Game 29 - The Mattingly Era Begins

San Francisco Giants	0
Philadelphia Phillies	7

1985 Donruss #7

Tuesday Night, April 4th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
10-19, Tied for 4th Place, 10 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies played better baseball in interim manager Don Mattingly's first game at the helm, shutting out the Giants, 7-0.

What It Means:  It was a weird day to be a Phillies fan.  Popular manager Rob Thomson was fired, and the clear consensus was that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was more to blame for the current debacle than Thomson.  Still, I can't argue against needing a change, and the easiest and quickest way to do that is to fire the manager.  Thomson will likely return to the organization at some point in a front office role.  Mattingly, a likely future Hall of Famer, becomes the 57th manager in franchise history and I was interested to learn he's the oldest ever to manage his first game with the club.  Mattingly had previously managed with the Dodgers (2011-15) and Marlins (2016-22).

What Happened:  Jesus Luzardo figured something out and threw seven shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out eight.  Orion Kerkering and Tim Mayza pitched the final two scoreless innings, striking out four combined Giants batters.  Trea Turner was 4 for 5, with Bryce Harper, Adollis Garcia and Alec Bohm all collecting doubles in the 11-hit game for the Phillies.

Featured Card:  On any other day, Luzardo would be the easy choice for featured card, but 11-year-old me would have been thrilled to learn the player on this highly coveted card would one day manage the Phillies.

Transaction:  Thomas was "relieved of his duties" per the official press release, which is a gentler way of saying fired.  Mattingly was promoted to interim manager, third base coach Dusty Wathan was promoted to bench coach and IronPigs' manager Anthony Contreras was promoted to third base coach.  Roster-wise, Jonathan Bowlan (rhp) was activated from the injured list and Nolan Hoffman (rhp) was optioned down.

2026 Virtual Phillies Wall (Coming Soon) / 2026 Season Summary Index / 2026 Chachi Set Checklist

2022 Chachi #31 Figueroa / Wathan / Meacham / Dickerson CO

#38
Francisco Figueroa
First Base Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  180
Opening Day Age:  38
Born:  February 19, 1983, Miami, FL
As a Coach:  Philadelphia Phillies 2019-

First Phillies Minor League Card:  2011 Multi-Ad Reading Phillies #11
First Phillies Card:  2019 Phillies Team Issue #38
Newest Card Added:  2019 Phillies Team Issue 2 #38
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

3 - Figueroa baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/12/22.

Complete Chachi Checklist - Figueroa
2019 Chachi #28
2019 Chachi Photo Night #10
2020 Chachi #33
2021 Chachi #29
2022 Chachi #31

* * *

#92
Robert Andrew Meacham
Coaching Assistant

Bats:  Switch  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  175
Opening Day Age:  61
Born:  August 25, 1960, Los Angeles, CA
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1983-1988
As a Coach:  Florida Marlins 2006; San Diego Padres 2007; New York Yankees 2008; Houston Astros 2010-2012; Philadelphia Phillies 2020-

First Phillies Minor League Card:  2009 Choice Williamsport Crosscutters #31
First Phillies Card:  N/A
Newest Card Added:  2009 Choice Williamsport Crosscutters #31
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1984-1989

1 - Meacham baseball card in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/12/22.

Complete Chachi Checklist - Meacham
2020 Chachi #33
2021 Chachi #28
2022 Chachi #31

#62
Dustin James Wathan
Third Base Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  225
Opening Day Age:  48
Born:  August 22, 1973, Jacksonville, FL
Major League Teams:  Kansas City Royals 2002
As a Coach:  Philadelphia Phillies 2018-

First Phillies Minor League Card:   2006 Choice Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #24
First Phillies Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #62
Newest Card Added:  2019 Phillies Team Issue 2 #62
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

23 - Wathan baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/12/22.

