Phillies at Giants: May 15th to May 17th

1965 Topps #555

1965 Topps #531

Monday and Tuesday 9:45, Wednesday 3:45
Oracle Park - San Francisco, CA

At the Ballpark:  There are just a few theme night for this series and otherwise no giveaways, at one of the best big league ballparks.

Phillies 20-20
2nd Place in the N.L. East, 5 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Connor Brogdon (2-0, 2.61)
Zack Wheeler (3-2, 3.80)
Taijuan Walker (3-2, 5.75)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Nick Castellanos - .316
Runs:  Nick Castellanos - 30
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 9
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 28
Stolen Bases:  Three tied with - 5

Wins:  Four tied with - 3
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 3.80

Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 53
Saves:  Jose Alvarado - 5

Giants 17-23
4th Place in the N.L. West, 8 1/2 games behind the Dodgers

Giants Probables
Alex Wood (0-0, 2.45)
Alex Cobb (3-1, 1.70)
Sean Manaea (1-2, 7.96)

Giants Leaders
Average:  Thairo Estrada - .314
Runs:  Thairo Estrada - 26
Home Runs:  Three tied with - 7
RBIs:  J.D. Davis - 22
Stolen Bases:  Thairo Estrada - 11

Wins:  Three tied with - 3
ERA:  Alex Cobb - 1.70

Strikeouts:  Logan Webb - 58
Saves:  Camilo Doval - 8

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

Series Preview - Phillies at Padres: August 5th to August 7th

Friday 10:40, Saturday 8:40 and Sunday 4:40
Petco Park - San Diego, CA

Phillies 50-60, 4th place in the N.L. East, 15 games behind the Nationals
Padres 47-61, 4th place in the N.L. West, 15 games behind the Nationals

Phillies Probables:  Jeremy Hellickson (8-7, 3.70), Jake Thompson (0-0, 0.00), Jared Eickhoff (6-12, 3.68)
Padres Probables:  Christian Friedrich (4-6, 4.72), Paul Clemens (0-2, 3.46), Jarred Cosart (0-1, 5.09)

At the Ballpark:  Tomorrow night, all fans will receive a Padres throwback replica jersey from the 1990s and Sunday is U.S. Navy Appreciation Day.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Cesar Hernandez - .294
Runs:  Odubel Herrera - 59
Home Runs:  Maikel Franco - 20
RBIs:  Maikel Franco - 66
Stolen Bases:  Odubel Herrera - 16

Wins:  Jeremy Hellickson and Vince Velasquez - 8
ERA:  Jared Eickhoff - 3.68
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 121
Saves:  Jeanmar Gomez - 27

Padres Leaders
Average:  Wil Myers - .275
Runs:  Wil Myers - 70
Home Runs:  Matt Kemp - 23
RBIs:  Matt Kemp - 69
Stolen Bases:  Travis Jankowski - 23

Wins:  Drew Pomeranz - 8
ERA:  N/A
Strikeouts:  Drew Pomeranz - 115
Saves:  Fernando Rodney - 17

1970 Topps #284

1970 Topps #44

1970 Topps Appreciation:  Pitcher Jack Baldschun and infielder Roberto Pena were teammates on the 1969 expansion Padres team, and both also played for the Phillies.

Baldschun began his nine-year career by pitching in parts of five seasons for the Phils between 1961 and 1965.  Used strictly as a relief pitcher, Baldschun led the team in saves in 1962 (13), 1963 (16) and 1964 (21).  He shared closer duties with Gary Wagner in 1965 before the Phillies traded him to the Orioles for Jackie Brandt and Darold Knowles that December.  Picked up by the Padres after two seasons with the Reds, Baldschun was second only to Frank Reberger with relief appearances with 61 to Reberger's 67.  He appeared in 12 games for the 1970 Padres before being released in early April.

The starting shortstop for the Phillies in 1968, Pena was left unprotected by the club and chosen by the Padres in the expansion draft.  He hit a respectable .260 in 138 games for the 1968 Phillies.  Pena is a member of the "Missing Links" club for the Phillies in the 1960s as he never appeared on a Phillies baseball card.

