Game 3 - Offense's Slow Start Continues in Loss to Texas

Texas Rangers	8
Philadelphia Phillies	3

2026 Philadelphia Phillies
Kids Club / Club 215

Sunday Afternoon, March 29th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
1-2, 5th Place, 2 games behind the Marlins

One Sentence Summary:  A lack of offense, some shaky defense and a pair of home runs given up by starter Jesus Luzardo led to this crappy 8-3 loss.

What It Means:  The Phillies dropped a home series for the first time since July, and the Nationals come to town next for a three game set.

What Happened:  Luzardo got tagged with two home runs - a two-run blast from Brandon Nimmo in the third and a laser, three-run home run from Andrew McCutchen in the fourth that just snuck its way over the left field fence.  He allowed six runs overall in his six inning outing, striking out seven.  Zach Pop gave up the final two Rangers runs.  The Phillies were being no-hit by MacKenzie Gore until Justin Crawford led off the bottom of the sixth with a check swing infield single to third.  The Phillies offense had three hits overall.

Featured Card:  Jenna and I attended this game (see below) and she once again indulged my collector's need to sign up for a Kids Club / Club 215 membership so that we could collect the team-issued baseball cards available throughout the season at the club's kiosk in Ashburn Alley.  As we're now entering the fourth season without a team-issued photo card set, thanks to Fanatics' deal with MLB, this is the closest I'll get to building a team-issued set.  I picked up a Phanatic card and a Crawford card, and as far as I could tell, there are 16 cards in the set to start the season.

Field Report:  The product on the field was lousy, but the afternoon was gorgeous and we enjoyed the game with family from the Diamond Club.  It's now the Philadelphia Insurance Club, after being sponsored by a different company in 2025, but it'll always be the Diamond Club to me.  The Hall of Fame Club underwent a complete overhaul in the offseason, and the Phillies did a fantastic job with the redesign, which features museum quality displays honoring the club's past.

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

Phillies at Yankees: April 3rd to April 5th

1965 Topps #419

2014 Topps Heritage #294

Monday and Tuesday 7:05, Wednesday 1:05
Yankee Stadium - New York, NY

At the Ballpark:  Holders of a special theme ticket will receive a Paul O'Neill t-shirt at Monday's game.

Phillies 0-3
5th Place in the N.L. East, 2 1/2 games behind the Mets

Phillies Probables
Taijuan Walker (0-0, 0.00)
Matt Strahm (0-0, 0.00)
Aaron Nola (0-0, 12.27)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Bryson Stott - .455
Runs:  Nick Castellanos - 3
Home Runs:  Alec Bohm - 1
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 3
Stolen Bases:  Jake Cave and J.T. Realmuto - 1

Wins:  N/A
ERA:  Bailey Falter - 3.38
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 7
Saves:  N/A

Yankees 2-1
Tied for 2nd Place in the A.L. East, 1 game behind the Rays

Yankees Probables
Nestor Cortes (0-0, 0.00)
Domingo German (0-0, 0.00)
Gerritt Cole (1-0, 0.00)

Yankees Leaders
Average:  Aaron Judge - .462
Runs:  Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres - 3
Home Runs:  Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton - 2
RBIs:  Aaron Judge - 4
Stolen Bases:  Anthony Volpe - 3

Wins:  Jhony Brito and Gerritt Cole - 1
ERA:  3 tied with - 0.00

Strikeouts:  Gerritt Cole - 11
Saves:  N/A

2023 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2023 Season Summary Index / 2023 Chachi Set Checklist

1994 Topps Bilingual Legends #2 Ruben Amaro

Phillies 7, Rays 7
Spring Training Game 36 - Friday Afternoon, March 31st in Clearwater
Record - 14-17-5

One Sentence Summary:  Clay Buchholz continued his spring struggles, as the Phillies battled back to tie this game with the Rays.

What It Means:  After 36 spring training games, the Phillies head to Cincinnati where they'll open the 2017 regular season on Monday afternoon.  For what it's worth, the Phillies went 15-11-3 in 29 spring training games in 2016.

What Happened:  Buchholz finished the spring with a 6.65 ERA after allowing five runs over five innings in this game.  Andrew Knapp finished strong with two hits and three RBIs, while Freddy Galvis hit his second home run of the spring.

Featured Card:  I was sad to hear of the passing of long-time Phillies player and coach Ruben Amaro on Friday afternoon.  The elder Amaro's son, Ruben Jr., also played with the Phillies and was the team's general manager between 2009 and 2015.

