Phillies at Nationals: April 5th to April 7th

1984 Topps #613

1984 Topps #180

Friday 6:45, Saturday 4:05, Sunday 1:35
Nationals Park - Washington, DC

At the Ballpark:  The Nationals' schedule seems somewhat light on promotions, and the only thing scheduled for this weekend is Branch Appreciation Day for the National Guard tonight.

Phillies 2-4
Tied for 2nd Place in the N.L. East, 1 1/2 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Aaron Nola (0-1, 12.46)
Ranger Suarez (0-0, 5.40)
Cristopher Sanchez (0-0, 3.60)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Kyle Schwarber - .280
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 6
Home Runs:  Bryce Harper - 3
RBIs:  Bryce Harper - 6
Stolen Bases:  Trea Turner - 2

Wins:  Matt Strahm and Spencer Turnbull - 1
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 0.75
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 15
Saves:  Jose Alvarado and Ricardo Pinto - 1

Nationals 2-4
Tied for 2nd Place in the N.L. East, 1 1/2 games behind the Braves

Nationals Probables
Patrick Corbin (0-0, 8.31)
Jake Irvin (0-0, 5.40)
MacKenzie Gore (0-0, 5.06)

Nationals Leaders
Average:  CJ Abrams and Trey Lipscomb - .333
Runs:  CJ Abrams - 5
Home Runs:  CJ Abrams - 2
RBIs:  CJ Abrams - 5
Stolen Bases:  CJ Abrams - 3

Wins:  Hunter Harvey and Trevor Williams - 1
ERA:  Josiah Gray - 14.04

Strikeouts:  Josiah Gray - 9
Saves:  Kyle Finnegan - 2

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

Game 118 (Continued) - Alumni Weekend Chachi Cards

I didn't have enough room to tag everyone in my main game summary post, so here's a continuation post featuring the bulk of the Chachi Alumni Weekend insert cards.  This is always a fun night, and creating these cards is annually a fun project.

Game 60 - Turner, Nola Star on ALS Night; #StrikeOutALS

Phillies 8, Tigers 3
Game 60 - Monday Night, June 5th in Philadelphia
Record - 28-32, 4th Place, 7 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies won decisively against the Tigers, with two home runs from Trea Turner and an Aaron Nola no-hitter through six innings, broken up by former Phillie Nick Maton.

What It Means:  The Phillies hosted their annual ALS Night a few days after the June 2nd Lou Gehrig Day.  One year ago, the team fired fired manager Joe Girardi prior to ALS Night, and they'd go on a tear for the reset of the season to eventually reach the postseason.  Here's hoping history repeats itself.

What Happened:   Prior to the game, current Tigers Nick Maton and Matt Vierling received their National League Champions rings in a brief on field ceremony.

Trea Turner was responsible for two of the Phillies' first three runs with an RBI single in the first and his first home run, a solo shot, in the third.  The Phillies would take a 5-0 lead in the fifth on a Bryce Harper RBI single and Turner's second solo home run of the game.  In the top of the seventh, with two outs and Nola working on a no-hitter, Maton hit a second deck, three-run home run to bring the Tigers within two runs.  Runners had reached in advance of Maton on a walk and an Edmundo Sosa error.

The Phillies quickly recaptured their five-run lead with three more runs in the bottom of the inning.  J.T. Realmuto laced a two-run double and Sosa drove him home with a single to center.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  As we did last year, my family attended the game with other ALS Night event sponsors, watching from the Bill Giles Party Suite.  We obtained our grab bags, which included autographed hats and 2023 photo cards, which apparently won't be sold in set form this year.  Phillies Alumni spent the night in the suite with us, and it was great to talk with Mickey Morandini, Ruben Amaro, Jr., Greg Gross and Dickie Noles.  Milt Thompson and Gary Matthews were there too, and the Phanatic made a brief, frenzied cameo appearance.  Thanks to the Phillies, the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the ALS Association raised $408,000 to continue to fund care services and research.

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

Game 108 - Current Phillies Mash, Past Phillies Return

2022 Choice Lehigh Valley
IronPigs #17

Phillies 13, Nationals 1
Game 108 - Sunday Afternoon, August 7th in Philadelphia
Record - 60-48, 3rd Place, 9 1/2 game behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies destroyed the Nationals in this Alumni Weekend finale.

What It Means:  The Phillies are hot, having won 11 of their last 13 and now five in a row.

