1989 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  46

Number of Cards (SGA Version):  32
Card Size:  4 1/8" x 6"

Description:  The Phillies came up with this card design . . . and then took the next six years off.  The 1989 to 1995 team issued sets are all identical in design, containing the player's, coach's or manager's name in a red band with white text.  The card backs feature biographical information along with complete career statistics.  This set is notable as it's the last set (to date) to be sponsored by Tastykake.

How Distributed:  A 32-card set was given away to all fans on May 13, 1989 at Veterans Stadium and a 37-card set was available for sale at the ballpark throughout the season.  Both sets contain identical photos, but the 32-card giveaway set cards feature a darker tint and are not as vibrant as their 37-card counterparts.  The 32-card sets can be found in uncut sheets and thanks to fellow collector Rick, I added these cards to my collection via an eBay auction.  As (I believe) the 37-card set is more prevalent, I've listed the stadium giveaway 32-card set (and its variations) under the Variations/Rarities section below.

Given the ton of roster moves made by the club in the first half of the season, a nine-card update set was issued and available for purchase at souvenir stands throughout the Vet.  This was the second year in a row that a nine-card update set was released.  Of the nine players in the set, Jim Adduci made his debut the latest, on July 3rd, so this set would have been first available for sale in mid to late July.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the back of cards): 

1. Header / Sponsor Card 2. Steve Bedrosian (#40 - RHP) 3. Larry Bowa (#2 - CO) 4. Don Carman (#42 - LHP) 5. Darren Daulton (#10 - C) 6. Bob Dernier (#22 - OF) 7. Curt Ford (#24 - OF) 8. Todd Frohwirth (#52 - RHP) 9. Greg Harris (#33 - RHP) 10. Von Hayes (#9 - OF-1B) 11. Tom Herr (#28 - 2B) 12. Ken Howell (#43 - RHP) 13. Chris James (#26 - OF-3B)

14. Steve Jeltz (#30 - SS) 15. Ron Jones (#26 - OF) 16. Ricky Jordan (#17 - 1B) 17. Darold Knowles (#3 - CO) 18. Steve Lake (#25 - C) 19. Nick Leyva (#16 - MG) 20. Mike Maddux (#44 - RHP) 21. Alex Madrid (#34 - RHP) 22. Larry McWilliams (#46 - LHP) 23. Denis Menke (#4 - CO) 24. Dwayne Murphy (#6 - OF) 25. Tom Nieto (#19 - C)

26. Randy O'Neal (#27 - RHP) 27. Steve Ontiveros (#41 - RHP) 28. Jeff Parrett (#49 - RHP) 29. Bruce Ruffin (#47 - LHP) 30. Mark Ryal (#31 - OF) 31. Mike Ryan (#5 - CO) 32. Juan Samuel (#8 - OF) 33. Mike Schmidt (#20 - 3B) 34. Tony Taylor (#12 - CO) 35. Dickie Thon (#21 - SS) 36. John Vukovich (#7 - CO) 37. Floyd Youmans (#15 - RHP)

Complete Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the front of cards):

1. Jim Adduci (#18 - INF) 2. Eric Bullock (#35 - OF)      3. Dennis Cook (#39 - LHP)

4. Lenny Dykstra (#4 - OF) 5. Charlie Hayes (#8 - 3B) 6. John Kruk (#11 - OF-1B)

7. Roger McDowell (#13 - RHP) 8. Terry Mulholland (#45 - LHP) 9. Randy Ready (#23 - 3B)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (5):  Adduci, Bullock, Nieto, O'Neal, Ryal

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (18):  Cook, Dykstra, Ford, C. Hayes, Herr, Howell, Kruk, Lake, Madrid, McDowell, McWilliams, Mulholland, Murphy, Ontiveros, Parrett, Ready, Thon, Youmans
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (15):  Bedrosian, Carman, Daulton, Dernier, Frohwirth, Harris, V. Hayes, James, Jeltz, Jones, Jordan, Maddux, Ruffin, Samuel, Schmidt

This is the only set featuring Phillies baseball cards of the five players listed in the One and Only One category.  The First Appearance designation is for players who have never before appeared on a Phillies team issued set.  These players may have already appeared on other Phillies baseball cards.

