1993 Medford Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  45
Card Size:  4" x 6"

Description:  For the fifth year in a row, the card fronts feature a photo with the player's, coach's or manager's name in a red band with white text.  The card backs feature biographical information along with complete career statistics.  Medford Food Company was in the third year of its sponsorship of the set.  Size-wise, the cards lost an eighth of an inch with this set, settling into the 4" x 6" size that has been used for each team-issued photo card set produced by the Phillies as of this writing.

I always thought this was one of the weakest of the team issued sets from the 1990s, and it's a shame since the 1993 squad is really the only team from the 1990s worth remembering.  Some of the cards suffer from strange cropping, dark backgrounds and/or blurry photos.

How Distributed:  As originally detailed in this post from March 2013, the original 35-card set was available for sale at Veterans Stadium through at least early August.  A five-card update set was available for sale at some point during the second half of the season.  A second 36-card set was sold at the ballpark late in the season which included a Bobby Thigpen card and four photo variations of players included within the original 35-card set.  This second set would have been sold at The Vet at some point after Thigpen's acquisition from the White Sox on August 10th.

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

1. Kyle Abbott (#37 - LHP) 2. Ruben Amaro (#33 - OF) 3. Larry Andersen (#47 - RHP) 4. Bob Ayrault (#53 - RHP) 5. Kim Batiste (#5 - INF) 6. Juan Bell (#24 - INF) 7. Larry Bowa (#2 - Third Base Coach) 8. Wes Chamberlain (#44 - OF) 9. Darren Daulton (#10 - C) 10. Jose DeLeon (#50 - RHP) 11. Mariano Duncan (#7 - INF) 12. Lenny Dykstra (#4 - OF)

13. Jim Eisenreich (#8 - OF) 14. Jim Fregosi (#11 - MG) 15. Tyler Green (#28 - RHP) 16. Tommy Greene (#49 - RHP) 17. Dave Hollins (#15 - INF) 18. Pete Incaviglia (#22 - OF) 19. Danny Jackson (#27 - LHP) 20. Ricky Jordan (#17 - 1B) 21. John Kruk (#29 - 1B-OF) 22. Denis Menke (#14 - Hitting Instructor) 23. Mickey Morandini (#12 - INF) 24. Terry Mulholland (#45 - LHP)

25. Johnny Podres (#46 - Pitching Coach) 26. Todd Pratt (#23 - C) 27. Ben Rivera (#34 - RHP) 28. Mel Roberts (#26 - First Base Coach) 29. Mike Ryan (#9 - Bullpen Coach) 30. Curt Schilling (#38 - RHP) 31. Milt Thompson (#25 - OF) 32. John Vukovich (#18 - Dugout Assistant) 33. David West (#40 - LHP) 34. Mitch Williams (#99 - LHP) 35. Phillie Phanatic

Complete First Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the front of cards):

1. Jeff Manto (#30 - INF-C) 2. Roger Mason (#48 - RHP) 3. Kevin Stocker (#19 - INF)

4. Mike Williams (#41 - RHP)          5. 1993 Phillies All-Stars

Complete Second Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the front of cards):

1. Darren Daulton (dugout background) 2. Tommy Greene (dugout background) 3. Mickey Morandini (dugout background)

4. Bobby Thigpen (#37 - RHP) 5. Mitch Williams (bright background)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (0):  N/A

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (13):  Bell, DeLeon, Eisenreich, Green, Incaviglia, Jackson, Manto, Mason, Pratt, Stocker, Thigpen, West, Mike Williams
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (23):  Abbott, Amaro, Andersen, Ayrault, Batiste, Chamberlain, Daulton (x 2), Duncan, Dykstra, Greene (x 2), Hollins, Jordan, Kruk, Morandini (x 2), Mulholland, Rivera, Schilling, Thompson, Mitch Williams (x 2)

Manager (1):  Fregosi
Coaches (6):  Bowa, Menke, Podres, Roberts, Ryan, Vukovich

Phillie Phanatic (1):  The Phanatic is shown walking on the field with the green and black Veterans Stadium outfield wall behind him.

Broadcasters (0):  N/A
Other Cards (1):  1993 Phillies All-Stars, featuring Mulholland, Daulton, Fregosi, Kruk and Hollins.