Larry Shenk wrote a nice tribute to Amaro Sr. here, and Matt Gelb posted this Tweet which sums up Amaro Sr.'s feelings on the Phillies.

Ruben Amaro Sr., a former Gold Glove shortstop, coach and scout for the Phillies, has died. He was 81. He said this in a 2009 interview: pic.twitter.com/SndmkFxQgx

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) March 31, 2017

Camp Head Count:  31 - 5 = 26.  Zach Eflin is the last remaining left-over on the team's active roster, and the expectation is that he'll be officially placed on the disabled list prior to Monday.  The final five non-roster invitees - infielder Pedro Florimon, pitchers Hoby Milner, Colton Murray, Cesar Ramos and Pat Venditte were all reassigned to minor league camp.  The five are expected to open the season with the IronPigs.

Play ball!

The 2nd Phillies Team Set Gallery Week

Welcome to another Gallery Week, otherwise known as the week of auto-pilot posts since I'm on vacation and doing my best to stay electronic-device free.  Please refer to this post from just prior to my last vacation for a primer on what to expect this week.  I've enjoyed putting these gallery posts together, even though the scanning did tend to get slightly monotonous.  Between now and my vacations next summer, my goal is to track down the remaining cards needed to finish off a few older oddball sets so that I can continue the Gallery Week tradition next year.

First up is the 1963 Fleer Phillies set, from Fleer's first ever set of current baseball players.  The cards were sold in packs with a cookie in an attempt to get past Topps' exclusive right to sell baseball cards accompanied by gum.  Only one series of 66 cards was released before a court order forced Fleer to cease and desist.  Fleer wouldn't return with a set of current baseball players until 1981.

1963 Fleer #50

1963 Fleer #51

1963 Fleer #52

1963 Fleer #53

1963 Fleer #54

1962 Post Phillies

I'm kicking off Gallery Week with one of the oldest oddball team sets in my collection.  These cards are miscut and there are a few creases, but I'm still happy to have them.  By the time kids were cutting these cards off boxes of cereal, Robin Roberts was an ex-Phillie.  The future Hall of Famer was sold to the Yankees in October 1961.  Also, the Pancho Herrera card could serve as his final tribute, as he played his last year in the Majors in 1961 and he did not appear in the 1962 Topps set.

#192

#193

#194

#195

#196

#197

#198

#199

#200

1976 Oklahoma City 89ers Team Set

1976 Oklahoma City 89ers Team Issue #14, #4, #15 and #20

I've long held a certain affinity for minor league baseball cards, ever since I acquired the 1981 TCMA Oklahoma City '89ers set from the Card Doctor back in the day.  I'm not sure what draws me to minor league baseball cards.  It could be that they're harder to find (in some cases) and I enjoy the hunt.  Or it could be that I can imagine the players featured as full of hope and anxious for their shot at the Show.  Whatever the reason, I still try to track down minor league sets issued by each of the Phillies' affiliates every year.  I'll also take a break in my eBay searches for "Dernier refractor" or "Phillies oddball" and perform a search for "Oklahoma City team set" every once in a while.

One such recent search yielded me a set I had never seen offered for sale before, and it's now the oldest minor league team set* in my collection.  The 1976 Oklahoma City '89ers set was issued by the Phillies Triple-A affiliate and it features 24 cards of the team's players and coaches.  1976 was the first season the '89ers franchise was affiliated with the Phillies, having spent the 1973 through 1975 seasons as the Indians' top farm club.  According to my 2001version of the Standard Catalog, the set was handed out to the first 2,000 fans attending the 89ers' July 26th home game.

The team went 72-63 under their manager, future Hall of Famer Jim Bunning, finishing in second place in the West Division of the American Association behind the Denver Bears.  It was Bunning's fifth and final season as a minor league manager in the Phillies organization.  In 1977, Bunning was elected to the Fort Thomas, Kentucky city council in what would be the start of his political career.  He retired from politics a few years ago after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 to 1999 and in the U.S. Senate from 1999 to 2010.

1976 Oklahoma City 89ers Team Issue #18, #6, #11 and #10

The set is fascinating in that in features a host of former and future Phillies as well as a few players I never realized were once a part of the Phillies organization.  Only seven of the subjects featured never spent time with the Phillies, and only four of the players included in the set never made it to the Majors at all.  Since there are only 24 cards, I thought I'd take my time and look up some pertinent facts for each of the players or coaches featured.

