1989 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  46

Number of Cards (SGA Version):  32
Card Size:  4 1/8" x 6"

Description:  The Phillies came up with this card design . . . and then took the next six years off.  The 1989 to 1995 team issued sets are all identical in design, containing the player's, coach's or manager's name in a red band with white text.  The card backs feature biographical information along with complete career statistics.  This set is notable as it's the last set (to date) to be sponsored by Tastykake.

How Distributed:  A 32-card set was given away to all fans on May 13, 1989 at Veterans Stadium and a 37-card set was available for sale at the ballpark throughout the season.  Both sets contain identical photos, but the 32-card giveaway set cards feature a darker tint and are not as vibrant as their 37-card counterparts.  The 32-card sets can be found in uncut sheets and thanks to fellow collector Rick, I added these cards to my collection via an eBay auction.  As (I believe) the 37-card set is more prevalent, I've listed the stadium giveaway 32-card set (and its variations) under the Variations/Rarities section below.

Given the ton of roster moves made by the club in the first half of the season, a nine-card update set was issued and available for purchase at souvenir stands throughout the Vet.  This was the second year in a row that a nine-card update set was released.  Of the nine players in the set, Jim Adduci made his debut the latest, on July 3rd, so this set would have been first available for sale in mid to late July.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the back of cards): 

1. Header / Sponsor Card 2. Steve Bedrosian (#40 - RHP) 3. Larry Bowa (#2 - CO) 4. Don Carman (#42 - LHP) 5. Darren Daulton (#10 - C) 6. Bob Dernier (#22 - OF) 7. Curt Ford (#24 - OF) 8. Todd Frohwirth (#52 - RHP) 9. Greg Harris (#33 - RHP) 10. Von Hayes (#9 - OF-1B) 11. Tom Herr (#28 - 2B) 12. Ken Howell (#43 - RHP) 13. Chris James (#26 - OF-3B)

14. Steve Jeltz (#30 - SS) 15. Ron Jones (#26 - OF) 16. Ricky Jordan (#17 - 1B) 17. Darold Knowles (#3 - CO) 18. Steve Lake (#25 - C) 19. Nick Leyva (#16 - MG) 20. Mike Maddux (#44 - RHP) 21. Alex Madrid (#34 - RHP) 22. Larry McWilliams (#46 - LHP) 23. Denis Menke (#4 - CO) 24. Dwayne Murphy (#6 - OF) 25. Tom Nieto (#19 - C)

26. Randy O'Neal (#27 - RHP) 27. Steve Ontiveros (#41 - RHP) 28. Jeff Parrett (#49 - RHP) 29. Bruce Ruffin (#47 - LHP) 30. Mark Ryal (#31 - OF) 31. Mike Ryan (#5 - CO) 32. Juan Samuel (#8 - OF) 33. Mike Schmidt (#20 - 3B) 34. Tony Taylor (#12 - CO) 35. Dickie Thon (#21 - SS) 36. John Vukovich (#7 - CO) 37. Floyd Youmans (#15 - RHP)

Complete Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the front of cards):

1. Jim Adduci (#18 - INF) 2. Eric Bullock (#35 - OF)      3. Dennis Cook (#39 - LHP)

4. Lenny Dykstra (#4 - OF) 5. Charlie Hayes (#8 - 3B) 6. John Kruk (#11 - OF-1B)

7. Roger McDowell (#13 - RHP) 8. Terry Mulholland (#45 - LHP) 9. Randy Ready (#23 - 3B)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (5):  Adduci, Bullock, Nieto, O'Neal, Ryal

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (18):  Cook, Dykstra, Ford, C. Hayes, Herr, Howell, Kruk, Lake, Madrid, McDowell, McWilliams, Mulholland, Murphy, Ontiveros, Parrett, Ready, Thon, Youmans
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (15):  Bedrosian, Carman, Daulton, Dernier, Frohwirth, Harris, V. Hayes, James, Jeltz, Jones, Jordan, Maddux, Ruffin, Samuel, Schmidt

This is the only set featuring Phillies baseball cards of the five players listed in the One and Only One category.  The First Appearance designation is for players who have never before appeared on a Phillies team issued set.  These players may have already appeared on other Phillies baseball cards.

Manager (1):  Leyva
Coaches (6):  Bowa, Knowles, Menke, Ryan, Taylor, Vukovich

Other Cards (1):  Header / sponsor card

Surprises:  The 37-card set includes the entire 25-man opening day roster, the manager and all six coaches, Juan Samuel and Tom Nieto, who both began the season on the disabled list, and three players who started the year in the minors but who would eventually spend time with the Phillies - Todd Frohwirth, Alex Madrid and Randy O'Neal.  There aren't really any surprises here, and it's a fairly inclusive checklists.

The Chris James card is an uncorrected error.  James wore #18 in 1989, but the back of the card lists his uniform as #26.  James had switched from #26 mid-way through the 1988 season and Ron Jones wore #26 in 1989.

Omissions:  47 players appeared with the Phillies in 1989.  Only 10 of them didn't have cards in the original 37-card set or the 9-card update set.  Bob Sebra, Gordon Dillard and Marvin Freeman all briefly appeared on the roster and weren't considered for either set.  Neither were any of the seven September call-ups - Tom Barrett, Pat Combs, Chuck McElroy, Keith Miller, Steve Stanicek, Al Pardo and Jason Grimsley.