What Happened:  The ballpark welcomed back dozens of alumni in a wonderful pregame ceremony, including most of the living members of the 1980 World Championship club, and various Wall of Famers in attendance for the weekend.  Mike Schmidt was a notable absence, as he had tested positive for Covid earlier that morning.  The Hall of Famer sent a pre-recorded message, celebrating the 1980 team and thanking the fans.  Pete Rose made his first appearance at a Phillies event since being banned from baseball, and he quickly reminded everyone why it's probably best he doesn't return again.

On the field, the offense continued to mash.  Four more home runs were hit in this game, including two from Darick Hall and one each from Nick Maton and Rhys Hoskins, and the team set a new franchise record with 14 home runs in a single regular season series.  Bryson Stott was 2 for 5 with three RBIs.  Aaron Nola pitched six innings, allowing a run on five hits on the way to his eighth win.

Featured Card:  Hall gets the honors again, and the Phillies will need to get creative with their line-up once Bryce Harper returns in September to make sure Hall continues to get at-bats.  Hall has four baseball cards available so far in 2022, three Topps Now cards and this card from the IronPigs team set.

Field Report:  After attending Friday and Saturday night's games, we sat this one out.  Friend of the blog Rick reported there were multiple alumni signing stations available briefly before the game throughout the ballpark as follows:

• Bobby Abreu and Juan Samuel in the Hall of Fame Club, at separate tables
• Warren Brusstar and Greg Gross on the main concourse
• Dick Ruthven and Del Unser on the main concourse, and
• Dickie Noles and Kevin Saucier on the  main concourse

New Alumni Photo Cards were available for Abreu, Gross, Ruthven and Saucier.  I won't update the master list I've compiled here (yet), but I'll at least add a note that these four new cards are now out in the wild.

Oddly enough, the new Abreu card features a different photo from his original card, using a photo taken during the same at-bat.  The photo courtesy of Rick below shows the original Abreu card on the left, with the new one on the right.

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

Game 52 - Thomson Era Begins with Blow-Out Win; #StrikeOutALS

Phillies 10, Angels 0
Game 52 - Friday Night, June 3rd in Philadelphia
Record - 23-29, 3rd Place, 11 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Under new interim manager Rob Thomson, the Phillies blasted the Angels with five home runs and eight shutout innings from Zach Eflin in this 10-0 win.

What It Means:  Thomson is 1-0 as Phillies manager, and he'll look to add to that tally by hopefully about 60 or so games over the remainder of the 2022 season.

What Happened:  Eflin was dominant, allowing five hits and striking out six, and James Norwood pitched a perfect ninth to preserve the combined shutout.  Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper both homered twice and Bryson Stott connected for his first big league home run, a three-run blast in the second.  Nick Maton made a diving catch in the sixth inning on a blooper hit by Mike Trout, and had to leave the game with a shoulder injury.  Trout and Shohei Ohtani went a combined 0 for 7 with three strikeouts.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  I've been involved with the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the ALS Association for the past several years, and I was proud to attend this game with my family, watching with other sponsors of the event from the Bill Giles Party Suite.  We can now say we've enjoyed a game from that particular suite with the suite's namesake, former Phillies owner Giles.  There were a number of Phillies alumni who made their way through the suite at various times throughout the game, and I enjoyed my time talking with each of them.  The Phanatic stopped by to say hello too.

We purchased a bunch of grab bags created for the night containing signed memorabilia and past Phillies giveaway items, and I was happy to see actual 2022 team-issued photo cards included in some of the bags to identify who had signed either a ball or a hat.  In total, the Phillies helped raise $344,000 for the ALS Association, and it was an overall wonderful night for a fantastic cause.

Transaction:  With the Phillies seriously underperforming, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made the decision on Friday morning to fire Joe Girardi and name Rob Thomson the interim manager for the remainder of the 2022 season.  Girardi's decisions around bullpen management and line-up construction had been increasingly baffling over the past few weeks, and the Phillies decided a regime change was needed.  Girardi had guided the club to a 22-29 record this season and a 132-141 record overall since taking the helm in 2020.  Ryne Sandberg (2013-2015) managed five more games than Girardi did, and Girardi's win total was less than Nick Leyva's (148), Gabe Kapler's (161) and Pete Mackanin's (174).

Thomson had been the team's bench coach since 2018.  Bobby Meacham, who had the nebulous title of "assistant coach," was also fired, with Mike Calitri being promoted from Quality Assurance Coach to bench coach.

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

Series Preview - Phillies at Cubs: July 5th to July 8th

1986 Topps #302

1986 Topps #485

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 8:05
Wrigley Field - Chicago, IL

At the Ballpark:  The Phillies Room staff is currently taking its first of two summer sabbaticals, and the blog will return to semi-current live posting shortly.  Thanks for your continued support and Go Phils!

