New Uniform Numbers Have Arrived!

2003 E-X Behind the Numbers #BTNGU-MB

The slow offseason has had one positive effect for the Phillies, as they've been able to assign out new uniform numbers much sooner than in the prior two offseasons.  It's the little things, right?

Yesterday, I noticed that all new players, coaches and non-roster invitees (with the exception of the latest round of additions) had been assigned uniform numbers on the official Phillies website.  This is usually the final offseason hurdle to clear before the team packs up its trucks and heads down to Clearwater.

Similar to what I've done the past two seasons, here's this year's handy guide to new players, new numbers and a few other trivial observations:

New Players
#3 Marlon Byrd - Byrd was assigned #3 almost immediately after being signed, assuming the number worn by both Delmon Young and Roger Bernadina in 2013.  Byrd wore #29 during his first stint with the Phillies, and it's surprising that he couldn't coerce that number from its current owner, third string catcher Cameron Rupp.
#4 Lou Marson - It's strange to see a non-roster invitee with a number in the single digits, but Marson has been assigned John McDonald's #4.  Marson wore #3 during his short time with the Phillies in 2008 and 2009.

2008 Topps Opening Day #146

#17 Reid Brignac -  Like Marson, non-roster invitees Brignac, Tony Gwynn, Jr. and Clete Thomas have all received relatively low uniform numbers.  Departed catching coach Mick Billmeyer wore #17 last season.
#19 Tony Gwynn, Jr. - The younger Gwynn has never before worn (in the Majors) the number his father made famous with twenty Hall of Fame seasons in San Diego.  Laynce Nix was #19 the previously two seasons.
#21 Wil Nieves - Assistant hitting coach Wally Joyner wore this number last year.
#24 Clete Thomas - Strangely enough, #24 wasn't worn at all last season.  Ty Wigginton last wore the number in 2012.
#27 Roberto Hernandez - The pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona will wear John Lannan's #27.
#31 Brad Lincoln - The new righty reliever wore #49 as a member of the Blue Jays last season, but Ethan Martin has that number with the Phillies.  Lincoln will assume the number of the player for whom he was acquired, wearing Erik Kratz's old #31.
#52 Kevin Munson - The Rule 5 pick assumes the number last worn by reliever Jose Contreras in 2012.
#75 Miguel Gonzalez -  Cuban born Gonzalez could become the second player in franchise history to wear #75, after Jim Crowell briefly wore the number during the 2004 season.

New Coaches

1996 Phillies Team Issue #2

#10 Larry Bowa - There's no way Bowa could don a Phillies uniform and wear anything other than #10 . . . although he did at one point.  As a coach in the late '80s and early '90s, Bowa wore #2 while Darren Daulton kept his regular #10 warm.  Michael Young wore the number last season.
#12 John Mizerock -  Both Humbero Quintero and Pete Orr wore this number in 2013.  Hopefully, Mizerock finds more success with it.
#22 Bob McClure -  The new pitching coach assumes the number last worn by outfielder/pitcher Casper Wells.
#45 Pete Mackanin -  Chad Durbin and Zach Miner both spent time with #45 in 2013.  During his first stint as a Phillies coach, Mackanin wore #45 in 2009 (before Pedro Martinez took it over), #22 in 2010 and 2011 and #5 in 2012.  Hitting coach Steve Henderson currently owns #5, so Mackanin went back to his 2009 number.

New Numbers
#30 Justin De Fratus - There's just no telling what number De Fratus is going to wear from year to year.  He began his career as #37 but then surrendered that number prior to the 2012 season to Antonio Bastardo and strangely assumed #79.  His new #30 was last worn by former pitching coach Rich Dubee.  Maybe this is some sort of tribute to Dubee?

2010 Phillies Fan Appreciation
Day Postcards #4

Other Stuff
- For the second year in a row, outfield prospect Zach Collier wins the prize for the highest number with his #80.

