The Phillies Room: 2009

Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts

Saturday, June 13, 2026

Game 67 - Duran Can't Close the Door as Jays Win

Philadelphia Phillies 2

Toronto Blue Jays 3

2009 Upper Deck #809
Tuesday Night, June 9th

Rogers Centre - Toronto, Ontario
36-31, 2nd Place, 9 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary: After the Phillies had taken the lead in the top of the ninth, Jhoan Duran blew his first save of the year in this 3-2 loss to the Blue Jays.

What It Means: Duran had been perfect, saving 16 straight games, until the Blue Jays got to him in this game.

What Happened: Dylan Cease and Zack Wheeler held the offense mostly at bay throughout the early part of this game. Cease struck out 11 and gave up an RBI double to Brandon Marsh in the first. Wheeler went six strong and allowed a solo home run to Jesus Sanchez in the bottom of the sixth before being relieved. The Phillies took a brief 2-1 lead in the ninth when Bryce Harper drew a lead-off walk, went to second on Alec Bohm's ground out, and scored on Bryson Stott's double to left.

Duran wouldn't retire a batter in the ninth. Back-to-back singles from Sanchez and Yohendrick Pinango put runners at first and third. Pinch-runner Myles Straw scored from third on a wild pitch, tying the game. Brandon Valenzuela then singled to left, scoring the winning run.

Featured Card: The only two Phillies relievers with more consecutive saves than Duran are Brad Lidge and Jonathan Papelbon. Lidge of course accomplished the feat in 2008, saving 41 straight games during the regular season.

2026 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2026 Season Summary Index / 2026 Chachi Set Checklist

Tuesday, April 21, 2026

Game 22 - Losing Streak Reaches Six

Philadelphia Phillies 1

Chicago Cubs 5

2009 Topps Heritage #465
Monday Night, April 20th

Wrigley Field - Chicago, IL
8-14, 4th Place, 7 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary: A shaky start from Aaron Nola, dazzling Cubs defense and the complete absence of any Phillies offense led to this 5-1 loss.

What It Means: Amazingly enough, the only thing keeping the Phillies out of last place is that the Mets are playing even worse. The Mets have lost 11 in a row and are a game behind the Phillies in the standings.

What Happened: Nola was chased in the fifth inning after laboring through the start of the ballgame. He gave up a three-run home run to Dansby Swanson in the bottom of the second, and the way the Phillies have been playing, the game seemed out of reach at that early stage. Brandon Marsh singled to start the fourth and Justin Crawford would double him home. Kyle Schwarber was 0 for 5 with a pair of strikeouts, Alec Bohm was 0 for 3 with some bad at-bats, dropping his season average to .133. And back-up catcher Rafael Marchan, filling in while J.T. Realmuto is out with a bad back, had a hit to raise his season average to .065.

Featured Card: Hitting coach Kevin Long hasn't appeared on a baseball card since 2009. He's been with the Phillies since the 2022 season, and has previously coached with the Yankees (2007-14), Mets (2015-17) and Nationals (2018-21). Yet he's completely avoided any oddball or team-issued cards. The Phillies continue to produce a small print run of team-issued photo cards for their coaches, but as far as I know, they've never produced a card for Long.

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

Monday, March 31, 2025

Game 3 - Long Ball, Lack of Timely Hits Downs Phils

Philadelphia Phillies 1

Washington Nationals 5

2009 Upper Deck Update #U17
Game 3

Sunday Afternoon, March 30th

Nationals Park - Washington, DC
2-1, 2nd Place, 1/2 game behind the Marlins

One Sentence Summary: Aaron Nola gave up two big home runs and the Phillies' offense went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position in this 5-1 loss.

What It Means: After winning the series in Washington, the Phillies return to Citizens Bank Park for their home opener on Monday afternoon against the Rockies.

What Happened: Nola surrendered a three-run home run to Josh Bell in the fourth and a two-run home run to Nathaniel Lowe in the sixth, chasing him from the game. He struck out eight and didn't walk a batter. The Phillies had their chances, but couldn't come up with a big hit. They had runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings, but didn't push across any runs. A bases loaded threat in the seventh ended when Alec Bohm grounded into a double play.

Nationals' starting pitcher Mitchell Parker pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings, giving up seven hits and a pair of walks while striking out five.