Variations/Rarities:  The 32-card stadium giveaway set omitted the following five cards - the Header/sponsor card and the cards for four players - Nieto, Jones, O'Neal and Madrid.  Both O'Neal and Madrid were on the 24-man roster on the giveaway day, as was Dillard who was around for all of two weeks.  It's a shame, but completely understandable, that Dillard didn't somehow make it into the SGA set.  

In addition to these omissions, this set contains the following name placement variations, as well as being darker in tone as mentioned above.

• Don Carman, name is bottom center (instead of bottom left)
• Todd Frohwirth, name is more to the right (instead of centered)
• Ken Howell, name is bottom center (instead of bottom left)
• Steve Ontiveros, name is top center (instead of top right)
• Bruce Ruffin, name is top center (instead of bottom left)
• Mike Ryan CO, name is top center (instead of top left)
• Floyd Youmans, name is bottom right (instead of bottom left)

Unless you're a Phillies team issued set or Bruce Ruffin super collector (and why wouldn't you be?) there's really no need to add these cards to your collection.

Also See:  1989 Phillies - The Missing Links, 1989 Topps Phillies

Resources:  14,000 Phillies; Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

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

1988 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1990 Phillies Photo Cards

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

Series Preview - Phillies at Rockies: April 23rd to April 25th

2021 Chachi 1986 Topps Missing Links #14

2021 Chachi Fan Favorites #14

Friday 8:40, Saturday 8:10 and Sunday 3:10
Coors Field - Denver, CO

At the Ballpark:  The first 10,000 fans at each game this series will receive a Rockies tote bag presented by the MLB Network.  Coors Field is currently capped at 42.6% capacity, or about 21,000 fans.

Phillies 9-9
Tied for 1st Place in the N.L. East, 1 game ahead of the Braves and Marlins

Phillies Probables
Vince Velasquez (0-0, 9.00)
Aaron Nola (1-1, 2.19)
Chase Anderson (0-2, 4.15)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Bryce Harper - .357
Runs:  Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins - 13
Home Runs:  Bryce Harper - 4
RBIs:  Alec Bohm and Didi Gregorius - 10
Stolen Bases:  3 tied with - 2

Wins:  Connor Brogdon - 3
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 2.19
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 28
Saves:  Hector Neris - 2

Rockies 6-12
5th Place in the N.L. West, 7 1/2 games behind the Dodgers

Rockies Probables
German Marquez (1-1, 3.57)
Antonio Senzatela (1-3, 5.40)
Jon Gray (2-1, 2.42)

Rockies Leaders
Average:  Ryan McMahon - .275
Runs:  Garrett Hampson - 14
Home Runs:  Ryan McMahon - 6
RBIs:  Ryan McMahon - 10
Stolen Bases:  Garrett Hampson - 5

Wins:  Jon Gray - 2
ERA:  Jon Gray - 2.42

Strikeouts:  Jon Gray - 21
Saves:  Daniel Bard - 2

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

Game 123 - 1990 Upper Deck #580 Bruce Ruffin

Padres 5, Phillies 3
Game 123 - Saturday Night, August 17th in Philadelphia
Record - 64-59, 3rd place, 8 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  After four straight wins, the offense quieted down and the Phillies couldn't overcome shaky outings from Zach Eflin and Nick Pivetta in this 5-3 loss.

What It Means:  The Phillies are once again a game behind the Cubs for the second N.L. Wild Card spot.

What Happened:  In his return to the starting rotation, following the season-ending surgery now scheduled for Jake Arrieta, Eflin was chased in the fourth inning having allowed three runs on seven hits.  Pivetta gave up two more runs in his 1 1/3 innings.  J.T. Realmuto hit a solo home run (19) in the third, but Bryce Harper went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts.  The team went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Featured Card:  I was surprised to read the Phillies haven't won five games in a row all season, and the 1990 Phillies were the last team to hold that distinction (per this Tim Kelly Tweet).  Bruce Ruffin is not amused.  Hopefully, they'll start a five game (or more) win streak this afternoon in the series finale against the Padres.

2019 Topps Heritage #3

Transactions:  Roman Quinn landed back on the injured list with a right groin strain and Edubray Ramos was moved to the 60-day IL to accommodate new reliever Jared Hughes.  Hughes was claimed off waivers from the Reds on Thursday and when he pitched in this game he became the 53rd player to suit up this season for the Phillies.

A nine-year veteran, Hughes was 3-4 with a 4.10 ERA over 47 games for the Reds this year, and he should provide an upgrade to the club's bullpen.  His newest baseball cards can be found in Topps Heritage and Topps Series 2.  Also, if you have the Justin De Fratus card (#274) from the 2012 Topps Heritage set, you already have a Hughes card in your collection as he's one of the four floating heads on the card along with De Fratus.

Arrived During the 2019 Season

• Jay Bruce - of (6/2/19) - Acquired from the Seattle Mariners with cash considerations for Jake Scheiner.
• Brad Miller - inf (6/13/19) - Purchased from the New York Yankees.
• Fernando Salas - rhp (6/13/19) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League.
• Logan Morrison - 1b (7/15/19) - Signed as a minor league free agent formerly with the New York Yankees organization.
• Mike Morin - rhp (7/20/19) - Acquired from the Minnesota Twins for cash considerations.
• Drew Smyly - lhp (7/21/19) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
• Jason Vargas - lhp (7/29/19) - Acquired with cash from the New York Mets for Austin Bossart.
• Blake Parker - rhp (7/30/19) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Minnesota Twins.
• Corey Dickerson - of (7/31/19) - Acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later and international bonus money.
• Jared Hughes - rhp (8/15/19) - Claimed off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds.