Manager (1):  Leyva
Coaches (6):  Bowa, Knowles, Menke, Ryan, Taylor, Vukovich

Other Cards (1):  Header / sponsor card

Surprises:  The 37-card set includes the entire 25-man opening day roster, the manager and all six coaches, Juan Samuel and Tom Nieto, who both began the season on the disabled list, and three players who started the year in the minors but who would eventually spend time with the Phillies - Todd Frohwirth, Alex Madrid and Randy O'Neal.  There aren't really any surprises here, and it's a fairly inclusive checklists.

The Chris James card is an uncorrected error.  James wore #18 in 1989, but the back of the card lists his uniform as #26.  James had switched from #26 mid-way through the 1988 season and Ron Jones wore #26 in 1989.

Omissions:  47 players appeared with the Phillies in 1989.  Only 10 of them didn't have cards in the original 37-card set or the 9-card update set.  Bob Sebra, Gordon Dillard and Marvin Freeman all briefly appeared on the roster and weren't considered for either set.  Neither were any of the seven September call-ups - Tom Barrett, Pat Combs, Chuck McElroy, Keith Miller, Steve Stanicek, Al Pardo and Jason Grimsley.

Variations/Rarities:  The 32-card stadium giveaway set omitted the following five cards - the Header/sponsor card and the cards for four players - Nieto, Jones, O'Neal and Madrid.  Both O'Neal and Madrid were on the 24-man roster on the giveaway day, as was Dillard who was around for all of two weeks.  It's a shame, but completely understandable, that Dillard didn't somehow make it into the SGA set.  

In addition to these omissions, this set contains the following name placement variations, as well as being darker in tone as mentioned above.

• Don Carman, name is bottom center (instead of bottom left)
• Todd Frohwirth, name is more to the right (instead of centered)
• Ken Howell, name is bottom center (instead of bottom left)
• Steve Ontiveros, name is top center (instead of top right)
• Bruce Ruffin, name is top center (instead of bottom left)
• Mike Ryan CO, name is top center (instead of top left)
• Floyd Youmans, name is bottom right (instead of bottom left)

Unless you're a Phillies team issued set or Bruce Ruffin super collector (and why wouldn't you be?) there's really no need to add these cards to your collection.

Also See:  1989 Phillies - The Missing Links, 1989 Topps Phillies

Resources:  14,000 Phillies; Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

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

1988 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1990 Phillies Photo Cards

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

Just One Card - 1980s Phillies Edition

1984 Tastykake Phillies Update

1989 Tastykake Phillies Update #35

I'm not sure why this post has been sitting in my draft folder since last July, but I felt the need to do some late summer cleaning and let his post out into the wild.

Back when I was putting together my original series of posts on the Phillies Missing Links, I neglected to take into account the team-issued photo cards which at the time I knew very little about.  So now equipped with better knowledge of the team-issued photo card sets, here's a more complete listing of those Phillies players who appeared on one (and only one) Phillies baseball card to mark their time in red pinstripes.

As of this writing, I'm still searching for the 3 cards noted below from the 1980 Phillies Postcards set as well as the elusive Steve Fireovid card from the 1984 Tastykake Update set.

1980
Lerrin LaGrow - 1980 Phillies Postcards #14
Dan Larson - 1980 Phillies Postcards #15
Jay Loviglio - 1981 Topps #526
Scott Munninghoff - 1980 Phillies Postcards #21

1982
Julio Franco - 1983 Donruss #525

1984
Steve Fireovid - 1984 Tastykake Phillies Update
Dave Wehrmeister - 1984 Tastykake Phillies Update

1985
Alan Knicely - 1986 Topps #418
Rich Surhoff - 1985 Tastykake Phillies
Pat Zachry - 1985 Tastykake Phillies

1986
Greg Legg - 1987 Tastykake Phillies #11

1987
Doug Bair - 1987 Tastykake Phillies #58
Joe Cowley - 1987 Tastykake Phillies #39
Greg Jelks - 1987 Tastykake Phillies #45

