Showing posts with label Hudson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hudson. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Mets at Phillies - May 15th to May 16th

1984 Topps #774
1984 Topps #432

Wednesday and Thursday 6:40

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  The Phillies' away and home series with the Mets continue as the Phillies look to make it four in a row against the Mets.

New York Mets 19-21
4th Place in the N.L. East, 9 games behind the Phillies

Mets Probables
Jose Quintana (1-4, 5.44)
Christian Scott (0-1, 2.84)

Mets Leaders
Average:  Starling Marte - .260
Runs:  Pete Alonso - 24
Home Runs:  Pete Alonso - 9
RBIs:  Brandon Nimmo - 27
Stolen Bases:  Starling Marte - 7

Wins:  Reed Garrett - 5
ERA:  Luis Severino - 3.00
Strikeouts:  Luis Severino - 41
Saves:  Edwin Diaz - 5
Philadelphia Phillies 29-13
1st Place in the N.L. East, 2 games ahead of the Braves

Phillies Probables
Ranger Suarez (7-0, 1.50)
Taijuan Walker (3-0, 4.82)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Trea Turner - .343
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 32
Home Runs:  Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber - 9
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 35
Stolen Bases:  Bryson Stott and Trea Turner - 10

Wins:  Ranger Suarez - 7
ERA:  Ranger Suarez - 1.50
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 65
Saves:  Jose Alvarado - 8

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Series Preview - Phillies at Yankees: July 20th to July 21st

1986 Topps #792
1986 Topps #427

Tuesday and Wednesday 7:05

Yankee Stadium - New York, NY

At the Ballpark:  On Tuesday night, the first 10,000 fans will receive a MLB Network Yankees tote bag.

Phillies 47-45
2nd Place in the N.L. East, 2 1/2 games behind the Mets

Phillies Probables
Aaron Nola (6-5, 4.53)
Matt Moore (0-1, 5.25)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Bryce Harper - .283
Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 51
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 20
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 56
Stolen Bases:  Bryce Harper - 8

Wins:  Zack Wheeler - 7
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 2.44
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 152
Saves:  Hector Neris - 12
Yankees 48-44
4th Place in the A.L. East, 7 1/2 games behind the Red Sox

Yankees Probables
Domingo German (4-5, 4.72)
TBD

Yankees Leaders
Average:  Aaron Judge - .282
Runs:  Aaron Judge - 51
Home Runs:  Aaron Judge - 21
RBIs:  Aaron Judge - 47
Stolen Bases:  Gleyber Torres - 6

Wins:  Gerrit Cole - 10
ERA:  Gerrit Cole - 2.63
Strikeouts:  Gerrit Cole - 158
Saves:  Aroldis Chapman - 16
2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

Monday, July 13, 2020

1985 Game 85 - 1985 Topps #379 Charles Hudson

Braves 13Phillies 5
Game 85 - Saturday Night, July 13th in Atlanta
Record - 37-48, 5th Place, 14 1/2 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  The Braves destroyed Phillies starter Charles Hudson, scoring nine runs in the first two innings, en route to a 13-5 win.

What It Means:  The Phillies were ending the first half on a down note.  This was their fourth loss in a row and (spoiler alert) they'd lose again on Sunday in the final game before the All-Star break.

What Happened:  This was Hudson's worst start of the season, and he'd straighten things out for the most part throughout the remainder of the year.  In 1 1/3 innings, he allowed nine runs (six earned) on 10 hits.  A costly error from Steve Jeltz prolonged the first inning.  Hudson would have escaped that inning with the Braves up 1-0 if not for Jeltz's error, and following the gaffe Ken Oberkfell hit a two-run triple followed by an RBI single from Glenn Hubbard.  The big blast in the second inning was a three-run home run from Dale Murphy.

Down 11-0, the Phillies put three runs on the board in the fifth on a Von Hayes RBI double, followed by RBI singles from Glenn Wilson and Bo Diaz.  Mike Schmidt hit an eighth inning solo home run, his 11th of the season.

Featured Card:  Hudson stuck around with the Phillies through their 1986 season, and following that season he was traded to the Yankees with minor leaguer Jeff Knox for Tom Barrett and Mike Easler.

Also on this date back in 1985, the Live Aid concert was held in London and Philadelphia.


1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

Thursday, July 2, 2020

1985 Game 74 - 1985 Fleer #263 Shane Rawley

Phillies 11Cubs 2
Game 74 - Tuesday Night, July 2nd in Philadelphia
Record - 33-41, 5th Place, 11 games behind the Cardinals

One Sentence Summary:  After a quiet game the day before, the Phillies offense exploded for 11 runs on 12 hits in this 11-2 walloping of Rick Sutcliffe and the Cubs.

What It Means:  Sutcliffe came back down to earth following his 1984 Cy Young Award winning performance.  Still, it's impressive he was able to battle through five innings after the Phillies had quickly scored four in the first.  He departed having allowed seven runs on eight hits, including a pair of home runs.

What Happened:  The home runs allowed came from Glenn Wilson in the first with three on (not surprising) and Derrel Thomas in the fifth with one on (surprising).  Greg Gross kept the scoring going after Sutcliffe departed, with an RBI-triple in the sixth off former teammate Warren Brusstar.  Steve Jeltz added a two-run triple in the eighth.  I'm curious as to why Jeltz was in the game at that point.  The official record shows he entered the game as a defensive replacement for Thomas in the sixth right after Thomas had hit his home run.  Was Jeltz really that much of a defensive upgrade over Thomas, or had Thomas perhaps hurt himself rounding the bases?

