1977 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  38
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  As was the case with all Phillies photo cards issued throughout the 1970s, these cards feature a black and white photo with the players' name below.  Some of the cards contain blue facsimile autographs, as noted on the checklist below.  Also as indicated below, and for the first time ever, the Phillies started using action photos for some players in lieu of the portrait cards they had issued up until this point.  Some of the cards are cropped so that there's a larger than usual white space on the bottom border, with the Tommy Hutton card above being a good example of this.  The backs of the photo cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1977.

How Distributed:  The photo cards were handed out to fans individually and supplied to the players in order to reply to fan mail or honor autograph requests.  I could be wrong, but I don't believe the cards were ever available in complete set form.  Every player on the opening day 25-man roster is included in the set, along with four players who made their season debuts after the start of the season (Richie Hebner, Warren Brusstar, Jim Lonborg and Tim Blackwell) and two players acquired via trades in June (Bake McBride and Barry Foote).  Given that McBride and Foote didn't play their first games with the Phillies until mid-June and the fact that their cards aren't included on the checklist found at the Trading Card Database, these could be considered short printed cards.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Fred Andrews (auto) 2. Carroll Beringer CO 3. Tim Blackwell (auto) 4. Bob Boone (action, auto) 5. Larry Bowa (action, auto) 6. Ollie Brown (action, auto) 7. Warren Brusstar (auto) 8. Steve Carlton (action, auto) 9. Larry Christenson (action) 10. Billy DeMars CO  11. Barry Foote 12. Gene Garber (action) 13. Terry Harmon (action, auto)

14. Richie Hebner (auto) 15. Tommy Hutton 16. Dane Iorg (action) 17. Dave Johnson (action) 18. Jay Johnstone (action, auto) 19. Jim Kaat (auto) 20. Randy Lerch (action) 21. Jim Lonborg (action) 22. Greg Luzinski (action, auto)      23. Garry Maddox (action) 24. Jerry Martin (action) 25. Bake McBride 26. Tim McCarver (action)

27. Tug McGraw (action, auto) 28. Danny Ozark MG 29. Ron Reed (action, auto) 30. Ray Rippelmeyer CO 31. Mike Schmidt 32. Mike Schmidt (action) 33. Ted Sizemore (action) 34. Tony Taylor CO (auto) 35. Bobby Tolan (action, auto) 36. Wayne Twitchell (action, auto) 37. Tommy Underwood (auto) 38. Bobby Wine CO (auto)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (3):  Andrews, Blackwell, Iorg

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (7):  Brusstar, Foote, Hebner, Johnson, Lerch, McBride, Sizemore
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (22):  Boone, Bowa, Brown, Carlton, Christenson, Garber, Harmon, Hutton, Johnstone, Kaat, Lonborg, Luzinski, Maddox, Martin, McCarver, McGraw, Reed, Schmidt (2), Tolan, Twitchell, Underwood

Manager (1):  Ozark
Coach (5):  Beringer, DeMars, Ripplemeyer, Taylor, Wine

Surprises:  After appearing in 4 games with the Phillies in 1976, catcher Tim Blackwell received his one and only Phillies baseball card in this set.  He appeared in one game for the Phillies in 1977, entering a game on June 11th as a pinch-runner for Bob Boone and scoring a run.  A few days later, he was shipped to the Expos with Wayne Twitchell for Foote and Dan Warthen.  

Omissions:  Only 5 of the 36 players to appear with the Phillies in 1977 are not in this set, and the Phillies can't really be blamed for omitting any of them.  Pitcher Warthen came over from the Expos with Foote, but he only appeared in three games for the Phillies.  The other four omissions - infielders Mike Buskey, Jim Morrison and John Vukovich, along with pitcher Manny Seoane - were all September call-ups.

Variations/Rarities:  As mentioned above, the McBride and Foote photo cards were added to the set at some point after mid-June.  Fellow collector Rick also let me know about a Mike Schmidt variation that is a portrait photo of the slugger and not an action shot of him swinging.  Not knowing which version is more prevalent, I've included both versions in the standard checklist above.  Also, the Larry Bowa card I have in my collection doesn't have a blue facsimile autograph.  There may be other instances of these signature variations as well.

