Philly Baseball Card Show Report - Rainy, Quick Trip

We weren't supposed to attend this show, as Doug had a travel baseball tournament scheduled for the weekend in the Toms River area.  The torrential downpour that started on Friday night scuttled those plans, so we pivoted and made the hour-plus drive to Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest Philadelphia Sports Collector Show, better known as The Philly Show.

Our goals were simple.  Doug wanted to add a Michael Lorenzen signature to the recently released Phillies scorecard celebrating the pitcher's August no-hitter.  Lorenzen may not return in 2024, and this could have easily been the only chance to get his autograph before he moves on.  I wanted to add at least one Diamond Stars card and hopefully a few 1969 Topps star cards.  My massive 1969 Topps haul from March is still mostly sitting on my project table, as life and work have forced me to step away from my 1969 Topps blog for a little bit.  (I hope to return to it in October.)

We drove through a hard, steady rain, navigated our way through the confusing admission lines, found the not-well-marked autograph pavilion, stood in line again, purchased our autograph tickets and waited our turn.  I made an impulse Jim Thome autograph ticket purchase, as I wanted to have the Hall of Famer sign his Phillies Alumni photo card.

For the first time ever, I spent all my allotted money at one table and one table only.  Technically, it was two tables, but the two dealers from the Buffalo area were working together and even provided me with a joint business card.  From the Ed Hans side of the table, I found a Paul Waner card needed for my 1934-36 Diamond Stars set build, which is steadily plugging along.  From the Gary Nuchereno side of the table, I first settled on four star cards needed for our 1969 Topps set - all in good shape and very reasonably priced.  After we secured Thome's and Lorenzen's autographs, I went back and found 11 needed commons and semistars from the same dealer's 1969 Topps binder.

Doug spent his money on Ultra Pro supplies with nary a new baseball card purchased.  We were on our way out in less than two hours, me with 16 new cards for my two current, primary set builds and a Thome autograph, Doug with his signed Lorenzen scorecard and some much needed supplies.  We'll now rest up and get ready to likely do a little more damage at the next show in December.

Recent Memory Lane

Valley Forge 12 - December 2021 - Huge haul of 1965 Topps, Jim Thome

Valley Forge 13 - March 2022 - Easy like Sunday morning, close to completing 1965 Topps

Oaks 3 - December 2022 - 1965 Topps set completed, dent made in 1969 Topps, Schwarber, Vierling and Stott

Oaks 4 - March 2023 - Huge haul of 1969 Topps and five Diamond Stars cards added

Oaks 5 - September 2023 - Thome, Lorenzen, only 26 cards purchased from two dealers

Game 151 - Sanchez, Lorenzen Roughed Up by Braves

2023 Topps Now #685

Braves 9, Phillies 3
Game 151 - Tuesday Night, September 19th in Atlanta
Record - 82-69, 2nd Place, 15 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Not much went right for the Phillies in this 9-3 loss, as Cristopher Sanchez and Michael Lorenzen were hit hard by the Braves' potent offense.

What It Means:  The Phillies will try to win the series with an early afternoon game on Wednesday.

What Happened:  Sanchez was pulled after four innings, having allowed three runs on seven hits.  Lorenzen took over in the fifth and retired one batter on 37 pitches before having his outing mercifully ended.  He allowed four runs on three hits and thee walks in his roughest outing since joining the Phillies.  Yunior Marte allowed two more Braves runs to score in the sixth, and gave up the second home run of the night to likely National MVP winner and noted home run celebrator, Ronald Acuna, Jr.

Bryce Harper hit a three-run home run in the sixth off Braves' starting pitcher Spencer Strider, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome the sizable deficit.

Featured Card:  Lorenzen has been pretty awful since pitching his no-hitter, commemorated with this Topps Now card.  In his first two starts, including the no-hitter against the Nationals, he was 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA over 17 innings, striking out 10 batters and allowing one home run.  In his six appearances since the no-hitter, he's 2-2 with a 9.23 ERA over 26 1/3 innings with 8 home runs allowed.

