadium - St. Louis, MO
9-6, 2nd Place, 1 game behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies managed three singles against Matthew Liberatore and three Cardinals' relievers, getting shut out for the second time in the series with this 7-0 loss.

What It Means:  The Phillies went 2-4 on a forgettable road trip, and they now head home for four against the Giants and three against the Marlins.

What Happened:  I got a little bit of a nap in, and so did the Phillies' bats.  Zack Wheeler allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings, with relievers Matt Strahm and Carlos Hernandez unable to stop the Cardinals from running up the score.  Libertore struck out seven in his six innings.  

The Phillies managed hits from Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto and Edmundo Sosa.  Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh both went 0 for 3, watching their averages dip to .150 and .108, repsectively.

Featured Card:  @boopstats posted this brutal look at Marsh's start to 2025 over on Bluesky:

Marsh finds himself in a category with Steve Jeltz, with the slick-fielding, light-hitting Bobby Wine next in his crosshairs.

2025 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2025 Season Summary Index / 2025 Chachi Set Checklist

Spring Training Game 20 - Wheeler/Phils vs. Skubal/Tigers Ends in Tie

Detroit Tigers	2
Philadelphia Phillies	2

1988 Topps #254

Spring Training Game 20

Saturday Afternoon, March 15

BayCare Ballpark - Clearwater, FL

Record - 9-9-2

One Sentence Summary:  Fans were treated to a pitcher's duel from two of the best in the game, as Zack Wheeler and Tarik Skubal faced off and the Phillies and Tigers played to a tie.

What It Means:  There are just ten more spring training games remaining on the schedule.

What Happened:  Wheeler got touched for two unearned runs, three hits in a walk, while striking out three in a solid five inning performance.  The bullpen quartet of Jose Alvarado, Jordan Romano, Orion Kerkering and Devin Sweet shut down the Tigers over the final four frames, striking out a combined eight batters.

The Phillies scored their runs on an RBI single from Bryce Harper in the third, and a sacrifice fly from Trea Turner in the fifth.  Harper, now hitting .407 for the spring, and Brandon Marsh both had multi-hit days.

Featured Card:  From a post from Scott Lauber on Bluesky, the Phillies honored former manager Lee Elia before this game.  The baseball lifer worked in the Phillies' minor league system for years, and is best known in the organization for his roles as a coach (1980-81, 1985-87) and manager (1987-88).  Lauber said among the guests in attendance for the ceremony were Pat Gillick and Lou Piniella.

Camp Head Count:  48 - 7 = 41

In the biggest roster purge so far this spring, seven players were assigned to minor league camp.  The only one here who surprises me a little is Rodolfo Castro, who had been playing multiple positions throughout the spring as the team looks to replace the injured Weston Wilson on the roster.  Those reassigned were:  Koyo Aoyagi (rhp), Jose Cuas (rhp), Joel Kuhnel (rhp), John McMillon (rhp), Guillo Zuniga (rhp), Nick Vespi (lhp) and Castro (inf).

Game 118 - Phils Limp Home After Series Loss in Phoenix

1988 Topps Traded #71T

Diamondbacks 12, Phillies 5
Game 118 - Sunday Afternoon, August 11th in Phoenix
Record - 69-49, 1st Place, 7 1/2 games ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies continued to find ways to lose, with Cristopher Sanchez and Jose Alvarado struggling and sloppy defense in this 12-5 loss to the Diamondbacks.

What It Means:  The Phillies finished a long west coast road trip with a respectable 4-6 record.  It could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse.  With the Braves struggling, they managed to add 2 1/2 games in the standings despite the rough few weeks.  The Marlins and Nationals are in Philadelphia for the next six games, beginning on Tuesday night.

What Happened:  Sanchez gave up seven runs on 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings and the bullpen allowed five more runs before this game was over.  The Diamondbacks seemed to always have runners on base throughout the entire game, with Jake McCarthy, Adrian Del Castillo and Kevin Newman all having three-hit games.

Featured Card:  The 2024 Summer Olympics ended on Sunday, and here's a card of Mickey Morandini who was a member of Team USA at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.  Baseball was still a demonstration sport that year, but USA defeated Japan to win the tournament.