Complete Chachi Checklist - Wathan
2018 Chachi #28
2019 Chachi #28
2019 Chachi Photo Night #14
2020 Chachi #33
2021 Chachi #29
2022 Chachi #31

* * *

#9
Bobby Dale Dickerson
Infield Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  180
Opening Day Age:  56
Born:  September 4, 1965, Laurel, MS
As a Coach:  Baltimore Orioles 2013-2018; Philadelphia Phillies 2019; San Diego Padres 2020-2021; Philadelphia Phillies 2022

First Phillies Card:  2019 Phillies Team Issue #39
Newest Card Added:  2019 Phillies Team Issue 2 #39
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (0):  N/A

2 - Dickerson baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/12/22.

Complete Chachi Checklist - Dickerson
2019 Chachi #29
2022 Chachi #31

1984 Topps #204

1985 Topps #16

1986 Topps #379

1988 Topps #659

1989 Topps #436

2022 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2022 Season Summary Index / 2022 Chachi Set Checklist

2022 Chachi #30 Phillies Coaches / 2022 Chachi #32 Phillies Coaches

Spring Training Game 21 - 2020 Topps 1985 Topps Baseball #85TB-AN Aaron Nola

Phillies 4, Yankees 0
Spring Training Game 21 - Monday Night, March 22nd in Tampa
Record - 10-10-1

One Sentence Summary:  Aaron Nola hosted a pitching clinic against the Yankees "A" line-up, tossing six shutout innings in this 4-0 Phillies win.

What It Means:  Earlier in the day, Nola was named the team's opening day starting pitcher.  It will be his fourth consecutive opening day start, the longest streak for the Phillies since Steve Carlton pitched 10 straight opening days between 1977 and 1986.

What Happened:  Nola allowed 1 hit and struck out 9 in his best start of the spring.  Brandon Kintzler, Tony Watson, Hector Neris and Enyel De Los Santos kept the Yankees from scoring over the final three innings.  The Phillies scored their first two runs courtesy of an RBI-single from Rhys Hoskins in the third and an RBI-double (lost in the lights) from Jeff Mathis in the fourth.  Didi Gregorius hit a two-run home run off his former team in the seventh.

Featured Card:  I haven't added any 2021 Nola cards to my collection yet, but I still have plenty of his cards from 2020 not yet featured in posts.  Topps celebrated the 35th anniversary of its 1985 set last season with cards in the style of that set appearing as inserts in packs of 2020 Topps.

Camp Head Count:  63 - 3 = 60.  Before the game, the Phillies optioned Ramon Rosso (rhp) and reassigned non-roster invitees Bryan Mitchell (rhp) and Michael Ynoa (rhp) to minor league camp.  While there are still technically 60 players in camp, 20 of those are on the mini-camp invitee list.  29 players remain from the Phillies 40-man roster with 11 of the non-roster invitees still in the mix - some more than others.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

1985 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  47
Card Size:  3 1/2" x 5 1/4"
Description:  Beginning in 1985, the Phillies used the exact same card design for three straight years.  The only differences with these cards are the photos used and the copyright line on the bottom right of the cards' fronts.  The design removes the Phillies script logo found on the 1984 cards and adds the player's uniform number and position.  The set's sponsor, Tastykake, has its logo featured on the backs of the cards.

How Distributed:  All fans attending the Phillies game at Veterans Stadium on April 21, 1985, received a complete shrink-wrapped set with a header/checklist card on the top.  The back of the header/checklist card advertised that additional sets could be purchased from the Phillies via mail order for $3.50.  The Phillies raised the price of a complete set by fifty cents over the previous year.

The 1985 Tastykake Phillies set seems to be the most ubiquitous of all the team-issued sets from the 1980s.  Up through the mid-2010s, the sets could be readily found on eBay and for sale at Citizens Bank Park.  The Memorabilia Store from Hunt Auctions located behind Section 126 had several of these sets for sale throughout the 2014 season.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here based on the numbered checklist found on the back of the header card): 