2012 Topps Heritage Phillies vs. 1963 Topps Phillies

1963 Topps #455 and 2012 Topps Heritage #455

Blue Jays 10, Phillies 2
Spring Training Game 18 - Sunday Afternoon, March 18th in Dunedin
Record - 7-9-2

One Sentence Summary:  Cole Hamels struggled in his latest spring start as the Phils fell to the Jays, 10-2.

What It Means:  I listened to most of this game on the radio, and the announcers were quick to point out that although Hamels surrendered eight hits in 3 1/3 innings, none of the hits were necessary a result of hard-hit balls.  So I'm going with a glass half full approach on this one.

What Went Wrong:  On the other hand, Jose Contreras was lit up in his spring debut, allowing four runs in 1/3 of an inning pitched.  The offense managed runs in the first and ninth and they were generally quiet throughout the bulk of the ballgame.

The red-hot Lou Montanez added three more hits to his spring tally, raising his average to .448.

Featured Cards:  Once again, the cards featured here have absolutely nothing to do with yesterday's game.  I'm still digesting my first packs of 2012 Topps Heritage, and I've enjoyed comparing and contrasting the set to the original - the 1963 Topps set.

1963 Topps #341

So how did Topps do with matching up the 2012 Phillies with their counterparts on the original 1963 cards?  Based on my very scientific analysis - they did good.  As the chart below shows, the folks at Topps did a nice job of matching up the modern Phillies with their counterparts from yesteryear, with the exception of only a few cards.  It may be a stretch to say that Vance Worley matches up with Jim Brosnan, but I'm throwing the card into the "Hit" column.  I also considered the guys who switched teams during the offseason as "Hits," such as Jonathan Papelbon, Jim Thome and Ryan Madson.  Their 1963 counterparts are guys from their former teams.

The Jack Baldschun card featured here has a white slash running across the black and white mini-picture, which I believe could have been caused by a printing mishap.  Back in 1963, Topps attempted to correct the error by releasing a Baldschun card with black dots filling in the white slash and the "slash repair" variation was born.  With its 2012 Topps Heritage release, Madson's card pays homage to this variation by being available in three versions - the regular no slash version, the super short print white slash variation and the crazy super short print red slash variation.  For the record, had Madson stayed with the Phillies, I would have felt zero desire to pursue these variation cards for my Phillies collection.  I would have obtained the "normal" Madson card and stopped there.

Given the fact that the Diamondbacks, Mariners, Marlins and Blue Jays (along with a few other teams) didn't exist in 1963, it's only natural that players on these teams would have to replace players on the teams that did exist back in 1963.  And as far as I can tell, Topps stayed true to each card's color combination no matter which team was featured.  So nice job with this, Topps.  Even though the short-prints will keep me away from collecting the set, I can appreciate that at least some thought went into creating the set.

Well, except for this nonsense.

1963 Topps Phillies

1963 Topps #434, #283, #32 and #341

If 1962 Topps beget 1987 Topps, then 1963 Topps beget 1983 Topps.  I didn't know much about this set growing up other than it's the set with Pete Rose's rookie card in it.  If you had asked 10-year-old me if I could have any baseball card in the entire world, I wouldn't have hesitated with my pick - the Rose rookie card.  Maybe one day.

The Set

1963 Topps #366 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  The complete set consists of 576 cards, down from the 598 total cards found in the 1962 Topps set.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  The folks at Topps must have wanted to mix things up in 1963 after a soothing, wood-grained design in 1962.  The '63 Topps set is very colorful, with blues, yellows, oranges, reds and greens used no matter the team.

Notable competition:  Post and the Salada coins were around again in 1963, but it was the 66-card Fleer set that gave Topps its biggest competition since Bowman departed the scene in 1955.  The Standard Catalog mentions that a "lawsuit by Topps stopped Fleer's 1963 set at one series of 66 cards."  The complete Phillies team set from 1963 Fleer consists of five cards.

