Philadelphia Phillies at San Francisco Giants

2005 Topps #44

2005 Topps #636

Monday, July 7th - 9:45
Tuesday, July 8th - 9:45
Wednesday, July 9th - 3:45

Oracle Park - San Francisco, CA
The Giants are offering three theme tickets for this series - Anime Night on Monday, Law Enforcement Appreciation Night on Tuesday, and Fellowship Day on Wednesday afternoon.

Philadelphia Phillies

2005 Phillies Leaders
Average:  Chase Utley - .291
Runs:  Jimmy Rollins - 115
Home Runs:  Pat Burrell - 32
RBIs:  Pat Burrell - 117
Stolen Bases:  Jimmy Rollins - 41

Wins:  Jon Lieber - 17
ERA:  Brett Myers - 3.72

Strikeouts:  Brett Myers - 208
Saves:  Billy Wagner - 38

San Francisco Giants

2005 Giants Leaders
Average:  Ray Durham - .290
Runs:  Pedro Feliz - 69
Home Runs:  Pedro Feliz - 20
RBIs:  Pedro Feliz - 81
Stolen Bases:  Omar Vizquel - 24

Wins:  Noah Lowry - 13
ERA:  Noah Lowry - 3.78

Strikeouts:  Noah Lowry - 172
Saves:  Tyler Walker - 23

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

Game 11 - Fish and Arraez Pound Nola, Phils

2004 Topps #35

Marlins 8, Phillies 4
Game 11 - Tuesday Night, April 11th in Philadelphia
Record - 4-7, 4th Place, 3 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies fell to the Marlins, 8-4, as Aaron Nola had another rough outing and the Marlins' Luis Arraez hit for the first cycle in franchise history.

What It Means:  An incredibly busy week at work means I'm a few games behind, although I've not really missed much.

What Happened:  Nola's record dropped to 0-2 as he allowed four runs on nine hits while pitching into the sixth inning.  The usually steady Andrew Bellatti gave up three more Marlins runs in the eighth.  The Phillies got on the board in the sixth when Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run, his third of the season.  Later in the inning, Bryson Stott would line a bases loaded single to left, scoring a pair of runs, but then Stott would get thrown out while circling too far off first base.  The Phillies have been a hot mess on the base paths so far this season.  J.T. Realmuto added an RBI double in the ninth, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome the deficit.

Featured Card:  Arraez doubled in the first, tripled in the sixth and hit a home run off Connor Brogdon in the seventh.  He singled off Bellatti in the eighth to complete the cycle.  The last cycle from a Phillies player came way back on June 28, 2004 when current Reds' manager David Bell did it at Citizens Bank Park against the Expos.  Of course Topps Now wasn't around back then, and as far as I know, Bell's feat has never been celebrated on a baseball card.

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

Game 117 - Ranger Outing Wasted in Shutout Loss

2004 Upper Deck
McDonald's Phillies #4

Reds 1, Phillies 0
Game 117 - Wednesday Afternoon, August 17th in Cincinnati
Record - 65-52, 3rd Place, 10 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Reds' pitchers Nick Lodolo and Alexis Diaz baffled the Phillies, and the Reds walked this one off with a ninth inning single from Jose Barrero.

What It Means:  It would have been nice to sweep this series, especially with the four-game series coming up beginning Friday against the Mets.  The last four games lost by the Phillies have all been shutouts.

What Happened:  Ranger Suarez deserved better.  Suarez went seven innings, striking out eight and allowing three hits.  Seranthony Dominguez coughed up the winning run, reminding us that he is actually human.  The Phillies offense had five hits and went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position.

Featured Card:  I got nothing, and I want to save my few remaining Suarez cards for a game in which the Phillies win.  So here's a card of current Reds manager David Bell, the last Phillies player to hit for the cycle, back on June 28, 2004.

Transaction:  Andrew Vasquez (lhp), designated for assignment on Monday, was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco Giants.  Vasquez had been on the team's 40-man roster for less than two weeks.

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

Game 139 - 2004 Donruss #323 David Bell

Reds 4, Phillies 3 (11)
Game 139 - Thursday Afternoon, September 5th in Cincinnati
Record - 72-66, 3rd place, 13 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Phillip Ervin hit a walk-off winning home run off Nick Vincent to send the Phillies to an extra-inning 4-3 loss.

What It Means:  What a disappointing series.  The Phillies could have come away having won three out of four, or even sweeping, but they come away with a series split.  They'll head to Citi Field next for a weekend series against the Mets, who remain a game behind them in the standings.

What Happened:  J.T. Realmuto hit a solo home run in the eighth to tie the game at 3-3.  The Phillies offense went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position, with a big clutch hit eluding them for most of the afternoon.