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2023 Chachi #49 Michael Lorenzen

#22

Michael Clifton Lorenzen
Starting Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  217
Opening Day Age:  31

Born:  January 4, 1992, Anaheim, CA
Acquired:  Traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Phillies for Hao-Yu Lee, August 1, 2023

Contract Status:  Signed through 2023
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 2015-2021; Los Angeles Angels 2022; Detroit Tigers 2023; Philadelphia Phillies 2023

Michael Lorenzen began his big league career with the Reds, playing in Cincinnati for seven seasons and being used as a starting pitcher, occasional closer, pinch-runner, pinch-hitter and for six games in 2019 as their starting center fielder.  Lorenzen owns seven career big league home runs, with two of them coming against the Phillies.  He was given the chance to be a full-time starting pitcher by the Angels last season, and the Tigers committed him to the same role when he signed with them this past offseason.  Lorenzen was 5-7 with a 3.58 ERA for the Tigers, and he'd be the club's sole representative at the All-Star Game this past July in Seattle.

Looking to bolster their starting pitcher rotation, the Phillies acquired Lorenzen from the Tigers at this year's trade deadline.  He was amazing in his first two starts, throwing eight solid innings in a winning effort on August 3rd and pitching the 14th no-hitter in Phillies franchise history on August 9th.

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  2013 Bowman Draft Picks #BDPP68
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  2015-2023
Newest Card Added to My Phillies Collection:  2023 Topps #564
Total Cards in My Phillies Collection:  1 as of 8/19/23.

Complete Chachi Checklist

2023 Chachi #49

2023 Chachi #53 - No-hitter HL

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2023 Chachi #48 Johan Rojas / 2023 Chachi #50 Rodolfo Castro

Game 115 - LORENZEN THROWS NO-HITTER!

Phillies 7, Nationals 0
Game 115 - Wednesday Night, August 9th in Philadelphia
Record - 63-52, 2nd Place, 10 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  On an absolutely unforgettable night of baseball, Michael Lorenzen pitched a no-hitter against the Nationals in his home Phillies debut.

What It Means:  Lorenzen threw the 14th no-hitter in Phillies history, the first Phillies no-hitter at Citizens Bank Park since Roy Halladay did in Game 1 of the NLDS on October 6, 2010, and the third Phillies no-hitter overall in the ballpark's history.  Kevin Millwood threw the first no-hitter at the ballpark back on April 27, 2003, a game I attended with my Dad.

What Happened:  Amazingly enough, the no-hitter wasn't the only storyline.  The Phillies took an early 3-0 lead following Bryce Harper's RBI double in the first and Nick Castellanos' 199th career home run a batter later.  Weston Wilson was making his big league debut following seven seasons in the minor leagues, starting in left field.  In the second inning, Wilson connected for a long home run off Nationals' starter MacKenzie Gore in a fairly emotional moment.  We thought that would easily be the game highlight, but we were wrong.  Wilson ended the night with his home run, a pair of walks, a stolen base and three runs scored.

In the third, Castellanos launched his second home run, and the 200th of his career, to make it 5-0, Phillies.  A few more runs would score while the ballpark crowd, 30,406 of us, began to realize the Nationals had a big zero under the H on the scoreboard.  Lorenzen went to work, efficiently getting through the seventh and eighth, and then emerging to a loud standing ovation in the top of the ninth.  Lane Thomas grounded out, Joey Meneses struck out looking and Dominic Smith lofted a fly ball to rookie center fielder Johan Rojas, who easily tracked and caught it for the final out of the game.  What an incredible night!

Featured Cards:  It was going to be Wilson, without a doubt, until Lorenzen made history.  I decided to create Highlight cards for both.

Field Report:  By happenstance and pure luck, my wife Jenna and I were there.  We had had tickets for an early season game that had been delayed for several hours by rain.  The Phillies offered all fans with tickets to that game two free tickets to an upcoming game as a goodwill gesture and I randomly picked this early August contest against the Nationals.  Up until a day ago, I was supposed to be on a Wednesday night flight for an impromptu work trip.  With too many conflicts to make the work trip feasible, I canceled that flight and left it up to Jenna if she wanted to go to the Wednesday night Phillies game instead.  We already knew we wouldn't actually be sitting in our seats in Section 419, and we'd likely leave after five or six innings.  Jenna said she wouldn't mind going, so we went.

We leisurely spent the first four-plus innings watching the game on overhead TVs inside Pass and Stow, cheering with the waning bar crowd after Wilson hit his first big league home run and following both of Castellanos' home runs.  Somewhere around the fifth inning, we made our way over to the Yuengling Beer Garden in Section 107, where we had planned to watch an inning or two more before heading home.  Looking at the scoreboard in the sixth inning, I told Jenna we weren't going anywhere just yet.  We counted down the remaining outs needed, with Jenna capturing the video above of the final out.