Departed During the 2019 Season

• Aaron Altherr - of (5/12/19) - Selected off waivers by the San Francisco Giants.
• Dylan Cozens - of (8/1/19) - Released and signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Rays, 8/9/19.
• Yacksel Rios - rhp (8/3/19) - Selected off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Series Preview - Rockies at Phillies: May 17th to May 19th

2019 Chachi Fan Favorites #6

2019 Chachi 1971 Topps Missing Links #14

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

Rockies 20-22, 4th place in the N.L. West, 7 1/2 games behind the Dodgers
Phillies 24-19, 1st place in the N.L. East, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Braves

Rockies Probables:  Jon Gray (3-3, 4.25), Antonio Senzatela (3-2, 5.35), Kyle Freeland (2-5, 5.68)
Phillies Probables:  Cole Irvin (1-0, 1.29), Aaron Nola (3-0, 4.86), Jerad Eickhoff (2-2, 2.65)

At the Ballpark:  On Sunday, all kids will receive a Phillies arm sleeve.  (I'm resisting the urge to write something along the lines of, "Back in my day, we were happy with a wiffle ball bat or a batting glove.  None of this arm sleeve nonsense!")

Rockies Leaders
Average:  Nolan Arenado - .314
Runs:  Trevor Story - 36
Home Runs:  Nolan Arenado - 11
RBIs:  Nolan Arenado - 35
Stolen Bases:  Trevor Story - 8

Wins:  German Marquez - 4
ERA:  German Marquez - 3.80
Strikeouts:  German Marquez - 65
Saves:  Wade Davis - 7

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Jean Segura - .312
Runs:  Andrew McCutchen - 29
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 11
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 36
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 3

Wins:  Zach Eflin - 5
ERA:  Zach Eflin - 2.89

1971 Topps #664

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 48
Saves:  Hector Neris - 5

1971 Topps Missing Links:  Ken Reynolds' call-up in September 1970 earned him a place in the 1971 Topps set on a Rookie Stars card with two other pitchers sharing the Reynolds surname.  It was a clever idea on Topps' part.  Reynolds would get his own Phillies card in the 1972 Topps set, and his final Topps card features him with the Twins in the 1973 set.  In parts of three seasons for the Phillies, Reynolds appeared in 72 games, compiling a 7-24 record and a 4.34 ERA.

1989 Tastykake Phillies

I updated this post here in June 2023 and this original post is now outdated.

Number of Cards:  46
Card Size:  4 1/8" x 6"
Description:  The Phillies came up with this card design . . . and then took the next six years off.  The 1989 to 1995 team issued sets are all identical in design, containing the player's, coach's or manager's name in a red band with white text.  The card backs feature biographical information along with complete career statistics.  This set is notable as it's the last set (to date) to be sponsored by Tastykake.

How Distributed:  A 32-card set was given away to all fans on May 13, 1989 at Veterans Stadium and a 37-card set was available for sale at the ballpark throughout the season.  Both sets contain identical photos, but the 32-card giveaway set cards feature a darker tint and are not as vibrant as their 37-card counterparts.  The 32-card sets can be found in uncut sheets and thanks to fellow collector Rick, I recently added these cards to my collection via an eBay auction.  As (I believe) the 37-card set is more prevalent, I've listed the stadium giveaway 32-card set (and its variations) under the Variations/Rarities section below.

Given the ton of roster moves made by the club in the first half of the season, a nine-card update set was issued and available for purchase at souvenir stands throughout the Vet.  This was the second year in a row that a nine-card update set was released.

Complete Standard Checklist (37):  The cards are unnumbered, but I've presented them below ordered by uniform number.

Header/Sponsor Card 2 - Larry Bowa CO 3 - Darold Knowles CO 4 - Denis Menke CO 5 - Mike Ryan CO 6 - Dwayne Murphy 7 - John Vukovich CO 8 - Juan Samuel 9 - Von Hayes 10 - Darren Daulton 12 - Tony Taylor CO 15 - Floyd Youmans 16 - Nick Leyva MG 17 - Ricky Jordan 19 - Tom Nieto 20 - Mike Schmidt 21 - Dickie Thon 22 - Bob Dernier 24 - Curt Ford

25 - Steve Lake 26 - Chris James 26 - Ron Jones 27 - Randy O'Neal 28 - Tom Herr 30 - Steve Jeltz 31 - Mark Ryal 33 - Greg Harris 34 - Alex Madrid 40 - Steve Bedrosian 41 - Steve Ontiveros 42 - Don Carman 43 - Ken Howell 44 - Mike Maddux 46 - Larry McWilliams 47 - Bruce Ruffin 49 - Jeff Parrett 52 - Todd Frohwirth

Complete Update Checklist (9):

4 - Lenny Dykstra 8 - Charlie Hayes 11 - John Kruk 13 - Roger McDowell 18 - Jim Adduci

23 - Randy Ready 35 - Eric Bullock 39 - Dennis Cook 45 - Terry Mulholland

One and Done (5): Adduci, Bullock, Nieto, O'Neal, Ryal
First Appearances (18):  Cook, Dykstra, Ford, C. Hayes, Herr, Howell, Kruk, Lake, Madrid, McDowell, McWilliams, Mulholland, Murphy, Ontiveros, Parrett, Ready, Thon, Youmans
Returning Players (15):  Bedrosian, Carman, Daulton, Dernier, Frohwirth, Harris, V. Hayes, James, Jeltz, Jones, Jordan, Maddux, Ruffin, Samuel, Schmidt

This is the only set featuring Phillies baseball cards of the five players listed in the One and Done category.  The First Appearance designation is for players who have never before appeared on a Phillies team issued set.  These players may have already appeared on other Phillies baseball cards.

