Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies - Wrapping Up the Summer Schedule

2005 Topps #511

2005 Topps #525

Friday, August 22nd - 6:45
Saturday, August 23rd - 6:05
Sunday, August 24th - 1:35

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
Fans 21 and over will receive a Phillies City Connect floppy hat tonight.  On Sunday, all kids receive a pair of Trea Turner performance sunglasses.

Washington Nationals 52-75
5th Place in the N.L. East, 22 games behind the Phillies

Nationals Probables
Cade Cavalli (1-0, 2.20)
Mitchell Parker (7-13, 5.83)
Jake Irvin (8-8, 5.30)

Nationals Leaders
Average:  CJ Abrams - .265
Runs:  CJ Abrams - 77
Home Runs:  James Wood - 26
RBIs:  James Wood - 83
Stolen Bases:  CJ Abrams - 26

Wins:  Jake Irvin - 8
ERA:  MacKenzie Gore - 4.11

Strikeouts:  MacKenzie Gore - 170
Saves:  Kyle Finnegan - 20

Philadelphia Phillies 74-53
1st Place in the N.L. East, 7 games ahead of the Mets

Phillies Probables
Taijuan Walker (4-6, 3.34)
Aaron Nola (1-7, 6.92)
Ranger Suarez (9-6, 3.25)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Trea Turner - .303
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 89
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 45
RBIs:  Kyle Schwarber - 109
Stolen Bases:  Trea Turner - 31

Wins:  Jesus Luzardo - 12
ERA:  Cristopher Sanchez - 2.46
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 195
Saves:  Jordan Romano - 8

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

Philadelphia Phillies at Washington Nationals

2005 Topps Update #UH78

2005 Topps Update #UH55

Thursday, August 14th - 6:45
Friday, August 15th - 6:45
Saturday, August 16th - 4:05
Sunday, August 17th - 11:35

Nationals Park - Washington, DC
Sam Hunt will perform in a post-game concert following Friday night's game.  On Saturday, the first 10,000 fans will receive a Jacob Young bobblehead.

Philadelphia Phillies

2015 Phillies Leaders
Average:  Odubel Herrera - .297
Runs:  Odubel Herrera - 64
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 23
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 77
Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 24

Wins:  Four tied with - 6
ERA:  Aaron Harang - 4.86

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 137
Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 17

Washington Nationals

2015 Nationals Leaders
Average:  Bryce Harper - .330
Runs:  Bryce Harper - 118
Home Runs:  Bryce Harper - 42
RBIs:  Bryce Harper - 99
Stolen Bases:  Michael A. Taylor - 16

Wins:  Max Scherzer - 14
ERA:  Max Scherzer - 2.79

Strikeouts:  Max Scherzer - 276
Saves:  Drew Storen - 29

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

Phillies at Rockies: May 12th to May 14th

2014 Topps Heritage #48

2023 Chachi Series Previews #1

Friday 8:40, Saturday 8:10 and Sunday 3:10
Coors Field - Denver, CO

At the Ballpark:  The Rockies are hosting Healthcare Appreciation and Teacher Appreciation Homesteads, with special theme tickets available.  They'll wear their City Connect uniforms on Saturday night.

(I noticed too late I had inadvertently misspelled Pat Neshek's name on the card above, so this should be considered an unfortunate uncorrected error.)

Phillies 18-19
3rd Place in the N.L. East, 7 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Taijuan Walker (3-2, 5.97)
Ranger Suarez (0-0, 0.00)
Aaron Nola (3-2, 4.44)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Nick Castellanos - .322
Runs:  Nick Castellanos - 28
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 8
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 25
Stolen Bases:  J.T. Realmuto - 5

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

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

Rockies 16-22
5th Place in the N.L. West, 7 games behind the Dodgers

Rockies Probables
Austin Gomber (3-4, 6.75)
Ryan Feltner (2-2, 5.08)
Kyle Freeland (3-4, 3.57)

Rockies Leaders
Average:  Elias Diaz - .333
Runs:  Ezequiel Tovar - 18
Home Runs:  C.J. Cron - 6
RBIs:  Elias Diaz - 18
Stolen Bases:  Brenton Doyle - 5

