1991 Medford Phillies

I updated this post here in October 2020 and this original post is now outdated.

 
Number of Cards:  46
Card Size:  4 1/8" x 6"
Description:  For the third 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.  Medford Food Company took over sponsorship of the set in 1991, and they'd sponsor the set for the next two years.

How Distributed:  The original 35-card base set was available for sale at Veterans Stadium throughout the 1991 season.  Details vary as to how the 11-card update series was originally distributed.  The 2001 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards describes two updates being issued.  The first update being the three card highlight set featuring white bordered cards celebrating the the team's two recent no-hitters and Dale Murphy's 2,000 career hit.

The second update, according to the Catalog, contained eight cards and featured new manager Jim Fregosi, the Phillie Phanatic and six new Phillies players.  I have no recollection of purchasing two separate update sets at the Vet during the 1991 season, but my memory is admittedly starting to get a bit foggy.

Complete Standard Checklist (35):  The cards are unnumbered, but I've presented them below ordered by uniform number.

2 - Larry Bowa CO 3 - Dale Murphy 4 - Lenny Dykstra 6 - Wally Backman 8 - Charlie Hayes 9 - Von Hayes 10 - Darren Daulton 11 - Sil Campusano 12 - Mickey Morandini 13 - Roger McDowell 14 - Denis Menke CO 15 - Dave Hollins 17 - Ricky Jordan 18 - John Vukovich CO 21 - Dickie Thon 22 - Hal Lanier CO 23 - Randy Ready 24 - Darrin Fletcher

25 - Steve Lake 29 - John Kruk 30 - Joe Boever 31 - Wes Chamberlain 33 - John Morris 34 - Danny Cox 35 - Darrel Akerfelds 37 - Rod Booker 38 - Pat Combs 40 - Andy Ashby 43 - Ken Howell 45 - Terry Mulholland 46 - Johnny Podres CO 48 - Jason Grimsley 49 - Tommy Greene 52 - Tim Mauser 54 - Jose DeJesus

Complete Update Checklist (11):

Dale Murphy HL Terry Mulholland HL Tommy Greene HL 11 - Jim Fregosi MG 26 - Ron Jones 28 - Mitch Williams

39 - Wally Ritchie 47 - Bruce Ruffin 50 - Steve Searcy 55 - Jim Lindeman Phillie Phanatic

One and Done (0)
First Appearances (9):  Backman, Chamberlain, Cox, Fletcher, Lindeman, Mauser, Morris, Searcy, Williams
Returning Players (27):  Akerfelds, Ashby, Boever, Booker, Campusano, Combs, Daulton, DeJesus, Dykstra, Greene, Grimsley, C. Hayes, V. Hayes, Hollins, Howell, Jones, Jordan, Kruk, Lake, McDowell, Morandini, Mulholland, Murphy, Ready, Ritchie, 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):  Fregosi.  I find it strange that all the coaches received cards in the first set, but the manager at the beginning of the season (Nick Leyva) was omitted.  Leyva was fired on April 23rd, so my guess is that this set wasn't finalized until after his departure . . . or the first series originally contained 36 cards and the Leyva card was pulled after his firing.
Coaches (5):  Bowa, Lanier, Menke, Podres, Vukovich
Phillie Phanatic (1):  The Phanatic is shown posing while sitting on his ATV.
Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (3):  Greene, Mulholland, Murphy

Mulholland's card celebrates his no-hitter from August 15, 1990, while Green's celebrates his no-hitter from May 23, 1991.  Murphy's card commemorates his 2,000th hit on May 29, 1991.

Variations/Rarities:  As Rick points out in his comment below, the Phillies issued the following cards at the annual ALS fund raising event (Phillies Phestival) for former Phillies signing autographs at the event.

Harry Anderson Gene Garber Maje McDonnell

Ron Reed Eddie Sawyer Curt Simmons

Also See:  Scrapbook Sunday - August 12, 1991
Trivia:  The Beckett database omits the update series and only lists the 35 cards from the base set.  Lindeman's uniform number is listed as #55, which is the number he wore during spring training.  He switched to #19 before the season started, taking the number most recently occupied before him by Kruk.
Resources:  Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)