Phillies at Guardians: July 21st and July 23rd

2023 Chachi 1965 Topps Missing Links #9

2014 Topps Heritage #380

Friday and Saturday 7:10, Sunday 1:40
Progressive Field - Cleveland, OH

At the Ballpark:  Tonight is Free Shirt Friday for the first 12,500 fans and it's also a dollar dog night (while supplies last).  On Saturday, the first 12,500 fans will receive a Steven Kwan bobblehead.  And on Sunday, it's Guardians' mascot Slider's birthday with the first 10,000 fans receiving a Topps Guardians baseball card set.

Phillies 52-44
Tied for 2nd Place in the N.L. East, 10 1/2 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Ranger Suarez (2-4, 3.84)
Zack Wheeler (7-4, 4.04)
Aaron Nola (9-6, 4.27)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Bryson Stott - .305
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 56
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 26
RBIs:  Alec Bohm and Kyle Schwarber - 59
Stolen Bases:  Trea Turner - 21

Wins:  Taijuan Walker - 11
ERA:  Taijuan Walker - 4.04

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler - 126
Saves:  Craig Kimbrel - 16

Guardians 47-49
2nd Place in the A.L. Central, 2 games behind the Twins

Guardians Probables
Gavin Williams (1-2, 3.94)
Tanner Bibee (5-2, 3.32)
TBD

Guardians Leaders
Average:  Josh Naylor - .310
Runs:  Steven Kwan - 65
Home Runs:  Josh Naylor - 15
RBIs:  Josh Naylor - 75
Stolen Bases:  Andres Gimenez and Steven Kwan - 15

Wins:  Tanner Bibee and Shane Bieber - 5
ERA:  Shane Bieber - 3.77

Strikeouts:  Shane Bieber - 95
Saves:  Emmanuel Clase - 25

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

Phillies at Cubs: June 27th to June 29th

2023 Chachi 1965 Topps Missing Links #8

1965 Topps #420

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

At the Ballpark:  The Cubs return to London to face the Phillies back in Chicago.  Thursday night is Nascar Night at Wrigley Field, with themed ticket holders receiving a Clark (the Cubs mascot) Nascar bobblehead.

Phillies 40-37
3rd Place in the N.L. East, 10 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Ranger Suarez (1-2, 3.50)
Aaron Nola (6-5, 4.38)
Taijuan Walker (8-3, 4.10)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Nick Castellanos - .313
Runs:  Nick Castellanos - 45
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 20
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 47
Stolen Bases:  Trea Turner - 15

Wins:  Taijuan Walker - 8
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 3.76

Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 106
Saves:  Craig Kimbrel - 11

Cubs 37-39
3rd Place in the N.L. Central, 3 games behind the Reds

Cubs Probables
Taillon
Smyly
Hendricks

Cubs Leaders
Average:  Nico Hoerner - .282
Runs:  Nico Hoerner - 44
Home Runs:  Patrick Wisdom - 14
RBIs:  Nico Hoerner - 39
Stolen Bases:  Nico Hoerner - 17

Wins:  Marcus Stroman - 9
ERA:  Marcus Stroman - 2.47

Strikeouts:  Marcus Stroman - 85
Saves:  Adbert Alzolay - 4

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

Cubs at Phillies: May 19th to May 21st

2014 Topps Heritage #125

2023 Chachi 1965 Topps Missing Links #7

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05 and Sunday 1:35
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  On Saturday, the Phillies will hold their annual Salute to Service Night.  Major, the Phillies "service pup-in training for veterans with disabilities" will be introduced to fans in a pregame ceremony.  On Sunday, all kids will receive a Phanatic children's book.

Cubs 19-24
Tied for 3rd Place in the N.L. East, 5 games behind the Brewers

Cubs Probables
Marcus Stroman (2-4, 3.24)
Jameson Taillon (0-2, 6.66)
Justin Steele (6-1, 2.44)

Cubs Leaders
Average:  Ian Happ - .303
Runs:  Cody Bellinger - 29
Home Runs:  Patrick Wisdom - 12
RBIs:  Patrick Wisdom - 23
Stolen Bases:  Nico Hoerner - 12

Wins:  Justin Steele - 6
ERA:  Justin Steele - 2.44
Strikeouts:  Justin Steele and Marcus Stroman - 47
Saves:  Brad Boxberger - 2

Phillies 20-23
4th Place in the N.L. East, 7 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Ranger Suarez (0-0, 6.75)
Aaron Nola (3-3, 4.53)
TBA

