Phillies at Royals - August 23rd to August 25th

1984 Topps #511

1984 Topps #74

Friday 8:10, Saturday 7:10 and Sunday 2:10
Kauffman Stadium - Kansas City, MO

At the Ballpark:  Tonight, the first 15,000 fans will receive a Lorenzo Cain bobblehead and there's a postgame fireworks show.  On Sunday, the first 5,000 kids will receive a pair of Royals youth sunglasses.

Philadelphia Phillies

1980 Phillies Leaders
Average:  Bake McBride - .309
Runs:  Mike Schmidt - 104
Home Runs:  Mike Schmidt - 48
RBIs:  Mike Schmidt - 121
Stolen Bases:  Lonnie Smith - 33

Wins:  Steve Carlton - 24
ERA:  Steve Carlton - 2.34
Strikeouts:  Steve Carlton - 286
Saves:  Tug McGraw - 20

Kansas City Royals

1980 Royals Leaders
Average:  George Brett - .390
Runs:  Willie Wilson - 133
Home Runs:  George Brett - 24
RBIs:  George Brett - 118
Stolen Bases:  Willie Wilson - 79

Wins:  Dennis Leonard - 20
ERA:  Larry Gura - 2.95

Strikeouts:  Dennis Leonard - 155
Saves:  Dan Quisenberry - 33

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

Game 106 - Gibson Pitches Gem as Alumni Return

Phillies 7, Nationals 2
Game 106 - Friday Night, August 5th in Philadelphia
Record - 58-48, 3rd Place, 9 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Kyle Gibson was perfect through six and masterful through eight, and the offense contributed five home runs in this 7-2 win over the Nationals.

What It Means:  There was a game?

What Happened:  Gibson had a perfect game going through six innings before he hit Victor Robles with a pitch to open the seventh.  Luis Garcia singled two pitches later and the no-hitter as gone too.  Overall, Gibson allowed a pair of hits, one run and struck out four on the way to his seventh win.  The Phillies line-up continued to mash the ball, with Rhys Hoskins, Nick Castellanos, Darick Hall, J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber all connecting for home runs.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  All four of us were on-hand to watch the pre-game ceremony honoring public address announcer Dan Baker and his 50 years with the Phillies.  But while Jenna and Ben settled into their seats, Doug and I prepared to stand for the duration of the game in the Hall of Fame Club in the hopes of Doug adding a few autographs to his collection.  We didn't see many alumni, but those we did see all stopped to sign for the gathered collectors.  He was thrilled to get signatures on his Wall of Fame prints from John Kruk, Manny Trillo and Charlie Manuel.  At one point, Gary "Sarge" Mathews wheeled out a cart of milkshakes and handed them out to the assembled fans.  Also signing were Tommy Greene, Del Unser, Marty Bystrom, Pat Gillick and newest Wall of Fame inductee Ron Reed.  As an added bonus, it was great chatting with the proprietor of the Relief Room throughout the night, as we shared our appreciation of Barry Jones, Steve Fireovid and Scott Eyre.

For the first time since 2019, I'm happy to present a small set of custom cards to memorialize the Phillies alumni who signed for Doug, along with a few photos taken by Jenna of the fantastic pre-game ceremony.  I particularly liked the picture she captured of Larry Bowa and Cesar Hernandez having a lengthy discussion during the National Anthem.

Transaction:  Yairo Munoz (inf) was optioned to Lehigh Valley and Nick Maton (inf) was recalled.

2022 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2022 Season Summary Index / 2022 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 141 - More Pain

1980 Oklahoma City 89ers
Team Issue #26

Rockies 11, Phillies 2
Game 141 - Friday Night, September 10th in Philadelphia
Record - 71-70, 2nd Place, 4 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Everything continued to fall apart as the Phillies suffered one of their most embarrassing losses of the season, losing 11-2 to the Rockies.

What It Means:  The Braves won, and the Phillies are 4 1/2 games behind them with 21 games to play.

What Happened:  Without a fifth starter available anywhere in their organization, the Phillies had another bullpen game.  Sam Coonrod pitched a scoreless first, but then Bailey Falter again looked miserable, giving up three runs on a pair of hits and a pair of walks.  Since his return from the Covid injured list on August 15th, Falter has appeared in eight games, allowing nine runs on 11 hits for an 8.38 ERA.  Ramon Rosso (7.94 ERA) and Enyel De Los Santos (6.75 ERA) were also hit hard with JD Hammer allowing a ninth inning grand slam to make it painfully clear the Phillies weren't winning this game.

