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

1975 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  39
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  As was the case with all Phillies photocards issued throughout the 1970s, these cards feature a black and white photo with the players' name below.  The cards are unnumbered.  The backs of the cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1975.  Some of the cards contain blue facsimile autographs, as noted on the checklist below.

The Johnny Oates card shown above features an actual autograph and the original Oates card was distributed without an autograph - facsimile or legitimate.

How Distributed:  The 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.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Cy Acosta (auto) 2. Dick Allen 3. Mike Anderson 4. Alan Bannister (auto) 5. Carroll Beringer CO (auto)   6. Bob Boone (auto) 7. Larry Bowa 8. Ollie Brown (auto) 9. Steve Carlton 10. Dave Cash (auto) 11. Larry Christenson (auto) 12. Larry Cox (auto) 13. Billy DeMars CO (auto)

14. Jim Essian (auto) 15. Gene Garber 16. Don Hahn 17. Terry Harmon 18. Tom Hilgendorf 19. Joe Hoerner 20. Tommy Hutton 21. Jay Johnstone (portrait)   22. Jim Lonborg 23. Greg Luzinski 24. Garry Maddox (auto) 25. Jerry Martin 26. Tim McCarver

27. Tug McGraw 28. Willie Montanez (auto) 29. John Oates 30. Danny Ozark MG (auto) 31. Ray Rippelmeyer CO (auto)   32. Mike Rogodzinski 33. Dick Ruthven 34. Mike Schmidt 35. Ron Schueler (auto) 36. Tony Taylor 37. Wayne Twitchell 38. Tom Underwood (auto) 39. Bobby Wine CO (auto)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (3):  Acosta, Bannister, Hahn

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (6):  Hilgendorf, Maddox, Martin, McGraw, Oates, Underwood
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (25):  Allen, Anderson, Boone, Bowa, Brown, Carlton, Cash, Christenson, Cox, Essian, Garber, Harmon, Hoerner, Hutton, Johnstone, Lonborg, Luzinski, McCarver, Montanez, Rogodzinski, Ruthven, Schmidt, Schueler, Taylor, Twitchell

This set is the only hope of finding Phillies baseball cards for Acosta, Bannister and Hahn.  Acosta's card is particularly interesting to me, as his 1973, 1974 and 1975 Topps cards feature a relatively clean cut pitcher while his card in this set features '70s hair gone wild.

Manager (1):  Ozark
Coaches (4):  Beringer, DeMars, Rippelmeyer, Wine
Phillie Phanatic (0)
Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (0)

Surprises:  The aforementioned Acosta is a bit of a surprise here.  He made the team's opening day roster, but only appeared in six games before getting released.  The scan below is a good reference guide for this set, and this is from a 1975 tri-fold brochure that has the team's full roster and schedule on the back.  

There are six players with cards in the set not included in the composite photo below - (1) Garry Maddox, acquired from the Giants on May 4th for Willie Montanez, (2) Dick Allen and (3) Johnny Oates, acquired from the Braves on May 7th, (4) Tim McCarver signed as a free agent on July 1st and finally (5) Jerry Martin and (6) Mike Rogodzinski who played their first games for the club on May 27th and June 15th, respectively.

Omissions:  This set is a fairly complete representation of the 1975 Phillies.  There are five players who briefly played for the team who are not in the set - Wayne Simpson (5 games), John Montague (3 games), Randy Lerch (3 games), Larry Fritz and Ron Clark (both 1 game).

Variations/Rarities:  According to the set's entry at The Trading Card Database, there's a Johnstone variation featuring him kneeling in lieu of the standard portrait photo.  There are also the following variations either including or excluding the blue facsimile autograph

Photo Variation 1. Jay Johnstone (kneeling)

Facsimile Auto Variations 1. Dave Cash (no auto) 2. Tommy Hutton (auto)

Trivia:  The Beckett.com entry for this set lists only 31 cards and the set's entry at The Trading Card Database lists 36 cards (including the Johnstone variation), omitting the Essian, Hahn, Montanez and Rogodzinski cards.

Also See:  1975 Phillies Photo Album

Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

This set was originally featured in a post back in November 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 five years.