Ozzie Virgil quietly scored twice and added two hits to improve his average to .282.

Featured Card:  Shane Rawley pitched his first complete game of the season, giving up two runs on eight hits.  As the beneficiary of the offensive outburst, Rawley evened his record at 6-6.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

Thursday, May 14, 2020

1985 Game 30 - 1985 Donruss #355 Charlie Hudson

Phillies 7Reds 1
Game 30 - Tuesday Afternoon, May 14th in Cincinnati
Record - 11-19, 5th Place, 9 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Juan Samuel drove in five runs and Charles Hudson pitched eight shutout innings in this 7-1 victory over the Reds.

What It Means:  The win halted a seven-game losing streak and gave the Phillies their third win in 11 games in May.  Following this matinee, the club flew to Atlanta for a quick two-game series with the Braves.

What Happened:  Samuel went 2 for 5 with a three-run home run in the fifth off Reds starting pitcher Tom Browning and a two-run single in the ninth off reliever Frank Pastore.  Mike Schmidt hit a solo home run to lead off the sixth, and raised his average to an even .200 in the process.  Von Hayes and Ozzie Virgil also had multi-hit games.

John Wockenfuss got his first start of the season, playing first base and going 1 for 3.

Hudson made his first start of the season, filling in for the injured Jerry Koosman, and he was brilliant.  He walked three and struck out five, with the only hit allowed coming from a Dave Parker single in the fourth.  He was pinch-hit for in the ninth, which was somewhat surprising as the Phillies held a 4-0 lead at the time and Hudson was cruising.  Don Carman worked out of a small jam in the ninth, allowing a run to score on a Cesar Cedeno sacrifice fly.  Pete Rose went hitless in four at-bats.

Featured Card:  In his diary of his record-breaking season, Rose gives an explanation as to why Hudson went from Charlie to Charles following his rookie season in 1983.  By 1986, Donruss, Fleer and Topps had all updated their cards to reflect Hudson's preferred first name.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index


Tuesday, May 5, 2020

1985 Game 23 - 1985 Fleer #255 Charles Hudson

Astros 4Phillies 3
Game 23 - Sunday Afternoon, May 5th in Philadelphia
Record - 10-13, Tied for 4th Place, 5 1/2 games behind the Cubs

One Sentence Summary:  Joe Niekro bested Shane Rawley as the Astros avoided the series sweep with this 4-3 win.

What It Means:  For the only time this season other than the All-Star break, the Phillies had two scheduled off days during the week.  They'd play a two-game series against Pete Rose and the Reds beginning Tuesday, with off days on Monday and Thursday.

What Happened:  Jose Cruz homered off Rawley in the first to give the Astros a 2-0 lead, and Niekro would help himself with an RBI double in the second to make it 3-1 Astros.  Rawley dropped his second game of the season, lasting six innings and giving up all four Astros runs.  Charles Hudson kept his team in the game with three perfect innings of relief.

Offensively, the Phillies couldn't string together a bunch of big hits, going 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position.  Glenn Wilson had a pair of RBI singles in the third and seventh innings.

Featured Card:  With the scheduled off days, the Phillies didn't need a replacement in the rotation for the injured Jerry Koosman right away.  The job would ultimately go to Hudson who would make his first start on May 14th.  Hudson had been used solely as a starter in 1983 and 1984, but had begun the 1985 season in the bullpen.

Roster:  Here's an updated look at the Phillies roster as of May 5th.  I'm moving Tim Corcoran to the infielders section, as he had only played one game in the outfield up until this point.

Starting pitchers (4) - Steve Carlton, John Denny, Kevin Gross, Shane Rawley
Relief pitchers (6) - Larry Andersen, Don Carman, Charles Hudson, Dave Rucker, Kent Tekulve, Pat Zachry
Catchers (3) - Darren Daulton, Ozzie Virgil, John Wockenfuss
Infielders (7) - Luis Aguayo, Tim Corcoran, Kiko Garcia, Steve Jeltz, John Russell, Juan Samuel, Mike Schmidt
Outfielders (5) - Greg Gross, Von Hayes, Garry Maddox, Jeff Stone, Glenn Wilson
Disabled List (3) - Bo Diaz, Jerry Koosman, Joe Lefebvre

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Marlins at Phillies: October 3rd to October 4th


Saturday Double Header 4:05, Sunday 3:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Marlins 69-90, 3rd Place in the N.L. East, 20 games behind the Mets
Phillies 62-97, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 27 games behind the Mets

Marlins Probables:  Justin Nicolino (4-4, 4.16), Tom Koehler (11-14, 4.00), Adam Conley (4-1, 3.84)
Phillies Probables:  Aaron Harang (6-15, 4.86), Alec Asher (0-5, 9.00), David Buchanan (2-9, 7.54)

At the Ballpark:  This is it . . . the final series of the 2015 season.  Sunday is Fan Appreciation Day with "prizes and surprises" promised for all fans in attendance.

Marlins Leaders
Average:  Dee Gordon - .329
Runs:  Dee Gordon - 83
Home Runs:  Giancarlo Stanton - 27
RBIs:  Justin Bour - 71
Stolen Bases:  Dee Gordon - 56

Wins:  Tom Koehler - 11
ERA:  Tom Koehler - 4.00
Strikeouts:  Tom Koehler - 132
Saves:  A.J. Ramos - 30

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Odubel Herrera - .290
Runs:  Odubel Herrera - 62
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 23
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 77
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 19+

Wins:  Ken Giles, Aaron Harang and Aaron Nola - 6*
ERA:  Aaron Harang - 4.86
Strikeouts:  Aaron Harang - 106*
Saves:  Ken Giles - 15^

+Ben Revere, now with the Blue Jays, is the overall team leader with 24 stolen bases.
*Cole Hamels, now with the Rangers, is the overall team leader with 6 wins (tied) and 137 strikeouts.
^Jonathan Papelbon, now with the Nationals, is the overall team leader with 17 saves.

