Game 3 - Offense's Slow Start Continues in Loss to Texas

Texas Rangers	8
Philadelphia Phillies	3

2026 Philadelphia Phillies
Kids Club / Club 215

Sunday Afternoon, March 29th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
1-2, 5th Place, 2 games behind the Marlins

One Sentence Summary:  A lack of offense, some shaky defense and a pair of home runs given up by starter Jesus Luzardo led to this crappy 8-3 loss.

What It Means:  The Phillies dropped a home series for the first time since July, and the Nationals come to town next for a three game set.

What Happened:  Luzardo got tagged with two home runs - a two-run blast from Brandon Nimmo in the third and a laser, three-run home run from Andrew McCutchen in the fourth that just snuck its way over the left field fence.  He allowed six runs overall in his six inning outing, striking out seven.  Zach Pop gave up the final two Rangers runs.  The Phillies were being no-hit by MacKenzie Gore until Justin Crawford led off the bottom of the sixth with a check swing infield single to third.  The Phillies offense had three hits overall.

Featured Card:  Jenna and I attended this game (see below) and she once again indulged my collector's need to sign up for a Kids Club / Club 215 membership so that we could collect the team-issued baseball cards available throughout the season at the club's kiosk in Ashburn Alley.  As we're now entering the fourth season without a team-issued photo card set, thanks to Fanatics' deal with MLB, this is the closest I'll get to building a team-issued set.  I picked up a Phanatic card and a Crawford card, and as far as I could tell, there are 16 cards in the set to start the season.

Field Report:  The product on the field was lousy, but the afternoon was gorgeous and we enjoyed the game with family from the Diamond Club.  It's now the Philadelphia Insurance Club, after being sponsored by a different company in 2025, but it'll always be the Diamond Club to me.  The Hall of Fame Club underwent a complete overhaul in the offseason, and the Phillies did a fantastic job with the redesign, which features museum quality displays honoring the club's past.

2026 Virtual Phillies Wall (Coming Soon) / 2026 Season Summary Index / 2026 Chachi Set Checklist

Phillies at Braves: May 25th to May 28th

1965 Topps #72

1965 Topps #346

Thursday and Friday 7:20, Saturday 4:10 and Sunday 7:10
Truist Park - Atlanta, GA

At the Ballpark:  Tonight, the first 15,000 fans will receive an OutKast bobble head featuring "music legends and lifelong Braves fans, Big Boi and Andre 3000."  The bobble head actually looks pretty cool.  Friday's game features postgame fireworks and on Sunday the first 3,000 kids will receive a Blooper beach towel.

Phillies 23-26
4th Place in the N.L. East, 7 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Aaron Nola (4-3, 4.31)
Taijuan Walker (3-2, 5.79)
Zack Wheeler (3-4, 4.11)
TBD

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Bryson Stott - .291
Runs:  Nick Castellanos - 33
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 12
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 35
Stolen Bases:  J.T. Realmuto - 7

Wins:  Aaron Nola and Matt Strahm - 4
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 4.11

Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 64
Saves:  Jose Alvarado and Craig Kimbrel - 5

Braves 30-19
1st Place in the N.L. East, 5 1/2 games ahead of the Marlins and Mets

Braves Probables
Dylan Dodd (2-1, 6.46)
Jared Shuster (1-2, 5.49)
Charlie Morton (5-4, 3.61)
Spencer Strider (4-2, 2.97)

Braves Leaders
Average:  Ronald Acuna - .330
Runs:  Ronald Acuna - 46
Home Runs:  Matt Olson - 14
RBIs:  Sean Murphy and Matt Olson - 36
Stolen Bases:  Ronald Acuna - 20

Wins:  Charlie Morton - 5
ERA:  Bryce Elder - 2.01

Strikeouts:  Spencer Strider - 97
Saves:  A.J. Minter - 7

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

1965 Topps - 1st Series Phillies Alumni

In celebration of the completion of the first series (cards 1 to 88) of our 1965 Topps set, here's a look at each card from that first series featuring a former, current or future Phillies player, coach or manager.  You can follow along as we collect this set here.