1963 Phillies

Record and finish:  The Phillies finished with a record of 87-75, their highest win total since also winning 87 games in 1952.  They still finished fourth in the National League behind the Giants, Cardinals and pennant winning Dodgers.  Things were looking up and they would almost reach the promised land in 1964.  Almost.

Key players:  Johnny Callison (.284, 26 home runs and 78 RBIs) and Wes Covington (.303, 17 home runs and 64 RBIs) paced the offense.  Roy Sievers' average dropped to .240, but he still hit 19 home runs and drove in 82 runs.  Tony Gonzalez hit .306 in another steady year for the Phillies.  With Art Mahaffey missing a chunk of the season with a bad ankle, starters Cal McLish (13-11, 3.26 ERA) and Ray Culp (14-11, 2.97 ERA) led the pitching staff.  Jack Baldschun was great out of the bullpen, saving 16 games and pitching to an 11-7 record with a 2.30 ERA.  Johnny Klippstein contributed a 1.93 ERA in 49 appearances.

Key events:  Shortstop Bobby Wine won his first and only Gold Glove.  Richie Allen was a September call-up, making his Major League debut on September 3rd.

1963 Topps #366, #318, #71 and #385

1963 Phillies in 1963 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 29 cards in a 1963 Topps Phillies team set.  The cumulative tally is 121 cards from the '60s (so far) and 294 Topps Phillies cards dating back to 1951.  (Turns out there are actually 30 Phillies cards in a complete team set - see the comments to this post.  I'll update the overall tally if I ever get to a 1951 to whenever Topps Phillies retrospective post.)

Who’s in:  22 players who actually played with the Phillies in 1963 made it into the set - on their own cards.  On three other cards, rookies Marcelino Lopez, Culp, John Boozer and John Herrnstein had to share their rookie cards with several other players on Topps' multi-player Rookie Stars cards.  Mahaffey became the first Phillie to appear on a League Leader card, as he was featured along with the other 1962 victory leaders on card #7.  Rounding out the team set is a card for manager Gene Mauch, a team card, and a card for reliever Billy Smith, who spent the season playing for the Phillies' AAA team in Arkansas.

Who’s out:  Just starting pitcher Chris Short.  And Allen would have to wait for the 1964 Topps set for his rookie card.

1963 Topps #268, #455, #91 and #192

Phillies on other teams:  Ryne Duren (#17) pitched in 33 games for the Phillies after being sold from the Angels in March.  Outfielder Jim Lemon (#369) was purchased from the Twins in May.

What’s he doing here:  I have no arguments with any of the Phillies players featured.  Even Smith, who should have had a card in the 1962 Topps set, was a logical inclusion as he had pitched in 24 games in the prior year.

Cards that never were candidates:  Short and Allen.  The fine Dick Allen Hall of Fame blog has already created a great looking 1963 Topps Richie Allen card.

Favorite Phillies card:  Similar to the 1962 Topps Phillies cards, there aren't any cards that really stand out to me.  I'll pick Bobby Wine's card, although I could be swayed by the smiling Mahaffey or the Cookie Rojas rookie card.

1963 Topps #7 and #221, 2006 Topps Wal-Mart #WM17 and 2001 Upper Deck Vintage #298

Other Stuff

Recycled:  If Topps produces a Heritage set in 2012 (and why wouldn't they?) this will be the design used.  Back in 2001, Upper Deck used a design that looked suspiciously like the 1963 Topps set for its Vintage offering.  And in 2006, Topps failed with a 1963-style Chase Utley card - the circle is too small and the font is all wrong.

Blogs/Websites:  Here's a terrific post on the 1963 Topps set from Dean's Cards.

Did You Know?:  It could be a while before I complete this team set.  John Hernstein's rookie card, #553 in the set, typically sells for a few hundred dollars.  He shares the card with three other Rookie Stars - Brock Davis, Jim Gosger and Willie Stargell.

1962 Topps Phillies

1962 Topps #146, #17, #220 and #453

We're now up to the design used for this year's Topps Heritage set, the original wood-grained wonder.  Way before there was 1987 Topps, there was the 1962 Topps set.

