2009 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  41
Card Size:  4" x 6"

Description:  The Phillies went with black borders for the first time ever.  The cards have a very basic design featuring the team logo and the player's number, name and position in a digital font.  Other than the 2008 World Champions card, which is my all-time favorite card from a team-issued set, there's no indication the Phillies had won the World Championship in 2008 on the cards themselves.  The horizontal card backs feature biographical information and complete career statistics.

How Distributed:  The original 37-card set was available at Citizens Bank Park throughout the first half of the season.  Following the signing of Pedro Martinez on July 15th and the acquisition of Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco on July 29th, cards of Martinez, Lee and Francisco, along with back-up catcher Paul Bako, were inserted into the set.  With the addition of these four cards to the updated set, five cards available from the original set were removed - the 2008 World Champions card, along with the cards for Chris Coste, Tim Gradoville, Geoff Jenkins and Ronny Paulino.  Jenkins and Paulino had been released prior to the start of the season and Coste was claimed off waivers by the Astros on July 10th.

Complete Set Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position): 

1. 2008 World Champions 2. Mick Billmeyer (#17 - Bullpen Coach) 3. Joe Blanton (#56 - RHP) 4. Eric Bruntlett (#4 - INF/OF) 5. Clay Condrey (#55 - RHP) 6. Chris Coste (#27 - C) 7. Greg Dobbs (#19 - INF/OF) 8. Rich Dubee (#30 - Pitching Coach) 9. Chad Durbin (#37 - RHP) 10. Scott Eyre (#47 - LHP) 11. Pedro Feliz (#7 - 3B) 12. Tim Gradoville (#60 - Bullpen Catcher)         13. Cole Hamels (#35 - LHP)

14. J.A. Happ (#43 - LHP) 15. Ryan Howard (#6 - 1B) 16. Raul Ibanez (#29 - LF) 17. Geoff Jenkins (#10 - OF) 18. Brad Lidge (#54 - RHP) 19. Davey Lopes (#15 - First Base Coach) 20. Pete Mackanin (#45 - Bench Coach) 21. Ryan Madson (#46 - RHP) 22. Charlie Manuel (#41 - Manager)         23. Jamie Moyer (#50 - LHP) 24. Brett Myers (#39 - RHP) 25. Chan Ho Park (#61 - RHP)

26. Ronny Paulino (#23 - C) 27. Sam Perlozzo (#2 - Third Base Coach) 28. Jimmy Rollins (#11 - SS) 29. J.C. Romero (#16 - LHP) 30. Carlos Ruiz (#51 - C) 31. Matt Stairs (#12 - OF) 32. Milt Thompson (#25 - Hitting Coach)         33. Chase Utley (#26 - 2B) 34. Shane Victorino (#8 - CF) 35. Jayson Werth (#28 - RF) 36. Phillie Phanatic 37. Phillies Broadcasters

Complete Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position):

1. Paul Bako (#23 - C) 2. Ben Francisco (#10 - OF)

3. Cliff Lee (#34 - LHP) 4. Pedro Martinez (#45 - RHP)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Bako

First Appearance in Phillies Photo Card Set (8):  Eyre, Francisco, Ibanez, Lee, Martinez, Park, Paulino, Stairs
Returning Players in Phillies Photo Card Set (21):  Blanton, Bruntlett, Condrey, Coste, Dobbs, Durbin, Feliz, Hamels, Happ, Howard, Jenkins, Lidge, Madson, Moyer, Myers, Rollins, Romero, Ruiz, Utley, Victorino, Werth

Paul Bako wrapped up his 12-year career playing 44 games with the Phillies in 2009.  His card in this set is his sole Phillies baseball card.  Paulino was traded on March 27th to the Giants for Jack Taschner, and never appeared in a game for the Phillies.  He has a second Phillies card in the 2009 Topps Heritage set.

Manager (1):  Manuel
Coaches (7):  Billmeyer, Dubee, Gradoville, Lopes, Mackanin, Perlozzo, Thompson

Phillie Phanatic (1):  The Phanatic is shown atop the dugout is his alternate day-game uniform.

Broadcasters (1):  Harry Kalas, who passed away on April 13, 2009, is joined on this card by Tom McCarthey, Gary Matthews, Chris Wheeler, Larry Andersen and Scott Franzke.
Commemorative Cards (1):  2008 World Champions

The 2008 World Champions card (see below) features manager Charlie Manuel along with the team's main stars (minus Pat Burrell who had departed during the offseason) decked out in tuxedos with red bow ties flanking the World Series trophy.