- From 1 to 60, the following non-retired numbers are still officially up for grabs - #7, #34, #39, #41, #43 and #46.  I wouldn't be shocked if the team has unofficially retired #34 and #41, at least for the next few seasons, out of respect for Roy Halladay and Charlie Manuel.  I seriously doubt they're doing the same thing for #7 (Michael Martinez), #39 (Steven Lerud), #43 (Steve Susdorf) or #46 (Raul Valdes).  I'd expect some or all of those numbers to go to the remaining four non-roster invitees still in need.  Hot prospect Maikel Franco would make an excellent #7.

Memory Lane
2012 New Numbers
2013 New Numbers

Farewell Wheels

2013 Phillies Team Issue 2

I recently returned from an out-of-town work trip to Nashville, so my post on the dismissal of long-time broadcaster Chris Wheeler and former player, turned broadcaster Gary "Sarge" Matthews is a little late.  While I've never been a huge fan of Wheeler, I do think the way he was shown the door was a little cold.

By all accounts, the decision was made by Comcast as a result of the mega-deal just entered into between the media giant and the Phillies.  Comcast felt that change was needed (and it probably was) and their new stake in the team's media revenue gave it the clout to make the call.  In the pre-Comcast contract era, if the Phillies felt a change was needed in the broadcast booth, Wheeler would have been given the option to broadcast a final, farewell season and then gracefully ride into the sunset.  He wasn't given that option, and it's kind of a shame.

Growing up, the adult voices I heard the most were my parents, my grandparents, a few adult family friends and then Harry, Whitey, Andy Musser and Wheels.  There were some extra guys in there at times (Kent Tekulve, Jim Barniak and Todd Kalas to name a few) but the steady foursome of Harry, Whitey, Andy Musser and Wheels provided the soundtrack to my Millville and Sea Isle summer nights.  The former three have since entered the great broadcast booth in the sky, and now Wheeler has had his microphone taken away.

Potential replacements for Wheeler are rumored to be Ricky Bottalico, Brad Lidge or Doug Glanville.  Sarge won't be replaced and all of this won't affect the way I enjoy the games at home at all.  Thankfully, the radio team of Scott Franzke, Larry Andersen and Jim Jackson will remain together and I'll continue to mute the TV and listen to that trio call the game.

So farewell to Chris Wheeler.  He knew and respected the game and his departure marks yet another milestone on my personal journey to "Man am I getting old."

1989 Phillies - The Missing Links

1987 Donruss #583, 1989 Topps #338, 1990 ProCards #608 and 1989 Fleer #106

When I started to put together this post, I wanted to start with a few sentences summarizing the 1989 Phillies season.  I stumbled around a little and then decided to just cut and paste what I had written about that team in my 1989 Topps Phillies post:

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.

Nick Leyva's squad fielded 48 different players during the long 1989 season, which at the time was one short of the all-time high 49 players used by the 1946 Phillies.  As you'll see below, four of those 48 players have never graced a Phillies baseball card.  If not for the 1989 Tastykake Phillies set, that number would have jumped to nine players.

3 Cards or More
38 Players

Outfielder Keith Miller just makes the 3 Cards or More list.  Miller had solo cards in the 1989 Topps set, as well as the 1989 Score Hottest 100 Rookies set.  He's also featured on the multi-prospest card within the 1988 Tastykake Phillies set and a solo card (which I don't have yet) within the 1988 Tastykake Phillies Update set.

1989 Topps #268, 1987 Topps #196, 1987 Donruss Opening Day #220 and 1990 Fleer #569

2 Cards
Dwayne Murphy (98 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #6 and 1990 Fleer #569

Veteran Murphy wrapped up his 12-year career with 98 games for the Phillies in 1989.  He hit .218 with 9 home runs and 27 RBIs, and was released following the season.  Thankfully, Fleer saw fit to include a "final tribute" card to Murphy with its 1990 release.

