Phillies at Rockies: April 18th to April 20th

2022 Chachi 2000 Topps Missing Links #16

2000 Topps Traded #T118

Monday and Tuesday 8:40, Wednesday 3:10
Coors Field - Denver, CO

At the Ballpark:  On Wednesday, the first 10,000 fans will receive a $1 hot dog coupon.  Other than that, there are no promotions or giveaways scheduled for this three-game set at Coors Field.

Phillies 4-6
4th Place in the N.L. East, 3 games behind the Mets

Phillies Probables
Aaron Nola (1-1, 6.75)
Kyle Gibson (1-1, 3.09)
Zach Eflin (0-1, 4.50)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Nick Castellanos - .324
Runs:  Bryce Harper - 9
Home Runs:  Four tied with - 2
RBIs:  Bryce Harper - 9
Stolen Bases:  Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto - 1

Wins:  Four tied with - 1
ERA:  Kyle Gibson - 3.09
Strikeouts:  Kyle Gibson - 16
Saves:  Brad Hand and Corey Knebel - 1

Rockies 6-3
3rd Place in the N.L. West, 1 game behind the Dodgers and Giants

Rockies Probables
Chad Kuhl (0-0, 2.08)
Kyle Freeland (0-2, 10.00)
German Marquez (0-0, 3.97)

Rockies Leaders
Average:  Connor Joe - .361
Runs:  Kris Bryant and Connor Joe - 8
Home Runs:  C.J. Cron - 5
RBIs:  C.J. Cron - 10
Stolen Bases:  Three with with - 1

Wins:  Jhoulys Chacin - 2
ERA:  German Marquez - 3.97

Strikeouts:  German Marquez - 8
Saves:  Daniel Bard - 4

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

2002 Topps #359 United We Stand: Braves-Phillies

This post was originally published in February 2013.

I went back through my 2001 and 2002 Topps sets while putting together the recently published 2001 Topps Phillies post and the (hopefully) soon to be published 2002 Topps Phillies post.  In my opinion, one of the best subsets Topps has ever included within its flagship set is the 8-card "America: United We Stand" subset featuring iconic images from the first baseball games following the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Found in series one of the 2002 Topps set, the cards served as a poignant reminder of how much baseball meant to our country (and selfishly me) following the attacks.  I didn't remember this until looking up the set's entry at BaseballCardPedia.com, but the cards were in packs of series one as early as November 2001.

Members of the 2001 Phillies team are featured on card #359, standing solemnly along the first base line at Veterans Stadium, listening to the National Anthem prior to their game against the Braves on September 17th.  A few years ago, when scanning the card for an old post, I really started to look at the players featured on the card and I realized they had probably never been properly identified.  There are 11 Phillies players featured in profile on the card - some of which who would never have a proper Topps card or a proper Phillies baseball card.

Using the team's 2002 Media Guide and 2001 transactions listing, I pieced together the active Phillies roster as of September 17, 2001.  With the recent roster expansions, the Phillies were carrying 32 active players with two more players on the disabled list.  I tried to find video of the pre-game ceremony on-line, to no avail.  So based on my recollection of the team at the time, I think the players featured on the card are as follows, from left to right:

1.  Eddie Oropesa
2.  P.J. Forbes (not Nick Punto as originally believed - see update below)
3.  David Coggin
4.  Doug Nickle - I wasn't sure about this one, but according to Baseball Reference, Nickle's height is 6'4", the same height as Coggin who is standing next to him.
5.  Turk Wendell (not Jose Santiago as originally believed - see update below)
6.  Felipe Crespo - Crespo was acquired from the Giants in late July.
7.  Randy Wolf - I remember Wolf dyed his hair a garish blonde for some inexplicable reason during the summer of 2001.
8.  Brian L. Hunter
9.  Eric Valent
10.  Rheal Cormier
11.  Perhaps Jimmy Rollins?  This one is just too hard to tell.  (UPDATE - I'm going with Steve F. in thinking that this is actually Bobby Abreu.)

Granted, the identification of these players is something that might only be interesting to me but I'm glad I can now (mostly) identify the Phillies featured on one of the more meaningful baseball cards Topps has ever produced.