1974 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards / 1976 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards

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

Series Preview - Blue Jays at Phillies: May 25th to May 27th

1978 Topps #169

1978 Topps #568

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05 and Sunday 1:35
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Blue Jays 23-27, 4th place in the A.L. East, 11 games behind the Red Sox
Phillies 28-19, 2nd place in the N.L. East, 1/2 game behind the Braves

Blue Jays Probables:  Sam Gaviglio (1-0, 0.93), Jaime Garcia (2-3, 6.28), J.A. Happ (6-3, 3.97)
Phillies Probables:  Zach Eflin (1-0, 1.56), Aaron Nola (6-2, 2.37), Nick Pivetta (4-2, 3.23)

At the Ballpark:  The Phillies are sponsoring a Bark in the Park event tonight.  Tomorrow, all kids will receive a Phillies water bottle and on Sunday all kids will receive a Rhys Hoskins Starting Lineup figure.

Blue Jays Leaders
Average:  Kevin Pillar - .280
Runs:  Kevin Pillar - 26
Home Runs:  Yangervis Solarte - 11
RBIs:  Yangervis Solarte - 31
Stolen Bases:  Kevin Pillar - 8

Wins:  J.A. Happ - 6
ERA:  J.A. Happ - 3.97
Strikeouts:  J.A. Happ - 71
Saves:  Roberto Osuna - 9

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Odubel Herrera - .343
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez - 34
Home Runs:  Carlos Santana - 8
RBIs:  Three tied with - 30
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 9

Wins:  Aaron Nola - 6
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 2.37
Strikeouts:  Vince Velasquez - 64
Saves:  Hector Neris - 9

1977 Phillies Photocards

I updated this post here in November 2020 and this original post is now outdated.

 

Number of Cards:  38
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  As was the case with all Phillies photocards issued throughout the 1970s, these cards feature a black and white photo with the players' name below.  The backs of the cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1977.  Some of the cards contain blue facsimile autographs, as noted on the checklist below.  Also, some of the cards featuring portrait photos of the players are cropped so that there's a larger than usual white space on the bottom border.  The Hutton card below is an example of this.

How Distributed:  The 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.

Complete Standard Checklist:

Fred Andrews (auto) Carroll Beringer CO Tim Blackwell (auto) Bob Boone (auto) Larry Bowa (auto) Ollie Brown (auto) Warren Brusstar (auto) Steve Carlton (auto) Larry Christenson Billy DeMars CO Barry Foote Gene Garber Terry Harmon (auto) Richie Hebner (auto) Tommy Hutton Dane Iorg Dave Johnson Jay Johnstone (auto) Jim Kaat (auto)

Randy Lerch Jim Lonborg Greg Luzinski (auto) Garry Maddox Jerry Martin Bake McBride Tim McCarver Tug McGraw (auto) Danny Ozark MG Ron Reed (auto) Ray Rippelmeyer CO Mike Schmidt (swinging) Mike Schmidt (portrait) Ted Sizemore Tony Taylor CO (auto) Bobby Tolan (auto) Wayne Twitchell (auto) Tommy Underwood (auto) Bobby Wine CO (auto)

One and Done (3):  Andrews, Blackwell, Iorg
First Appearances (7):  Brusstar, Foote, Hebner, Johnson, Lerch, McBride, Sizemore
Returning Players (22):  Boone, Bowa, Brown, Carlton, Christenson, Garber, Harmon, Hutton, Johnstone, Kaat, Lonborg, Luzinski, Maddox, Martin, McCarver, McGraw, Reed, Schmidt (two versions), Tolan, Twitchell, Underwood

Your only chance of owning Phillies cards for Andrews, Blackwell and Iorg comes with this set.  The First Appearance designation is for players who have never before appeared within a Phillies team issued set.  These players may have already appeared on other Phillies baseball cards.

Manager (1):  Ozark
Coaches (5):  Beringer, DeMars, Ripplemeyer, Taylor, Wine
Phillie Phanatic (0)
Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (0)

Variations/Rarities:  I'm not aware of any variations to be found within this set.  But that doesn't mean there aren't any . . .

Trivia:  I found the cards featured here through eBay.  It was only through the awesome photos provided at The Trading Card Database for this set that I was able to identify these cards as being from 1977.  Collector Dave Sosidka uploaded the checklist and scans of all cards to the database back in 2011.  The Beckett.com database has no record of this set.

