Phillies at Red Sox - June 11th to June 13th

2012 Topps Archives #177

1984 Topps #82

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 7:10
Fenway Park - Boston, MA

At the Ballpark:  Tonight is Pride Night at the ballpark and holders of special theme tickets will receive an exclusive Red Sox jersey in Pride colors.  And I'm happy to have three nights in a row with the Phillies starting at the same time each night.

Philadelphia Phillies 45-20
1st Place in the N.L. East, 9 games ahead of the Braves

Phillies Probables
Zack Wheeler (7-3, 2.23)
Cristopher Sanchez (3-3, 2.71)
Aaron Nola (8-2, 2.77)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Alec Bohm - .291
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 45
Home Runs:  Bryce Harper - 15
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 51
Stolen Bases:  Bryson Stott - 18

Wins:  Ranger Suarez - 10
ERA:  Ranger Suarez - 1.81
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 91
Saves:  Jose Alvarado - 11

Boston Red Sox 33-33
3rd Place in the A.L. East, 12 1/2 games behind the Yankees

Red Sox Probables
Kutter Crawford (2-5, 3.51)
Nick Pivetta (3-4, 3.40)
Tanner Houck (6-5, 1.91)

Red Sox Leaders
Average:  Rafel Devers - .284
Runs:  Jarren Duran - 42
Home Runs:  Rafael Devers - 13
RBIs:  Ceddanne Rafaela - 37
Stolen Bases:  Jarren Duran - 15

Wins:  Brayan Bello and Tanner Houck - 6
ERA:  Tanner Houck - 1.91

Strikeouts:  Tanner Houck - 84
Saves:  Kenley Jansen - 9

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

1979 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  38
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  As was the case with all Phillies photo cards issued throughout the 1970s, these cards feature a black and white photo with the players' name below.  The backs of the photo cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1979.  Some of the cards contain blue facsimile autographs, as noted on the checklist below. 

How Distributed:  The photo cards were handed out to fans individually and supplied to the players in order to reply to fan mail or honor autograph requests.  I could be wrong, but I don't believe the cards were ever available in complete set form.  The set's checklist is comprised of the manager, four coaches, all but one of the 25-man opening day roster (Mike Anderson is omitted) and eight players who would make their season debut with the team between May and early July. 

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Ramon Aviles (action) 2. Doug Bird 3. Bob Boone (action, auto) 4. Larry Bowa (action, auto) 5. Warren Brusstar (action) 6. Jose Cardenal (action) 7. Steve Carlton (action, auto) 8. Larry Christenson (action) 9. Rawly Eastwick (action, auto)       10. Nino Espinosa (auto) 11. Greg Gross 12. Bud Harrelson (action) 13. Jim Kaat (auto)

14. Randy Lerch (action) 15. Jim Lonborg (action) 16. Greg Luzinski (action, auto) 17. Pete Mackanin (auto) 18. Garry Maddox (action, auto) 19. Bake McBride (action, auto)       20. Tim McCarver (action) 21. Tug McGraw (action, auto) 22. Rudy Meoli (action, auto) 23. Dickie Noles (action) 24. Danny Ozark MG (auto) 25. Dave Rader 26. Ron Reed (action, auto)

27. Pete Rose (action, auto) 28. Dick Ruthven (auto) 29. Kevin Saucier (action) 30. Mike Schmidt (action) 31. Lonnie Smith (auto) 32. Herm Starrette CO (auto) 33. Tony Taylor CO (auto) 34. Bobby Tiefenauer CO (auto) 35. Manny Trillo 36. Manny Trillo (action) 37. Del Unser 38. Bobby Wine CO (auto)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Meoli

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (12):  Aviles, Bird, Espinosa, Gross, Mackanin, Noles, Rader, Rose, Saucier, Smith, Trillo (2)
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (20):  Boone, Bowa, Brusstar, Cardenal, Carlton, Christenson, Eastwick, Harrelson, Kaat, Lerch, Lonborg, Luzinski, Maddox, McBride, McCarver, McGraw, Reed, Ruthven, Schmidt, Unser

Manager (1):  Ozark
Coach (4):  Starrette, Taylor, Tiefenauer, Wine

Surprises:  The biggest surprise here is the inclusion of a Bud Harrelson card, although his photo could ver well be from 1978.  Harrelson had retired from baseball following the 1978 season, but injuries to Larry Bowa and Manny Trillo in the early part of the season forced the club to reach out to him.  Harrelson resigned with the Phillies on May 25th and made his season debut a day later.  The last player to make his debut during the season and appear within the set is Dickie Noles, who made his big league debut on July 5th.