Also See:  1977 Hostess Phillies team set.

Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Phillies collector Rick G.

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

 

1976 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards / 1978 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards

1970-1979 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page

Series Preview - Phillies at Padres: June 3rd to June 5th

1971 Topps #739

1971 Topps #505

Monday and Tuesday 10:10, Wednesday 3:40
Petco Park - San Diego, CA

Phillies 33-26, 1st place in the N.L. East, 1 game ahead of the Braves
Padres 30-29, 3rd place in the N.L. West, 10 1/2 games behind the Dodgers

Phillies Probables:  Aaron Nola (6-0, 4.18), Jerad Eickhoff (2-3, 4.10), Jake Arrieta (5-5, 3.96)
Padres Probables:  Eric Lauer (4-4, 4.45), Chris Paddack (4-3, 2.40), Joey Lucchesi (4-3, 3.96)

At the Ballpark:  There are theme nights and discounted tickets available for this series, but otherwise no giveaways.  If this series had fallen over a weekend, we would have definitely considered making it one of summer trips this year.  Petco Park is a wonderful place to watch a ballgame.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Jean Segura - .291
Runs:  Andrew McCutchen - 45
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 13
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 43
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez and Jean Segura - 3

Wins:  Aaron Nola - 6
ERA:  Zach Eflin - 3.02

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 74
Saves:  Hector Neris - 10

Padres Leaders
Average:  Eric Hosmer - .291
Runs:  Eric Hosmer - 31
Home Runs:  Hunter Renfroe - 17
RBIs:  Eric Hosmer - 34
Stolen Bases:  Three tied with - 6

Wins:  Four tied with - 4
ERA:  Joey Lucchesi - 3.96

Strikeouts:  Joey Lucchesi and Chris Paddack - 62
Saves:  Kirby Yates - 22

Series Preview - Padres at Phillies: April 11th to April 14th

Monday 3:05, Tuesday and Wednesday 7:05, Thursday 1:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Padres, 4th place in the N.L. West, 2 1/2 games behind the Giants
Phillies, Tied for 3rd place in the N.L. East, 2 games behind the Nationals

Padres Probables:  Andrew Cashner (0-1, 11.25), Robbie Erlin (1-0, 0.00), Colin Rea (0-0, 12.46), Drew Pomeranz (1-0, 3.60)
Phillies Probables:  Aaron Nola (0-0, 1.29), Charlie Morton (0-1, 14.73), Jerad Eickhoff (0-1, 3.60), Vince Velasquez (1-0, 0.00)

At the Ballpark:  It's the Phillies home opener today, and the team will enter the field from the outfield bleachers which seems to be their new opening day tradition.  Kane Kalas, son of the late, great Harry Kalas, will sing the national anthem and all fans will receive a commemorative opening day Phillies hat.

It's already Dollar Dog night on Tuesday night and all fans 15 and over will receive an opening night t-shirt.

Padres Leaders
Average:  Yangervis Solarte - .375
Runs:  Jon Jay and Melvin Upton, Jr. - 5
Home Runs:  Matt Kemp - 3
RBIs:  Matt Kemp - 10
Stolen Bases:  4 tied with - 1

Wins:  Robbie Erlin and Drew Pomeranz - 1
ERA:  James Shields - 4.85
Strikeouts:  James Shields - 8
Saves:  N/A

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Cesar Hernandez - .421
Runs:  Peter Bourjos - 3
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 2
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 4
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 1

Wins:  Jeremy Hellickson and Vince Velasquez - 1
ERA:  Vince Velasquez - 0.00
Strikeouts:  Jeremy Hellickson - 11
Saves:  Jeanmar Gomez - 2

1970 Topps #130

1970 Topps #486

1970 Topps Appreciation:  Ollie Brown and Terry Harmon wrapped up their big league careers as teammates on the Phillies from 1974 until 1977.

Brown was the first pick by the Padres in the 1968 expansion draft, selected from the Giants.  He was the Padres starting right fielder in 1970, enjoying probably the best season of his 13-year career. Brown hit .292 that season with career highs in both home runs (23) and RBIs (89).  He came to the Phillies in June 1974 as a waiver claim from the Astros.  In parts of four seasons with the club, Brown hit .264 over 272 games, with 16 home runs and 82 RBIs.