1 Card
Mark Ryal (29 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #31
Tom Nieto (11 games in 1989 and 17 games in 1990) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #24

Randy O'Neal (20 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #27

Jim Adduci (13 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies Update #37
Eric Bullock (6 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies Update #38

1989 Tastykake Phillies #31 and #27

If you can actually recall any of the five players above suiting up for the Phillies, I'll tip my cap to you.  For some odd reason, there was actually a period during the 1989 season when Ryal was my favorite Phillies player.  He was only with the team from opening day to mid-June, hitting .242 in his 29 games, but I seem to remember he had a few big late-inning hits.  Checking the official record, it appears as if my memory is shoddy.  Perhaps I just liked rooting for an underdog.

Nieto was the back-up to Steve Lake, who was the back-up to Darren Daulton.  He hit .160 in his 28 games with the Phillies.

O'Neal stuck around for 20 games, and he made an emergency start for the Phillies in mid-August.  He was released following the season after compiling a 6.23 ERA in 39 innings.  Prior to landing with the Phillies, O'Neal had been a semi-reliable reliever with the Tigers in the mid-'80s.

Adduci appeared in 13 July games for the Phillies when the newly acquired John Kruk landed on the disabled list.  Once Kruk was healthy, Adduci headed back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  He wrapped up his 11-year professional career in 1990 with another full season as a Red Baron.

In October 1988, the Phillies traded starting pitcher Shane Rawley to the Twins for starting second baseman Tommy Herr, back-up catcher Nieto and outfielder Bullock.  Bullock earned a very brief call-up by the Phillies in late June, going 0 for 4 in his six games as either a late inning outfield defensive replacement or as a pinch-hitter.  Bullock was one of the five lucky recipients of a 1989 Topps Card That Never Was that I posted two years ago.  To date, I haven't yet made the other 14 cards needed to complete this series.

1989 CMC Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #12, #4, #7 and #21

0 Cards
Steve Stanicek (9 games in 1989)
Bob Sebra (3 games in 1988 and 6 games in 1989)

Gordon Dillard (5 games in 1989)

Al Pardo (2 games in 1988 and 1 game in 1989)

Stanicek was a first round draft pick by the Giants in 1982.  He earned a brief call-up with the Brewers in 1987 and the Phillies signed him as a minor league free agent prior to the 1989 season.  After spending the season with the Red Barons, Stanicek was a September call-up appearing solely as a pinch-hitter in nine games.  He went 1 for 9 during his brief stay and was released immediately following the season.

Dillard, a lefty, came over to the Phillies from the Orioles in the Phil Bradley deal in December 1988.  He had his contract purchased in May and appeared in a total of five games with the Phillies.  He finished up the season in Scranton and bounced to the Pirates organization following the season.  He pitched briefly for the independent Salinas Spurs in 1991 before calling it a career.

I wrote about Sebra's and Pardo's time with the Phillies in my 1988 Missing Links post.

Past Missing Link Posts

1980 Phillies - Orlando Isales and Don McCormack

1981 Phillies - Jerry Reed

1982 Phillies - Stan Bahnsen and Alejandro Sanchez

1983 Phillies - Steve Comer

1984 Phillies - Renie Martin, Jim Kern and Mike LaValliere

1985 Phillies - None

1986 Phillies - Tom Gorman and Jeff Bittiger

1987 Phillies - None

1988 Phillies - Salome Barojas, Bill Dawley, Al Pardo, Bill Scherrer and Bob Sebra

1990 Phillies - Louie Meadows

1991 Phillies - Dave LaPoint

1992 Phillies - Darrin Chapin and Mickey Weston

1993 Phillies - None

1994 Phillies - Tom Edens and Bob Wells

1995 Phillies - Jim Deshaies, Kevin Elster, Omar Olivares, Chuck Ricci and Dennis Springer

1996 Phillies - Glenn Dishman, Bronson Heflin, Manny Martinez and Rafael Quirico

1997 Phillies - Rob Butler and Mike Robertson

1998 Phillies - Robert Dodd and Matt Whiteside

1999 Phillies - Joel Bennett, Domingo Cedeno, Joe Grahe and Torey Lovullo

2000 Phillies - Clemente Alvarez, Kirk Bullinger, Mark Holzemer and Bryan Ward

2010 Topps Phillies

2010 Topps #590, #334, 2010 Topps Update #US245 and 2010 Topps #23

Why am I having so much trouble starting and finishing the last few posts in my ongoing Topps Phillies series?  I flew through the initial posts a few years ago, churning out a post a week up through the late 1990s.  And then I stalled out.  I dug back in and made my way up through the mid-2000s before stalling out again.  The 2008 and 2009 posts were fun to put together, but I haven't been able to sufficiently motivate myself to wrap up the series with a look at the Topps Phillies cards from 2010, 2011, 2012 and most recently, 2013. 