Manager (1):  Leyva
Coaches (6):  Bowa, Knowles, Menke, Ryan, Taylor, Vukovich
Phillie Phanatic (0)
Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (0)
Other Cards (1):  Header/sponsor card

Variations/Rarities:  The 32-card stadium giveaway set omitted the following five cards - Header/sponsor card, Nieto, Jones, O'Neal and Madrid.  In addition to these omissions, this set contains the following name placement variations:

• 5 - Mike Ryan CO, name is top center (instead of top left)
• 15 - Floyd Youmans, name is bottom right (instead of bottom left)
• 41 - Steve Ontiveros, name is top center (instead of top right)
• 42 - Don Carman, name is bottom center (instead of bottom left)
• 43 - Ken Howell, name is bottom center (instead of bottom left)
• 47 - Bruce Ruffin, name is top center (instead of bottom left)

Unless you're a Phillies team issued set or Bruce Ruffin super collector (and why wouldn't you be?) there's really no need to add these cards to your collection.

Also See:  1989 Phillies - The Missing Links, 1989 Topps Phillies
Trivia:  Beckett's online database omits the header card.  The Beckett database also lists the James card as an uncorrected error card, given that James wore #18 in 1989, but the back of his card lists #26.  James had switched from #26 mid-way through the 1988 season.  Kudos to Beckett for even noticing this in the first place.
Resources:  14,000 Phillies; Phillies SGA; Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

Phillies at Brewers: May 8th to May 10th

Tuesday 4:05, Wedensday and Thursday 7:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Brewers 4-2, Tied for 1st Place in the N.L. Central, 1/2 game ahead of the Cardinals
Phillies 3-3, 4th Place in the N.L. East, 1 1/2 games behind the Marlins

Brewers Probables:  Kyle Lohse (0-1, 3.86), Matt Garza (0-1, 1.13), Marco Estrada (0-0. 1.59)
Phillies Probables:  Kyle Kendrick (0-0, 1.29), Roberto Hernandez (1-0, 3.38), Cliff Lee (2-0, 6.00)

At the Ballpark:  It's the Phillies home opener this afternoon, and all fans will receive a Citizens Bank Park commemorative banner, celebrating ten years in the ballpark.  On Wednesday night, fans 15 and older will receive a nice blue opening night t-shirt.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Chase Utley - .458

Runs:  Carlos Ruiz - 6

Home Runs:  Chase Utley - 2

RBIs:  Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley - 6

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 4

Wins:  Cliff Lee - 2

ERA:  Kyle Kendrick - 1.29

Strikeouts:  Cliff Lee - 7

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 1

1988 Topps #592 and #268

1988 Topps Appreciation:  I've sure I've disclosed this at some point on this blog during its now five-year run, but for about a season and a half beginning in 1986 and running through 1987, Bruce Ruffin was one of my favorite Phillies.  He was the rookie called upon in the middle of the 1986 season to replace the released Steve Carlton, and he went 9-4 with a 2.46 ERA in his first 21 starts.  He came down to earth a little in 1987, going 11-14 with a 4.34 ERA.  Ruffin lasted a total of six seasons with the Phillies before being dealt to the Brewers in December 1991 for Dale Sveum.

Ruffin spent only a season with the Brewers, before landing with the Rockies and having several successful seasons as the team's closer.  He peaked in 1996 with 24 saves.

Sveum's time with the Phillies was short-lived.  He appeared in 54 games at the start of the 1992 season, hitting just .178 before getting shipped to the White Sox for pitcher Keith Shepherd.  My favorite all-time Sveum-related quote was memorialized back in this post from a few years ago.

1991 Topps Phillies

1991 Topps #689, #545, #345 and #603B

There was a lot of change going down in 1991.  It was the last year the Phillies would wear their maroon pin-striped uniforms with the big bubble "P" that is still synonymous with the team's success in the late '70s and their first World Championship in 1980.  It was also the last year Topps would issue its baseball card set on the gray cardboard of my youth.  In 1992, Topps would switch to a leaner, whiter cardboard that is still in use today for their base set.  1991 was my last full year in High School as I was set to graduate in the Spring of '92 and venture out on my own.  And as a few readers reminded me in the comments of my post on the 1988 Topps set, 1991 was, in my opinion, the last truly classic Topps baseball card set.

1991 Topps #345 (Back)

The Set

Number of cards in the set:  Once again, there are 792 cards in the base set and 132 in the traded series.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  Topps did a nice job of redeeming itself after the debacle that was the 1990 Topps set.  The front of the cards feature a special "40 Years of Baseball" logo to celebrate the ruby anniversary of the Red Backs and Blue Backs released in 1951.  Topps made an effort to coordinate the colors featured on the fronts with the actual colors of the player's team, and the logo of the team name is a nice touch as well.  So what say you?  Is this the last truly classic Topps base set?

Notable competition:  I think the Topps set is the best baseball card set of the year.  Honorable mention goes to Score's set and the first ever Fleer Ultra set.  The Donruss, Fleer and Upper Deck sets were all fairly forgettable.  However, Donruss gets an honorable mention for the awesome Dr. Dirt and Mr. Clean card in its set featuring Lenny Dykstra and Dale Murphy - two completely polar opposites on the field and in life.