UPDATE (9/11/15) - Back in April, I received an e-mail from former Phillies pitcher Doug Nickle who confirmed it was indeed him in the photo standing next to David Coggin.  Doug was kind enough to point out that the players to either side of him are P.J. Forbes (and not Nick Punto) and Turk Wendell (not Jose Santiago).  According to the team's 2002 Media Guide, Forbes had his contract purchased from Scranton on September 17th, prior to the this game.  I've updated the listing above to reflect this information.

Thanks again Doug for the e-mail and I'm happy there's now an official record of the Phillies appearing on this important baseball card.

2002 Topps #359 United We Stand: Braves-Phillies

This post was originally published in February 2013.

I went back through my 2001 and 2002 Topps sets while putting together the recently published 2001 Topps Phillies post and the (hopefully) soon to be published 2002 Topps Phillies post.  In my opinion, one of the best subsets Topps has ever included within its flagship set is the 8-card "America: United We Stand" subset featuring iconic images from the first baseball games following the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Found in series one of the 2002 Topps set, the cards served as a poignant reminder of how much baseball meant to our country (and selfishly me) following the attacks.  I didn't remember this until looking up the set's entry at BaseballCardPedia.com, but the cards were in packs of series one as early as November 2001.

Members of the 2001 Phillies team are featured on card #359, standing solemnly along the first base line at Veterans Stadium, listening to the National Anthem prior to their game against the Braves on September 17th.  A few years ago, when scanning the card for an old post, I really started to look at the players featured on the card and I realized they had probably never been properly identified.  There are 11 Phillies players featured in profile on the card - some of which who would never have a proper Topps card or a proper Phillies baseball card.

Using the team's 2002 Media Guide and 2001 transactions listing, I pieced together the active Phillies roster as of September 17, 2001.  With the recent roster expansions, the Phillies were carrying 32 active players with two more players on the disabled list.  I tried to find video of the pre-game ceremony on-line, to no avail.  So based on my recollection of the team at the time, I think the players featured on the card are as follows, from left to right:

1.  Eddie Oropesa
2.  P.J. Forbes (not Nick Punto as originally believed - see update below)
3.  David Coggin
4.  Doug Nickle - I wasn't sure about this one, but according to Baseball Reference, Nickle's height is 6'4", the same height as Coggin who is standing next to him.
5.  Turk Wendell (not Jose Santiago as originally believed - see update below)
6.  Felipe Crespo - Crespo was acquired from the Giants in late July.
7.  Randy Wolf - I remember Wolf dyed his hair a garish blonde for some inexplicable reason during the summer of 2001.
8.  Brian L. Hunter
9.  Eric Valent
10.  Rheal Cormier
11.  Perhaps Jimmy Rollins?  This one is just too hard to tell.  (UPDATE - I'm going with Steve F. in thinking that this is actually Bobby Abreu.)

Granted, the identification of these players is something that might only be interesting to me but I'm glad I can now (mostly) identify the Phillies featured on one of the more meaningful baseball cards Topps has ever produced.

UPDATE (9/11/15) - Back in April, I received an e-mail from former Phillies pitcher Doug Nickle who confirmed it was indeed him in the photo standing next to David Coggin.  Doug was kind enough to point out that the players to either side of him are P.J. Forbes (and not Nick Punto) and Turk Wendell (not Jose Santiago).  According to the team's 2002 Media Guide, Forbes had his contract purchased from Scranton on September 17th, prior to the this game.  I've updated the listing above to reflect this information.

Thanks again Doug for the e-mail and I'm happy there's now an official record of the Phillies appearing on this important baseball card.

Just One Card - 2000s Phillies Edition (Part One - 2000 to 2004)

2000 Phillies Team Issue #44

2000 Phillies Team Issue #46

2001 Phillies Team Issue #55

Having tackled the Phillies players of the 1980s and 1990s to have never before appeared on a Phillies baseball card, I'm now going to turn my attention to the decade of the 2000s.  I started the Chachi custom baseball card sets in 2005, so the players from 2005 onwards have already appeared (at least in virtual form) on a Phillies baseball card.  But I'll still pay tribute to those players with an official Missing Links card.

