Series Preview - Phillies at Mets: September 4th to September 7th

2020 Chachi 1991 Topps Missing Links #8

2020 Chachi Fan Favorites #21

Friday and Saturday 7:10, Sunday and Monday 1:10
Citi Field - Flushing, NY

At the Ballpark:  The Phillies swept the Mets during these two teams' first meeting back in mid-August, and they'll look to continue their winning ways in this four game series in New York.

Phillies 18-15
2nd Place in the N.L. East, 2 1/2 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Jake Arrieta (2-4, 6.49)
Spencer Howard (1-1, 5.40)
Aaron Nola (4-2, 2.45)
Zack Wheeler (4-0, 2.20)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Didi Gregorius - .280
Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 27
Home Runs:  J.T. Realmuto - 9
RBIs:  J.T. Realmuto - 26
Stolen Bases:  Roman Quinn - 6

Wins:  Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler - 4
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 2.20

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 57
Saves:  Brandon Workman - 4

Mets 17-21
4th Place in the N.L. East, 6 games behind the Braves

Mets Probables
Rick Porcello (1-4, 6.00)
Seth Lugo (1-2, 2.12)
Jacob deGrom (2-1, 1.76)
Michael Wacha

Mets Leaders
Average:  Michael Conforto - .326
Runs:  Michael Conforto - 23
Home Runs:  Pete Alonso - 8
RBIs:  Dominic Smith - 26
Stolen Bases:  Andres Gimenez - 6

Wins:  David Peterson - 4
ERA:  Jacob deGrom - 1.76
Strikeouts:  Jacob deGrom - 58
Saves:  Seth Lugo - 3

Phillies Missing Links of the 1990s - #2 Dave LaPoint

#42
David Jeffrey LaPoint
Starting Pitcher

The 1982 World Series was the first ever Fall Classic I followed game-by-game, and when the Phillies signed former Cardinals pitcher Dave LaPoint one day before the start of the regular season in 1991, I was thrilled that he was now in the Phillies starting pitching rotation.  Unfortunately, LaPoint's tenure with the 1991 Phillies ended just as abruptly as it began and there are only a  few photos showing the 12-year veteran in the uniform of his ninth and final team.

Signed on April 7th and released on April 23rd, LaPoint's 16 days with the Phillies consisted of two starts in which he pitched five innings, allowing 10 runs on 10 hits and six walks.  More memorable than his 16.20 ERA with the Phillies is this headline, forever preserved in my 1991 Phillis Scrapbook, noting that LaPoint's Phillies debut and penultimate game in the Majors was "Disa-LaPointing."

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  205
Born:  July 29, 1959, Glens Falls, NY
Drafted:  Drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 10th round of the 1977 amateur draft, June 7, 1977
Major League Teams:  Milwaukee Brewers 1980; St. Louis Cardinals 1981-1984; San Francisco Giants 1985; Detroit Tigers 1986; San Diego Padres 1986; St. Louis Cardinals 1987; Chicago White Sox 1987-1988; Pittsburgh Pirates 1988; New York Yankees 1989-1990; Phillies 1991
Professional Affiliations:  Milwaukee Brewers 1977-1980; St. Louis Cardinals 1981-1984; San Francisco Giants 1985; Detroit Tigers 1986; San Diego Padres 1986; St. Louis Cardinals 1987; Chicago White Sox 1987-1988; Pittsburgh Pirates 1988; New York Yankees 1989-1990; Phillies 1991; Milwaukee Brewers 1991; Chicago Cubs 1991; Minnesota Twins 1993; Adirondack Lumberjacks 1996 (Independent)

Phillies Career
2 starts, 0-1, 16.20 ERA
Acquired:  Signed as a free agent formerly with the New York Yankees, April 7, 1991
Debut:  April 14, 1991 - Lasted 1 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on five hits to the Cardinals
Final Game:  April 20, 1991
Departed:  Released, April 23, 1991, and signed with the Milwaukee Brewers organization May 9, 1991

1983 Donruss #544

1983 Topps #438

1988 Topps #334

1991 Upper Deck #483

5 LaPoint Baseball Card in My Collection
First Card:  1991 Donruss #481
Last Card:  1991 Upper Deck #483

Because LaPoint pitched with the Phillies in 1991, I added each of his five mainstream baseball cards to my 1991 Phillies binder, all featuring him with the Yankees.

Other Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1983 Donruss #544
First Topps Base Card:  1983 Topps #438
Last Mainstream Card:  1991 Upper Deck #483
Other Notable Cards:  1977 TCMA Newark Co-Pilots #21, 1985 Topps Traded #71T, 1986 Topps Traded #61T, 1987 Topps #754, 1988 Topps #334, 1989 Topps #89

Sources:  Baseball Reference and The Trading Card Database

This is a continuing series looking at those players who spent time with the Phillies but possess no baseball card proof of their time in Philadelphia.  I will make my way through the decade of the 1980s first and then work my way forward.  In some cases, the First and Last Mainstream cards listed above have been subjectively chosen if multiple cards were released in that year.

1991 Phillies - The Missing Link

1991 ProCards #2547, 1992 Score #867, 1992 Topps Debut #110 and 1991 Upper Deck #483

This post will get me up to speed, at least for the 1990s, in my analysis of Phillies players with very few or no Phillies baseball cards at all.  I'll continue this series of posts through at least 1999, and then I may go back in time and re-visit the forgotten Phillies, or at least the woefully unrepresented on cardboard Phillies, from the 1980s.

Here's a quick summary of those unfortunate few players with no Phillies baseball cards to their names:

1990 Phillies - Louie Meadows
1992 Phillies - Darrin Chapin and Mickey Weston
1993 Phillies - None

43 different players appeared with the 1991 Phillies at some point during the season.

3 Cards or More
40 Players

Rick Schu gets credit here using the Dickie Noles rule that I instituted with my review of the 1990 team.  Schu has no Phillies cards from his second stint with the Phils, but he appeared on plenty of cards during his initial term from 1984 to 1987.  Schu made it into 17 games with the 1991 Phillies, which would be his final big league action until appearing in one game with the 1996 Montreal Expos.

2 Cards
Amalio Carreno (3 games in 1991) - 1992 Score #867 and 1992 Topps Debut #27
Doug Lindsey (1 game in 1991, 2 games in 1993) - 1992 Topps Debut #110 and 1993 Stadium Club Phillies #10

Lindsey makes an appearance on the 1993 list with the same two cards.

0 Cards
Dave LaPoint (2 games in 1991)

This was the end of the road for the 12-year veteran as LaPoint pitched horribly in his two starts with the Phillies (5 innings, 6 walks, 10 hits, 16.20 ERA), earning a quick release.  The Phils signed LaPoint on April 7th and he was with the organization for a little over two weeks before his release on April 23rd.  Given his very short time with the club, it's easy to see why he never made it onto a Phillies baseball card.

As a bonus feature with today's post, here's my scrapbook page from LaPoint's Phillies debut, which features the wonderful headline, "A disa-LaPointing debut with Phils."  And yes, I used to re-do the boxscores on my Commodore 128 for purposes of my scrapbook.  (Click to enlarge.)