Phillies at Orioles - June 14th to June 16th

2024 Chachi 1984 Topps Missing Links #14

1984 Topps #773

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05, Sunday 1:35
Oriole Park at Camden Yards - Baltimore, MD

At the Ballpark:  This series is sold out, and quite a few Phillies fans are expected to be in attendance.  On Sunday, the first 15,000 fans will receive an Orioles hat and kids can run the bases following the game.

Philadelphia Phillies 46-22
1st Place in the N.L. East, 9 games ahead of the Braves

Phillies Probables
Ranger Suarez (10-1, 1.81)
Taijuan Walker (3-1, 5.40)
Zack Wheeler (8-3, 2.16)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Alec Bohm - .286
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 48
Home Runs:  Bryce Harper - 15
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 52
Stolen Bases:  Bryson Stott - 18

Wins:  Ranger Suarez - 10
ERA:  Ranger Suarez - 1.81
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 95
Saves:  Jose Alvarado - 12

Baltimore Orioles 45-23
2nd Place in the A.L. East, 2 1/5 games behind the Yankees

Orioles Probables
Kyle Bradish (2-0, 2.62)
Grayson Rodriguez (7-2, 3.27)
Corbin Burnes (7-2, 2.08)

Orioles Leaders
Average:  Adley Rutschman - .294
Runs:  Gunnar Henderson - 55
Home Runs:  Gunnar Henderson - 21
RBIs:  Adley Rutschman - 50
Stolen Bases:  Cedric Mullins - 13

Wins:  Corbin Burnes and Grayson Rodriguez - 7
ERA:  Corbin Burnes - 2.08

Strikeouts:  Corbin Burnes - 82
Saves:  Craig Kimbrel - 16

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

Limited Edition Chachi Insert Set: 1978 Topps Missing Links

I've needed a Phillies break since the conclusion of the Freefall of '18 wrapped up, but I wanted to break my hiatus to post these cards today.  My wife's birthday is approaching and 1978 was a big year for her so I thought I'd use her upcoming birthday as motivation to wrap up a project I've been working on for a while now.

There are several players who appeared for the Phillies during the 1978 season who never appeared on a proper 1978 Topps card in red pinstripes/baby blue.  In an attempt to right that wrong, I scoured the internet and my personal collection to provide suitable (?) cards for these 14 players and the Phillies coaching staff.

Some of these have already appeared throughout the past season atop series preview posts, but the entire 19-card, limited edition insert set is presented here.  And I'll gladly update the Kerry Dineen and Horacio Pina cards if Phillies pictures of either player ever show up.


1. Dan Boitano - The righty reliever appeared in one inning of one game for the 1978 Phillies.  He appears in the 1980 Topps set on a Brewers Future Stars card.
2. Todd Cruz - Cruz started his six-year career with 3 games for the Phillies as a September call-up.
3. Kerry Dineen - Dineen appeared in 16 big league games between 1975 and 1978 for the Yankees and Phillies.  He has a Phillies related card in the 1979 Oklahoma City 89ers team city that I've yet to track down.
4. Rawly Eastwick - Acquired from the Cardinals in June 1978 for Bobby Brown and Jay Johnstone, Eastwick appears in the 1978 Topps set with his former team.
5. Orlando Gonzalez - Gonzalez shows up in the 1977 Topps and 1981 Fleer sets, but there are no official cards marking his 26 games with the Phillies in 1978.


6. Bud Harrelson - Harrelson appears with the Mets in the 1978 Topps set.  The Phils sent Fred Andrews to the Mets in March to acquire him.
7. Dan Larson - Larson pitched in 21 games for the Phillies between 1978 and 1981.  He's in the 1977 Topps set with the Astros.
8. Pete Mackanin - The future Phillies manager appeared in 5 games for the 1978 Phillies and he's in the 1978 Topps set with the Expos.
9. Keith Moreland - Moreland made his Major League debut in the final game of the 1978 season.
10. Jim Morrison - A true omission from the 1978 Topps set, Morrison appeared in 53 games for the N.L. Champion Phillies.  He'd appear in the 1979 Topps set on a Phillies Prospects card with Lonnie Smith and Jim Wright.


11. Horacio Pina - The veteran Pina was purchased from the Mexican League on September 14th, appeared in 2 games for the Phillies, and was promptly returned to the Mexican League following the season.
12. Dick Ruthven - On June 15th, the Phillies re-acquired Ruthven from the Braves, swapping out Gene Garber.
13. Kevin Saucier - Like Moreland, Saucier made his big league debut in the final game of the 1978 season.  He allowed 4 runs on 4 hits in 2 innings of work.
14. Lonnie Smith - A September call-up, Smith appeared in 17 games for the Phillies down the stretch.


15. Carroll Beringer CO - Beringer departed following the season, having served as the bullpen coach since 1973.
16. Billy DeMars CO - The team's hitting coach between 1969 and 1981, DeMars also served as the first base coach (1969-1972) and the third base coach (1972-1979).
17. Ray Rippelmeyer CO - This was Rippelmeyer's final season as the team's pitching coach, a position he had held since 1970.


18. Tony Taylor CO - Taylor's first stint as a Phillies coach saw him serve as the infield coach (1977-1978) and first base coach (1979).
19. Bobby Wine CO - A Phillies coach from 1972 until 1983, Wine served as the infield coach (1972), first base coach (1973-1978) and bench coach (1979-1983).