By my tally, and I'll readily admit up front that I could be wrong, there were 34 players who suited up for the Phillies between 2000 and 2009 who never appeared on a Phillies baseball card.  But before we get to those 34 players, here are the players who just missed the cut having appeared on exactly one baseball card as a member of the Phillies.  (This is part one, and part two will appear in a future post.)

2000
Scott Aldred - 2000 Phillies Team Issue #30 (See here)
Clemente Alvarez - 2001 Phillies Team Issue #55*
Thomas Jacquez - 2000 Pacific Omega #253 (with Vicente Padilla)
Trever Miller - 2000 Phillies Team Issue #46
Carlos Reyes - 2000 Phillies Team Issue #44
Steve Schrenk - 2000 Phillies Team Issue #52 (See here)
Ed Vosberg - 2001 Phillies Team Issue #50

2001 Phillies Team Issue #50

2001 Phillies Team Issue Update #52

2001 Phillies Team Issue #12

2001 Phillies Team Issue #54

2004 Phillies Team Issue Special Edition #58

2001
Felipe Crespo - 2001 Phillies Team Issue Update #52
Brian L. Hunter - 2001 Phillies Team Issue #12^
Eddie Oropesa - 2001 Phillies Team Issue #54

2002
Mike Timlin - 2002 Topps Traded #T31

2004
Lou Collier - 2004 Phillies Team Issue Special Edition #58
Jim Crowell - 2004 Topps Traded #T113
Felix Rodriguez - 2004 Upper Deck #563

2000 Pacific Omega #253

2002 Topps Traded #T31

2004 Topps Traded #T113

2004 Upper Deck #563

*Alvarez appears as the bullpen catcher on this card, but it's close enough for me so I'll count it for this exercise.
^Topps tried to give Brian L. Hunter a card in the 2001 Topps Traded set, but they used a photo of Brian R. Hunter instead so I'm not counting it.  I wrote about this confusion in this post.

Given that Crespo and Collier only appear on hard-to-find team issued photo cards, I'd consider these two of my personal collecting white whales.  Thanks goes out to fellow Phillies collector Rick for sending me scans of these rare cards.

Just One Card Links
1990 to 1995
1996 to 1999
2000 to 2004
2005 to 2009

2002 Topps #359 United We Stand: Braves-Phillies

This post was originally published in February 2013.

I went back through my 2001 and 2002 Topps sets while putting together the recently published 2001 Topps Phillies post and the (hopefully) soon to be published 2002 Topps Phillies post.  In my opinion, one of the best subsets Topps has ever included within its flagship set is the 8-card "America: United We Stand" subset featuring iconic images from the first baseball games following the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Found in series one of the 2002 Topps set, the cards served as a poignant reminder of how much baseball meant to our country (and selfishly me) following the attacks.  I didn't remember this until looking up the set's entry at BaseballCardPedia.com, but the cards were in packs of series one as early as November 2001.

Members of the 2001 Phillies team are featured on card #359, standing solemnly along the first base line at Veterans Stadium, listening to the National Anthem prior to their game against the Braves on September 17th.  A few years ago, when scanning the card for an old post, I really started to look at the players featured on the card and I realized they had probably never been properly identified.  There are 11 Phillies players featured in profile on the card - some of which who would never have a proper Topps card or a proper Phillies baseball card.

Using the team's 2002 Media Guide and 2001 transactions listing, I pieced together the active Phillies roster as of September 17, 2001.  With the recent roster expansions, the Phillies were carrying 32 active players with two more players on the disabled list.  I tried to find video of the pre-game ceremony on-line, to no avail.  So based on my recollection of the team at the time, I think the players featured on the card are as follows, from left to right:

1.  Eddie Oropesa
2.  P.J. Forbes (not Nick Punto as originally believed - see update below)
3.  David Coggin
4.  Doug Nickle - I wasn't sure about this one, but according to Baseball Reference, Nickle's height is 6'4", the same height as Coggin who is standing next to him.
5.  Turk Wendell (not Jose Santiago as originally believed - see update below)
6.  Felipe Crespo - Crespo was acquired from the Giants in late July.  This marks his first and only appearance as a Phillie on a baseball card.
7.  Randy Wolf - I remember Wolf dyed his hair a garish blonde for some inexplicable reason during the summer of 2001.
8.  Brian L. Hunter
9.  Eric Valent
10.  Rheal Cormier
11.  Perhaps Jimmy Rollins?  This one is just too hard to tell.  (UPDATE - I'm going with Steve F. in thinking that this is actually Bobby Abreu.)