Wins:  Kyle Freeland and Austin Gomber - 3
ERA:  Kyle Freeland - 3.57
Strikeouts:  Ryan Feltner - 33
Saves:  Pierce Johnson - 6

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

2014 Topps Phillies

2014 Topps #502

2014 Topps #484

2014 Topps #312

2014 Topps #105

My oldest son Doug recently asked me to help him organize his quickly expanding baseball card collection.  I of course dropped everything and immediately obliged.  When sorting his cards into years, I had no problem identifying Topps cards up through 2010.  I was a little alarmed to discover that I had to check the backs of some of the cards to identify Topps flagship cards from between 2011 and 2014.  (As an aside, I had no issue identifying 2015 Topps cards, which I think is a good thing. And I know I won't have an issue picking out a card from the even more unique 2016 Topps set.)

2014 Topps #180 (Back)

Some people might love the Topps designs for the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 sets, but I find the designs mostly forgettable.  My thought on the 2014 Topps set when it first came out was that it had way too much going on with the design elements on the front, and overall look reminded me of something I'd see in a recent Bowman set.

With that underwhelming assessment out of the way, let's take a look at the 2014 Topps Phillies cards.  I'll be all caught up with this series (finally) until the 2015 Topps Update set comes out next month.

The Set
Number of cards in the set:  For the ninth year in a row, Series 1 and Series 2 have 330 cards each with #7 omitted in honor of Mickey Mantle.  The Update Series adds another 330 cards.  It's important to note that I'm omitting any gimmick or short-printed cards in these tallies.  A number of star cards are available with a sparkle added to the photo on the front.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  In light of what would come after it, with the unique designs of the 2015 and 2016 Topps sets, this set's design comes off as uninspired and seemingly a mish-mosh of design elements Topps couldn't fit into other sets.  For the third year in a row, the backs of the cards are very plain.

2014 Topps #182

2014 Topps #4

2014 Topps #296

2014 Topps #180

2014 Phillies
Record and finish:  In manager Ryne Sandberg's first (and only) full season, the Phillies went 73-89, finishing in last place in the N.L. East, 23 games behind the Nationals.
Key players:  Chase Utley had a decent year, hitting .270 with 11 home runs and 78 RBIs and he was the team's sole representative at the All-Star game.  Marlon Byrd returned to his original team and led the way with 25 home runs.  Ryan Howard had 95 RBIs, but hit an awful .223 while Jimmy Rollins dipped down below .250 with a .243 average.

The pitching was rough to witness with Kyle Kendrick leading the staff with 10 wins and his 4.61 ERA was just a little worse than team leader A.J. Burnett's 4.59.  Burnett (8-18) was one and done with the Phillies in 2014, opting to take a severe pay cut to return to the Pirates for 2015.  Cole Hamels received very little run support, which explains his 9-9 record despite a 2.46 ERA in 30 starts.  Jonathan Papelbon recorded 39 saves.
Key events:  There were a few big events for the club in 2014 that kept the fans entertained.  First, on June 14th, Rollins collected his 2,235th career hit, eclipsing the franchise mark for most hits previously held by Mike Schmidt.  On Labor Day, Hamels combined with Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Papelbon to throw a combined no-hitter against the Braves.

Finally, top prospect Maikel Franco made his Major League debut the day after the combined no-hitter on September 2nd.

2014 Phillies in 2014 Topps
Who's in:  The complete Phillies team set consists of 29 cards, broken down with 10 cards in Series 1, 11 cards in Series 2 and eight cards in the Update Series.  There are no short-printed, photo variation cards for any of the Phillies.

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#182 Carlos Ruiz (c), #105 Ryan Howard (1b), #502 Chase Utley (2b), #312 Jimmy Rollins (ss), #4 Cody Asche (3b), #296 Domonic Brown (lf), #180 Ben Revere (cf), #484 Marlon Byrd (rf)

2014 Topps #641

2014 Topps #196

2014 Topps #503

2014 Topps Update #US-281

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#641 A.J. Burnett, #196 Cole Hamels, #503 Kyle Kendrick, #US-281 David Buchanan

Roberto Hernandez, who started 23 games but was traded to the Dodgers in early August, got shut out from having a Phillies card.  It bugs me that Topps couldn't bother with an actual photo of Burnett in a Phillies uniform.  His base card is obviously photoshopped, and it still shows him wearing his gold and black Pirates necklaces.  Similarly annoying, but less egregious, is that Byrd's card features a photo from his first stint with the club from between 2002 and 2005.  Byrd wore #3 with the Phillies in 2014.

