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.

Galvis and Herrera Lead Phils to Series Win

2017 Topps Heritage #215

2017 Topps Heritage #247

Phillies 9, Giants 7
Game 54 - Sunday Afternoon, June 4th in Philadelphia
Record - 19-35, 5th place, 15 1/2 games ahead of the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The offense, led by Odubel Herrera and Freddy Galvis, erupted for nine runs as the Phillies won their first series since April.

What It Means:  This is the first three-game series win for the club since they swept the Braves April 21st through 23rd.  The Phils now head to Atlanta for a four-game series.

What Happened:  Herrera had two doubles and a fifth inning solo home run, knocking in three total runs.  Galvis homered from both sides of the plate (5 and 6) becoming the first player since Jimmy Rollins on July 20, 2011 to accomplish that feat.  Maikel Franco homered (7), his first since May 18th, to give the Phils the lead for good in the eighth.

Pat Neshek pitched a scoreless inning to notch the win, lowering his ERA to 0.84 in the process. Hector Neris recorded his fifth save.

Featured Cards:  I was going to flip a coin to decide between Galvis and Herrera and then I decided to just feature them both.  Here are their cards from the 1968-Topps inspired Topps Heritage set.

1961 Post #121 Pancho Herrera

Phillies 3, Yankees 1
Spring Training Game 2 - Wednesday Afternoon, March 4th in Tampa
Record - 1-0-1

One Sentence Summary:  Odubel Herrera and Hector Neris shined in the team's first victory of the spring.

What It Means:  I wish I was in Florida right now.

What Happened:  Herrera went 3 for 4 with two runs scored and three stolen bases.  Neris pitched two scoreless innings while striking out two.  Kevin Slowey made his first start of the spring, pitching two scoreless innings and allowing a single to Alex Rodriguez who was making his first appearance in a game since the 2013 season due to his season-long ban for PED use.

Featured Card:  If Herrera makes the team, he'll become the second player with that surname to have played for the Phillies.  Pancho Herrera played for the Phillies between 1958 and 1961 and this is his deftly perforated card from the 1961 Post set.

1962 Post Phillies

I'm kicking off Gallery Week with one of the oldest oddball team sets in my collection.  These cards are miscut and there are a few creases, but I'm still happy to have them.  By the time kids were cutting these cards off boxes of cereal, Robin Roberts was an ex-Phillie.  The future Hall of Famer was sold to the Yankees in October 1961.  Also, the Pancho Herrera card could serve as his final tribute, as he played his last year in the Majors in 1961 and he did not appear in the 1962 Topps set.

#192

#193

#194

#195

#196

#197

#198

#199

#200

1960 Leaf #5 Frank Herrera

It's been a rough few months for me at work.  There were days over the summer when I actually found myself daydreaming about creative and imaginative ways to tell my employer that I was leaving for greener pastures.  In the end though, I did what I've always done whenever I've been faced with adversity at work in the past:  I kept my head down and my pencil moving.

Fortunately, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and my work schedule should return to some semblance of normalcy in the coming weeks.  I'm still daydreaming about greener pastures and perhaps by this time next year I'll have found the courage to jump the fence.  Who knows?

My Dad was used to hearing about the trials and tribulations of my chosen profession.  On more than one occasion, he'd listen to my complaints and remind me that, "this too shall pass."  He was the one who pointed out to me that I wasn't complaining about the "work," but rather the difficult personalities that I had to navigate.  He'd turn my attention to the important things, the stuff that mattered - I have a wonderful little family, I have a roof over my head, I have my health and I'm able to pay my bills.  No matter where I choose to work, there are going to be good days and bad days and there are always going to be people with whom I just don't mesh.  But I like the work, and I'm pretty good at it, so don't let them bring you down.  Smile and know that tomorrow will be better.

After all, he'd remind me, in the immortal words of his mother, my Mom-Mom, "No matter how hard you try, you can't polish a turd."  And I would smile, and I would know it was going to better day tomorrow and I'd realize he was right, as usual.  "You're a lucky man, Jimmy," he'd say.  And it always made me smile to hear him say that.  Because I knew it was true.

1960 Topps Phillies

1960 Topps #264, #130, #17

I never gave much thought to the 1960 Topps set until Topps released its 2009 Heritage set borrowing the design from its 49-year-old predecessor.  I only recently realized how innovative the set truly is, especially in light of the lifeless set (in my opinion) that would follow in 1961.  Topps was rolling out the subsets in earnest now, including Sport Magazine Rookie Stars, manager cards, team cards, multi-player cards, Topps All-Star Rookies, World Series cards, floating head coaches cards, and Sport Magazine All-Stars.