Granted, the identification of these players is something that might only be interesting to me but I'm glad I can now (mostly) identify the Phillies featured on one of the more meaningful baseball cards Topps has ever produced.

UPDATE - Back in April, I received an e-mail from former Phillies pitcher Doug Nickle who confirmed it was indeed him in the photo standing next to David Coggin.  Doug was kind enough to point out that the players to either side of him are P.J. Forbes (and not Nick Punto) and Turk Wendell (not Jose Santiago).  According to the team's 2002 Media Guide, Forbes had his contract purchased from Scranton on September 17th, prior to the this game.  I've updated the listing above to reflect this information.

Thanks again Doug for the e-mail and I'm happy there's now an official record of the Phillies appearing on this important baseball card.

2002 Topps #359 United We Stand: Braves-Phillies

This post was originally published in February 2013.

I went back through my 2001 and 2002 Topps sets while putting together the recently published 2001 Topps Phillies post and the (hopefully) soon to be published 2002 Topps Phillies post.  In my opinion, one of the best subsets Topps has ever included within its flagship set is the 8-card "America: United We Stand" subset featuring iconic images from the first baseball games following the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Found in series one of the 2002 Topps set, the cards served as a poignant reminder of how much baseball meant to our country (and selfishly me) following the attacks.  I didn't remember this until looking up the set's entry at BaseballCardPedia.com, but the cards were in packs of series one as early as November 2001.

Members of the 2001 Phillies team are featured on card #359, standing solemnly along the first base line at Veterans Stadium, listening to the National Anthem prior to their game against the Braves on September 17th.  A few years ago, when scanning the card for an old post, I really started to look at the players featured on the card and I realized they had probably never been properly identified.  There are 11 Phillies players featured in profile on the card - some of which who would never have a proper Topps card or a proper Phillies baseball card.

Using the team's 2002 Media Guide and 2001 transactions listing, I pieced together the active Phillies roster as of September 17, 2001.  With the recent roster expansions, the Phillies were carrying 32 active players with two more players on the disabled list.  I tried to find video of the pre-game ceremony on-line, to no avail.  So based on my recollection of the team at the time, I think the players featured on the card are as follows, from left to right:

1.  Eddie Oropesa
2.  P.J. Forbes (not Nick Punto as originally believed - see update below)
3.  David Coggin
4.  Doug Nickle - I wasn't sure about this one, but according to Baseball Reference, Nickle's height is 6'4", the same height as Coggin who is standing next to him.
5.  Turk Wendell (not Jose Santiago as originally believed - see update below)
6.  Felipe Crespo - Crespo was acquired from the Giants in late July.  This marks his first and only appearance as a Phillie on a baseball card.
7.  Randy Wolf - I remember Wolf dyed his hair a garish blonde for some inexplicable reason during the summer of 2001.
8.  Brian L. Hunter
9.  Eric Valent
10.  Rheal Cormier
11.  Perhaps Jimmy Rollins?  This one is just too hard to tell.  (UPDATE - I'm going with Steve F. in thinking that this is actually Bobby Abreu.)

Granted, the identification of these players is something that might only be interesting to me but I'm glad I can now (mostly) identify the Phillies featured on one of the more meaningful baseball cards Topps has ever produced.

UPDATE (4/16/15) - I recently received an e-mail from former Phillies pitcher Doug Nickle who confirmed it was indeed him in the photo standing next to David Coggin.  Doug was kind enough to point out that the players to either side of him are P.J. Forbes (and not Nick Punto) and Turk Wendell (not Jose Santiago).  According to the team's 2002 Media Guide, Forbes had his contract purchased from Scranton on September 17th, prior to the this game.  I've updated the listing above to reflect this information.

Thanks again Doug for the e-mail and I'm happy there's now an official record of the Phillies appearing on this important baseball card.