#13

#15

#16

#20

#22

#23

#33

#36

#52

#62

#64

#67

#72

#75

#80

1965 Topps 2nd Series Phillies Alumni

1952-69 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  79
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  These photo cards feature black and white portraits of prominent Phillies players (and managers) to have suited up for the team between 1950 and 1969.  Most of the photo cards contain black facsimile autographs on the fronts, and all the backs are blank.

How Distributed:  The cards were produced throughout the '50s and '60s by the Phillies as needed and as new players joined the club.  There's no way to tell which year any particular card is from, other than each player's card would have been issued during his tenure with the Phillies.  For example, the Johnny Callison card featured above could have been issued at any point, and over several different years from several different printings, between 1960 and 1969, the years Callison played for the Phillies.

Vintage-wise, Dick Sisler is the earliest Phillie represented, having left the club following the 1951 season.  Deron Johnson is the newest Phillie on the checklist, having joined the club in 1969.  The list presented below could grow, although I suspect that any new photo card discoveries from this era would have been made by now.  With the advent of the internet age, the mysteries surrounding these types of issuances are slowly dissipating. 

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically, with variations): 

1. Rich Allen - Glasses 2. Rich Allen - No glasses, Phillies visible 3. Rich Allen - No glasses, cropped              4. Harry Anderson 5. Richie Ashburn 6. Jack Baldschun 7. Dennis Bennett 8. Ed Bouchee 9. Johnny Briggs 10. Jim Bunning       11. Smoky Burgess 12. John Buzhardt 13. Johnny Callison 14. Doug Clemens 15. Jim Coker 16. Gene Conley 17. Wes Covington 18. Ray Culp 19. Tony Curry 20. Clay Dalrymple - With glove 21. Clay Dalrymple - Portrait 22. Clay Dalrymple - Portrait, cropped 23. Jacke Davis 24. Don Demeter 25. Dick Ellsworth 26. Del Ennis 27. Dick Farrell - '50s version

28. Dick Farrell - '60s version 29. Chico Fernandez 30. Woodie Fryman 31. Tony Gonzalez - Phillies visible         32. Tony Gonzalez - Phillies partial 33. Dallas Green 34. Dick Groat 35. Granny Hamner 36. John Herrnstein  37. Larry Hisle 38. Grant Jackson 39. Larry Jackson - Phillie visible 40. Larry Jackson - Cropped 41. Deron Johnson 42. Jerry Johnson 43. Willie Jones 44. Jim Konstanty (Not team issued) 45. Stan Lopata 46. Art Mahaffey 47. Gene Mauch MG 48. Jack Meyer (Not team issued) 49. Don Money 50. Bobby Morgan 51. Wally Post 52. Robin Roberts 53. Cookie Rojas

54. Mike Ryan 55. Ted Savage 56. Eddie Sawyer MG - Facsimile auto 57. Eddie Sawyer MG - No auto 58. Andy Seminick 59. Ray Semproch 60. Chris Short - Phillies visible 61. Chris Short - Phillies partial 62. Roy Sievers 63. Curt Simmons 64. Dick Sisler 65. Bob Skinner MG - Stands behind 66. Bob Skinner MG - No stands 67. Bobby Gene Smith 68. Charley Smith 69. Frank Sullivan 70. Gary Sutherland (Not team issued) 71. Tony Taylor - Facsimile auto 72. Tony Taylor - No auto (Not team issued) 73. Earl Torgeson 74. Gary Wagner 75. Bill White - Portrait 76. Bill White - With bat (Not team issued) 77. Bobby Wine - Phillies visible         78. Bobby Wine - Phillies partial 79. Rick Wise

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Going through my collection and double checking the Beckett database, I believe these photo cards mark the only Phillies baseball card appearance of Charley Smith (112 games in 1961).

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (62):  There are 63 known players to have appeared in these postcard sets.  C. Smith and 62 other players who appeared elsewhere on Phillies baseball cards throughout the years.

Managers (3):  Sawyer, Mauch, Skinner

Omissions:  The players with the most games with the Phillies in the 1950s without a team issued photo card are - Eddie Waitkus (559 games), Ted Kazanski (417 games) and Johnny Wyrostek (315 games).  From the 1960s, the top three players by games played but not appearing on a Phillies photo card are - Ruben Amaro (668 games), Pancho Herrera (271 games) and Don Lock (215 games).

