Series Preview - Phillies at Giants: June 18th to June 20th

2021 Chachi 1986 Topps Missing Links #11

1986 Topps #138

Friday 9:45, Saturday and Sunday 4:05
Oracle Park - San Francisco, CA

At the Ballpark:  First off, this entire series will be broadcast exclusively on the Peacock streaming service, which means the less tech savvy among us are going to spend most of the weekend trying to figure out how to watch these games.  The broadcast crew will consist of Jon Miller, Mike Krukow, John Kruk and Jimmy Rollins.

On Saturday, the Giants will celebrate African American Heritage Day with the team wearing throwback jerseys of the San Francisco Sea Lions, a West Coast Negro League team.  And on Sunday, the first 9,000 fans will receive a Father's Day Giants hat.

Phillies 33-33
2nd Place in the N.L. East, 4 1/2 games behind the Mets

Phillies Probables
Vince Velasquez (2-1, 4.25)
Aaron Nola (5-4, 3.69)
Spencer Howard (0-2, 5.09)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Rhys Hoskins - .234
Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 35
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 13
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 36
Stolen Bases:  Jean Segura - 6

Wins:  Three tied with - 5
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 2.15
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 118
Saves:  Hector Neris - 10

Giants 44-25
1st Place in the N.L. West, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers

Giants Probables
Johnny Cueto (4-3, 4.00)
Alex Wood (6-3, 3.71)
Sammy Long (0-0, 5.00)

Giants Leaders
Average:  Brandon Crawford - .249
Runs:  Brandon Crawford - 37
Home Runs:  Brandon Crawford - 15
RBIs:  Brandon Crawford - 44
Stolen Bases:  Austin Slater - 7

Wins:  Kevin Gausman - 8
ERA:  Kevin Gausman - 1.51
Strikeouts:  Kevin Guasean - 103
Saves:  Jack McGee - 13

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

Series Preview - Phillies at Diamondbacks: August 5th to August 7th

2019 Chachi Fan Favorites #14

2019 Chachi Fan Favorites #15

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 9:40
Chase Field - Phoenix, AZ

Phillies 58-53, Tied for 2nd place in the N.L. East, 7 games behind the Braves
Diamondbacks 56-56, Tied for 2nd place in the N.L. West, 17 games behind the Dodgers

Phillies Probables:  Vince Velasquez (3-6, 4.40), Jake Arrieta (8-8, 4.44), Jason Vargas (0-0, 2.84)
Diamondbacks Probables:  Merrill Kelly (7-11, 4.52), Mike Leake (0-0, 0.00), Zac Gallen (0-0, 0.00)

2018 Chachi Ballpark Visits #8

At the Ballpark:  There are no giveaways planned, but if you bump into Randy Johnson at Chase Field, please tell him that we say hello.  He seems even taller in person.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Cesar Hernandez - .284
Runs:  J.T. Realmuto - 66
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 24
RBIs:  Bryce Harper - 73
Stolen Bases:  Scott Kingery - 9

Wins:  Aaron Nola - 10
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 3.60

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 163
Saves:  Hector Neris - 19

Diamondbacks Leaders
Average:  Ketel Marte - .319
Runs:  Ketel Marte - 75
Home Runs:  Eduardo Escobar and Ketel Marte - 24
RBIs:  Eduardo Escobar - 88
Stolen Bases:  Jarrod Dyson - 24

Wins:  Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray - 10
ERA:  Zack Greinke - 2.90

Strikeouts:  Robbie Ray - 178
Saves:  Greg Holland - 17

Series Preview - Giants at Phillies: June 2nd to June 4th

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05 and Sunday 1:35
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Giants 22-33, Tied for 4th Place in the N.L. West, 11 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks and Rockies
Phillies 17-34, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 15 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Giants Probables:  Ty Blach (3-2, 3.83), Johnny Cueto (5-4, 4.37), Matt Moore (2-6, 4.98)
Phillies Probables:  Jerad Eickhoff (0-5, 4.74), Ben Lively (0-0, 0.00), Jeremy Hellickson (5-3, 4.45)

At the Ballpark:  For fans attending Saturday afternoon's game, there will be a postgame concert by The Avett Brothers.  Your game ticket is also your concert ticket!  On Sunday, all kids will receive a pair of Maikel Franco batting gloves.