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2014 - 14 Cards

#74 John Mayberry Jr., #90 Ethan Martin, #122 Jonathan Papelbon, #345 Darin Ruf, #451 Luis Garcia, #609 Jonathan Pettibone, #629 Cliff Lee, #637 Freddy Galvis, #US-33 Grady Sizemore, #US-74 Antonio Bastardo, #US-77 Wil Nieves, #US-78 Reid Brignac, #US-129 Mike Adams, #US-181 Tony Gwynn Jr.

• Base cards of players who did not play with the Phillies in 2014 - 2 Cards

#498 Steve Susdorf, #565 Roy Halladay

• 2014 National League All-Star cards - 1 card, #US292 Chase Utley

2014 Topps #122

2014 Topps Update #US-33

2014 Topps #74

2014 Topps #637

Who's out:  I feel like Topps really picked up its game over the past decade in terms of player selection.  Once again, they did a nice job including a full array of Phillies players this season, from the bench guys to the bullpen.  Of the players not receiving cards, I'd include Cesar Hernandez (66 games), along with relievers Diekman, Justin De Fratus, Mario Hollands and Giles.

Phillies on other teams:  Jerome Williams (#US-236) is in the Update Series with the Rangers.

2014 Topps #498

What's he doing here:  I have no problem at all with the final tribute card for Halladay, showing his full career statistics.  Halladay announced his retirement prior to the 2014 season.  And I think it's great that career minor leaguer Susdorf ended up on a card.  Susdorf made it into three games with the 2013 Phillies after having spent 5 1/2 years in the Phillies minor league system.  He was released by the Triple-A IronPigs in July 2014.

Cards that never were candidates:  Both Hernandez's - Cesar and Roberto, Diekman, De Fratus, Hollands and Giles.  Just to amuse by oldest son Doug, I'd also have a card for reliever Jeff Manship.

Favorite Phillies card:  I really liked the Galvis card when I first saw it, but then it bothered me that you can't even see Galvis's face.  (Besides, I like to think I did this card better.)  I'll go with the Rollins card as my favorite, since it's his last Phillies card as an active player.  Rollins would be traded to the Dodgers in December following the season.

Other Stuff

Variations:  There are no variations to be found between the flagship, retail, Chrome and Opening Day sets.  After years of asking myself, "Well why did they bother to do that?", I find that I'm actually disappointed now when there are no strange, unexplained variations.

Phillies Double Dippers - 1973 to 2015

This particular post has been lingering in my draft post folder since way back when the Phillies signed Marlon Byrd in November 2013.  Since we're quickly approaching the two-year anniversary of my first drafting this post, I decided to add this season's double dipper and finally hit the orange Publish button.

Here's my original text from November 2013 . . .

There's been a lot written and said over the past week with regards to the recent Marlon Byrd signing. The majority of the local media and most Phillies fans tend to absolutely despise the deal, and those of us who are taking a wait and see approach are in the minority.  By nature, I'm an optimistic person so I have to believe that General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. and his staff of advisers has to have some clue as to what they're doing.  But this post isn't about Amaro and his questionable moves, and I'm not about to delve into the pros and cons of the recent Byrd signing.

What does interest me however, is the fact that Byrd is the latest in a long line of ex-Phillies who have made their way back into red pinstripes after a stint elsewhere.  In a comment to this post, Jim from Downingtown made the excellent suggestion that I dedicate a post to Phillies making multiple appearances with the franchise over the years.  I'm sure fans of most teams feel the same way, and this is a very regional way to view the world, but it seems to me as if the Phillies dip back into their alumni pool more than most teams.  Garvey Cey Russell Lopes has an excellent feature on his blog where he looks at Dodgers Double Dippers, and my initial thought upon reading through these series of posts was, "So the Phillies aren't the only team to do this over and over?"