1985 Topps #379
1985 Topps #763
1985 Topps Traded #62T
1985 Topps Appreciation:  I've got a post coming up which will tally up all the Phillies-related cards in the 1985 Topps set.  The three cards shown here are the last remaining 1985 Toopps Phillies cards that had no logical fit in any series preview posts throughout the season.  Sorry guys.

I'm looking forward to doing these series preview posts in 2016 looking back at Phillies-related cards in the 1970 Topps set.  I've already put together a list of former and future Phillies in the 1970 Topps set, and there were quite a few I wasn't familiar with.  Just one more reason to look forward to the 2016 season!

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

1984 Donruss #448 Charlie Hudson

Mets 6, Phillies 3
Game 47 - Monday Afternoon, May 25th in Flushing
Record - 19-28

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies bullpen faltered yet again as the Phillies lost this Memorial Day matinee to the Mets, 6-3.

What It Means:  That six-game winning streak seems like a long time ago.

What Happened:  Phillies starting pitcher Severino Gonzalez was constantly in trouble in his 4 1/3 innings of work, allowing two home runs but departing with the score tied at three.  The crushing blow came in the sixth when Wilmer Flores hit a three run home run to left off reliever Justin De Fratus.  Chase Utley had two more hits in this game, including a two-run single in the third.

Featured Card:  Gonzalez struck out eight and didn't walk any Mets in his outing.  Fascinatingly enough, and courtesy of Bob Vetrone Jr. of Philly.com's BoopStats, the last Phillies starting pitcher to have at least eight strikeouts and no walks in a Phillies loss was Charles Hudson on May 31, 1983.

And now you know.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

1988 Topps - Phillies Cards

1988 Topps #714, #348, #156 and #683
I spent all of 2014 looking back at the 1988 Topps set.  I used the 1988 Topps design for my 2014 Chachi set and I used 1988 Topps Phillies-related cards in my game preview posts.  I wasn't able to feature all the Phillies-related cards from the 1988 Topps set either because the Phillies didn't play every team in the American League or certain teams just had way too many cards featuring ex or future Phillies.

Similar to what I've done with the 1973 and 1979 Topps sets, here's a look at all 154 cards in the 1988 Topps set featuring players, coaches or managers with a Phillies connection.

National League East (52 - 17 without Phillies)
Atlanta Braves (6) - #90 Dale Murphy, #549 Dale Murphy TL, #627 Joe Boever, #732 Dave Palmer, #755 Ozzie Virgil, #39T Ron Gant
Miami Marlins (0)
New York Mets (7) - #8 Kevin Elster, #30 Sid Fernandez, #164 Dave Johnson MG, #333 Wally Backman, #355 Roger McDowell, #655 Len Dykstra, #787 Bill Almon
Philadelphia Phillies (35)
Washington Nationals (Montreal Expos) (4) - #93 Bob Sebra, #251 Tom Foley, #365 Floyd Youmans, #588 Jeff Parrett

National League Central (29)
Chicago Cubs (9) - #10 Ryne Sandberg, #36 Jamie Moyer, #171 Manny Trillo TL, #287 Manny Trillo, #416 Keith Moreland, #564 Frank Lucchesi MG, #642 Bob Dernier, #717 Jay Baller, #768 Dickie Noles
Cincinnati Reds (4) - #265 Bo Diaz, #475 Pete Rose MG, #686 Terry Francona, #55T Danny Jackson
Milwaukee Brewers (2) - #592 Dale Sveum, #670 Dan Plesac
Pittsburgh Pirates (3) - #168 Barry Jones, #349 Bob Walk, #539 Mike LaValliere
St. Louis Cardinals (11) - #59 Danny Cox, #133 Greg Mathews, #208 Steve Lake, #310 Tom Herr, #483 Rod Booker, #509 Bill Dawley, #536 John Morris, #562 Jim Lindeman, #612 Curt Ford, #34T Jose DeLeon, #70T Larry McWilliams

1988 Topps #171, #549 and #201
National League West (19)
Arizona Diamondbacks (0)
Colorado Rockies (0)
Los Angeles Dodgers (5) - #92 Len Matuszek, #149 Ken Howell, #481 Mariano Duncan, #489 Fernando Valenzuela TL, #780 Fernando Valenzuela
San Diego Padres (12) - #7 Benito Santiago RB, #148 Carmelo Martinez, #284 Larry Bowa MG, #404 Benny Santiago AS, #426 Randy Ready, #482 Mark Davis, #596 John Kruk, #693 Benny Santiago, #699 Benny Santiago TL, #72T Keith Moreland, #80T Mark Parent, #121T Dickie Thon
San Francisco Giants (2) - #52 Don Robinson, #445 Mike Krukow

American League East (6)
Baltimore Orioles (2) - #11 Mike Young, #142 Andy Van Slyke
Boston Red Sox (0)
New York Yankees (2) - #636 Charles Hudson, #741 Mike Easler
Tampa Bay Rays (0)
Toronto Blue Jays (2) - #438 Rob Ducey, #24T Sil Campusano

