Tigers at Phillies: June 5th to June 7th

1965 Topps #429

1965 Topps #20

Monday and Tuesday 6:40, Wednesday 6:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  Tonight the Phillies will host their ALS Awareness Night with an on-field, pregame tribute to patients, caregivers and family members affected by this terrible disease.  Phillies Grab Bags will be available for sale throughout the game featuring signed memorabilia and other giveaways.  Tuesday and Wednesday will see a few theme nights with Greek Heritage Celebration and Dead & Company Night, respectively.

Tigers 26-31
Tied for 2nd Place in the A.L. Central, 3 1/2 games behind the Twins

Tigers Probables
Joey Wentz (1-5, 7.28)
TBD
Reese Olson (0-1, 3.60)

Tigers Leaders
Average:  Riley Greene - .296
Runs:  Riley Greene - 29
Home Runs:  Jake Rogers - 6
RBIs:  Javier Baez - 27
Stolen Bases:  Zach McKinstry - 10

Wins:  Eduardo Rodriguez - 4
ERA:  Eduardo Rodriguez - 2.13
Strikeouts:  Eduardo Rodriguez - 67
Saves:  Alex Lange - 10

Phillies 27-32
4th Place in the N.L. East, 8 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Aaron Nola (4-4, 4.70)
Taijuan Walker (4-3, 5.65)
Zack Wheeler (4-4, 4.33)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Nick Castellanos - .316
Runs:  Nick Castellanos - 37
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 15
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 37
Stolen Bases:  Bryson Stott - 9

Wins:  Four tied with - 4
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 4.33

Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 79
Saves:  Craig Kimbrel - 8

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

Game 8 - 1971 Dell Today's Team Stamps #12 Jim Bunning

Braves 5, Phillies 4
Game 8 - Saturday Night, April 10th in Atlanta
Record - 5-3, 1st Place, 1 game ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies let this game slip away, losing 5-4, thanks in part to a poorly executed play in the seventh in which the eventual winning run scored on a ground ball back to the pitcher.

What It Means:  The team will try to avoid the sweep tonight while featured as ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball game.

What Happened:  With the score tied 4-4, Archie Bradley relieved Zach Eflin to start the seventh and allowed a pinch-hit double to Ehire Adrianza and a single to Ronald Acuna, Jr.  Jose Alvarado relieved Bradley and when Freddie Freeman bounced a grounder back to Alvarado, the pitcher wheeled to throw to second, where no one was covering, and then threw home too late to get Adrianza.  The Braves had a 5-4 lead and would go on to win the game.

The Phillies had tied the game in the fifth on Andrew McCutchen's home run and then taken a brief lead in the sixth on Bryce Harper's home run.  Both marked firsts for the year for McCutchen and Harper.  Eflin allowed three quick first inning runs to the Braves and then settled in to pitch well through the fifth.  The Braves tied the score in the sixth when Dansby Swanson doubled home Marcell Ozuna.

Featured Card:  Again, nothing great to feature from this game, but the Phillies celebrated an important anniversary in their history yesterday.  It was 50 years ago yesterday, on April 10, 1971, Veterans Stadium first opened with Jim Bunning throwing a pitch to Expos' center fielder Boots Day.  I've uploaded the team's 1971 highlight film here on YouTube, and thanks to fellow collector Steve F. for sending the video to me several years ago.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

1965 Topps - 1st Series Phillies Alumni

In celebration of the completion of the first series (cards 1 to 88) of our 1965 Topps set, here's a look at each card from that first series featuring a former, current or future Phillies player, coach or manager.  You can follow along as we collect this set here.

#13

#15

#16

#20

#22

#23

#33

#36

#52

#62

#64

#67

#72

#75

#80

1965 Topps 2nd Series Phillies Alumni

1971 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  32
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.  All photo cards contain a blue facsimile autograph.  A lot of the photos used here are repeats from the 1970 team-issued set.  The backs of the photo cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1971.