Orioles at Phillies: June 17th to June 18th

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

Orioles 33-31, Tied for 3rd Place in the A.L. East, 2 games behind the Rays
Phillies 22-44, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 14 games behind the Mets

Orioles Probables:  Ubaldo Jimenez (4-3, 3.19), Bud Norris (2-4, 8.29)
Phillies Probables:  Kevin Correia (0-0, 0.00), Sean O'Sullivan (1-5, 5.08)

At the Ballpark:  There are a few themed, discounted tickets available for these games but no giveaways are scheduled.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Ben Revere - .273
Runs:  Ben Revere - 31
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 11
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 28
Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 15

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 5
ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.96
Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 103
Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 12

1985 Topps #366

1985 Topps #289

1985 Topps Appreciation:  Maybe featuring two players who were both part of the fantastic Phillies teams of the late 1970s could help turn the current team's fortunes around?  Probably not . . . but I'll try anything at this point.

Todd Cruz only played in three games for the 1978 Phillies, going 2 for 4, before moving on to play parts of five more seasons with the Royals, Angels, White Sox, Mariners and Orioles.  He went 2 for 16 against the Phillies in the 1983 World Series.

Tom Underwood spent his first four seasons with the Phillies, compiling a 28-20 record in 89 games with a 4.02 ERA.  He was shipped to the Cardinals in the June 1977 deal that brought Bake McBride to the Phillies.  This card contains Underwood's complete career statistics as his 1984 season with the Orioles would be his last in the majors.

Les Ballenas Blancas

1980 Venezuelan Stickers #256,
1981 Venezuelan Stickers #238 and #259

I've been collecting Bob Dernier's baseball cards since his rookie card appeared in the 1982 Topps set.  I casually collected his Topps, Donruss and Fleer offerings for the next few years and added them to nine-pocket pages in the back of my Phillies binder.  The task of completing a Dernier player collection became a little more difficult when Topps Tiffany, Fleer Glossy, Score and Upper Deck came onto the scene, but it was still relatively easy to track down each of Dernier's baseball cards.

When I purchased the first edition of the Standard Catalog back in 1988, I discovered that Dernier had a bunch of oddball cards I had never even heard of, let alone seen.  eBay helped in the mid-90s, as I tracked down his cards from 7-Up sets or Cubs team issues or even a stray Tastykake Phillies card.  Today, I believe I have ever card of Bobby D. except for the elusive few listed on my wantlist.  (I haven't bothered listing the one-of-one printing plates from the 2005 Topps All-Time Favorites or Retired Signatures Autographs sets.)

Every so often, I'll do an eBay search for "Bob Dernier" and there's very rarely anything new that appears that I haven't seen before.  Until recently.  I've added the stickers you see at the top of this post to my Bob Dernier collection through the magic of eBay.  I've known about the 1980 Venezuelan sticker for a while, but I had never seen an example of one.  I had no idea the 1981 Venezuelan stickers even existed.  (Actually, they're not really stickers.  The paper feels more stamp-like than sticker-like.)

Those of you with dedicated player collections know how cool it is when you track down and add something to your collection that you either a) never knew about it or b) knew about it, but thought you'd never acquire it.  My wife Jenna even seemed mildly impressed with my new additions, especially since the envelope they arrived in referred to me as "Señor."

I'll next turn my attention to trying to find Dernier's first ever baseball card, included within the 1980 TCMA Reading Phillies set.

Que será el mío. Oh sí, que será el mío.

1978 Phillies Spring Training & 1978 Topps #PR1 Todd Cruz

My Mom continues to scan and discover old family photographs taken by my Pop-Pop throughout the '50s, '60s and '70s. She recently came across slides from a Spring of 1978 trip taken by my Nana, Pop-Pop, Uncle Dell and Aunt Becky to Clearwater, Florida - the Phillies' Spring Training home. My Mom asked if I could identify any of the players in a picture snapped by my Pop-Pop. (That's my Uncle Dell's hat brim and right arm, snapping a similar picture at the same time.) Based on my research, here's what I've found:

- I can clearly make out players wearing #41 and #16, and what appear to be coaches wearing #23 and #59. (I wonder why the players are wearing their baby blue away uniforms?)

- Pitcher Jim Lonborg wore #41 for the Phils from 1973 until 1979, and that's definitely not Lonborg in the picture. Therefore, I'm guessing these are minor league players.

- Both Jim Morrison and Todd Cruz wore #16 for the Phillies in 1978. I suppose the player pictured here could be Todd Cruz, but I still believe this is a minor league work-out featuring a few pitchers and catchers. Cruz was primarily a middle infielder.

- I was fairly certain coach #59 was Bobby Tiefenauer . . . until I looked it up and found Tiefenauer had worn #5 during his tenure as a Phillies' coach.

In summary, I have no idea who these people are. I know they are Phillies, and most likely minor leaguers. I also know my Pop-Pop appeared to have had a wonderful time on this trip.

Even though it's probably not Todd Cruz: Todd Cruz played in three games for the '78 Phils before going on to find relative success as a role player in the American League with the Royals, Angels, White Sox, Mariners and Orioles from 1979 until 1984. As an Oriole, he started all five 1983 World Series games against the Phillies as the O's third baseman. He's got a World Series ring, but he's never been featured on a baseball card as a Phillie until now. I used the 1978 Topps design and Todd's picture from the 1979 Phillies Yearbook for the card.