Variations/Rarities:  I've listed in the checklist above the variations to be found for Allen, Dalrymple, Farrell, Gonzalez, L. Jackson, Sawyer, Short, Skinner, Taylor, Wine and White.  I'm not sure which of the versions of their cards are more prevalent than the others, so I've listed them all above as part of the main checklist.

Special Note:  Fellow collector Rick pointed out to me via text that some of the cards included above are not in fact true team issues.  These are either smaller in size, feature action poses or in some cases are printed on a thicker stock of cardboard.  Rick notes the cards listed above that are almost certainly not team-issued are as follows:  Jim Konstanty, Jack Meyer, Gary Sutherland, Tony Taylor (no auto) and Bill White (with bat).  Collectors should also be aware there are photo cards of similar size and paper stock featuring action shots of Jim Bunning, Chris Short and Rick Wise.  Finally, there's a Mike Ryan card available that is slightly smaller in size than the team-issued version.

Resources:  Fellow Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils) provided the checklists I used to compile the list above, and Rick notes these checklists were originally compiled by collector Dan E., and please refer to my Special Note directly above.                                                                  

Checklist by Decade:  Similar to how I store my multi-year Phillies Alumni photo cards, I've broken out these cards by decade, depending on the years in which the player appeared the most.

1950s (22) - Anderson, Ashburn, Bouchee, Burgess, Ennis, Farrell, Fernandez, Hamner, Jones, Konstanty, Lopata, Meyer, Morgan, Post, Roberts, Sawyer (2), Seminick, Semproch, Simmons, Sisler, Torgeson

1960s (57) - Allen (3), Baldschun, Bennett, Briggs, Bunning, Buzhardt, Callison, Clemens, Coker, Conley, Covington, Culp, Curry, Dalrymple (3), Davis, Demeter, Ellsworth, Farrell, Fryman, Gonzalez (2), Green, Groat, Herrnstein, Hisle, G. Jackson, L. Jackson (2), D. Johnson, J. Johnson, Mahaffey, Mauch, Money, Rojas, Ryan, Savage, Short (2), Sievers, Skinner (2), B. Smith, C. Smith, Sullivan, Sutherland, Taylor (2), Wagner, White (2), Wine (2), Wise  

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

1970 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards

1950-1969 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page

The Best Lists are Checked Lists - Crossing Off Vintage Phillies Cards (#SBWTMABCTJ)

1949 Bowman #161

1949 Bowman #177

1951 Berk Ross #4-8

This is a post I look forward to writing all year.

My Mom has taken it upon herself to single-handedly wipe out my Ten Most Wanted - Vintage list every year with a highly anticipated Christmas present.  She made me work for it this year, hiding the box with the ten individually wrapped cards that I could only find using a series of clues she had hidden.  With the help of two sons and two nieces, and following each clue, I was eventually able to locate the box in the back seat of my Mom's car.  Before we dive into the summary, here's a look at what the list looked like before Christmas:

These cards are all off my want lists now due to the 2018 installment of Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim (#SBWTMABCTJ).  Thank you Santa (aka Mom)!

1949 Bowman #161 Jocko Thompson
1949 Bowman #177 Stan Lopata
I'm getting closer to this tough Phillies team set with the addition of these two cards.  I'm now down to needing the rather expensive Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts rookie cards, and the high-numbered cards of Schoolboy Rowe and Jackie Mayo.

This is Lopata's rookie card, and he'd go on to play 13 years in the Majors, 11 of those years with the Phillies.

1951 Berk Ross #4-8 Robin Roberts
I'm now one card away to completing this 14-card Phillies team set, needing just the Curt Simmons card at this point.  I had to break Roberts out of his PSA slab to let him breathe and take his place in the 1950s Phillies binder along with his counterparts.