How Distributed:  The 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.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Larry Bowa 2. Darrell Brandon 3. Byron Browne 4. Jim Bunning 5. Bill Champion 6. Denny Doyle 7. Doc Edwards CO         8. Roger Freed 9. Woodie Fryman 10. Oscar Gamble   11. Terry Harmon

12. Larry Hisle 13. Joe Hoerner 14. Deron Johnson 15. Pete Koegel  16. Barry Lersch 17. Joe Lis 18. Frank Lucchesi MG         19. Greg Luzinski 20. Tim McCarver 21. Don Money 22. Willie Montanez

23. Bob Pfeil 24. Ken Reynolds 25. Mike Ryan 26. Dick Selma 27. Chris Short 28. Ron Stone 29. Tony Taylor 30. John Vukovich 31. Billy Wilson 32. Rick Wise

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Pfeil

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (5):  Brandon, Freed, Koegel, Montanez, Vukovich
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (24):  Bowa, Browne, Bunning, Champion, Doyle, Fryman, Gamble, Harmon, Hisle, Hoerner, Johnson, Lersch, Lis, Luzinski, McCarver, Money, Reynolds, Ryan, Selma, Short, Stone, Taylor, Wilson, Wise

Manager (1):  Lucchesi
Coach (1):  Edwards

Surprises:  The entire 25-man opening day roster received photo cards with the exception of John Briggs, who was traded to the Brewers on April 22nd.  Also receiving cards were Bobby Pfeil, Bill Wilson and a trio of Phillies prospects - Oscar Gamble, Greg Luzinski and John Vukovich.

Omissions:  Briggs is a notable omission, but see below for the possible existence of a Briggs photo card in the Variations/Rarities section.  Other than Briggs, only four players appeared with the Phillies and did not receive a card in this set - Lowell Palmer, who pitched in only 3 games, along with September call-ups Mike Anderson, Wayne Twitchell and Manny Muniz.  Once again, that's a fairly comprehensive checklist.

Variations/Rarities:  The checklist found at The Trading Card Database lists two cards for Larry Bowa, with each card having a slightly different autograph placement.  I'm not necessarily interested in these types of variations, but I'll list it here for completeness sake.  One version features Bowa's autograph parallel to the bottom border of the photo, while the other version features his signature dipping down to the right.  The same checklist omits the Doc Edwards and Pete Koegel cards, which I've added based on a a comment from fellow collector Rick left on the original post for this set.

Finally, fellow collector Steve notes his checklist for the set contains four additional cards.  The existence of these cards would make sense, as it seems odd the Phillies would create a card for coach Doc Edwards but not the other three coaches.  As noted above, Briggs isn't included in the standard checklist, while the player the Phillies acquired from the Brewers for him (Koegel) did get a photo card.

 

Autograph Variation           1. Larry Bowa

Potential Rarities? 1. John Briggs 2. Billy DeMars CO 3. George Myatt CO 4. Ray Rippelmeyer CO

Also See:  1971 Arco Phillies

Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Steve F. and Rick G.

This set was originally featured in a post back in December 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.

 

1970 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards / 1972 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards

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

1970 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  40
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.  Unlike the rest of the Phillies photo cards issued throughout the 1970s, the players' position is also included.  The backs of the cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1970. 

How Distributed:  The 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.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Larry Bowa 2. John Briggs 3. Byron Browne           4. Jim Bunning 5. Bill Champion 6. Mike Compton 7. Billy DeMars CO 8. Denny Doyle 9. Doc Edwards CO (with hat) 10. Doc Edwards CO (without hat)           11. Woodie Fryman 12. Oscar Gamble 13. Terry Harmon 14. Larry Hisle

15. Joe Hoerner           16. Jim Hutto           17. Grant Jackson 18. Deron Johnson      19. Rick Joseph 20. Bill Laxton 21. Barry Lersch 22. Joe Lis 23. Frank Lucchesi MG                24. Greg Luzinski 25. Tim McCarver 26. Don Money   27. George Myatt CO

28. Lowell Palmer 29. Sammy Parrilla 30. Scott Reid 31. Ken Reynolds 32. Ray Rippelmeyer CO                33. Mike Ryan 34. Dick Selma 35. Chris Short 36. Ron Stone 37. Tony Taylor 38. Fred Wenz 39. Billy Wilson 40. Rick Wise

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Laxton

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (22):  Bowa, Brown, Champion, Compton, Doyle, Gamble, Harmon, Hoerner, Hutto, Joseph, Lersch, Lis, Luzinski, McCarver, Palmer, Parrilla, Reid, Reynolds, Selma, Stone, Wenz, Wilson
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (11):  Briggs, Bunning, Fryman, Hisle, Jackson, Johnson, Money, Ryan, Short, Taylor, Wise

Manager (1):  Lucchesi
Coaches (5):  DeMars, Edwards (2), Myatt, Rippelmeyer

Surprises:  Two versions of the Doc Edwards card is kind of odd.  The Phillies could have issued a third variation with "catcher" listed as Edwards' position as he was activated on June 6th to help carry the catching load after a rash of injuries at the position.  Edwards hadn't caught in the Majors since 1965 but he got into 35 games with the 1970 Phillies, amazingly making 23 starts!

