Series Preview - Phillies at Red Sox: August 20th to August 21st

1971 Topps #352

1971 Topps #577

Tuesday and Wednesday 7:10
Fenway Park - Boston, MA

Phillies 64-60, Tied for 3rd place in the N.L. East, 9 games behind the Braves
Red Sox 67-59, 3rd place in the A.L. East, 16 games behind the Yankees

Phillies Probables:  Aaron Nola (11-3, 3.56), Drew Smyly (1-1, 4.71)
Red Sox Probables:  Brian Johnson (1-1, 6.45), Rick Porcello (11-9, 5.49)

At the Ballpark:  Tonight, all fans will receive a 2004 commemorative World Series ring.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Jean Segura - .284
Runs:  Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto - 75
Home Runs:  Bryce Harper - 26
RBIs:  Bryce Harper - 90
Stolen Bases:  Scott Kingery - 10

Wins:  Aaron Nola - 11
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 3.56

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 173
Saves:  Hector Neris - 21

Red Sox Leaders
Average:  Rafael Devers - .332
Runs:  Mookie Betts - 115
Home Runs:  J.D. Martinez - 28
RBIs:  Rafael Devers - 101
Stolen Bases:  Mookie Betts - 12

Wins:  Eduardo Rodriguez - 14
ERA:  Eduardo Rodriguez - 4.10

Strikeouts:  Chris Sale - 218
Saves:  Ryan Brasier and Brandon Workman - 7

Series Preview - Red Sox at Phillies: August 14th to August 15th

1978 Topps #642

1978 Topps #52

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

Red Sox 85-35, 1st place in the A.L. East, 10 games ahead of the Yankees
Phillies 65-52, 2nd place in the N.L. East, 1 game behind the Braves

Red Sox Probables:  Brian Johnson (3-3, 3.95), Rick Porcello (14-5, 4.17)
Phillies Probables:  Nick Pivetta (7-9, 4.51), Vince Velasquez (8-9, 3.98)

At the Ballpark:  Graphic designer Todd Radom will be signing copies of his book, Winning Ugly, from 6pm to 7pm before Wednesday's game at the Phillies Authentics stand behind Section 111.

Red Sox Leaders
Average:  Mookie Betts - .350
Runs:  Mookie Betts - 99
Home Runs:  J.D. Martinez - 37
RBIs:  J.D. Martinez - 104
Stolen Bases:  Mookie Betts - 23

Wins:  Rick Porcello - 14
ERA:  Chris Sale - 1.97
Strikeouts:  Chris Sale - 219
Saves:  Craig Kimbrel - 35

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Maikel Franco - .279
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez - 73
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 22
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 72
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 14

Wins:  Aaron Nola - 13
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 2.28
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 149
Saves:  Seranthony Dominguez - 12

Surprise Howard, Halladay & Lee Package from @Section_36

1975 Topps #94

2006 Just Rookies Autographs #6

2010 Topps Topps Town Gold #FCTTT13

2016 Topps Walmart Holiday Snowflake #HMW145

The four game set coming up with the Red Sox this week gives me a great excuse to show off a few cards from the best section in Fenway Park - Section 36.  Last month I was the recipient of a surprise package from Section 36 and having already received a package in December containing the annual Section 36 purge of Phillies cards from a decade prior, I was not expecting another package so soon.

I tore into the package of baseball cards and quickly noticed a pattern.  The vast majority of the cards were of former Phillies greats Roy Halladay and Ryan Howard with a sprinkling of Cliff Lee cards thrown in for good measure.  Most of these cards were from post-purge years (2008-2016) so perhaps Section 36 felt the early need to find a good home for these Phillies cards.

In total, the unexpected bounty from Section 36 included 41 Howard cards, 34 Halladay cards and 8 Lee cards.  In the interest of full disclosure, I already had most of these cards in my collection, but my two sons were missing most of these "vintage" cards for their collections.  I'm staying out of the intense negotiation sessions to determine which cards go into which collection.

Along with the Howard, Halladay and Lee cards, there were several other cards that found welcome homes.  Section 36 crossed off two of my 1975 Topps needs with the Jim Lonborg card featured here and the Phillies team card.  There were also two autographed cards of former Phillies prospect Adrian Cardenas.  If I recall correctly, these were both pulled from a repack.  While I'll keep one of the autographed cards, I'll let my sons figure out which of them gets the second.

