Showing posts with label McLaren. Show all posts
Showing posts with label McLaren. Show all posts

Monday, July 24, 2017

Phils Take Series; Photo Night Highlights! (Part Two)

2017 Chachi Photo Night #8
2017 Chachi Photo Night #32
Phillies 6, Brewers 3
Game 96 - Sunday Afternoon, July 22nd in Philadelphia
Record - 34-62, 5th place

One Sentence Summary:  Jerad Eickhoff pitched six solid inning and Nick Williams started the scoring with a two-run home run in the fourth as the Phillies defeated the Brewers, 6-3.

What It Means:  The Phillies have won back-to-back series for the first time since April.  The first place Astros roll into town to begin a three-game series on Monday night.

What Happened:  Along with allowing only two runs on three hits over six innings, Eickhoff also contributed two hits and scored a run.  Luis Garcia pitched a perfect ninth to record his first save of the season.  Howie Kendrick had a clutch two-run single in the fifth.

Featured Cards:  Here's the next gallery of extremely limited edition Chachi insert cards from Saturday's Photo Night.  Eickhoff and Williams highlight the post given their efforts in this win.

2017 Chachi Photo Night #12
2017 Chachi Photo Night #13
2017 Chachi Photo Night #14
2017 Chachi Photo Night #15
2017 Chachi Photo Night #16
2017 Chachi Photo Night #17
2017 Chachi Photo Night #18
2017 Chachi Photo Night #19
2017 Chachi Photo Night #20
2017 Chachi Photo Night #21

Friday, June 16, 2017

2017 Chachi #33 John McLaren CO

#9
John Lowell McLaren
Bullpen Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  190
Born:  September 29, 1951, Galveston, TX
Home:  Peoria, AZ
Teams - As Coach:  Toronto Blue Jays 1986-1990; Boston Red Sox 1991; Cincinnati Reds 1992; Seattle Mariners 1993-2002; Tampa Bay Rays 2003-2005; Seattle Mariners 2007; Washington Nationals 2010-2011; Phillies 2016-
Teams - As Manager:  Seattle Mariners 2007-2008; Washington Nationals 2010

2008 Topps #463
2016 Phillies Team Issue #9
2016 Chachi #33
3 McLaren Baseball Cards in My Collection per The Phillies Room Checklist
irst Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue #9
First Phillies Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue #9
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue #9
Latest Card:  2017 Phillies Team Issue 2 #9

First Topps Flagship Base Card:  2008 Topps #463

Click to enlarge
Complete Chachi Checklist
2016 Chachi #33
2016 Chachi Photo Day #7 - with Steve Henderson
2017 Chachi #33

Card statistics through 6/15/17.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Fun at the @Phillies Photo Day! (Part One)

2016 Chachi Photo Day #35
2016 Chachi Photo Day #25
2016 Chachi Photo Day #21
Phillies 4Mets 2
Game 92 - Saturday Night, July 16th in Philadelphia
Record - 43-49, 4th place, 13 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Ryan Howard homered and Maikel Franco drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh as the Phillies defeated the Mets, 4-2, on Photo Day.

What It Means:  Our family - siblings, kids, cousins, parents and friends - occupied 17 seats in Section 421 for this game and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in spite of the occasional rain shower.

What Happened:  Howard hit a solo shot (13) in the second inning and Franco broke a 2-2 tie with his hit.  Carlos Ruiz scored in the eighth on a wild pitch to add an insurance run.  Jared Eickhoff pitched six strong innings (two runs on five hits) and Jeanmar Gomez earned his 25th save.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  We made our way down to the field at around 5:10 to take our place in the outfield for the team's annual Photo Day.  After a six (or seven?) year absence from the event, it was great to be back and both our sons had an absolute blast.  The majority of the players were extremely gracious and most of the them took the time to small talk with our sons.  I was going to pick one or two of my favorite photos for a few custom cards, but then I thought . . . why not just make a whole set of cards?

So that's what I did.  Here's part one of the set, and I'll feature parts two and three in future posts.

Be sure to check out the 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.