Transaction:  The Phillies claimed Kyle Tyler (rhp) off waivers from the Miami Marlins and optioned him to Lehigh Valley.  To make room on the 40-man roster for Tyler, Nick Nelson (rhp) was designated for assignment.

2024 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2024 Season Summary Index / 2024 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 112 - Home Runs Chase Royals Out of Town

2023 Topps 1988 Topps
Baseball 35th Anniversary
#2T88-7

Phillies 8, Royals 4
Game 112 - Sunday Afternoon, April 9th in Philadelphia
Record - 61-51, 2nd Place, 10 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies took care of business against the Royals, winning 8-4 in this series finale.

What It Means:  After taking two out of three from the Royals, the Phillies will welcome the Nationals to town for a four-game series.  The Phillies and Giants are tied for the league's top Wild Card spot.

What Happened:  Taijuan Walker gave up four runs in the first two innings, but then settled down enough to pitch seven innings and give his team a chance for the win.  Walker won his league-leading 13th game in the process.  The Phillies scored five runs of their own in the first two innings.  Bryson Stott hit a three-run home in the first and Kyle Schwarber added a two-run home run in the second, giving the Phillies a 5-4 lead.  Nick Castellanos would pad that lead with a two-run home run in the fifth inning.

Featured Card:  Schwarber was 3 for 4, including his 28th home run of the season, raising his average to a still sub-Mendoza .182.  I posted Turner's card from this insert set last night, and here's Schwarber's card from the Topps Series Two tribute to the 1988 Topps set.

Transaction:  Brandon Marsh (of) crashed into the outfield wall on Saturday night, landing him on the Injured List with a left knee contusion.  Weston Wilson (inf) was recalled from the IronPigs to take his place on the roster.

2023 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2023 Season Summary Index / 2023 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 111 - Turner Thanks Fans with 4-RBI Night

2023 Topps 1988 Topps
Baseball 35th Anniversary
#2T88-44

Phillies 9, Royals 6
Game 111 - Saturday Night, August 5th in Philadelphia
Record - 60-51, 2nd Place, 11 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  With the fans giving him standing ovations before each of his at-bats, Trea Turner delivered one of his best games of the season so far and the Phillies defeated the Royals, 9-6.

What It Means:  It's no secret Turner has struggled mightily in his first season in Philadelphia, and recently Phillies Twitter started circulating the idea of giving him standing ovations each time he came to the plate during this homestand.  It's a wonderful gesture by a fantastic fan base.

What Happened:  Alec Bohm started the scoring with a two-run home run in the first.  The Royals would take a 6-3 lead in the fifth, scoring four times that inning off Phillies' starter Cristopher Sanchez.  The comeback began in the bottom of the fifth when Bryce Harper hit a two-run home run to bring the Phillies to within a run at 6-5.  In the bottom of the sixth, with two runners on, Turner launched his 11th home run of the year into the left field bleachers to give the Phillies an 8-6 lead.  After rounding the bases, Turner was coaxed into coming out of the Phillies' dugout for a curtain call.  He'd then cap the scoring with an RBI double in the eighth.  Matt Strahm picked up the win with two perfect innings of relief, and Craig Kimbrel closed it out for his 19th save.

Featured Card:  This is the newest Turner card in my collection, an insert from Topps Series Two paying tribute to the 1988 Topps design.  The card has an overly-long name and an unnecessarily complicated card number.

2023 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2023 Season Summary Index / 2023 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 90 - Phils Fail to Return from All-Star Break

2023 Topps Baseball 35th
Anniversary All-Stars #88AS-34

Padres 8, Phillies 3
Game 90 - Friday Night, July 14th in Philadelphia
Record - 48-42, 3rd Place, 13 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies' bats forgot to return from the All-Star break, as the Padres easily took this 8-3 win.

What It Means:  After a long post-vacation week of trying to catch up at work and attempting to defeat a nasty cold, it was slightly refreshing to sit and watch at least the beginning of this game, despite the outcome.

What Happened:  Not much happened from the Phillies' perspective.  Cristopher Sanchez got the start and gave up three runs in five innings of work.  The bullpen couldn't keep the game close following Sanchez's departure, with Andrew Vasquez and Dylan Covey each allowing a pair of runs.  Alec Bohm had a two-run double in the fourth and J.T. Realmuto hit a solo home run in the ninth.