Featured Card:  There are 22 games remaining, I'm frustrated by the Phillies and I'm running out of steam.  Here's a card of current Reds manager David Bell.

Transactions:  Maikel Franco was recalled from Lehigh Valley, bringing the active roster to 34 players.

The Autographs (Burnell's Bombshell Bounty - Part Four)

1999 Topps Autographs #A3

1999 Topps Autographs #A16

2002 Topps Autographs #TA11

2003 Topps Traded Signature Moves #SMA-DB

I'm at the end of my four posts celebrating the awesome assortment of Phillies cards I recently received from fellow collector Burnell.

On-card autograph cards have fascinated me since they started regularly appearing in packs of cards in the late 1990s.  Of the cards featured here, I honestly never thought I'd own the Scott Rolen or Pat Burrell autographed cards since these were regularly priced at anywhere from $50 to $100 a card at Philadelphia-area baseball card shows in the early 2000s.

I'm thrilled to have these cards in my collection and thanks again to Burnell for sending them my way.  Here's the full list of Phillies certified autograph cards I received:

1999 Topps Autographs #A3 Scott Rolen
1999 Topps Autographs #A16 Pat Burrell
2002 Topps Autographs #TA11 Pat Burrell
2003 Topps Total Signatures #TS-MB Marlon Byrd
2003 Topps Traded Signature Moves #SMA-DB David Bell
2003 Topps Traded Signature Moves #SMA-ER Elizardo Ramirez

2006 Topps Phillies

2006 Topps #398, #359, #205 and #396

Our first son, Doug, was born in 2006.  Those of you who are parents know that the birth of a child pretty much trumps any and all other events that took place during the nine months proceeding the blessed event, and the arrival of Doug was no different for us.  I've spent the last six and a half years enjoying every minute with Doug and his little brother, Ben.

The Set

2006 Topps #359 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  There are 659 cards in the regular set if you don't count the Alex Gordon or Alay Soler cards (discussed briefly below) and another 330 cards in the Update and Highlights series.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  There were a couple of key turning points with the 2006 Topps set.  First, Topps digitally altered some players uniforms to show them with their new teams.  Phillies fans received cards of Tom Gordon and Aaron Rowand in Phillies uniforms months before catchers and pitchers even reported to Spring Training.  (Even though Gordon's card still says he's with the Yankees.)  I was OK with this, but I would have been fine had they waited to show these players in their new uniforms in the second series or the update set.  The second turning point was the first-time inclusion of gimmick cards in the set.  This was the year of the Alex Gordon "rookie card" and the surprise addition of a short-printed card for Mets prospect Alay Soler into packs of Topps Series Two.  Other bloggers have railed against Topps and their abuse of the set collector, and I won't go into that here.  But this was the first year I thought to myself, "I'll probably never be a modern Topps set collector again," and it was a sad realization.  Negativity aside, the actual cards are nice.  They're bright and colorful, with a 1972 Topps vibe due to the arched team name at the tops of the cards.  

Notable competition:  This is the first year that MLB and the Player's Association instituted their new annual limits on the number of baseball card sets that could be released.  For this reason, there were still a lot of sets released by Topps (20 by my unofficial count) and Upper Deck (also 20), but not as many as in prior years.  Upper Deck acquired the Fleer brand name and 6 of their 20 releases carried the Fleer or Ultra banner.

2006 Topps #33, #412, #182 and #20

2006 Phillies

Record and finish:  The Phillies fell just short of the postseason yet again, going 85-77 and finishing three games behind in the Wild Card race.  They finished 12 games behind the Mets in the N.L. East.

Key players:  Four home grown players - Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rolllins and Cole Hamels - had tremendous seasons and gave fans a reason to hope for the future.  Howard (.313, 58 home runs, 149 RBIs), Utley (.309, 32 home runs, 102 RBIs) and Rollins (.277, 25 home runs, 83 RBIs) each set franchise records for home runs at their respective positions.  Howard's 58 home runs blew away Mike Schmidt's franchise record of 48 home runs in a season and helped him secure the N.L. MVP honors.  Pat Burrell (.277, 29 home runs, 95 RBIs) had another solid season and Phillies fans were properly introduced to Shane Victorino (.287, 46 RBIs) after Rowand broke most of his face while running at full steam into the center field wall at Citizens Bank Park.  Hamels made his debut in May and went 9-8.  New closer Gordon made the All-Star team and saved 34 games.