Thanks to Rick's comments, I've added three more cards to the checklist above not included on the checklist at The Trading Card Database - Foote, McBride and a Schmidt variation featuring a portrait shot.  The Foote and McBride cards would have been mid-season additions, as both were acquired in separate trades on June 15th.

Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

1976 SSPC Phillies - Part Two

The only reason I'm breaking this team set up into two galleries is because of Blogger's 20-label limit on posts.  It would have bugged me not to label some of the players featured.  Part one was published yesterday.

Jerry Martin received his "rookie" card in this set, as he didn't appear in a Topps set until 1977.  Wayne Simpson and Erskine Thomason receive their sole Phillies cards, even though they appear in the uniforms of the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, the Phillies top farm club in 1975.  Simpson appeared in 7 games for the 1975 Phillies, while Thomason pitched just one inning for the 1974 squad.

Dick Ruthven isn't in this gallery, even though his 1976 SSPC card features him wearing a Phillies uniform.  The back of Ruthven's card indicates he had moved on to the Atlanta Braves.

#470 Mike Schmidt

#471 Bob Boone

#472 Tom Hutton

#473 Dick Allen

#474 Tony Taylor

#475 Jerry Martin

#476 Danny Ozark MG

#599 Wayne Simpson

#600 Erskine Thomason

#607 Mike Rogodzinski

Phillies at Marlins: April 12th to April 14th

Friday and Saturday 7:10, Sunday 1:10
Marlins Park - Miami, FL

Phillies 4-5, 4th Place in the N.L. East, 4 games behind the Braves
Marlins 1-8, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 7 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables:  John Lannan (0-0, 3.86), Cole Hamels (0-2, 10.97), Roy Halladay (0-2, 14.73)
Marlins Probables:  Ricky Nolasco (0-1, 3.97), Jose Fernandez (0-0, 1.80), Kevin Slowey (0-2, 2.19)

At the Ballpark:  Tonight is Dominican Heritage night at Marlins Park with special pre-game festivities and other perks for those fans with tickets in one of the Dominican Heritage sections at the ballpark.  There will also be a post game fireworks show.  On Sunday, the first 15,000 fans will receive a 2013 Marlins calendar.  (I wonder if the calendar starts in January or April?)

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Michael Young - .375

Runs:  Chase Utley - 7

Home Runs:  Domonic Brown and Chase Utley - 2

RBIs:  Chase Utley - 9

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 4

Wins:  Cliff Lee - 2

ERA:  Cliff Lee - 1.08

Strikeouts:  Cliff Lee - 14

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 1

1973 Topps #271

1973 Topps Flashback:  The Marlins didn't play their first game until 1993, but I did find an appropriate subject for this flashback.  Former Phillie Tommy Hutton has been broadcasting Marlins games since the 1997 season.  Prior to joining the Marlins, he spent time as a broadcaster with the Expos (1982-1986), Yankees (1987-1989) and Blue Jays (1990-1996).  Given the Marlins woeful state these days, I wonder if he's daydreamed at all this season about once again calling the games for the Nationals, Yankees or Blue Jays.

I've already featured this card way back in the blog's infancy, as it's one of my favorite Phillies cards from the 1970s.  When they upgraded the seats at the the Vet to all blue, it was definitely a step in the right direction.  However, I can't help but feel nostalgic whenever I see a picture of the old, original multi-color seats at the Vet.

Phillies at Nationals: October 1st to October 3rd

Nationals Park - Washington, D.C.
Monday and Tuesday 7:05, Wednesday 1:05

Phillies 80-79, 3rd Place in the N.L. East, 16 games behind the Nationals
Nationals 96-63, 1st Place in the N.L. East, 3 games ahead of the Braves

Phillies Probables:  Kyle Kendrick (10-12, 4.08), B.J. Rosenberg (1-2, 6.86), Cliff Lee (6-8, 3.12)
Nationals Probables:  Chien-Ming Wang (2-3, 6.60), Gio Gonzalez (21-8, 2.89), Edwin Jackson (9-11, 4.13)

At the Ballpark:  The Nationals are paying tribute to their Teddy Roosevelt mascot with three separate give-aways.  Tonight, fans will receive Teddy Eye Black, and on Tuesday they'll receive a Teddy Bumper Sticker.  Finally, fans will receive a Teddy Lapel Pin on Wednesday afternoon.  Note that all three giveaways are limited to the first 20,000 fans.  (If the Nationals are able to draw that many.)