Set Composition:  The original 35-card set includes the entire 25-man opening day roster and adds cards for Kyle Abbott and Ruben Amaro.  Amaro would be called up in mid-June, but Abbott would spend the entire season pitching in the minors.  The four players added to the first update set first appeared with the Phillies between mid-May and early July, with Kevin Stocker being the newest member of the bunch having been recalled on July 7th.

As mentioned above, the second update set only included one new player - Bobby Thigpen.  The reliever was acquired from the White Sox on August 10th in exchange for Jose DeLeon.

Omissions:  Early season roster additions who could have made an appearance in the first update set include Mark Davis, Doug Lindsey, Tim Mauser and Joe Millette.  All spent time with the club prior to Stocker's debut.  Joining the club prior to Thigpen's acquisition, but omitted from the second update set was Paul Fletcher, but he pitched in just one game.  September additions left out entirely were Tony Longmire, Donn Pall, Kevin Foster and Brad Brink.

Variations/Rarities:   Comments on earlier posts and e-mails from fellow collectors have led me to the six cards listed below, which I'm calling Non-Set Variations.  How and why these cards were created and issued is still unknown to me, although it's possible the Mike Schmidt card was created for the Annual Phillies ALS Charity Event, held on August 2nd.  Then again, the card comes with a printed black facsimile autograph, so it's doubtful it would have been created for Schmidt to add his actual signature.

Dale Murphy was released by the Phillies on April 3, 1993.  I originally thought the Davis and Mauser cards would have been created for the ALS event, but Davis was released on July 2nd and Mauser was traded to the Padres for Mason on July 3rd, a month before the cards would have been needed had both players still been with the team.

Non-Set Cards 1. Mark Davis 2. Tim Mauser 3. Dale Murphy

4. Dickie Noles (Blue Cross Blue Shield logo on back)   5. Mike Schmidt (with black facsimile autograph) 6. Kevin Stocker (running)

Also See:  1993 Topps Phillies; 1993 Medford Phillies Variations (March 2013) and Update (April 2013)

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

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

1992 Medford Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards / 1994 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

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

Game 44 - It's Not Going Well

1996 Circa #166

Cubs 10, Phillies 1
Game 44 - Friday Night, May 19th in Philadelphia
Record - 20-24, 4th Place, 8 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Nothing went well in this lifeless 10-1 loss to the Cubs.

What It Means:  Every time I think the Phillies have hit rock bottom for the season, a game like this happens and I reset the goalposts.

What Happened:  Phillies' starting pitcher Ranger Suarez lasted only two innings, giving up four runs on five hits and three walks.  Erich Uelmen made his Phillies debut in the fifth, and while he allowed four runs, three were unearned due to another error by Trea Turner at shortstop.  Utility player Kody Clemens had to enter the game in the ninth to record the final two outs.  It was Clemens' third appearance in May on the mound.

The Phillies offense was absent, managing three hits on the night, including a double from Bryce Harper.

Featured Card:  The Phillies have a seven-game losing streak against the Cubs, as the Cubs swept the season series last year, winning all six meetings.  As relayed by Scott Franzke last night at the end of the radio broadcast, that's the longest losing streak against the Cubs since the 1995 and 1996 seasons, when they also lost seven in a row.  That streak came to an end on June 4, 1996 when Gregg Jefferies went 4 for 5 at the plate and Pete Incaviglia drove in six runs as the Phillies routed the Cubs, 12-3.

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

Valley Forge Autographs! - 5 for 1, Skates, Sarge & Inky

1986 Tastykake Phillies #9

1982 Fleer #259

1982 Donruss #441

1993 Medford Phillies #22

We attended the Valley Forge baseball card show on Sunday and a full summary of our haul can be found in this post from yesterday.  While we weren't tracking down cool Phillies cards for Doug's collection or "old and weird" Phillies cards for his Dad's collection, we were standing in line to obtain autographs from former Phillies players.  At first, I was going to only get a Von Hayes autograph, but the relatively low price per autograph ($10) convinced me to stand in line to meet the other former Phillies as well.  All four were very gracious with their time and they seemed happy to be there. They each shook Doug's hand and Sarge (Gary Matthews) pointed out that he particularly liked Doug's haircut and glasses.