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

1985 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  47
Card Size:  3 1/2" x 5 1/4"
Description:  Beginning in 1985, the Phillies used the exact same card design for three straight years.  The only differences with these cards are the photos used and the copyright line on the bottom right of the cards' fronts.  The design removes the Phillies script logo found on the 1984 cards and adds the player's uniform number and position.  The set's sponsor, Tastykake, has its logo featured on the backs of the cards.

How Distributed:  All fans attending the Phillies game at Veterans Stadium on April 21, 1985, received a complete shrink-wrapped set with a header/checklist card on the top.  The back of the header/checklist card advertised that additional sets could be purchased from the Phillies via mail order for $3.50.  The Phillies raised the price of a complete set by fifty cents over the previous year.

The 1985 Tastykake Phillies set seems to be the most ubiquitous of all the team-issued sets from the 1980s.  Up through the mid-2010s, the sets could be readily found on eBay and for sale at Citizens Bank Park.  The Memorabilia Store from Hunt Auctions located behind Section 126 had several of these sets for sale throughout the 2014 season.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here based on the numbered checklist found on the back of the header card): 

1. Header Card / Checklist 2. John Felske (#7 - MG) 3. Dave Bristol (#4 - CO) 4. Lee Elia (#2 - CO) 5. Claude Osteen (#3 - CO) 6. Mike Ryan (#5 - CO) 7. Del Unser (#25 - CO) 8. Manager and Coaches 9. Pitchers 10. Catchers 11. Infielders 12. Outfielders 13. Larry Andersen (#47 - RHP)      14. Steve Carlton (#32 - LHP) 15. Don Carman (#42 - LHP) 16. John Denny (#40 - RHP)

17. Tony Ghelfi (#35 - RHP) 18. Kevin Gross (#46 - RHP) 19. Al Holland (#19 - RHP) 20. Charles Hudson (#49 - RHP) 21. Jerry Koosman (#24 - LHP)      22. Shane Rawley (#48 - LHP) 23. Pat Zachry (#38 - RHP) 24. Darren Daulton (#10 - C) 25. Bo Diaz (#6 - C) 26. Ozzie Virgil (#17 - C) 27. John Wockenfuss (#14 - C) 28. Luis Aguayo (#16 - INF) 29. Kiko Garcia (#18 - INF) 30. Steve Jeltz (#30 - SS) 31. John Russell (#29 - OF-1B) 32. Juan Samuel (#8 - 2B)

33. Mike Schmidt (#20 - 3B) 34. Tim Corcoran (#22 - 1B-OF) 35. Greg Gross (#21 - OF-1B) 36. Von Hayes (#9 - CF) 37. Joe Lefebvre (#23 - OF) 38. Garry Maddox (#31 - OF) 39. Jeff Stone  (#26 - OF) 40. Glenn Wilson (#12 - OF) 41. Ramon Caraballo / Mike Diaz 42. Mike Maddux / Rodger Cole 43. Rick Schu / Chris James 44. Francisco Melendez / Ken Jackson 45. Randy Salava / Rocky Childress 46. Rich Surhoff / Ralph Citarella 47. Team Photo

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Zachry

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (1):  Rawley
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (26):  Aguayo, Andersen, Carlton, Carman, Corcoran, Daulton, Denny, Diaz, Garcia, Ghelfi, G. Gross, K. Gross, Hayes, Holland, Hudson, Jeltz, Koosman, Lefebvre, Maddox, Russell, Samuel, Schmidt, Stone, Virgil, Wilson, Wockenfuss

Manager (1):  Felske
Coaches (5):  Bristol, Elia, Osteen, Ryan, Unser
Phillie Phanatic (0)
Broadcasters (0):  But see below.
Future Phillies (6):  Caraballo / Diaz, Maddux / Cole, Schu / James, Melendez / Jackson, Salava / Childress, Surhoff / Citarella
Other Cards (2):  Header Card / Checklist, Team Photo

Surprises:  There was very little roster turnover between the end of the 1984 season and spring training 1985, as Shane Rawley and Pat Zachry are the only two new additions to the set.  Along with Zachry's one and done Phillies card, this set includes the only Phillies baseball card of Rich Surhoff.  The stand-alone cards feature the entire opening day line-up and adds Tony Ghelfi, Darren Daulton and Joe Lefebvre, who would spend the entire season on the disabled list.