2006 Topps #358

Key events:  With Howard ready for prime time, Jim Thome was dealt to the White Sox in November 2005 for Rowand.  The new center fielder forever endeared himself to Phillies fans with his amazing running catch on May 11, 2006, which left him battered and bruised.  I commemorated the catch with a Chachi card that can be found here.  Rollins' hitting streak that began in 2005 ended early in the 2006 season at 38.  Utley strung together a 35-game hitting streak of his own.  Looking to shake things up as the Phillies were seemingly out of the race by the non-waiver trade deadline, General Manager Pat Gillick traded away the following veteran players - Sal Fasano, David Bell, Bobby Abreu, Cory Lidle, Rheal Cormier and Ryan Franklin.  Improbably back in the race a month later, Gillick then dealt for veterans Jamie Moyer and Jeff Conine in August.

2006 Phillies in 2006 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 34 Phillies cards in the base and traded sets, with 7 of those cards featuring Howard.  That's what back-to-back Rookie of the Year and MVP campaigns will do for you.

Who's in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#33 Mike Lieberthal (c), #398 Ryan Howard (1b), #359 Chase Utley (2b), #205 Jimmy Rollins (ss), #412 David Bell (3b), #396 Pat Burrell (lf), #182 Aaron Rowand (cf), #20 Bobby Abreu (rf)

Bell and Abreu still had the most starts at their respective positions, in spite of their mid-season departures.

2006 Topps #432, #408, 2006 Topps Update #UH145 and 2006 Topps #141

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#432 Brett Myers, #408 Jon Lieber, #UH145 Cole Hamels, #141 Randy Wolf

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2004 - 7 cards

#41 Rheal Cormier, #163 Tom Gordon, #306 Danny Sandoval, #364 Ryan Madson, #UH20 Jeff Conine, #UH25 David Dellucci, #UH139 Scott Mathieson

I was definitely bummed when I realized that Topps left Moyer out of the Update series.  Especially since they dedicated 30 cards to an unneeded Team Leaders subset.

• Base cards of players who didn't play with Phillies in 2004 - 3 cards

#83 Endy Chavez, #97 Kenny Lofton, #139 Jason Michaels

• Rawlings Gold Glove Award cards - 1 card, #259 Bobby Abreu
• Award cards - 1 card, #265 Ryan Howard (Rookie of the Year)
• National League Leaders cards - 2 cards, #UH210 Ryan Howard (Home Run Leaders), #UH212 Ryan Howard (RBI Leaders)
• 2006 MLB All-Star cards - 3 cards, #UH233 Chase Utley, #UH266 Tom Gordon, #UH273 Ryan Howard
• 2006 MLB Home Run Derby cards - 1 card, #UH283 Ryan Howard
• Team Leaders cards - 1 card, #UH292 Ryan Howard and Tom Gordon
• Multi-player combination cards - 1 card, #650 Pat Burrell and Mike Lieberthal (Philly Phanatics)
• Team card - 1 card, #602
• Manager card - 1 card, #286 Charlie Manuel

Before going much further, I need to mention that Topps and the Phillies paired together to release an awesome 26-card Fan Appreciation Day set to fans attending the September 24th game.  This set is fantastic in that it gave collectors Topps Phillies cards of Victorino, Abraham Nunez, Chris Coste and several of the team's relief pitchers.  14,000 Phillies has a great write-up of the set in his Phillies Database.

Also, there are other Phillies cards available as special inserts that utilize the 2006 Topps design.  Coste has a card within a set available only within Topps factory sets, appropriately named the Topps Factory Set Rookie Bonus set.  (Fabio Castro, who spent time with the Phillies in 2006, appears with the Rangers in this set as well.)  Hamels, Chris Roberson, Mathieson and Matt Smith all received 2006 Topps Chrome-style cards in the Topps Chrome Rookie Logos insert set.

Finally, for the first time, Topps released a retail-only 14-card set, which I have yet to track down.

2006 Topps #163, #364, 2006 Topps Phillies Fan Appreciation Day #25 and

2006 Topps Factory Set Rookie Bonus #19

Who's out:  If you just consider the Topps flagship and update sets, the following deserving players were shut out - Victorino, Nunez, Lidle and relievers Geoff Geary, Aaron Fultz and Arthur Rhodes.  However, if you includes the Fan Appreciation Day set, the only notable omissions are Lidle, Franklin, Moyer and fan favorite Fasano.

Phillies on other teams:  Moyer (#358 with the Mariners) and Dellucci (#402 with the Rangers) are in the second series with their former teams.  Topps took the photo used for Dellucci's card and switched him into a Phillies uniform for their Topps Chrome set.

2006 Topps #402 and 2006 Topps Chrome #208

What's he doing here:  I have no complaints on any of the player selections.  Topps must have used mid-December 2005 as the deadline to digitally change players into their new uniforms.  Gordon signed with the Phillies on December 6th, and Lofton signed with the Yankees on December 20th.