Featured Card: We're only three games into the season, and we've arrived at the first game with no logical choice for a featured card. Here's a card of former Phillie and current Nationals' bench coach, Miguel Cairo.

2025 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2025 Season Summary Index / 2025 Chachi Set Checklist

Saturday, February 15, 2025

Hall of Fame Class of 2025: Phillies Cards

2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions #15

2004 Topps Pristine #7

As is usually the case each January, I let this blog go mostly dormant with the exception of posting a daily 2024 Chachi card. Before spring training starts in earnest, I wanted to revisit something I used to do annually whenever a new class of Hall of Famers was announced. For each new class of Hall of Fame inductees, I go through my Phillies Collection and see how many cards of each I have. This would mean the new Hall of Famer is typically featured on a multi-player card with a Phillies player, or in the case of Dick Allen and Billy Wagner, the new Hall of Famer actually spent time with the Phillies.

This exercise is a little easier this year as I'm proud to report my entire Phillies Collection is now tracked in a massive Excel schedule, AND also available for me to browse and search on the Trading Card Database. I started updating my collection at TCDB a few years ago, and with the Phillies and Complete Sets collections now updated, I'll turn my attention to the "Everything Else" catch-all category.

Here's a look at Cooperstown's 2025 class, and the baseball cards I have of them in my Phillies Collection.

Dick Allen - I have 55 cards of Allen in my Phillies Collection, and 65 cards of the slugger overall. Back in December, I posted a gallery of his Topps flagship cards here, and I've also liked this 2009 Upper Deck card of his.

Dave Parker - Parker shows up twice in my Phillies Collection. He's on a strange 1982 Fleer Stamps issue, pointing at the camera and putting his arm around a hesitant Steve Carlton. He also shares space with Pete Rose and Bill Madlock on a 1984 Topps Active Career Leaders subset card.

CC Sabathia - Sabathia shows up twice on 2011 Topps Diamond Duos insert cards with Carlton and Cliff Lee. My all-time favorite memory involving Sabathia can be found here.

Ichiro Suzuki - Ichiro shares a card with Richie Ashburn in the 2007 Topps Heritage Then and Now insert set, and he's on an incredibly random "Classic Combo" card with Chase Utley in the 2007 Topps Update set.

Billy Wagner - And finally, I have 40 cards of closer Wagner in my Phillies Collection, given he appeared in 120 games with the club in 2004 and 2005. 59 of Wagner's 422 career saves came while wearing a Phillies uniform, which is his third most by franchise behind the Astros and Mets. Browsing a gallery of Wagner's Phillies cards, this 2004 Topps Pristine card is my favorite, non-team issue card of his. His 2005 Topps flagship card is a close second.

1982 Fleer
Stamps #241

2011 Topps Diamond Duos #DD-23

2007 Topps Heritage Then and Now #TN7

2007 Topps Update #UH279

Friday, June 7, 2024

2009 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards: 41
Card Size: 4" x 6"

Description: The Phillies went with black borders for the first time ever. The cards have a very basic design featuring the team logo and the player's number, name and position in a digital font. Other than the 2008 World Champions card, which is my all-time favorite card from a team-issued set, there's no indication the Phillies had won the World Championship in 2008 on the cards themselves. The horizontal card backs feature biographical information and complete career statistics.

How Distributed: The original 37-card set was available at Citizens Bank Park throughout the first half of the season. Following the signing of Pedro Martinez on July 15th and the acquisition of Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco on July 29th, cards of Martinez, Lee and Francisco, along with back-up catcher Paul Bako, were inserted into the set. With the addition of these four cards to the updated set, five cards available from the original set were removed - the 2008 World Champions card, along with the cards for Chris Coste, Tim Gradoville, Geoff Jenkins and Ronny Paulino. Jenkins and Paulino had been released prior to the start of the season and Coste was claimed off waivers by the Astros on July 10th.

