Series Preview - Phillies at Diamondbacks: August 17th to August 19th

2021 Chachi 1986 Topps Missing Links #16

2021 Chachi Fan Favorites #11

Tuesday and Wednesday 9:40, Thursday 3:40
Chase Field - Phoenix, AZ

At the Ballpark:  There doesn't appear to be any promotions or giveaways for this series.  In a parallel universe, we're at this series and then traveling to San Diego for the Phillies-Padres series as well.  Our vacation schedules were changed numerous times because of the pandemic and this Phoenix to San Diego trip unfortunately won't be happening this year.

Phillies 61-57
2nd Place in the N.L. East, 1 1/2 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Kyle Gibson
Ranger Suarez
Zack Wheeler

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Jean Segura - .305
Runs:  Bryce Harper - 68
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 24
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 68
Stolen Bases:  Bryce Harper - 12

Wins:  Zack Wheeler - 10
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 2.56
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 187
Saves:  Hector Neris - 12

Diamondbacks 38-81
5th Place in the N.L. West, 39 games behind the Giants

Diamondbacks Probables
TBD
TBD
Madison Bumgarner

Diamondbacks Leaders
Average:  Josh Rojas - .281
Runs:  Josh Rojas - 54
Home Runs:  Eduardo Escobar - 22
RBIs:  Eduardo Escobar - 65
Stolen Bases:  Nick Ahmed and Josh Rojas - 7

Wins:  Merrill Kelly - 7
ERA:  Merrill Kelly - 4.30

Strikeouts:  Merrill Kelly - 118
Saves:  Joakim Soria - 6

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

1987 Topps #63 Fred Toliver

Cardinals 7, Phillies 0
Game 60 - Saturday Afternoon, June 10th in St. Louis
Record - 21-39, 5th place, 16 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Carlos Martinez pitched a complete game shutout for the Cardinals, limiting the Phillies to just four hits.

What It Means:  Their four-game winning streak is now a distant memory and the Phillies are now in the middle of a four-game losing streak.

What Happened:  Two of the four hits were provided by Tommy Joseph. Nick Pivetta (5 innings, 4 runs on 4 hits) and Jeanmar Gomez (1 inning, 3 runs on 2 hits) were the Cardinals' victims in this game.

Featured Card:  Nick Pivetta picked off two baserunners in the first inning, becoming the first right-handed Phillies pitcher with two pick-offs in the same game since Freddie Toliver did it on August 20, 1987.  And now you know.  (Via Matt Gelb on Twitter.)

Phillies at Reds: June 6th to June 8th

Friday 7:10, Saturday 4:10 and Sunday 1:10
Great American Ball Park - Cincinnati, OH

Phillies 24-34, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 7 games behind the Braves and Marlins
Reds 27-31, 4th Place in the N.L. Central, 7 games behind the Brewers

Phillies Probables:  Cole Hamels (1-3, 4.01), Roberto Hernandez (2-3, 4.03), David Buchanan (1-2, 6.11)
Reds Probables:  Johnny Cueto (5-4, 1.68), Alfredo Simon (7-3, 3.03), Homer Bailey (6-3, 4.99)

At the Ballpark:  I like it when there's a nice giveaway or event for all three games of a series.  Such is the case at the underrated Great American Ball Park.  Tonight is Fireworks Friday and the first 20,000 fans tomorrow will receive a Reds hat featuring the floating head of Mr. Red.  On Sunday, the first 8,000 kids to enter the ballpark will receive a Brandon Phillips growth chart.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Chase Utley - .311

Runs:  Chase Utley - 31

Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 11

RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 40

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 15

Wins:  Cliff Lee - 4

ERA:  Cliff Lee - 3.18

Strikeouts:  A.J. Burnett - 67

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 13

1988 Topps #203, #265, #686 and 1988 Topps Traded #55T

1988 Topps Appreciation:  It's a grab bag of former Phillies and Reds in the latest installment of 1988 Topps Appreciation.  First up is former Phillies catcher Bo Diaz, who was traded with minor leaguer Greg Simpson to the Reds for Tom Foley and a player to be named later back on August 8, 1985.  The player to be named later turned out to be pitcher Fred Toliver, also featured here.