1988
Bill Almon - 1988 Tastykake Phillies #15
Danny Clay - 1988 Fleer Update #U-108

1989
Jim Adduci - 1989 Tastykake Phillies Update #37
Eric Bullock - 1989 Tastykake Phillies Update #35
Randy O'Neal - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #27
Tom Nieto - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #24
Mark Ryal - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #31

Just One Card Links
1980 to 1989
1990 to 1995
1996 to 1999
2000 to 2004
2005 to 2009

1989 Phillies - The Missing Links

1987 Donruss #583, 1989 Topps #338, 1990 ProCards #608 and 1989 Fleer #106

When I started to put together this post, I wanted to start with a few sentences summarizing the 1989 Phillies season.  I stumbled around a little and then decided to just cut and paste what I had written about that team in my 1989 Topps Phillies post:

The 1989 season was a hot mess for the Phillies.  Mike Schmidt tearfully announced his retirement, fan favorites Chris James, Steve Bedrosian and Juan Samuel were all sent packing, and the team continued to underwhelm with another last place finish.

Nick Leyva's squad fielded 48 different players during the long 1989 season, which at the time was one short of the all-time high 49 players used by the 1946 Phillies.  As you'll see below, four of those 48 players have never graced a Phillies baseball card.  If not for the 1989 Tastykake Phillies set, that number would have jumped to nine players.

3 Cards or More
38 Players

Outfielder Keith Miller just makes the 3 Cards or More list.  Miller had solo cards in the 1989 Topps set, as well as the 1989 Score Hottest 100 Rookies set.  He's also featured on the multi-prospest card within the 1988 Tastykake Phillies set and a solo card (which I don't have yet) within the 1988 Tastykake Phillies Update set.

1989 Topps #268, 1987 Topps #196, 1987 Donruss Opening Day #220 and 1990 Fleer #569

2 Cards
Dwayne Murphy (98 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #6 and 1990 Fleer #569

Veteran Murphy wrapped up his 12-year career with 98 games for the Phillies in 1989.  He hit .218 with 9 home runs and 27 RBIs, and was released following the season.  Thankfully, Fleer saw fit to include a "final tribute" card to Murphy with its 1990 release.

1 Card
Mark Ryal (29 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #31
Tom Nieto (11 games in 1989 and 17 games in 1990) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #24

Randy O'Neal (20 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #27

Jim Adduci (13 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies Update #37
Eric Bullock (6 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies Update #38

1989 Tastykake Phillies #31 and #27

If you can actually recall any of the five players above suiting up for the Phillies, I'll tip my cap to you.  For some odd reason, there was actually a period during the 1989 season when Ryal was my favorite Phillies player.  He was only with the team from opening day to mid-June, hitting .242 in his 29 games, but I seem to remember he had a few big late-inning hits.  Checking the official record, it appears as if my memory is shoddy.  Perhaps I just liked rooting for an underdog.

Nieto was the back-up to Steve Lake, who was the back-up to Darren Daulton.  He hit .160 in his 28 games with the Phillies.

O'Neal stuck around for 20 games, and he made an emergency start for the Phillies in mid-August.  He was released following the season after compiling a 6.23 ERA in 39 innings.  Prior to landing with the Phillies, O'Neal had been a semi-reliable reliever with the Tigers in the mid-'80s.

Adduci appeared in 13 July games for the Phillies when the newly acquired John Kruk landed on the disabled list.  Once Kruk was healthy, Adduci headed back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  He wrapped up his 11-year professional career in 1990 with another full season as a Red Baron.

In October 1988, the Phillies traded starting pitcher Shane Rawley to the Twins for starting second baseman Tommy Herr, back-up catcher Nieto and outfielder Bullock.  Bullock earned a very brief call-up by the Phillies in late June, going 0 for 4 in his six games as either a late inning outfield defensive replacement or as a pinch-hitter.  Bullock was one of the five lucky recipients of a 1989 Topps Card That Never Was that I posted two years ago.  To date, I haven't yet made the other 14 cards needed to complete this series.