Honestly while it's nice to have these autographs, the biggest thrill for Doug is just getting to meet these former players.  He asked me about each of their careers and who they played with and why they were "good" players.  We talked about how when I was a kid, my Dad would take me to baseball card shows where I'd meet Art Mahaffey or Del Ennis or Don Larsen and then my Dad would tell me all about these guys I had never heard of before.  We then talked about him taking his kids to baseball card shows in the future where the signers would be Aaron Nola and Cameron Rupp and Cody Asche.  I can't wait to go with him to those future shows.

Just when I thought I was finished with very limited edition 2016 Chachi inserts, I decided to make one more four-card set to commemorate our day.

2016 Chachi Valley Forge Autographs #1

2016 Chachi Valley Forge Autographs #2

2016 Chachi Valley Forge Autographs #3

2016 Chachi Valley Forge Autographs #4

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

1993 Medford Phillies

I updated this post here in September 2023 and this original post is now outdated.

 
Number of Cards:  45
Card Size:  4" x 6"
Description:  For the fifth year in a row, the card fronts feature a photo with the player's, coach's or manager's name in a red band with white text.  The card backs feature biographical information along with complete career statistics.  Medford Food Company was in the third year of its sponsorship of the set.  Size-wise, the cards lost an eighth of an inch with this set, settling into the 4" x 6" size that has been used for each team issued set as of this writing.

I always thought this was one of the weakest of the team issued sets from the 1990s, and it's a shame since the 1993 squad is really the only team from the 1990s worth remembering.  Some of the cards suffer from strange cropping, too dark backgrounds and/or blurry photos.

How Distributed:  As originally detailed in this post, the original 35-card set was available for sale at Veterans Stadium through at least early August.  A five-card update set was available for sale at some point during the second half of the season.  A second 36-card set was sold at the ballpark late in the season which included a Bobby Thigpen card and four photo variations of players included within the original 35-card set.  This second set would have been sold at The Vet at some point after Thigpen's acquisition from the White Sox on August 10th.

Complete Standard Checklist (35):  The cards are unnumbered, but I've presented them below ordered by uniform number.

2 - Larry Bowa CO 4 - Lenny Dykstra 5 - Kim Batiste 7 - Mariano Duncan 8 - Jim Eisenreich 9 - Mike Ryan CO 10 - Darren Daulton 11 - Jim Fregosi MG 12 - Mickey Morandini 14 - Denis Menke CO 15 - Dave Hollins 17 - Ricky Jordan 18 - John Vukovich CO 22 - Pete Incaviglia 23 - Todd Pratt 24 - Juan Bell 25 - Milt Thompson 26 - Mel Roberts CO

27 - Danny Jackson 28 - Tyler Green 29 - John Kruk 33 - Ruben Amaro 34 - Ben Rivera 37 - Kyle Abbott 38 - Curt Schilling 40 - David West 44 - Wes Chamberlain 45 - Terry Mulholland 46 - Johnny Podres CO 47 - Larry Andersen 49 - Tommy Greene 50 - Jose DeLeon 53 - Bob Ayrault 99 - Mitch Williams Phillie Phanatic

Complete First Update Checklist (5):

19 - Kevin Stocker 30 - Jeff Manto 41 - Mike Williams

48 - Roger Mason 1993 Phillies All-Stars

Complete Second Update Checklist (5):

10 - Darren Daulton (dugout background) 12 - Mickey Morandini (dugout background) 37 - Bobby Thigpen

49 - Tommy Greene (dugout background) 99 - Mitch Williams (bright background)

As mentioned above, these five cards were variations found within a late season 36-card set.

One and Done (0)
First Appearances (13):  Bell, DeLeon, Eisenreich, Green, Incaviglia, Jackson, Manto, Mason, Pratt, Stocker, Thigpen, West, Mike Williams
Returning Players (23):  Abbott, Amaro, Andersen, Ayrault, Batiste, Chamberlain, Daulton (x 2), Duncan, Dykstra, Greene (x 2), Hollins, Jordan, Kruk, Morandini (x 2), Mulholland, Rivera, Schilling, Thompson, Mitch Williams (x 2)

The First Appearance designation is for players who have never before appeared within a Phillies team issued set.  These players may have already appeared on other Phillies baseball cards.

Manager (1):  Fregosi
Coaches (6):  Bowa, Menke, Podres, Roberts, Ryan, Vukovich
Phillie Phanatic (1):  The Phanatic is shown walking on the field with the green and black Veterans Stadium outfield wall behind him.
Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (1):  1993 Phillies All-Stars, featuring Mulholland, Daulton, Fregosi, Kruk and Hollins.