1960 Topps #103, #302, #366

The Set
Number of cards in the set:  Similar to the prior year, there are 572 cards in a complete set.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  It's horizontal.  This was the first time Topps had used a horizontal design for its entire base set since 1955, and (to date) it's also the last time.  The design features a full color portrait next to a black and white posed action shot.  In a way, it's kind of like the 1994 Upper Deck set's hip father.
Notable competition:  Leaf released a 144-card set, it's first baseball card release since 1948.  And Fleer released a 79-card set of Baseball Greats.

1960 Topps #226 and #466

1960 Phillies
Record and finish:  The team's 59-95 finish landed them in the basement of the National League for the second year in a row.
Key players:  Robin Roberts was 12-16 with a 4.02 ERA and closer Turk Farrell was 10-6 with a team leading 11 saves.  Tony Taylor, acquired from the Cubs in May, led the team with a .287 average.  Pancho Herrera hit 17 home runs with 71 RBIS, but he also set a National League record (at the time) with 136 strikeouts.  New Phillies Johnny Callison (.260 in 99 games) and Art Mahaffey (7-3 with a 2.31 ERA) also showed some promise.
Key events:  As famously reported, manager Eddie Sawyer quit after the Phillies dropped their first game of the season against the Reds, quipping, "I'm 49 years old and I want to live to be 50."  Coach Andy Cohen took over for the second game, and the Phillies hired Gene Mauch to manage the third game through the remainder of the season.  Mauch definitely would see his share of heartache during his tenure as Phillies manager.  Curt Simmons was released by the team in May only to be signed by the Cardinals a few days later.

1960 Phillies in 1960 Topps

1960 Topps #264 (Back)

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 35 Phillies cards in a complete 1960 Topps Phillies team set.  For a master set of Phillies Topps cards from 1951 through 1960, we're up to 208 cards.
Who’s in:  40 players suited up for the 1960 Phillies, and 30 of them are featured as Phillies in the 1960 Topps set.  The remaining five cards consist of a team card, a coaches card, a card for manager Sawyer, and cards for Sparky Anderson and Valmy Thomas who did not play for the Phillies in 1960.
Who’s out:  Regular shortstop Ruben Amaro was featured in the 1959 set, but he's not in the 1960 set.  The only other notable omission is pitcher Chris Short, who appeared in 42 games with the team.  Short would have to wait until 1967 for his rookie card as, I'm guessing, he just never signed a contract with Topps.  It would have also been nice to see a card for rookie Bobby Wine, who made it into four games in 1960.
Phillies on other teams:  Regular second baseman Taylor (#294) and catcher Cal Neeman (#337) were acquired from the Cubs in May for Ed Bouchee and Don Cardwell.  While center fielder Tony Gonzalez (#518) and third baseman Lee Walls (#506) were acquired from the Reds in June for Harry Anderson, Wally Post and Fred Hopke.  Future Red Sox manager Joe Morgan appears on card #229 with the Athletics.  He was purchased from the Atheltics by the Braves in August 1959 and then shipped back to the Braves in April 1960.  In June 1960, the Braves traded him to the Phillies for Al Dark.  The Phils kept him for a few months before selling him to the Indians in August.
What’s he doing here:  I don't know the timing of when Topps released each series of its baseball cards in 1960, so I'm guessing they didn't have enough time to update the Phillies manager card to Mauch in time for card #226.
Cards that never were candidates: Mauch, Taylor, Amaro, Short and Wine.
Favorite Phillies card:  None of the player cards really stand out, so I'll go with the Dallas Green rookie card as my favorite.  Green pitched in 23 games (starting 10), going 3-6 with a 4.10 in his rookie season. The coaches' floating heads card is a close runner-up.

1960 Topps #34, #138, #451

Other Stuff
Recycled:  Topps used this design for its 2009 Topps Heritage set - the first Heritage set since 2001 that I did not attempt to collect.  A year before, Topps used the 1960 Topps All-Star Rookies subset design for its insert set, 2008 Topps 50th Anniversary All-Rookie Team.
Blogs/Websites:  He's been quiet recently, but fellow Phillies fan Jim from Downington runs a blog detailing his "ramblings" on 1960s Baseball.
Did You Know?:  We've seen examples of this here and there so far with the Topps Phillies cards, but there are two Phillies cards in the 1960 set where Topps doesn't even try to cover up the fact the player is appearing is his previous team's uniform - Callison appears in his White Sox uniform and Ted Lepcio appears as a Tiger.