American League Central (20)
Chicago White Sox (5) - #334 Dave LaPoint, #613 Bobby Thigpen, #634 Jose DeLeon, #657 Gary Redus, #714 Jim Fregosi MG
Cleveland Indians (4) - #82 Darrel Akerfelds, #293 Doug Jones, #374 Doc Edwards, #683 Julio Franco
Detroit Tigers (3) - #14 Sparky Anderson MG, #713 Willie Hernandez, #751 Jim Morrison
Kansas City Royals (5) - #324 Danny Jackson, #348 Jim Eisenreich, #597 Gene Garber, #724 Danny Tartabull, #777 Lonnie Smith
Minnesota Twins (3) - #218 Dan Schatzeder, #317 Tom Nieto, #49T Tom Herr

1988 Topps #777, 1988 Topps Traded #72T, 1988 Topps #636 and #713
American League West (25)
Houston Astros (7) - #24 Jim Deshaies, #226 Dave Lopes, #291 Billy Hatcher TL, #306 Billy Hatcher, #342 Larry Andersen, #643 Rocky Childress, #684 Hal Lanier MG
Los Angeles Angels (5) - #243 Mark Ryal, #420 Wally Joyner, #498 Bob Boone, #774 Gene Mauch MG, #97T Cookie Rojas MG
Oakland Athletics (4) - #527 Steve Henderson, #272 Steve Ontiveros, #424 Dwayne Murphy, #476 Dave Stewart
Seattle Mariners (5) - #55 Phil Bradley, #156 Gary Matthews, #332 Jerry Reed, #519 Phil Bradley TL, #129T Glenn Wilson
Texas Rangers (4) - #26 Mitch Williams, #201 Pete Incaviglia TL, #280 Pete Incaviglia, #369 Greg Harris

Other
Team USA (3) - #30T Pat Combs, #71T Mickey Morandini, #88T Jim Poole

Memory Lane
1973 Topps - 107 cards with Phillies connections
1979 Topps - 111 cards with Phillies connections, plus one more

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Memories of 1984 Phillies Photo Day

1984 Fleer #39
Braves 10, Phillies 3 (Game 1)
Game 80 - Saturday Afternoon, June 28th in Philadelphia
Record - 36-44

One Sentence Summary:  Shoddy defense, a rough bullpen outing and a lack of offense doomed the Phillies in a 10-3 loss to the Braves.

What It Means:  This game really wasn't fun to watch.

What Happened:  Ryan Howard committed two costly errors in the fourth, leading to two unearned runs.  Antonio Bastardo had his worse bullpen outing of the year, allowing five runs on three hits and two walks in just a third of an inning of work.

Featured Card:  In honor of today's pre-game Photo Day, I thought I'd dig into The Official Phillies Room archives.  The Phillies have been hosting a Photo Day since at least the early 1980s, allowing fans down onto the field to take pictures of the players, coaches and broadcasters as they slowly walked down a cordoned off path.  My Dad and I attended Photo Day thirty years ago at Veterans Stadium, and my clearest memory of that day was this:  My Dad hated Photo Day.

This is on the flip side of the Lefebvre picture
Don't get me wrong, my Dad was a great guy and I've documented his awesomeness throughout various posts on this blog over the past five-plus years.  But he hated crowds and he didn't really care for anything that seemed confusing and disorganized.  Photo Day is traditionally both confusing and disorganized while being crowded.  There are a lot of people milling about on the field, jockeying for prime position in order to take a quick candid photo of the players sauntering by and occasionally waving.  Some players go out of there way to be fan friendly (see here) while others just want to walk through the gauntlet as quickly as possible.

Dad snapped three photos with his camera on that afternoon in 1984 - Joe Lefebvre, Garry Maddox and Charles Hudson (with a lurking Glenn Wilson) - and then decided he had had enough of the crowds.  We left the field and I wouldn't return to a Photo Day until the mid-2000s with my wife, Jenna.  We debated going yesterday, but decided to wait until our youngest son Ben was a little older so that he could appreciate it more.  After all, it's fairly disorganized and confusing and crowded.

Charles Hudson
Garry Maddox
Joe Lefebvre
Transaction: The Phillies added reliever Luis Garcia to the roster before the game, as both team's were permitted to expand their rosters by one due to the double header.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

1986 Topps Phillies

1986 Topps #200, #420, #736 and #475
As the Phillies continued their downward slide in 1986, I was stunned when several of my friends switched their allegiances from the Phils to other teams.  Most of these friends went on to become (gasp!) Mets fans.  Honestly, I still don't get it.  How do people just up and switch teams like that?  Sure, the Phillies of the mid to late-'80s were just plain awful, but to quickly leave behind your white and maroon for blue and orange?  The only good thing to come of this was that suddenly everyone wanted Mets cards and they were more than happy to trade away their Phillies for my Mets doubles.

I've lost touch over the years with most of my sixth grade friends, but I've wondered recently if they've since switched back to rooting for the Phillies.  The bandwagon started getting crowded again right around 2007.

1986 Topps #420 (Back)
The Set
Number of cards in the set:  For the fifth year in a row, Topps included 792 cards in its base set and added another 132 to the boxed traded set.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  1986 Topps cards were everywhere then and to an extent, they still are.  I think I could open any drawer in my house today and find a few 1986 Topps cards.  I loved the half-black border when the cards first came out, although I started to get sick of the design once I needed two 800-count boxes to house my doubles.
Notable competition:  Fleer and Donruss cards were also everywhere.  I'm not sure when the "junk wax" era officially began, but solely based on the pure amount of doubles in my collection between the years 1986 and 1989, I'm going to say the era began right around 1986.  Sportflics made its debut in 1986.  In order to buy packs of Sportflics though, we had to haul it over to the 7-11 way across town.