Set Composition:  The Phillies created the first 37-card checklist a few days before the start of the regular season, accounting for the cards in the set for Paulino and Jenkins.  Miguel Cairo and Taschner, both on the opening day roster, got left out of the original set and the update set.  J.C. Romero started the season on the Restricted List, but he's in the set as well.

Omissions:  The Phillies could have included a few more update cards, in addition to the four players who were added late in the season to the set.  Cairo and Taschner would have been in the set had the Phillies waited until early April to create the checklist.  Kyle Kendrick, John Mayberry, Jr., Sergio Escalona and Tyler Walker all spent sufficient enough time on the roster to merit cards as well.  Escalona spent quite a bit of time going back and forth between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley, as the lefty pitcher was with the team in six different stints.

Variations/Rarities:  I'm going to separate the known rarities into two different groups - non-set cards and cards with a 2009 National League Champions logo on the back.  14,000 Phillies featured a post many years ago containing a Jayson Werth card I had never seen before, and I've never seen since.  The card was distributed to kids participating in the team's annual Home Run Derby competition and contains a purple facsimile autograph and the Home Run Derby logo. The card uses a different photo than Werth's regular team issued card.

As pointed out in a comment from Steve F. in an earlier post, a card was issued for Placido Polanco in the style of the 2009 team-issued set.  Polanco was signed as a free agent on December 3rd.  Finally, fellow collector and invaluable resource Rick added a comment to this set's original post with a number of other rarities available - clipped and shown below.  Roy Halladay received his first Phillies baseball card in the style of this set, as the future Hall of Famer had signed with the Phillies on December 16, 2009.

Other than the Halladay card, which is an original, the cards featuring the 2009 National League Champions logo on the back use the same photos as the cards found in the set sold at the ballpark.

Non-Set Cards 1. Kyle Drabek (#4 - Reading Phillies) 2. Lou Marson (#3 - C) 3. Placido Polanco (#27 - blank back) 4. Brian Schneider (#23 - blank back) 5. Michael Taylor (#40 - Reading Phillies)         6. Jayson Werth (#28 - Home Run Derby)

National League Champions 1. Chad Durbin (#37 - RHP) 2. Roy Halladay (#34 - RHP) 3. Cole Hamels (#35 - LHP) 4. J.A. Happ (#43 - LHP) 5. Brad Lidge (#54 - RHP) 6. Ryan Madson (#46 - RHP) 7. Jimmy Rollins (#11 - SS)

Also See:  Here's my original post from August 31, 2009, covering the discovery of the updated team issued set.

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

This set was originally featured in a post back in December 2014, and I'm going through these older team-issued photo card set posts to update them with new information learned (if any) over the past nine years.

2008 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards / 2010 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards - 1st Edition

1980-1999 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page

2009 Upper Deck Spectrum #106 Lou Marson

Rays 6, Phillies 1
Spring Training Game 6 - Monday Afternoon, March 3rd in Port Charlotte
Record - 1-5

One Sentence Summary:  The Rays broke the game open with a five-run seventh inning against Michael Stutes, on their way to a 6-1 win.

What Happened:  From the Phillies perspective, not much happened.  Wil Nieves had an RBI-single in the fourth and the offense seemingly shut down for the rest of the day.  Roberto Hernandez threw three scoreless innings in his second spring start.  Stutes struggled in his outing, allowing five runs on three hits and two walks.

Featured Card:  Stutes' bad inning could have been abbreviated if not for a botched play at the plate by catcher and non-roster invitee Lou Marson.  With the new home plate collision rules in place, Marson poorly executed a block of home plate and Rays runner Justin Christian easily scored around him.  I was very surprised at how publicly critical manager Ryne Sandberg was of the play, who did not mince words when he said it "was not a good play," and "It was bad technique at home plate."

Former Phillie Marson was a long-shot to make the team out of Clearwater, and it appears as if his chances just got even slimmer.

Marson Returns to Phillies, 3 Others Invited to Camp

2009 Upper Deck
A Piece of History #124

Last week, the Phillies added four more names to the list of non-roster invitees coming to Clearwater in February.  I'm very familiar with two of the names, and I've honestly never heard of the other two.  In any event, given the team's severe lack of depth in several areas, all of these players have a realistic shot of heading north with the club at the end of spring training.

Catcher Lou Marson departed for Cleveland on July 29, 2009 as part of the trade that brought Cliff Lee to Philadelphia.  I wrote about his departure back in this post.  Marson was honored in 2008 with the Phillies' Paul Owens Award, naming him the best prospect in the club's system.  He made his Major League debut on September 28, 2008, and although he wasn't on the team's active postseason roster, I believe he was on the bench when the Phillies clinched their second World Series title.  In parts of five seasons with the Indians, Marson hit .217 in 253 games.

