Mets at Phillies - May 15th to May 16th

1984 Topps #774

1984 Topps #432

Wednesday and Thursday 6:40
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  The Phillies' away and home series with the Mets continue as the Phillies look to make it four in a row against the Mets.

New York Mets 19-21
4th Place in the N.L. East, 9 games behind the Phillies

Mets Probables
Jose Quintana (1-4, 5.44)
Christian Scott (0-1, 2.84)

Mets Leaders
Average:  Starling Marte - .260
Runs:  Pete Alonso - 24
Home Runs:  Pete Alonso - 9
RBIs:  Brandon Nimmo - 27
Stolen Bases:  Starling Marte - 7

Wins:  Reed Garrett - 5
ERA:  Luis Severino - 3.00

Strikeouts:  Luis Severino - 41
Saves:  Edwin Diaz - 5

Philadelphia Phillies 29-13
1st Place in the N.L. East, 2 games ahead of the Braves

Phillies Probables
Ranger Suarez (7-0, 1.50)
Taijuan Walker (3-0, 4.82)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Trea Turner - .343
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 32
Home Runs:  Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber - 9
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 35
Stolen Bases:  Bryson Stott and Trea Turner - 10

Wins:  Ranger Suarez - 7
ERA:  Ranger Suarez - 1.50
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 65
Saves:  Jose Alvarado - 8

2024 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2024 Season Summary Index / 2024 Chachi Set Checklist

Series Preview - Mets at Phillies: August 6th to August 8th

1986 Topps #414

2021 Chachi 1986 Topps Missing Links #4

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05, Sunday 1:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  This is one of the best weekends (if not the best weekend) of the year at Citizens Bank Park.  Alumni Weekend returns with the Phillies honoring former president and CEO David Montgomery on Friday night.  Montgomery posthumously received the Buck O'Neil Lifetime Achievement Award in Cooperstown on July 24th.  On Saturday, Phillies Wall of Famers return as Manny Trillo is inducted and all fans will receive a Manny Trillo Wall of Fame Print.  And on Sunday, the Phillies will officially retire Roy Halladay's #34, with all fans receiving a Halladay Retired Number Statue.

(Poor planning on my part means this series preview post features not one, but two cards of short-time Phillies pitcher Tom Gorman, who is perhaps better known as the Mets pitcher who started the game on June 11, 1985, when Von Hayes hit two first inning home runs.  Not really great card choices for the annual Alumni Weekend.)

The Phillies Room staff is currently taking its second of two summer sabbaticals, and the blog will be on auto pilot until later next week.  During our absence, a daily gallery of a prior year Topps Phillies team set will be posted.  Thanks for your continued support and Go Phils!

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

Phillies Missing Links of the 1980s - #10 Tom Gorman

#33
Thomas Patrick Gorman
Relief Pitcher

The season before he had eight relief appearances with the Phillies, Tom Gorman was on the other end of one of the most memorable games in Phillies history.  Gorman was the starting pitcher for the Mets on June 11, 1985, lasting a third of an inning and allowing six runs including the first of two Von Hayes home runs hit in the first inning.  The Phillies would go on to win the game 26-7.

Gorman was released by the Mets at the end of spring training in 1986, and signed a few weeks later with the Phillies.  He'd spend the bulk of the 1986 season pitching for the Triple-A Portland Beavers, but he'd get the call to the Phillies in early July when the struggling Mike Maddux was sent down.  Gorman struggled in his eight outings and he was sent back to Portland in early August, replaced on the roster by Michael Jackson who would soon make his big league debut and assume Gorman's #33.

Gorman finished out the season in Portland and was released following the 1986 season.