I think, and this is only a theory, it's because these cards hold no real historical or sentimental interest to me personally, at least not yet.  Maybe in ten or twenty years' time, I'll look back at the 2010 Topps set with a sense of nostalgia, but that's a long ways off.

2010 was the first full year I maintained this here blog.  It was the year we welcomed our second son Benjamin into our lives, and he's been amazing us ever since.  2010 was also the year we began to realize that my Dad's health was failing, and the Phillies and their baseball cards provided a welcome haven from the real world.

The Set

2010 Topps #334 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  Without counting the short-printed variations and gimmick cards, there are 660 cards in both series one and series two and 331 cards in the update series.  The extra card in the update series is the much sought after (at the time) Stephen Strasburg rookie card.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  I think this is one of my favorite Topps sets from recent years becuase (1) it's so different from any of the other generic, over-modern designs they've used recently and (2) the team logo is just freakin' huge on the fronts of the cards.  Revisiting the set for this post, I'm also struck by how good the photography is on most of the cards.
Notable competition:  This is the first year that Topps held its exclusive license with MLB, and it flaunted it by displaying large team logos on the fronts and backs of its base cards.  Upper Deck attempted to release a set with obscured or non-visible team logos on the photos, but it just wasn't an attractive or popular set.

2010 Topps #122, #300, #403 and #630

2010 Phillies
Record and finish:  The Phillies were flat-out awesome in 2010, and it was fun to watch them play every day.  They won their fourth consecutive N.L. East pennant, going 97-65 and finishing six games ahead of the Braves.  They swept the Reds in the N.L.D.S. only to have the Giants put an unceremonious end to their run in Game 6 of the N.L.C.S.  The card I created to memorialize the Game 6 loss is one of the most depressing cards in the entire Chachi series.  Why didn't Ryan Howard at least swing the bat?

Key players:  Despite his let-down in the N.L.C.S., Howard enjoyed a fantastic regular season.  He led the team with 108 RBIs and 31 home runs while hitting .276.  He was manager Charlie Manuel's choice as the starting designated hitter for the N.L. All-Star squad.  The outfield trio of Raul Ibanez (.275, 16, 83), Shane Victorino (.259, 18, 69, 34 stolen bases) and Jayson Werth (.296, 27, 85) could run circles around what the team plans to field in 2014.  Returning third baseman Placido Polanco and catcher Carlos Ruiz stabilized an already strong line-up and provided steady defense in the field.

The newly acquired Roy Halladay delivered one of the most dominant seasons by a Phillies pitcher in their franchise history.  On the way to winning the N.L. Cy Young Award, Halladay went 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA and 219 strikeouts.  Cole Hamels pitched much better than his 12-11 record, striking out 211 and compiling a 3.06 ERA.  On June 29th, the Phillies acquired Roy Oswalt and he went 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA in his 13 games with the club.  Brad Lidge bounced back from an awful 2009 with 27 saves and Ryan Madson continued to impress as one of the best set-up men in baseball.

2010 Topps #486, #134 and 2010 Topps Update #US100

Key events:  Following the 2009 season, general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. orchestrated two blockbuster trades, bringing in Halladay from the Blue Jays and inexplicably trading away Cliff Lee to the Mariners.  Lee would return to the organization via free agency following the 2010 season.  Halladay announced his arrival to the National League by pitching the 20th perfect game in Major League history on May 29th.  A few weeks earlier, on May 7th, Jamie Moyer became the oldest player in history to throw a complete game shutout.  And of course, Halladay started off the 2010 postseason by hurling a no-hitter against the Reds in Game 1 of the N.L.D.S.  (See below for links to all the 2010 postseason Chachi cards.)