Harmon played his entire 10-year career with the Phillies.  A career bench player, he appeared in 71 games for the 1970 Phillies, hitting .248.  Harmon appeared in every Topps set from 1969 and 1978, with every single photo used for his ten Topps baseball cards being a posed, non-action shot.

1976 SSPC Phillies - Part One

If you've been following along with The Shlabotnik Report, and you should be, you know there was a recent report of a 1,200-card haul of wonderful 1976 SSPC cards.  I hadn't planned on featuring the 1976 SSPC Phillies team set during Gallery Week, but his posts on the set inspired me to dig out my 1970s Phillies binder and take in the glory of these little known cards once again.  (I hope this doesn't steal TSR's thunder for any future posts.)

Jim Kaat is a member of the White Sox on the front of his card, but the back of his card lists him as a Phillie and mentions his acquisition on December 10, 1975.

#136 Jim Kaat

#456 Joe Hoerner

#457 Tug McGraw

#458 Gene Garber

#459 Steve Carlton

#460 Larry Christenson

#461 Tom Underwood

#462 Jim Lonborg

#463 Jay Johnstone

#464 Larry Bowa

#465 Dave Cash

#466 Ollie Brown

#467 Greg Luzinski

#468 Johnny Oates

#469 Mike Anderson

Phillies at Brewers: June 6th to June 9th

Thursday and Friday 8:10, Saturday 7:15, Sunday 2:10
Miller Park - Milwaukee, WI

Phillies 30-30, 2nd Place in the N.L. East, 7 1/2 games behind the Braves
Brewers 22-36, 5th Place in the N.L. Central, 15 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

Phillies Probables:  Tyler Cloyd (1-2, 4.76), Cliff Lee (7-2, 2.45), Kyle Kendrick (6-3, 3.12), Jonathan Pettibone (3-1, 3.40)
Brewers Probables:  Wily Peralta (4-6, 5.94), Alfredo Figaro (0-0, 3.67), TBD, Kyle Lohse (1-6, 4.39)

At the Ballpark:  On Saturday, the first 10,000 adults at the game will receive a Brewers T-Shirt.  Sunday afternoon is Carlos Gomez bobble head day.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Domonic Brown - .284

Runs:  Domonic Brown - 30

Home Runs:  Domonic Brown - 18

RBIs:  Domonic Brown - 44

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 14

Wins:  Cliff Lee - 7

ERA:  Cliff Lee - 2.45

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 77

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 11

1973 Topps #246, #71, #526 and #332

1973 Topps Flashback:  There's another foursome of players with Phillies and Brewers connections for today's flashback.  As reported when the Brewers visited Philadelphia, Ken Sanders spent less than a month as property of the Phillies after being acquired from the Brewers in the Don Money deal.  It's a shame that someone on the Topps payroll went through the trouble to airbrush such a cruddy P on Sanders' hat.

Johnny Briggs spent the first eight years of his career with the Phillies before being traded to the Brewers in April 1971 for Pete Koegel and Ray Peters.  His best season may have been 1972 when he hit 21 home runs and drove in 65.  Briggs appears as a Phillie within Topps sets from 1965 to 1971.

Downtown Ollie Brown was a teammate of Briggs in Milwaukee in 1972 and 1973.  The Phillies brought him to town in June 1974 after he had been waived by the Astros.  Brown wrapped up his 13-year career with parts of four seasons with the Phils, and he earned his only postseason playing time in the N.L.C.S. with the club in 1976 and 1977.

John Felske was a back-up catcher with the Brewers in 1972 and 1973, appearing in 50 games and hitting .137 with one home run.  His playing career ended following the 1973 season, and he started a 13-year coaching and managing career that had him holding positions within the Brewers, Blue Jays and Phillies systems.  After guiding the Reading Phillies in 1982 and the Portland Beavers in 1983, Felske served as then-manager Paul Owens' bench coach during the 1984 season.  He was named the team's manager in 1985 and guided the Phils to a 190-194 record before getting replaced by Lee Elia in the middle of the 1987 season.