The Phillies offense failed to advance a runner past second base until Didi Gregorius hit a meaningless solo home run in the bottom of the ninth.  This team stinks.

Featured Card:  The current state of the Phillies forces me to go to an "on this date" format for the featured card, as I'm fairly annoyed with the entire roster at this point, save Harper and Suarez.  As Tweeted by Larry Shenk, on September 10, 1980, Marty Bystrom made his first big league start and he'd finish the month with a 5-0 record, helping to propel the Phillies into the play-offs.  Had The Phillies Room (or the internet for that matter) existed back in 1980, I would have posted this card, the only card issued for Bystrom that season.

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

Series Preview - Yankees at Phillies: June 12th to June 13th

1986 Topps #723

1986 Topps #361

Saturday 4:05 and Sunday 1:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  For the annual Father's Day celebration, all men 15 and over will receive a 1920s-style Phillies hat on Sunday afternoon.

Yankees 33-30
3rd Place in the A.L. East, 6 1/2 games behind the Rays

Yankees Probables
Jameson Taillon (1-4, 5.09)
Domingo German (4-3, 3.12)

Yankees Leaders
Average:  Aaron Judge - .291
Runs:  Aaron Judge - 35
Home Runs:  Aaron Judge - 15
RBIs:  Aaron Judge - 35
Stolen Bases:  Gleyber Torres - 4

Wins:  Gerrit Cole - 7
ERA:  Gerrit Cole - 2.31
Strikeouts:  Gerrit Cole - 113
Saves:  Aroldis Chapman - 12

Phillies 30-31
2nd Place in the N.L. East, 4 games behind the Mets

Phillies Probables
Vince Velasquez (2-1, 4.33)
Aaron Nola (4-4, 4.06)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Rhys Hoskins - .248
Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 33
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 12
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 35
Stolen Bases:  Jean Segura - 6

Wins:  Jose Alvarado - 5
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 2.29
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 112
Saves:  Hector Neris - 9

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

1981 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 since 1970, these cards feature a black and white photo with the players' name below.  The backs of the cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1981.  Some of the cards contain blue facsimile autographs as noted on the checklist below.  There are six cards available with a horizontal orientation as also noted below.  The Sparky Lyle card contains an uncorrected error with the spelling of his first name as "Sparkey."

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 these cards were ever available in complete set form.

The set's composition features the entire 25-man opening day roster, the manager and all six coaches.  No one who made his 1981 season debut after opening day received a photo card.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Luis Aguayo 2. Ruben Amaro CO 3. Ramon Aviles (auto) 4. Bob Boone (auto, horizontal) 5. Larry Bowa 6. Marty Bystrom (auto) 7. Steve Carlton (horizontal)       8. Larry Christenson 9. Dick Davis (auto) 10. Billy DeMars CO (auto) 11. Lee Elia CO

12. Nino Espinosa (auto) 13. Dallas Green MG (auto) 14. Greg Gross 15. Sparky Lyle 16. Garry Maddox (auto) 17. Gary Matthews 18. Bake McBride (auto) 19. Tug McGraw 20. Keith Moreland (horizontal)       21. Mike Proly (auto) 22. Ron Reed

23. Pete Rose (auto) 24. Dick Ruthven (auto) 25. Mike Ryan CO (auto) 26. Mike Schmidt (horizontal) 27. Lonne Smith (horizontal) 28. Herm Starrette CO 29. Manny Trillo (horizontal) 30. Del Unser 31. John Vukovich 32. Bobby Wine CO (auto)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (0)

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (5):  Bystrom, Davis, Lyle, Matthews, Proly
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (20):  Aguayo, Aviles, Boone, Bowa, Carlton, Christenson, Espinosa, Gross, Maddox, McBride, McGraw, Moreland, Reed, Rose, Ruthven, Schmidt, Smith, Trillo, Unser, Vukovich

Manager (1):  Green
Coaches (6):  Amaro, DeMars, Elia, Ryan, Starrette, Wine

Surprises:  I'm more impressed than surprised the Phillies were able to issue photo cards for Dick Davis, Gary Matthews and Mike Proly as that trio of players was acquired in the month before the start of the regular season.  Proly was acquired from the White Sox on April 1st and his photo card features a photo taken at Veterans Stadium.  The earliest date that photo could have been taken was April 17th, Proly's home debut with the Phillies.