1991 Topps #89, #342, #439 and #312

1991 Phillies

Record and finish:  The Phils took a slight baby-step forward, winning one more game than they did in 1990.  They went 78-84 to finish in third place behind the Pirates in the East.

Key players:  This is the year John Kruk started growing out the mullet and came into his own as a big-league hitter.  He hit .294 with 21 home runs and 92 RBIs while splitting time between first base and the corner outfield positions.  Murphy enjoyed a solid season (.252, 18 home runs, 81 RBIs) in his first full year in Philly and Dykstra hit .297 in a season abbreviated by self-inflicted injuries.  Terry Mulholland led the pitching staff with 16 wins, followed by Tommy Greene's 13.  Mitch Williams, acquired from the Cubs right before the start of the season, saved 30 games.

Key events:  In events that would foreshadow his troubles in the future, Dykstra was placed on a year's probation by commissioner Fay Vincent for his involvement in a gambling ring.  Thirteen games into the season, with the team at 4-9, manager Nick Leyva was fired and replaced with Jim Fregosi.  In May, Dykstra and Darren Daulton were seriously injured when Dykstra wrapped his car around a tree following a night of drinking at Kruk's bachelor party.  In happier news, Greene pitched a no-hitter in Montreal on May 23rd and Murphy tallied his 2,000th career hit on May 29th.

1991 Phillies in 1991 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 29 Phillies cards in the base Topps set, but 30 if you include both Wes Chamberlain variations, which I am.  There are 4 more Phillies cards in the traded set.

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#89 Darren Daulton (c), #689 John Kruk (1b), #342 Mickey Morandini (2b), #439 Dickie Thon (ss), #312 Charlie Hayes (3b), #603B Wes Chamberlain (lf), #345 Lenny Dykstra (cf), #545 Dale Murphy (rf)

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 5 cards

#413 Terry Mulholland, #486 Tommy Greene, #232 Jose DeJesus, #25T Danny Cox, #637 Bruce Ruffin

1991 Topps #413, #486, #232 and #637

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 1991 - 15 cards

#9 Darrin Fletcher, #15 Von Hayes, #43 Roger McDowell, #137 Randy Ready, #159 Joe Boever, #173 Jason Grimsley, #186 Rod Booker, #264 Dave Hollins, #524 Darrel Akerfelds, #571 Pat Combs, #618 Sil Campusano, #661 Steve Lake, #712 Ricky Jordan, #3T Wally Backman, #127T Mitch Williams

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1991 - 3 cards (with new teams listed)

#209 Ken Howell (Injured), #282 Don Carman (Reds), #603A Louie Meadows (Phillies Triple-A)

I'm counting the Chamberlain/Meadows variation in the official tally.  Card #603 can be found in a corrected version (with Chamerlain's picture) and an error version (with Meadows' picture).  Meadows appeared in 15 games with the 1990 Phillies and he never actually appeared on a Phillies card of his own.

• #1 Draft Pick card - 1 card, #471 Mike Lieberthal
• Manager cards - 2 cards, #141 Nick Leyva and #43T Jim Fregosi

1991 Topps Traded #127T, 1991 Topps #15, #712 and #264

Who’s out:  Topps made the decision to include 26 Team USA cards in its traded set, in lieu of giving 26 more cards to actual Major Leaguers with their new teams.  Arguments could be made for either John Morris (85 games) or Jim Lindeman (65 games, .337 average) getting a card with the Phillies in the traded set.  Wally Ritchie (39 games in relief, 2.50 ERA) also could have had a card in the traded set.  

Phillies on other teams:  Backman (#722 with the Pirates) and Williams (#335 with the Cubs) are in the base set with their former teams, but in the traded set as Phillies.  There are three more players who appeared with the 1991 Phillies with cards in the set - Mike Hartley (#199 with the Dodgers), Steve Searcy (#369 with the Tigers) and Dave LaPoint (#484 with the Yankees).

1991 Topps #603A

What’s he doing here:  Really the only questionable selections are Carman and Lieberthal.  Carman became a free agent after the 1990 season and Lieby didn't make his debut until 1994.  Overall, Topps did a really nice job with the Phillies player selection.

Cards that never were candidates:  Morris, Lindeman and Ritchie are deserving.  And how about a card for Rick Schu, who returned to the Phillies after a three-year absence and appeared in 17 games.  (Although he'd hit .091).

Favorite Phillies card:  The Dude edges out Dale Murphy.  I was very excited to finally have a Topps card featuring Murphy as a Phillie, but the shot of Dykstra, asking for time in his dirt-stained uniform is baesball card greatness.  It's sad that Dykstra has allowed his life to completely self-destruct.

Other Stuff

Recycled:  The cards of Dale Murphy and John Kruk in the 2004 and 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites set use the 1991 Topps design.  Also, for the second year in a row, Topps produced a Debut set, featuring the 1991 Topps design and cards of every player who made his big league debut during the 1990 season.  (Hat tip to 14,000 Phillies for the reminder.  And I wish they'd bring this set back.)

Blogs/Websites:  To date, I don't own any 1991 Topps Desert Shield cards, but I've always been fascinated by this rare parallel set.  Here's a comprehensive article on the card set, including a primer on how to spot counterfeit Desert Shield cards.

