Cubs at Phillies - September 23rd to September 25th

1984 Topps #757

1984 Topps #70

Monday and Tuesday 6:40, Wednesday 6:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  The Phillies Magic Number to clinch the National League East pennant is one.  Wednesday night is Fan Appreciation Night, with all fans in attendance receiving a 2025 schedule magnet.

Chicago Cubs 80-76
2nd Place in the N.L. Central, 9 games behind the Brewers

Cubs Probables
Nate Pearson (2-1, 3.13)
Justin Steele (5-5, 3.03)
Javier Assad (7-5, 3.34)

Cubs Leaders
Average:  Seiya Suzuki - .279
Runs:  Ian Happ - 88
Home Runs:  Ian Happ - 25
RBIs:  Ian Happ - 85
Stolen Bases:  Nico Hoerner - 30

Wins:  Shota Imanaga - 15
ERA:  Shota Imanaga - 2.91
Strikeouts:  Shota Imanaga - 174
Saves:  Hector Neris - 17

Philadelphia Phillies 92-64
1st Place in the N.L. East, 5 games ahead of the Mets

Phillies Probables
Aaron Nola (12-8, 3.54)
TBD
Cristopher Sanchez (11-9, 3.25)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Trea Turner - .298
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 106
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 36
RBIs:  Kyle Schwarber - 99
Stolen Bases:  Bryson Stott - 31

Wins:  Zack Wheeler - 16
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 2.56
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 213
Saves:  Jose Alvarado - 13

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

Game 118 (Continued) - Alumni Weekend Chachi Cards

I didn't have enough room to tag everyone in my main game summary post, so here's a continuation post featuring the bulk of the Chachi Alumni Weekend insert cards.  This is always a fun night, and creating these cards is annually a fun project.

Game 106 - Gibson Pitches Gem as Alumni Return

Phillies 7, Nationals 2
Game 106 - Friday Night, August 5th in Philadelphia
Record - 58-48, 3rd Place, 9 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Kyle Gibson was perfect through six and masterful through eight, and the offense contributed five home runs in this 7-2 win over the Nationals.

What It Means:  There was a game?

What Happened:  Gibson had a perfect game going through six innings before he hit Victor Robles with a pitch to open the seventh.  Luis Garcia singled two pitches later and the no-hitter as gone too.  Overall, Gibson allowed a pair of hits, one run and struck out four on the way to his seventh win.  The Phillies line-up continued to mash the ball, with Rhys Hoskins, Nick Castellanos, Darick Hall, J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber all connecting for home runs.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  All four of us were on-hand to watch the pre-game ceremony honoring public address announcer Dan Baker and his 50 years with the Phillies.  But while Jenna and Ben settled into their seats, Doug and I prepared to stand for the duration of the game in the Hall of Fame Club in the hopes of Doug adding a few autographs to his collection.  We didn't see many alumni, but those we did see all stopped to sign for the gathered collectors.  He was thrilled to get signatures on his Wall of Fame prints from John Kruk, Manny Trillo and Charlie Manuel.  At one point, Gary "Sarge" Mathews wheeled out a cart of milkshakes and handed them out to the assembled fans.  Also signing were Tommy Greene, Del Unser, Marty Bystrom, Pat Gillick and newest Wall of Fame inductee Ron Reed.  As an added bonus, it was great chatting with the proprietor of the Relief Room throughout the night, as we shared our appreciation of Barry Jones, Steve Fireovid and Scott Eyre.

For the first time since 2019, I'm happy to present a small set of custom cards to memorialize the Phillies alumni who signed for Doug, along with a few photos taken by Jenna of the fantastic pre-game ceremony.  I particularly liked the picture she captured of Larry Bowa and Cesar Hernandez having a lengthy discussion during the National Anthem.

Transaction:  Yairo Munoz (inf) was optioned to Lehigh Valley and Nick Maton (inf) was recalled.

2022 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2022 Season Summary Index / 2022 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 52 - Thomson Era Begins with Blow-Out Win; #StrikeOutALS

Phillies 10, Angels 0
Game 52 - Friday Night, June 3rd in Philadelphia
Record - 23-29, 3rd Place, 11 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Under new interim manager Rob Thomson, the Phillies blasted the Angels with five home runs and eight shutout innings from Zach Eflin in this 10-0 win.

What It Means:  Thomson is 1-0 as Phillies manager, and he'll look to add to that tally by hopefully about 60 or so games over the remainder of the 2022 season.

What Happened:  Eflin was dominant, allowing five hits and striking out six, and James Norwood pitched a perfect ninth to preserve the combined shutout.  Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper both homered twice and Bryson Stott connected for his first big league home run, a three-run blast in the second.  Nick Maton made a diving catch in the sixth inning on a blooper hit by Mike Trout, and had to leave the game with a shoulder injury.  Trout and Shohei Ohtani went a combined 0 for 7 with three strikeouts.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  I've been involved with the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the ALS Association for the past several years, and I was proud to attend this game with my family, watching with other sponsors of the event from the Bill Giles Party Suite.  We can now say we've enjoyed a game from that particular suite with the suite's namesake, former Phillies owner Giles.  There were a number of Phillies alumni who made their way through the suite at various times throughout the game, and I enjoyed my time talking with each of them.  The Phanatic stopped by to say hello too.