Having a Gwynn and a Sandberg on the same team during the '80s would have been awesome.  We'll have to wait and see if having a Gwynn and a Sandberg on the Phillies in 2014 will bring the team any success.  Tony Gwynn, Jr. has now played seven seasons for the Brewers, Padres and Dodgers, with a lifetime .244 batting average.  He spent the entire 2013 season playing for the Dodgers Triple-A team in Albuquerque.

The two new mystery guys are right-handed pitcher Sean O'Sullivan and outfielder Dave Sappelt.  O'Sullivan appeared in seven games last season for the Padres, striking out 12 but walking 14 in 25 innings.  Sappelt appeared in 31 games last year with the Cubs, hitting .240 with no home runs.

Player (position) - 2013 Organization - Last Major Baseball Card Appearance

1.  Shawn Camp (rhp) - Cubs/Diamondbacks - 2012 Topps Update #US238 (Cubs)

2.  Leandro Castro (of) - Phillies - 2010 Topps Pro Debut #84 (Phillies)

3.  Cesar Jimenez (lhp) - Phillies - 2009 Upper Deck #857 (Mariners)

4.  Clete Thomas (of) - Twins - 2010 Topps #441 (Tigers)

5.  Reid Brignac (inf) - Yankees/Rockies - 2013 Topps Update #US206

6.  Andres Blanco (inf) - N/A - 2007 Topps #659 (Royals)

7.  Jeff Manship (rhp) - Rockies - 2010 Finest #141 (Twins)
8.  Tony Gwynn, Jr. (of) - Dodgers - 2012 Topps #284 (Dodgers)
9.  Lou Marson (c) - Indians - 2013 Topps #443 (Indians)
10.  Sean O'Sullivan (rhp) - Padres - 2011 Topps Update #US89 (Royals)
11.  Dave Sappelt (of) - Cubs - 2012 Topps #657 (Cubs)

Memory Lane

2013 Non-Roster Invitees

The Newest Cleveland Indians

2009 Upper Deck Goudey #152 Lou Marson
2009 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #5 Carlos Carrasco
2009 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #7 Jason Donald
2009 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP120 Jason Knapp

The Phillies Room bids a fond farewell to the quartet of prospects traded this afternoon to the Cleveland Indians. Of the four, only catcher Lou Marson (2008-2009) spent time with the Phillies, appearing in 8 games, going 6 for 21 (.286) with a home run. We watched Lou catch for the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs a few weekends ago.

Right-handed pitcher Carlos Carrasco entered the year as the Phillies' top pitching prospect, but he's struggled so far this season. With the IronPigs, Carlos had a record of 6-9 and a 5.18 ERA. Shortstop Jason Donald has struggled as well with his transition to AAA, hitting just .236 with the IronPigs. Jason won a bronze medal with Team USA at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. I'm assuming Lou, Carlos and Jason will all report to the Indians' AAA team, the Columbus Clippers. Interestingly enough, the Clippers are visiting Lehigh Valley for a 3-game series this upcoming weekend.

Jason Knapp is viewed by many as the centerpiece of the deal for the Indians. In 85.1 innings with Low A Lakewood this summer, Jason has 111 strikeouts to just 39 walks. However, Jason was recently shut down with "shoulder fatigue."

I think this is a great deal for the Phillies, and the deal has future upside for the Indians. The only question remaining for the Phillies - who gets bumped from the starting rotation to make room for Cliff Lee?

2009 Chachi #31 Lou Marson

Lou Marson was the winner of the Phillies' 2008 Paul Owens Award as the best player in the Phillies minor league system. I expect Lou will spend most of the season with the Phils' AAA team in Lehigh Valley, but he's up with the big club right now while Carlos Ruiz is on the DL.

Phillies debut: September 28, 2008
How acquired: Selected by Phillies in the 4th round of June 2004 draft
2008 Postseason: Lou worked out with the team before home games, but he was not on the active Postseason roster.
Pictured: September 28, 2008 - Lou is congratulated by former third base coach Steve Smith after hitting his first Major League home run.

2008 Chachi #52 Lou Marson

Carlos Ruiz left Friday's debacle against the Rockies due to a strained right oblique. (He hurt his rib cage).

Lou Marson was pulled from his start in Lehigh Valley and is flying to Denver, just in case Chooch has to go on the disabled list.

After 4 games, the Phillies team ERA is 7.46 and the team is batting .215. Maybe I'll start blogging about the Marlins.

UPDATE, April 11: Lou was recalled today from Lehigh Valley as Carlos Ruiz went on the DL. He'll be card #31 in the 2009 Chachi set.