1. Header Card / Checklist 2. John Felske (#7 - MG) 3. Dave Bristol (#4 - CO) 4. Lee Elia (#2 - CO) 5. Claude Osteen (#3 - CO) 6. Mike Ryan (#5 - CO) 7. Del Unser (#25 - CO) 8. Manager and Coaches 9. Pitchers 10. Catchers 11. Infielders 12. Outfielders 13. Larry Andersen (#47 - RHP)      14. Steve Carlton (#32 - LHP) 15. Don Carman (#42 - LHP) 16. John Denny (#40 - RHP)

17. Tony Ghelfi (#35 - RHP) 18. Kevin Gross (#46 - RHP) 19. Al Holland (#19 - RHP) 20. Charles Hudson (#49 - RHP) 21. Jerry Koosman (#24 - LHP)      22. Shane Rawley (#48 - LHP) 23. Pat Zachry (#38 - RHP) 24. Darren Daulton (#10 - C) 25. Bo Diaz (#6 - C) 26. Ozzie Virgil (#17 - C) 27. John Wockenfuss (#14 - C) 28. Luis Aguayo (#16 - INF) 29. Kiko Garcia (#18 - INF) 30. Steve Jeltz (#30 - SS) 31. John Russell (#29 - OF-1B) 32. Juan Samuel (#8 - 2B)

33. Mike Schmidt (#20 - 3B) 34. Tim Corcoran (#22 - 1B-OF) 35. Greg Gross (#21 - OF-1B) 36. Von Hayes (#9 - CF) 37. Joe Lefebvre (#23 - OF) 38. Garry Maddox (#31 - OF) 39. Jeff Stone  (#26 - OF) 40. Glenn Wilson (#12 - OF) 41. Ramon Caraballo / Mike Diaz 42. Mike Maddux / Rodger Cole 43. Rick Schu / Chris James 44. Francisco Melendez / Ken Jackson 45. Randy Salava / Rocky Childress 46. Rich Surhoff / Ralph Citarella 47. Team Photo

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Zachry

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (1):  Rawley
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (26):  Aguayo, Andersen, Carlton, Carman, Corcoran, Daulton, Denny, Diaz, Garcia, Ghelfi, G. Gross, K. Gross, Hayes, Holland, Hudson, Jeltz, Koosman, Lefebvre, Maddox, Russell, Samuel, Schmidt, Stone, Virgil, Wilson, Wockenfuss

Manager (1):  Felske
Coaches (5):  Bristol, Elia, Osteen, Ryan, Unser
Phillie Phanatic (0)
Broadcasters (0):  But see below.
Future Phillies (6):  Caraballo / Diaz, Maddux / Cole, Schu / James, Melendez / Jackson, Salava / Childress, Surhoff / Citarella
Other Cards (2):  Header Card / Checklist, Team Photo

Surprises:  There was very little roster turnover between the end of the 1984 season and spring training 1985, as Shane Rawley and Pat Zachry are the only two new additions to the set.  Along with Zachry's one and done Phillies card, this set includes the only Phillies baseball card of Rich Surhoff.  The stand-alone cards feature the entire opening day line-up and adds Tony Ghelfi, Darren Daulton and Joe Lefebvre, who would spend the entire season on the disabled list.

The set's designer's decided to try something different with group photos of coaches and players by position.  Batting practice pitcher Hank King is featured on the coach's card, making this (I believe) his sole Phillies baseball card.  Bill Campbell is featured on the pitcher's card and Ivan DeJesus is featured on the infielder's card, but both are omitted from the regular set.  As the regular season was about to begin, Campbell and DeJesus were traded to the Cardinals for pitcher Dave Rucker.

Of the players receiving solo cards in the regular set, Ghelfi was left off the pitcher's card, John Wockenfuss was (sadly) left off the catcher's card, Kiko Garcia was left off the infielder's card and Lefebvre and Garry Maddox were not on the outfielder's card.

Omissions:  The day before these sets were handed out to fans, the Phillies traded Al Holland to the Pirates for Kent Tekulve.  An update set could have featured Tekulve and other players acquired during the season, such as Derrel Thomas, Tom Foley, Freddie Toliver, Alan Knicely and with a few weeks left to go in the regular season, Dave Stewart.