1986 Phillies
Record and finish:  The second place finish was nice and the 86-75 record was pretty good, but the Phils still finished 21 1/2 games behind those pesky Mets.
Key players:  This would be Mike Schmidt's last MVP-caliber season.  After moving back to third base, he won the National League MVP for the third and final time while hitting 37 home runs and driving in 119 with a .290 average.  Von Hayes took over at first and contributed 19 home runs, 98 RBIs and a .305 average in what was probably his finest season.  Juan Samuel (.266, 16 home runs, 78 RBIs, 42 stolen bases) and Glenn Wilson (.271, 15 home runs, 84 RBIs) also enjoyed fine years at the plate.  Rookie Bruce Ruffin was tasked with replacing a future Hall of Famer in the rotation, after Steve Carlton was released.  The future looked bright for the young Texan, as Ruffin compiled a 9-4 record in 21 starts with a 2.46 ERA.  The newly acquired Steve Bedrosian saved 29 games while Kent Tekulve appeared in 73 games as a solid set-up reliever.
Key events:  In mid-December 1985, the Phils traded Ozzie Virgil to the Braves for Bedrosian and Milt Thompson and then dealt John Denny to the Reds a day later for Tom Hume and Gary Redus.  Garry Maddox retired in May and Carlton was released in June, truly signaling the end of an era.  

1986 Topps #392, #453, 1986 Topps Traded #90T and #112T
1986 Phillies in 1986 Topps
Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 32 Phillies cards in the regular set (same as 1985), but only 4 Phillies cards in the traded series, for a total of 36 cards.
Who’s in:
  • Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards
#392 John Russell (c), #420 Von Hayes (1b), #475 Juan Samuel (2b), #453 Steve Jeltz (ss), #200 Mike Schmidt (3b), #90T Gary Redus (lf), #112T Milt Thompson (cf), #736 Glenn Wilson (rf)
  • Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards
#764 Kevin Gross, #361 Shane Rawley, #792 Charles Hudson, #120 Steve Carlton

Ruffin would have to wait for the 1987 Topps set for his first Topps card, although he appeared in the 1986 Sportflics Rookies set.

1986 Topps #764, #361, #792 and #120
  • Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 1986 - 14 cards
#16 Rick Schu, #39 Dave Rucker, #69 Luis Aguayo, #183 Larry Andersen, #264 Darren Daulton, #302 Greg Gross, #326 Kent Tekulve, #466 Tom Foley, #532 Don Carman, #585 Garry Maddox, #686 Jeff Stone, #689 Dave Stewart, #7T Steve Bedrosian, #47T Tom Hume
  • Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1986 - 6 cards (with new teams listed)
#95 Ozzie Virgil (Braves), #158 Derrel Thomas (Retired), #418 Alan Knicely (Cardinals), #505 Jerry Koosman (Retired), #556 John Denny (Reds), #664 Tim Corcoran (Mets)
  • Phillies cards within The Pete Rose Years subset - 2 cards, #6 and #7
Charlie Hustle's 1980, 1981 and 1982 Topps cards are featured on card #6 and his 1983 and 1984 Topps cards are on card #7.
  • Phillies Leaders card - 1 card, #246
Carlton is pictured as the Dean of the Phillies on this card for his continuous service with the team since his acquisition from the Cardinals back in February 1972.  This would be a cool subset for Topps to resurrect.
1986 Topps #686, #16, 1986 Topps Traded #7T and 1986 Topps #326
Who’s out:  The big oversight is Ruffin, but Topps can probably be forgiven for not including the rookie in its traded set.  Ruffin came out of nowhere in '86, never having pitched above Double-A before his call-up in late June.  Ron Roenicke appeared in 102 games with the Phillies and while he merited a Phillies card in Fleer's Update set, Topps left him out of its traded set.  Catcher Ronn Reynolds (43 games) and pitchers Mike Maddux (16 starts, 3-7 record) and Dan Schatzeder (25 games, 1 save) should have also merited some consideration for inclusion within the Topps Traded set.
1986 Topps #63
Phillies on other teams:  There are eight cards in the 1986 Topps set featuring members of the 1986 Phillies squad on different teams.  First, the four players who ended up as Phillies in the traded set - #342 Gary Redus (Reds), #517 Milt Thompson (Braves), #573 Tom Hume (Reds), #648 Steve Bedrosian (Braves).  And the four players who didn't make it - #63 Ron Roenicke (Giants), #324 Dan Schatzeder (Expos), #414 Tom Gorman (Mets), #649 Ronn Reynolds (Mets).
What’s he doing here:  Thomas was granted free agency back in mid-November 1985, but he still had a card in the base Topps set.
Cards that never were candidates:  Ruffin, Roenicke, Reynolds, Maddux and Schatzeder should have cards, as should one of my personal favorites - Greg Legg.  Legg appeared in 11 games for the Phillies in 1986, going 9 for 20.  He's a life-long Phillie who is still in the organization today.  In 2011, he completed his 30th season within the organization as he served as a coach for the Single-A Lakewood BlueClaws.  He'll be back for his 31st season in 2012.
1986 Topps #246
Favorite Phillies card:  Wilson looks super mid-'80s suave with his stubble and shades, but I loved Kevin Gross' card as a kid.  I remember the Phillies had a flip-up sunglasses give-away day at The Vet, and I made sure my Dad got us tickets so that I could emulate Kevin Gross.  Ah, youth.