Giants Leaders
Average:  Buster Posey - .348
Runs:  Brandon Belt - 27
Home Runs:  Brandon Belt - 10
RBIs:  Brandon Belt - 22
Stolen Bases:  Eduardo Nunez - 13

Wins:  Johnny Cueto - 5
ERA:  Johnny Cueto - 4.37
Strikeouts:  Jeff Samardzija - 84
Saves:  Mark Melancon - 10

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Aaron Altherr - .299
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez - 35
Home Runs:  Aaron Altherr and Tommy Joseph - 8
RBIs:  Aaron Altherr and Maikel Franco - 28
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 6

Wins:  Jeremy Hellickson - 5
ERA:  Jeremy Hellickson - 4.45
Strikeouts:  Vince Velasquez - 53
Saves:  Hector Neris - 4

1982 Topps #406

1982 Topps #231

1982 Topps #754

1982 Topps Appreciation:  On December 14, 1982, the Phillies traded Mike Krukow, Mark Davis and minor leaguer C.L. Penigar to the Giants for Al Holland and Joe Morgan.  Holland and Morgan would make contributions to the 1983 Phillies team that won the N.L. pennant, while Davis would go on to win a Cy Young Award with the Padres in 1989.

Holland was the key to the deal for the Phillies.  Inserted into the closer's role in 1983, he solidified the back-end of the bullpen that had been in flux since Tug McGraw's success a few years' prior.  Mr. T saved 25 games in 1983 and had a fantastic ERA of 2.26.  He struck out Bill Russell to clinch the 1983 N.L. pennant and jumped into Mike Schmidt's arms to start the on-field celebration.

Davis is featured on the card I most coveted during the summer of 1982, as Bob Dernier had emerged as my favorite baseball player.  I have yet to tell the story on this blog of how I ended up playing catch with Dernier before a Phillies game, and it's a story I'll need to share at some point.

2016 Reading Fightin Phils 50 Greatest Players #30 Larry Bowa

Nationals 5, Phillies 1
Game 52 - Tuesday Night, May 31st in Philadelphia
Record - 26-26, 4th place, 5 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The offensive woes continued as the Phillies managed just four hits in this 5-1 loss to the Nationals.

What It Means:  The Phillies are in the midst of a season high five-game losing streak.  They're at .500 for the first time since April 26th when they were 10-10, and they're back in fourth place for the first time since May 6th.

What Happened:  Aaron Nola pitched well again with his only real mistakes coming on two home run balls allowed to Jayson Werth and Daniel Murphy.  He struck out six in his six innings of work. Colton Murray allowed three runs to score in the ninth including an inside the park home run to Stephen Drew.

Featured Card:  There are no better subjects to feature in this game summary post, so I might as well plug a relatively new item added to my 2016 Phillies Want List.  Throughout nine games in April and May, the Reading Fightin Phils released nine sheets of baseball cards to celebrate their 50th season as a Phillies affiliate.  Each sheet contains six cards, and the complete set of 54 cards is comprised of the 50 greatest players and the four greatest mascots.

I need three more sheets for a complete set - the sheets starting with Juan Samuel, Dallas Green and Robin Roberts.  I've been able to find the other six sheets on eBay, but any help anyone could provide with the remaining three sheets would be greatly appreciated.

It's safe to assume that the Phillies current bench coach didn't look this happy following Tuesday night's game.  The complete sheet containing the Bowa card is featured below.

2016 Reading Fightin Phils 50 Greatest Players Card Set #5

Recently added to The Phillies Room - 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.

Phillies at Padres: September 15th to September 18th

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 10:10, Thursday 9:10
Petco Park - San Diego, CA

Phillies 69-80, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 16 1/2 games behind the Nationals
Padres 68-80, 3rd Place in the N.L. West, 16 1/2 games behind the Dodgers

Phillies Probables:  Jerome Williams (3-1, 3.44), A.J. Burnett (8-16, 4.34), Cole Hamels (807, 2.51), Kyle Kendrick (9-12, 4.72)
Padres Probables:  Andrew Cashner (3-7, 2.40), Ian Kennedy (10-13, 3.77), Eric Stults (7-16, 4.49), Tyson Ross (13-14, 2.81)

At the Ballpark:  There are no giveaways scheduled, but according to the promotions calendar on the Padres' website, tomorrow night is Taco Tuesday at the ballpark.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Ben Revere - .309

Runs:  Jimmy Rollins - 78

Home Runs:  Marlon Byrd - 25

RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 92

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 45

Wins:  Kyle Kendrick - 9

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.51

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 178

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 37

1988 Topps #284, #693, 1988 Topps Traded #121T and 1988 Topps #482

1988 Topps Appreciation:  Larry Bowa has spent his life in baseball and has had two manager's gigs over his long professional career.  His second stint as a manager came with the Phillies, and he managed the team to a 337-308 record between 2001 and 2004.  As rough as that was, his first stint as a manager of the San Diego Padres was much, much rougher.  Bowa took over for Steve Boras following the 1986 season, and the 1987 Padres finished with the National League's worst record at 65-97.  Bowa lasted 46 games into the 1988 season, going 16-30, before he was relieved of his duties.