Did You Know?:  At the outset of this post, I referenced the team's maroon 1970's and 1980's uniforms with the big bubble "P," in use for the last time during the 1991 season.  The team wore those uniforms for 21 full seasons, beginning in 1971.  (The uniforms made their debuts at the tail-end of the 1970 season.)  This may be hard to believe, but the team is now entering its 21st season wearing the uniform set first introduced in 1992.  If the team wears the same uniforms in 2013, and there is no indication that they won't, the 1992 to present day uniforms will surpass the 1971 to 1991 uniforms in terms of longevity.  Crazy, isn't it?

1990 Topps Phillies

1990 Topps #515, #710, #542 and #469

The early '90s were an awkward time for me.  I was an awkward teenager with awkward hair and awkward acne collecting awkward baseball cards.  Flipping through my binder of 1990 Phillies cards recently, there was one overriding theme - these cards did not age well.  Cards from the '50s and '60s are classics, cards from the '70s are cool and cards from the '80s remind me of a happy childhood.  Cards from the '90s are . . . awkward.

1990 Topps #542 (Back)

The Set

Number of cards in the set:  No surprises here.  There were 792 cards in the base set and another 132 cards added to the traded series for the ninth year in a row.  (There would be two more years with this configuration before Topps mixed it up in 1993.)

My very brief thoughts on the set:  It amazes me that the creative people at Topps actually gave the green light to this set.  There are too many posed shots and there are too many orange and purple and green Phillies cards.  It's not an attractive set and it may actually be my least favorite Topps flagship set of all time.  If anyone cares to defend this set and show me the error of my ways, please leave a comment.  (I just re-read those last few sentences.  I honestly don't mean to come off as angry about the 1990 Topps set.  I still managed to hand collate the set back in the day, so I wasn't completely disgusted by it.) 

Notable competition:  If I was forced to pick a favorite set from 1990, I'd have to go with Score's set.  Donruss did this, Fleer had a completely uninspiring design, and Upper Deck basically just copied their 1989 design but rotated the base line to the top of the card.  The Leaf set was cool, but they didn't sell packs of Leaf at my Wawa and even if they did, the packs would have been too expensive for me.

1990 Topps #216, #297, #269 and #577

1990 Phillies

Record and finish:  The Phillies actually showed some signs of life in 1990, going 77-85.  They finished in a fourth-place tie, 18 games behind the Pirates.

Key players:  Lenny Dykstra flirted with the National League batting title all season, finishing the year with a .325 average.  Von Hayes (.261, 17 home runs, 73 RBIs) and Darren Daulton (.268, 12 home runs, 57 RBIs) also enjoyed decent years.  John Kruk hit .291 in his first full season with the Phils.  Pat Combs (10-10, 4.07 ERA) and Terry Mulholland (9-10, 3.34 ERA) gave the team two reliable starting pitchers for the first time in a few years.  Roger McDowell (22 saves), Darrel Akerfelds (3.77 ERA in 71 games) and Joe Boever (2.15 ERA, 6 saves) anchored the bullpen.

Key events:  On August 3rd, in a trade that blew my mind at the time, the Phillies acquired Dale Murphy from the Braves (with Tommy Greene) for Jeff Parrett, Jim Vatcher and Victor Rosario.  I was thrilled when this move was made, as it seemed (at the time) that Murphy was the final piece the Phillies were seeking to put them over the top.  Mulholland pitched the first no-hitter by a Phillies pitcher at Veterans Stadium on August 15th.

1990 Phillies in 1990 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 29 Phillies cards in the base set and another 3 Phillies cards in the traded set.

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#542 Darren Daulton (c), #216 Ricky Jordan (1b), #297 Tom Herr (2b), #269 Dickie Thon (ss), #577 Charlie Hayes (3b), #469 John Kruk (lf), #515 Lenny Dykstra (cf), #710 Von Hayes (rf)

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#384 Pat Combs, #657 Terry Mulholland, #22 Bruce Ruffin, #756 Ken Howell

1990 Topps #384, #657, #22 and #756

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 1990 - 14 cards

#39 Curt Ford, #69 Todd Frohwirth, #103 Marvin Freeman, #129 Ron Jones, #183 Steve Lake, #356 Randy Ready, #439 Jeff Parrett, #493 Jason Grimsley, #625 Roger McDowell, #633 Dennis Cook, #731 Don Carman, #1T Darrel Akerfelds, #41T Dave Hollins, #68T Carmelo Martinez

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1990 - 3 cards (with new teams listed)

#154 Mike Maddux (Dodgers), #204 Bob Dernier (Retired), #607 Steve Jeltz (Royals)

• #1 Draft Pick card - 1 card, #74 Jeff Jackson
• Manager card - 1 card, #489 Nick Leyva
• Phillies appearing on Turn Back the Clock cards - 1 card, #662 Mike Schmidt

As much as I didn't care for the set, I was grateful that Topps gave us one last Schmidt card following the year he retired.  His 1980 Topps card is featured on the card looking back to ten years prior. 

1990 Topps #625, #633, 1990 Topps Traded #1T and 1990 Topps #750

Who’s out:  It would have been awesome if Murphy had been included in the traded set, but he was left out.  (Both Fleer and Score managed to work him into their update sets.)  Jose DeJesus, acquired in a March trade with the Royals, should have also made it into the traded set.  DeJesus went 7-8 in 22 starts for the Phils.  There are also quite a few bench guys, rookies and relievers deserving of cards, including Rod Booker (73 games), Sil Campusano (66 games), Mickey Morandini (made his debut in September), and Boever.