*As I was putting together this post, I realized I only had 23 of the 24 cards in the set and the card of Dane Iorg was missing.  I've contacted the seller, but I have yet to hear back from him or her as to the availability of the missing Iorg card.  My guess is that I'm going to be stuck trying to track down the elusive Iorg card on my own.  Frustrating, to be sure, but it's still a fantastic "set" to add to my collection.

Uniform Number, Player (Phillies Years/Major League Years)
1.  Terrence Jones - of (NA)/(NA) - Jones spent six seasons in the Orioles and Phillies organizations.
2.  Sergio Ferrer - inf (NA)/(1974-195, 1978-1979) - Ferrer played 125 games with the Twins and Mets.
3.  Ron Clark - coach (1975)/(1966-1969, 1971-1972, 1975) - Clark played in one game with the 1975 Phillies before ending his playing career and serving as a coach for the '89ers.
4.  Lonnie Smith - of (1978-1981)/(1978-1994) - Skates was a member of three World Series Champion teams, beginning with the Phillies in 1980.
6.  Jim Morrison - inf (1977-1978)/(1977-1988) - Morrison enjoyed a 12-year career with the Phillies, White Sox, Pirates, Tigers and Braves.
7.  Mike Buskey - inf (1977)/(1977) - A September call-up in 1977, Buskey appeared in 6 games for the Phillies, going 2 for 7 with a triple.
8.  Dane Iorg - of (1977)/(1977-1986) - Iorg appeared in 12 games with the Phillies before being shipped to the Cardinals (with the next guy) as part of the Bake McBride deal.
10.  Rick Bosetti - of (1976)/(1976-1982) - Bosetti appeared in 13 games with the Phillies before he and Iorg joined the Cardinals.
11.  Jesus Hernaiz - rhp (1974)/(1974) - Hernaiz made 27 relief appearances for the 1974 Phillies, never making it back to the big leagues.
12.  Fred Andrews - inf (1976-1977)/(1976-1977) - Andrews played in 16 games for the Phillies, before he was shipped to the Mets in March 1978 for Bud Harrelson.

1976 Oklahoma City 89ers Team Issue #7, #12, #21 and #19

14.  Jim Bunning - manager (1964-1967, 1970-1971)/(1955-1971) - Bunning had his #14 retired by the Phillies in 2001.
15.  Randy Lerch - lhp (1975-1980, 1986)/(1975-1984, 1986) - A member of the Phillies 1980 World Series squad, Lerch wasn't on the active roster for the postseason.
16.  Dan Boitano - rhp (1978)/(1978-1982) - Boitano pitched one inning of one game for the Phillies in 1978.
18.  Willie Hernandez - lhp (1983)/(1977-1989) - I had no idea Hernandez, who was a member of the 1983 Wheeze Kids, was once a Phillies farmhand.  The Phils lost Hernandez to the Cubs in the 1976 Rule 5 draft.  Hernandez enjoyed his best season in 1984, winning the MVP and Cy Young awards while helping the Tigers to a World Championship.
19.  Bill Nahorodny - c (1976)/(1976-1984) - Nahorodny appeared in three games with the '76 Phils.
20.  Ruben Amaro - coach (1960-1965)/(1958, 1960-1969) - Amaro Sr. also coached with the Phils in 1980 and 1981.
21.  Dave Wallace - rhp (1973-1974)/(1973-1974, 1978) - Wallace appeared in 7 games with the Phillies, pitching to a 16.20 ERA in 6 2/3 innings.  He spent eight seasons in the Phillies minor league system.
22.  Wayne Nordhagen - of (NA)/(1976-1983) - Nordhagen put together an eight-year career with the White Sox, Blue Jays, Pirates and Cubs.  He only spent a few months playing for the '89ers early in the 1976 season.
23.  Quency Hill - lhp (NA)/(NA) - Hill was the player to be named later shipped to the Dodgers in the Ted Sizemore deal in December 1976.  He never made it to the Majors.
24.  Jack Bastable - c (NA)/(NA) - Bastable played 648 games in the minors making it as high as Triple-A Oklahoma City in 1976 and 1977.
25.  John Montague - rhp (1975)/(1973-1975, 1977-1980) - Montague spent the majority of his seven-year career with the Expos, Mariners and Angels, but he did appear in 3 games with the Phillies in 1975.
26.  Manny Seoane - rhp (1977)/(1977-1978) - Seoane appeared in 2 games with the Phillies in 1977 before he was traded to the Cubs for Jose Cardenal.
28.  Larry Kiser - lhp (NA)/(NA) - Kiser pitched in the Phillies organization for 7 seasons, but he never donned the maroon pinstripes.
30.  Bob Oliver (NA/1965, 1969-1975) - Oliver enjoyed his best seasons with the Royals in the early 1970s.