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2023 Chachi #51 Weston Wilson / 2023 Chachi #54 Trea Turner HL

Game 109 - Lorenzen Delivers in Phillies Debut

2021 Topps Heritage #568

Phillies 4, Marlins 2
Game 109 - Thursday Afternoon, August 3rd in Miami
Record - 59-50, 2nd Place, 11 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Michael Lorenzen was fantastic in his Phillies debut, leading his new team to a 4-2 win over the Marlins.

What It Means:  The Phillies took three out of four from the Marlins and head home for a 10-game homestand against the Royals, Nationals and Twins.  They hold the second Wild Card spot, a game behind the Giants in the loss column for the top Wild Card spot.

What Happened:  Lorenzen went eight innings, allowing a pair of runs on six hits and striking out five.  Seranthony Dominguez closed it out to record his second save of the season.  J.T. Realmuto hit a two-run home run in the second and Brandon Marsh added a two-run single in the seventh.  Trea Turner was dropped to eighth in the line-up and went 0 for 3.

Featured Card:  Lorenzen has been appearing in Topps products since 2010, and his first appearance in a Topps flagship set came in 2015.  Originally an outfielder, he's made 34 appearances in the majors in the outfield, including six starts in center field for the Reds in 2019.  This is his very non-pitcherish card from the 2021 Topps Heritage set.

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Game 107 - Phils Storm Back in 9th for Win; Acquire Lorenzen, Castro

2023 Topps Heritage #134

Phillies 3, Marlins 1
Game 107 - Tuesday Night, August 1st in Miami
Record - 58-49, 2nd Place, 11 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies were held scoreless and mostly lifeless until a three-run outburst in the ninth inning, capped by a Nick Castellanos two-run home run, sent them to this 3-1 win.

What It Means:  A statement was needed against the division rival Marlins, and after this game things looked to be headed in the right direction.

What Happened:  Phillies' batters were thrilled to see Marlins' starter Sandy Alcantara exit the game after nine innings.  Alcantara shut down the Phillies through eight, allowing four hits and striking out five.  Phillies' starter Ranger Suarez was hit often, but somehow managed to give up only a run on 10 hits and a pair of walks in 6 1/3 innings.  

Down to their final at-bat, trailing 1-0 in the top of the 9th, Kyle Schwarber led off the inning with a walk drawn from new Marlins' closer David Robertson.  Bryce Harper would double home pinch-runner Jake Cave a batter later, tying the game.  Castellanos then delivered his 15th home run of the year to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead.  Seranthony Dominguez was perfect in the bottom of the ninth, recording his first save of the season.

Featured Card:  Here's this year's Topps Heritage card for the Phillies' All-Star, who had bee struggling mightily before his big home run.

2023 Topps #564

2023 Bowman Prospects #BP-52

2023 Topps #484

2023 Topps #643

Transactions:  On trade deadline day, the Phillies pulled off two deals.  First, Michael Lorenzen (rhp) was acquired from the Tigers for prospect Hao-Yu Lee (inf).  Lorenzen was an All-Star this year in his first year with the Tigers.  He's a veteran of nine big league seasons, where he's been primarily a starter in only his first year, 2015 with the Reds, and these past two seasons with the Angels and Tigers.  He's 36-36 lifetime with a 4.02 ERA in 331 games pitched.  A threat at the plate too, he's a lifetime .233 batter with seven home runs, including two against the Phillies.  Lee was batting .283 in 64 games this season with the Low-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws.

Second, the Phillies traded Bailey Falter (lhp) to the Pirates for Rodolfo Castro (inf).  In 2 1/2 seasons with the Pirates, Castro batted .226 in 180 games with 22 home runs and 57 RBIs.  Falter showed flashes of brilliance during his two-plus years with the Phillies, but overall he was 8-12 with a 4.56 ERA in 50 games, including 24 starts.  He was lit up by the Padres in last year's NLCS Game 4, allowing four runs in the first in a game the Phillies would ultimately win, 10-6.

Josh Harrison (inf) was designated for assignment to make room for Lorenzen on the 40-man roster, meaning the Phillies played with an open roster spot in this game.

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