Rangers at Phillies - May 21st to May 23rd

1984 Topps #352

2024 Chachi 1984 Topps Missing Links #7

Tuesday and Wednesday 6:40, Thursday 1:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  Tuesday is the annual Greek Heritage Celebration and Wednesday is a Youth Baseball and Softball Celebration.  On Thursday, and I can't find any specific details for this yet, the Phillies will continue their 20th Anniversary of Citizens Bank Park celebration with a continued look back at highlights from the past 20 seasons.

Texas Rangers 24-24
2nd Place in the A.L. West, 2 games behind the Mariners

Rangers Probables
Jon Gray (2-1, 2.08)
Andrew Heaney (0-5, 4.43)
Jose Urena (1-3, 3.29)

Rangers Leaders
Average:  Josh Smith - .284
Runs:  Marcus Semien - 35
Home Runs:  Adolis Garcia - 11
RBIs:  Adolis Garcia - 35
Stolen Bases:  Adolis Garcia and Leody Taveras - 4

Wins:  Four tied with - 3
ERA:  Jon Gray - 2.08
Strikeouts:  Jon Gray - 52
Saves:  Kirby Yates - 7

Philadelphia Phillies 34-14
1st Place in the N.L. East, 5 games ahead of the Braves

Phillies Probables
Ranger Suarez (8-0, 1.37)
Taijuan Walker (3-0, 4.91)
Zack Wheeler (5-3, 2.52)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Alec Bohm - .330
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 36
Home Runs:  Bryce Harper - 10
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 42
Stolen Bases:  Bryson Stott - 12

Wins:  Ranger Suarez - 8
ERA:  Ranger Suarez - 1.37
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 71
Saves:  Jose Alvarado - 8

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

Series Preview - Phillies at Nationals: August 2nd to August 5th

1986 Topps #689

1986 Topps Traded #71T

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 7:05, Thursday 4:05
Nationals Park - Washington , DC

At the Ballpark:  On Thursday, the Nationals have listed "Topps Baseball Cards" as an exit giveaway to the first 10,000 fans.  Does that mean only the first 10,000 fans to leave the ballpark receive this giveaway?

The Phillies Room staff is currently taking its second of two summer sabbaticals, and the blog will be on auto pilot until later next week.  During our absence, a daily gallery of a prior year Topps Phillies team set will be posted.  Thanks for your continued support and Go Phils!

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

1986 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  49
Card Size:  3 1/2" x 5 1/4"
Description:  With the exception of the copyright date on the bottom right, these photo cards are identical in design to the set issued in 1985.  Fronts feature a full color picture and the backs include brief biographical notes on each player, coach or manager.  The multi-player Future Phillies cards return for a second year in a row and each of the four National League pennant winning teams from the franchise's past get their own team cards.

How Distributed:  The set's entry in the 2001 Standard Catalog Baseball Cards notes the "cards were given away at the Phillies' annual baseball card promotion."  Double checking the team's promotional schedule for the season, there's no actual mention of a photo card giveaway day.  My best guess is that these sets were available for sale at Veterans Stadium throughout the season.

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

1. Luis Aguayo (#16 - INF) 2. Larry Andersen (#47 - RHP) 3. Steve Bedrosian (#40 - RHP) 4. Steve Carlton (#32 - LHP) 5. Don Carman (#42 - LHP) 6. Rocky Childress (#50 - RHP)           7. Darren Daulton (#10 - C) 8. Jim Davenport (#2 - CO) 9. Lee Elia (#4 - CO) 10. John Felske (#7 - MG) 11. Tom Foley (#11 - SS) 12. Greg Gross (#21 - OF-1B) 13. Kevin Gross (#46 - RHP) 14. Von Hayes (#9 - 1B) 15. Charles Hudson (#49 - RHP) 16. Tom Hume (#41 - RHP) 17. Chris James (#26 - OF)

18. Steve Jeltz (#30 - SS) 19. Joe Lefebvre (#23 - OF) 20. Randy Lerch (#35 - LHP) 21. Garry Maddox (#31 - OF) 22. Claude Osteen (#3 - CO) 23. Shane Rawley (#28 - LHP) 24. Gary Redus (#22 - LF) 25. Ronn Reynolds (#29 - C) 26. Robin Roberts (#36 - HOF)           27. Dave Rucker (#39 - LHP) 28. John Russell (#6 - C) 29. Mike Ryan (#5 - CO) 30. Juan Samuel (#8 - 2B) 31. Mike Schmidt (#20 - 3B) 32. Rick Schu (#15 - INF) 33. Dave Shipanoff (#33 - RHP)