The three players featured here all played briefly for Bowa, and they all also spent time playing for the Phillies.  Benito (don't call me Benny) Santiago spent one season in Philadelphia in 1996, bridging the catching gap between Darren Daulton and Mike Lieberthal.

Dickie Thon played one season in San Diego before the team sold him to the Phillies in January 1989.  Thon played three seasons in Philly, hitting .259 in 431 games.

Finally, Mark Davis double dipped with the Phillies, coming up with the Phils in 1980 before heading to the Giants in the December 1982 Al Holland deal.  He'd play five seasons with the Giants before hitting his career peak with the Padres between 1987 and 1989.  In his final season with the Padres, Davis won the National League Cy Young Award when he saved 44 games and pitched to a 1.85 ERA in 70 games.  He'd never recapture his 1989 form, bouncing around for the next seven seasons and briefly appearing again with the Phillies in 1993.

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.

1993 Phillies - No Missing Links

1993 Ultra #437, 1994 Pacific #481, 1994 Stadium Club Phillies #236 and 1993 Stadium Club Phillies #10

It was fun going through the 1992 Phillies roster and determining which players appeared on only a few (or no) Phillies cards, so I thought I'd do the same thing for the the 1993 club.  Amazingly enough, each of the 40 players who spent time with the team in 1993 eventually found their way on to a Phillies baseball card.  Unlike 1992, there wasn't much roster turn-over, so while it's impressive that the players listed below received a Phillies baseball card, it's not completely inconceivable.  I may continue this exercise for a few more years, but I would suspect the coverage ratio of Phillies players to players receiving Phillies baseball cards will drop significantly in the mid to late '90s.

3 Cards or More
33 Players

2 Cards
Mark Davis (11 games in 1980 and 1981, 25 games in 1993) - 1982 Topps #231 and 1993 Ultra #437
Jeff Manto (8 games in 1993) - 1993 Medford Phillies Update #30 and 1994 Pacific #481

Kevin Foster (2 games in 1993) - 1994 Stadium Club Phillies #236 and 1994 Topps #786

Doug Lindsey (1 game in 1991, 2 games in 1993) - 1992 Topps Debut #110 and 1993 Stadium Club Phillies #10

1 Card
**Bobby Thigpen (17 games in 1993) - 1994 Donruss #273
Donn Pall (8 games in 1993) - 1994 Topps #328
Paul Fletcher (1 game in 1993, 10 games in 1995) - 1993 Bowman #272

1994 Donruss #273, 1994 Topps #328 and 1993 Bowman #272

**I now know that Thigpen also has an elusive card in the 1993 Medford Phillies Second Update set. Please see this post for further details.

1993 Ultra #437 Mark Davis

1993 Phillies - Supporting Cast

Uniform Numbers: 43 (1980-1981); 48 (1993)
1993 Stats: Appeared in 25 games with the Phils, compiling a 1-2 record with a 5.17 ERA.

1993 Notable: Briefly appears in the video, Whatever It Takes Dude, clowning around with fellow reliever Larry Andersen.
How Acquired: First stint - Drafted by the Phillies in the 1st round of the 1979 amateur draft (secondary phase), January 9, 1979; Second stint - Acquired from the Atlanta Braves for Brad Hassinger, April 13, 1993

Phillies Career: 1980-1981; 1993
How Departed: First stint - Traded with Charles Penigar and Mike Krukow to the San Francisco Giants for Al Holland and Joe Morgan, December 14, 1982; Second stint - Released, July 2, 1993 (Signed with the San Diego Padres)

Mark lasted 2 ½ months with the Phils in 1993, replaced on the roster by Mike Williams in early July. A former Cy Young winner (1989), Mark's success with the San Diego Padres can be partly attributed to then Padres manager Larry Bowa, who named Mark the team's closer in 1988.