Finally, I was happy to receive three cards from last year's Topps Walmart Holiday Snowflake special edition set.  I didn't have any of these cards yet so I'll need to track down the other Phillies for a complete set.  Thanks again to Section 36 for the unexpected, but very welcome package!

1970 Topps - Phillies Cards

1970 Topps #336

1970 Topps #485

1970 Topps #665

1970 Topps #675

I've had fun the last few years putting together these season wrap-up posts, looking at all of the cards within a particular Topps set with a Phillies connection.  Anyone who has put on a Phillies uniform at some point in his career - as a player, coach or manager - qualifies for the list below.  I also included Woody Woodward's card in my tally as he briefly served as the Phillies General Manager in 1988. Most of these cards made their way into series preview posts throughout the year, but I wanted to show some of those cards that didn't make it.

National League East (45 - 16 without Phillies)
Atlanta Braves (4) - #105 Tony Gonzalez, #171 Jim Nash, #384 Gary Neibauer, #546 Ron Reed
Miami Marlins (0)
New York Mets (7) - #26 Tug McGraw, #83 Don Cardwell, #99 Bobby Pfeil, #309 Jerry Koosman WS, #468 Jerry Koosman AS, #610 Jerry Koosman, #634 Bud Harrelson
Philadelphia Phillies (29)
Washington Nationals (Montreal Expos) (5) - #332 Bobby Wine, #417 John Bateman, #442 Gene Mauch MG, #632 Gary Sutherland, #666 Adolfo Phillips

National League Central (30)
Chicago Cubs (4) - #69 Fergie Jenkins LL, #71 Fergie Jenkins LL, #240 Fergie Jenkins, #375 Johnny Callison
Cincinnati Reds (12) - #61 Pete Rose LL, #63 Tony Perez LL, #115 Alex Johnson, #181 Sparky Anderson MG, #296 Woody Woodward, #380 Tony Perez, #409 Bob Tolan, #458 Pete Rose AS, #507 Pat Corrales, #580 Pete Rose, #602 Ted Savage, #683 Wayne Simpson/Hal McRae RS
Milwaukee Brewers (Seattle Pilots) (1) - #556 Dave Bristol MG
Pittsburgh Pirates (5) - #141 Dave Cash RS, #166 Al Oliver, #264 Rich Hebner, #532 Danny Murtaugh MG, #643 Jose Pagan
St. Louis Cardinals (8) - #40 Rich Allen, #67 Steve Carlton LL, #92 George Culver, #162 Jerry Johnson, #220 Steve Carlton, #482 Tom Hilgendorf, #569 Cookie Rojas, #673 Jose Cardenal

1970 Topps #116

1970 Topps #23

1970 Topps #380

1970 Topps #537

National League West (9)
Arizona Diamondbacks (0)
Colorado Rockies (0)
Los Angeles Dodgers (3) - #174 Ted Sizemore, #260 Claude Osteen, #446 Billy Grabarkewitz
San Diego Padres (3) - #44 Roberto Pena, #130 Ollie Brown, #284 Jack Baldschun
San Francisco Giants (3) - #77 Frank Linzy, #378 Jim Davenport, #583 Hal Lanier

American League East (15)
Baltimore Orioles (7) - #45 Dave Johnson, #182 Dick Hall, #319 Clayton Dalrymple, #344 Marcelino Lopez, #477 Roger Freed RS, #497 Eddie Watt, #601 Pete Richert
Boston Red Sox (4) - #116 Sparky Lyle, #144 Ray Culp, #627 Gary Wagner, #665 Jim Lonborg
New York Yankees (4) - #23 Bill Robinson, #416 Joe Verbanic, #437 Danny Cater, #568 Stan Bahnsen
Tampa Bay Rays (0)
Toronto Blue Jays (0)

American League Central (6)
Chicago White Sox (0)
Cleveland Indians (2) - #59 Dick Ellsworth, #524 Alvin Dark MG
Detroit Tigers (1) - #313 Mayo Smith MG
Kansas City Royals (0)
Minnesota Twins (3) - #25 Cesar Tovar, #75 Jim Kaat, #194 Chuck Manuel