Featured Card:  My Topps Series Two master team set was waiting for us when we returned from vacation, and this was one of the insert cards in the package.  Harper didn't do much in this game, and he didn't go to the All-Star Game, but it seemed like a good enough card to mark the beginning of the season's second half.

Transaction:  On Wednesday following the All-Star Game, Josh Harrison (inf) was placed on the Injured List with a right wrist contusion.  Cristian Pache (of) landed on the Injured List prior to this game with a right elbow injury.  Drew Ellis (inf) and Johan Rojas (of) were recalled to take their spots on the roster.

2023 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2023 Season Summary Index / 2023 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 64 - Phils Ripped by Dodgers

1988 Topps Big #226

Dodgers 9, Phillies 0
Game 64 - Saturday Afternoon, June 10th in Philadelphia
Record - 31-33, 3rd Place, 9 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Phillies' pitching got hit early and often, as the Phillies' hitting continued to slumber in this 9-0 trouncing.

What It Means:  We had debated going to this game as Jenna wanted to see the postgame concert (AJR) but I'm glad we ended up skipping it.

What Happened:  Aaron Nola didn't have it, and he was tagged with six runs in 6 1/3 innings of work.  Jeff Hoffman threw gas on the fire, allowing a pair of Nola's inherited runners to score and then giving up three runs of his own on a J.D. Martinez three-run home run.  In the middle of the nightmare seventh inning, in which the Dodgers scored six times, manager Rob Thomson was ejected.  Thomson had been sticking up for Nola, who was delaying the game (slightly) when asking for new baseballs.  Dylan Covey and Kody Clemens settled things down with a final two scoreless innings.  Clemens has now pitched in four games, and has a respectable 3.38 ERA in 2 2/3 innings.

Featured Card:  I got nothing here.  I spent part of the weekend getting my 1988 Phillies binder added to my collection over at TCDB.com, and this is one of the random cards from the binder.  For the record, my username is Ringo73 at TCDM.com, and my 1988 Phillies binder contains 567 unique Phillies baseball cards.

2023 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2023 Season Summary Index / 2023 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 38 - Harper's 300th Career Double Leads to Win

2023 Topps 1988 Topps
35th Anniversary #T88-52

Phillies 6, Rockies 3
Game 38 - Friday Night, May 12th in Denver
Record - 19-19, 2nd Place, 6 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  With the score tied 3-3 in the eighth, Bryce Harper hit a two-run double to give the Phillies a 5-3 lead and an eventual victory.

What It Means:  The Phillies will need to continue to win to secure a playoff spot, but this win put them into sole possession of second place for the first time all season.

What Happened:  This was a great start to a tough six-game road trip.  There was little offense from either side until the Rockies broke through in the sixth inning with a run scoring on a C.J. Cron sacrifice fly.  The Phillies took a 3-1 lead in the top of the seventh when Alec Bohm hit a solo home run, followed by a two-run home run from the scuffling Kyle Schwarber to tie up the game.  Taijuan Walker had been fantastic through six innings, departing in the bottom of the seventh after putting two men aboard who would score after Matt Strahm had entered the game.

Harper's double in the eighth scored Bohm and Trea Turner, and was the 300th of the future Hall of Famer's career.  He'd go on to steal third and come home on a throwing error from Rockies' catcher Elias Diaz for an insurance run.

Featured Card:  I have so many Harper baseball cards, and I'd be fine featuring them in as many games as possible throughout the rest of the season.  This is an insert from 2023 Topps Series One, paying tribute to the 35th anniversary of the 1988 Topps design.

2023 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2023 Season Summary Index / 2023 Chachi Set Checklist

NEW BLOG: Collecting the 1969 Topps Set

Earlier this week, as we turned the calendar to 2023, I started a new set-collecting blog for the 1969 Topps set we're building.  It's going to look and feel mostly like the blog I recently wrapped up, which chronicled our collation of a complete 1965 Topps set between December 2019 and December 2022.  Presented below is the post for the first official card we added to our set - Cookie Rojas.

Please check out my new project and follow along as I collect the under appreciated 1969 Topps set.

