Marlins Park - Miami, FL
Phillies 36-46, 5th Place, 8 1/2 games behind the Braves
Marlins 39-43, 3rd Place, 5 1/2 games behind the Braves
Phillies Probables: A.J. Burnett (5-7, 3.89), Cole Hamels (2-4, 2.84), Kyle Kendrick (3-8, 4.22)
Marlins Probables: Henderson Alvarez (5-3, 2.32), Tom Koehler (5-6, 3.70), Nathan Eovaldi (5-3, 3.71)
At the Ballpark: Other than some ticket specials and fireworks following the game on Thursday night, the only thing happening at Marlins Park is two floundering N.L. East teams squaring off against one another.
Phillies Leaders
Average: Chase Utley - .293
Runs: Chase Utley - 45
Home Runs: Marlon Byrd - 15
RBIs: Ryan Howard - 51
Stolen Bases: Ben Revere - 23
Wins: A.J. Burnett - 5
ERA: Cole Hamels - 2.84
Strikeouts: Cole Hamels - 91
Saves: Jonathan Papelbon - 18
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| 1988 Topps Traded #30T and #71T |
Counting Jim Poole, who pitched briefly for the Phillies in 1999, there are three future Phillies within the 1988 Topps Traded USA team set.
Pitcher Pat Combs was already Phillies property by the time the Topps Traded set was released, having been drafted by the team that June and signing shortly thereafter. He made his Major League debut in September 1989, and had everyone extremely excited for the 1990 season when he went 4-0 in six starts with a 2.09 ERA. Combs showed flashes of brilliance during the next three seasons with the Phils, but arm troubles precluded him from ever regaining the nearly untouchable status he attained in September 1989.
Second baseman Mickey Morandini was also selected by the Phillies in the June 1988 draft, but he waited until September 1990 to make his big league debut. Morandini played with the Phillies for nine seasons, and he's now a coach for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
I am torn because I really liked the USA cards, but I see your point about veterans being excluded. Maybe if Topps had included a subset in the 1989 set like the 85 it would have been better. Although it probably would have been smaller and then some players would have been left out like Barry Larkin and Will Clark in 85. It's basically a no-win situation, but Topps unsurprisingly went for the cash grab from the prospectors.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I had always loved the traded set because it featured mostly veteran players on their new teams. If there were any rookies (Ripken comes to mind) they were guys you knew and it made sense that they'd be included in the traded series. In my mind, 1988 marked the beginning of the end of the era where I knew every single player featured in the set.
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