1990 Phillies Team Issue

I updated this post here in July 2023 and this original post is now outdated.

 
Number of Cards:  45
Card Size:  4 1/8" x 6"
Description:  For the second year in a row, the card fronts feature an action photo with the player's, coach's or manager's name in a red band with white text.  The card backs feature biographical information along with complete career statistics.  The set is sponsor-less, as Tastykake sponsored its final set in 1989 and the Medford Food Company wouldn't come along as the new sponsor until 1991.

How Distributed:  It took me years to track down this set, and I finally found one in late September at The Philly Show.  The dealer I bought the set from told me these cards were never sold in complete set form and that he had hand-collated the entire 1990 set.  According to him, the cards were distributed four or five at a time throughout the season at Veterans Stadium.  An eight-card update set was produced very late in the season, featuring what was most likely Dale Murphy's first Phillies baseball card.  Murphy was acquired from the Braves on August 3rd.

Complete Standard Checklist (37):  The cards are unnumbered, but I've presented them below ordered by uniform number.

4 - Lenny Dykstra 6 - Sil Campusano 8 - Charlie Hayes 9 - Von Hayes 10 - Darren Daulton 11 - John Kruk 13 - Roger McDowell 15 - Dave Hollins 16 - Nick Leyva MG 17 - Ricky Jordan 21 - Dickie Thon 23 - Randy Ready 24 - Carmelo Martinez 25 - Steve Lake 26 - Ron Jones 27 - Curt Ford 28 - Tom Herr 31 - Jim Vatcher 35 - Darrel Akerfelds

37 - Rod Booker 38 - Pat Combs 39 - Dennis Cook 42 - Don Carman 43 - Ken Howell 45 - Terry Mulholland 47 - Bruce Ruffin 49 - Jeff Parrett 51 - Chuck McElroy 54 - Jason Grimsley 1 - Richie Ashburn RET 20 - Mike Schmidt RET 32 - Steve Carlton RET 36 - Robin Roberts RET Phillie Phanatic Phillies Coaches Phillies Broadcasters PRISM Broadcasters

Complete Update Checklist (8):

3 - Dale Murphy 30 - Joe Boever 34 - Dickie Noles 46 - Brad Moore

48 - Marvin Freeman 49 - Tommy Greene 53 - Chuck Malone 54 - Jose DeJesus

One and Done (0)
First Appearances (15):  Akerfelds, Boever, Booker, Campusano, Combs, DeJesus, Freeman, Greene, Grimsley, Hollins, Malone, Martinez, McElroy, Murphy, Vatcher
Returning Players (21):  Carman, Cook, Daulton, Dykstra, Ford, C. Hayes, V. Hayes, Herr, Howell, Jones, Jordan, Kruk, Lake, McDowell, Moore, Mulholland, Noles, Parrett, Ready, Ruffin, Thon

The First Appearance designation is for players who have never before appeared within a Phillies team issued set.  These players may have already appeared on other Phillies baseball cards.

Manager (1):  Leyva
Coaches (1):  The coach's card features Larry Bowa, Darold Knowles, Hal Lanier, Denis Menke, Mike Ryan and John Vukovich.
Phillie Phanatic (1):  The Phanatic returns after a one year absence.  The photo used pictures him atop the Phillies dugout.
Broadcasters (2):  The core TV/radio broadcast team of Richie Ashburn, Harry Kalas, Andy Musser and Chris Wheeler are featured on a card.  The PRISM broadcast team of Jim Barniak, Garry Maddox and Mike Schmidt are featured on another.
Commemorative Cards (4):  Ashburn, Carlton, Roberts and Schmidt

Schmidt's #20 was retired in a pre-game ceremony on May 26th, and cards of the four players to have their numbers retired - Ashburn, Roberts, Carlton and Schmidt - are included in the set.  Also of interest is Schmidt's first card as a broadcaster, featuring him with his fellow PRISM broadcasters.  Schmidt's first stint as a broadcaster lasted just the one season.

For those of you not in the Philadelphia area, PRISM was the Philadelphia-based HBO equivalent that broadcast a handful of Phillies games every year between 1976 and 1997.

Variations/Rarities:  Fellow collector Rick left a few comments on this post and sent me an e-mail with scans showing cards made available at the 1990 ALS fund raising event (now the Phillies Phestival) at Veterans Stadium.  The Phillies issued cards celebrating the ten year anniversary of the 1980 World Champions, issuing the ten cards listed below.  Solo cards were also issued for coaches Bowa and Lanier.

2 - Larry Bowa CO 22 - Hal Lanier CO Larry Bowa Dallas Green MG Greg Gross Greg Luzinski

Garry Maddox Bake McBride Tug McGraw Paul Owens Manny Trillo Del Unser

Also See:  The Mysterious Jim Vatcher Card
Trivia:  The Beckett database incorrectly lists the set as "1990 Phillies Tastykake" even through the Tastykake logo or name is nowhere to be found on the set.  The Beckett database also omits the eight update cards.  The 2001 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards lists the set at "1990 Phillies Photocards," and omits the Vatcher card from the main set.  For years, my want list for this set included only 44 cards as most published checklists for the set omit the Vatcher card.
Resources:  Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)