Phillies Leaders
Average:  J.T. Realmuto - .304
Runs:  Nick Castellanos - 31
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 10
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 32
Stolen Bases:  J.T. Realmuto - 7

Wins:  Four tied with - 3
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 4.06

Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 61
Saves:  Jose Alvarado - 5

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

Series Preview - Cubs at Phillies: August 13th to August 15th

1971 Topps #280

1971 Topps #297

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 7:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Cubs 64-54, 1st place in the N.L. Central, 2 games ahead of the Cardinals
Phillies 60-58, 4th place in the N.L. East, 9 games behind the Braves

Cubs Probables:  Jose Quintana (10-7, 4.23), Cole Hamels (6-3, 3.09), Yu Darvish (4-6, 4.43)
Phillies Probables:  Jason Vargas (0-1, 4.76), Aaron Nola (10-3, 3.67), Drew Smyly (1-1, 3.80)

At the Ballpark:  On Thursday, all kids will receive a J.T. Realmuto retro Phillies t-shirt.

Cubs Leaders
Average:  Kris Bryant - .292
Runs:  Kris Bryant - 86
Home Runs:  Javier Baez - 28
RBIs:  Javier Baez - 80
Stolen Bases:  Javier Baez - 9

Wins:  Jose Quintana - 10
ERA:  Kyle Hendricks - 3.48

Strikeouts:  Yu Darvish - 158
Saves:  Pedro Strop - 10

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Cesar Hernandez - .283
Runs:  J.T. Realmuto - 70
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 24
RBIs:  Bryce Harper - 80
Stolen Bases:  Scott Kingery - 10

Wins:  Aaron Nola - 10
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 3.67

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 166
Saves:  Hector Neris - 20

Series Preview - Phillies at Rangers: May 16th to May 18th

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

Phillies 14-21, Tied for 3rd Place in the N.L. East, 9 games behind the Nationals
Rangers 19-20, Tied for 2nd Place in the A.L. West, 8 games behind the Astros

Phillies Probables:  Jerad Eickhoff (0-3, 4.76), Zach Eflin (0-0, 2.81), Nick Pivetta (0-2, 6.14)
Rangers Probables:  Yu Darvis (3-2, 2.96), Andrew Cashner (0-3, 2.43), Martin Perez (1-5, 3.89)

It's a shame Cole Hamels is on the disabled list right now with an oblique injury.  A Hamels-Eickhoff match-up tonight would have been really cool.

At the Ballpark:  On Thursday afternoon, the first 10,000 fans will receive a Papa John's Texas Rangers Throwback Thursday Collector Pin.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Cesar Hernandez - .311
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez - 30
Home Runs:  Aaron Altherr - 8
RBIs:  Maikel Franco - 25
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 6

Wins:  Jeremy Hellickson - 4
ERA:  Zach Eflin - 3.71
Strikeouts:  Vince Velasquez - 39
Saves:  Hector Neris - 4

Rangers Leaders
Average:  Elvis Andrus - .289
Runs:  Joey Gallo - 26
Home Runs:  Joey Gallo - 12
RBIs:  Joey Gallo - 27
Stolen Bases:  Elvis Andrus and Delino DeShields - 7

Wins:  A.J. Griffin - 4
ERA:  Yu Darvish - 2.96
Strikeouts:  Yu Darvish - 52
Saves:  Matt Bush - 4

1982 Topps #16

1982 Topps #463

1982 Topps #590

1982 Topps #624

1982 Topps Appreciation:  Similar to what I did with the weekend series with the Nationals, here are four 1982 Topps cards with connections to both teams in this Phillies series.  Steve Comer and Jim Kern featured prominently in my Phillies Missing Links custom set, with Comer's custom Phillies card here and Kern's custom Phillies card here.

Al Oliver and Fergie Jenkins received actual Phillies baseball cards to commemorate their time in Philadelphia.  Oliver hit the trifecta with Phillies cards in the 1985 Donruss, Fleer and Topps sets. I added Jenkins' 1966 Topps rookie card to my collection a few Christmases ago and this card has had a number of reprinted versions over the years.

Series Preview - Cubs at Phillies: June 6th to June 8th

Monday and Tuesday 7:05, Wednesday 1:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Cubs 39-16, 1st place in the N.L. Central, 9 1/2 games ahead of the Pirates
Phillies 28-29, 4th place in the N.L. East, 6 games behind the Nationals

Cubs Probables:  Jon Lester (6-3, 2.29), Kyle Hendricks (4-4, 2.84), John Lackey (6-2, 2.88)
Phillies Probables:  Adam Morgan (1-4, 7.07), Jared Eickhoff (2-8, 3.93), Vince Velasquez (5-2, 3.67)

At the Ballpark:  After the groovy '70s weekend, there are no giveaways scheduled for the Cubs series although there are some theme nights requiring special tickets.