Variations/Rarities:  In addition to the multiple updates available at the Vet throughout the season, it appears as if other cards may have been available either at the annual ALS fund-raising event, or individually to players to honor autograph requests.  Based on a comment to this post, collector Bill W. points out the following 1993 variations in his collection.  Murphy was released prior to the start of the 1993 season and both Davis and Mauser pitched for the Phillies early on in the season.  Per Rick's comment below (and the scans he e-mailed to me) there was also a Schmidt card issued.

3 - Dale Murphy 19 - Kevin Stocker (running) 20 - Mike Schmidt

48 - Mark Davis 52 - Tim Mauser

Also See:  1993 Topps Phillies
Trivia:  The Beckett database makes no mention of any of the update cards, listing only a 35-card set.
Resources:  Beckett.com; 14,000 Phillies; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

Phillies at Rangers: March 31st to April 2nd

Monday 2:05, Tuesday and Wednesday 8:05
Globe Life Park in Arlington - Arlington, TX

2013 Season
Phillies 73-89, 4th Place in the N.L. East, 23 games behind the Braves
Rangers 91-72, 2nd Place in the A.L. West, 5 1/2 games behind the Athletics

2013 Statistics
Phillies Probables:  Cliff Lee (14-8, 2.87), A.J. Burnett (10-11, 3.30), Kyle Kendrick (10-13, 4.70)
Rangers Probables:  Tanner Scheppers (6-2, 1.88), Martin Perez (10-6, 3.62), Robbie Ross, Jr. (4-2, 3.03)

At the Ballpark:  All fans 21 and older will receive a Budweiser Opening Day magnetic schedule this afternoon.  Wednesday night features Nolan Ryan beef dollar hot dogs.  I'm not sure why Nolan Ryan's name is attached to this particular promotion, I'm only reporting the happenings.

Phillies Spring Training Leaders
Average:  Marlon Byrd - .298
Runs:  Ryan Howard and Ben Revere - 9
Home Runs:  Cody Asche, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins - 3
RBIs:  Cody Asche, Marlon Byrd and Carlos Ruiz - 8
Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 6

Wins:  Jeff Manship - 2
ERA:  Jeff Manship - 1.80
Strikeouts:  Cliff Lee - 26
Saves:  Shawn Camp, Cesar Jimenez and Hector Neris - 1

1988 Topps #756, #26, #280 and #369

1988 Topps Appreciation:  Get ready for a whole season of glorious 1988 Topps cards in these series preview posts, as I look at cards featuring the Phillies and their opponents that have some sort of Phillies connection.

Mike Maddux is entering his sixth season as the Rangers pitching coach, and if the team is smart they won't let him leave anytime soon.  Maddux has has constant success in Texas as he's mentored a whole host of young arms including the trio that will face the Phillies in this series.

Mitch Williams and Pete Incaviglia were teammates with the Rangers prior to reuniting on the glorious 1993 Phillies team.  Pitcher Greg Harris signed as a free agent with the Phillies in 1988, after spending  the prior three seasons as part of the Rangers pitching staff.

1994 Topps Phillies

1994 Topps #380, #401, #323 and #504

After the improbable success of the 1993 season, things completely fell apart for the Phillies.  1994 marked the first of seven consecutive losing seasons as the aging team suffered through a rash of injuries.  On August 11, 1994, the baseball season ended prematurely due to an impasse between the players and the owners.  The players' strike that would go on until the following spring stained the game and sent away countless long-time fans, disgusted by the greed on both sides of the argument.

My baseball card collecting priorities also changed in 1994.  As a direct result of the strike, I became more focused on collecting vintage Topps sets, and much less focused on attempting to collect new Phillies cards.  It wasn't until much later in the '90s that I filled out my 1994 through 1998 Phillies collection, as the strike caused me to all but stop buying packs of new baseball cards for several years.

1994 Topps #504 (Back)

The Set

Number of cards in the set:  Topps went back to its magic number of 792, releasing two series of 396 cards each.  The traded series contained the now-standard 132 cards.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  I wasn't really that into this set at the time, although this is the set I still tend to associate with the 1993 National League Champs.  I believe this is the last Topps base set to not feature some sort of gold or silver foil element on the fronts of the cards.  Which means we've been straining our eyes and tilting the cards since 1994 in order to read the name of the player on the fronts of baseball cards.