Omissions:  I'm also surprised by the fact the Phillies had 38 players suit up in 1970 and 34 of them are in this set.  The club can't be blamed for omitting the final four, as they were all short-timers that season.  Catcher Del Bates appeared in 22 games between May 6th and June 5th and reliever Mike Jackson pitched in five games between May 10th and May 24th.  The Phillies would have had to scramble to produce and distribute cards of those two players during the short time they were both active.  If I ever get around to producing my Phillies Missing Links custom cards from the 1970s, Bates and Jackson will be the first two cards in the set as neither ever appeared on a Phillies baseball card.

The other two players omitted were two prospects who would both go on to have much more time in Phillies uniforms.  Outfielder Willie Montanez and infielder John Vukovich were both September call-ups and cards weren't produced for them.

Variations/Rarities:  There are two versions of the Edwards card - one featuring him with a hat, and another featuring him without a hat.  I'm not sure which is more prevalent than the other, so I've listed them both above as part of the main checklist.

Also See:  According to entries found at The Trading Card Database and Beckett.com, there was also a 12-card "Picture Pack" set issued in 1970 containing cards measuring 4 1/4" x 7".  And again per The Trading Card Database, a 26-card set containing 8" x 10" black and white cards featuring a portrait and a posed photo of each player was also released.

Resources:  As far as I can tell, there's no other record or checklist of this set available online.  Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils) was kind enough to send along the scan shown above, which is what I used for my checklist.

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

1950-1969 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards / 1971 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards

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

Another Package from Alan: Searching for Freddie Andrews

A few weeks back, I featured the first Phillies baseball card for Larry File as fellow collector Alan had been kind enough to send me a care package of autographed Phillies photos, including the rare photo of File used for my card.  Since then, Alan has been busy putting together a second care package, with even more autographed Phillies photos along with cards from various 1960s Phillies picture packs and a hard to find 1967 Phillies Safe Driving Jim Bunning card.

It's a blast to get a package like this in the mail, and with a busy week at work I wanted to wait until the weekend to take the time and enjoy each item Alan sent.

There were 21 different cards from various 5 x 7 Phillies picture pack sets in the package, and an extra card signed by Ray Semproch.  Sorting through the cards, I realized I had complete sets of the 1961 Jay Publishing picture pack (12 cards) along with 9 of the 12 cards from the 1958 Jay Publishing set.  The autographed Semproch photo is from the 1959 set.  I've been slowly adding these picture pack Phillies issues from the '50s and '60s and it's probably time for me to put together a true want list of what I still need to track down.

There was also a few version of a cool photo of former Phillies manager Danny Ozark, both signed, and taken during an Old-Timers Game at some point in the late 1980s in Arlington.

But the few pieces that puzzled me were the signed photos of short-time former Phillie Freddie Andrews, apparently clipped from a magazine article.  Andrews appeared in 16 games for the 1976 and 1977 Phillies, and his sole Phillies baseball card can be found within the 1977 team-issued photo card set.  I wanted to figure out the source of these signed magazine pages sent by Alan.  I came up empty while searching the Sports Illustrated online archive, and I searched every possible combination of words and names found within the article on the back of the pages but I still couldn't identify the source.

I finally Googled this sentence from the article, "In the spring of '72 Freddie Andrews learned to hate the Continuous Motion Program," and I immediately got a hit for the March 1974 issue of Boys' Life magazine.  Andrews was featured on the cover of that issue, and I'd recommend reading the entire article which I've linked here.  The article is written by former big leauge pitcher Jim Brosnan and it recounts a spring day in March 1973 on a minor league field at the Carpenter Complex in Clearwater, Florida, along with Andrews' rise through the Phillies farm system.  The article is dotted with names every Phillies fan will recognize, including farm director Dallas Green, general manager Paul Owens, Reading Phillies manager Bunning and coaches Wally Moses and Ruben Amaro.