We purchased a bunch of grab bags created for the night containing signed memorabilia and past Phillies giveaway items, and I was happy to see actual 2022 team-issued photo cards included in some of the bags to identify who had signed either a ball or a hat.  In total, the Phillies helped raise $344,000 for the ALS Association, and it was an overall wonderful night for a fantastic cause.

Transaction:  With the Phillies seriously underperforming, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made the decision on Friday morning to fire Joe Girardi and name Rob Thomson the interim manager for the remainder of the 2022 season.  Girardi's decisions around bullpen management and line-up construction had been increasingly baffling over the past few weeks, and the Phillies decided a regime change was needed.  Girardi had guided the club to a 22-29 record this season and a 132-141 record overall since taking the helm in 2020.  Ryne Sandberg (2013-2015) managed five more games than Girardi did, and Girardi's win total was less than Nick Leyva's (148), Gabe Kapler's (161) and Pete Mackanin's (174).

Thomson had been the team's bench coach since 2018.  Bobby Meacham, who had the nebulous title of "assistant coach," was also fired, with Mike Calitri being promoted from Quality Assurance Coach to bench coach.

2022 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2022 Season Summary Index / 2022 Chachi Set Checklist

Series Preview - Phillies at Cubs: July 5th to July 8th

1986 Topps #302

1986 Topps #485

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 8:05
Wrigley Field - Chicago, IL

At the Ballpark:  The Phillies Room staff is currently taking its first of two summer sabbaticals, and the blog will return to semi-current live posting shortly.  Thanks for your continued support and Go Phils!

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

1981 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  32
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  As was the case with all Phillies photo cards issued since 1970, 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 1981.  Some of the cards contain blue facsimile autographs as noted on the checklist below.  There are six cards available with a horizontal orientation as also noted below.  The Sparky Lyle card contains an uncorrected error with the spelling of his first name as "Sparkey."

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 these cards were ever available in complete set form.

The set's composition features the entire 25-man opening day roster, the manager and all six coaches.  No one who made his 1981 season debut after opening day received a photo card.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Luis Aguayo 2. Ruben Amaro CO 3. Ramon Aviles (auto) 4. Bob Boone (auto, horizontal) 5. Larry Bowa 6. Marty Bystrom (auto) 7. Steve Carlton (horizontal)       8. Larry Christenson 9. Dick Davis (auto) 10. Billy DeMars CO (auto) 11. Lee Elia CO

12. Nino Espinosa (auto) 13. Dallas Green MG (auto) 14. Greg Gross 15. Sparky Lyle 16. Garry Maddox (auto) 17. Gary Matthews 18. Bake McBride (auto) 19. Tug McGraw 20. Keith Moreland (horizontal)       21. Mike Proly (auto) 22. Ron Reed

23. Pete Rose (auto) 24. Dick Ruthven (auto) 25. Mike Ryan CO (auto) 26. Mike Schmidt (horizontal) 27. Lonne Smith (horizontal) 28. Herm Starrette CO 29. Manny Trillo (horizontal) 30. Del Unser 31. John Vukovich 32. Bobby Wine CO (auto)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (0)

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (5):  Bystrom, Davis, Lyle, Matthews, Proly
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (20):  Aguayo, Aviles, Boone, Bowa, Carlton, Christenson, Espinosa, Gross, Maddox, McBride, McGraw, Moreland, Reed, Rose, Ruthven, Schmidt, Smith, Trillo, Unser, Vukovich

Manager (1):  Green
Coaches (6):  Amaro, DeMars, Elia, Ryan, Starrette, Wine

Surprises:  I'm more impressed than surprised the Phillies were able to issue photo cards for Dick Davis, Gary Matthews and Mike Proly as that trio of players was acquired in the month before the start of the regular season.  Proly was acquired from the White Sox on April 1st and his photo card features a photo taken at Veterans Stadium.  The earliest date that photo could have been taken was April 17th, Proly's home debut with the Phillies.

Omissions:  The only player to appear with the Phillies during the first half of this strike-shortened season and not appear on a photo card is George Vukovich, who made his season debut on May 29th.  The 10 players who made their season debuts after the strike ended, and after the second half of the season began on August 10th, are all omitted from the set:  Dickie Noles, Mark Davis, Warren Brusstar, Ryne Sandberg, Bob Dernier, Len Matuszek, Ozzie Virgil, Dan Larson, Jerry Reed and Don McCormack.

Variations/Rarities:  Collectors Rick and Steve once again filled in with some rarities (or potential rarities) when I originally posted on this set almost six years ago.  Tim McCarver joined the broadcast booth and received a card showing him wearing a headset.  Steve notes variations may exist for the Garry Maddox and Proly cards.  

Finally, and similar to 1980, there is a black and white 1981 card of the Phillie Phanatic issued by Harrison/Erickson that is roughly the same size as the rest of the set.

Broadcaster       1. Tim McCarver

Mystery Variation?        1. Garry Maddox 2. Mike Proly

Harrison/Erickson   1. Phillie Phanatic

Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Phillies collectors Steve and Rick (@rickphils).

This set was originally featured in a post back in January 2015, and I'm going to slowly go through these team-issued set posts and update them with new information gathered (if any) over the past five-plus years.

1980 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards / 1982 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards

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