Cards that never were candidates:  Similar to the above exercise, if I include the Fan Appreciation Day cards as "official" cards, I'd say that only these guys are true candidates for cards that never were - Moyer, Franklin, Lidle, Fasano and rookie Carlos Ruiz, who played in 27 games for the '06 squad.  Sadly, Lidle perished in a plane crash in October 2006 and Topps gave him an In Memoriam card in the update series.

Favorite Phillies card:  I've always liked Madson's card, which shows him following through on a pitch.

Other Stuff

Recycled:  As mentioned a few times, the design was used in the stadium give-away Fan Appreciation Day set, with the silver foil being replaced with yellow ink.

Did You Know?:  Only one of the players (Smith) received in Gillick's mid-season purge ever made it to the Majors with the Phillies.  Here's the list of the prospects acquired - Hector Made, Wilfredo Laureano, C.J. Henry, Jesus Sanchez, Carlos Monasterios, Matt Smith, Justin Germano and Zac Stott.  Most importantly, the deals cleared the way for the young nucleus to take over and lead the team to its best five-year run in franchise history.

2005 Topps Phillies

2005 Topps #550, #194, #689 and #481

I recently covered my detour from baseball card collecting in 2005.  Revisiting my 2005 Topps set and the few cards within my 2005 Phillies binder, I honestly felt as if I had never seen some of the cards before.  This is definitely my collecting black hole year.

The Set

2005 Topps #44 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  There are a total of 733 cards in both series of the set, with card #7 getting omitted again to honor Mickey Mantle.  The traded set was rechristened as the Update and Highlights set, and it contained 330 cards.  The combined 1,063 cards breaks the record set in 2001 when Topps issued a combined 1,055 cards in its base and traded sets.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  Holy smokes, the set's designers just went for it didn't they?  To summarize - Gold foil big names on the top, sideways player name and team name on the sides and team script logo with gold foil year and Topps logo on the bottom.  To tie it all together, there are two team color coded interlocking lines surrounding the player photo.  It's like they had ideas for two or three different card designs and just decided to combine all of them at once.  In preparation for this post, I flipped through the set a few times and I still can't figure out if I absolutely love or hate this design.  I think I'm just confused by it.

Notable competition:  This was the final year that Fleer issued baseball cards under its own banner as the company was acquired by Upper Deck in time for some 2006 releases.  As a result, there were only a handful of Fleer sets issued in 2005, but still a ton of Playoff, Topps and Upper Deck sets.

2005 Topps #170, #76, #44 and #420

2005 Phillies

Record and finish:  New manager Charlie Manuel did a little better than his predecessor, guiding the Phillies to a 88-74 finish, two games behind the Braves in the N.L. East and a game behind the Astros for the N.L. Wild Card.  They were in the hunt for a postseason berth until the final weekend of the season.

2005 Topps #117

Key players:  Once again, Pat Burrell (.281, 32 home runs, 117 RBIs) and Bobby Abreu (.286, 24 home runs, 102 RBIs) had fantastic seasons.  Abreu took the spotlight at the All-Star Game, winning the Home Run Derby with a then record 41 home runs.  Jim Thome was placed on the disabled list on July 1st with right elbow tendinitis, ending his season.  His replacement, rookie Ryan Howard, hit .288 with 22 home runs and 63 RBIs on his way to being named the N.L. Rookie of the Year.  Second baseman Chase Utley enjoyed his first full season as a starter, hitting .291 with 28 home runs and 105 RBIs.  New acquisition Jon Lieber led the pitching staff with 17 wins and Billy Wagner bounced back from injury to record 38 saves.
Key events:  For the first time in 73 years, the Phillies had three players with at least 100 RBIs - Burrell, Utley and Abreu.  Jimmy Rollins ended the season with a 36-game hitting streak.  It would reach 38 games at the start of the 2006 season.

2005 Phillies in 2005 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 27 Phillies cards in the base Topps set and another 13 Phillies cards in the Update & Highlights set.

Who's in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 7 cards

#170 Mike Lieberthal (c), #481 Chase Utley (2b), #76 Jimmy Rollins (ss), #44 David Bell (3b), #550 Pat Burrell (lf), #420 Kenny Lofton (cf), #194 Bobby Abreu (rf)

First baseman Howard is in the set, but he's on a multi-player Prospects card with Cole Hamels.  Hamels spent the '05 season with High-A Clearwater and Double-A Reading.