Rather than run this out over a series of several posts, and sticking with my theme of looking back over the last 40 years, I decided to just capture in one place those players who have made multiple appearances with the Phillies since 1973.  It was interesting for me to realize that most of the Phillies two-timers came during the 1990s.  Some of these reunions went well, and some were just plain awful.  Only time will tell on which side Byrd's return will fall.

1976 Topps #624

1981 Donruss #153

1982 Fleer #261

1989 Topps Tiffany #418

Name First Dip, Double Dip
Tony Taylor 1960-1971, 1974-1976
Dick Allen 1963-1969, 1975-1976
Joe Hoerner 1970-1972, 1975
Tim McCarver 1970-1972, 1975-1980
John Vukovich 1970-1971, 1976-1977, 1979-1981
Dick Ruthven 1973-1975, 1978-1983
Mike Anderson 1971-1975, 1979
Del Unser 1973-1974, 1979-1982

Ed Farmer 1974, 1982-1983
Willie Montanez 1970-1975, 1982
Bill Robinson 1972-1974, 1982-1983
Randy Lerch 1975-1980, 1986
Bob Dernier 1980-1983, 1988-1989

1994 Stadium Club Phillies #223

2000 Stadium Club Chrome #97

2002 Nabisco Phillies #15

2004 McDonald's Phillies #22

Dickie Noles 1979-1981, 1990
Rick Schu 1984-1987, 1991
Jay Baller 1982, 1992
Larry Andersen 1983-1986, 1993-1994
Mark Davis 1980-1981, 1993
Milt Thompson 1986-1988, 1993-1994
Randy Ready 1989-1991, 1994-1995
Kyle Abbott 1992, 1995
Charlie Hayes 1989-1991, 1995
Ruben Amaro, Jr. 1992-1993, 1996-1998
Pete Incaviglia 1993-1994, 1996
Terry Mulholland 1989-1993, 1996
Jeff Parrett 1989-1990, 1996
Gary Bennett 1995-1996, 1998-2001
Toby Borland 1994-1996, 1998

Andy Ashby 1991-1992, 2000
Mickey Morandini 1990-1997, 2000
Ricky Bottalico 1994-1998, 2001-2002
Dennis Cook 1989-1990, 2001
Todd Pratt 1992-1994, 2001-2005
Dave Hollins 1990-1995, 2002
Mike Williams 1992-1996, 2003
Doug Glanville 1998-2002, 2004
Terry Adams 2002-2003, 2005
Jose Mesa 2001-2003, 2007
Tadahito Iguchi 2007, 2008

2011 Topps Target Throwback #89

2013 Topps Chasing History #CH-39

2014 Bowman Chrome #162

2015 Topps Opening Day Blue #190

Nelson Figueroa 2001, 2010
Placido Polanco 2002-2005, 2010-2012
Cliff Lee 2009, 2011-2014
Brian Sanches 2006, 2012
Jim Thome 2003-2005, 2012
Chad Durbin 2008-2010, 2013
Marlon Byrd 2002-2005, 2014
Erik Kratz 2011-2013, 2015

2014 Chachi #67 RBI Leaders - Howard & Byrd

As is often the case, the two players who led the team in home runs last season also led the team in runs batted in.  Ryan Howard fell five RBI short of hitting the century mark, which would have been the first time he's reached that threshold since 2011.  Here's the rest of the team's top nine in RBIs from the 2014 season:

1.  Ryan Howard - 95

2.  Marlon Byrd - 85

3.  Chase Utley - 78

4.  Domonic Brown - 63

5.  Jimmy Rollins - 55

6.  Cody Asche - 46

7.  Carlos Ruiz - 31

8.  Ben Revere - 28

9.  John Mayberry, Jr. - 21

2014 Chachi #66 Home Run Leaders - Byrd & Howard

Last year's Phillies home run leader, Marlon Byrd, recently started his spring training in Goodyear, Arizona with his new team, the Cincinnati Reds.  He's the Reds biggest offseason acquisition and he hopes to help the team improve upon its fourth place finish in the N.L. Central last year.