2016 Chachi Photo Day #1
2016 Chachi Photo Day #2
2016 Chachi Photo Day #3
2016 Chachi Photo Day #4
2016 Chachi Photo Day #5
2016 Chachi Photo Day #6
2016 Chachi Photo Day #8
2016 Chachi Photo Day #10
2016 Chachi Photo Day #7
2016 Chachi Photo Day #9

Saturday, May 28, 2016

2016 Chachi #33 John McLaren CO

#9
John Lowell McLaren
Catching Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  190
Born:  September 29, 1951, Galveston, TX
Home:  Peoria, AZ
Teams - As Coach:  Toronto Blue Jays 1986-1990; Boston Red Sox 1991; Cincinnati Reds 1992; Seattle Mariners 1993-2002; Tampa Bay Rays 2003-2005; Seattle Mariners 2007; Washington Nationals 2010-2011; Phillies 2016
Teams - As Manager:  Seattle Mariners 2007-2008; Washington Nationals 2010

2008 Topps #463
2016 Phillies Team Issue #9
2 McLaren Baseball Card in My Collection per Zistle
First Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue #9
First Phillies Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue #9
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue #9
Latest Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue 2 #9

First Topps Flagship Base Card:  2008 Topps #463

Complete Chachi Checklist
2016 Chachi #33

Card statistics through 5/27/16.

Friday, October 23, 2015

Phillies Add Two Coaches - Kranitz & McLaren

2008 Topps #463
The Phillies added two coaches to their staff on Wednesday, and both are new to the Phillies organization.

Rick Kranitz was named the team's new bullpen coach, taking over for the departed Rod Nichols. Kranitz was the Brewers pitching coach for the past five seasons (2011-2015) and he also served in that role with the Orioles (2008-2010) and Marlins (2006-2007).  Kranitz has been appearing on minor league and team issued baseball cards since 1980, but he's never been featured on a mainstream release.

John McLaren was named the team's catching coach, which is a position I don't think has officially existed in the past.  McLaren had been a scout with the A's most recently (2012-2015) and since 1986 he's coached with the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Reds, Mariners, Rays and Nationals.  He served as interim manager for the Mariners in 2007 following Mike Hargrove's resignation, and he also was interim manager for the Nationals in 2011 for three games.  Like Kranitz, McLaren has been featured on a lot of minor league and team issued cards throughout his career, but his stint as manager of the Mariners gave him a card in the 2008 Topps set.

Hitting coach Steve Henderson and pitching coach Bob McClure have agreed to contracts while the Phillies are waiting to hear back from bench coach Larry Bowa and former first base coach Juan Samuel.  Bowa has recently interviewed for the Marlins manager's opening.  If Samuel were to return, it's already been announced that he'd take over at third base.

Jorge Velandia, who was given the nondescript title of assistant coach when Ryne Sandberg departed could be in line to be the first base coach, or he could return to the front office.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

2015 Phillies Team Issue - 2nd Edition


Number of Cards:  40
Card Size:  4" x 6"
Description:  Keeping with a theme that's been used for the past two seasons, the card fronts feature full color photos with a bottom border containing the player's name, number and position.  The blue border used for the first series set has been replaced by a red border and a simple Phillies "P".  The horizontal card backs feature biographical information and complete career statistics.

How Distributed:  The second series set went on sale at Citizens Bank Park on June 2, 2015.  Sets are available for sale for $5.

