Saturday, January 10, 2015

1974 Phillies Photocards

I updated this post here in November 2020 and this original post is now outdated.
 
Number of Cards:  39
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  As was the case with all Phillies photocards issued throughout the 1970s, these cards feature a black and white photo with the players' name below.  The backs of the cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1974.  With the exception of the cards for Ollie Brown, Jay Johnstone and Pete Richert, all cards have a blue facsimile autograph on the front.

How Distributed:  The cards were handed out to fans individually and supplied to the players in order to reply to fan mail or to honor autograph requests.  I could be wrong, but I don't believe the cards were ever originally available in complete set form.

Complete Standard Checklist:
  • Mike Anderson
  • Carroll Beringer CO
  • Bob Boone
  • Larry Bowa
  • Ollie Brown
  • Steve Carlton
  • Dave Cash
  • Larry Christenson
  • Larry Cox
  • George Culver
  • Billy DeMars CO
  • Ron Diorio
  • Jim Essian
  • Ed Farmer
  • Gene Garber (late addition)
  • Bill Grabarkewitz
  • Terry Harmon
  • Jesus Hernaiz
  • Tommy Hutton
  • Jay Johnstone
  • Frank Linzy
  • Jim Lonborg
  • Greg Luzinski
  • Willie Montanez
  • Danny Ozark MG
  • Pete Richert
  • Ray Rippelmeyer CO
  • Bill Robinson
  • Mike Rogodzinski
  • Dick Ruthven
  • Mac Scarce
  • Mike Schmidt
  • Ron Schueler
  • Tony Taylor
  • Wayne Twitchell
  • Del Unser
  • Mike Wallace
  • Eddie Watt
  • Bobby Wine CO
One and Done (3):  Hernaiz, Linzy, Richert
First Appearances (8):  Brown, Cash, Cox, Farmer, Garber, Johnstone, Schueler, Watt
Returning Players (23):  Anderson, Boone, Bowa, Carlton, Christenson, Culver, Diorio, Essian, Grabarkewitz, Harmon, Hutton, Lonborg, Luzinski, Montanez, Robinson, Rogodzinski, Ruthven, Scarce, Schmidt, Taylor, Twitchell, Unser, Wallace

The first and last Phillies cards of Jesus Hernaiz (27 games), Frank Linzy (22 games) and Pete Richert (21 games) can be found in this set.  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.

Based on comments from Rick and Steve below, I've added Gene Garber to the checklist and I've removed the variation card that I originally listed for Mac Scarce.

Manager (1):  Ozark
Coaches (4):  Beringer, DeMars, Rippelmeyer, Wine
Phillie Phanatic (0)
Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (0)

Variations/Rarities:  The checklist found at The Trading Card Database lists four cards with autograph variations, featuring slightly different placements of the facsimile autograph.  As noted on the checklist above, there are also two different versions of Mac Scarce's card to be found.  I wasn't sure which version was more prevalent, so I've listed them both as part of the main checklist.
  • Larry Bowa (auto variation)
  • Jim Lonborg (auto variation)
  • Willie Montanez (auto variation)
  • Danny Ozark MG (auto variation)
Also See:  1974 Topps Stamps Phillies
Trivia:  I found the DeMars card featured here through an eBay search for "Phillies Photo."  It was only through the awesome photos provided at The Trading Card Database for this set that I was able to identify this card as being from 1974.  Collector Dave Sosidka uploaded the checklist and scans of all cards to the databse back in 2011.
Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Phillies collectors Steve and Rick (@rickphils)

3 comments:

Steve F. said...

My list for this year has Gene Garber as a late addition (as he came to the Phillies on July 12). But I don't have the card and I have never seen it. Maybe Rick has seen it?

Unknown said...

Yes there is a Gene Garber. Also, the "big smile" Mac Scarce is the 1973 team issue. The Phillies had composite photos that were a black and white 8.5x11 trifold with a schedule on the other side. It's easy to see the difference between the two Scarce cards by looking at the composites.

Jim said...

Thanks guys. I've added the Garber card and removed the Scarce "big smile" variation.