1987 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  51
Card Size:  3 1/2" x 5 1/4"
Description:  With the exception of the copyright date on the bottom right, these photo cards are identical in design to the sets issued in 1985 and 1986.  Fronts feature a full color picture and the backs include brief biographical notes on each player.

How Distributed:  All fans attending the Sunday, April 12th Phillies game at Veterans Stadium received the original 47-card set.  The four blank-backed update cards (I believe) were sold separately at the stadium late in the season.  I have a very vague recollection of purchasing the four photo card update set for $1 at a second half game.  Lee Elia was named the new Phillies manager on June 18th following the firing of John Felske.  The others featured in the update set made their Phillies debuts in May or June, as follows:  Wally Ritchie - May 1st, Keith Hughes - May 19th and Jeff Calhoun - June 16th.  Given those debuts, I would guess the update cards were available during the second half of the season, following the All-Star break.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the front of cards): 

1. Luis Aguayo (#16 - INF) 2. Doug Bair (#58 - RHP) 3. Steve Bedrosian (#40 - RHP) 4. Don Carman (#42 - RHP) 5. Joe Cipolloni (#23 - C) 6. Joe Cowley (#39 - RHP)       7. Darren Daulton (#10 - C) 8. Ken Dowell (#37 - SS) 9. Mike Easler (#34 - LF) 10. John Felske (#7 - MG) 11. Marvin Freeman (#48 - RHP)         12. Todd Frohwirth (#52 - RHP) 13. Greg Gross (#21 - OF-1B) 14. Kevin Gross (#46 - RHP) 15. Von Hayes (#9 - 1B) 16. Tom Hume (#41 - RHP)

17. Ken Jackson (#51 - SS) 18. Mike Jackson (#33 - RHP) 19. Chris James (#18 - OF) 20. Greg Jelks (#45 - 1B-OF) 21. Steve Jeltz (#30 - SS) 22. Greg Legg (#11 - INF) 23. Mike Maddux (#44 - RHP) 24. Tom Newell (#50 - RHP) 25. Jim Olander (#38 - OF) 26. Lance Parrish (#13 - C) 27. Shane Rawley (#28 - LHP)         28. Ronn Reynolds (#29 - C) 29. Ron Roenicke (#17 - OF) 30. Bruce Ruffin (#47 - LHP) 31. John Russell (#6 - C-OF) 32. Juan Samuel (#8 - 2B)

33. Bob Scanlan (#39 - RHP) 34. Dan Schatzeder (#35 - LHP) 35. Mike Schmidt (#20 - 3B) 36. Rick Schu (#15 - 3B) 37. Jeff Stone (#14 - OF) 38. Kent Tekulve (#27 - RHP) 39. Milt Thompson (#24 - OF) 40. Freddie Toliver (#43 - RHP) 41. Len Watts (#49 - LHP) 42. Glenn Wilson (#12 - RF) 43. Phillies Coaches 44. Jeff Kaye / Darren Loy 45. Shawn Barton / Rick Lundblade         46. Phillies Team Card 47. Phillie Phanatic

Complete Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the front of cards):

1. Jeff Calhoun (#31 - LHP)         2. Lee Elia (#4 - MG)

3. Keith Hughes (#19 - OF) 4. Wally Ritchie (#38 - LHP)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (7):  Bair, Cowley, Jelks, Legg, Olander, Scanlan, Watts

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (12):  Calhoun, Dowell, Easler, Freeman, Frohwirth, Hughes, M. Jackson, Newell, Parrish, Ritchie, Roenicke, Schatzeder
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (25):  Aguayo, Bedrosian, Carman, Cipolloni, Daulton, G. Gross, K. Gross, Hayes, Hume, K. Jackson, James, Jeltz, Maddux, Rawley, Reynolds, Ruffin, Russell, Samuel, Schmidt, Schu, Stone, Tekulve, Thompson, Toliver, Wilson

Managers (2):  Elia, Felske
Coaches (1):  Jim Davenport, Lee Elia, Claude Osteen, Mike Ryan and Del Unser are all featured on a card together.

Phillie Phanatic (1):  I believe the photo used was taken as the Phanatic was atop the Phillies dugout in Clearwater.

Multi-Player Prospect Cards (2):  Kaye / Loy, Barton / Lundblade
Other Cards (1):  Team card

Surprises:  There are a couple of things with this set only a few of us would find interesting.  As far as I can tell, this is the first team-issued photo card set featuring solo cards of players who never actually played for the Phillies.  Joe Cipolloni, Jim Olander, Bob Scanlan and Len Watts never got the call to the big leagues with the team, nor did the four prospects featured on the multi-player cards for that matter.  Marvin Freeman and Ronn Reynolds appear in the set as well, although neither played with the Phillies in 1987.  Freeman's season was hampered by injuries and he appeared in 19 minor league games.  Reynolds was dealt to the Astros on April 2nd for Calhoun.

There are two #39's in the set - Scanlan and Joe Cowley.  Scanlan started the spring with #39 and Cowley most likely requested the number upon his arrival from the White Sox late in the spring on March 26th.  Cowley had worn #40 with the White Sox, but that number already belonged to Steve Bedrosian.