1976 Oklahoma City 89ers Team Issue #3, #16, #25 and #26

2012 Topps Heritage Phillies vs. 1963 Topps Phillies

1963 Topps #455 and 2012 Topps Heritage #455

Blue Jays 10, Phillies 2
Spring Training Game 18 - Sunday Afternoon, March 18th in Dunedin
Record - 7-9-2

One Sentence Summary:  Cole Hamels struggled in his latest spring start as the Phils fell to the Jays, 10-2.

What It Means:  I listened to most of this game on the radio, and the announcers were quick to point out that although Hamels surrendered eight hits in 3 1/3 innings, none of the hits were necessary a result of hard-hit balls.  So I'm going with a glass half full approach on this one.

What Went Wrong:  On the other hand, Jose Contreras was lit up in his spring debut, allowing four runs in 1/3 of an inning pitched.  The offense managed runs in the first and ninth and they were generally quiet throughout the bulk of the ballgame.

The red-hot Lou Montanez added three more hits to his spring tally, raising his average to .448.

Featured Cards:  Once again, the cards featured here have absolutely nothing to do with yesterday's game.  I'm still digesting my first packs of 2012 Topps Heritage, and I've enjoyed comparing and contrasting the set to the original - the 1963 Topps set.

1963 Topps #341

So how did Topps do with matching up the 2012 Phillies with their counterparts on the original 1963 cards?  Based on my very scientific analysis - they did good.  As the chart below shows, the folks at Topps did a nice job of matching up the modern Phillies with their counterparts from yesteryear, with the exception of only a few cards.  It may be a stretch to say that Vance Worley matches up with Jim Brosnan, but I'm throwing the card into the "Hit" column.  I also considered the guys who switched teams during the offseason as "Hits," such as Jonathan Papelbon, Jim Thome and Ryan Madson.  Their 1963 counterparts are guys from their former teams.

The Jack Baldschun card featured here has a white slash running across the black and white mini-picture, which I believe could have been caused by a printing mishap.  Back in 1963, Topps attempted to correct the error by releasing a Baldschun card with black dots filling in the white slash and the "slash repair" variation was born.  With its 2012 Topps Heritage release, Madson's card pays homage to this variation by being available in three versions - the regular no slash version, the super short print white slash variation and the crazy super short print red slash variation.  For the record, had Madson stayed with the Phillies, I would have felt zero desire to pursue these variation cards for my Phillies collection.  I would have obtained the "normal" Madson card and stopped there.

Given the fact that the Diamondbacks, Mariners, Marlins and Blue Jays (along with a few other teams) didn't exist in 1963, it's only natural that players on these teams would have to replace players on the teams that did exist back in 1963.  And as far as I can tell, Topps stayed true to each card's color combination no matter which team was featured.  So nice job with this, Topps.  Even though the short-prints will keep me away from collecting the set, I can appreciate that at least some thought went into creating the set.

Well, except for this nonsense.

1963 Topps Phillies

1963 Topps #434, #283, #32 and #341

If 1962 Topps beget 1987 Topps, then 1963 Topps beget 1983 Topps.  I didn't know much about this set growing up other than it's the set with Pete Rose's rookie card in it.  If you had asked 10-year-old me if I could have any baseball card in the entire world, I wouldn't have hesitated with my pick - the Rose rookie card.  Maybe one day.

The Set

1963 Topps #366 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  The complete set consists of 576 cards, down from the 598 total cards found in the 1962 Topps set.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  The folks at Topps must have wanted to mix things up in 1963 after a soothing, wood-grained design in 1962.  The '63 Topps set is very colorful, with blues, yellows, oranges, reds and greens used no matter the team.

Notable competition:  Post and the Salada coins were around again in 1963, but it was the 66-card Fleer set that gave Topps its biggest competition since Bowman departed the scene in 1955.  The Standard Catalog mentions that a "lawsuit by Topps stopped Fleer's 1963 set at one series of 66 cards."  The complete Phillies team set from 1963 Fleer consists of five cards.

