The Phillies Room: 1986 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  49
Card Size:  3 1/2" x 5 1/4"
Description:  With the exception of the copyright date on the bottom right, these photo cards are identical in design to the set issued in 1985. Fronts feature a full color picture and the backs include brief biographical notes on each player, coach or manager. The multi-player Future Phillies cards return for a second year in a row and each of the four National League pennant winning teams from the franchise's past get their own team cards.

How Distributed:  The set's entry in the 2001 Standard Catalog Baseball Cards notes the "cards were given away at the Phillies' annual baseball card promotion." Double checking the team's promotional schedule for the season, there's no actual mention of a photo card giveaway day. My best guess is that these sets were available for sale at Veterans Stadium throughout the season.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the front of cards):

1. Luis Aguayo (#16 - INF)
2. Larry Andersen (#47 - RHP)
3. Steve Bedrosian (#40 - RHP)
4. Steve Carlton (#32 - LHP)
5. Don Carman (#42 - LHP)
6. Rocky Childress (#50 - RHP)
7. Darren Daulton (#10 - C)
8. Jim Davenport (#2 - CO)
9. Lee Elia (#4 - CO)
10. John Felske (#7 - MG)
11. Tom Foley (#11 - SS)
12. Greg Gross (#21 - OF-1B)
13. Kevin Gross (#46 - RHP)
14. Von Hayes (#9 - 1B)
15. Charles Hudson (#49 - RHP)
16. Tom Hume (#41 - RHP)
17. Chris James (#26 - OF)

18. Steve Jeltz (#30 - SS)
19. Joe Lefebvre (#23 - OF)
20. Randy Lerch (#35 - LHP)
21. Garry Maddox (#31 - OF)
22. Claude Osteen (#3 - CO)
23. Shane Rawley (#28 - LHP)
24. Gary Redus (#22 - LF)
25. Ronn Reynolds (#29 - C)
26. Robin Roberts (#36 - HOF)
27. Dave Rucker (#39 - LHP)
28. John Russell (#6 - C)
29. Mike Ryan (#5 - CO)
30. Juan Samuel (#8 - 2B)
31. Mike Schmidt (#20 - 3B)
32. Rick Schu (#15 - INF)
33. Dave Shipanoff (#33 - RHP)

34. Dave Stewart (#48 - RHP)
35. Jeff Stone (#14 - OF)
36. Kent Tekulve (#27 - RHP)
37. Milt Thompson (#24 - CF)
38. Fred Toliver (#43 - RHP)
39. Del Unser (#25 - CO)
40. Glenn Wilson (#12 - RF)
41. Ramon Carabello / Joe Cipolloni
42. Arturo Gonzalez / Mike Maddux
43. Francisco Melendez / Ricky Jordan
44. Kevin Ward / Randy Day
45. 1915 Phillies Team
46. 1950 Phillies Team
47. 1980 Phillies Team
48. 1983 Phillies Team
49. June 11, 1985 - A Night to Remember

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (0)

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (11): Bedrosian, Foley, Hume, Redus, Reynolds, Rucker, Shipanoff, Stewart, Tekulve, Thompson, Toliver
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (22): Aguayo, Andersen, Carman, Carlton, Childress, Daulton, G. Gross, K. Gross, Hayes, Hudson, James, Jeltz, Lefebvre, Lerch, Maddox, Rawley, Russell, Samuel, Schmidt, Schu, Stone, Wilson

Manager (1): Felske
Coaches (5): Davenport, Elia, Osteen, Ryan, Unser

Commemorative Cards (1): Roberts
Other Cards (5): Four pennant winning team cards; June 11, 1985 commemorative card

The "Night to Remember" photo card commemorates the night the Phillies defeated the Mets 26-7, thanks in part to two first inning home runs from Von Hayes. Hayes, Glenn Wilson, Juan Samuel, Mike Schmidt, Garry Maddox and Bo Diaz are all featured on the card in a Dick Perez painting.

Surprises: Robin Roberts was presumably a guest instructor during spring training 1986, hence his inclusion in the set. I always think it's odd seeing former Phillies wear current uniforms they themselves didn't wear during their playing days. Seeing Roberts in maroon pinstriped jersey is just strange. Dave Shipanoff is the only player to receive his own solo card not to appear in a game with the Phillies in 1986.

Omissions: This is a very comprehensive set, featuring the entire 25-man opening day roster, the two players who started the season on the disabled list (Tom Foley and Tom Hume) and solo photo cards for six players who started the season at Triple-A Portland - Jeff Stone, Chris James, Ronn Reynolds, Randy Lerch, Fred Toliver and Rocky Childress. The checklist creators missed out on five players who would start the season in the minors and make an appearance with the Phillies during 1986 - Greg Legg, Michael Jackson, Jeff Bittiger, Bruce Ruffin and Marvin Freeman. Legg was the first one up, getting recalled on April 14th when Samuel landed on the disabled list.

Variations/Rarities: Surprisingly, none.

Also See: Scrapbook Sunday: February 21, 1986

Resources: Beckett.com

This set was originally featured in a post back in October 2014, and I'm going through these older team-issued set posts to update them with new information learned (if any) over the past six years.