1965 Topps Phillies

1965 Topps #460, #225, #36 and #72

If I were to collect one complete Topps set from the '60s, this would be the one.  I love the look of the pennant on the front of the card, and it's nice to see team logos on the cards for the first time since 1960.  Budgetary constraints are really the only thing holding me back, as 99% of my baseball card buying budget these days goes to tracking down Phillies cards.  However, once a set collector, always a set collector, and I foresee a day when I'm putting together my 1965 Topps wantlist.  For the record, not including Phillies cards, I have two 1965 Topps cards in my collection - #16, the Joe Morgan rookie card and #174, Joe Jay.

The Set

1996 FanFest Carlton #4

Number of cards in the set:  There are 598 cards in the complete set.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  It's awesome.  Why haven't I started collected this set yet?  Oh yeah, budgetary constraints.  The set also features Steve Carlton's rookie card at card #477.  Lefty would go on to be a pretty good pitcher.  (Fritz Ackley, who originally shared Carlton's rookie card with him, was left off this "reprint" available at the 1996 All-Star Game FanFest.)

Notable competition:  It seems as if 1965 was a dry year for any kind of baseball cards other than Topps.  There are a few Phillies in the 36-card Bazooka issue and a few Phillies are in the Old London Chips coins set.  That's pretty much it.

1965 Phillies

Record and finish:  A year after the heart break, the Phillies finished with a record of 85-76, in 6th place and 11 1/2 games behind the first place Dodgers.

Key players:  Right fielder Johnny Callison had another stellar year at the plate, hitting .262 with 32 home runs and 101 RBIs.  Third baseman Richie Allen (.302, 20 home runs, 85 RBIs) and First baseman Dick Stuart (.234, 28 home runs, 95 RBIs) enjoyed fine years as well.  Chris Short (18-11, 2.82 ERA, five shutouts) and Jim Bunning (19-9, 2.60 ERA, seven shutouts) led the pitching staff.

1965 Topps #225 (Back)

Key events:  The big off-season acquisitions were Stuart, or Dr. Strangeglove, as he was known, and pitcher Bo Belinsky.  Belinsky clashed with manager Gene Mauch during a season in which he struggled to a 4-9 record with a 4.84 ERA.  On July 3, Frank Thomas was released following the game in which he had hit the game-winning home run.  The reason for the release was a fight Thomas had instigated with Allen.  22-year-old Ferguson Jenkins made his Major League debut on September 10, 1965.  He appeared in seven games, striking out ten in 12 1/3 innings.

1965 Phillies in 1965 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set: There's an all-time high of 30 cards in the 1965 Topps Phillies team set.  The tally so far is 178 Topps Phillies cards between 1960 and 1965, and 351 Topps Phillies cards since 1951.

Who’s in:  I'm going to start breaking this down differently going forward, as the team set size continues to expand -

 Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 1965 - 22 cards
 1965 Rookie Stars cards - 2 cards (Pat Corrales/Costen Shockley and Dave Bennett/Morrie Steevens)
 Phillies minor leaguers - 3 cards (John Boozer, Dallas Green, Rick Wise)
 Manager card - 1 (Mauch)
 Team card - 1
 League Leader card - 1 (Callison with the other 1964 N.L. Home Run Leaders)

1965 Topps #203, #163, #123 and #399

Who’s out: Outfielder Adolfo Phillips appeared in 41 games and reliever Gary Wagner pitched in 59 games for the Phillies.  Both would have to wait for the 1966 Topps set for their first Phillies cards.  And of course, Short is still Topps-less.

Phillies on other teams:  Reliever Lew Burdette (#64) was purchased from the Cubs in May and reliever Ryne Duren (#339) signed with the Phils after his release from the Reds in April.  (The Phils would release him in June.)

What’s he doing here:  Shockley appears with Corrales on card #107, despite having been traded to the Angels with Rudy May in December 1963 for Belinsky.  (May's rookie card appears at card #537).

Cards that never were candidates:  Short, Phillips, Wagner and a pre-rookie card for Jenkins.

Favorite Phillies card:  Most of the Phillies look happy in their 1965 Topps cards, despite the events of the prior year.  The Allen, Bunning and Corrales cards have always been favorites of mine, but the first 1965 Topps Phillies card in my collection was Green's card.  For that reason, it tops the others.

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Thomas and Bunning had their cards reprinted in the 2001 and 2002 Topps Archives sets, respectively.  Allen is featured in a slightly different pose on his 2004 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites card.  The 2003 Upper Deck Vintage set borrows heavily from the 1965 Topps design, giving collectors a very early preview of the 2014 Topps Heritage set.


2002 Topps Archives #142, 2004 Topps All-Tim Fan Favorites #117, 2003 Upper Deck Vintage #144 and #142



Blogs/Websites:  The Orioles Card "O" the Day is daily reading for me, and I've also enjoyed following along with Kevin on his quest to complete a complete 1965 Topps set over at the The Great 1965 Topps Project.  If you're not following along, you're missing out.

Did You Know?:  I've mentioned it several times on this blog, but I love baseball cards that feature the team logo prominently on the front of the card.  Inexplicably, Topps would go 20 years before including a team logo on the front of flagship set's cards again.  Maybe that's one of the reasons I've always liked the 1985 Topps set.

Happy Easter!