2016 Topps - Phillies Cards (So Far)

2016 Topps Update #US112

2016 Topps Update #US199

2016 Topps #154

2016 Topps Update #US300

My wife and kids purchased a 2016 Topps factory set for me for Christmas and while this year's flagship design isn't my favorite, I still enjoyed looking through the set.  I believe in the adage of "Once a Phillie, Always a Phillie" which is why as I was going through the set I found myself absent-mindedly setting aside the past, current and future Phillies.  I ended up with a nice little stack of cards and for no other reason than I find this stuff interesting and entertaining, here's a list of the cards with Phillies connections in the 2016 Topps factory set, with the cards from the Update series thrown in for good measure.

This list will grow in future years, and I'm including four players (marked with an *) who haven't officially suited up for the team yet.

At some point in the coming weeks, I'll take a closer look at the 2016 Topps Phillies cards.  Until then, this page links to all my past Topps Phillies posts.

National League East (33 - 5 without Phillies)
Atlanta Braves (2) - #82 Michael Bourn, #US271 Jeff Francoeur
Miami Marlins (0)
New York Mets (0)
Philadelphia Phillies (28)
Washington Nationals (3) - #266 Jonathan Papelbon, #342 Jayson Werth, #US112 Ben Revere

National League Central (3)
Chicago Cubs (0)
Cincinnati Reds (0)
Milwaukee Brewers (1) - #152 Kyle Lohse
Pittsburgh Pirates (1) - #169 Charlie Morton
St. Louis Cardinals (1) - #US199 Brandon Moss

National League West (7)
Arizona Diamondbacks (1) - #104 Jeremy Hellickson
Colorado Rockies (1) - #US82 Chad Qualls
Los Angeles Dodgers (3) - #351 Chase Utley, #US245 Howie Kendrick*, #US300 A.J. Ellis
San Diego Padres (1) - #163 Joaquin Benoit*
San Francisco Giants (1) - #154 Hunter Pence

2016 Topps #449

2016 Topps #622

2016 Topps #512

2016 Topps Update #US116

American League East (7)
Baltimore Orioles (1) - #6 Jimmy Paredes
Boston Red Sox (1) - #77 Clay Buchholz*
New York Yankees (0)
Tampa Bay Rays (0)
Toronto Blue Jays (5) - #349 Ben Revere, #449 J.A. Happ, #655 Domonic Brown, #US35 Joaquin Benoit*, #US179 Ezequiel Carrera

American League Central (0)
Chicago White Sox (0)
Cleveland Indians (0)
Detroit Tigers (0)
Kansas City Royals (0)
Minnesota Twins (0)

American League West (6)
Houston Astros (2) - #270 Pat Neshek*, #622 Ken Giles
Los Angeles Angels (0)
Oakland Athletics (1) - #512 Ryan Madson
Seattle Mariners (0)
Texas Rangers (3) - #588 Cole Hamels, #US38 Cole Hamels AS, #US116 Jake Diekman

Memory Lane

1970 Topps - 114 cards with Phillies connections
1973 Topps - 107 cards with Phillies connections
1979 Topps - 111 cards with Phillies connections, plus one more
1985 Topps - 153 cards with Phillies connections
1988 Topps - 154 cards with Phillies connections
2016 Topps - 56 cards with Phillies connections, as of 1/2/17

Four Players Depart the Phillies Organization

2017 Chachi Almost #1

2017 Chachi Almost #2

2017 Chachi Departures #7

2016 Choice Reading Fightin Phils Holiday #20

A few recent Phillies-related moves give me an excuse to feature a few new baseball cards.

Both Matt Harrison and Jimmy Cordero recently departed the organization without ever having played a game for the Phillies.  Harrison (who came over in a salary maneuvering move in the Cole Hamels deal with the Rangers) was released from the 40-man roster last month to free up some much-needed room.  Harrison will earn $15 million in 2017 in the final year of his contract and the Phils will recoup some of this via insurance relief.

Cordero was also the victim of the roster squeeze, getting dealt to the Nationals for a player to be named later.  He was originally acquired as part of the Ben Revere trade with the Blue Jays in 2015.

Catcher A.J. Ellis signed a one-year deal with the Marlins, meaning Andrew Knapp will most likely enter the 2017 season as the back-up catcher for the Phillies.  Ellis came over from the Dodgers in August for Carlos Ruiz.

A.J. Ellis Chachi Checklist
2016 Chachi #59
2017 Chachi Departures #7

Finally, the Phillies lost minor league pitcher Hoby Milner to the Indians in the Rule 5 draft on Thursday morning. Milner has been with the organization since 2012 and he split last season between Double-A and Triple-A.  His likely final Phillies-related baseball card was released a few weeks ago in the Reading Fightin Phils Holiday set.  For the second year in a row, the minor league team has released a holiday-themed set complete with some players in their Christmas in July uniforms and "snow" falling on the fronts of the cards.