Notable competition:  I've always loved the 1994 Fleer set.  It's very simplistic in its design and it features a lot of great photos.  (What happened to the Fleer design team between 1994 and 1995?)  The Collector's Choice set (from Upper Deck), the Pinnacle set and the Triple Play set (from Donruss) are also terrific sets with great designs.

1994 Topps #692, #57, #476 and #635

1994 Phillies

Record and finish:  The Phils finished the strike-shortened season with a record of 54-61 in the newly aligned five-team National League East.  They were 20 1/2 games behind the Montreal Expos when the season stopped.

Key players:  Darren Daulton was on his way to another solid season, hitting .300 with 15 home runs and 56 RBIs.  A fractured clavicle suffered on a play at the plate at the end of June ended his season early.  John Kruk (.302, 5 home runs, 38 RBIs) and Jim Eisenreich (.300, 4 home runs, 43 RBIs)  helped with their bats while Pete Incaviglia added 13 home runs.  Danny Jackson led the pitching staff with 14 wins and a 3.26 ERA, followed by the newly-acquired Bobby Munoz, who won 7 games with a 2.67 ERA.  The dependable 1993 trio of Curt Schilling, Tommy Greene and Ben Rivera spent the bulk of the season on the disabled list.  New closer Doug Jones saved 27 games and pitched to a very impressive 2.17 ERA, while Heathcliff Slocumb (2.86 ERA, 5-1) served as a very effective set-up reliever.

Key events:  Mitch Williams and Terry Mulholland, both key contributors on the 1993 squad, were traded over the winter to the Astros and Yankees respectively.  Kruk battled testicular cancer during the off-season and returned on the team's home opening day to a very lengthy and very loud standing ovation.  The cheers only intensified when Kruk doubled in the first inning to drive home the first run of the season for the Phils.  The Phils sent four players to the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh - Jackson, Jones, Lenny Dykstra and Mariano Duncan.

1994 Phillies in 1994 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 30 Phillies cards in the base set and another 6 Phillies cards in the traded set.

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#380 Darren Daulton (c), #401 John Kruk (1b), #692 Mickey Morandini (2b), #57 Kevin Stocker (ss), #476 Dave Hollins (3b), #323 Pete Incaviglia (lf), #635 Lenny Dykstra (cf), #504 Jim Eisenreich (rf)

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 5 cards

#199 Danny Jackson, #102T Bobby Munoz, #53T Shawn Boskie, #266 David West, #142 Curt Schilling

1994 Topps #199, 1994 Topps Traded #102T, #53T and 1994 Topps #266

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 1994 - 14 Cards

#28 Tony Longmire, #86 Ricky Jordan, #238 Kim Batiste, #352 Ben Rivera, #419 Wes Chamberlain, #447 Mike Williams, #533 Roger Mason, #570 Tommy Greene, #597 Todd Pratt, #663 Mariano Duncan, #722 Milt Thompson, #5T Toby Borland, #43T Heathcliff Slocumb, #126T Doug Jones

Longmire's card is futuristic "Future Stars" card, complete with some sort of green computer chip background.

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1994 - 4 Cards (with new teams listed)

#114 Mitch Williams (Astros), #170 Terry Mulholland (Yankees), #294 Tyler Green (minors), #328 Donn Pall (Yankees/Cubs)

• Phillies appearing on 1993 Topps All Stars cards - 1 card, #388 Lenny Dykstra with Ken Griffey, Jr. (Mariners)
• Phillies appearing on Measures of Greatness cards - 1 card, #608 Darren Daulton

I've always thought this was a bizarre subset.  Daulton's career-to-date stats are measured against Roy Campanella and the average stats for all Hall of Fame catchers.  Topps concludes that with several more years like 1992 and 1993, Daulton's power numbers would be "truly Cooperstown-ish."  At the time, I thought it was a silly comparison and the cards in this subset took away from players who should have had cards in the set.  All these years later and my thinking hasn't changed.