1976 Topps Phillies

1976 Topps #480, #610, #38 and #455

My Dad and I purchased almost half this set from the Ocean City Baseball Card Show in June 1988.  I looked forward to this baseball card show all year, and I'd turn into a neighborhood lawn-mowing machine in order to have enough money to last me one circuit around the Music Pier on the boardwalk where the show was held.  In 1988, we went to the show with one goal in mind - get as many 1976 Topps cards as possible.  There was one dealer in particular, Diamond Dust, who had the nicest, the most organized and the most reasonably priced cards at the show.  We probably spent over an hour going through Diamond Dust's binder of commons that afternoon, crossing off cards we needed and calculating in our heads just how much damage we were doing to our piggy banks.  Fortunately, Dad always saved just enough to buy a few slices of Mack and Manco's following the show.

Santa delivered the last card I needed for the set (#526 - a stinking checklist) on Christmas morning 1988.

1976 Topps #455 (Back)

The Set

Number of cards in the set:  For the fourth year in a row, the set consisted of 660 cards.  Similar to 1974, Topps issued a 44-card Traded series to complement the base set.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  Another classic set.  Topps went with visual position representation for the first time since 1973, and I like what they did here much more than the silhouettes used in 1973.  I also don't mind that Topps deemed pink and yellow to be the best colors to represent the Phillies.

Notable competition:  Sport Star Publishing Company, also known as SSPC, issued a 630-card set in 1976 that was quickly pulled from circulation because of legal threats from the Topps Company.  I did a post on this set back during the blog's infancy.

1976 Phillies

Record and finish:  The Phillies finished 101-61, in first place in the N.L. East, nine games ahead of the Pirates.  The 101 wins were the most in franchise history.  Unfortunately, they were swept in three games in the N.L.C.S. by The Big Red Machine.

Key players: Mike Schmidt led the offense again (.262, 38 home runs, 107 RBIs) and he led the National League in home runs for the third consecutive year.  The starting outfield all hit over .300 - Greg Luzinski (.304, 21 home runs, 95 RBIs), Garry Maddox (.330) and Jay Johnstone (.318).  Dick Allen also enjoyed a fine year, hitting .268 with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs.  The pitching staff was led by Steve Carlton (20-7, 3.13 ERA, 195 strikeouts), Jim Kaat (12-14, 3.48 ERA), Jim Lonborg (18-10, 3.08 ERA), Larry Christenson (13-8, 3.68 ERA) and Tom Underwood (10-5, 3.53 ERA).  The bullpen trio of Tug McGraw (11 saves), Ron Reed (14 saves) and Gene Garber (11 saves) also enjoyed terrific seasons.

Key events:  It all came together for the Phillies in 1976.  The city celebrated the nation's bicentennial and the All-Star Game was hosted at the Vet.  Schmidt hit four home runs on April 17th at Wrigley Field in a game the Phillies won, 18-16, in 10 innings.

1976 Topps #318, #295, #145 and #114

1976 Phillies in 1976 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set: There are 30 cards in a 1976 Topps Phillies team set, and 2 more cards from the Traded series.  That's 211 Topps Phillies cards from 1970 through 1976 and 679 Topps Phillies cards overall.

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#318 Bob Boone (c), #455 Dick Allen (1b), #295 Dave Cash (2b), #145 Larry Bowa (ss), #480 Mike Schmidt (3b), #610 Greg Luzinski (lf), #38 Garry Maddox (cf), #114 Jay Johnstone (rf)

1976 Topps #355, #80T, #271 and #634

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 5 cards

#355 Steve Carlton, #80T Jim Kaat, #271 Jim Lonborg, #634 Larry Christenson, #407 Tom Underwood

• Base cards of other players who played with the Phillies in 1976 - 11 cards

#14 Gene Garber, #62 Johnny Oates, #91 Tom Hutton, #223 Ollie Brown, #247 Terry Harmon, #502 Tim McCarver, #543 Wayne Twitchell, #565 Tug McGraw, #586 Ron Schueler, #624 Tony Taylor, #58T Ron Reed

• Phillies appearing on multi-player "Rookie" cards - 1 card

#595 Randy Lerch with Art DeFlippis (Rangers), Sid Monge (Angels) and Steve Barr (Rangers)

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1976 - 3 cards

#168 Tom Hilgendorf, #431 Dick Ruthven, #527 Mike Anderson

Anderson appears in the Traded set (#527T) badly airbrushed into a Cardinals hat.