1969 Topps #507 Cookie Rojas - Philadelphia Phillies

Octavio Victor Rojas
Philadelphia Phillies
Infield-Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  160
Born:  March 6, 1939, La Habana, Cuba
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1956 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1962; Philadelphia Phillies 1963-1969; St. Louis Cardinals 1970; Kansas City Royals 1970-1977

As a Manager:  California Angels 1988; Florida Marlins 1996

A long-time utility player for the Phillies, Cookie Rojas enjoyed the best years of his career as the starting second baseman for the Royals in the early 1970s.  Rojas was a five time All-Star - once with the Phillies in 1965 and then four times with the Royals between 1971 and 1974.  Blocked at second base by Tony Taylor (#108) early in his career, Rojas moved around the field playing wherever needed for Phillies manager Gene Mauch (#606).  He finished in the top 10 in singles in his respective league in 1965, 1966 and 1974.  Rojas is second on the Royals' all-time games played list at second base behind Frank White.

Rojas played for 16 seasons, accumulating a .263 average over 1,822 games.  Following his playing career, Rojas stayed in the game serving as a coach for the Cubs between 1978 and 1981, and becoming the first Cuban born manager in major league history when he was at the helm for the Angels in 1988, succeeding his former manager Mauch as manager of that club.  He later served as a coach for the Marlins (1993-1996), Mets (1997-2000) and Blue Jays (2001-2002).  He's been the Spanish-language color commentator on Marlins television broadcasts since 2003.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #3
November 6, 2021 from Cooperstown, NY (Stonehouse Toys of Fame)

In early November 2021, needing a quick vacation and wanting to take our sons to Cooperstown for the first time, we took advantage of the annual NJEA Teacher Convention in which public schools are closed for a few days.  We loaded our car on a Thursday morning with a loose plan of spending two days in Cooperstown and the surrounding area over the weekend, shopping in the village, soaking in the Hall of Fame exhibits and eating a few good dinners.  The 4 1/2 hour drive to Otsego County was scenic and enjoyable.  Most of the day Friday was spent in the Hall of Fame and Saturday was dedicated largely to shopping in the many stores, mostly baseball related, located in the blocks surrounding the Hall.

We'd add nine cards to our 1965 Topps set during the weekend and four cards to our not-yet-collecting 1969 Topps set.  This Rojas card was pulled from a stack of loosely organized vintage Topps commons found within the subterranean Stonehouse Toys of Fame and it cost me $3.  I hadn't planned on adding any 1969 Topps cards during this trip, but by the end of the weekend Rojas would be joined by three other cards from the set.  It's fitting Rojas would be the first official card purchased for our 1969 Topps set build, as his 1965 Topps card was one of the first five cards we purchased for that set in December 2019.

The Card / Phillies Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

Given the card comes late in the set, I'm going to assume this is one of the newer photos to appear, perhaps taken as late as spring training 1969.  The back of the card highlights Rojas' 14-game hitting streak in 1968 which came in May and early June.  Rojas' versatility is also mentioned, and through the 1968 season he had pitched in one game, caught in seven games, played a game at first base and played three games at third base.

Accuracy Index:  This card scores a +5 for showing Rojas on the correct team and not recycling an old photo.

1969 Season
This was to be Rojas' seventh and final season with the Phillies.  In 110 games, he batted .228, the fourth year in a row his average had declined.  Rojas made 96 starts overall, with 94 starts coming a second base and a pair of starts in April in left field.  Taylor gradually saw more playing time at second base as the season progressed, and by the end of the season the Phillies had decided to move ahead with young Denny Doyle as Rojas' permanent replacement for 1970.  As noted below, Rojas was shipped to the Cardinals on October 7, 1969 as part of a blockbuster seven-player deal.

Phillies Career
The Phillies acquired Rojas from the Reds on November 27, 1962 for reliever Jim Owens, and his Topps rookie card in the 1963 set shows him wearing a Reds uniform top.  He played for seven seasons with the Phillies, appearing in at least 100 games every year except his first in 1963.  His best season with the club was 1965 when Rojas was named to his first All-Star team, joining his teammates Dick Allen (#350) and Johnny Callison (#133).  He appeared in 142 games that year, and saw more time at second base than usual due to a season long slump endured by regular second baseman Taylor.  He also led the team with a .303 average, which placed him eighth overall in the league.

After several years of declining offensive output, the Phillies traded him in October 1969.  Rojas was one of the players included in the blockbuster deal between the Phillies and Cardinals that shipped Allen and Jerry Johnson (#253) to St. Louis in exchange for Curt Flood (#540), Tim McCarver (#475), Byron Browne and Joe Hoerner (#522).  (Flood never reported to the Phillies, but that's a story for another post.)