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  194
Born:  December 16, 1957, Portland, OR
Drafted:  Drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 4th round of the 1980 amateur player draft, June 3, 1980
Major League Teams:  Montreal Expos 1981-1982, New York Mets 1982-1985, Phillies 1986, San Diego Padres 1987
Professional Affiliations:  Montreal Expos 1980-1982, New York Mets 1982-1985, Phillies 1986, San Diego Padres 1987, Minnesota Twins 1987, Oakland Athletics 1988

Phillies Career
8 games, 0-1 and 7.71 ERA in 11 2/3 innings pitched
Acquired:  Signed as a free agent formerly with the New York Mets, April 19, 1986
Debut:  July 5, 1986 - Relieved Tom Hume in the 6th inning and allowed a run over two innings to the Reds
Final Game:  August 5, 1986
Departed:  Released on October 7, 1986.  Signed as a minor league free agent with the San Diego Padres, January 13, 1987

1984 Topps #774

1986 Fleer #82

1986 Topps #414

1986 ProCards Portland Beavers #7

3 Gorman Baseball Card in My Collection
First Card:  1986 Fleer #82
Last Card:  1986 ProCards Portland Beavers #7

Other Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1984 Topps #774
First Topps Base Card:  1984 Topps #774
Last Mainstream Card:  1986 Topps #414
Other Notable Cards:  1985 Topps #53, 1991 WIZ Mets #146

I first attempted a Phillies card for Gorman using the photo from his 1986 ProCards Portland Beavers card a few years ago.  This original card can be found here.

Sources:  Baseball Reference and The Trading Card Database

This is a continuing series looking at those players who spent time with the Phillies but possess no baseball card proof of their time in Philadelphia.  I will make my way through the decade of the 1980s first and then work my way forward.  In some cases, the First and Last Mainstream cards listed above have been subjectively chosen if multiple cards were released in that year.

Phillies at Mets: May 25th to May 27th

Monday 1:10, Tuesday 7:10, Wednesday 1:10
Citi Field - Flushing, NY

Phillies 19-27, 4th Place, 8 games behind the Nationals
Mets 24-21, 2nd Place, 2 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Phillies Probables:  Severino Gonzalez (2-1, 7.11), Jerome Williams (3-4, 5.44), Sean O'Sullivan (1-3, 3.54)
Mets Probables:  Bartolo Colon (6-3, 4.85), Jacob deGrom (5-4, 2.75), Noah Syndergaard (1-2, 3.63)

At the Ballpark:  There are no giveaways or promotions for this series, although both teams will wear camoflaged-brimmed hats in honor of Memorial Day.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Freddy Galvis - .309
Runs:  Ben Revere - 20
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 10
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 23
Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 9

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 5
ERA:  Aaron Harang - 1.93
Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 67
Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 11

1985 Topps #68

1985 Topps #53

1985 Topps Appreciation:  We're approaching the 30th anniversary of one of the greatest offensive outbursts in Phillies history.  On June 11, 1985, the Phillies defeated the Mets by a score of 26-7 in a game in which Von Hayes hit two first inning home runs.

Tom Gorman started that game for the Mets and he faced seven batters before being relieved by Calvin Schiraldi.  His final line for the night - 1/3 of an inning, four hits, six earned runs and two walks.  Schiraldi and Joe Sambito took the brunt of the damage, each allowing ten runs to the Phillies.  I showed off the pages from my 1985 Phillies Scrapbook celebrating this game here.

Gorman was released by the Mets in April 1986 and signed with the Phillies.  He spent the bulk of the 1986 season pitching for the Phillies' Triple-A team in Portland, but he did earn a brief call-up in July appearing in eight games.

1986 Phillies - The Missing Links

1986 Tastykake Phillies #35 and 1987 Tastykake Phillies #11

I'm slowly making my way through the 1980s in this series of posts, detailing those unfortunate former Phillies with little to no cardboard representation, and then I'll tackle the 2000s.  And for those of you wondering if the Topps Phillies post will continue - they will.  It's just that I've had less free time to blog what with my new job (which is fantastic so far), my son's t-ball games and just general spring/summer fever.

3 Cards or More
37 Players

Randy Lerch's Major League swan song came in the form of four forgettable games with the 1986 Phillies.  In 8 innings, Lerch compiled a 7.88 ERA before earning his release in late June.  Lerch had a number of Phillies cards from his first stint with the club, but only one card - from the 1986 Tastykake Phillies set - commemorating his short second stint with the Phils.