Other Stuff
Recycled:  Schmidt's card appears as a reprint in the 2010 Cards Your Mother Threw Out insert set.
Blogs/Websites:  The 1986 Topps Blog launched in March and it's been fun so far to follow along.  As much as I saw these cards when I was younger, I had forgotten there are some truly great cards within the set.  
Did You Know?:  49-year-old Jamie Moyer, who hopes to latch on with a team this spring and pitch in the Majors this season, made his Major League debut back on June 16, 1986 against the Phillies.  He earned the victory against Steve Carlton in what would be Lefty's penultimate appearance with the franchise.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

1985 Topps Phillies

1985 Topps #500, #454, #265 and #611
Name just about any Topps Phillies card from the 1980's and I can close my eyes and picture it in my head.  I wonder if the same could be said about kids and baseball cards today?  I sincerely hope there's some young collector out there who will one day have the same nostalgic memories about the Topps sets from the 2010s as I do about any Topps set from the 1980s.  

Go ahead and queue up "We Are the World," as we're about to look back to 1985.

1985 Topps #265 (Back)
The Set
Number of cards in the set:  Once again, it's a 792-card set with a 132-card traded set added at the end of the year.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but I loved this set.  Team logos on the fronts of cards always make me happy and this set had a bunch of really cool subsets.  Had I not gone with the 1979 Topps design for the 2012 Chachi set (for sentimental reasons), the 1985 Topps design probably would have been chosen.
Notable competition:  1985 was the first year that I remember packs of Topps, Fleer and Donruss being readily available at our Wawa.  My Dad would bring home a pack or two or three upon each and every of his Wawa visits, and I was able to put together two complete Topps sets.  I collected the entire Fleer set as well, and I'm somewhat close to a second Fleer set.  (I believe Santa brought me the 1985 Donruss set.)  As kids, we loved the black borders on the Donruss cards and the gray borders on the Fleer cards.  Topps must have had a focus group of kids in place somewhere, as they decided to go with a partial black border with its 1986 issue.

1985 Phillies
Record and finish:  New manager John Felske led the Phils to a 75-87 record - the team's worst record since 1973.  They finished in fifth place, 26 games behind the Cardinals.
Key players:  By his own high standards, Mike Schmidt had an off year, hitting .277 with 33 home runs and 93 RBIs.  His ill-fated switch over to first base to make room for up-and-comer Rick Schu may have had something to do with his slight offensive drop.  Glenn Wilson led the team with 102 RBIs as his "Glennbo" commercials hit the airwaves.  Ozzie Virgil and Juan Samuel each had 19 home runs.  Steve Carlton was at the beginning of the end, as he went 1-8 with a 3.33 ERA in just 16 starts.  Kevin Gross led the pitching staff with 15 wins, followed by Shane Rawley's 13.  Kent Tekulve, acquired in a late April trade from the Pirates for Al Holland, led the team with 14 saves.
Key events:  One of the sole highlights of the season was the team's demolishing of the Mets on June 11th by a score of 26-7.  I highlighted the game in a previous Scrapbook Sunday post.  In what seemed like an earth-shaking trade at the time, the Phillies traded catcher Bo Diaz to the Reds in August for Tom Foley, Alan Knicely and Fred Toliver.

1985 Topps Traded #62T, #104T, 1985 Topps #476 and #68
1985 Phillies in 1985 Topps
Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 32 Phillies cards in the regular set and another 7 in the traded set, for a total of 39 1985 Topps Phillies cards.  That's a seven-card drop from 1984.
Who’s in:
  • Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards
#611 Ozzie Virgil (c), #500 Mike Schmidt (1b), #265 Juan Samuel (2b), #62T Steve Jeltz (ss), #104T Rick Schu (3b), #476 Jeff Stone (lf), #68 Von Hayes (cf), #454 Glenn Wilson (rf)
  • Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 5 cards
#325 John Denny, #584 Kevin Gross, #636 Shane Rawley, #379 Charles Hudson, #15 Jerry Koosman

1985 Topps #325, #584, #636 and #379
  • Base cards of other players who played with the Phillies in 1985 - 14 cards
#39 John Wockenfuss, #117 Greg Gross, #185 Al Holland, #235 Garry Maddox, #302 Tim Corcoran, #360 Steve Carlton, #428 Larry Andersen, #663 Luis Aguayo, #737 Bo Diaz, #763 Kiko Garcia, #16T Don Carman, #98T Dave Rucker, #117T Kent Tekulve, #121T Derrel Thomas
  • Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1985 - 7 cards (with new teams listed)
#130 Al Oliver (Dodgers), #157 Tug McGraw (Retired), #209 Bill Campbell (Cardinals), #531 Joe Lefebvre (Injured), #556 Sixto Lezcano (Pirates), #688 Len Matuszek (Blue Jays), #791 Ivan DeJesus (Cardinals)
  • Phillies appearing on Record Breaker cards - 1 card, #8 Juan Samuel
  • Phillies appearing on Father-Son cards - 1 card, #143 Ozzie Virgil
  • Phillies appearing on National League All Star cards - 1 card, #714 Mike Schmidt
  • Manager cards - 2 cards, #92 Paul Owens and #33T John Felske