• #1 Draft Pick card - 1 card, #742 Wayne Gomes
• Phillies appearing on Coming Attractions cards - 1 card, #786 Kevin Foster and Gene Schall
• Ryne Sandberg Commemorative card - 1 card, #130T Ryne Sandberg

Gomes made his debut with the Phillies in June 1997, and he'd become the team's full-time closer for a portion of the 1999 season.  Foster was shipped to the Cubs at the start of the season for Boskie.  Schall played in parts of two seasons with the Phillies in 1995 and 1996.  And Sandberg appears here on his first "official" Phillies card as part of a two-card subset commemorating his retirement part-way through the 1994 season.  Sandberg would change his mind and come back to play in 1996 and 1997 for the Cubs.

1994 Topps Traded #126T, #43T, 1994 Topps #663 and #86

Who’s out:  Topps did a really nice job with player selection for the Phillies this year.  Of the returning players from 1993, only Larry Andersen was completely omitted from the set.  He appeared in 29 games for the 1994 club.  Lefty Andy Carter, who pitched in 20 games, would have been a better choice for the Coming Attractions card over Foster.

Phillies on other teams:  Bobby Munoz (#144 with the Yankees), Shawn Boskie (#177 with the Cubs) and Doug Jones (#334 with the Astros) appeared in the base set with their former teams before getting Phillies cards in the traded set.  These guys weren't so lucky - #26 Billy Hatcher (Red Sox), #175 Fernando Valenzuela (Orioles), #417 Paul Quantrill (Red Sox), #427 Tom Edens (Astros) and #541 Jeff Juden (Astros).  Valenzuela, who appeared in 8 games for the 1994 Phillies appeared in (I believe) 9 cards with the Phillies, none of which were produced by Topps.

1994 Topps #175

What’s he doing here:  Topps jumped the gun a little by giving Green his third base card in as many years.  Green appeared in 3 games with the 1993 Phillies and he spent all of 1994 in the minors.  When Topps was going through player selection for the set, I'd imagine this final spot for a Phillies card came down to Green versus Andersen and the prospect beat out the veteran.

Cards that never were candidates:  Andersen and Carter are deserving, and Hatcher, Valenzuela and Quantrill should get Phillies cards.  I'd also make a Coming Attractions card for Mike Lieberthal and Ricky Bottalico, who both made their debuts during the season.

Favorite Phillies card:  Eisenreich has always been one of my favorite players, and he's got a great 1994 Topps card featuring him taking a warm-up swing with the sun on his face.

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Topps used the 1994 Topps design for Daulton's card in its 2004 All-Time Fan Favorites set. The design is also featured on Bobby Abreu's 2006 Topps Wal-Mart card.

Blogs/Websites:  Lifetime Topps Project recently concluded its look at the 1994 Topps set.

Did You Know?:  The Phillies adopted all-blue hats for home Sunday games in 1994.  Besides the fact that the hats clashed badly with the team's uniform, many players deemed the hats to be unlucky once the blue-hat Phils went 0-3 over the first three home Sundays.  A meeting was held between team captain Daulton and General Manager Lee Thomas and it was decided that the hats would only be worn during the remaining afternoon home games.  The blue hats completely disappeared after the season.

1993 Topps Phillies

1993 Topps #180, #17, #340 and #740

I've been lucky enough so far to live through three golden ages of Phillies baseball - some longer than others.  The first golden age occurred from the late 1970s through the early 1980s when I was barely old enough (especially during the early years) to remember much of it.  We're in a golden age now which, beginning in 2007, has resulted in five consecutive division titles and one World Series title.  Sandwiched in between these two ages was a quick, I can't believe this is really happening, golden age.  In 1993, for 162 regular season games, 6 League Championship games, and 6 World Series games, the Phillies were one of the best teams in baseball.

It wasn't pretty, but we loved that team.  Harry Kalas famously referred to them as a lovable band of misfits and cast-offs and they gave us the last taste of the postseason for 14 long and sometimes painful years.

1993 Topps #17 (Back)

The Set

Number of cards in the set:  Topps stirred things up in 1993 by releasing its set in multiple series for the first time since 1972.  There are 396 cards in series one and another 429 cards in series two, for a total tally of 825 cards in the complete set.  Topps added their standard 132-card traded set but by this point, the traded set had lost all relevance to me.  Given the large amount of sets on the market produced by Topps, Fleer, Donruss, Score and Upper Deck, I already had access to Phillies cards of players acquired prior to the start of the season or even at the beginning of the season by the time the traded set rolled around.  So I wasn't that upset in 1993 when Topps made the decision to include only two Phillies within its traded series.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  I really liked these cards and unlike the 1992 Topps set, I actually hand collated the entire 825-card set.  For the second year in a row, the player's position isn't featured on the fronts of the cards, but I didn't seem to mind since I was very fond of the card front's overall design.  The backs of the cards have a vertical alignment for the first time since 1975 and there is a full-color player photo on the backs for the first time ever.