Variations/Rarities:  Once again, fellow collector Rick came through with a few rarities back when I originally published a post for this set.  These could have been first made available during this season's ALS Autograph Party which would have been in its second season in 1985.  (The Phestival became an official event in 1989.)  Tug McGraw announced his retirement following the 1984 season and this card seems to be a final tribute to the popular lefty reliever.  Fronts and backs of these cards are presented below.

Rarities 1. Tug McGraw - Former Phillies Great 2. Phillies Broadcasters - Richie Ashburn, Harry Kalas, Andy Musser and Chris Wheeler

Also See:  With the 2020 season put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I went back and recapped the Phillies games played in 1985 between that season's opening day and the All-Star break.  An index to those game summaries can be found here.

And here's a commercial from 1985, featuring Garry Maddox and inviting fans to the game on April 21st for their free Phillies photo cards.

Resources:  Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils).

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

1984 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1986 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards

1980-1999 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page

1985 Game 86 - 1985 Topps Glossy All-Stars #23 Mike Schmidt

Braves 12, Phillies 3
Game 86 - Sunday Afternoon, July 14th in Atlanta
Record - 37-49, 5th Place, 15 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies slunk into the All-Star break having lost five in a row, including this 12-3 loss to the Braves.

What It Means:  This should do it for my look back at the Phillies' 1985 season.  Unless pandemic conditions worsen, or something unforeseen happens in the coming weeks, the 2020 Phillies are set to open their abbreviated season on July 24th against the Marlins.  They'll play three exhibition games before that against the Nationals, Orioles and Yankees beginning July 18th.

I'm preparing a post summarizing the 1985 All-Star Game, and then I'll travel 35 years back to the future in a return to covering live baseball.  The 1985 Phillies were an incredibly flawed team, but I've genuinely enjoyed going back and looking at their first 86 games.  I started this exercise as a daily diversion in April once the 2020 regular season was postponed, and as a 20 to 30 minute break each day, allowing me to hide from the current sorry state of affairs.

What Happened:  Manager John Felske must not have believed in position players pitching, as Kevin Gross (6 innings, 8 runs) and Dave Rucker (2 innings, 4 runs) shouldered the entire load against the Braves.  The Phillies offense went down relatively quietly.  Von Hayes singled home a run in the third.  Tim Corcoran drove in a pair of runs without a hit, grounding out in the second to score  Glenn Wilson and hitting a sacrifice fly in the sixth.  Mike Schmidt went 1 for 4 and ended the first half with his average up to .242.

Following the game, Wilson and Ozzie Virgil headed to Minneapolis for the 56th mid-summer classic.

Featured Card:  Schmidt and I bid a fond farewell to the 1985 season, and we're hopeful for a short and successful 2020 campaign for the Phils!

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

1985 Game 85 - 1985 Topps #379 Charles Hudson

Braves 13, Phillies 5
Game 85 - Saturday Night, July 13th in Atlanta
Record - 37-48, 5th Place, 14 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  The Braves destroyed Phillies starter Charles Hudson, scoring nine runs in the first two innings, en route to a 13-5 win.

What It Means:  The Phillies were ending the first half on a down note.  This was their fourth loss in a row and (spoiler alert) they'd lose again on Sunday in the final game before the All-Star break.

What Happened:  This was Hudson's worst start of the season, and he'd straighten things out for the most part throughout the remainder of the year.  In 1 1/3 innings, he allowed nine runs (six earned) on 10 hits.  A costly error from Steve Jeltz prolonged the first inning.  Hudson would have escaped that inning with the Braves up 1-0 if not for Jeltz's error, and following the gaffe Ken Oberkfell hit a two-run triple followed by an RBI single from Glenn Hubbard.  The big blast in the second inning was a three-run home run from Dale Murphy.

Down 11-0, the Phillies put three runs on the board in the fifth on a Von Hayes RBI double, followed by RBI singles from Glenn Wilson and Bo Diaz.  Mike Schmidt hit an eighth inning solo home run, his 11th of the season.