Surprisingly, to me at least, Diaz played more games with the Reds (460 over five seasons) than he did with the Phillies (333 over four seasons).  He made the All-Star team with the Reds in 1987, but then steadily declined in 1988 (.219 in 92 games) and his final season, 1989 (.205 in 43 games).  Toliver spent parts of three seasons with the Phillies, going 1-7 with a 4.67 ERA over the course of 26 games.

I had to squeeze in the cards of Danny Jackson and Terry Francona here, since this is the final meeting between the Phillies and Reds this season.  Jackson was traded by the Royals to the Reds following the 1987 season, and he'd experience his best year by far in 1988, winning 23 games and making the All-Star team.  Francona had already departed Cincinnati by the time Jackson arrived, signing with the Indians as a free agent in February 1988.

1986 Topps Phillies - Missing Links

There are 16 players who appeared with the Phillies in 1986 who didn't make it into either the Topps base set or the traded series so I've made 1986 Topps cards for all 16.  As far as I know, neither Jeff Bittinger or Tom Gorman ever had Phillies cards - either mainstream or in the team-issued Tastykake sets - and if and when I ever have the free time to take a crash course in graphic design, I'm going to go back and fix their cards.

Most of the pictures I used for these cards are from the 1986 or 1987 Tastykake Phillies sets or from the 1986 Phillies Yearbook.

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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:

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Scrapbook Sunday: September 1, 1985

1985 Topps #PR9

I've always had the need to know which players were on the Phillies' current roster, and for as long as I've been a fan, I've been able to rattle off the 25 names currently available to suit up on any given night. When I started this blog, one of the first things I added was a list of the team's current roster (look left), which I update as soon as I get wind of a transaction. Each name on the roster is linked to that player's baseball cards I've featured so far in The Phillies Room. Go ahead and click around a little - it's good fun.

1985 Topps #PR8

From opening day until August 31st, there are 25 men on the active roster and then on September 1st, something glorious happens.  On September 1st, teams have the option of expanding their rosters to 40 active players.  I like this.  I know there are some who feel it cheapens the pennant races by altering the rules of engagement for the final month of the season.  But I like it.  I like that Paul Hoover is on the roster now as a 3rd catcher, and he'll (hopefully) only play in one game - the game the day after (hopefully) the Phils clinch a play-off spot.  I like that there are pinch-runners galore and late inning defensive switches.  To date, the Phils have added only 3 players to bring the total number of names on the line-up card to 28*, but I suspect that number will expand.

1985 Topps #PR1

25 years ago, I don't think I was aware of this rule yet.  I had become very familiar with the Phillies' 25 players and then all of the sudden, extra names started showing up in the boxscores.  (The list I created in pencil lists 27 players, so I'm assuming a couple of those guys were on the DL at the time.)  It was only after I dutifully wrote out each players' number and name, underlining each player for some reason, that I had to come back and write out the numbers and names of the "New Players" in pen.

1985 Topps Traded #62T

None of these guys had a huge impact on the '85 Phillies, and only Steve Jeltz received a proper Topps card, appearing in that year's traded series.  The other cards featured here are cards I've created to fill the gaps and to satisfy my inner 11-year-old who never had a proper Rocky Childress Phillies' card.  Fred Toliver picked up his first and only Major League save on September 3rd.  Alan Knicely was used as a pinch-hitter throughout September, going 0 for 7 with 4 strikeouts.  Rich Surhoff, B.J.'s older brother, pitched in only 2 games before getting shipped to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Dave "Smoke" Stewart.   Childress appeared in 16 games for the '85 Phils, compiling a 6.21 ERA.  And then there's Steve Jeltz.  Jeltz spent parts of 7 seasons with the Phils, compiling a .213 average.

*Increased to 29 today and it will go up again to 31 on Monday.