Cubs Leaders
Average:  Ben Zobrist - .326
Runs:  Kris Bryant - 40
Home Runs:  Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo - 13
RBIs:  Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo - 40
Stolen Bases:  Jason Heyward - 7

Wins:  Jake Arrieta - 9
ERA:  Jake Arrieta - 1.80
Strikeouts:  Jake Arrieta - 87
Saves:  Hector Rondon - 10

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Odubel Herrera - .317
Runs:  Odubel Herrera - 32
Home Runs:  Maikel Franco - 10
RBIs:  Maikel Franco - 31
Stolen Bases:  Odubel Herrera - 7

Wins:  Aaron Nola and Vince Velasquez - 5
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 2.65
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 85
Saves:  Jeanmar Gomez - 18

1970 Topps #240

1970 Topps Appreciation:  For the Cubs-Phillies series in Chicago, I took a look at some of the baseball cards of players involved in the November 1969 trade that sent long-time Phillie Johnny Callison out of town.

For today's series preview post, the 1970 Topps card of Fergie Jenkins is featured.  The future Hall of Famer played eight games for the Phillies before being traded to the Cubs in April 1966.  Jenkins was sent with John Herrnstein and Adolfo Phillips to the Cubs in exchange for Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson.  In 1970, Jenkins won 20 games or more for the fifth season in a row and he led the league with 24 complete games.

By comparison, Buhl was released by the Phillies in May 1967 and in 35 games with the Phils he went 6-8 with a 4.93 ERA.  Jackson lasted a season longer than Buhl, and in 109 games with the Phils over three seasons he went 41-45 with a respectable 2.95 ERA.  He was left unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft and chosen by the Expos, although he'd never play for them.

Cards from the 1960s from the Annual SBWTABCTJ

1966 Topps #254

One of my collecting goals is to eventually own a full run of Phillies baseball cards from all the Topps base sets beginning in 1951.  With these three cards obtained in the annual Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim, courtesy of my Mom, I'm a little bit closer to wrapping up a complete run of Phillies Topps cards from the 1960s.

Ferguson Jenkins appeared in eight games with the 1965 and 1966 Phillies before the horrendous trade in April 1966 that sent him to the Cubs.  This is Jenkins' rookie card and his sole vintage Phillies card.  There would be few reprints of this card - without Bill Sorrell - in sets from the early 2000s, and Jenkins also received a Phillies card in the 2004 Topps Retired Signature set.  As an aside, the first time I ever realized that this future Hall of Famer had pitched with the Phillies is when I pulled his 1983 Topps Super Veteran card from a pack back in the day.

Jenkins' rookie card was one of a handful of older Phillies Topps cards I deemed to be unobtainable when I first started collecting many years ago.  Thanks to my Mom, it's now in my collection.

For what it's worth, this is Sorrell's only appearance on a Phillies card.  He appeared in 10 games with the 1965 Phillies, hitting .385 (5 for 13) as a September call-up.  He spent all of 1966 playing in San Diego for the Phillies Triple A team and then was selected by the Giants in November 1966 in the annual Rule 5 draft.  He earned a Giants Rookie Stars card (with Dick Dietz) in the 1967 Topps set and he reappeared in the 1971 Topps set with the Royals.

1965 Topps #446

This Art Mahaffey card from my favorite Topps set from the 1960s gets me to just six cards away from having a complete 1965 Topps Phillies team set.  I'm down to needing the Johnny Callison league league card and five high numbers.  This would be Mahaffey's final Phillies Topps card, as he was traded to the Cardinals following the 1965 season.

1967 Topps #309

Finally, this is my favorite card from the 1967 Topps set, featuring two of the best Phillies players from that era on the same card.  Two of my favorite cards growing up were the multi-player Phillies cards of Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt and Larry Bowa in the 1981 Fleer set and the Schmidt and Rose card in the 1982 Donruss set.  The first time I saw either of those cards, I thought I had hit the Phillies baseball card gold mine.  I imagine collectors finding this Richie Allen and Callison card in packs of their 1967 Topps felt the same way.

If you're keeping track at home, my Mom found eight of the ten cards that had been on my Ten Most Wanted - Vintage list and gave them to me for Christmas.  And no, you can't have her.