2005 Topps Update #UH63, 2005 Topps #69, #588 and #630

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 5 cards

#UH63 Jon Lieber, #69 Brett Myers, #588 Cory Lidle, #630 Vicente Padilla, #11 Randy Wolf

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2005 - 13 cards

#2 Placido Polanco, #25 Jim Thome, #117 Billy Wagner, #257 Tim Worrell, #430 Ryan Madson, #482 Todd Pratt, #492 Tomas Perez, #514 Jason Michaels, #525 Marlon Byrd, #582 Gavin Floyd, #UH4 Michael Tucker, #UH78 Endy Chavez, #UH80 Ugueth Urbina

• Base cards of players who didn't play with Phillies in 2005 - 4 cards

#64 Doug Glanville, #312 Chris Roberson, #UH287 Kelvin Pichardo, #UH288 Scott Mitchinson

• Phillies appearing on Prospects cards - 2 cards, #689 Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels, #UH100 Greg Golson
• Phillies appearing on Draft Pick cards - 2 cards, #686 Michael Bourn and #UH330 Mike Costanzo
• Phillies appearing on Season Highlights cards - 1 card, #UH113 Bobby Abreu
• Phillies appearing on 2005 League Leaders cards - 1 card, #UH143 Pat Burrell
• Phillies appearing on 2005 MLB All-Star cards - 1 card, #UH185 Bobby Abreu
• Phillies appearing on 2005 Home Run Derby cards - 1 card, #UH195 Bobby Abreu
• Team card - 1 card, #659
• Manager cards - 2 cards, #288 Larry Bowa and #UH87 Charlie Manuel

2005 Topps Update
#UH195

Abreu received three cards commemorating his appearance at the 2005 All-Star Game, which is probably two cards too many.  Despite having been fired with two games remaining in the 2004 season, Bowa received a manager card in series one.  Back then, series one was still being released in November, so this is understandable.  However, the card back credits Bowa with a 86-76 managerial record in 2004 when in fact interim manager Gary Varsho guided the team for their final two games.

Who's out:  This was another good effort from Topps in terms of player selection.  Of course, they had 1,063 cards with which to work!  As is usually the case, it's the relievers who got left out.  Aaron Fultz (2.24 ERA in 62 games) had a fantastic year but he had to share his Topps Total card with Rheal Cormier, who was also left out of the flagship set completely.  Robinson Tejada (4-3 in 13 starts) and Geoff Geary (3.72 ERA in 40 games) also deserved cards.  Shane Victorino made his Phillies debut on September 3rd, so it would have been cool if he had somehow made it into the Update set.

Phillies on other teams:  Only Matt Kata (#71 with the Diamondbacks) didn't get a Phillies card in the Update set.  All of these guys did - Michael Tucker (#14 with the Giants), Jon Lieber (#149 with the Yankees), Endy Chavez (#511 with the Nationals) and Ugueth Urbina (#567 with the Tigers).

What's he doing here:  I'm getting fairly predictable in this category, as once again the honors for my "what's he doing here" go to prospects Pichardo and Mitchinson.  Pichardo was shipped to the Giants in August in the Michael Tucker trade and never reached the Majors. Australian Mitchinson never pitched above A-ball in his six years in the minors.

Cards that never were candidates:  I'd give Howard his own card, and I'd add cards for Fultz, Cormier, Tejada, Geary and Victorino.

Favorite Phillies card:  There are a lot of great action shots in this group of Phillies cards featuring the brand new Citizens Bank Park in the background, but it's hard to find a better card in the lot than the Howard/Hamels combo card.

2005 Topps Update #UH87, 2005 Topps #514, #430 and 2005 Topps Update #UH80

Other Stuff

Recycled:  I don't have enough baseball cards from 2005 to be able to tell if Topps used this design on sets other than its annual Chrome and Opening Day sets.  The Opening Day set replaced the gold foil with blue foil.

Did You Know?:  The Chachi set made its debut in 2005!  Did you know there's a page on this here very blog that serves as a portal to galleries of each of the Chachi sets?

2004 Topps Phillies

2004 Topps #1, #384, #420 and #35

It was fun to be a Phillies fan in 2004.  It wasn't always necessarily fun to watch the Phillies play, but it was fun to be a fan.  I was absolutely giddy throughout the '04 season each and every time I entered Citizens Bank Park.  It was brand new, it was gorgeous, and it belonged to the Phillies.

The Set

2004 Topps #1 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  There are 366 cards in series one, another 366 cards in series two and 221 cards in the traded series.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  For the first time since 1997, Topps went back to base cards with a white border.  And for the first time since 1988, Topps displayed each player's team name in large capital letters across the top of the cards.  Topps took the tiny-player-in-the-corner concept (first used on its 1973 and 1976 cards) to a whole new level with its 2004 set.  On every player's card in the bottom left corner, is a small silver foil outline of the player's larger photo.  Looking at the design a little closer now, I'm thinking it's probably one of the toughest Topps designs from the past 60 years for which to create a custom card template.  I wouldn't even know where to start if I were to try to recreate the little silver foil mini player for each card for a future Chachi set.  Another first, and perhaps my favorite part about the fronts of the cards, is the inclusion of each player's uniform number within the mini player silver outline thingy.