Alan sent two copies of page 9 of the magazine along with the cover photo from page 8, with all three pages signed by Andrews.  Andrews would spend the entire 1973 season with the Reading Phillies team, where he'd hit .227 over 110 games.  He'd bounce back with a successful 1974 season, earning him a promotion to Triple-A Toledo.  And while he wasn't with the Phillies for long, I'm happy to add these pieces to my 1970s Phillies binder.

Thanks again Alan for the great package!

Series Preview - Braves at Phillies: March 28th to March 31st

1971 Topps #359

1971 Topps #574

Thursday 3:05, Saturday 4:05 and Sunday 7:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

2018 Records
Braves 90-72, 1st place in the N.L. East, 8 games ahead of the Nationals
Phillies 80-82, 3rd place in the N.L. East, 10 games behind the Braves

2018 Statistics
Braves Probables:  Julio Teheran (9-9, 3.94), Bryse Wilson (1-0, 6.43), Kyle Wright (0-0, 4.50)
Phillies Probables:  Aaron Nola (17-6, 2.37), Nick Pivetta (7-14, 4.77), Jake Arrieta (10-11, 3.96)

At the Ballpark:  There will be the usual pre-game celebrations and ceremonies before today's opening day, but there will be many more fans in attendance compared to recent years.  All fans will receive a Phillies rally towel.  On Saturday, all kids will receive a hooded t-shirt and fans attending Sunday night's ESPN game will receive a nice looking opening night t-shirt.

Braves Spring Training Leaders
Average:  Ozzie Albies - .309
Runs:  Ronald Acuna, Jr. - 14
Home Runs:  Ronald Acuna, Jr. - 4
RBIs:  Ronald Acuna, Jr. and Christian Pache - 10
Stolen Bases:  3 tied with - 3

Wins:  Chad Sobotka and Bryse Wilson - 2
ERA:  Sean Newcomb - 5.14
Strikeouts:  Julio Teheran - 21
Saves:  4 tied with - 1

Phillies Spring Training Leaders
Average:  Scott Kingery - .264
Runs:  Scott Kingery - 11
Home Runs:  Dylan Cozens and J.T. Realmuto - 4
RBIs:  Maikel Franco and Nick Williams - 9
Stolen Bases:  3 tied with - 2

Wins:  Cole Irvin - 3
ERA:  Zach Eflin - 3.54
Strikeouts:  Zach Eflin - 18
Saves:  6 tied with - 1

PLAY BALL!

3 More Allen & Ginter Cards Needed! (Valley Forge Report)

1933 Goudey #115

1934-36 Diamond Stars #15

1936 S and S Game

1940 Play Ball #216

My son Doug and I had a free Sunday afternoon, so we decided to head to Valley Forge for the September "Philly Show".  Doug's fall baseball schedule meant we couldn't get to the show on Saturday to meet Roy Halladay, and we only had a few hours on Sunday, but once again we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  We met up this time with Doug's friends Jacob and Josh and their Dad Chris, Doug's baseball coach.

The three younger collectors had a blast exploring the show floor and adding to their collections. Doug needs just three more cards to complete his 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter set (see below) thanks to All-Star Sports Cards (@Allstarsports09).  He spent the rest of his allowance money tracking down cool Phillies cards and adding to his growing Mike Trout collection.  We were there as the dealers were packing up, and one dealer unloaded three binders of complete Topps sets on the three boys. Doug came away with a 1988 Topps set and he hasn't stopped smiling about it yet.  It's the oldest complete set in his collection, and he'll be forever grateful to the dealer who gave it to him for free! (I believe Jacob and Josh came away with 1990 and 1992 Topps sets, respectively.)

As for me, I chipped away at my 1971 Topps set, adding the Robero Clemente and Don Baylor/Dusty Baker rookie card to my collection.  I also picked up a number of semi-stars and high numbers, getting the number of cards I need to complete the set down to 59.

1957 Topps #158

1970 Topps #403

1971 Topps #511

1975 Topps #399

I also made a small dent in my 1950s, 1960s and 1970s Phillies team set needs, creeping closer to my goal of owning a complete run of Topps Phillies cards.  Finally, I added a quartet of Phillies cards from the 1930s and 1940s, meaning I probably need to break down and change my 1930s Phillies have list post to an actual want list post.

We didn't get there in time to meet any of the autograph signers, but I overheard that Rhys Hoskins is expected to be one of the signers at the next Valley Forge show in December. We'll be there!