Featured Card:  Hudson stuck around with the Phillies through their 1986 season, and following that season he was traded to the Yankees with minor leaguer Jeff Knox for Tom Barrett and Mike Easler.

Also on this date back in 1985, the Live Aid concert was held in London and Philadelphia.


1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

1985 Game 84 - 1985 Donruss #66 Dale Murphy

Braves 7, Phillies 4
Game 84 - Friday Night, July 12th in Atlanta
Record - 37-47, 5th Place, 13 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  The Braves scored five times in the bottom of the ninth to pull out a painful 7-5 win over the free-falling Phillies.

What It Means:  If you thought the prior day's walk-off win from the Braves was tough to take, this one was even worse.

What Happened:  Manager John Felske must have had little to no faith in any of his relievers other than Kent Tekulve, Don Carman and Larry Andersen.  Andersen was the victim for the second night in a row, surrendering the winning three-run home run to Dale Murphy as the Braves walked it off.  Felske used all three of his top relievers in the inning in an attempt to record three outs.  Tekulve, who had recorded the final two outs of the eighth inning, departed in the ninth with one out and runners on second and third.  Carman entered and induced a ground out that scored a run, but then walked the next batter to put Braves runners at the corners with two outs.

Andersen entered and Ramirez, who had singled off him in the prior game, singled again to tie this game at 4-4.  Murphy then hit his blast for the win.

Shane Rawley pitched well in his start, allowing two runs (one earned) and four hits in 7 1/3 innings. The Phillies scored their four runs off Braves starter Steve Bedrosian, with Ozzie Virgil connecting for a two-run single in the fourth that would give the Phillies a 3-2 lead.

Featured Card:  Murphy would join the Phillies five years and a few weeks after this game when he was acquired with Tommy Greene for Jeff Parrett, Jim Vatcher and Victor Rosario on August 3, 1990.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

1985 Game 83 - 1985 Fleer #244 Larry Andersen

Braves 3, Phillies 2
Game 83 - Thursday Night, July 11th in Atlanta
Record - 37-46, 5th Place, 13 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  The Braves scored a run in each of the final three innings, ultimately walking off with the 3-2 win when Rafael Ramirez singled home the winning run off Larry Andersen.

What It Means:  This was another tough loss and it handed John Denny another no decision.

What Happened:  Denny went 7 2/3 innings, and left with the Phillies holding a slim 2-1 lead.  Don Carman relieved him and the reliever's troubles continued as he allowed a single to Ken Oberkfell to tie the game.  Andersen came on in the ninth and allowed a lead-off double to Rick Cerone.  Milt Thompson ran for Cerone and ultimately came around to score on Ramirez's winning hit.  Both Ramirez and Oberkfell had three hits a piece for the Braves.

The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the third when Juan Samuel led off with a home run off Braves' starter Zane Smith.  Their second run came home when Glenn Wilson singled in Von Hayes in the eighth to break a 1-1 tie.

Featured Card:  Andersen had been one of the Phillies' top relievers in 1984, and he struggled at times throughout the 1985 season.  His next successful year with the team would come in 1993 during his second stint in Philadelphia, as he was part of the crew that inexplicably won the National League pennant against the Braves.  Thompson, who scored the winning run in this game, and Andersen would go on to be teammates on that '93 squad.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

1985 Game 82 - 1985 Fleer #364 Dickie Thon

Astros 10, Phillies 0
Game 82 - Wednesday Night, July 10th in Houston
Record - 37-45, 5th Place, 12 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  Avoiding the sweep, the Astros unloaded on the Phillies both at the plate and with a complete game shutout from Mike Scott in this 10-0 drubbing.

What It Means:  The Phillies limped out of Houston and flew to Atlanta following this game for a four-game set with the Braves to conclude the first half of the season.  The wheels were about to come off for the team as they headed into the second half of the 1985 season on a low note.

What Happened:  Yikes.  Koosman didn't retire a batter in the first inning, facing six batters and leaving with his team trailing 4-0.  Reliever Rocky Childress wouldn't fare much better, giving up an inherited runner tagged to Koosman and then four more runs of his own in his four innings of work.  Koosman's ERA went from 2.73 to 3.45 following this outing.  Scott allowed four hits and struck out seven on the way to improving his record to 8-4.  (USA Today apparently had a misprint in this boxscore, showing Scott's record at 7-4.)