1989 CMC Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #12, #4, #7 and #21

0 Cards
Steve Stanicek (9 games in 1989)
Bob Sebra (3 games in 1988 and 6 games in 1989)

Gordon Dillard (5 games in 1989)

Al Pardo (2 games in 1988 and 1 game in 1989)

Stanicek was a first round draft pick by the Giants in 1982.  He earned a brief call-up with the Brewers in 1987 and the Phillies signed him as a minor league free agent prior to the 1989 season.  After spending the season with the Red Barons, Stanicek was a September call-up appearing solely as a pinch-hitter in nine games.  He went 1 for 9 during his brief stay and was released immediately following the season.

Dillard, a lefty, came over to the Phillies from the Orioles in the Phil Bradley deal in December 1988.  He had his contract purchased in May and appeared in a total of five games with the Phillies.  He finished up the season in Scranton and bounced to the Pirates organization following the season.  He pitched briefly for the independent Salinas Spurs in 1991 before calling it a career.

I wrote about Sebra's and Pardo's time with the Phillies in my 1988 Missing Links post.

Past Missing Link Posts

1980 Phillies - Orlando Isales and Don McCormack

1981 Phillies - Jerry Reed

1982 Phillies - Stan Bahnsen and Alejandro Sanchez

1983 Phillies - Steve Comer

1984 Phillies - Renie Martin, Jim Kern and Mike LaValliere

1985 Phillies - None

1986 Phillies - Tom Gorman and Jeff Bittiger

1987 Phillies - None

1988 Phillies - Salome Barojas, Bill Dawley, Al Pardo, Bill Scherrer and Bob Sebra

1990 Phillies - Louie Meadows

1991 Phillies - Dave LaPoint

1992 Phillies - Darrin Chapin and Mickey Weston

1993 Phillies - None

1994 Phillies - Tom Edens and Bob Wells

1995 Phillies - Jim Deshaies, Kevin Elster, Omar Olivares, Chuck Ricci and Dennis Springer

1996 Phillies - Glenn Dishman, Bronson Heflin, Manny Martinez and Rafael Quirico

1997 Phillies - Rob Butler and Mike Robertson

1998 Phillies - Robert Dodd and Matt Whiteside

1999 Phillies - Joel Bennett, Domingo Cedeno, Joe Grahe and Torey Lovullo

2000 Phillies - Clemente Alvarez, Kirk Bullinger, Mark Holzemer and Bryan Ward

1989 Topps Phillies - Missing Links (Incomplete)

I've mentioned in a few posts already how I began the process a few years back of creating Topps Phillies cards for those unfortunate few players omitted from the Topps base or traded series for the year(s) they wore red/burgundy pinstripes.  To date, I have created a complete run of missing link players from 1980 through 1988.  I got to 1989 . . . and completely stalled out.

There were 19 players who appeared with the Phils in 1989 who did not merit a Topps baseball card that year.  I started creating the cards and then, to be perfectly honest, I completely lost interest in the project.  I guess Floyd Youmans and Gordan Dillard and Jim Adduci will do that to a guy.  (As a side note, it was very difficult for me to replicate the curvature of the player's name on the 1989 Topps cards.  I found I had to rotate and adjust each letter to get the right look.  This probably contributed to the abandonment of the project.)

In any event, here are the five cards I did manage to complete.  The remaining 14 will hopefully be completed at some point.  After all, how could we live in a world in which Steve Stanicek doesn't have a 1989 Topps Phillies card?

PR2

PR3

PR7

PR9

PR10

And in case you're wondering, here are the 14 players still missing 1989 Topps Phillies cards:  Jim Adduci, Dennis Cook, Gordon Dillard, Curt Ford, Charlie Hayes, Terry Mulholland, Dwayne Murphy, Tom Nieto, Randy O'Neal, Al Pardo, Mark Ryal, Bob Sebra, Steve Stanicek and Floyd Youmans.