2014 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1952 Bowman and 1953 Bowman Color Richie Ashburn
Part 2 - 1950 Bowman Roberts, 1951 Topps Blue Backs Jones, 1955 Bowman Wyrostek

Cubs at Phillies: August 6th to August 8th

Tuesday and Wednesday 7:05, Thursday 1:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Cubs 49-62, 4th Place in the N.L. Central, 18 games behind the Pirates
Phillies 50-61, Tied for 3rd Place in the N.L. East, 17 games behind the Braves

Cubs Probables:  Edwin Jackson (7-11, 4.65), Travis Wood (7-8, 3.05), Jeff Samardzija (6-10, 3.78)
Phillies Probables:  Kyle Kendrick (9-8, 4.29), Cole Hamels (4-13, 3.87), Ethan Martin (0-1, 12.46)

At the Ballpark:  All fans attending Thursday afternoon's Businessperson's Special will receive a Chase Utley Pride of the Phillies print.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Michael Young - .273

Runs:  Domonic Brown - 51

Home Runs:  Domonic Brown - 24

RBIs:  Domonic Brown - 69

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 22

Wins:  Cliff Lee - 10

ERA:  Cliff Lee - 3.13

Strikeouts:  Cliff Lee - 139

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 20

1973 Topps #180 and #119

1973 Topps Flashback:  The subjects of today's flashback were both originally signed by the Phillies and went on to play for the Cubs.  Unfortunately, Fergie Jenkins, who was signed in 1962, only played eight games for the Phils before being traded to the Cubs in April 1966.  Jenkins was sent with John Herrnstein and Adolfo Phillips to the Cubs in exchange for Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson.  Suffice it to say, the deal worked out much better for the Cubs.

Larry Bowa was signed by the Phillies in 1965 and made his debut on Opening Day 1970 at the last season opener ever played at Connie Mack Stadium.  The Phillies defeated the Cubs in that game by a score of 2-0 and the losing pitcher for the Cubs was Jenkins.  Bowa led off for the Phils and went 0 for 3 with a pop out and two ground outs against Jenkins.

1979 Topps - Phillies Cards

1979 Topps #231, #253, #88 and #74

As the 2012 baseball season draws to a close, I'm getting closer to the end of my season-long appreciation of the 1979 Topps set.  Where possible, and when there's been a logical connection, I've featured the 1979 Topps cards of ex, current or future Phillies in my series preview posts.

There were several American League teams the Phillies didn't play against this year, so several worthy 1979 Topps Phillies-related cards didn’t have a chance to be properly featured. For posterity's sake, I decided to showcase some of those cards here and provide the full list of Phillies-related cards within the 1979 Topps set. (Please let me know if I’ve missed any.)

Of the 726 cards in the set, 111 have a Phillies connection, representing a little over 15% of the total set.  The list only includes people who actually played, coached or managed with the Phillies and it does not include those who passed through the Phillies minor league system.  So #243 Buck Martinez (drafted by the Phillies in 1967, but lost to the Royals via the Astros in the 1968 Rule 5 draft), #132 Rowland Office (played for the Phillies Triple-A affiliate in 1982), and several others aren’t included in the tally.

National League East (43 - 18 without Phillies)
Atlanta Braves (4) - #39 Dale Murphy, #85 Gary Matthews, #504 Larry McWilliams, #629 Gene Garber
Miami Marlins (0) - None (obviously)
New York Mets (5) - #305 Willie Montanez, #545 John Stearns, #566 Nino Espinosa, #621 Pat Zachry, #655 Jerry Koosman
Philadelphia Phillies (25)
Washington Nationals (9) (the team formerly known as the Montreal Expos) - #43 Wayne Twitchell, #124 Dan Schatzeder, #269 Woodie Fryman, #395 Dave Cash, #468 Stan Bahnsen, #495 Tony Perez, #581 Darold Knowles, #628 Del Unser, #673 Tom Hutton

National League Central (27)
Chicago Cubs (9) - #398 Ivan DeJesus, #412 Hack Wilson ATRH, #489 Larry Cox, #513 Dave Johnson, #579 Greg Gross, #592 Mike Krukow, #614 Willie Hernandez, #639 Manny Trillo, #693 Dave Rader
Cincinnati Reds (6) - #20 Joe Morgan, #126 Doug Bair, #204 Pete Rose RB, #259 Sparky Anderson MG, #301 Tom Hume, #650 Pete Rose
Houston Astros (1) - #49 Vern Ruhle
Milwaukee Brewers (4) - #180 Larry Hisle, #265 Don Money, #474 Dick Davis, #685 Sixto Lezcano
Pittsburgh Pirates (4) - #117 Grant Jackson, #223 Kent Tekulve, #264 Don Robinson, #637 Bill Robinson
St. Louis Cardinals (3) - #59 John Denny, #111 Roger Freed, #143 Tony Scott