2009 Topps Heritage #334, #415, #563

1958 Topps Phillies

2002 Topps Archives #141, 1958 Topps #171, #348 and #433

Of all the Topps cards from the past 60 years, I'm perhaps the most unfamiliar with the 1958 Topps set.  In my younger collecting days, I had somehow managed to obtain samples of baseball cards from all of the Topps base set offerings from 1952 onwards, with the exception being this set.

1958 Topps #387

The Set

Number of cards in the set:  The set is numbered to a whopping 495, but card #145 was never issued due to Ed Bouchee's suspension for the first half of the 1958 season.  (See below for further details.)

My very brief thoughts on the set:  It's similar to the 1954 Topps set, with its bright backgrounds and portrait shots and it's a step up from the 1957 Topps set, despite the basic design and the mugshot-like fronts.  I dig the player's name appearing in large font at the top of the card.  And to borrow from Section 36's comment to my 1957 Topps Phillies post, this set seems more classic and less "old."

Notable competition:  Hires Root Beer released a 66-card set, available on the side of the soda's cardboard cartons.  There are 11 Phillies featured, and the set uses the "knothole" design which apparently had been in the running as the design for the never-released 1956 Bowman set.

1958 Phillies

1958 Topps #387 (Back)

Record and finish:  Kicking off a dark period in the franchise's history, the Phils finished in last place with a 69-85 record.  They would remain in the basement until 1962, when expansion teams and the hapless Chicago Cubs helped to elevate the Phils to a 7th place finish out of 10 National League teams.

Key players:  Richie Ashburn won his second National League batting title, going 3 for 4 on the final day of the season and raising his average to .350 to top Willie Mays and his .347 average.  The Phillies Encyclopedia calls Ashburn's season "one of the finest seasons of any player in modern Phillies history."  He led the league in hits, walks, triples and outfield putouts.  Left fielder Harry Anderson had an outstanding year, hitting .301 with 23 home runs and 97 RBIs.  Rookie pitcher Ray Semproch went 13-11 to start the season, but then won only two more games from mid-July through the season's end.  Robin Roberts had a comeback year of sorts, going 17-14 with a 3.24 ERA.
Key events:  The Phils acquired slugger Wally Post from the Reds in December 1957 for Harvey Haddix.  His 12 home runs in '58 marked a career low since he had become a regular with the Reds in '54.  Manager Mayo Smith was fired in July, and he was replaced by the team's manager from 1948-1952, Eddie Sawyer.  The team went 28-41 following Sawyer's return to the team.

1958 Topps #353, #181, #116 and #186

1958 Phillies in 1958 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 29 cards in the team set, bringing the cumulative eight-year total to 137 Phillies cards.

Who’s in:  7 of the regulars, 9 bench players, the 5 top starting pitchers, 5 relievers, 2 guys in the Phillies minor league system that year (Chuck Harmon and Dan Landrum) and a team card.

Who’s out:  First baseman Ed Bouchee was supposed be card #145 in the set, but Topps pulled his card after he was suspended for indecent exposure.  (See Wrigley Wax for required reading.)  Apparently rehabilitated, Bouchee returned to the Phillies in mid-season.  Reliever Seth Morehead got left out again, even though he pitched in 27 games.

Phillies on other teams:  There are three players who appeared with the Phillies in 1958, but appeared in the 1958 Topps set on different teams.  Tom Qualters appeared in just one game with the team in April before being sold to the White Sox.  He appeared as a member of the White Sox in the set's high series.  Catcher Carl Sawatski (card #234) was acquired from the Braves in June, and catcher Jim Hegan (card #345) was acquired from the Tigers in July.

What’s he doing here:  Mack Burk appeared in one game for the 1958 Phillies, striking out in his lone plate appearance in a game in June.

Cards that never were candidates:  Bouchee's #145 (obviously) and Morehead (again).

Favorite Phillies card:  Post had spent the first six seasons of his career wearing a Reds uniform, and he appears on his first Phillies card wearing the Reds' sleeveless vests from 1957.  It's perhaps the first Topps Phillies card to poorly mask a player switching teams in the offseason.

2007 Topps Heritage #45, #230, #310 and #326

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Topps used the 1958 Topps design for its 2007 Heritage set.

Blogs/Websites:  I am amazed and impressed that Cardboard Junkie is trying to put this set together.

Did You Know?:  The most valuable card in the set is a super rare variation of Frank "Pancho" Herrera's rookie card without the "A" at the end of his last name.  An internet search shows that examples of this variation have sold for thousands of dollars.