1976 Topps #193

• League Leader cards - 2 cards

#193 Home Run Leaders - Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski with Dave Kingman (Mets), #195 RBI Leaders - Greg Luzinski with Johnny Bench (Reds) and Tony Perez (Reds)

• Father & Son cards - 1 card, #67 Bob Boone with Ray Boone
• Team card with manager - 1 card, #384 with Danny Ozark

Who’s out:  Outfielder Jerry Martin appeared in 130 games with the Phils, but he's not in the 1976 Topps set.  (However, he's in the SSPC set.)

Phillies on other teams:  There are just three cards - #56 Bobby Tolan (Padres), #58 Ron Reed (Cardinals) and #80 Jim Kaat (White Sox)

What’s he doing here:  I've got nothing.  A case could be made for everybody appearing as a Phillie in this set.

Cards that never were candidates:  He was signed as a free agent, and not acquired via trade, but I'd still like to see a Traded card for Tolan.  Martin should also have a card.

Favorite Phillies card:  Sorry Schmidty, but I've got to give it to The Bull.

1976 Topps #407, #223, #58T and #565

Other Stuff

Recycled:  There's an exact reprint of Allen's card in the 2001 Topps Archives set and a butchered reprint of Schmidt's card as part of the 2010 Cards Your Mom Threw Out insert set.  I used the design lovingly for my 2007 Chachi set.

Blogs/Websites:  Project Baseball 1976 made its debut right around the same time as this blog, so I've followed it from the beginning.  It's been a great ride, and Matt is now covering cards from the 1976 Hostess and Kellogg's sets.

Did You Know?:  If catcher Johnny Oates had been able to blow just a slightly larger bubble than Kurt Bevacqua in the Bubble Gum Blowing Championships of 1975, I would have been able to display one of the coolest cards in Topps history with my 1976 Topps Phillies team set.

1975 Topps Phillies

1975 Topps #630, #70, #22 and #420

I crossed the threshold from "kid with a nice collection of baseball cards" to "baseball card collector" the day my Dad bought me the George Brett rookie card.  It was the early '80s, and we had stumbled into a baseball card show at a local mall.  My Dad paid a ridiculous price for the card - I think it was $12 - and it was at that moment I realized we were baseball card collectors.  To own a card of that magnitude was unheard of at the time in my circle of boyhood collecting friends, as the oldest cards we possessed at that point were from the 1979 Burger King set.  Once my Dad added that Brett card to my collection, there was no looking back.

1975 Topps #70 (Back)

The Set
Number of cards in the set:  For the third straight year, Topps went with the now-standard 660 cards.  The company also released a test issue of mini cards, replicating the same 660 cards as the standard set, just shrunken down a bit.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  If not for the 1956 Topps set, this would be my favorite set.  It's got a great design, great cards, and I collected the whole thing with my Dad - just like the '56 set.  Also, it's far out, man.

Notable competition:  Hostess started including cards on its snack cake boxes and Kellogg's once again included cards within its boxes of cereal.  The Hostess set is notable for containing Tug McGraw's first baseball card as a Phillie.

1975 Phillies

Record and finish:  The Phillies finished above .500 for the first time since 1967 with a record of 86-76.  They finished in second place in the division, 6 1/2 games behind the Pirates.

Key players:  Greg Luzinski led the offense with an even .300 average, 34 home runs and 120 RBIs.  Mike Schmidt wasn't far behind with his 38 home runs and 95 RBIs, although he hit only .249.  Middle infielders Larry Bowa and Dave Cash both hit .305 while Jay Johnstone and Ollie Brown split time in right and both hit over .300.  Steve Carlton (15-14, 3.56 ERA, 192 strikeouts) again anchored the pitching staff, followed by Tom Underwood (14-13) and Larry Christenson (11-6).

Key events:  General manager Paul Owens was busy wheeling and dealing.  He acquired reliever McGraw from the Mets in December 1974, sending Del Unser to New York.  He swapped center fielders with the Giants in May, shipping out Willie Montanez, and bringing in Garry Maddox.  And Dick Allen came back to his original team when he was obtained from the Braves with catcher Johnny Oates.