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Jimmy Rollins - .250

Runs:  Jimmy Rollins - 102

Home Runs:  Jimmy Rollins - 23

RBIs:  Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Ruiz - 68

Stolen Bases:  Juan Pierre - 37

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 17

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 3.05

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 216

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 38

1979 Topps #673 and #628

1979 Topps Flashback:  Del Unser and Tommy Hutton, both players with Expos and Phillies connections, are the final two 1979 Topps cards featured this year in this, the last series preview post.  For a full list of what I believe are all the 1979 Topps cards with Phillies connections, please see here.

Hutton was a left-handed back-up first baseman/corner outfielder for the Phillies between 1972 and 1977.  As his Baseball Reference Bullpen page points out, Hutton had a knack of delivering against Tom Seaver throughout his career, hitting .320 off Seaver in 62 plate appearances with three home runs.

Unser and Hutton were teammates with the Phillies in 1973 and 1974 during Unser's first stint with the Phillies.  Unser came back to the Phils in 1979 following three seasons with the Expos.  I've featured Unser's cards and written about the highlights of his Phillies career here and here.

1975 Topps Mini Phillies Team Set - Completed!

Top Row:  1975 Topps Mini #118, #138, #162, #267 and #292
Bottom Row:  1975 Topps Mini #399, #444, #477, #501 and #527

I've already displayed one of the larger cards received in the Bounty from Burnell, so I thought I'd post some of the smaller cards received as well.  Burnell noticed within my 1975-1979 Phillies Wantlist that I needed the entire 1975 Topps Mini team set.  So he sent it to me.  Every single card.  Even the Mike Schmidt card and the two League Leader cards and the multi-player rookie card featuring Tom Underwood.  He completely wiped the 1975 Topps Mini Phillies cards off my Wantlist with one glorious trade package.  So thank you again, Burnell, and your package is (finally) going into the mail today.

I've displayed here several cards from the set that didn't make it into my 1975 Topps Phillies post from a few weeks back.

Vote:  Please take a moment to vote in the poll I've set up in the sidebar.  I've renovated the blog with a new look, but I can't decide on the appropriate background color.  This is a Phillies blog after all, so I thought a red background would be nice.  However, my wife Jenna prefers the blue background.  It's quite the quandary.

1977 Topps Phillies

1977 Topps #30, #140, #520 and #310

The 1977 Topps set was the first complete set of baseball cards I ever received as a gift.  It was either 1982 or 1983, and I remember seeing the familiar shape of a cheese box wrapped in Star Wars wrapping paper on my birthday.  (Or was it G.I. Joe wrapping paper by then?)  I knew instantly my parents had purchased a bunch of baseball cards for me, and once I lifted the box, I knew they had purchased a lot of baseball cards for me.  I ripped off the wrapping paper, lifted off the top of the box and started going through the cards, starting with the League Leader cards.

I remember thinking, "What is this?" and my Dad must have noticed the confused look on my face.  "It's the complete 1977 Topps set," he responded.  "The whole set?"  "Yep, the whole set."  It was one of the coolest things I had ever seen to that point in my young baseball card collecting career - a complete set of 660 cards, neatly collated together in a box.

(And does anyone else remember cheese boxes?  Did anyone else use them for storing baseball cards?)

1977 Topps #310 (Back)

The Set
Number of cards in the set:  There are 660 cards in the set, for the fifth year in a row.  Sadly, there was no Traded series.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  It's not a complicated design, but it works.  For some reason, the backs of the cards have always been favorites of mine.  I've always liked the large font used to display the player's name across the top of the backs of the cards, and it's cool that the information on the back is framed to look as if it's on a billboard.
Notable competition:  With SSPC out of the way, Topps had to compete with only the usual suspects - Hostess, Kellogg's, and a few other oddball offerings.