Complete Set Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position):

1. 2008 World Champions
2. Mick Billmeyer (#17 - Bullpen Coach)
3. Joe Blanton (#56 - RHP)
4. Eric Bruntlett (#4 - INF/OF)
5. Clay Condrey (#55 - RHP)
6. Chris Coste (#27 - C)
7. Greg Dobbs (#19 - INF/OF)
8. Rich Dubee (#30 - Pitching Coach)
9. Chad Durbin (#37 - RHP)
10. Scott Eyre (#47 - LHP)
11. Pedro Feliz (#7 - 3B)
12. Tim Gradoville (#60 - Bullpen Catcher)
13. Cole Hamels (#35 - LHP)

14. J.A. Happ (#43 - LHP)
15. Ryan Howard (#6 - 1B)
16. Raul Ibanez (#29 - LF)
17. Geoff Jenkins (#10 - OF)
18. Brad Lidge (#54 - RHP)
19. Davey Lopes (#15 - First Base Coach)
20. Pete Mackanin (#45 - Bench Coach)
21. Ryan Madson (#46 - RHP)
22. Charlie Manuel (#41 - Manager)
23. Jamie Moyer (#50 - LHP)
24. Brett Myers (#39 - RHP)
25. Chan Ho Park (#61 - RHP)

26. Ronny Paulino (#23 - C)
27. Sam Perlozzo (#2 - Third Base Coach)
28. Jimmy Rollins (#11 - SS)
29. J.C. Romero (#16 - LHP)
30. Carlos Ruiz (#51 - C)
31. Matt Stairs (#12 - OF)
32. Milt Thompson (#25 - Hitting Coach)
33. Chase Utley (#26 - 2B)
34. Shane Victorino (#8 - CF)
35. Jayson Werth (#28 - RF)
36. Phillie Phanatic
37. Phillies Broadcasters

Complete Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position):

1. Paul Bako (#23 - C)
2. Ben Francisco (#10 - OF)

3. Cliff Lee (#34 - LHP)
4. Pedro Martinez (#45 - RHP)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1): Bako

First Appearance in Phillies Photo Card Set (8): Eyre, Francisco, Ibanez, Lee, Martinez, Park, Paulino, Stairs
Returning Players in Phillies Photo Card Set (21): Blanton, Bruntlett, Condrey, Coste, Dobbs, Durbin, Feliz, Hamels, Happ, Howard, Jenkins, Lidge, Madson, Moyer, Myers, Rollins, Romero, Ruiz, Utley, Victorino, Werth

Paul Bako wrapped up his 12-year career playing 44 games with the Phillies in 2009. His card in this set is his sole Phillies baseball card. Paulino was traded on March 27th to the Giants for Jack Taschner, and never appeared in a game for the Phillies. He has a second Phillies card in the 2009 Topps Heritage set.

Manager (1): Manuel
Coaches (7): Billmeyer, Dubee, Gradoville, Lopes, Mackanin, Perlozzo, Thompson

Phillie Phanatic (1): The Phanatic is shown atop the dugout is his alternate day-game uniform.

Broadcasters (1): Harry Kalas, who passed away on April 13, 2009, is joined on this card by Tom McCarthey, Gary Matthews, Chris Wheeler, Larry Andersen and Scott Franzke.
Commemorative Cards (1): 2008 World Champions

The 2008 World Champions card (see below) features manager Charlie Manuel along with the team's main stars (minus Pat Burrell who had departed during the offseason) decked out in tuxedos with red bow ties flanking the World Series trophy.

Set Composition: The Phillies created the first 37-card checklist a few days before the start of the regular season, accounting for the cards in the set for Paulino and Jenkins. Miguel Cairo and Taschner, both on the opening day roster, got left out of the original set and the update set. J.C. Romero started the season on the Restricted List, but he's in the set as well.

Omissions: The Phillies could have included a few more update cards, in addition to the four players who were added late in the season to the set. Cairo and Taschner would have been in the set had the Phillies waited until early April to create the checklist. Kyle Kendrick, John Mayberry, Jr., Sergio Escalona and Tyler Walker all spent sufficient enough time on the roster to merit cards as well. Escalona spent quite a bit of time going back and forth between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley, as the lefty pitcher was with the team in six different stints.

Variations/Rarities: I'm going to separate the known rarities into two different groups - non-set cards and cards with a 2009 National League Champions logo on the back. 14,000 Phillies featured a post many years ago containing a Jayson Werth card I had never seen before, and I've never seen since. The card was distributed to kids participating in the team's annual Home Run Derby competition and contains a purple facsimile autograph and the Home Run Derby logo. The card uses a different photo than Werth's regular team issued card.