2010 Phillies in 2010 Topps
Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 20 Phillies cards in the base set and another seven Phillies cards in the update series.  There are also three veteran variation cards for Richie Ashburn, Steve Carlton and Robin Roberts.
Who's in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#122 Carlos Ruiz (c), #590 Ryan Howard (1b), #300 Chase Utley (2b), #403 Jimmy Rollins (ss), #US245 Placido Polanco (3b), #486 Raul Ibanez (lf), #23 Shane Victorino (cf), #334 Jayson Werth (rf)

Topps has a nice little streak going at this point, as the last time they didn't include all regular eight starting position players was with its 2001 set.  That was the year starting catcher Johnny Estrada was completely overlooked by Topps.

2010 Topps #70, #474, #188 and 2010 Topps Update #US95

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 5 cards

#US100 Roy Halladay, #70 Cole Hamels, #474 Kyle Kendrick, #188 Joe Blanton, #US95 Jamie Moyer

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2010 - 7 cards

#89 J.A. Happ, #424 David Herndon, #500 Brad Lidge, #630 Ben Francisco, #655 Ryan Madson, #US21 Roy Oswalt, #US318 Domonic Brown

• Base cards of players who did not play with the Phillies in 2010 - 2 cards

#132 Cliff Lee, #154 Pedro Feliz

• 2009 National League Leaders card - 1 card, #42 Ryan Howard (RBIs)
• Franchise History card - 1 card, #372 Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels

This was a nice little subset added by Topps in its 2010 set.  The front of the card features Howard and Hamels following the conclusion of the 2008 World Series and the back of the card contains a listing of the franchise's all-time, active and prior season leaders in various statistical categories.

• 2010 National League All-Star cards - 2 cards, #US30 Roy Halladay and #US265 Ryan Howard
• Team/Manager card - 1 card, #134 Victorino, Rollins, Utley and Howard on front, Charlie Manuel on back

2010 Topps #500, #655, 2010 Topps Phillies #PHI17 and 2010 Topps Update #US21

Who's out:  The bench guys were largely ignored in the set - Wilson Valdez, Greg Dobbs, Brian Schneider and Ross Gload.  Key bullpen cogs Chad Durbin, Jose Contreras, J.C. Romero and Danys Baez were also omitted, although Romero received a card in the Topps Phillies retail set.

2010 Topps #372

Phillies on other teams:  There's a bunch of these given all the moves made by the Phillies during the offseason and within the regular season.  Halladay (#200, Blue Jays), Polanco (#263, Tigers) and Oswalt (#586, Astros) would appear on Phillies cards within the Update set.  Short timers Nate Robertson (#84, Tigers) and Mike Sweeney (#157, Mariners) would not ever appear on a (non-virtual) Phillies baseball card.
What's he doing here:  I guess it's a little puzzling that Feliz was given a Phillies card in series one, as he became a free agent on November 9, 2009 and signed with the Astros in early December.  By then, the Phils had tabbed Polanco to be their new starting third baseman.

Cards that never were candidates:  If you want a team set featuring the 25-man postseason roster, cards are needed for Gload, Sweeney, Valdez, Schneider, Durbin, Contreras and Antonio Bastardo.
Favorite Phillies card:  It's a tie between the Franchise History card with Hamels and Howard, and the team card featuring key Phillies players following one of their many wins from this era.

2010 Topps #200, 2010 Topps Opening Day #89, 2010 Topps Phillies #PHI7 and 2010 Topps Phillies Factory Set Bonus #PHI1

Other Stuff
Recycled:  This was the year of the Halladay #32/#34 debacle.  Once Halladay was acquired from the Blue Jays in December 2009, the graphic guys at Topps went to work transforming the photo used on his series one card into a Phillies card for their Opening Day set.  Except they neglected to look up that Halladay's #32 was retired by the Phillies thanks to Hall of Famer Carlton's stellar career.  They remedied the issue with a third card found within the Topps Phillies retail set.  Finally, here's a handy little reference to the different 2010 Topps-related Phillies variations available across four different sets and the bonus five-card set found within the special Phillies-themed factory set.  Any variation from the card appearing in the flagship set is noted.