Phillies on other teams:  Martinez appears with the Pirates on card #686 and he made it into the traded series as a Phillie.  Four players only had cards with the former teams - #410 Joe Boever (Braves), #534 Louie Meadows (Astros), #595 Jose DeJesus (Royals), #750 Dale Murphy (Braves).

1990 Topps #662

What’s he doing here:  A few years back, the player's union came up with a bunch of baseball card related rules that prevented Topps (and Upper Deck at the time) from including players in "main" sets who were not on team's 40-man rosters.  It's a good rule.  I remember opening a pack of 1990 Topps cards and coming across the card of Phillies top draft pick Jeff Jackson and thinking "Why?"  I didn't want cards of draft picks.  I wanted cards of players whose names I was seeing in box scores - the utility guys, middle relievers and defensive replacements.  Jackson never made it to the majors as he kicked around the minors until hanging up his spikes in 1998.  I mean no disrespect to Jackson here, but I would have rather pulled a card of Chuck McElroy.  

Cards that never were candidates:  Murphy, Boever, DeJesus, Booker, Campusano and Morandini.  I'll also add Wes Chamberlain to the long list, as Chamberlain was acquired from the Pirates at the end of August and hit .283 in 18 games.

Favorite Phillies card:  I'll go with Kruk's card, by default.  Kruk is pictured with his pre-beard and mullet look.

Other Stuff

Recycled:  As far as I know, Topps hasn't gone back to this design for any Phillies cards.  And why would they?  I took a stab at creating a final tribute Schmidt card a few years ago.

Blogs/Websites:  I can't say I'm shocked there isn't a blog dedicated to this set.  However, I love that Shoebox Legends did a series of posts highlighting his favorite cards from his "guilty pleasure" set.  I'd also like to highly recommend The Greatest 21 Days, which is highlighting each and every card from the 1990 CMC minor league set.  

Did You Know?:  Other than a few oddball issues, Schmidt wouldn't be featured on another mainstream baseball card until 1994's Ted Williams set.  When these new Schmidt cards were released, it was big news for me at the time and I remember actively seeking out his cards from the main Ted Williams set and the special 9-card insert set which chronicled the slugger's career.  It seems strange now to go three to four years without a new baseball card of a Hall of Famer.  Over the past few years especially, it seems as if Schmidt is featured in just about every "legends" based insert set that Topps releases.

1989 Topps Phillies

1989 Topps #385, #358, 1989 Topps Traded #49T and #63T

Happy new year!  Here's to a wonderful 2012 for you and your friends and family.

The 1989 season was a hot mess for the Phillies.  Mike Schmidt tearfully announced his retirement, fan favorites Chris James, Steve Bedrosian and Juan Samuel were all sent packing, and the team continued to underwhelm with another last place finish.  Here and now, with the 2012 Phillies about to begin their journey in about 45 days, I'm reminded again just how much distance there is between today's team and the team I somehow managed to root for some two decades ago.

1989 Topps #154 (Back)

The Set

Number of cards in the set:  For the eighth year in a row, Topps issued 792 cards in its base set and another 132 in its traded series.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  I never really cared for this set although I recently enjoyed flipping through the set with my son Doug.  For the record, and this is completely unofficial, there are three Doug's in the set - Dascenzo, Drabek and Jones.  We may have missed a few since we were too pre-occupied with the discovery that there are two guys named Candy in the set.  But I digress.

Was 1987 the last great Topps baseball card set (in my opinion, of course?)  When I look through the Topps base set cards from 1988 through 2011, there isn't one complete set that really stands out.  I like the 1993 set, but was it a great set?  I'm fine with chalking this observation up to the fact that the sets I like the most are sets I first encountered during my childhood.  But is there something more to it?  Has Topps produced a great, universally adored baseball card base set since 1987?  These are deep questions for a New Year's Day.

Notable competition:  Upper Deck entered the fold in 1989 with it's ground-breaking set, holograms on the back and all.  This next statement will make me sound crotchety, but baseball cards and baseball card collecting hasn't been the same since I opened that first foil-wrapped Upper Deck pack.  Fleer, Donruss and Score were all afterthoughts to me in 1989.  Topps resurrected the Bowman name in 1989 with an extra large, underwhelming set featuring the first Phillies cards of a lot of the players the team acquired prior to the start of the 1989 season.

1989 Topps #187, 1989 Topps Traded #119T, #27T and 1989 Topps #100

1989 Phillies

Record and finish:  Have I already mentioned that 1989 was a hot mess for the Phils?  The team started the year with what seemed like dozens of new faces and a bunch of more new faces would join the team before the season was over.  They managed to win two more games than in the prior year, going 67-95 on their way to a second straight last place finish.

Key players:  Von Hayes was the only consistent offensive threat in the line-up, putting up a respectable .259 average with 26 home runs and 78 RBIs.  When your next two offensive power houses are Ricky Jordan (.285, 12 home runs, 75 RBIs) and Dickie Thon (.271, 15 home runs, 60 RBIs), you know it's going to be a long year.  New second baseman Tommy Herr hit .287 and John Kruk hit .331 after being acquired from the Padres for James in June.  Ken Howell and Jeff Parrett led the pitching staff with 12 wins a piece and Roger McDowell saved 19 games for the Phils after they had shipped former closer Bedrosian to the Giants.  Rookie Pat Combs gave the team hope for the future when he won four games and pitched to a 2.09 ERA following his September call-up.