2002 Topps #359 United We Stand: Braves-Phillies

I went back through my 2001 and 2002 Topps sets while putting together the recently published 2001 Topps Phillies post and the (hopefully) soon to be published 2002 Topps Phillies post.  In my opinion, one of the best subsets Topps has ever included within its flagship set is the 8-card "America: United We Stand" subset featuring iconic images from the first baseball games following the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Found in series one of the 2002 Topps set, the cards served as a poignant reminder of how much baseball meant to our country (and selfishly me) following the attacks.  I didn't remember this until looking up the set's entry at BaseballCardPedia.com, but the cards were in packs of series one as early as November 2001.

Members of the 2001 Phillies team are featured on card #359, standing solemnly along the first base line at Veterans Stadium, listening to the National Anthem prior to their game against the Braves on September 17th.  A few years ago, when scanning the card for an old post, I really started to look at the players featured on the card and I realized they had probably never been properly identified.  There are 11 Phillies players featured in profile on the card - some of which who would never have a proper Topps card or a proper Phillies baseball card.

Using the team's 2002 Media Guide and 2001 transactions listing, I pieced together the active Phillies roster as of September 17, 2001.  With the recent roster expansions, the Phillies were carrying 32 active players with two more players on the disabled list.  I tried to find video of the pre-game ceremony on-line, to no avail.  So based on my recollection of the team at the time, I think the players featured on the card are as follows, from left to right:

1.  Eddie Oropesa
2.  P.J. Forbes (not Nick Punto as originally believed - see update below)
3.  David Coggin
4.  Doug Nickle - I wasn't sure about this one, but according to Baseball Reference, Nickle's height is 6'4", the same height as Coggin who is standing next to him.
5.  Turk Wendell (not Jose Santiago as originally believed - see update below)
6.  Felipe Crespo - Crespo was acquired from the Giants in late July.  This marks his first and only appearance as a Phillie on a baseball card.
7.  Randy Wolf - I remember Wolf dyed his hair a garish blonde for some inexplicable reason during the summer of 2001.
8.  Brian L. Hunter
9.  Eric Valent
10.  Rheal Cormier
11.  Perhaps Jimmy Rollins?  This one is just too hard to tell.  (UPDATE - I'm going with Steve F. in thinking that this is actually Bobby Abreu.)

Granted, the identification of these players is something that might only be interesting to me but I'm glad I can now (mostly) identify the Phillies featured on one of the more meaningful baseball cards Topps has ever produced.

UPDATE (4/16/15) - I recently received an e-mail from former Phillies pitcher Doug Nickle who confirmed it was indeed him in the photo standing next to David Coggin.  Doug was kind enough to point out that the players to either side of him are P.J. Forbes (and not Nick Punto) and Turk Wendell (not Jose Santiago).  According to the team's 2002 Media Guide, Forbes had his contract purchased from Scranton on September 17th, prior to the this game.  I've updated the listing above to reflect this information.

Thanks again Doug for the e-mail and I'm happy there's now an official record of the Phillies appearing on this important baseball card.

2001 Topps Phillies

2001 Topps #487, #478, 2001 Topps Traded #T66 and 2001 Topps #144

This post has been sitting in my draft folder for the better part of 9 months.  I started the Topps Phillies series of posts in January 2011 with a look at the 1951 Topps Red and Blue Backs sets.  The next 49 posts focusing on the Topps Phillies cards from 1952 to 2000 came together quickly and easily as it was genuinely fun and interesting for me to revisit those years in Phillies history.

And then I hit 2001.  And I fizzled out.

2001 is divided very clearly in my mind into two distinct parts - before 9/11 and after 9/11.  The entire year was fraught with turmoil for me personally, and it's not a year that I'm necessarily keen to revisit at this point.  But for the sake of the ongoing Topps Phillies project, I'll soldier on.

The Set

2001 Topps #487 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  The set comes in at a whopping 790 cards - 405 from series one and 385 from series two.  There's another 265 cards available in the Traded set, meaning there are a total of 1,055 base cards available - by far the largest tally for a Topps flagship set to this point in time.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  The set uses an all-green border, which works surprisingly well.  There's a little too much foil for my taste, but I can say that for just about every Topps set released from 1995 through the present day.  Topps acknowledges its 50 years in the baseball card racket with a tasteful "Topps 50 Years" gold rectangle logo on the front of each card.  The backs of the cards are nicely done, carrying over the green theme to the back borders and using the front photo as a watermark behind the player's statistics.  Honest to goodness team cards return for the first time since 1981 and manager cards are present for the first time since 1993.