1975 Topps #351, #242, #596 and #574

1975 Phillies in 1975 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set: There are only 27 Phillies cards in a 1975 Topps team set.  We're up to 179 Topps Phillies cards from 1970-1975 and 647 Topps Phillies cards from 1951-1975.

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 6 cards

#351 Bob Boone (c), #22 Dave Cash (2b), #420 Larry Bowa (ss), #70 Mike Schmidt (3b), #630 Greg Luzinski (lf), #242 Jay Johnstone (rf)

The regular first baseman (Allen) and center fielder (Maddox) are in the set, but they're featured on other teams.

1975 Topps #185, #551, #94 and #326

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#185 Steve Carlton, #551 Larry Christenson, #94 Jim Lonborg, #326 Wayne Twitchell

Underwood is featured on a multi-player "Rookie" card.

• Base cards of other players who played with the Phillies in 1975 - 9 cards

#118 Mike Anderson, #162 Willie Montanez, #267 Dick Ruthven, #292 Ron Schueler, #399 Terry Harmon, #444 Gene Garber, #477 Tom Hutton, #574 Tony Taylor, #596 Ollie Brown

• Phillies appearing on multi-player "Rookie" cards - 1 card

#615 Tom Underwood with Pat Darcy (Reds), Dennis Leonard (Royals) and Hank Webb (Mets)

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1975 - 4 cards

#138 Del Unser, #374 Eddie Watt, #501 Bill Robinson, #527 Mac Scarce

• League Leaders cards - 2 cards

#307 Home Run Leaders - Mike Schmidt with Dick Allen (White Sox), #312 Strikeout Leaders - Steve Carlton with Nolan Ryan (Angels)

• Team card with manager - 1 card, #46 with Danny Ozark

1975 Topps #46

Who’s out:  Jerry Martin didn't receive a card, despite appearing in 57 games with the '75 Phillies.

Phillies on other teams:  There are a whopping 10 cards of players who played with the Phillies in 1975, but appeared in the set with other teams - #67 Tug McGraw (Mets), #182 Don Hahn (Mets), #240 Garry Maddox (Giants), #319 Johnny Oates (Braves), #377 Tom Hilgendorf (Indians), #400 Dick Allen (White Sox), #405 John Montague (Expos), #586 Tim McCarver (Red Sox), #629 Joe Hoerner (Royals) and #634 Cy Acosta (White Sox)

What’s he doing here:  It's hard to argue with any of the players selected for the Phillies team set.  Given the entire set was issued at once, Topps no longer had the opportunity to include players who changed teams in the off-season with their new teams in a higher series.

Cards that never were candidates:  There's quite a few good candidates.  I'd make Phillies cards for Allen, Maddox, Oates, McGraw and perhaps Martin.  Underwood should have his own card.  (I've already made a card for Maddox, and there's a great card for Allen over at the Dick Allen Hall of Fame blog.)

Favorite Phillies card:  I'll pick Lefty's card, but it's not an easy choice.  I've always loved the Jay Johnstone card too - baby blue road unis, slanted background and a smiling Johnstone.

1975 Topps #400, #240, #67 and #319

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Upper Deck borrowed heavily from the design for an O-Pee-Chee insert set in 2009 and this was the design I used for the very first Chachi set back in 2005.  There's also a great looking card of Luzinski in the 2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites set, which uses the 1975 Topps design but features a picture of Bull with The Vet's multi-colored seats in the background.  Finally, Upper Deck tried the multi-color approach for its 2001 Decade 1970's set, and I discussed my disappointment with that set here.

Blogs/Websites:  You need to check out Night Owl's 1975 Topps blog, as it's one of the best set blogs out there.  Unfortunately, as of this writing, he has only 58 more cards to go in the set.

Did You Know?:  Here's the break-down of the different color combinations used for the 1975 Topps Phillies cards - Green-yellow (4), Purple-pink (3), Red-orange (3), Yellow-light blue (3), Yellow-red (3), Blue-orange (2), Brown-tan (2), Orange-yellow (2), Pink-yellow (2), Green-light green (1), Green-purple (1), Orange-brown (1).  I would have sworn there were more purple-pink Phillies cards than just three.