Series Preview - Rockies at Phillies: June 12th to June 14th

2018 Chachi Fan Favorites #28

2018 Chachi Fan Favorites #29

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

Rockies 32-33, 4th place in the N.L. West, 3 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks
Phillies 33-30, 3rd place in the N.L. East, 3 games behind the Braves and Nationals

Rockies Probables:  Jon Gray (6-6, 5.66), Tyler Anderson (3-1, 4.81), German Marquez (4-6, 4.79)
Phillies Probables:  Aaron Nola (7-2, 2.35), Nick Pivetta (4-5, 3.76), Vince Velasquez (4-7, 4.95)

At the Ballpark:  Prior to the game on Thursday afternoon, the Phillies will honor Jim Thome on the 14th anniversary of his 400th career home run.  Thome will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame later this summer.  Kids will be able to run the bases following the game.

Rockies Leaders
Average:  Nolan Arenado - .314
Runs:  Charlie Blackmon - 50
Home Runs:  Trevor Story - 14
RBIs:  Trevor Story - 47
Stolen Bases:  Trevor Story - 8

Wins:  Kyle Freeland and Jon Gray - 6
ERA:  Kyle Freeland - 3.68
Strikeouts:  Jon Gray - 81
Saves:  Wade Davis - 20

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Odubel Herrera - .288
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez - 43
Home Runs:  Carlos Santana - 10
RBIs:  Carlos Santana - 37
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 10

Wins:  Aaron Nola - 7
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 2.35
Strikeouts:  Vince Velasquez - 83
Saves:  Hector Neris - 9

2014 Phillies Team Issue - 2nd Edition

Number of Cards:  38
Card Size:  4" x 6"
Description:  This is the fourth of four straight team issued sets featuring basically the same design elements.  The player's name, number and position are listed at the bottom of the card in a red and blue design with the Phillies script logo appearing in one of the top corners.  All photos used for this set were taken during 2014 regular season games.  The horizontal card backs feature biographical information and complete career statistics.

How Distributed:  The second series set was available for sale at the ballpark beginning in mid-August.  I purchased my set at the start of the Phillies-Mariners series on August 18th.

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

2 - Ben Revere 3 - Marlon Byrd 5 - Steve Henderson CO 6 - Ryan Howard 8 - Juan Samuel CO 9 - Domonic Brown 10 - Larry Bowa CO 11 - Jimmy Rollins 12 - John Mizerock CO 15 - John Mayberry, Jr. 16 - Cesar Hernandez 17 - Reid Brignac 18 - Darin Ruf 19 - Tony Gwynn, Jr. 21 - Wil Nieves 22 - Bob McClure CO 23 - Ryne Sandberg MG 25 - Cody Asche 26 - Chase Utley

27 - Roberto Hernandez 30 - Justin De Fratus 33 - Cliff Lee 34 - A.J. Burnett 35 - Cole Hamels 37 - Mike Adams 38 - Kyle Kendrick 43 - Mario Hollands 45 - Pete Mackanin CO 51 - Carlos Ruiz 52 - Jeff Manship 53 - Ken Giles 54 - Rod Nichols CO 55 - David Buchanan 58 - Jonathan Papelbon 59 - Antonio Bastardo 63 - Jake Diekman Phillie Phanatic Phillies Broadcasters

One and Done (1):  Manship
First Appearances (4):  Brignac, Buchanan, Giles, Hollands
Returning Players (23):  Adams, Asche, Bastardo, Brown, Burnett, Byrd, De Fratus, Diekman, Gwynn Jr., Hamels, C. Hernandez, R. Hernandez, Howard, Kendrick, Lee, Mayberry Jr., Nieves, Papelbon, Revere, Rollins, Ruf, Ruiz, Utley

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):  Sandberg
Coaches (7):  Bowa, Henderson, Mackanin, McClure, Mizerock, Nichols, Samuel
Phillie Phanatic (1)
Broadcasters (1):  Mike Schmidt returns to the team issued set on the broadcasters card, which also features Gregg Murphy, Scott Franzke, Tom McCarthy, Larry Andersen, Matt Stairs, Jim Jackson and Jamie Moyer.
Commemorative Cards (0)

Variations/Rarities:  I'm not aware of any variations or rarities available with this set, but that doesn't mean there weren't any.  If cards are to made for the likes of Jerome Williams, Grady Sizemore or Aaron Harang prior to the start of the 2015 season, they'll most likely be produced using the design of this set.

Update (December 2016) - An Aaron Harang card has emerged, showing the pitcher in a portrait shot and with a Citizens Bank Park logo on the back.

• 34 - Aaron Harang

Cards with the Citizens Bank Park logo-backs also exist for Brown, Buchanan, De Fratus and Revere.  Giles and Utley versions with the Citizens Bank Park logo-backs emerged in December 2019 from the annual Phillies holiday sale.