Ryan Howard, who was second on the club in home runs last year, hopes to help his current team, still the Phillies, climb out of the cellar in the N.L. East.  Reports out of Clearwater are that Howard looks more "agile" and "quick" so far this spring which hopefully translates into "doesn't swing and miss out the outside junk away" during the regular season.

Here are the team's top nine home run hitters last year, which was the third year in a row the leader had less than 30 home runs.  Jimmy Rollins led the club with 23 home runs in 2012 and Domonic Brown took the honors in 2013 with 27 home runs.

1.  Marlon Byrd - 25
2.  Ryan Howard - 23
3.  Jimmy Rollins - 17
4.  Chase Utley - 11
5.  Cody Asche - 10
5.  Domonic Brown - 10
6.  John Mayberry, Jr. - 6
6.  Carlos Ruiz - 6
7.  Freddy Galvis - 4

2014 Chachi Departures #7 Marlon Byrd

It's fitting that the first full post of the new year features the latest veteran departure from the under performing 2014 club.  Yesterday afternoon, the Phillies traded outfielder Marlon Byrd (and cash) to the Cincinnati Reds for pitching prospect Ben Lively.  The big squad sure isn't getting any better, but the Phillies' Double-A team should be fun to watch this year with Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin, Tom Windle and Lively slated to be the Fightin Phils' top four starting pitchers.

Byrd was one of the better offensive performers for the Phillies in 2014, hitting .264 in 154 games with 25 home runs and 85 RBIs.  Although his 185 strikeouts were second only to Ryan Howard's 190 to lead the National League.

2014 Bowman Chrome
Prospects #BCP16

Lively joins Endy Chavez in the exclusive club of players the Phillies received in trades for Byrd.  The right-handed pitcher had cards in this past year's Topps Heritage Minors, Bowman Chrome and Bowman Draft sets.

Moving On
Reid Brignac (10/2/14) - Elected free agency.  (Signed with the Miami Marlins organization 11/19/14)
Jeremy Horst (10/2/14) - Elected free agency.
Jeff Manship (10/2/14) - Elected free agency.  (Signed with the Cleveland Indians organization 12/24/14)
Tony Gwynn, Jr. (10/10/14) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.
Mike Adams (10/30/14) - Team option declined, making him a free agent.
Kyle Kendrick (10/30/14) - Elected free agency.
Wil Nieves (10/30/14) - Elected free agency.
A.J. Burnett (11/3/14) - Declined option for 2015, elected free agency.  (Signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates 11/14/14)
Brad Lincoln (11/4/14) - Elected free agency.  (Signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization 11/18/14)
Antonio Bastardo (12/10/14) - Traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Joely Rodriguez.
Jimmy Rollins (12/19/14) - Traded with cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tom Windle and Zach Eflin.
Marlon Byrd (12/31/14) - Traded with cash to the Cincinnati Reds for Ben Lively.

Coming Back
Andres Blanco (11/13/14) - Signed to a minor league contract and invited to spring training.
Koyie Hill (11/20/14) - Signed to a minor league contract and invited to spring training.
Sean O'Sullivan (12/16/14) - Signed to a minor league contract and invited to spring training.

New Additions
Elvis Araujo (11/13/14) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Cleveland Indians organization.
Odubel Herrera (12/11/14) - Selected in the annual Rule 5 draft from the Texas Rangers.
Andy Oliver (12/11/14) - Selected in the annual Rule 5 draft from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

2001 Bowman Draft Picks #BDP23 Marlon Byrd

Phillies 7, Mets 2
Game 135 - Saturday Night, August 30th in Flushing
Record - 62-73, 5th Place, 15 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Each of the starting eight had a hit in this game and Jerome Williams enjoyed another impressive outing as the Phillies downed the Mets, 7-2.

What It Means:  The victor in today's rubber match will claim the title of sole possession of fourth place in the N.L. East.  Try to stay calm.

What Happened:  Who is this Williams guy and is he pitching his way into the team's 2015 plans?  Williams pitched into the seventh inning, picking up his third win in four starts and lowering his Phillies ERA to 2.03.