Jose Cruz sealed the win with a bases clearing triple in the first inning.  Bill Doran also had a pair of RBIs along with a pair of doubles.

Featured Card:  Future Phillie Dickie Thon added an RBI-double in the fifth, greeting new reliever Dave Rucker.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

1985 Game 81 - 1985 Topps Stickers #369 Juan Samuel

Phillies 5, Astros 3
Game 81 - Tuesday Night, July 9th in Houston
Record - 37-44, 5th Place, 11 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies rode a five-run fourth inning to an eventual 5-3 win over Bob Knepper and the Astros.

What It Means:  As discussed in yesterday's game summary post, my family would have completely missed watching these games as we were enjoying our vacation in Williamsburg, Virginia.  I remained focused on collecting boxscores for each Phillies game, dutifully clipping this one from The Virginia Pilot.

What Happened:  There was no score after three innings when the Phillies offense came to life.  In quick succession - Rich Schu led off with a double, Glenn Wilson singled, Mike Schmidt singled scoring Schu, Garry Maddox singled scoring Wilson, Bo Diaz doubled scoring Schmidt, Luis Aguayo was intentionally walked to load the bases, Juan Samuel singled scoring Diaz and Aguayo after pitcher Kevin Gross had grounded into a fielder's choice, forcing Maddox at home.

Gross earned the win, lasting 6 2/3 innings and giving up two runs on six hits.  He was pulled in the seventh after walking Jose Cruz with the bases loaded.  Don Carman continued his struggles, allowing another Astros run, before Kent Tekulve was called upon to record the game's final out and record his eighth save.

Featured Card:  Samuel had the big hit in the fourth, plating two runs.  He also stole his 29th base following his hit as a rattled Knepper probably wasn't paying much attention to him.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

1985 Game 80 - 1985 Topps #454 Glenn Wilson

Phillies 7, Astros 4
Game 80 - Monday Night, July 8th in Houston
Record - 36-44, 5th Place, 11 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies unloaded for 20 hits inside the Astrodome, defeating the Astros, 7-4.

What It Means:  The source of this game's box score in my 1985 Phillies Scrapbook caught my interest as I indicate I clipped it from The Richmond Times.  Enlisting the help of my Mom, and asking her to go back through old family photo albums, we confirmed our family was on vacation in Williamsburg, Virginia while the Phillies were taking on the Astros in Houston.  My parents worked hard so that we could have one vacation a summer, and I have great memories of the few trips we took down to Virginia to visit Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens.

What Happened:  This was more of a blow-out than the final score indicates, as the Phillies led 7-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth.  Don Carman had a rare rough outing, allowing three Astros runs to score before Kent Tekulve came on to lock down the save.  Charles Hudson had another effective start, allowing a run on seven hits in 7 2/3 innings while striking out seven.  Mark Knudson was the sacrificial pitching lamb for the Astros, giving up 14 hits and seven runs in his seven-inning outing.

Other than an RBI-triple from Mike Schmidt in the third, every other Phillies run came from a single or a force out.  Von Hayes, Glenn Wilson and Ozzie Virgil all had three hits, with Wilson also driving in three runs.

Featured Card:  I seem to remember Wilson usually doing well against the Astros, his home state team.  With the All-Star Game coming up, Wilson would be a late addition to the National League roster, replacing the injured Pedro Guerrero.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

1985 Game 79 - 1985 Fleer #535 Tom Foley

Reds 3, Phillies 2 (10 Innings)
Game 79 - Sunday Afternoon, July 7th in Philadelphia
Record - 35-44, 5th Place, 11 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  The bullpen duo of Don Carman and Kent Tekulve faltered as the Reds came from behind to win this game in extra innings, 3-2.

What It Means:  It was free family cooler day at The Vet, and over 32,000 fans went home with a new Phillies cooler after this loss.