Trivia:  I'm still bummed that Sizemore was omitted from this set.
Resources:  This set hasn't made it yet onto any of the mainstream online checklists/databases.

The Manship Sets Sail

2015 Chachi Departures #6

Why not wrap up my posting for the year with a recap of the Phillies offseason moves (so far) and a card showing former Phillies pitcher Jeff Manship with his new club.  Manship signed a minor league deal with the Indians on Christmas Eve and his sole Phillies card appeared in the 2014 second series of the team issued set.

It's a pretty short list below of new additions so far, although there are 16 non-roster invitees making plans to travel to Clearwater in February.  Here's hoping Pat Gillick and Ruben Amaro, Jr. have a plan, any plan, for 2015.  Trying to stay positive here . . .

Moving On
Reid Brignac (10/2/14) - Elected free agency.  (Signed with the Miami Marlins organization 11/19/14)
Jeremy Horst (10/2/14) - Elected free agency.
Jeff Manship (10/2/14) - Elected free agency.  (Signed with the Cleveland Indians organization 12/24/14)
Tony Gwynn, Jr. (10/10/14) - Outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.
Mike Adams (10/30/14) - Team option declined, making him a free agent.
Kyle Kendrick (10/30/14) - Elected free agency.
Wil Nieves (10/30/14) - Elected free agency.
A.J. Burnett (11/3/14) - Declined option for 2015, elected free agency.  (Signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates 11/14/14)
Brad Lincoln (11/4/14) - Elected free agency.  (Signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization 11/18/14)
Antonio Bastardo (12/10/14) - Traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Joely Rodriguez.
Jimmy Rollins (12/19/14) - Traded with cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Tom Windle and Zach Eflin.

Coming Back
Andres Blanco (11/13/14) - Signed to a minor league contract and invited to spring training.
Koyie Hill (11/20/14) - Signed to a minor league contract and invited to spring training.
Sean O'Sullivan (12/16/14) - Signed to a minor league contract and invited to spring training.

New Additions
Elvis Araujo (11/13/14) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the Cleveland Indians organization.
Odubel Herrera (12/11/14) - Selected in the annual Rule 5 draft from the Texas Rangers.
Andy Oliver (12/11/14) - Selected in the annual Rule 5 draft from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Phillies Team Issue Second Series Arrives

Blanco's and Williams' "cards" in Ashburn Alley

Phillies 4, Mariners 1
Game 125 - Monday Night, August 18th in Philadelphia
Record - 55-70, 5th Place, 16 games behind the Nationals

2014 Choice Lehigh Valley
IronPigs #2

One Sentence Summary:  The unlikely duo of Andres Blanco and Jerome Williams (both cardless in Ashburn Alley) starred in this 4-1 Phillies win over the Mariners.

What It Means:  The Phillies climbed to within 15 games of .500, and 11 games of the second Wild Card.  (He says with a straight face.)

What Happened:  Williams pitched seven innings, allowing a run on three hits on the way to earning his first Phillies win.  Blanco contributed a three-run home run in the fifth, which was the difference in this game.

Featured Cards:  Sadly, Blanco has only one 2014 baseball card to date, found within the IronPigs team set.

2014 Phillies Team Issue 2 #52

Field Report:  Fresh off our trip to Boston, Doug and I took in the first ever Phillies-Mariners game at Citizens Bank Park on Monday night.  My personal record is now a respectable 5-5.  Upon visiting the Phillies Newstand, we were pleased to see that the team actually released a second series of postcard-sized cards this year.  (Even though everyone I had previously asked told me a second series wouldn't be released.)

We were a little disappointed, however, that the set failed to include new outfielder Grady Sizemore.  The second series comes in at 38 cards, subtracting three cards from the 41 found in the first series.  The recently departed Roberto Hernandez is in the set, and Mike Schmidt appears with the rest of the team's broadcasters on the broadcaster card.

Here's a summary of the players dropped and added for the second series:

Dropped (8) - Freddy Galvis, Brad Lincoln, B.J. Rosenberg, Jonathan Pettibone, Phillippe Aumont, Ethan Martin, Bobby Abreu, Maikel Franco
Added (5) - Reid Brignac, Mario Hollands, Jeff Manship, Ken Giles, David Buchanan

Notable omissions from the set include Sizemore, Cesar Jimenez, Cameron Rupp and Blanco.