The set's designer's decided to try something different with group photos of coaches and players by position.  Batting practice pitcher Hank King is featured on the coach's card, making this (I believe) his sole Phillies baseball card.  Bill Campbell is featured on the pitcher's card and Ivan DeJesus is featured on the infielder's card, but both are omitted from the regular set.  As the regular season was about to begin, Campbell and DeJesus were traded to the Cardinals for pitcher Dave Rucker.

Of the players receiving solo cards in the regular set, Ghelfi was left off the pitcher's card, John Wockenfuss was (sadly) left off the catcher's card, Kiko Garcia was left off the infielder's card and Lefebvre and Garry Maddox were not on the outfielder's card.

Omissions:  The day before these sets were handed out to fans, the Phillies traded Al Holland to the Pirates for Kent Tekulve.  An update set could have featured Tekulve and other players acquired during the season, such as Derrel Thomas, Tom Foley, Freddie Toliver, Alan Knicely and with a few weeks left to go in the regular season, Dave Stewart.

Variations/Rarities:  Once again, fellow collector Rick came through with a few rarities back when I originally published a post for this set.  These could have been first made available during this season's ALS Autograph Party which would have been in its second season in 1985.  (The Phestival became an official event in 1989.)  Tug McGraw announced his retirement following the 1984 season and this card seems to be a final tribute to the popular lefty reliever.  Fronts and backs of these cards are presented below.

Rarities 1. Tug McGraw - Former Phillies Great 2. Phillies Broadcasters - Richie Ashburn, Harry Kalas, Andy Musser and Chris Wheeler

Also See:  With the 2020 season put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I went back and recapped the Phillies games played in 1985 between that season's opening day and the All-Star break.  An index to those game summaries can be found here.

And here's a commercial from 1985, featuring Garry Maddox and inviting fans to the game on April 21st for their free Phillies photo cards.

Resources:  Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils).

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

1984 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1986 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards

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

2011 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards - 2nd Edition

Number of Cards:  42
Card Size:  4" x 6"
Description:  The cards have a very basic design, with full color photos and a red and white bottom border including the player's number, name and position.  The Phillies script logo appears in one of the upper corners.  The horizontal card backs feature biographical information and complete career statistics.

How Distributed:  The Phillies issued a second edition 40-card set much earlier than in the previous year, as I found this set for sale at Citizens Bank Park on June 12, 2011.  A few months later in mid-August, the Phillies reconfigured the set's make-up, perhaps several times, ultimately resulting in two new cards (I think) for Domonic Brown and Hunter Pence.  I wrote about my discovery of these two extra cards in this post.

A version of the set was sold throughout August and September with a somewhat fluid checklist.  As detailed in a post at the 14,000 Phillies blog at the time, his version of the set dropped five cards - Jose Contreras, J.C. Romero, Dane Sardinha, Mike Zagurski and the Broadcasters card - and added the Pence card.  Fellow collector Steve also pointed out at the time that his first version of the set included the Brown card, but not the Pence card.  And to confuse things further, his second version of the set dropped six cards - the five cards noted above and Danys Baez.  I've taken a closer look below at the comings and goings of these players.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position on the front of cards): 

1. Danys Baez (#55 - RHP) 2. Antonio Bastardo (#58 - LHP)           3. Mick Billmeyer (#17 - CO) 4. Joe Blanton (#56 - RHP) 5. Jose Contreras (#52 - RHP) 6. Rich Dubee (#30 - CO) 7. Ben Francisco (#10 - OF) 8. Ross Gload (#7 - OF/1B) 9. Greg Gross (#18 - CO) 10. Roy Halladay (#34 - RHP) 11. Cole Hamels (#35 - LHP) 12. David Herndon (#57 - RHP) 13. Ryan Howard (#6 - 1B)

14. Raul Ibanez (#29 - LF) 15. Kyle Kendrick (#38 - RHP) 16. Cliff Lee (#33 - LHP) 17. Brad Lidge (#54 - RHP) 18. Pete Mackanin (#22 - CO) 19. Ryan Madson (#46 - RHP) 20. Charlie Manuel (#41 - MG) 21. Michael Martinez (#19 - INF/OF)           22. John Mayberry Jr. (#15 - OF) 23. Pete Orr (#5 - INF/OF) 24. Roy Oswalt (#44 - RHP) 25. Sam Perlozzo (#2 - CO) 26. Placido Polanco (#27 - 3B)