What Happened:  Shane Rawley left the game after seven innings with the Phillies holding a slim 2-1 lead.  He had allowed a run on seven hits while striking out six, and unfortunately he was on his way to a no decision.  The Phillies had pushed across their two runs on an RBI-single from Greg Gross in the fifth, and in the seventh on an RBI-single from Juan Samuel.

Don Carman allowed the Reds to tie the game in the eighth after Dave Parker tripled and came home on a Tony Perez single.  Kent Tekulve surrendered a solo home run to Cesar Cedeno in the 10th sending the Reds to the victory.

Featured Card:  Researching the Phillies' 1985 season, I was very surprised to see the team made zero roster moves that July.  That's unheard of in today's game, where roster moves happen seemingly every week.  The Phillies placed Steve Carlton on the disabled list on June 21st and recalled reliever Rocky Childress.  For the next 40 games, the roster was set with the players shown below, and the transaction-less streak was broken when the club traded Bo Diaz to the Reds on August 7th for Tom Foley, Alan Knicely and (eventually) Fred Toliver.

Also unheard of today, the Phillies carried only 10 pitchers, but three catchers, throughout the month of July.  And the most surprising factoid of all?  14 of the team's opening day roster of 25 made it through the entire season, on the active roster for all 162 games.  I've shown those 14 players below in red.

Starting pitchers (5) - John Denny, Kevin Gross, Charles Hudson, Jerry Koosman, Shane Rawley
Relief pitchers (5) - Larry Andersen, Don Carman, Rocky Childress, Dave Rucker, Kent Tekulve
Catchers (3) - Bo Diaz, Ozzie Virgil, John Wockenfuss
Infielders (7) - Luis Aguayo, Tim Corcoran, Steve Jeltz, Juan Samuel, Mike Schmidt, Rick Schu, Derrel Thomas
Outfielders (5) - Greg Gross, Von Hayes, Garry Maddox, John Russell, Glenn Wilson
Disabled List (3) - Steve Carlton, Darren Daulton, Joe Lefebvre

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

1985 Game 78 - 1985 Donruss #641 Pete Rose

Reds 4, Phillies 2
Game 78 - Saturday Night, July 6th in Philadelphia
Record - 35-43, 5th Place, 10 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  Pete Rose and Dave Parker keyed a two-run rally for the Reds in the third ultimately leading to a 4-2 win over the Phillies.

What It Means:  I'm reminded here of a feature in the box scores from The Sporting News that I really appreciated.  I remember noticing for the first time these box scores included multiple position listings if a player had moved positions during the game.  It's a small thing, but if not for these box scores I wouldn't have known Steve Jeltz pinch ran and then stayed in the game to play shortstop.  Similarly, I wouldn't have known Max Venable started for the Reds in center field but at some point moved over to left.  Again, not major stuff here, but I remember thinking at 11 years old this was pretty cool.

What Happened:  With the game tied at one entering the third, Venable doubled and came home on a Rose single.  Rose went to second on the throw home and scored when Parker singled him home.  John Denny pitched well, allowing three runs on five hits over seven innings, but he was saddled with the loss dropping him to 5-7.  Only Garry Maddox had multiple hits for the Phillies, as their offense went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

I found the highlights from the game on YouTube from ESPN's Sports Center broadcast, embedded below.  (I'm not sure why the screen shot uses the Phillies logo introduced in 1992.)

Featured Card:  As shown in the clip below, Rose still had a habit of losing his helmet when rounding third and heading home.  His baseball cards were still a fairly hot collectible back in 1985.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

1985 Game 77 - 1985 Tastykake Phillies #15 Don Carman

Phillies 5, Reds 2
Game 77 - Friday Night, July 5th in Philadelphia
Record - 35-42, 5th Place, 10 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  A four-run 7th inning, capped by a two-run home run from John Russell gave the Phillies a 5-2 come from behind win against the Reds.