1963 Phillies

Record and finish:  The Phillies finished with a record of 87-75, their highest win total since also winning 87 games in 1952.  They still finished fourth in the National League behind the Giants, Cardinals and pennant winning Dodgers.  Things were looking up and they would almost reach the promised land in 1964.  Almost.

Key players:  Johnny Callison (.284, 26 home runs and 78 RBIs) and Wes Covington (.303, 17 home runs and 64 RBIs) paced the offense.  Roy Sievers' average dropped to .240, but he still hit 19 home runs and drove in 82 runs.  Tony Gonzalez hit .306 in another steady year for the Phillies.  With Art Mahaffey missing a chunk of the season with a bad ankle, starters Cal McLish (13-11, 3.26 ERA) and Ray Culp (14-11, 2.97 ERA) led the pitching staff.  Jack Baldschun was great out of the bullpen, saving 16 games and pitching to an 11-7 record with a 2.30 ERA.  Johnny Klippstein contributed a 1.93 ERA in 49 appearances.

Key events:  Shortstop Bobby Wine won his first and only Gold Glove.  Richie Allen was a September call-up, making his Major League debut on September 3rd.

1963 Topps #366, #318, #71 and #385

1963 Phillies in 1963 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 29 cards in a 1963 Topps Phillies team set.  The cumulative tally is 121 cards from the '60s (so far) and 294 Topps Phillies cards dating back to 1951.  (Turns out there are actually 30 Phillies cards in a complete team set - see the comments to this post.  I'll update the overall tally if I ever get to a 1951 to whenever Topps Phillies retrospective post.)

Who’s in:  22 players who actually played with the Phillies in 1963 made it into the set - on their own cards.  On three other cards, rookies Marcelino Lopez, Culp, John Boozer and John Herrnstein had to share their rookie cards with several other players on Topps' multi-player Rookie Stars cards.  Mahaffey became the first Phillie to appear on a League Leader card, as he was featured along with the other 1962 victory leaders on card #7.  Rounding out the team set is a card for manager Gene Mauch, a team card, and a card for reliever Billy Smith, who spent the season playing for the Phillies' AAA team in Arkansas.

Who’s out:  Just starting pitcher Chris Short.  And Allen would have to wait for the 1964 Topps set for his rookie card.

1963 Topps #268, #455, #91 and #192

Phillies on other teams:  Ryne Duren (#17) pitched in 33 games for the Phillies after being sold from the Angels in March.  Outfielder Jim Lemon (#369) was purchased from the Twins in May.

What’s he doing here:  I have no arguments with any of the Phillies players featured.  Even Smith, who should have had a card in the 1962 Topps set, was a logical inclusion as he had pitched in 24 games in the prior year.

Cards that never were candidates:  Short and Allen.  The fine Dick Allen Hall of Fame blog has already created a great looking 1963 Topps Richie Allen card.

Favorite Phillies card:  Similar to the 1962 Topps Phillies cards, there aren't any cards that really stand out to me.  I'll pick Bobby Wine's card, although I could be swayed by the smiling Mahaffey or the Cookie Rojas rookie card.

1963 Topps #7 and #221, 2006 Topps Wal-Mart #WM17 and 2001 Upper Deck Vintage #298

Other Stuff

Recycled:  If Topps produces a Heritage set in 2012 (and why wouldn't they?) this will be the design used.  Back in 2001, Upper Deck used a design that looked suspiciously like the 1963 Topps set for its Vintage offering.  And in 2006, Topps failed with a 1963-style Chase Utley card - the circle is too small and the font is all wrong.

Blogs/Websites:  Here's a terrific post on the 1963 Topps set from Dean's Cards.

Did You Know?:  It could be a while before I complete this team set.  John Hernstein's rookie card, #553 in the set, typically sells for a few hundred dollars.  He shares the card with three other Rookie Stars - Brock Davis, Jim Gosger and Willie Stargell.

1962 Topps Phillies

1962 Topps #146, #17, #220 and #453

We're now up to the design used for this year's Topps Heritage set, the original wood-grained wonder.  Way before there was 1987 Topps, there was the 1962 Topps set.

The Set

1962 Topps #146 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  Topps added eleven more cards to its baseball card set in 1962, increasing the complete set size to 598 cards.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  I've always liked this set.  Way back in my early days of collecting, my Dad bought me a Tim McCarver 1962 Topps card and my first thought was that the card looked so old.  The design and feel of the set is reminiscent of your grandparents' basement, peeling posters on the wall and all.  It's familiar and comfortable.