1970 Topps #106

1970 Topps #319

1970 Topps #663

1970 Topps #570

American League West (9)
Houston Astros (3) - #32 Harry Walker MG, #155 Denis Menke, #537 Joe Morgan
Los Angeles Angels (2) - #485 Jay Johnstone, #570 Jim Fregosi
Oakland Athletics (2) - #531 Ron Clark, #663 Tito Francona
Seattle Mariners (0)
Texas Rangers (Washington Senators) (2) - #106 Darold Knowles, #336 Del Unser

Memory Lane

1970 Topps - 114 cards with Phillies connections
1973 Topps - 107 cards with Phillies connections
1979 Topps - 111 cards with Phillies connections, plus one more
1985 Topps - 153 cards with Phillies connections
1988 Topps - 154 cards with Phillies connections

1974 Johnny Pro Phillies - Complete Set (at least by my standards)

Several years ago, I began a quest to collect a complete Phillies team set of 1974 Johnny Pro Phillies cards.  I was able to easily (and cheaply) add 11 of the 12 cards to my collection, but the twelfth card, the elusive (and expensive) Mike Schmidt card, remained the sole card I needed to complete this team set.

To provide a little more background on this set, here's what I wrote about it back in November 2012:

I wasn't aware of the awesomeness of the 1974 Johnny Pro Phillies set until adding the Bill Robinson card to my collection last month at the Valley Forge card show.  Johnny Pro Enterprises (not sure what they did back in the day) issued two regional baseball card sets in the early '70s.  Their first set was released in 1973 and featured 28 different Orioles cards on a green background.  In 1974, Johnny Pro issued 12 Phillies cards on a white background.

The player photos on these cards were designed to be perforated and displayed in a stand that could also be punched out of the white background.  Which brings us to the reason for this post.

A few weeks ago, I was browsing eBay and came across a partial set of eleven 1974 Johnny Pro Phillies cards for sale, but the photos had long ago been separated from their original white backgrounds.  The picture accompanying the auction is shown at the top of this post.  Most importantly to me, included in the lot was the Schmidt card I needed.  I was one of only two bidders, and I was a little surprised my low bid actually won the auction.  Sure, the Schmidt card is missing its background, but I'm now considering my 1974 Johnny Pro Phillies set to be complete.

A few of these cards may need to be upgraded at some point, but the full gallery of this terrific oddball set from 1974 is presented below.

Memory Lane
10/3/12 - Baseball Card Show Report - Valley Forge
11/8/12 - Two More Added
12/4/12 - Four More to Go

1978 SSPC Baseball the Phillies Way - Part Two

Part one of the 1978 SSPC Phillies gallery was posted yesterday, and this is part two.  There seem to be a whole lot of photos taken at night in this set, as opposed to the day-time pictures featured in the 1976 SSPC set.  I'm not even sure Tug McGraw is standing inside The Vet on his card.  And I've always liked the Bake McBride card, since you can clearly see "Welcome to Veterans Stadium" on the scoreboard over his right shoulder.

#42 Tug McGraw

#43 Jay Johnstone

#44 Randy Lerch

#45 Billy DeMars CO

#46 Mike Schmidt

#47 Larry Christenson

#48 Tim McCarver

#49 Larry Bowa

#50 Danny Ozark MG

#51 Jerry Martin

#52 Jim Lonborg

#53 Bake McBride

#54 Warren Brusstar

1976 SSPC Phillies - Part One

If you've been following along with The Shlabotnik Report, and you should be, you know there was a recent report of a 1,200-card haul of wonderful 1976 SSPC cards.  I hadn't planned on featuring the 1976 SSPC Phillies team set during Gallery Week, but his posts on the set inspired me to dig out my 1970s Phillies binder and take in the glory of these little known cards once again.  (I hope this doesn't steal TSR's thunder for any future posts.)

Jim Kaat is a member of the White Sox on the front of his card, but the back of his card lists him as a Phillie and mentions his acquisition on December 10, 1975.

#136 Jim Kaat

#456 Joe Hoerner

#457 Tug McGraw

#458 Gene Garber

#459 Steve Carlton

#460 Larry Christenson

#461 Tom Underwood

#462 Jim Lonborg

#463 Jay Johnstone

#464 Larry Bowa

#465 Dave Cash

#466 Ollie Brown

#467 Greg Luzinski

#468 Johnny Oates

#469 Mike Anderson