Memory Lane - Phillies Team Issue 2
2013, Early July - Drops 5, Adds 4
2012 Update, October - Drops 6, Adds 6
2012, Mid-July - Drops 8, Adds 10
2011, Mid-June - Drops 2, Adds 6
2010, Mid-August - Drops 1, Adds 3

2014 Chachi #45 Ryan Howard HL

Mets 5, Phillies 4 (14 Innings)
Game 53 - Saturday Afternoon, May 31st in Philadelphia
Record - 24-29, 5th Place, 5 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies couldn't strike gold twice, losing 5-4 to the Mets in 14 innings thanks in part to Antonio Bastardo's ineffectiveness and Ben Revere's inability to lay down a sacrifice bunt.

What It Means:  Two mediocre teams battled it out for over five and a half hours and the less crappy of the two teams (at the moment) came away with the win.  The Phillies played two 14-inning games in a row for the first time in franchise history.

What Happened:  Kyle Kendrick dug an early hole, allowing four runs in his six innings of work, but Ryan Howard's three-run home run in the seventh got the Phillies back in the game.  The home run gave Howard 1,000 career RBIs.  The Phils tied it up in the ninth when Marlon Byrd led off with a double and came in to score on Domonic Brown's RBI single.

Bastardo began the top of the 14th by walking the lead-off batter and it was all downhill from there.  The lead-off walk eventually came around to score the winning run on a David Wright RBI-single.  Despite having a runner in scoring position with nobody out in the 14th, the Phillies couldn't score again.  Revere's attempts to bunt runner Reid Brignac over to third were painful to watch.

2010 GameDay OldSchool #24

Featured Cards:  If the Phillies had won this game, the ceremonial game ball would have gone to reliever Jeff Manship.  Manship pitched four perfect innings of relief, but had to leave the game following the 13th inning when he blew a tire running out a grounder to first.  I felt so strongly that Manship deserved some sort of card for this post, that I was willing to post a four-year-old custom card from the fine 2010 GameDay OldSchool set, featured on the Crackin Wax blog.

Of course, the headliner goes to Howard, who became just the fourth Phillies player in franchise history with 1,000 RBIs or more.

1.  Mike Schmidt - 1,595
2.  Ed Delahanty - l,286
3.  Del Ennis - 1,124
4.  Ryan Howard - 1,000

Laugh It Up, Fuzzball:  Chewbacca Chachi joined our family yesterday, and he prefers to be called "Chewie."  The Chachi flagship set of custom Phillies cards isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but don't be surprised if I break out a second set of cards in 2015 to honor Chewie.  There's a lot of old school Donruss, Fleer and Score designs to choose from for a potential 2015 Chewie set . . .

2014 Chachi #18 Jeff Manship

#52

Jeffrey Michael Manship

Relief Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  210

Born:  January 16, 1985, San Antonio, TX

Home:  Austin, TX

Drafted:  Selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 14th round of the June 2006 draft

Teams:  Minnesota Twins 2009-2012, Colorado Rockies 2013, Phillies 2014

Acquired:  Signed as a minor league free agent formerly with the Colorado Rockies, December 2, 2013

Phillies Cards in My Collection:

Despite making the opening day roster, Manship was omitted from the team issued set and to date there are no official Phillies cards of the pitcher.  He joins Jayson Nix as the first two "Missing Links" of the 2014 season.

First Chachi Card:  2014 Chachi #18

2013 Quarry Unlimited Jeff Manship

Phillies 1, Twins 1

Spring Training Game 12 – Sunday Afternoon, March 9th in Fort Myers

Record - 2-8-2

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies and Twins game ended in a tie, as starter Jeff Manship continued to help his chances to make the team's starting pitching rotation.

What Happened:  Manship pitched three innings, allowing a run on two hits.  His performance was followed by six scoreless innings from the bullpen, with B.J. Rosenberg and Brad Lincoln each throwing a pair of scoreless innings.  The offense managed only two hits, and they were being no-hit by the Twins until Tony Gwynn, Jr.'s bloop single in the sixth.

Featured Card:  I thought I should take a look at Manship's baseball card history, given that he's currently in the lead to be the team's fifth starter to start the season.  Manship was drafted by the Twins in 2006, and he appeared in 41 games for the team between 2009 and 2012, going 3-2 with a 6.20 ERA.  He played for the Rockies last season, where he produced an unattractive 0-5 record with a 7.04 ERA.  

Manship's first official cards can be found in the 2006 Just Rookies set and in 2007 he was included in the Bowman Heritage Signs of Greatness autograph set.  Over the next two seasons, Manship appeared again in Bowman products, this time in their 2008 Bowman Chrome Prospects inset set and the 2009 Bowman Draft set.  To date, his last major baseball card appearance came within the 2010 Finest set.  Manship has been completely overlooked in recent years for cardboard consideration, but he does have an excellent virtual card within the 2013 Quarry Unlimited set, featured here.

IF he makes the Phillies opening day roster, there's a really good chance he'll find himself in the team issued postcard set and there's a 100% chance he'll earn his first Chachi card.