1953 Bowman Black & White #14 Bill Nicholson
1953 Bowman Color #158 Howard Fox
Thanks to this Howard Fox card, I'm now the proud owner of a complete 1953 Bowman Color Phillies team set.  I'm going to show off the entire team set in a separate gallery.  Bill Nicholson's card got me a card closer to also finishing off the 1953 Bowman Black & White Phillies team set.  Both of these cards are beautiful.

1953 Bowman Black & White #14

1956 Topps #220

1953 Bowman Color #158

1956 Topps #220 Del Ennis
Having already completed the entire 1956 Topps set*, I'm now trying to add a second Phillies team set to my 1950s Phillies binder.  This Del Ennis card is actually nicer than the version of the card I have in my complete set.

*My 1956 Topps blog has been dormant since February 2017, which truly bothers me.  I'd love to find some time in 2019 to dust this off and add a few more cards to this blog.  I think I originally stalled out due to the daunting task of writing about card #30, Jackie Robinson, and I haven't been able to pick it back up . . . yet.

1957 Topps #265 Harvey Haddix
1957 Topps #335 Granny Hamner
A complete 1957 Topps Phillies team set is now within reach as I'm just a handful of cards short of wrapping this one up too.

1957 Topps #265

1957 Topps #335

1960 Topps #518

1961 Topps #530

1960 Topps #518 Tony Gonzalez
1961 Topps #530 Bobby Malkmus
The Tony Gonzalez card was the last card I needed to finish off my version of the 1960 Topps Phillies team set.  Gonzalez was dealt to the Phillies from the Reds in June, playing the bulk of the 1960 season in Philadelphia.  By my logic, his 1960 Topps card belongs with the rest of the 1960 Topps Phillies team set.

The addition of the 1961 Topps Bobby Malkmus card means I need just one more card for a complete 1961 Topps Phillies team set.

Finally, the print below is a new addition to the actual Phillies Room, courtesy (again) of my Mom.  The print features the classic broadcast team of By Saam, Richie Ashburn and Bill Campbell, who worked in the booth together between 1963 and 1970.

2011 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim

Part 1 - Continuing a Tradition

Part 2 - 1971 Topps Set - 13 More Down

Part 3 - 1952 Topps Phillies

Part 4 - 1951 Bowman Phillies

Part 5 - Curt Simmons - Two New Bowman Cards

Part 6 - 1955 Bowman and Topps Phillies

2012 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1941 Double Play Litwhiler & May
Part 2 - 1963 Topps John Herrnstein rookie card (featuring Willie Stargell)
Part 3 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 1
Part 4 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 2
Part 5 - 1950 Bowman Del Ennis

2013 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1998 Upper Deck Scott Rolen
Part 2 - 1968 Topps Phillies Team Card
Part 3 - 1966 Topps Bob Uecker
Part 4 - 1955 Bowman Robin Roberts
Part 5 - 1965 Topps Johnny Callison
Part 6 - 1954 Bowman Richie Ashburn

2014 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1952 Bowman and 1953 Bowman Color Richie Ashburn
Part 2 - 1950 Bowman Roberts, 1951 Topps Blue Backs Jones, 1955 Bowman Wyrostek
Part 3 - 1995 Collector's Choice Hayes and 1999 Fleer Mystique Burrell

2015 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Seven Phillies Cards from the 1950s Crossed Off the List

2016 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 10 vintage Phillies cards added to the collection
Part 2 - 2 modern oddball Phillies cards find a new home

2017 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Vintage cards crossed off the list, 1959 Topps Phillies team set completed!

2018 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
8th annual haul completes 1953 Bowman Color Phillies team set

Old Phillies Baseball Cards and a Quilt Too! (#SBWTMABCTJ)

1949 Bowman #76

1949 Bowman #142

1951 Berk Ross #1-9

She did it again.

Before Christmas, my Ten Most Wanted - Vintage list on the sidebar looked like this:

Thanks to my Mom, and a now seven-year tradition, nine of those ten cards have been removed from my want lists and an updated Ten Most Wanted - Vintage list is needed.  On the day after Christmas, we visited my Mom's house so that her grandkids and kids could each open their stockings, unwrap their way too many thoughtful gifts and so that I could once again experience the annual phenomenon now known as Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim (SBWTMABCTJ, for short).