34. Dave Stewart (#48 - RHP) 35. Jeff Stone (#14 - OF) 36. Kent Tekulve (#27 - RHP) 37. Milt Thompson (#24 - CF) 38. Fred Toliver (#43 - RHP) 39. Del Unser (#25 - CO) 40. Glenn Wilson (#12 - RF) 41. Ramon Carabello / Joe Cipolloni 42. Arturo Gonzalez / Mike Maddux 43. Francisco Melendez / Ricky Jordan 44. Kevin Ward / Randy Day 45. 1915 Phillies Team 46. 1950 Phillies Team 47. 1980 Phillies Team 48. 1983 Phillies Team 49. June 11, 1985 - A Night to Remember

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (0)

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (11):  Bedrosian, Foley, Hume, Redus, Reynolds, Rucker, Shipanoff, Stewart, Tekulve, Thompson, Toliver
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (22):  Aguayo, Andersen, Carman, Carlton, Childress, Daulton, G. Gross, K. Gross, Hayes, Hudson, James, Jeltz, Lefebvre, Lerch, Maddox, Rawley, Russell, Samuel, Schmidt, Schu, Stone, Wilson

Manager (1):  Felske
Coaches (5):  Davenport, Elia, Osteen, Ryan, Unser

Commemorative Cards (1):  Roberts
Other Cards (5):  Four pennant winning team cards; June 11, 1985 commemorative card

The "Night to Remember" photo card commemorates the night the Phillies defeated the Mets 26-7, thanks in part to two first inning home runs from Von Hayes.  Hayes, Glenn Wilson, Juan Samuel, Mike Schmidt, Garry Maddox and Bo Diaz are all featured on the card in a Dick Perez painting.

Surprises:  Robin Roberts was presumably a guest instructor during spring training 1986, hence his inclusion in the set.  I always think it's odd seeing former Phillies wear current uniforms they themselves didn't wear during their playing days.  Seeing Roberts in maroon pinstriped jersey is just strange.  Dave Shipanoff is the only player to receive his own solo card not to appear in a game with the Phillies in 1986.

Omissions:  This is a very comprehensive set, featuring the entire 25-man opening day roster, the two players who started the season on the disabled list (Tom Foley and Tom Hume) and solo photo cards for six players who started the season at Triple-A Portland - Jeff Stone, Chris James, Ronn Reynolds, Randy Lerch, Fred Toliver and Rocky Childress.  The checklist creators missed out on five players who would start the season in the minors and make an appearance with the Phillies during 1986 - Greg Legg, Michael Jackson, Jeff Bittiger, Bruce Ruffin and Marvin Freeman.  Legg was the first one up, getting recalled on April 14th when Samuel landed on the disabled list.

Variations/Rarities:  Surprisingly, none.

Also See:  Scrapbook Sunday: February 21, 1986

Resources:  Beckett.com

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 six years.

1985 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1987 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards

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

Series Preview - Dodgers at Phillies: September 18th to September 21st

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 7:05, Thursday 1:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Dodgers 96-53, 1st Place in the N.L. West, 9 1/2 games ahead of the Diamondbacks
Phillies 58-91, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 32 games behind the Nationals

Dodgers Probables:  Clayton Kershaw (17-3, 2.12), Yu Darvish (3-3, 4.34), Alex Wood (15-3, 2.69), Kenta Maeda (12-6, 4.21)
Phillies Probables:  Nick Pivetta (5-10, 6.75), Aaron Nola (11-10, 3.60), Jake Thompson (2-2, 4.46), Mark Leiter, Jr. (3-6, 4.93)

At the Ballpark:  Other than some theme nights and Chase Utley's second return to Citizens Bank Park since being traded to the Dodgers in 2015, there aren't any other scheduled giveaways or promotions.

Dodgers Leaders
Average:  Justin Turner - .323
Runs:  Cody Bellinger - 83
Home Runs:  Cody Bellinger - 38
RBIs:  Cody Bellinger - 88
Stolen Bases:  Chris Taylor - 16

Wins:  Clayton Kershaw - 17
ERA:  Clayton Kershaw - 2.12
Strikeouts:  Clayton Kershaw - 188
Saves:  Kenley Jansen - 38

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Cesar Hernandez - .290
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez - 75
Home Runs:  Tommy Joseph - 21
RBIs:  Maikel Franco - 69

Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 14

Wins:  Aaron Nola - 11
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 3.60
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 167
Saves:  Hector Neris - 21

1982 Topps #213

1982 Topps #348

1982 Topps #774

1982 Topps Appreciation:  For the final two weeks of the 1985 season, former Dodger teammates Dave Stewart and Derrel Thomas were reunited on the Phillies when the Phillies acquired Stewart from the Rangers for Rich Surhoff on September 13th.