1977 Phillies
Record and finish:  The team finished with a record identical to their record from the prior year, 101-61, and they won the division for the second straight year.  However, they lost to the Dodgers in the N.L.C.S., three games to one.
Key players:  Mike Schmidt (.274, 38 home runs, 101 RBIs) and Greg Luzinski (.309, 39 home runs, 130 RBIs) again paced the offense.  Luzinski finished second in the N.L. MVP voting, behind Joe Morgan.  Bake McBride, a mid-season acquisition, hit .339 with the Phillies.  The pitching staff was led by Steve Carlton (23-10, 2.64 ERA, 198 strikeouts) and Larry Christenson (19-6, 4.06 ERA), who enjoyed a career year.  The bullpen was anchored by Gene Garber (19 saves, 2.35 ERA), Ron Reed (15 saves, 2.75 ERA) and Tug McGraw (9 saves, 2.62 ERA).
Key events:  In mid-June, in need of a spark for the offense, GM Paul Owens traded Tom Underwood and three other players to the Cardinals for right fielder McBride.  The '77 Phillies are often listed as one of the best teams in franchise history, along with the 1950, 1980, 1993 and 2008 squads.  It all came crashing down for the team on Black Friday, October 7th, when the Dodgers stunned the Phils in Game 3 of the N.L.C.S. by scoring three times in the ninth for the stunning come-from-behind victory.  I'm too young to remember the game first-hand, but reading about it and listening to my Dad talk about it is painful enough.

1977 Topps #545, #415, #596 and #264

1977 Phillies in 1977 Topps
Cards needed for a complete team set:  First of all, I am not including this card in the tally.  It's a Reds card, and not a Phillies card.  There are 26 cards needed for a complete 1977 Topps Phillies team set.  The running tally is 237 Topps Phillies cards from the '70s and 705 Topps Phillies cards overall.
Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 6 cards

#545 Bob Boone (c), #310 Larry Bowa (ss), #140 Mike Schmidt (3b), #30 Greg Luzinski (lf), #520 Garry Maddox (cf), #415 Jay Johnstone (rf)

The regular first baseman, Richie Hebner, and second baseman, Ted Sizemore, are featured with other teams in the set.

1977 Topps #110, #59, #638 and #569

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#110 Steve Carlton, #59 Larry Christenson, #638 Jim Kaat, #569 Jim Lonborg

For the second consecutive year, Randy Lerch has to share his card with three other pitchers.

• Base cards of other players who played with the Phillies in 1977 - 11 cards

#84 Ollie Brown, #164 Tug McGraw, #188 Bobby Tolan, #217 Tom Underwood, #243 Ron Reed, #264 Tom Hutton, #289 Gene Garber, #357 Tim McCarver, #388 Terry Harmon, #444 Wayne Twitchell, #596 Jerry Martin

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

#489 Randy Lerch with Len Barker (Rangers), Greg Minton (Giants) and Mike Overy (Angels)

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1977 - 2 cards

#337 Ron Schueler, #619 Johnny Oates

• League Leader cards - 1 card

#2 Home Run Leaders - Mike Schmidt with Graig Nettles (Yankees)

• Team card with manager - 1 card, #467 with Danny Ozark

1977 Topps #357, #516, #289 and #243

Who’s out:  First baseman Davey Johnson appeared in 78 games with the team, but he's not in the set.  Reliever Warren Brusstar pitched in 46 games but he doesn't have a card either.
Phillies on other teams:  There are six players from the 1977 Phillies team who appeared in the 1977 Topps set with different teams - #167 Richie Hebner (Pirates), #366 Ted Sizemore (Dodgers), #391 Dan Warthen (Expos), #516 Bake McBride (Cardinals) and #612 Barry Foote (Expos)
What’s he doing here:  It's hard to argue with Topps' player selection again this year.  Everyone featured with the Phillies had seen playing time with the team in 1976.
Cards that never were candidates:  Johnson and Brusstar should have cards, and I'd create Phillies cards for McBride, Hebner and Sizemore.  (Hebner actually has a 1977 Topps Phillies card, sort of.  More on that in a bit.)
Favorite Phillies card:  It's got to be Schmidt's card - baby blue road uniform, 1976 Bicentennial patch in clear sight, Schmidt's mid-'70s 'stache and blue skies in the background.