1985 Topps #235, #302, #360 and 1985 Topps Traded #16T
Who’s out:  Phillies farm hands John Russell and Darren Daulton were again excluded from the Topps set, despite playing in 81 and 36 games respectively.  Reliever Dave Shipanoff appeared in 26 games with the club, but he didn't merit a card in the traded series either.  (Daulton made his debut in the 1985 Fleer Update set.)
Phillies on other teams:  There are three players who eventually made it as Phillies in the traded set - #125 Kent Tekulve (Pirates), #421 Dave Rucker (Cardinals) and #448 Derrel Thomas (Expos).  And three players who didn't make it - #57 Pat Zachry (Dodgers), #107 Tom Foley (Reds) and #723 Dave Stewart (Rangers)
What’s he doing here:  I don't have any qualms with the player selection.  McGraw receives a well-deserved final tribute card, as the lefty reliever had announced his retirement over the winter.  I guess Lezcano could have been replaced with another Phillie - he had become a free agent way back in November 1984.
Cards that never were candidates:  I've already shown off the ten cards that never were, but the four truly deserving players are Russell, Daulton, Shipanoff and Foley, who didn't join the club until August.
Favorite Phillies card:  Teke's first Topps Phillies card with The Vet in the background is very cool, but Wilson was a fan favorite in '85 and I have to go with his card.  Samuel's card receives an honorable mention.

Other Stuff
Recycled:  I'm sure I'm missing something here, but I can't find any instances where Topps has re-used this design for a Phillies card.  I tweaked the design with the team's modern colors for a Chachi Prototype card a few years ago.
Blogs/Websites:  Watch this space.  Night Owl has recently announced the creation of a 1985 Topps blog, set to debut in January 2012.  Totally awesome.
Did You Know?:  The big collecting hub-bub in the summer of '85 were the Team USA cards included as a subset within the 1985 Topps set.  No one in my young collecting circle was chasing the Mark McGwire card yet.  We were more interested in the cards of Oddibe McDowell, Cory Snyder and local product John Marzano.  Not one of the 15 players featured in the subset ever played for the Phillies, although Marzano played a year in the Phillies minor league system before becoming a very popular local sports personality.  Sadly, Marzano passed away in 2008 at the way too young age of 45.
Did You Know? Bonus:  I only just noticed this while placing cards from the base set next to cards from the traded series.  Topps tilted the Phillies logo a little to the right for the traded set.  I find that very strange and fascinating.

1985 Topps #8, #714, #92 and 1985 Topps Traded #33T

Sunday, November 6, 2011

1984 Topps Phillies

1984 Topps #700, #484, 1984 Topps Traded #105T and 1984 Topps #587
One of the common criticisms of the 1984 Topps set is that it's just another version of the prior year's set, but with more angles.  I often wonder how the set would have been received had it been released before the '83 set.  It's got the cool vertical team name going for it, and I love that Topps included the team logo on the back of the cards.  Maybe I've been too harsh on the 1984 Topps set all these years?

1984 Topps #587 (Back)
The Set
Number of cards in the set:  For the third straight year, it's a 792-card regular set, plus a 132-card traded set.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  As I was getting everything together for this post, I realized there may be a more subliminal reason I've never been terribly fond of the 1984 Topps set.  As noted below, there are 51 cards in the set (regular and traded) featuring Phillies.  However, 15 of those cards featured players who had moved on to other teams by the time the '84 season started.  So whenever I found a new Pete Rose or a Gary Matthews or a Ron Reed card in a pack of 1984 Topps, it wasn't as exciting for me since those guys were now with other teams.
Notable competition:  I have a boat-load of doubles from the 1984 Donruss, Fleer and Topps sets.  While it may shock some hobby enthusiasts, I never really cared for the 1984 Donruss set, even though I hand-collated a complete set back in the day.  Shortly after its release, our local baseball card dealer (the Card Doctor) couldn't sell his inventory of 1984 Donruss wax boxes.  My Dad bought a box on the cheap, right before the set started taking off.  The Don Mattingly rookie card from the Donruss set was probably the first card I ever owned that I rarely handled as it was stored safely in a plastic screw-down holder.  Also, 1984 was a key collecting year for me, as it was the year my subscription to Baseball Cards magazine began and I started tracking the "book value" of my collection.  Ah, youth.

1984 Phillies
Record and finish:  And so begins the long and tortuous road of mediocre to downright bad Phillies teams from 1984 until 2006, which a slight respite in 1993.  The Phillies finished at an even 81-81 in 1984, 15 1/2 games behind the former-Phillies heavy Cubs.
Key players:  Mike Schmidt turned in another fine year, batting .277 with 36 home runs and 106 RBIs.  Youngsters Ozzie Virgil (.261, 18 home runs, 68 RBIs) and Juan Samuel (.272, 15 home runs, 69 RBIs, 72 stolen bases) also enjoyed fine years at the plate.  Rookie Jeff Stone hit .362 following his June call-up and bench guys Tim Corcoran (.341) and Greg Gross (.322) had terrific years.  Veteran Jerry Koosman led the staff with 15 wins, followed by an aging Steve Carlton (13 wins) and Shane Rawley (10 wins) who was acquired in a late-June trade.  Closer Al Holland had another solid year, saving 29 games.
Key events:  In March, in the middle of Spring Training, the Phillies pulled off two miserable deals.  First, reliever Willie Hernandez was shipped to the Tigers for Glenn Wilson and John Wockenfuss.  Hernandez would go on to win the American League Cy Young and MVP for the World Champion Tigers.  A few days later, Porfi Altamirano, Sarge Matthews and (my personal favorite) Bob Dernier were sent to the Cubs for Bill Campbell and Mike Diaz.  This trade explains why most pictures of me from the summer of 1984 feature yours truly wearing a Cubs hat.  Schmidt joined the 400-home run club on May 15th with a shot off the Dodgers' Bob Welch.