* * *

Here are the three 2017 Topps Allen & Ginter cards Doug needs to complete his set.  Please let me know if you can help out!

165 - Jayson Stark
301 - Trey Mancini
336 - Kenley Jansen

Memory Lane

Valley Forge 1 - September 2010 - Thinking of my Dad
Valley Forge 2 - October 2012 - Doug's first baseball card show
Valley Forge 3 - September 2014 - Meeting Darren Daulton
Valley Forge 4 - September 2016 - Phillies acquisitions and 4 Phillies Legends
Valley Forge 5 - December 2016 - Meeting Don Money
Valley Forge 6 - September 2017

Wall of Famers Return and Doug's Big Night of Autographs

Phillies 3, Mets 1
Game 114 - Saturday Night, August 12th in Philadelphia
Record - 43-71, 5th place, 26 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Wall of Famers returned for a pre-game ceremony and Aaron Nola continued his dominant second half performance as the Phillies won, 3-1.

What It Means:  This was Nola's 10th consecutive outing allowing two runs or less, which no other Phillies pitcher has accomplished since 1893.

What Happened:  Nola struck out eight in his seven innings of work, allowing just one run (a solo home run to Yoenis Cespedes) and two hits.  Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis delivered RBI singles.


Featured Cards/Field Report:  Doug and I attended this game, and while none of the current Phillies were signing autographs pre-game, he was able to get quite a few autographs later in the Hall of Fame Club.

The Phillies brought back past Wall of Fame inductees for an on-field ceremony, and they then paid tribute to Jim Bunning, Dallas Green and Darren Daulton.  All three Wall of Famers had passed away this year.  Mike Schmidt delivered an emotional speech remembering each of the former Phillies, and he also recognized Ruben Amaro, Sr., who had passed away earlier this year as well.

Around the fifth inning, we decided to take a walk and as is normally the case during Alumni Weekend, there was a large contingent of autograph seekers stationed outside the suite where the alumni were holding their reunion.  As alumni entered and exited the suite, some would pause to sign while others would not.  Here's a summary of our night:

• Larry Christenson and Jim Eisenreich were the first Phillies alumni we spotted signing, and both took their time to sign for anyone who wanted an autograph.  The same can be said for Manny Trillo and Bake McBride.
• While waiting for other alumni to exit the suite, I noticed Desi Relaford and Mike Lieberthal casually chatting about 10 feet away.  I called Doug over and both players graciously signed his Wall of Fame print and posed for pictures.
• Rheal Cormier was also interacting with fans and the two of us got a selfie together.
• Next out the suite door was Jim Thome, who immediately went right for Doug, grabbed his print and asked him where we wanted to have it signed.  It should be noted that Doug was by far the youngest autograph seeker in the area, as the majority of people waiting were more experienced collectors, equally excited to add a long-sought after autograph to their collections. Kudos to Thome and the other signers for going out of their way for the younger fans, and then making sure to sign for the older fans as well.
• Shane Victorino briskly walked past, not acknowledging any of the fans.  Doug was disappointed, but that went away when Tony Taylor emerged.

Tony Taylor . . . the Phillies great singled out Doug and spent about two minutes talking to him.  He talked about the players on the print, he told Doug to follow his dreams and he told Doug to never give up.  He talked about kindness and helping others and hard work.  He wanted Doug to promise to never throw away the print and to remember everything he had told him.  Finally, he told Doug to pass on everything to his kids and to bring his kids to Phillies games when they were older.  Doug took it all in.  I took it all in.  It was a very cool moment.

• The last two signers were Charlie Manual and Bobby Wine.  Wine, the long-time Phillies player and coach, took one look at Doug's straight brim on his baseball cap and admonished him to, "Bend that brim for God's sake!"  He then grabbed the hat and bent the brim.

There were throngs of people around Thome and Manuel, so I didn't get good photos of those two, but I've created a custom card set for the other autograph signers.  It was a fantastic experience for Doug (and me) and one neither of us will soon forget.

Memory Lane - Past Induction Ceremonies/Alumni Weekends

2009 - Harry Kalas

2010 - Darren Daulton

2011 - John Kruk

2012 - Mike Lieberthal

2013 - Curt Schilling

2014 - Charlie Manuel
2015 - Pat Burrell
2016 - Jim Thome
2017 - Tribute to Jim Bunning, Dallas Green and Darren Daulton