Updates to the Above Chart:  The Halladay factory set bonus card actually features a vertical photograph, unlike his base card.  Brown also has a 2010 Topps-style card in the Red Hot Rookie Redemptions set, featuring a different photo than his base card.

Memory Lane:  After each and every postseason game, I created a Chachi card (complete with backs!) and posted a game summary.

N.L.D.S. Game 1 - Phillies 4, Reds 0 - Doctober Begins with No-Hitter
N.L.D.S. Game 2 - Phillies 7, Reds 4 - Reds Deliver Gift-Wrapped Win to Phils
N.L.D.S. Game 3 - Phillies 2, Reds 0 - Hamels Shuts Down the Reds
N.L.D.S. Clincher

N.L.C.S. Game 1 - Giants 4, Phillies 3 - Phils Undone by Lincecum, Ross & Burrell
N.L.C.S. Game 2 - Phillies 6, Giants 1 - Phils Even Up Series Behind Oswalt & Rollins
N.L.C.S. Game 3 - Giants 3, Phillies 0 - Phils Offense Goes AWOL
N.L.C.S. Game 4 - Giants 6, Phillies 5 - Phillies Fall Short in Game 4
N.L.C.S. Game 5 - Phillies 4, Giants 2 - Doc Gives the Giants Their Medicine
N.L.C.S. Game 6 - Giants 3, Phillies 2 - Giants Stun Phillies

1954 Bowman #15 Richie Ashburn

This is the last of the six cards I received from my Mom this Christmas, and it might just be my favorite of the bunch.  The 1954 Bowman set has really grown on me, and this card of Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn brings me one card closer to completing the Phillies team set.  As of this writing, I need just four more Phillies cards and I'll have all 14 Phillies appearing in Bowman's penultimate release.

It's also worth noting that I've replaced five cards originally appearing on this list, with five more "Most Wanted - Vintage" cards on the sidebar.  The quest continues!

2013 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1998 Upper Deck Scott Rolen
Part 2 - 1968 Topps Phillies Team Card
Part 3 - 1966 Topps Bob Uecker
Part 4 - 1955 Bowman Robin Roberts
Part 5 - 1965 Topps Johnny Callison
Part 6 - 1954 Bowman Richie Ashburn

2012 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim

Part 1 - 1941 Double Play Litwhiler & May

Part 2 - 1963 Topps John Herrnstein rookie card (featuring Willie Stargell)

Part 3 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 1

Part 4 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 2

Part 5 - 1950 Bowman Del Ennis

2011 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim

Part 1 - Continuing a Tradition

Part 2 - 1971 Topps Set - 13 More Down

Part 3 - 1952 Topps Phillies

Part 4 - 1951 Bowman Phillies

Part 5 - Curt Simmons - Two New Bowman Cards

Part 6 - 1955 Bowman and Topps Phillies

Phillies Yearbooks Want List

** All Phillies Yearbooks acquired in October 2023 **

 

Every once in a while, I stumble upon an old* Phillies Yearbook for sale and I end up not pulling the trigger because I can't remember if I have it or not.  I'm adding this list to my blog so that I can always access what I have and what I need.

And if you have a spare 1956 Phillies Yearbook laying around, feel free to contact me and I'll find it a climate-controlled, comfortable home.

*Pre-1973

Need
1949
1950-1952, 1954-1959
1961-1962, 1964

Have
1953
1960, 1963, 1965-1969
1970-1979, including both editions from 1977
1980-2021

Scanning in the front cover of the 1976 Phillies Yearbook made me think about how cool a separate gallery of all the Phillies Yearbook covers would look.  The team did something similar to this for the cover of its 1983 Yearbook, but I don't know of any other place where you could view the covers of all the Phillies Yearbooks since 1949.  Perhaps this should be one of my first 2014 projects . . .