Notable competition:  There was an abundance of regional and food-issued sets released.  Post again issued  a 200-card set available on its cereal boxes (9 Phillies in the set) and a set of 221 coins were released with Salada Tea and Junket Pudding mix (12 Phillies coins).

1962 Phillies

Record and finish: Thanks in part to two expansion teams - the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45's - the Phillies finished with a record of 81-80, in seventh place in the new ten-team National League.

Key players:  The offense showed signs of life, as led by third baseman Don Demeter (.307, 29 home runs and 107 RBIs), right fielder Johnny Callison (.300, 23, 83) and first baseman Roy Sievers (.262, 21, 80).  Demeter moved to third to make room for Sievers, acquired in an off-season trade with the White Sox.  Tony Gonzalez (.300, 20, 63, 17 stolen bases) had another consistent year.  All-Star Art Mahaffey led the pitching staff (19-14, 3.94 ERA) followed by Cal McLish and Chris Short with eleven wins each.  Jack Baldschun won 12 games and saved 13 out of the bullpen.

Key events:  Things were starting to look up for the Phillies after a dismal 1961 season.

1962 Topps #77, #434, #104 and #374

1962 Phillies in 1962 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 27 cards in the 1962 Topps Phillies team set, down three from 1961 most likely as a result of the team's awful performance in the prior year.  That makes 92 cards from 1960 to 1962, and 265 total Phillies Topps cards dating back to 1951.  I have most of the '62 Topps cards, but I still need to track down the high numbers.

Who’s in:  24 of the 27 cards feature players who actually played with the Phillies in 1962.  The other three cards are a team card, a card for manager Gene Mauch and a card for Ken Walters, who had been sold to the Reds in February.  Also of note is the first appearance of a Phillie on a multi-player "rookie" card.  Pitcher Jack Hamilton appears on a "Rookie Parade" card (#593) along with four other pitching prospects.

Who’s out:  Regular shortstop Bobby Wine was omitted, as was the team's number three starter, Dennis Bennett.  In the bullpen, Chris Short (again) is missing despite pitching in 47 games, as is Bill Smith, who appeared in 24 games.

1962 Topps #111, #157, #284 and #303

Phillies on other teams:  Pitcher Don Ferrerese appeared in five games with the '62 Phillies before being shipped to the Reds on April 28th for Bobby Locke.  Ferrarese appears on card #547 with the Cardinals and Locke, who had been traded by the Cubs to the Cardinals earlier that April, appears on card #359 with the Cubs.

What’s he doing here:  The inclusion of Walters doesn't make much sense, given that Topps had to have known about his sale to the Reds by the time his card (#328) made its appearance in the set's fourth series.  In fact, upon further review, Topps actually makes mention of the pre-season sale on the back of Walters' card.  The plot thickens.

Cards that never were candidates: Wine, Bennett, Short and Smith.

Favorite Phillies card:  There aren't any real eye-popping cards in the bunch, but I narrowed it down to Clay Dalrymple's squat pose with a bunch of Phillies milling about behind him and Tony Taylor's first baseball card to feature him in an actual Phillies uniform with billboards from Connie Mack Stadium in the background.  I'll give the nod to the Taylor card.

1962 Topps #46, #212, #328 and #269

Other Stuff

Recycled:  You'll see a whole lot of 2011 Topps Heritage throughout the season as I'll feature the Phillies cards from this set in my game summary posts.

Blogs/Websites:  It's been quiet recently, but there's plenty of good stuff to read in the archives over at Project '62.

Did You Know?:  Early printings of the cards in series two (cards 110 to 196) were inadvertently printed with extra green ink, giving the cards a greenish tint.  Topps intentionally recreated this printing gaffe with its 2011 Heritage set, and cards 110 to 196 can be found in short-printed "green tint" variations.

1961 Topps Phillies

1961 Topps #468, #93, #433 and #502

The 1961 Phillies lost 107 games in 1961, their highest loss total since losing 108 games in 1945.  Fortunately, they haven't come close to matching that loss total since.  It's almost fitting that perhaps the drabbest baseball card set in Topps' 60-year history features cards of the worst Phillies team of the past 60 years.