Marlon Byrd started the scoring with a solo home run (his 25th, a career high) in the fifth.  The Phils added five runs in the sixth, courtesy of seven singles.  Ryan Howard knocked in three more runs to raise his season total to 84.  Anybody know of an American League team looking for a DH In 2015?

Featured Card:  Doug and I decided to go with a Byrd card for this post, since it was his birthday yesterday and Byrd has been one of the few bright spots during a dismal season.  I've featured many of Byrd's 2014 Phillies cards, and a lot of his cards from his first stint with the team in the mid-2000s, but this is his first Phillies card in my collection.

2003 Playoff Portraits #127 Marlon Byrd

Phillies 2, Nationals 1
Game 110 - Friday Night, August 1st in Washington
Record - 49-61, 5th Place, 10 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Another Why Even Bother Post-Vacation Massive Catch-Up, Part 7 of 8

One Sentence Summary:  Marlon Byrd's home run in the sixth broke a 1-1 tie, and Roberto Hernandez pitched another great ballgame as the Phillies took their second in a row from the first place Nationals.

What It Means:  From the Phillies.com game recap -

"[Philadelphia general manager] Ruben [Amaro] will make sure he lets some GMs know every time I have a good game: 'You know, you could have had that.'  I'm sure my agent said the same thing," Byrd said.  "But it's just one of those thing where, right now, I'm trying to win games for this team."

What Happened:  Hernandez won his sixth game of the season (tying A.J. Burnett and Cole Hamels for the team lead) by pitching eight solid innings, allowing an unearned run on five hits.  Jonathan Papelbon (also still here) recorded his 26th save.

Featured Card:  I went back into the Archives for this Byrd card.  I have to believe there's still a really good chance he'll be traded before the end of August.

2014 Topps #641 A.J. Burnett

Phillies 5, Cardinals 1
Game 72 - Friday Night, June 20th in St. Louis
Record - 34-38, 4th Place, 3 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  A.J. Burnett battled moths and the Cardinals in St. Louis to pitch a complete game and help the Phils to a 5-1 victory.

What It Means:  The Phillies have won five in a row and they're now back to just four games under .500.  Watching the Phils is fun again.

What Happened:  Burnett allowed just the run on seven hits in his best outing of the season so far.  He and Jimmy Rollins hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the fifth to give the Phillies the lead in this game.  Marlon Byrd added a solo home run in the sixth.

Featured Cards:  I actually think Topps did a nice job with its Phillies player selection in its recently released second series of its flagship set.  Fringe reliever Luis Garcia earned his first Phillies card, and even long-time minor leaguer (and short-time Phillie) Steve Susdorf somehow ended up with a card.  Roy Halladay has a series two card, and the card will serve as a nice final tribute to the former ace, showing his entire career stats on the back.

2014 Topps #484

My only complaints about the Phillies cards is that Topps didn't use spring training photos of new acquisitions Burnett and Byrd.  Burnett gets the photoshop treatment, made evident by the fact that he's had a short hair cut since arriving in Philly.  When the Topps Phillies retail set was released, a few of us noticed that the photo used for Byrd's card came from 2005 or earlier, during his first stint with the club.    (Byrd wore #29 during his first stint with the club, and he's wearing #3 this season.)  This was fine for the retail set, but the hope was that Topps would produce a more recent photo for their flagship set.

I'd really like to be a fly on the wall at a Topps quality control meeting (if those meetings even occur) to  listen to their reasons as to why this was deemed acceptable.  Someone at some point had the thought, "We have this nine-year-old picture of Byrd in a Phillies uniform.  Let's just go with that and maybe no one will notice."  We noticed, Topps.

2004 Playoff Honors #154 Marlon Byrd

Marlins 4, Phillies 3
Game 44 - Thursday Afternoon, May 23rd in Miami
Record - 20-24

One Sentence Summary:  Marlon Byrd's clutch, game-tying, two run home run was all for naught as Jake Diekman couldn't escape the ninth and the Marlins walked off with a 4-3 win.

What It Means:  It means the three game winning streak is distant history and the Phillies will try to break the current two game losing streak tonight at home against the Dodgers.

