Showing posts with label Arencibia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arencibia. Show all posts

Friday, June 10, 2016

Off Day Odds & Ends - 1984 Tastykake Phillies & 2016 Chachi Almost

2016 Chachi Almost #5
2016 Chachi Almost #6
2016 Chachi Almost #7
2016 Chachi Almost #8
Yesterday's off day gives me the chance to post some images saved to my drafts folder and provide an update to my series on the Phillies team issued sets.

First up is a group of Chachi Almost cards, featuring players who never officially played with the team and these four players were all non-roster invitees to spring training.  Ernesto Frieri was released on April 5th and he has yet to latch on elsewhere.  Catcher J.P. Arencibia requested and received his release from the IronPigs on May 16th and signed with the Rays organization a few days later.

Ryan Jackson's services were no longer needed in Lehigh Valley when J.P. Crawford earned his promotion and he was sold to the Angels on May 20th.  Finally, Bobby LaFromboise, who appeared to be close to making the team out of spring training, was released on June 2nd.  His spot on the IronPigs was claimed by the activated Mario Hollands who missed all of last season following Tommy John surgery.  LaFromboise is the only one of this quartet with an official Phillies baseball card, having appeared in the first team issued photo card set.

2016 Chachi Almost #1
2016 Chachi Almost #2
Both Kelly Dugan and Jesse Biddle were on the offseason 40-man roster, but were eventually removed and moved on to other teams.  Dugan is currently playing with the Cubs Double-A team in Tennessee after spending his first seven professional seasons with the Phillies organization.

Biddle is recovering from Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2016 season.  He was traded to the Pirates in early February for pitcher Yoervis Medina and then claimed off waivers by the Braves in March.  He's currently on the Braves 60-day disabled list.

* * *

Reader and Friend O' the Blog Steve F. recently e-mailed me the image below, showing an uncut sheet of 1984 Tastykake Phillies cards.  The sheet includes the rarely seen seven "update" cards, including the very difficult to find cards of Steve Jeltz, Darren Daulton and Steve Fireovid.  As reader and collector Rick pointed out in his comment to the original 1984 Tastykake Phillies post, these update cards were never released to the general public.  A local baseball card dealer somehow obtained the sheets and had them professionally cut, selling the additional seven update cards as a separate set.

I still find this stuff fascinating and thanks to Steve F. for sending me the image below.  And I still need the Fireovid and Jeltz cards for my collection!


Wednesday, March 2, 2016

2012 Topps Archives #141 J.P. Arencibia

Blue Jays 5, Phillies 3
Spring Training Game 1 - Tuesday Afternoon, March 1st in Clearwater
Record - 0-1

One Sentence Summary:  Darwin Barney drove in all five runs for the Blue Jays as the Phillies lost the exhibition season opener, 5-3.

What It Means:  I really wanted to make it into the office yesterday, but I caught some sort of weird 12-hour bug.  Oh look the Phillies game is on TV.  What a strange and lucky coincidence!

What Happened:  Carlos Ruiz had a two-run single in the second and J.P. Arencibia hit a solo home run in the fourth.  Severino Gonzalez got the start and allowed two runs in his two innings of work.

Featured Card:  Arencibia intrigues me.  He's one of seven catchers in camp with the Phillies, and I'm not sure where he fits in with the sudden catching depth the team seems to find itself possessing.

Get used to seeing a lot of these types of cards in the these spring game summary posts.  It won't be like the good old days, when it was easy to find new Phillies cards of the former franchise stars to post.

Camp Head Count:  66 - The Phillies begin their Grapefuit League season with 66 players on their active roster, although pitcher Matt Harrison will not be joining the team in Florida while he recovers from last year's arm surgery.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Frieri, Arencibia Headline New Group of Non-Roster Invitees

2014 Topps Heritage #232
I really appreciate the Phillies spacing out their roster change announcements to once a day, giving me a chance to catch up with the additions and departures daily.  Yesterday, the Phillies added five players to the list of now 11 non-roster invitees.

Of the new players added, I would think former Rays J.P. Arencibia and Ernesto Frieri have the best shots of making the team.  Arencibia is a catcher who appeared in 24 games last season, hitting .310 with 6 home runs and 17 RBIs.  He hit a career high 23 home runs in 2011 with the Blue Jays.

Frieri was the Angels closer for parts of 2 1/2 seasons between 2012 and 2014, compiling 71 saves. He saved two games with the Rays last season and had a 4.63 ERA in 23 1/3 innings pitched.

Player (position) - 2015 Organization - Last Major Baseball Card Appearance
1.  James Russell (lhp) - Cubs - 2015 Topps #255 (Braves)
2.  Emmanuel Buriss (inf) - Nationals - 2010 Topps Update #US-82 (Giants)
3.  Ryan Jackson (inf) - Royals/Angels - 2013 Panini Prizm #238 (Cardinals)
4.  Frank Herrmann (rhp) - Angels/Pirates - 2010 Topps Update #US-89 (Indians)
5.  Chris Leroux (rhp) - Brewers/Phillies - 2013 Panini Select #205 (Pirates)
6.  Reinier Roibal (rhp) - Phillies - N/A
7.  J.P. Arencibia (c) - Orioles/Rays - 2014 Topps #627 (Rangers)
8.  Greg Burke (rhp) - Blue Jays - 2009 Bowman Chrome #103 (Padres)
9.  Ernesto Frieri (rhp) - Rays - 2014 Topps #240 (Angels)
10.  Gregory Infante (rhp) - Blue Jays - 2011 Topps Allen & Ginter #84 (White Sox)
11.  Angelys Nina (inf) - Rockies - 2012 Bowman Prospects #BP45 (Rockies)