Phillies Media Guides Want List

1965 Topps #310 Johnny Callison

Next up in the journey through the awesome Phillies cards received from my Mom for Christmas is this fantastic specimen of a honest-to-goodness, genuine, All-American vintage baseball card.  I know I've mentioned this before, but I'm very excited about the upcoming 2014 Topps Heritage set, which will borrow the design of the original 1965 Topps set.  I've also mentioned somewhere before that if I was ever to decide to collect a complete Topps set from the 1960s, it would definitely be the 1965 Topps set.

Callison was in the midst of the best years of his career when this card was released and Topps did a nice job of mentioning Callison's huge game-winning home run in the 1964 All-Star Game on the back.

* * *

So speaking of collecting the 2014 Topps Heritage set . . . I think I'm going to save up and buy a box or two for my oldest son and I to open.  (I refuse to use the verbs "rip" or "bust" when referring to the opening of a group of packs found in box form, as the younger collectors/whipper snappers do these days.)

Where should I purchase these box(es)?  I've read about bloggers purchasing from Blowout Cards before, but is that the best way to go?  And I would think that pre-ordering is the thing to do?  I haven't opened a new box of baseball cards since way back when my wife Jenna and I were trying to put together the 2008 Topps Heritage set, so it's been a while.

1955 Bowmans - Robin Roberts & Mickey Mantle

1955 Bowman #171

Happy New Year!  I for one am looking forward to 2014 and I'm excited for what's to come.

* * *

Sitting in my Mom's living room on the day after Christmas opening presents, I knew as soon as I had reached "the box."  The box is an annual tradition that began way back when we were living on 12th Street.  Among the many gifts under the tree, there would be a wrapped shoe box that contained several individually wrapped smaller presents.  Those smaller presents bore the unmistakable shape and size of a baseball card housed inside a top loader.  Every year, I take my time opening the contents of "the box," cherishing each new treasure being added to my collection.

This year was no different.  My Mom has four grandchildren now, so 95% of the present-opening focus is on them, as it should be.  The adults in the room share among the other 5% of the present-opening focus.  This year, as the kids marveled at their new toys,  I came across "the box" in my modest pile of presents.  My Mom turned her attention to me when she noticed I was about to start opening the six individually wrapped rectangles.  "There's one in there I'm not happy with at all," she said.  

The card at the top of this post is the card to which she was referring.  It's a bit beat up and there's some sort of splotch in the lower left-hand corner.  The card was accurately labelled as "Good" and it probably wouldn't fit in with most collections.

But it's a 1955 Bowman Robin Roberts card, received as a Christmas present from my Mom, and that's all that matters to me.  

It's been well-loved and it was spared some kid's bicycle spokes in the mid-1950s.  It fits in nicely with my other 1955 Bowman Phillies cards, and I'm now just six cards away from a complete team set.  Besides being an awesome set, the 1955 Bowmans hold some sentimental value to me as well.  These are some of the cards my Dad collected as a kid, and whenever he held a 1955 Bowman card in his hands he'd look at me and remark, "Boy, I had all of these.  ALL of them."  Tragically, his boyhood stash of baseball cards found their way to the curb once he left for college.

With the help of my Mom, I'm getting them back one card at a time.

* * *

Related to this, I wanted to share a quick non-Phillies story.  My Dad's mother (my Mom-Mom) passed away when I was 11 and we were tasked with the job of cleaning up her house.  My Dad had held out hope that maybe some of his old baseball cards were stashed away in a forgotten box somewhere.  On what was possibly the last day I was ever in that house, we found this on the floor of the attic.

At the time, I had no idea how old the card was, or what set it had come from.  All I knew was that it was the back of a Mickey Mantle card, and all of Mantle's cards were extremely valuable.  My Dad leaned down, picked up the card and flipped it over.

What greeted us was the blank piece of cardboard seen here.  My Dad would have been 11 when the 1955 Bowman set came out, and this Mantle was one of his doubles.  He vaguely remembered separating the front picture from the cardboard backing and either hanging the picture on his bulletin board or gluing it into a long-lost album somewhere.  We were more than a little disappointed and my Dad's faint hope of being reunited with his old baseball card collection was completely dashed.