What It Means:  The Phillies continued to play good baseball and they were now only seven games below an even .500.  However, the team would continue to take almost equal steps forward and backward throughout July, ultimately finishing the month nine games below .500 and 15 1/2 games behind the top spot in the division.

What Happened:  Trailing 2-1, the Phillies mounted a four-run rally following the 7th inning stretch.  Mike Schmidt started the seventh with a single off Reds' starter Tom Browning and came home to score and tie the game when Glenn Wilson doubled.  Ozzie Virgil reached on an error by third baseman Nick Esasky, with Wilson scoring in the process.  Russell followed that a few batters later with his two-run home run.  Schmidt had two hits in this game, including a solo home run in the first, and improved his average to .240.

Jerry Koosman pitched well (6 2/3 innings, two runs) but came away with a no decision.  Larry Andersen was the beneficiary of the win with Don Carman recording his third save after two scoreless innings of relief to close out the game.  Carman got pinch-hitter Pete Rose to fly out to right for the final out.

Featured Card:  I feel Carman's performance this season has been often overlooked, so I'll give him the card here.  Following this outing, Carman's ERA was down to 1.76 for the season and he was clearly one of manager John Felske's most reliable relievers.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

1985 Game 76 - 1985 Cigna Phillies #14 Kevin Gross

Phillies 3, Reds 1
Game 76 - Thursday Afternoon, July 4th in Philadelphia
Record - 34-42, 5th Place, 11 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  Kevin Gross limited the Reds to three hits in his complete game, as the Phillies won on Independence Day, 3-1.

What It Means:  The Phils were playing pretty good baseball, and at almost the mid-point of the season they were only eight games under .500.  Unfortunately, they continued to look up at the much better Mets, Cubs, Expos and Cardinals in the N.L. East.

What Happened:  Gross evened his record at 7-7 and lowered his ERA below three at 2.99 with this performance.  He allowed one run on three hits while striking out four.  The Phillies scored quickly off Reds starter Mario Soto with two solo home runs in the first from Juan Samuel and Von Hayes.  Ozzie Virgil completed the scoring with another solo home run off Soto in the sixth.

Pete Rose went 0 for 3, and recounts the game in the summary below from his Countdown to Cobb book.

Featured Card:  After some inconsistent starts, Gross was emerging as one of the stronger pitchers in the Phillies starting rotation.  This was his second complete game in a row and he was 2-0 with a 1.44 ERA over his last three starts.  In the book excerpt below, after Rose recounts his visit to the racetrack for a little innocent betting (ahem), the Reds manager lumps Gross in the same category with the Dodgers' Orel Hershiser and Fernando Valenzuela.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

1985 Game 74 - 1985 Fleer #263 Shane Rawley

Phillies 11, Cubs 2
Game 74 - Tuesday Night, July 2nd in Philadelphia
Record - 33-41, 5th Place, 11 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  After a quiet game the day before, the Phillies offense exploded for 11 runs on 12 hits in this 11-2 walloping of Rick Sutcliffe and the Cubs.

What It Means:  Sutcliffe came back down to earth following his 1984 Cy Young Award winning performance.  Still, it's impressive he was able to battle through five innings after the Phillies had quickly scored four in the first.  He departed having allowed seven runs on eight hits, including a pair of home runs.

What Happened:  The home runs allowed came from Glenn Wilson in the first with three on (not surprising) and Derrel Thomas in the fifth with one on (surprising).  Greg Gross kept the scoring going after Sutcliffe departed, with an RBI-triple in the sixth off former teammate Warren Brusstar.  Steve Jeltz added a two-run triple in the eighth.  I'm curious as to why Jeltz was in the game at that point.  The official record shows he entered the game as a defensive replacement for Thomas in the sixth right after Thomas had hit his home run.  Was Jeltz really that much of a defensive upgrade over Thomas, or had Thomas perhaps hurt himself rounding the bases?

Ozzie Virgil quietly scored twice and added two hits to improve his average to .282.

Featured Card:  Shane Rawley pitched his first complete game of the season, giving up two runs on eight hits.  As the beneficiary of the offensive outburst, Rawley evened his record at 6-6.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index