The Set

1961 Topps #468 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  The set is numbered to 589, but cards 426, 587 and 588 were never issued.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  While the 1960 Topps set seems classic with an innovative design, the 1961 Topps set seems dull with an extremely minimalist design.  However, I'd still chose this set over the 1957 Topps set solely for the first ever league leader cards and checklists included within the set.

Notable competition:  Post issued a 200-card set with its cereal boxes, including 10 Phillies cards.

1961 Phillies

Record and finish:  47-107, dead last in the National League, 46 games behind the first place Reds, and 17 games behind the 7th place Cubs.

Key players:  Don Demeter was acquired from the Dodgers in May, and he'd lead the team in home runs (20) and RBIs (68).  Johnny Callison (.266, 9 home runs, 47 RBIs) and Tony Gonzalez (.277, 12 home runs, 58 RBIs) didn't have great years, but their unremarkable stats were the best the offense had to offer.  Pancho Herrera hit 13 home runs and drove in 51 runs, but he also struck out 120 times.  Art Mahaffey led the pitching staff with 11 wins, but he also lost 19.  The next two starters with the most wins were John Buzhardt and Chris Short who each won 6 games.  Robin Roberts played in his last season with the Phillies, going 1-10 with a 5.58 ERA.

Key events:  The '61 Phillies put the Ug in Ugly.  They lost a record straight 23 games in a row.  The Orioles lost 21 games to start the 1988 season, but no other team has even come close to matching the futility of the '61 Phillies club.

1961 Topps #20, #103, #299 and #411

1961 Phillies in 1961 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 30 cards in a 1961 Topps Phillies team set.  The tally so far - 65 Topps Phillies cards from the '60s and 238 Topps Phillies cards from 1951 to 1961.

Who’s in:  24 cards feature players who actually suited up with the Phillies in 1961.  The other six cards feature three guys who didn't play with the team that year (Al Neiger, Tep Lepcio and Ruben Gomez), a manager card for Gene Mauch, a team card and a card for 1950 National League MVP Jim Konstanty.  Topps featured a subset of league MVPs from 1950 through 1960 on cards 471 through 486.

1961 Topps #3, #219, #359 and #479

Who’s out:  Third baseman Charley Smith, acquired from the Dodgers in May with Demeter for Turk Farrell and Joe Koppe got left out of the set completely.  Relievers Jack Baldschun (65 games, 503 with 3 saves) and Ken Lehman (41 games, 1-1) saw significant time out of the bullpen but neither appear in the set.  And Short (6-12 in 39 games with a 5.94 ERA) will be a recurring name on this list, as he didn't have his first Topps card until 1967.

Phillies on other teams:  Demeter appears as a Dodger on card #23 and outfielder Wes Covington (see below) appears as a Brave on card #296.  Farrell appears as a Dodger on card #522 although he's sporting a Phillies hat.  Finally, Elmer Valo wrapped up his 20-year career with 50 games with the Phils, mostly as a pinch-hitter.  He appears with the Twins on card #186 and the Phillies picked him up following his release from the Twins in June.

What’s he doing here:  Neiger is perhaps the biggest stretch, especially since his card indicates he's a "1961 Rookie" within a gold star.  He pitched in six games with the Phillies in 1960.

Cards that never were candidates:  Smith, Demeter, Covington, Baldschun, Lehman and Short.

Favorite Phillies card:  I'll go with the rookie card of one Clarence "Choo Choo" Coleman, although I also really like Roberts' final card with the Phillies as an active player.

2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #97, 2010 Topps Heritage #154, #479 and #78

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Topps used this design for its 2010 Heritage set, and I've featured most of the Phillies cards in previous posts.

Blogs/Websites:  The keeper of the Sports Card Blogroll, JayBee, has created the Topps 300.  Basically, this is his attempt to compile the 300 best baseball cards from Topps' sixty year history, five cards per set.  He's chosen some great cards, and the 1961 proposed representatives can be found here.

Did You Know?: Wes Covington was a busy man in 1961.  In May, the White Sox selected him off waivers from the Braves.  In June, the White Sox included him in an eight-player trade with the Athletics.  In July, the Athletics traded him to the Phillies, where he'd spend the next 4 1/2 seasons.  He played in 101 games in 1961 as follows - 9 with the Braves, 22 with the White Sox, 17 with the Athletics and 57 with the Phillies.