Even though it's only the back of a vintage Mickey Mantle card, this little piece of cardboard still has an important place in my collection.  It's the sole survivor from my Mom-Mom's long ago baseball card purge and I'm happy to have it today.

1966 Topps #91A Bob Uecker

Rest assured you have navigated successfully to The Phillies Room and I'm not switching over to a blog about the Cardinals and their baseball cards for the coming new year.  My Mom included this Bob Uecker card in her Christmas present to me and I asked her if she knew why I had included it on my Phillies want lists.  "I was sure you had a reason," was her response.

And I did.  My reasoning for wanting this card is that Uecker was traded by the Cardinals to the Phillies in October 1965 for Pat Corrales, Alex Johnson and Art Mahaffey.  Joining Uecker in Philadelphia were Dick Groat and Bill White.  Uecker spent the entire 1966 season with the Phillies, hitting .208 in 78 games as the back-up to regular catcher Clay Dalrymple.  He was traded to the Braves in June 1967, having appeared on just one mainstream baseball card as a member of the Phillies - the 1967 Topps card seen here.

This card, appearing in the first series of the 1966 Topps set, was issued too soon in order to feature Uecker with his new team.  However, there's a version of the card on which the very last line of the write-up on the back makes mention of Uecker's new affiliation for the upcoming 1966 season.  And now thanks to my Mom, it will join the rest of the 1966 Topps Phillies within my 1960s Phillies binder.

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Happy New Year from The Phillies Room to you and your family!  Here's to a wonderful 2014!

1968 Topps #477 Phillies Team

I'm steadily chipping away at my complete run of Topps Phillies team sets dating back to 1951 and the card featured here was the last card needed to complete my 30-card team set from the 1968 Topps offering.  If you're unfamiliar with this set, I'll wait here while you check out the highly recommended 1968 Topps Baseball blog.  When you're back, you can also click over to my post from a few years ago detailing the Phillies cards in the 1968 Topps set.

Now that I have the 1968 Topps Phillies team set out of the way, I'm going to turn my attention to the 1965, 1966 and 1967 Topps Phillies team sets.  The cards I still need can be found here.

This Phillies team card was one of the six cards I received from my Mom for Christmas.  I'm working my way backward, starting with the 1998 Upper Deck Scott Rolen card I posted a few days ago.  When I get another break in the action from playing with my two sons and all their new Christmas presents, I'll post the next card from the mini-haul.

1998 Upper Deck #613 Scott Rolen

The virtual form of The Phillies Room has been quiet this week as we've been busy building with new Legos, playing new games on our new Wii U and enjoying the company of family and friends.  I'll be back in a few more days to show off some of the vintage Phillies cards that found their way into my collection as a result of my awesome Mom.  Thankfully, she still believes you're never too old to receive baseball cards for Christmas.

The newest Phillies card added to my collection is the Scott Rolen card seen here.  It's nothing special, as it comes from the under appreciated 1998 Upper Deck set.  But somehow this card had eluded my collection for the past 15 years.  I had never even seen the card before until I unwrapped it at my Mom's house the day after Christmas.  For 15 years, I kept an empty pocket among the Upper Deck Phillies team set in my 1998 Phillies binder and it's nice to finally fill the pocket with this card.

2012 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1941 Double Play Litwhiler & May
Part 2 - 1963 Topps John Herrnstein rookie card (featuring Willie Stargell)
Part 3 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 1
Part 4 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 2
Part 5 - 1950 Bowman Del Ennis

2011 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim

Part 1 - Continuing a Tradition

Part 2 - 1971 Topps Set - 13 More Down

Part 3 - 1952 Topps Phillies

Part 4 - 1951 Bowman Phillies

Part 5 - Curt Simmons - Two New Bowman Cards

Part 6 - 1955 Bowman and Topps Phillies

And as a sneak preview of what's to come, it's important to note that five of the ten cards on this list (featured on the sidebar) . . . have now been crossed off.

Merry Christmas!

2010 Phillies Fan Appreciation Day Postcards #8

All the best from The Phillies Room to you and yours.  Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater in 49 days.