The Set

1962 Topps #146 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  Topps added eleven more cards to its baseball card set in 1962, increasing the complete set size to 598 cards.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  I've always liked this set.  Way back in my early days of collecting, my Dad bought me a Tim McCarver 1962 Topps card and my first thought was that the card looked so old.  The design and feel of the set is reminiscent of your grandparents' basement, peeling posters on the wall and all.  It's familiar and comfortable.

Notable competition:  There was an abundance of regional and food-issued sets released.  Post again issued  a 200-card set available on its cereal boxes (9 Phillies in the set) and a set of 221 coins were released with Salada Tea and Junket Pudding mix (12 Phillies coins).

1962 Phillies

Record and finish: Thanks in part to two expansion teams - the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45's - the Phillies finished with a record of 81-80, in seventh place in the new ten-team National League.

Key players:  The offense showed signs of life, as led by third baseman Don Demeter (.307, 29 home runs and 107 RBIs), right fielder Johnny Callison (.300, 23, 83) and first baseman Roy Sievers (.262, 21, 80).  Demeter moved to third to make room for Sievers, acquired in an off-season trade with the White Sox.  Tony Gonzalez (.300, 20, 63, 17 stolen bases) had another consistent year.  All-Star Art Mahaffey led the pitching staff (19-14, 3.94 ERA) followed by Cal McLish and Chris Short with eleven wins each.  Jack Baldschun won 12 games and saved 13 out of the bullpen.

Key events:  Things were starting to look up for the Phillies after a dismal 1961 season.

1962 Topps #77, #434, #104 and #374

1962 Phillies in 1962 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 27 cards in the 1962 Topps Phillies team set, down three from 1961 most likely as a result of the team's awful performance in the prior year.  That makes 92 cards from 1960 to 1962, and 265 total Phillies Topps cards dating back to 1951.  I have most of the '62 Topps cards, but I still need to track down the high numbers.

Who’s in:  24 of the 27 cards feature players who actually played with the Phillies in 1962.  The other three cards are a team card, a card for manager Gene Mauch and a card for Ken Walters, who had been sold to the Reds in February.  Also of note is the first appearance of a Phillie on a multi-player "rookie" card.  Pitcher Jack Hamilton appears on a "Rookie Parade" card (#593) along with four other pitching prospects.

Who’s out:  Regular shortstop Bobby Wine was omitted, as was the team's number three starter, Dennis Bennett.  In the bullpen, Chris Short (again) is missing despite pitching in 47 games, as is Bill Smith, who appeared in 24 games.

1962 Topps #111, #157, #284 and #303

Phillies on other teams:  Pitcher Don Ferrerese appeared in five games with the '62 Phillies before being shipped to the Reds on April 28th for Bobby Locke.  Ferrarese appears on card #547 with the Cardinals and Locke, who had been traded by the Cubs to the Cardinals earlier that April, appears on card #359 with the Cubs.

What’s he doing here:  The inclusion of Walters doesn't make much sense, given that Topps had to have known about his sale to the Reds by the time his card (#328) made its appearance in the set's fourth series.  In fact, upon further review, Topps actually makes mention of the pre-season sale on the back of Walters' card.  The plot thickens.

Cards that never were candidates: Wine, Bennett, Short and Smith.

Favorite Phillies card:  There aren't any real eye-popping cards in the bunch, but I narrowed it down to Clay Dalrymple's squat pose with a bunch of Phillies milling about behind him and Tony Taylor's first baseball card to feature him in an actual Phillies uniform with billboards from Connie Mack Stadium in the background.  I'll give the nod to the Taylor card.

1962 Topps #46, #212, #328 and #269

Other Stuff

Recycled:  You'll see a whole lot of 2011 Topps Heritage throughout the season as I'll feature the Phillies cards from this set in my game summary posts.

Blogs/Websites:  It's been quiet recently, but there's plenty of good stuff to read in the archives over at Project '62.

Did You Know?:  Early printings of the cards in series two (cards 110 to 196) were inadvertently printed with extra green ink, giving the cards a greenish tint.  Topps intentionally recreated this printing gaffe with its 2011 Heritage set, and cards 110 to 196 can be found in short-printed "green tint" variations.