Omissions:  The only player to appear with the Phillies during the first half of this strike-shortened season and not appear on a photo card is George Vukovich, who made his season debut on May 29th.  The 10 players who made their season debuts after the strike ended, and after the second half of the season began on August 10th, are all omitted from the set:  Dickie Noles, Mark Davis, Warren Brusstar, Ryne Sandberg, Bob Dernier, Len Matuszek, Ozzie Virgil, Dan Larson, Jerry Reed and Don McCormack.

Variations/Rarities:  Collectors Rick and Steve once again filled in with some rarities (or potential rarities) when I originally posted on this set almost six years ago.  Tim McCarver joined the broadcast booth and received a card showing him wearing a headset.  Steve notes variations may exist for the Garry Maddox and Proly cards.  

Finally, and similar to 1980, there is a black and white 1981 card of the Phillie Phanatic issued by Harrison/Erickson that is roughly the same size as the rest of the set.

Broadcaster       1. Tim McCarver

Mystery Variation?        1. Garry Maddox 2. Mike Proly

Harrison/Erickson   1. Phillie Phanatic

Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Phillies collectors Steve and Rick (@rickphils).

This set was originally featured in a post back in January 2015, and I'm going to slowly go through these team-issued set posts and update them with new information gathered (if any) over the past five-plus years.

1980 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards / 1982 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards

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

Alumni Weekend Continues with More Autographs

Mets 6, Phillies 2
Game 115 - Sunday Afternoon, August 13th in Philadelphia
Record - 43-72, 5th place, 26 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Mets dampened the good vibes brought on by the annual Phillies Alumni Day, defeating the Phillies 6-2.

What It Means:  The Mets took three out of four in this series, and the Phillies now head to the West Coast for games in San Diego and San Francisco.

What Happened:  Zach Eflin allowed home runs to Michael Conforto and Curtis Granderson in his 5 1/3 innings of work.  The Phillies went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position, failing to capitalize twice with the bases loaded.  The fifth inning was cut short when Odubel Herrera ran right into an out at third, as Freddy Galvis was already manning the base.  Rhys Hoskins collected his first big league hit and RBI.


Featured Cards/Field Report:  My wife Jenna and youngest son Ben joined in the fun for this game, as the four of us set out to meet some more Phillies alumni.  The Phillies truly do a great job with this stuff.  Before the start of the game, five tables were set up throughout the ballpark, each with two members of the 1980 World Championship team signing autographs.  We made it to four of the five tables, with the boys getting autographs from Warren Brusstar, Dickie Noles, Bob Boone, Bake McBride, Larry Christenson, Marty Bystrom, Manny Trillo and Greg Luzinski.

We settled into our seats and enjoyed the pre-game ceremony introducing over 40 former Phillies players and once again honoring the late Darren Daulton.  Members of the 1993 Phillies team each appeared on the field wearing Daulton's #10 jersey.


Mid-way through the game, we walked over to an alumni photo both and the boys had their pictures taken with Jim Eisenreich, Milt Thompson, Kevin Stocker and Tommy Greene.  Doug added autographs from Stocker and Greene to the Wall of Fame print he had received on Saturday night. By Doug's tally, he added 22 (!) alumni autographs to his collection on Saturday and Sunday.

I should also mention we received four 15-card packs of the special Topps National Baseball Card Day Phillies sets as we entered the ballpark.  This is a fantastic giveaway, the only problem with it being there are 20 cards in a complete set.  With the four packs we received, we were able to put together only two complete sets.  Still, it's a great looking set and Jenna and Ben don't seem to mind too much (yet) that their sets are missing a few cards.

Ben looks on as Freddy Galvis bats

Series Preview - Mariners at Phillies: May 9th to May 10th

Tuesday 7:05 and Wednesday 1:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Mariners 15-17, Tied for 2nd Place in the A.L. West, 6 games behind the Astros
Phillies 13-17, 3rd Place in the N.L. East, 7 games behind the Nationals

Mariners Probables:  Ariel Miranda (3-2, 3.55), Yovani Gallardo (1-3, 4.46)
Phillies Probables:  Jerad Eickhoff (0-3, 4.00), Zach Eflin (0-0, 2.42)

At the Ballpark:  It's another dollar dog night tonight and all Phillies fans hope that the current Mariners back-up catcher, Carlos Ruiz, makes an appearance at some point during this quick, two-game series.