1984 Topps #275, #279, 1984 Topps Traded #129T and 1984 Topps #185
1984 Phillies in 1984 Topps
Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 46 Phillies cards in the base set and 5 cards in the traded set for a new all-time high 51 Phillies cards.
Who’s in:
  • Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards
#484 Ozzie Virgil (c), #275 Len Matuszek (1b), #105T Juan Samuel (2b), #279 Ivan DeJesus (ss), #700 Mike Schmidt (3b), #129T Glenn Wilson (lf), #587 Von Hayes (cf), #185 Sixto Lezcano (lf)
  • Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards
#780 Steve Carlton, #64T Jerry Koosman, #432 Charles Hudson, #17 John Denny

1984 Topps #780, 1984 Topps Traded #64T, 1984 Topps #432 and #17
  • Base cards of other players who played with the Phillies in 1984 - 11 Cards
#148 Joe Lefebvre, #332 Kevin Gross, #458 Kiko Garcia, #511 Marty Bystrom, #535 Bo Diaz, #564 Al Holland, #613 Greg Gross, #728 Tug McGraw, #755 Garry Maddox, #22T Bill Campbell, #130T John Wockenfuss
  • Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1984 - 9 cards (with new teams listed)
#43 Ron Reed (White Sox), #70 Gary Matthews (Cubs), #101 Porfi Altamirano (Cubs), #199 Willie Hernandez (Tigers), #210 Joe Morgan (Athletics), #252 Larry Christenson (Retired), #300 Pete Rose (Expos/Reds), #358 Bob Dernier (Cubs), #385 Tony Perez (Reds)
  • Phillies appearing on 1983 Highlight cards - 2 cards
#1 Steve Carlton, #4 Steve Carlton with Nolan Ryan (Astros) and Gaylord Perry (Royals)
  • Phillies appearing on 1983 Leaders cards - 4 cards
#132 Home Run Leaders - Mike Schmidt with Jim Rice (Red Sox), #135 Victory Leaders - John Denny with LaMarr Hoyt (White Sox), #136 Strikeout Leaders - Steve Carlton with Jack Morris (Tigers), #138 Leading Firemen - Al Holland with Dan Quisenberry (Royals)
  • Phillies appearing on National League All Star cards - 2 cards
#388 Mike Schmidt, #395 Steve Carlton
  • Phillies appearing on Active Career Leaders cards - 9 cards
#701, #702, #703, #704, #705, #706, #707, #708, #709

Featuring Pete Rose, Tony Perez, Mike Schmidt, Joe Morgan, Steve Carlton and Tug McGraw.
  • Manager card - 1 card, #229 Paul Owens
  • Batting & Pitching Leaders card - 1 card, #637 with Gary Matthews and John Denny
1984 Topps #564, #613, #755 and #254
Who’s out:  There are several 1984 Phillies reserves who didn't make it onto Topps cards - Corcoran (.341 average in 102 games), Stone (51 games, 27 stolen bases), John Russell (.283 average in 39 games) and Luis Aguayo (58 games).  Reliever Larry Andersen had a 2.38 ERA in 64 games, yet he didn't earn a Topps card.
Phillies on other teams:  Four players were in the base set with other teams, but received Phillies cards in the Traded series - #119 John Wockenfuss (Tigers), #311 Jerry Koosman (White Sox), #563 Glenn Wilson (Tigers) and #787 Bill Campbell (Cubs).  Three other players appeared with other teams, with no Phillies cards in the Traded series - #254 Shane Rawley (Yankees), #603 Renie Martin (Giants) and #620/#87T Al Oliver (Expos/Giants).
What’s he doing here:  Rose, Morgan and Christenson were all released by the Phillies in October or early November 1983.  So when we were opening packs of Topps cards in the summer of 1984, these guys had been history for over six months.
Cards that never were candidates:  There's a bunch here, given the heavy player turn-over the Phillies had following the 1983 season and even during the regular 1984 season.  Here's the list of players deserving of Phillies cards - Aguayo, Andersen, Corcoran, Oliver, Rawley, Russell and Stone.  Also, catcher Mike LaValliere made his debut with the Phillies on September 9, 1984, so a Phillies rookie card would be fitting.
Favorite Phillies card:  For the third year in a row, it's a card featured in the Traded set - Samuel's rookie card.

Other Stuff
Recycled:  Carlton's Highlight card and Hernandez' base card are reprinted in the 2001 and 2002 Topps Archives sets, respectively.
Blogs/Websites:  1984 Topps?  Anyone?  My Dad bought me the 1984 O-Pee-Chee set for my birthday the year it was released and to date, it's the only complete O-Pee-Chee set I own.  (As an aside, and as I mentioned earlier, this was a big year for me personally as a baseball card collector.  I wasn't yet fully into G.I. Joe and my interest in Star Wars was waning, so baseball cards was where it was at.  My parents - and Santa - obliged accordingly with a baseball card-heavy birthday and Christmas morning.)  The Oh My O-Pee-Chee! blog has highlighted some of the cooler variations between the 1984 Topps and O-Pee-Chee sets.   
Did You Know?:  Dave Wehrmeister appeared in 7 games with the 1984 Phillies, causing me quite a bit of ten-year-old angst.

1984 Topps #702, #703 and #707