Other Stuff

1977 O-Pee-Chee #168

Recycled:  Topps reprinted Carlton's card in 2001 as part of its Through the Years insert set in both a regular and a Chrome format.  Luzinski's card was reprinted as part of the 2002 Topps Archives set and McCarver received a 1977-style card in the 2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites set, using a different picture from the era.  I could have sworn Topps had reprinted the Schmidt card at some point, but I guess not.  Finally, I used the design for the 2008 Chachi set.
Blogs/Websites:  There are quite a few blogs out there covering Topps sets from the '60s to the early to mid-'70s, but there aren't that many set-specific blogs out there for the "modern era" of Topps - with the exception of a few here and there.  Since there's not a 1977 Topps blog out there yet, that I'm aware of any way, here's a post I wrote discussing the set and the other big event of 1977.
Did You Know?:  For its Canadian O-Pee-Chee release, Topps airbrushed Hebner into a Phillies uniform.  There's a whole untapped area of baseball cards out there for me, as I honestly have no idea if Topps did this for any other Phillies players, or if this was just a one-off type thing for Hebner's 1977 release.  I've never paid much attention to the O-Pee-Chee team variations before, but once I received this card from the fine proprietor of the Oh My O-Pee Chee! blog, I realized I should probably start researching the Phillies team variation cards for cool instances like this Hebner card.

1973 Topps Phillies

1973 Topps #189, #37, #119 and #424

Packs of 1973 Topps baseball cards were sitting on the shelves of Wawa, most likely gathering dust, when I was born in October of that year.  I often day dreamed/wished that my Dad had bought a box of these packs the day I was born and then ceremoniously presented the unopened box to me upon my graduation from high school, or perhaps on my 10th birthday, or maybe on just a random summer day . . . but I digress.

We started collecting the 1973 Topps set in the summer of 1988, and it took us just a few short years to polish it off.  I seem to recall dealers being surprised whenever I'd ask to see their '73 Topps commons, almost as if no one was really trying to put the set together.  Most of my lawn-mowing money went to a little baseball card store in Sea Isle City, where the owner had a huge, unsorted box of 1973 Topps cards featuring stars, Leader cards, checklists, high numbers, you name it.  I'd estimate over half my set came from that store.

The Set

1973 Topps #424 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  Topps scaled back to just 660 cards with this set.  If you're looking for a master set, you'll also need to track down the 24-card unnumbered, blue bordered team checklist cards inserted into series six packs and also available via mail order.  The set is notable for being the last to be issued in multiple series until Topps started the practice again in 1993.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  It's not one of my favorites.  We collected the 1973 through 1976 Topps sets in order of our favorites, starting with the 1975 set, then putting together 1976 and 1974 concurrently before going back to 1973.  Sure, it's got some quirky cards, but it still seems tame when compared to the 1972, 1975 of 1976 sets.
Notable competition:  There was just the usual Kellogg's set as Topps would hang on to its monopoly for another eight years.

1973 Phillies
Record and finish:  The Phils improved to 71-91, but they finished in last place again, 11 1/2 games behind the Mets.  They were only five games out of first as late as early September, but their fall swoon left them in the basement.
Key players:  After his amazing year, Steve Carlton slipped to 13-20 with a 3.90 ERA.  The starting trio of Wayne Twitchell, Ken Brett and Jim Lonborg each won 13 games.  The outfield led the offense as left fielder Greg Luzinski (.285, 29 home runs, 97 RBIs), center fielder Del Unser (.289, 11 homes runs, 52 RBIs) and right fielder Bill Robinson (.288, 25 home runs, 65 RBIs) all enjoyed fine years.  Rookies Bob Boone (.261, 10 home runs, 61 RBIs) and Mike Schmidt (.196, 18 home runs, 52 RBIs, 136 strikeouts) had decent enough years as the team's regular catcher and third baseman, respectively.
Key events:  After hiring Danny Ozark to manage the team, Paul Owens vacated the manager's chair and went back into the front office to try to right the Phillies' ship.  In October 1972, Owens acquired starting pitchers Brett and Lonborg from the Brewers for Don Money.  Another key deal saw Oscar Gamble and Roger Freed shipped to the Indians in November 1972 for Unser.

1973 Topps #97, #613 and #486

1973 Phillies in 1973 Topps
Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 31 Phillies cards in the 660-card set.  The tally is now 121 Topps Phillies cards from the '70s and 589 Topps Phillies cards overall.
Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 5 cards

#97 Willie Montanez (1b), #424 Denny Doyle (2b), #119 Larry Bowa (ss), #189 Greg Luzinski (lf), #37 Bill Robinson (rf)

The starting catcher and third baseman (Boone and Schmidt) appear on multi-player Rookie cards and the starting center fielder (Unser) appears with the Indians on his card.  