National League West (6)
Arizona Diamondbacks (0)
Colorado Rockies (0)
Los Angeles Dodgers (2) - #104 Johnny Oates, #290 Dave Lopes
San Diego Padres (4) - #263 Oscar Gamble, #342 Dave Roberts, #616 Billy Almon, #679 Derrel Thomas
San Francisco Giants (0)

1979 Topps #199, #365, #61 and #544

American League East (8)
Baltimore Orioles (3) - #37 Joe Kerrigan, #102 Mike Anderson, #543 Kiko Garcia
Boston Red Sox (1) - #375 Bill Campbell
New York Yankees (3) - #365 Sparky Lyle, #558 Jay Johnstone, #626 Bob Lemon MG
Tampa Bay Rays (0)
Toronto Blue Jays (1) - #64 Tom Underwood

American League Central (17)
Chicago White Sox (6) - #88 Bob Molinaro, #134 Alan Bannister, #169 Bill Nahorodny, #514 Mike Proly, #527 Lerrin LaGrow, #686 Ron Schueler
Cleveland Indians (4) - #61 Bo Diaz, #253 Rick Wise, #459 Sid Monge, #573 Jim Kern
Detroit Tigers (3) - #231 Johnny Wockenfuss, #272 Tim Corcoran, #469 Lance Parrish
Kansas City Royals (2) - #585 Hal McRae, #664 Doug Bird
Minnesota Twins (2) - #41 Gene Mauch MG, #709 Sam Perlozzo

American League West (10)
Los Angeles Angels (2) - #424 Jim Fregosi MG, #557 Ken Brett
Oakland Athletics (2) - #458 Jim Essian, #711 Dwayne Murphy
Seattle Mariners (2) - #74 Shane Rawley, #199 Larry Milbourne
Texas Rangers (4) - #391 Al Oliver, #463 Steve Comer, #499 Pat Corrales MG, #544 Fergie Jenkins

1979 Topps #499, #709 and #424

1966 Topps Phillies

1966 Topps #170, #230, #284 and #151

For about a year in the late '80s (or maybe it was the early '90s), I collected the 1966 Topps set.  I had somehow obtained the Mickey Mantle card from the set, and I decided to try to build the rest of the set around the Mantle card.  I went to a few shows, rummaged through a few common boxes at local baseball card stores and managed to accumulate about 50 cards from the set.

Not long after deciding I was going to try to hand collate this set, I realized I didn't actually like the set much.  If I was going to put my time and money into collecting a vintage '60s Topps set, maybe I should go for a set I really liked.  Upon making this realization, I stopped collecting the set, and the 50-card starter set has remained tucked away in a box ever since.

The Set

1966 Topps #170 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  Topps again featured 598 card in their flagship set.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  Don't get me wrong, despite my somewhat harsh comments in the opening paragraphs of this post, I think this is nice set.  It's just that there are other sets from the '60s (1965, 1967) that I like better.

Notable competition:  If you wanted Phillies baseball cards in 1966, your choices were Topps cards or the four Phillies found in the 1966 Bazooka set. 

1966 Phillies

Record and finish:  With a record of 87-75, the team finished in fourth place in the National League behind the Pirates, Giants and the pennant-winning Dodgers.

Key players:  Dick Allen (.317, 40 home runs, 110 RBIs) and Bill White (.276, 22 home runs, 103 RBIs) led the offense.  Chris Short led the pitching staff with 20 wins, followed by Jim Bunning's 19.  Closer Darold Knowles saved 13 games and owned an impressive 3.05 ERA.

Key events:  The Phillies made two key trades that directly effected the '66 season and indirectly effected the franchise for next several years, as prospects were traded away for veterans.  First, in October 1965, the Phillies acquired perennial All-Star fist baseman White, shortstop and former MVP Dick Groat and catcher Bob Uecker from the Cardinals for pitcher Art Mahaffey, catcher Pat Corrales and left fielder Alex Johnson.  A few months later, shortly after the start of the regular season, the Phillies acquired starting pitchers and former All-Stars Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson from the Cubs.  In return, the Phillies sent three prospects to the Cubs - first baseman John Herrnstein, center fielder Adolfo Phillips and pitcher Ferguson Jenkins.  Neither deal worked out for the Phils.