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

  • 2 - Ben Revere
  • 3 - Jeff Francoeur
  • 4 - Andres Blanco
  • 5 - Pat Burrell (Alumni)
  • 5 - Steve Henderson CO
  • 6 - Ryan Howard
  • 7 - Maikel Franco
  • 8 - Juan Samuel CO
  • 9 - Domonic Brown
  • 10 - Larry Bowa CO
  • 12 - John Mizerock CO
  • 13 - Freddy Galvis
  • 16 - Cesar Hernandez
  • 18 - Darin Ruf
  • 22 - Bob McClure CO
  • 23 - Ryne Sandberg MG
  • 24 - Grady Sizemore
  • 25 - Cody Asche
  • 26 - Chase Utley
  • 29 - Cameron Rupp
  • 30 - Justin De Fratus
  • 31 - Jerome Williams
  • 34 - Aaron Harang
  • 35 - Cole Hamels
  • 37 - Odubel Herrera
  • 38 - Chad Billingsley
  • 40 - Dustin McGowan
  • 45 - Pete Mackanin CO
  • 46 - Jeanmar Gomez
  • 47 - Sean O'Sullivan
  • 51 - Carlos Ruiz
  • 53 - Ken Giles
  • 54 - Rod Nichols CO
  • 55 - David Buchanan
  • 57 - Luis Garcia
  • 58 - Jonathan Papelbon
  • 59 - Elvis Araujo
  • 63 - Jake Diekman
  • Phillie Phanatic
  • Phillies Broadcasters
One and Done (1):  McGowan
First Appearances (2):  Araujo and O'Sullivan
Returning Players (26):  Asche, Billingsley, Blanco, Brown, Buchanan, De Fratus, Diekman, Franco, Francoeur, Galvis, Garcia, Giles, Gomez, Hamels, Harang, Hernandez, Herrera, Howard, Papelbon, Revere, Ruf, Ruiz, Rupp, Sizemore, Utley, Williams

I wouldn't be surprised if Araujo, McGowan and O'Sullivan get bumped from the First Appearances designation up to the One and Done spot.  The younger Araujo has the best chance of receiving a second Phillies baseball card.  Asche's card designates him as a left fielder, despite the fact he had only played three career games at the position prior to this set's release.  Sizemore was released the day before this set was released.

Brown is in the set even though as of the set's release date he had yet to appear in a game with the Phillies in 2015.  Brown has been exiled to Triple-A Lehigh Valley thus far into the season.

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):  Features the same photo as the first series with announcers Tom McCarthy, Ben Davis, Larry Andersen, Scott Franzke, Jim Jackson, Matt Stairs, Mike Schmidt and Gregg Murphy.
Other Cards (1):  Burrell (Alumni Card)

The second series replaces the Charlie Manuel alumni card (found within the first series) with an alumni card for this year's Wall of Fame inductee Burrell.

Variations/Rarities:  On July 31st, I purchased a second series photo card set from the ballpark that included an Aaron Nola card on top.  The rest of the cards in the set were the same 40 cards as listed on the checklist above.
  • 27 - Aaron Nola
Photo from Steve F. from
2016 ALS Festival
Photo from Rick from Jr. Phillies
Club Night
Update (6/13/16):  Fellow collector Steve F. obtained an Aaron Altherr card in the style of this set at the 2016 ALS Festival held on June 9, 2016. The card is blank-backed and was most likely printed solely in order for Altherr to have a card for autograph requests.  Collector Rick also informed me that blank backed cards are available for Franco and Rupp.

Update (9/16/16):  Fellow collector Rick e-mailed me on September 16th to let me know that blank-backed photo cards in the style of this set were available to Jr. Phillies Club members during the game.  From the scans sent by Rick, I've listed below the additional cards available through this promotion.
  • 17 - Peter Bourjos (posed photo)
  • 23 - Aaron Altherr
  • 39 - Adam Morgan
  • 45 - Pete Mackanin MG (different photo - white jersey)
  • 48 - Jared Eickhoff
Update (12/15/18): At the recent Phillies holiday sale, an annual event held at Citizens Bank Park, Steve found even more rare versions of cards in this set's style.  These three coaches joined the staff in 2016, so presumably these cards were produced during the 2015-2016 offseason.
  • 9 - John McLaren CO (posed photo)
  • 12 - Mickey Morandini CO (posed photo)
  • 33 - Rick Kranitz CO (posed photo)
Trivia:  As I laid out in this post, this is the earliest a second series set has ever been released since the team started issuing multiple team issued sets back in 2010.  Hector Neris and Severino Gonzalez are the only members (so far) of the 2015 Phillies not to appear in either series of team issued sets.

Resources:  Thanks to fellow Phillies collectors Steve F. and Rick for giving me a head's up that this set was for sale at the ballpark.