Omissions:  For some reason, hitting/third base coach Billy DeMars didn't card a new card for this set.  He'd return to the checklist in 1980.  Also odd is the omission of outfielder Anderson who returned to the Phillies via free agency on March 5th and appeared in 79 games for the team.  Five other players, all September call-ups, appeared with the Phillies in 1979 and didn't receive photo cards - John Vukovich, John Poff, Jack Kucek, Keith Moreland and Dan Larson.

Variations/Rarities:  Fellow collector Steve let me know of a few rarities and variations for this set.

Signature Variation 1. Rawly Eastwick (no auto) 2. Dick Ruthven (no auto)

Error 1. Warren Brusstar (actually depicts Randy Lerch)

And while it's definitely not part of the team-issued photo card set, I'm including a scan of the Richie Ashburn photo below which could have fit in nicely with the set.  The photo is 5" x 7" and the note on the back indicates the Phillies broadcaster signed the photo on June 16, 1979 at Whitehall Mall.

Also See:  My First Phillies Game; 1979 Burger King Phillies #13 Pete Rose

Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Beckett.com; Phillies collector Steve F.

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

1978 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards / 1980 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards

1970-1979 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page

Phillies at Mets: July 3rd to July 5th

Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Tuesday 7:10, Wednesday 1:10, Thursday 7:10

Phillies 36-45, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 11 games behind the Nationals
Mets 43-37, 2nd Place in the N.L. East, 3 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Phillies Probables:  Vance Worley (4-4, 2.92), Cliff Lee (0-5, 4.13), Cole Hamels (10-4, 3.08)
Mets Probables:  Jonathon Niese (6-3, 3.55), Chris Young (2-1, 3.30), R.A. Dickey (12-1, 2.15)

At the Ballpark:  It's fireworks night tonight at Citi Field!  Happy Independence Day!

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Carlos Ruiz - .356

Runs:  Hunter Pence - 56

Home Runs:  Hunter Pence - 16

RBIs:  Hunter Pence - 48

Stolen Bases:  Juan Pierre and Shane Victorino - 19

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 10

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 3.08

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 111

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 18

1979 Burger King Phillies #12 and
1979 Topps #621

1979 Topps Flashback:  This season is starting to make me a little wacky.  Today's featured players have nothing in common except they are both sporting fantastic examples of late-'70s-style, free-flowing, stone cold groovy beards on their 1979 cards.

Doug Bird appeared in 32 games (all but one in relief) for the 1979 Phillies after being acquired from the Royals for Todd Cruz.  He had been part of a steady Kansas City bullpen that advanced to the A.L.C.S. three years in a row (1976-1978) only to be defeated by the Yankees each time.  The Phils released him at the outset of the 1980 season, and he spent the next four seasons with the Yankees, Cubs and Red Sox before calling it a career.

Pat Zachry wrapped up his 10-year career by appearing in 10 games with the 1985 Phillies.  Acquired in spring training 1985 from the Dodgers for Al Oliver, Zachry put up a respectable 4.26 ERA with the Phils before getting released in June.  Zachry won the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award in 1976 after going 14-7 with a 2.74 ERA for the Big Red Machine.

1979 Burger King Phillies #12 Doug Bird

A busy work schedule and a quick weekend trip to Pittsburgh have contributed to my inability to complete the 1979 Topps Phillies post in time for publishing this morning.

However, Doug Bird is still smiling in spite of his crazy beard and airbrushed Phillies cap.  He knows the 1979 Topps Phillies post will run soon enough.  (This card always freaked me out a little as a kid.)

Go Phils!