As pointed out in a comment from Steve F. in an earlier post, a card was issued for Placido Polanco in the style of the 2009 team-issued set. Polanco was signed as a free agent on December 3rd. Finally, fellow collector and invaluable resource Rick added a comment to this set's original post with a number of other rarities available - clipped and shown below. Roy Halladay received his first Phillies baseball card in the style of this set, as the future Hall of Famer had signed with the Phillies on December 16, 2009.

Other than the Halladay card, which is an original, the cards featuring the 2009 National League Champions logo on the back use the same photos as the cards found in the set sold at the ballpark.

Non-Set Cards
1. Kyle Drabek (#4 - Reading Phillies)
2. Lou Marson (#3 - C)
3. Placido Polanco (#27 - blank back)
4. Brian Schneider (#23 - blank back)
5. Michael Taylor (#40 - Reading Phillies)
6. Jayson Werth (#28 - Home Run Derby)

National League Champions
1. Chad Durbin (#37 - RHP)
2. Roy Halladay (#34 - RHP)
3. Cole Hamels (#35 - LHP)
4. J.A. Happ (#43 - LHP)
5. Brad Lidge (#54 - RHP)
6. Ryan Madson (#46 - RHP)
7. Jimmy Rollins (#11 - SS)

Also See: Here's my original post from August 31, 2009, covering the discovery of the updated team issued set.

Resources: The Trading Card Database; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

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

2008 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards / 2010 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards - 1st Edition

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

Sunday, May 19, 2024

Game 45 - Phils Can't Complete Extra Inning Comeback

2009 MultiAd
Lakewood BlueClaws #11
Mets 6, Phillies 5 (11 Innings)
Game 45 - Thursday Night, May 16th in Philadelphia
Record - 31-14, 1st Place, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary: Phils can't complete the four-game home and home series sweep as the Mets push through in 11th inning win.

What It Means: The Phillies took three of four games from the Mets, and the Nationals come to town next for a three-game weekend series. With the Braves off on Tuesday, their division lead dropped to 2 1/2 games.

What Happened: Trailing 2-0 in the sixth inning, the Phillies scored their first run when Alec Bohm singled home J.T. Realmuto. Nick Castellanos would launch a sacrifice fly to left to tie the score, and the Phillies took a 3-2 lead in the seventh when Kyle Schwarber doubled home Bryson Stott. Reliever Jeff Hoffman had a rare less than stellar outing when he allowed the Mets to take the lead in the eighth. But in the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies again got to Mets' closer Edwin Diaz. Brandon Marsh walked to start the inning, went to second on a wild pitch, and came home to tie the game 4-4 on Stott's single to right.

The Mets quickly took the lead in the 11th when J.D. Martinez singled home ghost runner Francisco Lindor off Jose Alvarado. The Phillies threatened in their half of the 11th, but former Phillies' reliever Jake Diekman held them off to deliver the win for the Mets.

Featured Card: This marks Diekman's first appearance on the blog since 2018, and this is his first baseball card from the 2009 Lakewood BlueClaws team set. He's put together a solid 13-year big league career, spending time with eight different teams since departing the Phillies in 2015.

2024 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2024 Season Summary Index / 2024 Chachi Set Checklist

Sunday, May 8, 2022

2022 Chachi #29 Joe Girardi MG

#25
Joseph Elliott Girardi
Manager

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height: 5'11" Weight:  195
Opening Day Age: 57
Born:  October 14, 1964, Peoria, IL
Contract Status:  Signed through 2022 with a club option for 2023
Major League Teams: Chicago Cubs 1989-1992; Colorado Rockies 1994-1995; New York Yankees 1996-1999; Chicago Cubs 2000-2002; St. Louis Cardinals 2003
As a Coach:  New York Yankees 2005
As a Manager:  Florida Marlins 2006; New York Yankees 2008-2017; Philadelphia Phillies 2020-

First Phillies Card: N/A
Newest Card Added:  2020 Topps Allen & Ginter Field Generals #FG-6
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16):  1990-1998, 2000-2003, 2008-2010

1 - Girardi baseball card in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/7/22.