1959 Topps Phillies

1959 Topps #39, #300, #175 and #85

Using basically the same pastel (and black) color palette from the 1958 Topps set, Topps made a few stylish tweaks for its 1959 offering. The player's photo is encircled and the player's name appears in all lower-case letters slanted across the top of the card.  Facsimile autographs make their return for the first time since 1956.  Topps also featured several "subsets" within the main set, including The Sporting News Rookie Stars of 1959, Baseball Thrills (featuring highlights from the 1958 season), and The Sporting News All-Stars.  

The Set

Number of cards in the set:  There are 572 cards in a complete set, the largest Topps set to date.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  If I was "forced" to pick another Topps set from the '50s to collect, I'd pick the 1959 Topps set.  I believe these are the first "old" cards I ever saw.

Notable competition:  Fleer released an 80-card set chronicling the life and career highlights of Ted Williams.

1959 Topps #372, #92, #382 and #178

1959 Phillies

Record and finish:  The Phils finished dead last in the National League with a record of 64-90.  It was the first time the team had lost 90 games in a season since 1947.

1959 Topps #39 (Back)

Key players:  First baseman Ed Bouchee was one of the few bright spots on the team, hitting .285 with 15 home runs and 74 RBIs.  Third baseman Gene Freese (.268, 23, 70) and right fielder Wally Post (.254, 22, 94) also added a little punch.  There weren't many bright spots on the pitching staff.  Robin Roberts went 15-17 with a 4.27 ERA and Turk Farrell led the team with just six saves.

Key events:  New general manager John Quinn traded away Whiz Kids Willie Jones and Granny Hamner during the season.  In his only season in the Majors, Sparky Anderson, the team's regular second baseman, hit just .218.  The team ranked last in the league in hitting and fielding.  Richie Ashburn overtook Ed Delahanty as the team's all-time hits leader.  Ashburn would finish the season with 2,217 hits, ten more than Delahanty's 2,207.

1959 Phillies in 1959 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  36 cards!  There are 36 cards in the complete 1959 Topps Phillies team set.  The final tally of Phillies cards appearing in Topps base sets in the 1950s:  173.

1959 Topps #156

Who’s in:  This is actually impressive.  38 players suited up for the Phillies in 1959, and all but six of them have cards in the 1959 Topps set.  Included in the tally of 36 cards in a "master" team set are two multi-player cards - #156 featuring all-star pitchers Billy Pierce and Roberts and #317 featuring hitting kings Willie Mays and Ashburn.

Who’s out:  The six players not in the 1959 Topps set are - Back-up catcher Joe Lonnett (43 games, .172 average), catcher John Easton (3 games, 0 for 3), reliever Taylor Phillips (1-4 with a 5.00 ERA), starting pitcher Ed Keegan (0-3 in his 3 starts), rookie Chris Short (14.1 innings, 8.16 ERA) and pitcher Freddy Rodriguez (1 game, 2 innings, 3 runs).

Phillies on other teams:  The following players spent time with the Phillies in 1959 and appear in the set with other teams - Outfielder Jim Bolger (#29 with the Cubs), infielder Harry Hanebrink (#322 with the Braves), reliever Humberto Robinson (#366 with the Braves), and outfielder Solly Drake (#406 with the Dodgers).

What’s he doing here:  There are six cards featuring players who did not spend any time with the Phillies in 1959 - Ruben Amaro, Bob Conley, Pancho Herrera, Ken Lehman (all in the minors), along with Ted Kazanski and Stan Lopata (both traded to the Braves in March).

Cards that never were candidates:  Lonnett, Phillips and Short.  Short would eventually enjoy a 14-year career with the Phillies.

Favorite Phillies card:  The rookie card of future Hall of Famer George "Sparky" Anderson.  It's not in my collection yet, but it will be there one day.

2008 Topps Heritage #101, #57, #85 and #703

Other Stuff

Recycled:  I wish Topps would come back to this design more often.  It was featured as the basis for the 2008 Topps Heritage set.  Baseball Cards Magazine also used the design for its "Repli-Cards" series back in 1989.

Blogs/Websites:  Would you like to know more about the 1959 Topps set?  Click here.  UPDATE - I'm going to also link to a relatively new blog on one collector's journey to complete the '59 Topps set.

Did You Know?:  By the end of the 1959 season, the only Whiz Kids remaining were Roberts, Ashburn and Curt Simmons.  Ashburn was shipped to the Cubs in January 1960, Simmons was released in May 1960 and he signed with the Cardinals, and Roberts was sold to the Yankees in October 1961.