Notable competition:  As was the case in the prior several years, Topps, Fleer, Playoff and Upper Deck each released dozens of baseball card sets.  Over the next few years, the baseball card landscape would change dramatically as first Fleer, then Playoff and eventually Upper Deck would disappear.

2004 Topps #152, #117, #76 and #69

2004 Phillies

Record and finish:  The Phillies fell short of the postseason once again, finishing with a record of 86-76 - ten games behind the Braves in the N.L. East and six games behind the Astros for the N.L. Wild Card.

Key players:  Jim Thome (.274, 42 home runs, 105 RBIs) and Bobby Abreu (.301, 30 home runs, 105 RBIs) paced the offense with David Bell (.291, 18 home runs, 77 RBIs) and Pat Burrell (.257, 24 home runs, 84 RBIs) enjoying nice come-back seasons.  The homer-friendly new ballpark contributed to a record nine players with double digit home runs - Thome, Abreu, Burrell, Bell, Mike Lieberthal (17), Placido Polanco (17), Jimmy Rollins (14), Chase Utley (13) and Jason Michaels (10).  New acquisition Eric Milton led the pitching staff with 14 wins, although his 4.75 ERA is a testament to his struggles throughout the season.  Injuries slowed new closer Billy Wagner (21 saves) and he shared ninth inning duties with Tim Worrell (19 saves).

Key events:  The big event was the opening of Citizens Bank Park and the promise of a new era of Phillies baseball.  Injuries to Vicente Padilla, Randy Wolf, Wagner, Burrell and Polanco played a huge part in the team's struggles.  The disappointing season cost manager Larry Bowa his job as he was dismissed with two games left to go in the season.  On the positive side, Thome hit his 400th career home run on June 14th and Bell hit for the cycle on June 28th.

2004 Phillies in 2004 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 33 Phillies cards in the base set and another 7 Phillies cards in the Traded & Rookies set.

Who's in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#152 Mike Lieberthal (c), #1 Jim Thome (1b), #117 Placido Polanco (2b), #76 Jimmy Rollins (ss), #35 David Bell (3b), #420 Pat Burrell (lf), #69 Marlon Byrd (cf), #384 Bobby Abreu (rf)

2004 Topps #488, #551, #11 and #222

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 5 cards

#488 Eric Milton, #551 Brett Myers, #11 Kevin Millwood, #222 Randy Wolf, #59 Vicente Padilla

For the third year in a row, Topps went 13 for 13 in including cards of the eight main position players and five main starting pitchers.

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2004 - 11 cards

#181 Jason Michaels, #434 Doug Glanville, #445 Tomas Perez, #468 Chase Utley, #493 Ricky Ledee, #561 Shawn Wooten, #571 Roberto Hernandez, #618 Todd Pratt, #630 Rheal Cormier, #T15 Billy Wagner, #T113 Jim Crowell

2004 Topps Traded #T113

How in the world did Topps decide to issue a card for Crowell?  Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but Crowell - a journeyman middle reliever - is the perfect example of the kind of player Topps typically shuts out of its sets.  Crowell appeared in two games with the Reds in 1997 and then wouldn't make it back to the Majors until the Phillies called him up for four games in May.  Somehow Crowell, who was assigned #75 as a non-roster invitee in Spring Training and kept the number for his May call-up, ended up with a base card in the Traded & Rookies set.

• Base cards of players who didn't play with Phillies in 2004 - 7 cards

#68 Carlos Silva, #182 Terry Adams, #202 Jose Mesa, #T146 Danny Gonzalez, #T179 Lee Gwaltney, #T187 Rob Tejada, #T205 Terry Jones

Adams and Mesa left the team via free agency following the 2003 season and Silva was part of the deal with the Twins that brought Milton to Philadelphia.  Of the prospects receiving cards in the traded series, only Tejada spent time with the Phillies, appearing in 26 games with the club in 2005.

• Base cards of players appearing on Future Stars cards - 1 card, #328 Ryan Madson and Elizardo Ramirez
• Phillies appearing on Season Highlights cards - 1 card, #333 Kevin Millwood
• Phillies appearing on National League Leaders cards - 2 cards, #345 Jim Thome (Home Run Leaders) and #346 Jim Thome (RBI Leaders)
• Phillies appearing on multi-player combo cards - 1 card, #695 Jim Thome and Mike Schmidt (South Philly Sluggers)
• Phillies appearing on Sporting News All-Stars cards - 1 card, #727 Randy Wolf
• Phillies appearing on 2004 Draft Pick cards - 1 card, #T73 Greg Golson
• Team card - 1 card, #659
• Manager card - 1 card, #288 Larry Bowa

2004 Topps Traded #T15, 2004 Topps #59, #630 and #468

Who's out:  Topps actually did another fantastic job with player selection with this set.  The biggest omission is reliever Worrell who should have had a Phillies card in the traded set.  (Again, Crowell gets a card but Worrell doesn't?  I don't get it.)  Cory Lidle was acquired from the Reds in August, so I understand why he was left out.  Other omissions include relievers Amaury Telemaco (42 games, 4.31 ERA) and Geoff Geary (33 games, 5.44 ERA).