2016 Chachi #59 A.J. Ellis

#34
Andrew James Ellis
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  225
Born:  April 9, 1981, Cape Girardeau, MO
Drafted:  Selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 18th round of the June 2003 draft
Teams:  Los Angeles Dodgers 2008-2016; Phillies 2016
Acquired:  Acquired with Tommy Bergjans and a player to be named later from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Carlos Ruiz and cash, August 25, 2016

2012 Topps Update #US304

0 Ellis Baseball Cards in My Collection per Zistle
First Card:  N/A
First Phillies Card:  N/A
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  N/A
Latest Card:  N/A

First Topps Flagship Base Card:  2012 Topps Update #US304

Complete Chachi Checklist
2016 Chachi #59

Card statistics through 8/29/16.

2015 Topps #429 A.J. Ellis

Phillies 5, Mets 1
Game 130 - Sunday Afternoon, August 28th in Flushing
Record - 60-70, 4th place, 15 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  A.J. Ellis made his Phillies debut and delivered a clutch, two-run, tie-breaking double in the seventh inning of a 5-1 win.

What It Means:  For comparison purposes, the 2015 Phillies had a record of 52-78 through 130 games last season and they'd finish the season with 63 wins.  The 2016 Phillies need to win three more games to avoid a 100-loss season.  I certainly hope that's within reach.

What Happened:  The Phillies plated four runs in the seventh, breaking what had been a 1-1 tie. The other two runs came when Peter Bourjos was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Cesar Hernandez followed with a sacrifice fly.  Jimmy Paredes got the Phillies on the board with a fourth inning RBI double.

Vince Velasquez allowed just one run on five hits in his five innings of work, but he was done in once again by a high pitch count (103).

Featured Card:  The first virtual Phillies card for Ellis will most likely be his 2016 Chachi card, which I'll post at some point this week.  Only time will tell if he'll end up with an actual Phillies baseball card.

As discussed in this post, I'm taking a poll on how collectors track baseball card collections. 

Please vote in the poll on the sidebar if you haven't already.  Thanks!

Chooch Traded to Dodgers

2012 Phillies Fan Appreciation Day #9

We took a quick, two-day trip to Washington, D.C. this past week where we toured the city and took in two Nationals games.  While at Nationals Park on Thursday night, sitting at the rooftop deck prior to the ballgame, I checked my Twitter feed and was stunned to see the Tweets coming through that the Phillies long-time catcher and a fan favorite, Carlos Ruiz, had been traded to the Dodgers.

I'm slightly numb to this type of thing by now, having endured the Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels and Chase Utley trades, but it still caught me off guard and I still managed to get nostalgic for the wonder years as I thought about Chooch moving on.  I completely get the move (from the Phillies standpoint) and I hope the trade affords Ruiz the chance for one more shot at the postseason.

2014 Topps Heritage #22

Coming to the Phillies from the Dodgers is catcher A.J. Ellis, who has spent his entire 13-year professional career within the Dodgers organization.  One of Clayton Kershaw's closest friends, Ellis has served as the ace's personal catcher.  The trade of Ellis has seemingly brought nothing but negative comments from the Dodgers players and their fan base.  I totally get this too, and the move is beyond bizarre from the Dodgers standpoint.  Statistically speaking, Ruiz is a slight upgrade to Ellis but trading your unofficial clubhouse leader in the middle of a pennant race is baffling.

From a cardboard perspective, I'll feature a final tribute post to Chooch featuring a gallery of his Topps flagship cards.  Ellis has appeared on mainstream Topps products since 2012 and his sole 2016 baseball card to date can be found within the Topps Now set, limited to 261 copies.  The other known player coming to the Phillies is pitcher Tommy Bergjans, who has only appeared within Dodgers minor league team sets to date.

With Chooch's departure, only Ryan Howard remains from the 2008 World Championship team.

Here's an updated look at the Phillies in-season comings and goings so far, with potentially more moves on the way before the 2016 season is in the books.

Departed During the 2016 Season

• Daniel Stumpf - lhp (7/25/16) - Returned to the Kansas City Royals.
• Andrew Bailey - rhp (8/6/16) - Released and signed by the Los Angeles Angels to a minor league contract, 8/13/16.
• Brett Oberholtzer - lhp (8/6/16) - Designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Angels, 8/9/16.
• David Lough - of (8/22/16) - Released.
• Carlos Ruiz - c (8/25/16) - Traded with cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers for A.J. Ellis, Tommy Bergjans and a player to be named later.

Arrived During the 2016 Season

• Jimmy Paredes - of (6/1/16) - Purchased from the Toronto Blue Jays.
• Phil Klein - rhp (6/19/16) - Claimed off waivers from the Texas Rangers.
• A.J. Ellis - c (8/25/16) - Acquired with Tommy Bergjans and a player to be named later from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Carlos Ruiz and cash.