Rojas played in 880 games for the Phillies - the exact amount of games he played for the Royals.

1963 Topps #221

1968 Topps #39

1971 Topps #118

1975 Topps #169

1988 Topps Traded #97T

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1963 Topps #221
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16):  1963-1977, 1988
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2019 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-CR
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  90 in the Beckett online database as of 12/27/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

2022 Chachi #31 Figueroa / Wathan / Meacham / Dickerson CO

#38
Francisco Figueroa
First Base Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  180
Opening Day Age:  38
Born:  February 19, 1983, Miami, FL
As a Coach:  Philadelphia Phillies 2019-

First Phillies Minor League Card:  2011 Multi-Ad Reading Phillies #11
First Phillies Card:  2019 Phillies Team Issue #38
Newest Card Added:  2019 Phillies Team Issue 2 #38
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

3 - Figueroa baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/12/22.

Complete Chachi Checklist - Figueroa
2019 Chachi #28
2019 Chachi Photo Night #10
2020 Chachi #33
2021 Chachi #29
2022 Chachi #31

* * *

#92
Robert Andrew Meacham
Coaching Assistant

Bats:  Switch  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  175
Opening Day Age:  61
Born:  August 25, 1960, Los Angeles, CA
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1983-1988
As a Coach:  Florida Marlins 2006; San Diego Padres 2007; New York Yankees 2008; Houston Astros 2010-2012; Philadelphia Phillies 2020-

First Phillies Minor League Card:  2009 Choice Williamsport Crosscutters #31
First Phillies Card:  N/A
Newest Card Added:  2009 Choice Williamsport Crosscutters #31
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1984-1989

1 - Meacham baseball card in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/12/22.

Complete Chachi Checklist - Meacham
2020 Chachi #33
2021 Chachi #28
2022 Chachi #31

#62
Dustin James Wathan
Third Base Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  225
Opening Day Age:  48
Born:  August 22, 1973, Jacksonville, FL
Major League Teams:  Kansas City Royals 2002
As a Coach:  Philadelphia Phillies 2018-

First Phillies Minor League Card:   2006 Choice Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #24
First Phillies Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #62
Newest Card Added:  2019 Phillies Team Issue 2 #62
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

23 - Wathan baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/12/22.

Complete Chachi Checklist - Wathan
2018 Chachi #28
2019 Chachi #28
2019 Chachi Photo Night #14
2020 Chachi #33
2021 Chachi #29
2022 Chachi #31

* * *

#9
Bobby Dale Dickerson
Infield Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  180
Opening Day Age:  56
Born:  September 4, 1965, Laurel, MS
As a Coach:  Baltimore Orioles 2013-2018; Philadelphia Phillies 2019; San Diego Padres 2020-2021; Philadelphia Phillies 2022

First Phillies Card:  2019 Phillies Team Issue #39
Newest Card Added:  2019 Phillies Team Issue 2 #39
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

2 - Dickerson baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/12/22.

Complete Chachi Checklist - Dickerson
2019 Chachi #29
2022 Chachi #31

1984 Topps #204

1985 Topps #16

1986 Topps #379

1988 Topps #659

1989 Topps #436

2022 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2022 Season Summary Index / 2022 Chachi Set Checklist

2022 Chachi #30 Phillies Coaches / 2022 Chachi #32 Phillies Coaches

Game 74 - 2001 Topps Archives #183 Kent Tekulve

Mets 4, Phillies 3
Game 74 - Saturday Afternoon, June 26th in Flushing
Record - 35-39, Tied for 3rd Place, 6 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  For the third consecutive game, a Phillies reliever couldn't hold a one-run lead in the seventh, nor could they lock down the save when the Phillies somehow scored again, and it's miserable being a Phillies fan.

What It Means:  🤷‍♂️

What Happened:  The positives from this game were Zach Eflin going toe to toe with Jacob deGrom and allowing one less run over six innings, and Nick Maton coming through with clutch RBIs in the second and ninth innings.  Andrew McCutchen also delivered a big sacrifice fly in the sixth to give the Phillies a brief 2-1 lead.  The negatives were, as usual, anything coming out of the Phillies bullpen.  After Maton gave the team a 3-2 lead in the ninth, Hector Neris once again emerged to try for the save.  Only a few minutes into the bottom of the ninth, Rhys Hoskins had booted a ball and Neris had walked the next batter.  It was only a matter of time before the Mets walked-off with the win, this time on a Michael Conforto sacrifice fly.