Complete Chachi Checklist
2019 Chachi #69 - New Manager HL
2020 Chachi Preseason Photo Cards #25
2020 Chachi #31
2020 Chachi Fan Favorites #24
2021 Chachi #27
2021 Chachi #58 - Weird Game HL
2021 Chachi Fan Favorites #15
2022 Chachi #29

1990 Topps #12

1993 Topps #425

1997 Topps #291

2003 Topps #521

2009 Topps #555

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

2022 Chachi #28 Corey Knebel / 2022 Chachi #30 Phillies Coaches

Friday, April 15, 2022

Game 7 - Miami Misery Continues

2009 Bowman Draft
Prospects Blue #BDPP37
Marlins 4, Phillies 3
Game 7 - Thursday Night, April 14th in Miami
Record - 3-4, 2nd Place, 2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary: The Phillies offense produced 11 hits, but couldn't push across enough wins to defeat the Marlins, taking a 4-3 loss.

What It Means: The team's Miami nightmares continue. For whatever reason, the Phillies seem to struggle whenever playing the Marlins on the road, and they've now dropped three games in a row.

What Happened: Kyle Gibson battled through 4 2/3 innings, and he looked to be getting squeezed by the home plate umpire. Gibson allowed four runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out six. The unlikely bullpen quartet of Andrew Bellatti, James Norwood, Brad Hand and Corey Knebel held the Marlins scoreless over the final three frames. Bellatti and Norwood were making their Phillies debuts.

J.T. Realmuto went 4 for 4, with four singles. Johan Camargo continued to swing a hot bat with a double, and he continued to provide stellar defense. Kyle Schwarber had a double, and his 1 for 5 performance improved his season average to .111. Bryce Harper is hitting .160, Bryson Stott is hitting .222 and Matt Vierling is 0 for 15 to start the season.

Featured Card: A non-roster invitee to spring training, Bellatti entered the game in the fifth with runners on first and second and two outs. He was bailed out of any trouble with a fantastic diving catch by Camargo in foul territory to retire the side. Bellatti appeared in 17 games with the Rays in 2015 and three games with the Marlins in 2021. His only mainstream baseball card to date can be found in the 2009 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects set.

Transactions: Following the Wednesday afternoon game, Connor Brogdon (rhp) and Damon Jones (lhp) were optioned to Lehigh Valley. On Thursday, Norwood (rhp) was activated from the bereavement list and Bellatti (rhp) had his contract purchased.

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

Thursday, October 14, 2021

Phillies Name Kevin Long New Hitting Coach

2009 Topps Heritage #465

On Wednesday afternoon, the Phillies officially announced Kevin Long as their new hitting coach for the 2022 season, their sixth hitting coach since the team's playoff drought began in 2011. Like Joe Dillon before him, Long is highly regarded in baseball and the hope is he can connect with the Phillies offense better than Dillon and John Mallee before him.

Long has previously served as a hitting coach for the Yankees (2007-2014), Mets (2015-2017) and Nationals (2018-2021). This will be a Yankees mini-reunion as Phillies manager Joe Girardi, bench coach Rob Thomson and Long all worked together in the Bronx between 2008 and 2014. Bryce Harper and Long were together in Washington in 2018.

Long was drafted by the Royals in 1989 and spent eight seasons in their minor league system, never reaching the majors. He appeared on a bunch of minor league baseball cards between 1988 and 2005, both as a player and a minor league coach. He shares a floating head coach's card in the 2009 Topps Heritage set with Thomson.

With Long's hiring, the Phillies are down to needing an assistant hitting coach and a new infield coach, rumored to be Bobby Dickerson, who was with the Phillies previously in 2019. Here's a look at the list of Phillies hitting coaches since 1970, with Billy DeMars still the undisputed dean of the group.

Billy DeMars 1969-1981 - DeMars also served as first base coach (1969-1972) and third base coach (1972-1979).
Deron Johnson 1982-1984 - Johnson also served as first base coach during his coaching tenure.
Del Unser 1985-1988 - Unser also served as first base coach (1985-1987).
Denis Menke 1989-1996
Hal McRae 1997-2000
Richie Hebner 2001
Greg Gross 2002-2004; 2011-2012
Milt Thompson 2005-2011
Steve Henderson 2013-2016
Matt Stairs 2017
John Mallee 2018-2019
Charlie Manuel 2019
Joe Dillon 2020-2021
Kevin Long 2022