What Happened:  The game was scoreless until the sixth when Cole Hamels allowed the first of the three runs he'd eventually surrender.  Byrd tied the game at three a piece with a long drive to deep center field.  The usually reliable Diekman recorded two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but four singles, including an infield single that he booted coming off the mound, led to the Marlins win.

Featured Card:  Byrd has been one of the bright spots in the Phillies line-up, and he's leading the team with 29 RBIs.  He's only had a handful of 2014 Phillies cards to date, but there's plenty in the well from which to draw from during his first stint with the club between 2002 and 2005.

I flipped through my 2004 Phillies binder to find one of Byrd's cards for this post, and for some reason this Playoff Honors card caught my eye.  I can honestly say I have no recollection of acquiring this card, but I liked the action shot of Byrd rounding the bases at the Vet.

2014 Donruss #151 Marlon Byrd

Phillies 3, Mets 2 (11 Innings)
Game 34 - Friday Night, May 9th in Flushing
Record - 16-18, Tied for 4th Place, 3 games behind the Braves and Marlins

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies pulled out an extra inning win thanks to Marlon Byrd's 11th inning double.

What It Means:  It means the horrendous Blue Jays series, in which the Phillies were swept and completely outplayed, is history.  Hopefully this game marks the beginning of a new winning streak.

What Happened:  The Phils left 17 runners on base and had plenty of chances to score in this game.  Chase Utley reached in the 11th with his second double of the game, and his third hit overall.  He came in to score on Byrd's big hit.

Featured Card:  This is Byrd's first official "new" Phillies card, beating the 2014 Topps Heritage card by a few weeks.  It's only been a few months since it's been around, but doesn't it seem as if the Donruss set came out a long time ago?

Transactions:  After Thursday night's game, the struggling Freddy Galvis was sent back to Triple-A and the Phillies recalled infielder Reid Brignac to take his place.  Reliever Shawn Camp, who had been outrighted off the roster the day before, elected free agency rather than report back to the IronPigs.  Camp's short stay (3 games, 3 1/3 innings pitched) all but guarantees he'll never appear on an official Phillies baseball card.

2014 Topps Phillies #PHI-2 Marlon Byrd

Phillies 7, Dodgers 3
Game 22 - Late Thursday Night, April 24th in Los Angeles
Record - 11-11, 4th Place, 3 1/2 games behind the Braves

Part 7 of 8 - Another Post-Vacation, Rapid Fire Game Summary Round-Up!

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies scored four times in the ninth to win 7-3, and take the series from the Dodgers.

What It Means:  I'll take it.  It would have been nice if the Dodgers hadn't tied up the game in the seventh necessitating the additional Phillies offense in the ninth, but it's nice to escape L.A. with a series win.

What Happened:  Carlos Ruiz drove in the eventual winning runs with a two-run double in the ninth off reliever Brian Wilson.  Marlon Byrd capped the inning with a two-run single, finishing the game 3 for 5 with four RBIs.

Kyle Kendrick (6 2/3 innings, two runs) was in line for the win, but Mike Adams surrendered a solo home run to Adrian Gonzalez in the seventh.

Featured Card:  The fine folks over at 14,000 Phillies already pointed this out, but I think it's interesting that Topps decided to use an old picture of Byrd from his first stint with the club for the Phillies retail team set.  I actually prefer this over a picture of Byrd in a Mets or Pirates uniform poorly Photoshopped into a Phillies uniform.

2014 Chachi #5 Marlon Byrd

#3

Marlon Jerrard Byrd

Center Field

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  245

Born:  August 30, 1977, Boynton Beach, FL

Home:  Calabasas, CA

Drafted:  Selected by the Phillies in the10th round of the June 1999 draft

Teams:  Phillies 2002-2005, Washington Nationals 2005-2006, Texas Rangers 2007-2009, Chicago Cubs 2010-2012, Boston Red Sox 2012, New York Mets 2013, Pittsburgh Pirates 2013

Acquired:  Signed as a free agent formerly with the Pittsburgh Pirates on November 12, 2013

Phillies Cards in My Collection:  

#1 - 2001 Bowman Draft Picks #BDP23

#118 - 2014 Topps Phillies #PHI-2

First Chachi Card:  2005 Chachi #27