Featured Card:  Kent Tekulve had nothing to do with this game, but I wanted to cleanse the blog's palate and feature a card of a closer who made me happy more often than sad.

Transactions:  Before the game, Andrew Knapp (c) was activated from the 7-day concussion IL and Enyel De Los Santos (rhp) was recalled from Lehigh Valley.  Rafael Marchan (c) and Matt Vierling (of) were both optioned back down.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

1988 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  39
Card Size:  4 7/8" x 6 1/4"
Description:  The Phillies broke the mold for their 1988 photo card set and went with a set of supersized cards.  The fronts of the cards feature full color action photos while the backs contain biographical information and complete minor and Major League statistics.  The nine photo cards found in the update set have blank backs.  I've always thought this was one of the more impressive team-issued sets released by the Phillies, but I guess the larger size may have indirectly led to less cards in the set.  This is seventh year in a row the set was sponsored by Tastykake.

How Distributed:  Saturday, April 9, 1988, the first Saturday night home game of the season, was Tastykake Photo Card day with all fans receiving the original 30-card set.  (The Phillies won the game, 9-3 over the Mets, behind a complete game effort from Don Carman and 5 RBIs from Lance Parrish.)  The set was comprised of the entire opening day roster, 1987 Cy Young Award winner Steve Bedrosian, who opened the season on the disabled list, manager Lee Elia and cards for the coaches, top prospects, a team photo and the Phillie Phanatic.

The nine-card update set was released later in the season, and I believe was sold at various vendor stands throughout Veterans Stadium.  The update set checklist would have been finalized in mid-July as Larry Bowa took over for the fired Dave Bristol on July 15th and Ricky Jordan was recalled on July 16th.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the front of cards): 

1. Luis Aguayo (#16 - INF) 2. Bill Almon (#15 - INF) 3. Steve Bedrosian (#40 - P) 4. Phil Bradley (#29 - OF) 5. Jeff Calhoun (#31 - P) 6. Don Carman (#42 - P) 7. Darren Daulton (#10 - C) 8. Bob Dernier (#22 - OF) 9. Lee Elia (#4 - MG, Vertical)       10. Todd Frohwirth (#52 - P)

11. Greg Gross (#21 - OF-1B)       12. Kevin Gross (#46 - P) 13. Von Hayes (#9 - 1B) 14. Chris James (#18 - OF) 15. Steve Jeltz (#30 - SS) 16. Mike Maddux (#44 - P) 17. David Palmer (#45 - P) 18. Lance Parrish (#13 - C) 19. Shane Rawley (#28 - P) 20. Wally Ritchie (#38 - P)

21. Bruce Ruffin (#47 - P) 22. Juan Samuel (#8 - 2B) 23. Mike Schmidt (#20 - 3B) 24. Kent Tekulve (#27 - P) 25. Milt Thompson (#24 - CF) 26. Mike Young (#19 - OF) 27. Phillies Coaches 28. Phillies Prospects 29. Team Card 30. Phillie Phanatic

Complete Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the front of cards):

1. Larry Bowa (#16 - CO) 2. Lee Elia (#4 - MG, Horizontal)       3. Jackie Gutierrez (#15 - INF)

4. Greg Harris (#33 - P) 5. Ricky Jordan (#17 - 1B) 6. Keith Miller (#11 - INF-OF)

7. John Russell (#6 - C) 8. John Vukovich (#7 - CO) 9. Phillies Broadcasters

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Almon

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (7):  Bradley, Gutierrez, Harris, Jordan, Miller, Palmer, Young
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (22):  Aguayo, Bedrosian, Calhoun, Carman, Daulton, Dernier, Frohwirth, G. Gross, K. Gross, Hayes, James, Jeltz, Maddux, Parrish, Rawley, Ritchie, Ruffin, Russell, Samuel, Schmidt,  Tekulve, Thompson

Managers (2):  Elia (2)
Coaches (3):  The coaches card in the base set includes Dave Bristol, Claude Osteen, Mike Ryan, Tony Taylor, Del Unser and John Vukovich.  Bowa and Vukovich get solo cards in the update set.