Phillies on other teams:  Worrell (#38 with the Giants), Wagner (#145 with the Astros) and Lidle (#528 with the Reds) appear on cards with their original teams.

What's he doing here:  Other than the four prospects in the traded series and reliever Crowell, there aren't any puzzling inclusions this year.  What is puzzling however is the use of a photo of Wagner covering first in a Spring Training drill for his first Topps base card as a Phillie.  It's not a very closer-ish shot.

2004 Topps #181

Cards that never were candidates:  As mentioned previously, Worrell, Lidle, Telemaco and Geary are good candidates for cards that never were.  I'd also give interim manager Gary Varsho a card.  Varsho took over at the helm for the final two games of the season after Bowa was fired, guiding the team to a 1-1 record.  And hot prospect Ryan Howard made his Major League debut on September 1st.  Howard could have easily replaced any of the other prospects who ended up with cards in the traded series.
Favorite Phillies card:  With all due respect to Michaels and his comically huge glove, I've always loved the card featuring Thome and Schmidt together during the closing ceremony of Veterans Stadium.

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Topps used the design again for its Chrome (shiny), Opening Day (gray borders) and its Retired Signature set.

Did You Know?:  Similar to last week, this isn't so much of a "did you know" feature as it is a "check this out" kind of thing.  Jenna and I travelled to Montreal in September 2004 to witness a few of the last home games in the existence of the Montreal Expos.  It was a surreal scene, as there were seemingly more protesters outside Olympic Stadium than inside the actual stadium watching the ballgame.  The Expos were destined to move to Washington for the 2005 season and being younger (and childless) we decided to head north of the border for the Phillies-Expos series on September 24th, 25th and 26th.  I remember a few things distinctly about the "ballpark" experience - it was dark, the food was awful and it the atmosphere felt more like a JV high school basketball game than a professional baseball game.  Still, I miss the Expos.  (Click to enlarge.)

2003 Topps Phillies

2003 Topps Traded #T107, 2003 Topps #457, #531 and #3

This year was a turning point for the Phillies and their fans.  First, a new ballpark was on the horizon as Citizens Bank Park began to rise in the shadow of the Vet.  2003 was to be the final season in Veterans Stadium and the Phillies marketing crew did a fantastic job of filling each home game with nostalgic looks at the past.  It was fun to go to the games again.

Second, free agent Jim Thome, coming off a 52-home run season with the Indians, signed a six-year deal with the Phillies in December 2002.  The fact that Thome wanted to come to Philly to play for a winner sent shivers down my spine.  We didn't know it at the time, but it was the very beginning of perhaps the best era in Phillies history.

The Set

2003 Topps #160 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  The first and second series contained 720 cards with the Traded & Rookies set adding 275 cards.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  In my last post, I mentioned that I couldn't recall what the 2003 Topps set looked like.  Revisiting the cards now, I realize it was probably my favorite Topps design of the early 2000s, and perhaps all of the 2000s.  The dark blue border is fantastic and the card fronts contain a second player photo, which I've always liked.  Add in a team logo and the player's position, and I'm a happy camper.  I don't even mind the use of gold foil on the fronts of the cards. 

Notable competition:  Fleer, Playoff and Upper Deck were all still churning out dozens of sets.

2003 Topps #160, #604, #485 and #466

2003 Phillies

Record and finish:  For the third straight season, Phillies fans could hold their heads high and relish in the knowledge that at least we were witnessing competitive baseball from the home team.  The Phils finished in third place again with a record of 86-76.  They seemed to be heading for a postseason berth, but a post All-Star break swoon cost them.

Key players:  Thome delivered a monster season, hitting 47 home runs and driving in 131.  Bobby Abreu (.300, 20 home runs, 101 RBIs) and Mike Lieberthal (.313, 13 home runs, 81 RBIs) also had great years at the plate.  Pat Burrell, fresh off a new six-year contract extension, flirted with the Mendoza Line all season and finished with a .209 average.  New third baseman David Bell (.195) also struggled mightily.  Four Phillies starting pitchers had at least 14 wins, led by Randy Wolf's 16.  Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla and Brett Myers all had exactly 14.  Jose Mesa saved 24 games, but also earned the ire of Phillies fans by failing to hold onto several late inning leads throughout the season.