27. J.C. Romero (#16 - LHP) 28. Jimmy Rollins (#11 - SS) 29. Carlos Ruiz (#51 - C) 30. Dane Sardinha (#4 - C) 31. Juan Samuel (#12 - CO) 32. Brian Schneider (#23 - C) 33. Michael Stutes (#40 - RHP) 34. Chase Utley (#26 - 2B) 35. Wilson Valdez (#21 - INF) 36. Shane Victorino (#8 - CF) 37. Vance Worley (#49 - RHP) 38. Mike Zagurski (#59 - LHP)           39. Phillie Phanatic 40. Phillies Broadcasters

Complete Update Checklist, 2nd Version: 

1. Domonic Brown (#9 - OF)

2. Hunter Pence (#3 - RF)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Sardinha

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (3):  Pence, Stutes, Worley
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (29):  Baez, Bastardo, Blanton, Brown, Contreras, Francisco, Gload, Halladay, Hamels, Herndon, Howard, Ibanez, Kendrick, Lee, Lidge, Madson, Martinez, Mayberry Jr., Orr, Oswalt, Polanco, Rollins, Romero, Ruiz, Schneider, Utley, Valdez, Victorino, Zagurski

Manager (1):  Manuel
Coaches (6):  Billmeyer, Dubee, Gross, Mackanin, Perlozzo, Samuel
Phillie Phanatic (1)
Broadcasters (1):  This card features the same line-up of broadcasters and photo as found in the first edition set - Tom McCarthy, Scott Franzke, Larry Andersen, Jim Jackson, Chris Wheeler and Gary Matthews.

Surprises:  Given I purchased my set on June 12th, I went back and looked at the active Phillies roster on that date, noting everyone on the 25-man roster, except Brown, received a card.  So I'm even more confused as to why my set initially excluded the Brown card.  The set adds Blanton, Lidge, and Schneider, who were all on the disabled list on June 12th, along with Orr and Mayberry, Jr. who were with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on that date.

Looking at the key dates of the added and subtracted players from the updated versions of the set:

June 4 - Mike Zagurski optioned to Lehigh Valley.

June 16 - J.C. Romero designated for assignment.

June 23 - Jose Contreras placed on the disabled list and he'd miss the rest of the season.

June 24 - Dane Sardinha outrighted to Lehigh Valley and Romero released. 

July 22 - Danys Baez designated for assignment.

July 29 - Hunter Pence acquired from Astros.

August 1 - Baez released.

Why the Phillies would go through the trouble of pulling cards of players who had departed the organization is a mystery to me.

Omissions:  Pitcher Juan Perez spent 37 days on the Phillies' active roster, recalled on June 23rd when Contreras went out for the season.  I'm reaching here as that 's the only logical addition that could have been included in any updated set.  I'm guessing the Phillies employees responsible for these sets didn't spend a lot of time deciding if they should add Pence and Perez or just Pence.

Variations/Rarities:  Over the years, and again with the help of Steve, I've learned there are a number of somewhat rare cards available in the style of this set.  There are at least 7 versions of these photo cards available with a Phillies logo on the back, and these cards were used primarily for the players to sign at various public appearances.  The photos for these variations are the same used for the regularly issued cards and the list below might not be complete.

Phillies Logo Back        1. Greg Gross (#18 - CO)  2. Hunter Pence (#3 - RF) 3. Placido Polanco (#27 - 3B) 4. Brian Schneider (#23 - C) 5. Michael Stutes (#40 - RHP)      6. Shane Victorino (#8 - CF) 7. Vance Worley (#49 - RHP)

Offseason Additions 1. Laynce Nix (#7 - OF) 2. Jonathan Papelbon (#58 - RHP) 3. Jim Thome (#25 - 1B) 4. Ty Wigginton (#24 - INF/OF) 5. Dontrelle Willis (#53 - LHP)

Additionally, the Phillies used this design to feature new players who joined the team during the 2011-2012 offseason.  These cards were presumably produced for the sole purpose of public appearances during the team's various winter caravan stops, and again there's only the Phillies script logo on the backs.  Thome, Papelbon and Wigginton joined the club in November while Nix and Willis were signed in December.  All of these variations and rarities have a 2012 copyright date on the backs.

Also See:  I featured a few cards from the 2011 Phillies Postcards set here, and these cards aren't to be confused with the 2011 Phillies Fan Appreciation Night Postcard set, which 14,000 Phillies covered in a post here.

Resources:  14,000 Phillies; Phillies collector Steve

This set was originally featured in a post back in January 2015, 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 five-plus years.

2011 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards - 1st Edition / 2012 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards - 1st Edition

2000-Present Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page