I don't remember a Christmas when I didn't receive one or two or dozens of amazing baseball cards from Santa.  Be it a card I needed to complete my 1975 Topps set (#638 Cubs Team Card) or a pricey card needed for the 1956 Topps set, I've always had the pleasure of adding great cards to my collection every Christmas.  This year was no different.

Presented here in chronological order are the cards I crossed off my list thanks to my Mom.

1949 Bowman #76 Bill Nicholson
1949 Bowman #142 Eddie Waitkus
Appearing in Cubs uniforms, both of these cards are technically Phillies cards.  The backs of both cards list the Phillies as the team designation, as Nicholson was acquired from the Cubs on October 4, 1948, and Waitkus was acquired a few months later on December 14th.  I now need six cards to complete the 1949 Bowman team set, including the rookie cards of Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts.

1951 Berk Ross #1-9 Richie Ashburn
Speaking of Ashburn . . . This 1951 Berk Ross card came encased in a PSA graded slab but it's now been freed.  No offense to the other cards I received, but this may be my favorite of the lot.

1953 Bowman Color #113

1953 Bowman Color #131

1953 Bowman Color #113 Karl Drews
1953 Bowman Color #131 Connie Ryan
With the addition of these two cards, I'm now just one card away from a complete 1953 Bowman Color Phillies team set (#158 Howie Fox).  When I'm one day rich and famous, it would be tough to decide whether to collect this complete set or the complete 1955 Bowman set.  These cards are gorgeous.

1959 Topps #31 Ken Lehman
1959 Topps #352 Robin Roberts
These are the last two cards I needed to complete the 1959 Topps Phillies team set.  Together in nine-pocket pages, the team set looks incredible and I may need to feature all the cards in a gallery in a future post.

1961 Topps Topps #569 Frank Herrera AS
1962 Topps #534 Tony Gonzalez
Jumping ahead to the 1960s, I'm inching closer to complete Phillies team sets from 1961 and 1962 Topps.  These two high numbered cards have been difficult for me to find, but by Mom was able to track them both down.

1959 Topps #31

1959 Topps #352

1961 Topps #569

1962 Topps #534

2011 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim

Part 1 - Continuing a Tradition

Part 2 - 1971 Topps Set - 13 More Down

Part 3 - 1952 Topps Phillies

Part 4 - 1951 Bowman Phillies

Part 5 - Curt Simmons - Two New Bowman Cards

Part 6 - 1955 Bowman and Topps Phillies

2012 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1941 Double Play Litwhiler & May
Part 2 - 1963 Topps John Herrnstein rookie card (featuring Willie Stargell)
Part 3 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 1
Part 4 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 2
Part 5 - 1950 Bowman Del Ennis

2013 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1998 Upper Deck Scott Rolen
Part 2 - 1968 Topps Phillies Team Card
Part 3 - 1966 Topps Bob Uecker
Part 4 - 1955 Bowman Robin Roberts
Part 5 - 1965 Topps Johnny Callison
Part 6 - 1954 Bowman Richie Ashburn

2014 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1952 Bowman and 1953 Bowman Color Richie Ashburn
Part 2 - 1950 Bowman Roberts, 1951 Topps Blue Backs Jones, 1955 Bowman Wyrostek
Part 3 - 1995 Collector's Choice Hayes and 1999 Fleer Mystique Burrell

2015 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Seven Phillies Cards from the 1950s Crossed Off the List

2016 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 10 vintage Phillies cards added to the collection
Part 2 - 2 modern oddball Phillies cards find a new home

2017 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Vintage cards crossed off the list, 1959 Topps Phillies team set completed!

Before ending this post, the post title promised a quilt as part of my annual Christmas summary.  Gathering old t-shirts and baseball uniforms, my Mom had a large quilt made that perfectly captures my formative years.  I hadn't seen some of these shirts in over 30 years, and I had no idea she had kept them.  The resulting quilt is a nostalgic reminder of my youth and a perfect gift.  (My sister got one too, featuring t-shirts from the many local and school plays in which she had appeared.)

If you're interested, and I can highly recommend them, please check out Keepsake Theme Quilts here.