Key events:  In late May, future Hall of Famer Schmidt called a press conference in San Diego to announce his retirement.  Although he was hitting just .203 with 6 home runs at the time, his decision still came as a shock.  Steve Jeltz lost his starting shortstop job to Thon, but he did manage to hit two home runs from both sides of the plate in the same game, making him the first Phillie in history to do so.  As mentioned at the outset, GM Lee Thomas was extremely busy, trading away popular players and netting Kruk, Randy Ready, Lenny Dykstra, McDowell, Terry Mulholland, Dennis Cook and Charlie Hayes in three seperate trades.  And my hero, Bob Dernier, hit a thrilling, game-winning, inside-the-park home run against the Giants on May 15th.  The video is terrible, but it's hard not to get chills listening to the call from Harry Kalas:

1989 Phillies in 1989 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 28 Phillies cards in the base set and Topps added another 11 Phillies cards to its traded set.  

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 7 cards

#187 Darren Daulton (c), #358 Ricky Jordan (1b), #49T Tom Herr (2b), #119T Dickie Thon (ss), #63T John Kruk (lf), #27T Lenny Dykstra (cf), #385 Von Hayes (rf)

All three players (Mulholland, Cook and new third baseman Charlie Hayes) acquired from the Giants for Bedrosian were omitted from the traded set.  However, the players acquired from the Mets for Samuel (Dykstra and McDowell) on the same day as the Bedrosian deal, made it into the traded set as Phillies.  This baffles me.  (For the record, all three appear in Fleer's update set.)

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 3 cards

#54T Ken Howell, #518 Bruce Ruffin, #154 Don Carman

1989 Topps Traded #54T, 1989 Topps #518, #154 and 1989 Topps Traded #80T

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 1989 - 19 cards

#20 Steve Bedrosian, #39 Mike Maddux, #100 Mike Schmidt, #268 Keith Miller, #298 Chris James, #349 Ron Jones, #418 Bob Dernier, #542 Todd Frohwirth, #575 Juan Samuel, #627 Greg Harris, #634 Marvin Freeman, #653 Tom Barrett, #707 Steve Jeltz, #65T Steve Lake, #79T Roger McDowell, #80T Larry McWilliams, #90T Steve Ontiveros, #95T Jeff Parrett, #102T Randy Ready

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1989 - 8 cards (with new teams listed)

#67 Dave Palmer (Tigers), #128 Milt Thompson (Cardinals), #202 Brad Moore (Phillies minors), #215 Kevin Gross (Expos), #438 Greg Gross (Astros), #470 Lance Parrish (Angels), #494 Shane Rawley (Twins), #608 Phil Bradley (Orioles)

• Phillies Leaders card - 1 card, #489 with Mike Schmidt
• Manager card  - 1 card, #74 Nick Leyva

1989 Topps Traded #79T, #95T, 1989 Topps #418 and #707

Who’s out:  As mentioned previously, Charlie Hayes, Mulholland and Cook were all left out, despite their prominent roles with the team, for better or worse, during the second half of the season.

Phillies on other teams:  Brace yourselves.  There are 16 players in the base set who played with the Phils in 1989 but appear on other teams.  First, here are the 11 who ended up as Phillies in the traded set - #93 Ken Howell (Dodgers), #176 Jeff Parrett (Expos), #235 John Kruk (Padres), #259 Larry McWilliams (Cardinals), #435 Lenny Dykstra (Mets), #463 Steve Lake (Cardinals), #551 Randy Ready (Padres), #692 Steve Ontiveros (Athletics), #709 Tom Herr (Twins), #726 Dickie Thon (Padres), #735 Roger McDowell (Mets).  And here are the 5 who didn't - #41 Terry Mulholland (Giants), #91 Floyd Youmans (Expos), #132 Curt Ford (Cardinals), #338 Jim Adduci (Brewers), #667 Dwayne Murphy (Tigers).

1989 Topps #74

What’s he doing here:  Parrish was traded to the Angels on October 3, 1988, the day after the 1988 season ended.  Of course, this was back in the day when the sets were coming out shortly after Thanksgiving, so it might have been too late to airbrush anyone even for a trade that early in the offseason.  But . . . the Phils hired new manager Leyva on October 3, 1988, and managed to airbrush him into a Phillies hat in time for his card to appear within the 1989 Topps set.

Cards that never were candidates:  There are a whopping 19 players who appeared with the Phillies during the 1989 season, but did not appear as Phillies in the 1989 Topps set.  I've narrowed the list down to seven players who should have had Phillies cards - Combs, Charlie Hayes, Mulholland, Cook, outfielder Dwayne Murphy (9 home runs in 98 games), outfielder Curt Ford (.218 average in 108 games) and reliever Randy O'Neal (appeared in 20 games with a 6.23 ERA).  On second thought, maybe O'Neal doesn't necessarily need a Phillies card.  Ford appears in the 1989 Bowman set as a Phillie.

Favorite Phillies card:  I have to go with Dernier's card.  It's his last major Topps baseball card and it's always been a favorite of mine.

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Schmidt's card is reprinted in the 2001 Topps Archives set.

Blogs/Websites:  For a very thorough overview of the 1989 Topps set, check out this post over at the Lifetime Topps Project.  

Did You Know?:  I was less than impressed the first time I ever saw an Upper Deck baseball card and my Dad ended up with a nasty bump on his head.