Key events:  Millwood threw a no-hitter against the Giants on April 27th and I was lucky enough to be there with my Dad.  This was the season that manager Larry Bowa's intensity started to wear thin with many of the players.  Following a rough road trip in late August, Bowa tore into the team for their lack of intensity.  A player revolt followed that led to several players dying their hair blonde for some reason and the release of Tyler Houston, who was seen as one of the main instigators.  On a positive note, the last series at the Vet was dubbed the Final Innings and despite the Phillies losing two out of three to Braves, was one of the most memorable weekends of baseball I can remember.  The All Vet team was unveiled on the final Saturday.  Following the final game of the season on Sunday, a cavalcade of former Phillies was introduced during an emotional closing ceremony.  Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton and Tug McGraw were featured prominently in the closing ceremony.  Schmidt rounded the bases one more time, and called out Thome to join him in his curtain call - a moment Topps would commemorate this moment with a card in its 2004 set.  (The photo at the very bottom right of this post is from right before Thome and Schmidt met at home plate.)

2003 Phillies in 2003 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 14 Phillies cards in series one, another 14 in series two and 7 in the Traded & Rookies set.

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 7 cards

#117 Mike Lieberthal (c), #T107 Jim Thome (1b), #531 Placido Polanco (2b), #3 Jimmy Rollins (ss), #604 David Bell (3b), #160 Pat Burrell (lf), #457 Bobby Abreu (rf)

Regular center fielder Marlon Byrd had to share his card with Jorge Padilla on a multi-player Future Stars card.

2003 Topps #76, 2003 Topps Traded #T79, 2003 Topps #260 and #620

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 5 cards

#T79 Kevin Millwood, #260 Vicente Padilla, #76 Randy Wolf, #620 Brett Myers, #37 Brandon Duckworth

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2003 - 9 cards

#86 Terry Adams, #165 Jose Mesa, #428 Ricky Ledee, #466 Jason Michaels, #485 Tomas Perez, #572 Todd Pratt, #592 Dan Plesac, #615 Tyler Houston, #T98 Mike Williams

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 2003 - 7 cards

#155 Marlon Anderson, #242 Robert Person, #296 Il Kim, #484 Bud Smith, #T38 Aaron Myette, #T175 Elizardo Ramirez, #T262 Jay Sitzman

I'm fine with Anderson and Person earning cards.  They had only recently become free agents upon the release of series one.  The inclusion of the group of prospects always bothered me.  Of the group of five, only Ramirez played with the Phillies, appearing in just 7 games with the 2004 team.

• Phillies appearing on multi-player Future Stars cards - 1 card, #322 Marlon Byrd and Jorge Padilla
• Phillies appearing on Prospects cards - 2 cards, #682 Chase Utley and Gavin Floyd, #T135 Taylor Buchholz

What's the difference between a Prospect and a Future Star?

• Phillies appearing on League Leaders cards - 1 card, #346 Pat Burrell
• Draft Pick card - 1 card, #671 Cole Hamels
• Manager card - 1 card, #283 Larry Bowa
• Team card - 1 card, #651

2003 Topps #322, #117 and #682

Who’s out:  Topps did a great job with player selection in this set, omitting only a few key relievers.  Carlos Silva (62 games), Rheal Cormier (65 games, 1.70 ERA) and Turk Wendell (56 games) all got left out.  Byrd was the team's regular center fielder, but he had to share space on a Future Stars card.

Phillies on other teams:  All three veterans appearing on Phillies cards in the traded series appear on their original team in the base set - #64 Mike Williams (Pirates), #71 Jim Thome (Indians) and #219 Kevin Millwood (Braves).

2003 Topps #671

What’s he doing here:  I guess Topps gambled and thought Aaron Myette would be part of the Phillies bullpen in the second half of the 2003 season.  The Phils acquired Myette from the Indians on July 9th, and he played only 11 games with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons.

Cards that never were candidates:  There actually aren't many good candidates this year, which is a refreshing change.  I'd give Byrd and Utley solo cards and relievers Cormier, Silva and Wendell should also have cards.

Favorite Phillies card:  There are a lot of great action shots in the set, but the most important Phillies card is that of the team's 2001 first round draft pick - Cole Hamels.  His card features him standing on the field at an empty Veterans Stadium, daydreaming about one day being the World Series MVP.

Other Stuff

Recycled:  The Topps Opening Day set returned for another year, this time with bluish-gray borders.  Topps also used the design, albeit with all white borders, for its new Retired Signature set, which featured retired players.

Blogs/Websites:  I believe I'll retire this particular line item in these Topps Phillies posts.  I'll bring it back if and when anyone ever starts a blog dedicated to any of the Topps sets of the 2000s.

Did You Know?:  Not so much of a "did you know," but rather a "check this out," here is a mini gallery of photos taken during the Final Innings games at The Vet.  (Click to enlarge.)