Phillie Phanatic (1):  The Phanatic is once again pictured atop his ATV.

Broadcasters (1):  Features Richie Ashburn, Harry Kalas, Garry Maddox, Andy Musser and Chris Wheeler
Phillies Prospects (1):  Features eight prospects on one card - Tom Barrett, Brad Brink, Steve DeAngelis, Ron Jones, Keith Miller, Brad Moore, Howard Nichols and Shane Turner.  DeAngelis and Nichols never played for the Phillies.
Other Cards (1):  Team card

Surprises:  The original 30-card set doesn't have many surprises, although there are a few omissions - see below.  The update set surprises me somewhat as I'm not sure why the Phillies decided we needed a second card of manager Elia and a stand-alone card of coach John Vukovich.  For some background here, the Phillies fired third base coach Bristol and hitting coach Del Unser on July 15th.  Vukovich, who had been serving as Elia's bench coach, moved over to third for a few games before the Phillies hired old friend Bowa who had recently been let go as the Padres manager.  Vukovich would switch jobs again on September 23rd, taking over as interim manager when Elia was fired.  Bowa wore #16 in his first stint as a Phillies coach, before switching to #2 at the start of the 1989 season.

Vukovich and Elia aren't the only two to appear in the set twice.  Prospect Keith Miller is one of eight prospects on the multi-player Phillies Prospects card and then he received his own card in the update set.  Five of the eight players on the Prospects card appeared with the Phillies in 1988 - Tom Barrett, Ron Jones, Miller, Brad Moore and Shane Turner.

Omissions:  If we use July 16th as a cut-off date for the update set, there are a few more deserving candidates.  The oft-injured pitcher Bill Dawley was recalled from Maine on April 22nd but was on the disabled list between May 11th and August 18th.  Reliever Danny Clay was recalled on April 30th and had three different stints with the Phillies in between trips back to Maine.  The only other possibility is pitcher Bill Scherrer who joined the team on July 5th but was gone less than a month later on August 2nd.  Wild speculation on my part here, but maybe one or more of those three pitchers were slated to receive cards in the update set only to be replaced by second cards for Elia and Vukovich.

Variations/Rarities:  As fellow collector Rick e-mailed me, there's also a smaller-sized Mike Schmidt card available, featuring the same photo as his regular 1988 Tastykake photo card, but on a smaller scale.

Smaller Sized Variation 1. Mike Schmidt (#20 - 3B)

Also See:  1988 Topps Phillies - Missing Links

Resources:  Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick G.

This set was originally featured in a post back in October 2014, and I'm going through these older team-issued set posts to update them with new information learned (if any) over the past six years.

1987 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1989 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards

1980-1999 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page

Remembering Dutch

Like all baseball and Phillies fans, I was saddened to learn of the passing of Phillies great Darren Daulton on Sunday night after his four year battle with brain cancer.  Doug and I met Dutch in September 2014 at the Valley Forge baseball card show and I wrote this at the time:

By far, the highlight of the day was getting to meet Phillies great Darren Daulton.  There were a number of current Phillies signing earlier in the day, but Doug's mid-morning soccer game meant that we didn't arrive until most of the current Phillies had already left. We scanned the list of upcoming autograph signers, and decided we'd like to meet Daulton. 

Dutch could not have been any nicer to us.  He took his time to talk to Doug and he graciously posed for several pictures.  As we were walking away, Daulton called Doug back over and said, "Now listen, here's the deal.  When you make the big leagues, you have to remember that you owe me an autograph."  Doug smiled from ear to ear, and shortly thereafter he announced that Daulton had joined the ranks of his favorite all-time players along with Chase Utley, Shane Victorino and Mike Trout.

I followed social media all day Monday for the accolades and tributes that came pouring in from former teammates and coaches of Daulton's, and I'll pay tribute here with a gallery of his Topps baseball cards.  Thanks for everything, Dutch.

1986 Topps #264

1987 Topps #636

1988 Topps #468

1989 Topps #187

1990 Topps #542

1991 Topps #89

1992 Topps #244

1993 Topps #180

1994 Topps #380

1995 Topps #477

1996 Topps #85

1998 Topps #218