Notable competition:  I held down a few part-time jobs while in college and any money not spent on food or clothes or entertainment went to packs of Topps or Upper Deck cards.  Upper Deck produced a wonderful set in 1993 - probably the best set of its 21-year run.  In fact, it's one of the few non-Topps sets that I proudly display in 9-pocket pages in its own binder.  1993 was also the year that Donruss and Fleer continued their comebacks, producing very attractive sets.

1993 Topps #262, #371, #154 and 1993 Topps Traded #73T

1993 Phillies

Record and finish:  With a record of 97-65, the Phillies won their division for the first time since 1983, finishing three games ahead of the Montreal Expos.  They stunned the Atlanta Braves in the N.L.C.S., winning the series in six games, and they in turn were stunned by Joe Carter and the Toronto Blue Jays.  It seems a little silly now, but the events of October 23, 1993, were very traumatic to me at the time.

Key players:  The offense was paced by Darren Daulton (.257, 24 home runs, 105 RBIs), Dave Hollins (.273, 18 home runs, 93 RBIs), John Kruk (.316, 14 home runs, 85 RBIs) and Lenny Dykstra (.305, 19 home runs, 66 RBIs).  Supporting players such as Mariano Duncan, Milt Thompson, Jim Eisenreich and Pete Incaviglia played huge roles as well.  Curt Schilling and Tommy Greene led the pitching staff with 16 wins each, followed by Ben Rivera's 13 wins and Danny Jackson's and Terry Mulholland's 12 wins a piece.  It was the first time since 1932 that the team had five starting pitchers with 10 or more wins.  Closer Mitch Williams saved 43 games during the regular season, and unnecessarily shouldered complete blame for the World Series loss.  

Key events:  Prior to the start of the season, General Manager Lee Thomas cobbled together a group of cast-offs via free agency or trades to compliment the core line-up.  The acquisitions of Jackson, David West, Eisenreich, Incaviglia, Thompson and Larry Andersen had as much to do with the team's big season as the overall offensive output of Macho Row.  I could easily compose a multi-part post with all of the highlights from this wonderful season, but one highlight in particular has always been my favorite.  In July, following a lengthy rain delay, the Phils started the second game of a double header at 1:26 in the morning.  The game ended at 4:41 on a walk-off, 10th inning single from "Mitchy-Poo" Mitch Williams.

1993 Phillies in 1993 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 15 Phillies cards each in each series of the base set and only two more Phillies cards in the traded set.  The Phils got seriously shafted by Topps in '93.

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 5 cards

#180 Darren Daulton (c), #340 John Kruk (1b), #262 Mickey Morandini (2b), #17 Dave Hollins (3b), #740 Lenny Dykstra (cf)

I'm basing this starting line-up on starts by position.  Mariano Duncan played in 124 games, but he jumped around between second and third.  Kevin Stocker joined the team too late in the season to be featured in the traded series, although he did appear in the Stadium Club set.  Left fielder Thompson was completely omitted from the set, despite having played in 109 games for the Cardinals in 1992.  Eisenreich was featured with the Royals in the base set and he didn't get a card in the traded set. 

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#421 Curt Schilling, #291 Tommy Greene, #555 Terry Mulholland, #622 Ben Rivera

I had to double check, but Danny Jackson was also completely omitted from the set.  Jackson started 34 games in 1992 for the Cubs and Pirates, so it's a little odd that he didn't at least end up in the regular set.

1993 Topps #421, #291, #622 and #235

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 1993 - 13 cards

#43 Ruben Amaro Jr., #99 Mike Williams, #126 Bob Ayrault, #154 Wes Chamberlain, #235 Mitch Williams, #371 Mariano Duncan, #479 Todd Pratt, #531 Joe Millette, #585 Ricky Jordan, #679 Kim Batiste, #818 Brad Brink, #37T Tyler Green, #73T Pete Incaviglia

Brink's card is a part of the Coming Attractions subset at the very end of the set.