2 Cards
Francisco Melendez (30 games in 1984 and 1986) - 1985 Tastykake Phillies and 1986 Tastykake Phillies
Rocky Childress (16 games in 1985 and 2 games in 1986) - 1985 Tastykake Phillies and 1986 Tastykake Phillies

I featured Melendez with the 1984 Missing Links post and Childress was featured within the 1986 Missing Links post, so there's no new ground to cover here.  Even though both players received two Phillies cards, the photos used for both remained the same in the 1985 and 1986 Tastykake Phillies sets.

1989 CMC Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #19, 1998 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons
10th Anniversary #8, 2004 Multi-Ad Reading Phillies #25 and 2012 Multi-Ad Lakewood BlueClaws #30

1 Card
Greg Legg (11 games in 1986 and 3 games in 1987) - 1987 Tastykake Phillies #11

Legg has been a fixture in the Phillies organization for 31 years.  Legg was drafted by the Phillies in 1982 and he climbed through the minor league ranks before finally getting the call to the Majors in 1986.  His time with the Phillies was short-lived as he appeared in only 14 games throughout the 1986 and 1987 seasons.  He finished his big league career with a .409 (9 for 22) average.

Legg continued playing with the team's Triple-A affiliate through the 1994 season before retiring and permanently joining the minor league coaching ranks.  He has filled in briefly as an interim coach at the Major League level, with his most recent appearance coming during the team's 2008 championship season.  He's now a coach for Mickey Morandini's Low-A Lakewood BlueClaws.

Because of his longevity within the Phillies family and my penchant for collecting Phillies minor league cards, I'm the proud owner of 27 different Legg cards dating back to 1987.

0 Cards

Tom Gorman (8 games in 1986)

1986 ProCards Portland Beavers #1 and #7

Jeff Bittiger (3 games in 1986)

Bittiger made his Major League debut in September 1986 and he appeared in just three games with the Phillies - all as a starting pitcher.  The club released him in December 1986 and he'd go on to appear in parts of three seasons with the Twins and White Sox.

Gorman's time with the Phillies was a disaster, as the veteran southpaw appeared in 8 games with the Phils in late July and early August.  He was shipped down to the minors due to his 7.71 ERA in those 8 games and the Phillies released him following the season.  Gorman is probably best known to Phillies fans as the unfortunate Mets pitcher who was on the wrong end of a 26-7 thrashing courtesy of Von Hayes and several others back on June 11, 1985.  I covered the game and the resulting card back in a old Scrapbook Sunday post.

Past Missing Link Posts

1980 Phillies - Orlando Isales and Don McCormack

1981 Phillies - Jerry Reed

1982 Phillies - Stan Bahnsen and Alejandro Sanchez

1983 Phillies - Steve Comer

1984 Phillies - Renie Martin, Jim Kern and Mike LaValliere

1985 Phillies - None

1990 Phillies - Louie Meadows

1991 Phillies - Dave LaPoint

1992 Phillies - Darrin Chapin and Mickey Weston

1993 Phillies - None

1994 Phillies - Tom Edens and Bob Wells

1995 Phillies - Jim Deshaies, Kevin Elster, Omar Olivares, Chuck Ricci and Dennis Springer

1996 Phillies - Glenn Dishman, Bronson Heflin, Manny Martinez and Rafael Quirico

1997 Phillies - Rob Butler and Mike Robertson

1998 Phillies - Robert Dodd and Matt Whiteside

1999 Phillies - Joel Bennett, Domingo Cedeno, Joe Grahe and Torey Lovullo

2000 Phillies - Clemente Alvarez, Kirk Bullinger, Mark Holzemer and Bryan Ward

As a public service for those dozens (or half-dozen, give or take a few) of collectors interested in this important and critical initiative, I've added a Missing Links label to all previous posts.

1986 Topps Phillies - Missing Links

There are 16 players who appeared with the Phillies in 1986 who didn't make it into either the Topps base set or the traded series so I've made 1986 Topps cards for all 16.  As far as I know, neither Jeff Bittinger or Tom Gorman ever had Phillies cards - either mainstream or in the team-issued Tastykake sets - and if and when I ever have the free time to take a crash course in graphic design, I'm going to go back and fix their cards.

Most of the pictures I used for these cards are from the 1986 or 1987 Tastykake Phillies sets or from the 1986 Phillies Yearbook.

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