Notable competition:  The scientific term for the amount of baseball cards released in 2001 is crap-ton.  By my very unofficial count, the card manufacturers released 74 different sets as follows - Fleer (16), Pacific in its last year (2), Playoff (11), Topps (23) and Upper Deck (22).  Perhaps the biggest competitor to the Topps flagship set was the Topps Heritage set, which used the design of the classic 1952 Topps set.

2001 Topps #124, #523, #574 and #592

2001 Phillies

Record and finish:  Larry Bowa brought some excitement to the club in his first year as manager, and the Phillies put together a winning season (86-76) for the first time since 1993.  They entered the All-Star break in first place, but they ultimately finished just two games behind the Braves in the N.L. East.  Bowa was named the National League Manager of the Year for his efforts.

Key players:  Right fielder Bobby Abreu contributed his third straight stellar season, leading the club in home runs (31) and RBIs (110) while hitting .289.  He became the first player in club history to have 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season.  Shortstop Jimmy Rollins, playing in his first full season, made the All-Star team, led the league in triples with 12 and tied for the league lead with 46 stolen bases.  Third baseman Scott Rolen (.289, 25, 107), left fielder Pat Burrell (.258, 27, 89) and first baseman Travis Lee (.258, 20, 90) also enjoyed strong seasons at the plate.  Robert Person (15-7, 4.19) and Omar Daal (13-7, 4.46) led the pitching staff while new closer Jose Mesa notched 42 saves.

Key events:  All-Star catcher Mike Lieberthal missed most of the season after tearing up his right knee in May.  Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Phillies and Braves helped the nation try to return to a sense of normalcy with an emotional game on September 17th.  Topps would commemorate the game with a card within its 2002 set.

2001 Phillies in 2001 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 23 Phillies within series one and two, and another 8 Phillies base cards within the traded set.  The 31 total cards are the most since there were 39 cards in the 1995 Topps base and traded sets.

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 7 cards

#124 Travis Lee (1b), #523 Marlon Anderson (2b), #T66 Jimmy Rollins (ss), #478 Scott Rolen (3b), #144 Pat Burrell (lf), #574 Doug Glanville (cf), #487 Bobby Abreu (rf)

Only starting catcher Johnny Estrada got left out.  Fleer, Playoff and Upper Deck all managed to include Estrada in a few late season releases, but Topps neglected to include the rookie in their Traded set or any other set.

2001 Topps #676, #236, #131 and 2001 Topps Traded #T24

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 3 cards

#676 Robert Person, #236 Omar Daal, #131 Randy Wolf

Dave Coggin (17 starts), Bruce Chen (16 starts) and Amaury Telemaco (14 starts) were left out by Topps.  Coggin and Chen were featured in the other manufactuer's sets.

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2001 - 10 cards

#172 Kevin Jordan, #194 Rob Ducey, #563 Nelson Figueroa, #592 Mike Lieberthal, #639 Wayne Gomes, #656 Paul Byrd, #T12 Rheal Cormier, #T24 Jose Mesa, #T40 Ricky Bottalico, #T50 Brian L. Hunter

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 2001 - 6 cards

#13 Brian R. Hunter, #182 Mike Jackson, #274 Jeff Brantley, #539 Kevin Sefcik, #T159 Carlos Silva, #T229 Ryan Madson

Jackson, Brantley and Sefcik were with other organizations by the time this set was released.  It seems particularly odd that Sefcik received a card in series two since he signed with the Rockies in early January.  Hunter made it through Spring Training with the Phillies in 2001 before getting released.  Silva made his Phillies debut in 2002 and Madson followed with his debut in 2003.

• Phillies appearing on multi-player Prospects cards - 1 card, #733 Eric Valent
• Phillies appearing on multi-player Draft Picks cards - 1 card, #751 Keith Bucktrot

After what seemed like dozens of appearances on prospect and future stars cards, Valent finally made his debut with the Phils in June 2001.  He'd play in 29 games for the team in 2001 and 2002, hitting .118.  He eventually found some success with the Mets in 2004, hitting .267 in 130 games.  Bucktrot never made it to the Majors, but the player he shares this card with - Reds catching prospect Dane Sardinha - played in 18 games with the Phillies in 2010 and 2011.