1966 Phillies in 1966 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are just 27 cards in the 1966 Topps Phillies team set.  That's 205 total Phillies Topps cards in the '60s so far and 378 Phillies Topps cards since 1951.

Who’s in:  The 27 cards can be broken down as follows:

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 1966 - 21 cards
• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1966 - 1 card for Johnson (#104), traded to the Cardinals in the off-season
• 1966 Rookie Stars cards - 2 cards, including the Jenkins/Bill Sorrell rookie card (#254) and Grant Jackson's rookie card, shared with the Dodgers' Bart Shirley (#598)
• Manager card - 1 card for Gene Mauch (#411)
• Team card - 1 card (#463)
• Combo card - 1 card featuring the "Power Plus" duo of Johnny Callison and Wes Covington

1966 Topps #32, #4, #52 and #522

Callison hit just 11 home runs in 1966 and Covington, who had been traded to the Cubs in January, played in just 9 games during the season and didn't hit any home runs.  It's the curse of the Classic Combo card!

Who’s out:  Back-up outfielder Doug Clemens (acquired from the Cubs for Covington) appeared in 79 games for the '66 Phils, yet he's not in the 1966 Topps set.  Starting pitchers Chris Short and Rick Wise also got left out.

Phillies on other teams:  There are seven baseball cards in the set featuring 1966 Phillies on other teams - back-up catcher Uecker (#91) and shortstop Groat (#103) with the Cardinals, outfielder Harvey Kuenn (#372) and starting pitcher Buhl (#185) with the Cubs, and relief pitchers Knowles (#27) with the Orioles, Steve Ridzik (#294) with the Senators and Terry Fox (#472) with the Tigers.

What’s he doing here:  Johnson slipped into the first series as a Phillie, but both Mahaffey (#570) and Corrales (#137) are shown as Cardinals.  Bill Sorrell, who shares Hall of Famer Jenkins' rookie card, played in 10 games with the 1965 Phillies and spent 1966 in the minors

Cards that never were candidates:  Clemens, Short and Wise.  And instead of the Covington/Callison Power Plus card, how about one for Allen/White?

Favorite Phillies card:  I've always loved Cookie Rojas' card (#170) from this set, as it just exudes happiness and '60s charm with the groovy specs.

2002 Topps Archives #94, 2004 Topps Shoe Box Collection #36,
1991 Baseball Cards Magazine Repli-Cards #28, 2010 Topps Vintage Collection #VLC-34

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Topps has only come back to this design a few times for its retro-based insert sets.  There are three Ferguson Jenkins rookie card reprints out there I'm aware of (minus Sorrell) - 2001 Topps Archives, 2011 Topps Archives Reserve (basically a Chrome version of the regular Archives set), and the 2004 Topps Shoe Box Collection card.  In 2010, Topps produced a 1966 Topps-style Mike Schmidt insert card, completely missing the mark with the wrong banner color and a not quite right font.

Blogs/Websites:  I'm venturing into Jim from Downingtown territory with this post.  Please check out the fine 1966 Topps Baseball blog for much more information and featured cards from this set.  Jim's various blogs will feature prominently as I cover the next few years' of Topps sets.

Did You Know?:  I have woefully few Phillies cards from 1965 through 1967 in my collection, so I'm going to make these cards a priority during my next visit to a baseball card show.  Beginning in 1970, with the exception of a few high numbers from the 1971 Topps set, I have a complete run of Phillies cards from the Topps base sets.

2001 Topps Archives #275 Ferguson Jenkins 66

Rain, rain go away . . .

Prior to the Cubs-Marlins game today in Chicago, the Cubs will retire #31 in honor of both Greg Maddux and Fergie Jenkins. Fergie pitched in 8 games for the Phillies in 1965 and 1966 before his trade to the Cubs in late April 1966. (What's the deal with the Phillies trading future Hall of Famers to the Cubs?)

I'll let Fergie's Hall of Fame plaque speak for itself: "Canada's first Hall of Fame member, Fergie Jenkins used pinpoint control and effectively changed speeds to win 284 games. Cast in the same mold as finesse artists like Catfish Hunter and Robin Roberts, Jenkins forged an impressive 3.34 ERA despite playing 12 of his 19 seasons in hitters' ballparks -- Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. A diligent workhorse, Jenkins used an easy, uncomplicated motion to reach the 20-win mark seven times and capture the National League Cy Young Award in 1971".