Mariners Leaders
Average:  Nelson Cruz - .319
Runs:  Mitch Haniger - 20
Home Runs:  Nelson Cruz - 7
RBIs:  Nelson Cruz - 28
Stolen Bases:  Jarod Dyson - 9

Wins:  Ariel Miranda and James Paxton - 3
ERA:  James Paxton - 1.43
Strikeouts:  James Paxton - 45
Saves:  Edwin Diaz - 6

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Cesar Hernandez - .333
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez - 26
Home Runs:  Maikel Franco - 5
RBIs:  Maikel Franco - 25
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 4

Wins:  Jeremy Hellickson - 4
ERA:  Jeremy Hellickson - 3.49
Strikeouts:  Vince Velasquez - 34
Saves:  Hector Neris - 3

1982 Topps #197

1982 Topps #416

1982 Topps Appreciation:  The Phillies are taking an interleague spin through the A.L. West this season, which allows for a rare look at those teams seldom seen in these parts.  The 1982 version of me would have been giddy at the prospect of a Phillies-Mariners series as this would have (a) been super cool and (b) meant the Phillies and Mariners had somehow advanced to the World Series.

Shane Rawley spent the first four seasons of his big league career with the Mariners before being traded in April 1982 to the Yankees in a four-player deal.  On June 30, 1984, the Phillies acquired him from the Yankees for Marty Bystrom and Keith Hughes.  He'd have his best seasons with the Phillies, making the All-Star in 1986 and winning 17 games in 1987.

Bystrom's career was cut short by injuries and he'd appear in only 15 games for the Yankees in 1984 and 1985.  He stuck around in the Yankees system for two more seasons but never made it back to the majors.

1982 Topps #416 Marty Bystrom

Giants 8, Phillies 7
Game 77 - Sunday Afternoon, June 26th in San Francisco
Record - 32-45, 4th place, 12 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Hawaii Catch-up - Game 3 of 9

One Sentence Summary:  Aaron Nola's struggles continued and a late comeback wasn't enough as the Giants walked off with an 8-7 win.

What It Means:  Nola was pulled after 3 1/3 innings making him the first Phillies starting pitcher to last fewer than four innings in four straight starts since Marty Bystrom in 1982.

What Happened:  Nola allowed five runs on ten hits in his shortened outing.  The Phils came back to tie up the game at 7-7, but back-to-back doubles from Ramiro Pena and Conor Gillaspie off Severino Gonzalez in the bottom of the ninth gave the win to the Giants.

Featured Card:  Bystrom was featured in the 1982 Donruss and Topps sets, but omitted from the Fleer set that year.

Island Report:  More quality pool/beach time for us on this Sunday.  I listened to the game in the morning while Jenna enjoyed her spa treatment and the boys spent some time playing at Aunty's Beach House.

Transaction:  Following the game, starting pitcher Vince Velasquez was activated from the disabled list and reliever Elvis Araujo was optioned to the IronPigs.  Adam Morgan will move to the bullpen in what could be a temporary relocation.

Be sure to check out the 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.

Phillies at Yankees: June 22nd to June 24th

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

Phillies 24-47, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 13 1/2 games behind the Nationals
Yankees 38-31, 2nd Place in the A.L. East, 1 game behind the Rays

Phillies Probables:  Kevin Correia (0-1, 1.69), Sean O'Sullivan (1-5, 4.79), Cole Hamels (5-5, 2.96)
Yankees Probables:  Michael Pineda (8-3, 3.54), CC Sabathia (3-7, 5.31), Adam Warren (5-4, 3.62)

At the Ballpark:  The Yankees have give-aways scheduled for all three games against the Phillies.  Tonight is Alzheimer's Awareness night with the first 18,000 fans receiving a Yankees hat.  Tomorrow night's give-away is a collectible Yankees cup and the first 18,000 fans on Sunday will receive a Dunkin' Donuts gift card.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Ben Revere - .282
Runs:  Ben Revere - 34
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 13
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 34
Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 17

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 5
ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.96
Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 103
Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 13

Yankees Leaders
Average:  Alex Rodriguez - .282
Runs:  Brett Gardner - 49
Home Runs:  Mark Teixeira - 18
RBIs:  Mark Teixeira - 49
Stolen Bases:  Brett Gardner - 15