Jay Johnstone played in parts of five seasons for the Phillies between 1974 and 1978, appearing in 462 games primarily in right field.

Phillies at Athletics: September 19th to September 21st

Friday 9:35, Saturday and Sunday 4:05
O.co Coliseum - Oakland, CA

Phillies 70-83, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 18 1/2 games behind the Nationals
Athletics 83-69, 2nd Place in the A.L. West, 11 1/2 games behind the Angels

Phillies Probables:  David Buchanan (6-7, 3.75), Jerome Williams (3-2, 2.84), A.J. Burnett (8-17, 4.40)
Athletics Probables:  Jon Lester (5-3, 2.30), Drew Pomeranz (5-4, 2.53), Scott Kazmir (14-9, 3.44)

At the Ballpark:  First of all, the A's stadium is called O.co Coliseum?  When did that happen?

Moving right along, following tonight's game there will be a Star Wars themed fireworks show.  On Saturday, the first 10,000 fans will receive an A's Oktoberfest Stein and on Sunday, the first 10,000 fans will receive a team photo.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Ben Revere - .309

Runs:  Jimmy Rollins - 78

Home Runs:  Marlon Byrd - 25

RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 92

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 47

Wins:  Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick - 9

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.47

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 187

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 37

1988 Topps #476, #272, #424 and #527

1988 Topps Appreciation:  It's a whole mess of A's for this installment of 1988 Topps Appreciation.  At the time these cards were released, only Dave Stewart was already an ex-Phillie, having pitched for the Phillies for parts of the 1985 and 1986 seasons, only to be released in May 1986.  Stewart would go on to finish in the top four of the A.L. Cy Young voting for the next four seasons, and he'd help lead the A's to the 1989 World Championship.  (And we think the current management team makes bad decisions!)

The next three guys - Steve Henderson, Steve Ontiveros and Dwayne Murphy - had all left Oakland by the time they became an A.L. powerhouse in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

Ontiveros appeared in 11 games for the Phillies in injury-plagued 1989 and 1990 seasons.  He'd bounce back somewhat and actually make the All-Star team in 1995 during his second stint with the A's.  Murphy wrapped up his 12-season career with 98 games for the 1989 Phillies, hitting .218.

Henderson is the Phillies current hitting coach, a position he's held since last season.  It will be interesting to see if there's any shake-up with the team's current coaching staff following the season.  It's never the hitting coach's fault that a team just can't hit, but there's no doubt the Phillies offense might benefit from a different voice.

1985 Topps Phillies - Missing Links

My post on the 1985 Topps Phillies cards is not quite ready yet, but I wanted to share these "cards that never were" for players who should have had Phillies cards in the 1985 Topps set.  There are only ten players who appeared with the Phils in 1985 who didn't have Topps Phillies cards in either Topps' regular or traded sets.  Here are those missing ten cards:

PR1

PR2

PR3

PR4

PR5

PR6

PR7

PR8

PR9

PR10

Scrapbook Sunday: February 21, 1986

1986 Topps #689 Dave Stewart

24 years later, I'd like to answer the questions posed in the "Spring Training Questions" featured in the column to the right. Please click the page to enlarge and follow along:

1. He'd be released on June 24th, but Lefty would win 15 more games in 1986 and 1987: 4 with the Phillies, 1 with the Giants, 4 with the White Sox, 5 with the Indians and 1 with the Twins. He was released by the Twins in April 1988 and after receiving no other offers, he hung 'em up.

2. No, no, no, no and No. Only Fred Toliver and Mike Maddux started games for the Phils in 1986, going a combined 3-9 in 21 games started. Dave Stewart was released at the beginning of May, signing a few weeks later with the Oakland Athletics. For the next 9 seasons, he dominated the American League while with the A's and Blue Jays. He started 2 games against the Phillies in the 1993 World Series. Arturo Gonzalez never pitched with the Phillies.

3. John Russell was the team's primary catcher in 1986, hitting .241 with 13 home runs and 60 RBI. Darren Daulton and Ronn Reynolds split time as his back-up. The Phils would make a big splash by signing free-agent catcher Lance Parrish prior to the 1987 season, guaranteeing catching stability for years to come. (Or so we hoped.)

4. No one left and no help arrived. They were doomed from the start.

5. Joe Lefebvre's knee was not good. After missing all of 1985, Joe played 14 games in April and May before announcing his retirement in June.