• Manager cards - 2 cards, #347 Terry Francona and #T146 Larry Bowa
• Team card - 1 card, #773

2001 Topps Traded #T146, #T40, #T12 and 2001 Topps #199

Who’s out:  The biggest omission is the eventual starting catcher - Estrada.  He hit .228 in 89 games after taking over for the injured Lieberthal.  Tomas Perez was a valuable utility player, hitting .304 mostly as a pinch-hitter and late inning defensive replacement.  As mentioned above, three of the main starting pitchers were left out, as was reliever Jose Santiago, who appeared in 53 games.

Phillies on other teams:  There are quite a few here.  Brian L. Hunter (the actual one) appears with the Reds on card #199 while Ricky Bottalico appears with the Royals on card #283.  Both would have Phillies cards in the traded set.  Or would they?  (See the Did You Know? section below for an explanation.)  Other 2001 Phillies appearing on cards with their former teams are - #23 Todd Pratt (Mets), #156 Dennis Cook (Mets), #168 Turk Wendell (Mets), #309 Matt Walbeck (Angels), #589 Turner Ward (Diamondbacks) and #590 Felipe Crespo (Giants).

2001 Topps #773

What’s he doing here:  For the second year in a row, both Jackson and Bucktrot share the honors.  Jackson missed the entire 2000 season due to injury, was granted free agency immediately following the season, and signed with the Astros.

Cards that never were candidates:  I'll go with just six, although the number could easily reach a dozen - Estrada, Perez, Coggin, Chen, Telemaco and Santiago.

Favorite Phillies card:  The photography used for the cards continued to improve, but there really aren't any Phillies cards that stand out from the others.  I'll pick Rollins' card as my favorite as it was his first base Topps card.

Other Stuff

Recycled:  The Topps Opening Day set from 2001 uses the same design and photos, but with a navy blue border instead of green.  Maybe it's just because I'm used to the green borders by now, but the navy blue borders look odd.

Blogs/Websites:  Topps produced a novel insert set in 2001 called Through the Years, featuring reprints of key cards from its 50 year run.  It was a cool idea back then, but Topps has sort of run the idea into the ground with seemingly a new reprint set every year since then.  bdj610's Topps Baseball Card Blog ran a post several years ago featuring a gallery of the 50 cards included in the original Through the Years insert set.

Did You Know?:  Brian L. Hunter appears in the 2001 Topps Traded set as a Phillie in name only.  I wrote a couple of posts a few years ago explaining this conundrum and celebrating the fact that at least Brian L. Hunter received a team-issued Phillies card for his efforts.

2001 Phillies Team Issue #12 Brian L. Hunter

This afternoon, as I was shoveling out from our foot-plus of snow, for the third time this winter, my mind naturally wandered back to Brian Hunter. Brian L. Hunter was due to receive a card in the 2001 Topps Traded set, but was mistakenly omitted from the set when Topps featured a picture of Brian R. Hunter on his card.

So I got to thinking, "Did Brian L. ever have a Phillies card?" Fortunately for him, and us, Brian L. was featured in the Phillies' team-issued postcard set in 2001.

2001 Update: When I wasn't shoveling, playing Super Mario Wii or playing Legos with Doug today, I was updating and organizing my 2001 Phillies cards. Two years into the last decade, and two years into my little cataloguing project, and I have way more Phillies cards from those years than I realized. (Even Jenna spent some time enjoying the 2001 Phillies binder this afternoon, which is reason #543 that she rocks.)

What About Bob?: Why is it that Topps insists on calling old friend Bobby Abreu, "Bob"? Jenna found a few instances where they call him by the more familiar Bobby, but most Topps cards refer to him as Bob Abreu, which just sounds wrong. Jenna did point out that Bobby's 2001 Topps Heritage card features a facsimile autograph for "Bob Kelly Abreu," so maybe the Topps folks have always thought he prefers Bob over Bobby.