Wins:  Michael Pineda - 8
ERA:  Michael Pineda - 3.54
Strikeouts:  Michael Pineda - 87
Saves:  Andrew Miller - 17

1985 Topps #636

1985 Topps #284

1985 Topps Appreciation:  On June 30, 1984, the Phillies traded Marty Bystrom to the Yankees for Shane Rawley and Keigh Hughes.  Bystrom had been a hero for the 1980 World Champions, going 5-0 with a 1.50 ERA in the crucial month of September.  But injuries seemingly derailed his career and he'd never quite recapture the glory he found in September 1980.

This deal is one of the few from the early 1980s that actually worked out in the Phillies favor.  Rawley was one of the team's most reliable starting pitchers between the lean years of 1984 and 1988.  Over 145 games, he went 59-48 and made the All-Star team in 1986.

1980 Phillies - The Missing Links

1980 Burger King Phillies #8, 1981 TCMA Oklahoma City 89ers #8 and #13 and 1980 Topps #624

I've been struggling to finish off my 2001 Topps Phillies post.  Every time I sit down to work on it, I'm reminded how much I really don't want to travel back to that year even it is just for the purpose of writing about the Phillies that appeared within the 2001 Topps baseball card set.

So I'm going to take a small break from the Topps Phillies posts and travel backwards with my Missing Links posts instead.  I've already completed Missing Links posts for 1990 through 2000, and now I'll turn my attention to those unfortunate Phillies who received little to no cardboard recognition during their stint in red pinstripes between 1980 and 1989.

A quick note about this particular post - I don't have the 1980 Phillies Postcards set, nor have I ever actually seen the set for sale.  I'm relying on the 34-card checklist available in the Beckett database for this post.  And as you'll soon see, the obscure regional set is a must-have for obtaining the only Phillies cards of three Phillies pitchers from 1980.

3 Cards or More
31 Players

2 Cards
**John Vukovich (153 games from 1970-1971, 1976-1977 and 1979-1981) - 1980 Burger King Phillies #8 and 1981 Fleer #22
Mark Davis (11 games in 1980 and 1981, 25 games in 1993) - 1982 Topps #231 and 1993 Ultra #437

Of course, Vukovich has over a dozen cards featuring him as a Phillies coach, but there were only two cards issued of him during his playing career as a Phillie.  Davis had to wait for his second stint with the club before he received a solo Phillies card.

1981 Topps #526 and 1982 Topps #231

1 Card

Lerrin LaGrow (25 games in 1980) - 1980 Phillies Postcards #14

Dan Larson (21 games from 1978-1981) - 1980 Phillies Postcards #15

Jay Loviglio (16 games in 1980) - 1981 Topps #526
Scott Munninghoff (4 games in 1980) - 1980 Phillies Postcards #21

It amazes me that Larson bounced around the Phillies organization for four seasons.  I honestly thought he had appeared in a few games in 1980 and that was it.  Larson appeared in a career-high 32 games with the 1977 Astros and was awarded with his one and only Topps card within that year's set.

LaGrow put together a 10-year career primarily as a relief pitcher, although he did lose 19 games as a starting pitcher for the Tigers in 1974.  His Topps card featured at the top of this post was the last card issued of him during his playing days, and I created a Phillies "card that never was" to celebrate LaGrow's 25 games with the Phils in 1980.

0 Cards
Orlando Isales (3 games in 1980)
Don McCormack (5 games from 1980-1981)

Only two players from the team's first World Championship year have been completely omitted from the Phillies baseball card universe.  Isales had toiled in the Phillies minor league system since 1975 when he was promoted to the team as a September call-up.  Overall, he went 2 for 5 in his Phillies career over three games.  He was the team's starting right fielder for the final regular season game in Montreal.

McCormack was another September call-up, although he didn't make his debut until September 30th.  With the Phils up 14-2 against the Cubs, catcher Keith Moreland was pulled from the game in the 9th and McCormack replaced him for an inning.  His only big league start came on the final game of the 1981 season.  Following his playing days, McCormack managed in the Phillies minor league system from 1988 through 1995.

**UPDATE (6/19/15) - I know now that Vukovich had additional Phillies baseball cards in the 1971, 1980 and 1981 Phillies Photocards sets.