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#300 Steve Carlton, #227 Wayne Twitchell, #444 Ken Brett, #3 Jim Lonborg

1973 Topps #300, #227, #444 and #3

Twitchell, Lonborg and Brett get the airbrush treatment to switch over their blue Brewers hats to red Phillies hats.  Unser must have just missed the airbrushing cut, as he was acquired from the Indians a month after the Phillies' deal with the Brewers, yet Unser still appears in his Indians digs.

• Base cards of other players who played with the Phillies in 1973 - 12 cards

#6 Mac Scarce, #147 Mike Anderson, #166 Terry Harmon, #271 Tom Hutton, #326 Darrell Brandon, #405 Cesar Tovar, #467 Mike Ryan, #559 Barry Lersch, #590 Deron Johnson, #619 Billy Wilson, #632 Dick Selma, #659 Jose Pagan

• Phillies appearing on multi-player "Rookie" cards - 2 cards

#613 Bob Boone with Skip Jutze (Astros) and Mike Ivie (Padres), #615 Mike Schmidt with John Hilton (Padres) and Ron Cey (Dodgers)

• Base cards of players who never played with the Phillies - 2 cards

#246 Ken Sanders, #454 Tom Haller

Sanders came to the Phillies in the Brewers deal that brought over Brett and Lonborg.  They'd spin him off to the Twins a month later in a deal that brought Tovar to the Phils.  Haller, a 12-year veteran, was purchased from the Tigers in October 1972.  He didn't play a game with the club in 1973 and he was released in February 1974.

• League Leader cards - 3 cards, all Steve Carlton

#65 ERA Leaders with Luis Tiant (Red Sox), #66 Victory Leaders with Gaylord Perry (Indians) and Wilbur Wood (White Sox), #67 Strikeout Leaders with Nolan Ryan (Angels)

• Manager and coaches card - 1 card, #486

Features manager Danny Ozark along with coaches Carroll Beringer, Billy DeMars, Ray Rippelmeyer and Bobby Wine.

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1973 - 1 card, #509 Jim Nash
• Team card - 1 card, #536

1973 Topps Team
Checklists - Phillies

Who’s out:  The biggest omission is pitcher Dick Ruthven, who started 23 games for the Phillies and had a record of 6-9.  Other guys left out include shortstop Craig Robinson (46 games), outfielder Mike Rogodzinski (66 games, 2 home runs) and reliever Ron Diorio (23 games, 2.33 ERA, 1 save).
Phillies on other teams:  As mentioned previously, Unser appears with the Indians (#247).  Billy Grabarkewitz (#301 with the Angels) and George Culver (#242 with the Astros) were both late summer additions to the team.
What’s he doing here:  Topps fired up the airbrush a little too quickly for its cards of Sanders and Haller.
Cards that never were candidates:  Schmidt and Boone deserve their own cards and Unser needs an actual Phillies card.  Two pitchers who would would win rings with the 1980 Phillies should have cards as well - Ruthven, and Larry Christenson, who made his debut in 1973 and started 9 games.
Favorite Phillies card:  This one is hard.  Schmidt should get the nod, just given the iconic nature of his rookie card, but the Carlton, Luzinski and Montanez cards are also favorites.  I can't decide, so please make your pick in the rare Phillies Room poll now appearing on the sidebar.  It's a question so perplexing, Blogger's poll gadget decided to ask it twice.

1973 Topps #271, #559, #632 and #247

Other Stuff
Recycled:  I ran a post a few days ago detailing the various attempts Topps has made to reproduce Schmidt's rookie card.
Blogs/Websites:  1973 Topps Photography lovingly chronicles the unique and sometimes bizarre photos found within the set.  Check out Oscar Gamble's "Indians" card as a prime example.
Did You Know?:  A few years after I had completed this set, I noticed something cool about the pitcher's cards.  The silhouette on the front of the cards is handedness-appropriate with lefties getting a blue circle and righties getting a red circle.

Note: Coaches Beringer and Rippelmeyer will remain un-labeled in this post until Blogger develops the ability to have more than 20 labels in a post.