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1993 - 7 cards (with new teams listed)

#72 Jeff Grotewold (Twins), #208 Mike Hartley (Twins), #317 Kyle Abbott (minors), #445 Dale Murphy (Rockies), #649 Tom Marsh (minors), #712 Stan Javier (Angels), #773 Cliff Brantley (minors)

• 1992 Draft Pick card - 1 card, #161 Chad McConnell
• 1992 Topps All Stars card - 1 card, #408 Darren Daulton with Brian Harper (Twins)
• Manager card - 1 card, #510 Jim Fregosi with Buck Showalter (Yankees)

1993 Topps #555, #22 and #510

Who’s out:  I still find it weird that Thompson and Jackson were both left out of the set altogether.  Relievers Andersen, Roger Mason and Mark Davis all played a part in the championship season, but they were also left out of the set.

Phillies on other teams:  There are five cards of 1993 Phillies players on their former teams - #7 Pete Incaviglia (Astros), #22 Jim Eisenreich (Royals), #645 Bobby Thigpen (White Sox), #652 David West (Twins), #707 Donn Pall (White Sox).

What’s he doing here:  Phillies first round draft pick and Creighton product Chad McConnell kicked around the Phillies minor leagues through the 1996 season before calling it a career.  He never played for the Phillies.

Cards that never were candidates:  Thompson, Jackson, Stocker, Andersen, Eisenreich and West are all good candidates.

Favorite Phillies card:  There's actually quite a few great Phillies cards in this set, but I'll go with Mitch Williams' card as my favorite.  That definitely would not have been the case back on October 23, 1993.

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Murphy and Dykstra's cards were reprinted in the 2001 and 2002 Topps Archives sets, respectively.  While Kruk, Daulton, Dykstra (again) and Mitch Williams have cards featuring the 1993 Topps design within the 2003 and 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites set.

Blogs/Websites:  Based on my limited research, I don't think there's another set-specific Topps blog out there until 2008.  (Please let me know if I've missed any.)  So unless I come up with any better ideas, I'm going to use this space to link to my past posts.  Back in this blog's infancy, I toyed with the idea of posting the baseball cards of all the players from key teams from the Phillies' past.  I did this with the 1956 Topps Phillies cards and I started the process with the 1993 Phillies club, before the idea eventually petered out.  Here's the post from May 2009 that served as my planned gateway to the baseball cards of the 1993 Phillies squad.

Did You Know?:  I was 500 miles away from the action when the Phillies clinched the division in 1993.  One of my fondest memories of that season is my parents holding up the phone to their television set so that I could hear Harry the K call the final inning and the final outs.  My Mom taped the game and the post-game celebrations and mailed me the VHS tape the next day.  (I still have that tape around here somewhere.)  Composing this post has made me very nostalgic for 1993, and it almost makes me want to hook up a VCR and drop in the team's highlight video, aptly titled, "Whatever It Takes, Dude."

2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #84, #94, #141 and
2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #79

1993 Upper Deck #522 Pete Incaviglia

Nationals 7, Phillies 5

Game 9 - Thursday Afternoon, April 15th in Philadelphia

The Phillies were on their way to a 3-game sweep of the Nationals, but 6 unanswered runs surrendered by the bullpen ended the team's win streak at 5. Danys Baez and Ryan Madson were the main culprits, allowing 5 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in the 8th and 9th innings.

J.A. Happ battled through his 5+ innings of work this afternoon, earning a no decision. Interim shortstop Juan Castro went 3 for 4, knocking in a pair with a single in the 6th. Chase Utley and Shane Victorino added solo home runs for the Phils in the losing effort.

Ring Ceremony: Not to knock this afternoon's ring ceremony, but there was clearly more excitement surrounding the ring ceremony this time last year. Last year of course, the Phillies were receiving their World Champions rings and this year they had to settle for the silver medal of rings for being the 2009 National League Champs. Of the departed members of the 2009 team, only relief pitcher Tyler Walker made it to the ceremony - mostly because he was seated in the visiting Washington Nationals' dugout.

Whatever It Takes, Dude: By failing to win this afternoon, the Phillies did not match the 8-1 record set by their 1993 counterparts to start the '93 campaign. On April 14, 1993, the Phils defeated the Reds by a score of 9-2, led by the offense of Pete Incaviglia (2 for 4, 3 RBIs) and the pitching of Ben Rivera (6 innings pitched, 7 strikeouts) to start the season 8-1. The 1993 Phillies would go on to win the National League pennant.