Omissions:  None!  Every single player to appear with the Phillies in 1987 is represented in this set, and that's really impressive.

Variations/Rarities:  There's a Phanatic photo variation featuring the mascot riding his ATV, and a variation of the widely available Phanatic card but with different writing on the back.  There's also a black and white portrait version of a Don Carman card and fellow collector Bill W. e-mailed me to let me know the card was available at a Pennsylvania baseball card show in 1987 where Carman was an autograph guest.

Phanatic Variations 1. On dugout, different writing on back         2. Riding ATV

Black & White Variation 1. Don Carman (#42 - LHP)

Also See:  One of the more desirable (in my opinion) and difficult to find team issued sets is the 1987 Phillies Great Performers of 1986 set, issued to season ticket holders who renewed their 1987 season tickets early.  14,000 Phillies created an entry for this set as part of his Phillies Database Project.

Resources:  Beckett.com; Phillies collectors Rick G., Steve F. and Bill W.

This set was originally featured in a post back in October 2014, and I'm going through these older team-issued set posts to update them with new information learned (if any) over the past six years.

1986 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1988 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards

1980-1999 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page

1983 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  32
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/4"

Description:  This is the first team-issued photo card set featuring full color photos.  A color head shot of each player is on the front and the backs are either blank or contain an encouraging message "written" by the player.  Most of these messages begin with a standard, "Dear Fan: Thanks for your letter.  the Phillies and I appreciate your interest."  In the checklist below, I've indicated which photo cards have the "Dear Fan" greeting on the back, which are blank and which have a message variation.  This is the second consecutive year Tastykake sponsored the set, and the black Tastykake logo can be found on the backs of all cards with the exception of the card for Veterans Stadium.

Interestingly enough, the 2001 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards lists Joe Amalfitano in the checklist instead of Porfi Altamirano.  The Beckett database entry for the set perpetuates this error.  As pointed out by 14,000 Phillies in his checklist entry for the set, both Beckett and the Standard Catalog omit the Dave Roberts card from their checklists.

How Distributed:  My guess is these photo cards were available to purchase in set form at Veterans Stadium and also available individually as players responded to fans' autograph requests.  I personally had a tough time tracking down the cards for John Denny, Von Hayes and Bill Robinson.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically, with Dear Fan inscriptions unless otherwise noted): 

1. Luis Aguayo 2. Porfi Altamirano 3. Marty Bystrom (blank) 4. Steve Carlton (blank) 5. Larry Christenson 6. Pat Corrales MG (blank)       7. Ivan DeJesus 8. John Denny 9. Bob Dernier 10. Bo Diaz 11. Ed Farmer

12. Greg Gross 13. Von Hayes 14. Al Holland 15. Garry Maddox 16. Gary Matthews 17. Tug McGraw (Support . . . )       18. Larry Milbourne 19. Bob Molinaro 20. Sid Monge 21. Joe Morgan 22. Tony Perez

23. Ron Reed (blank) 24. Dave Roberts 25. Bill Robinson 26. Pete Rose 27. Dick Ruthven (blank) 28. Mike Schmidt (blank) 29. Ozzie Virgil 30. Phillies Coaches (blank) 31. Phillie Phanatic  32. Veterans Stadium (blank)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (0)

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (7):  Denny, Hayes, Holland, Milbourne, Molinaro, Morgan, Perez
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (21):  Aguayo, Altamirano, Bystrom, Carlton, Christenson, DeJesus, Dernier, Diaz, Farmer, Gross, Maddox, Matthews, McGraw, Monge, Reed, Roberts, Robinson, Rose, Ruthven, Schmidt, Virgil

Manager (1):  Corrales
Coaches (1):  There's one card featuring all five Phillies coaches - Mike Ryan, Deron Johnson, Bobby Wine, Dave Bristol and Claude Osteen.

Phillies Phanatic (1):  The more readily available version features the Phanatic on his ATV.

Other Cards (1):  Veterans Stadium.

Surprises:  There are no real surprises here, and I'm assuming the set was issued once with no updates made.  The entire 25-man opening day roster, with the exception of the two players discussed below, received photo cards.  The Phillies also had five players on the disabled list to start the 1983 season, and they all received cards too - Luis Aguayo, Marty Bystrom, Hayes, Al Holland and Roberts.

Omissions:  Len Matuszek and Alejandro Sanchez both made the opening day roster, but were omitted from the set.  Sanchez returned to the minors a week into the season when Hayes was activated from the disabled list.  Matuszek stuck around a bit longer, optioned down to Triple-A Portland on April 29th.  Kiko Garcia started the season at Portland, but was recalled on May 17th and he'd remain with the club through the rest of the season.  I wish the Phillies had considered an update set as Garcia and a number of players acquired during the season - Joe Lefebvre, Willie Hernandez, Larry Andersen and Sixto Lezcano - would have been obvious choices.  There were also a number of prospects who debuted during 1983, including Charles Hudson, Kevin Gross, Steve Jeltz, Juan Samuel and Darren Daulton, and update cards for those players would have been highly sought after by collectors.

Variations/Rarities:  According to the set's entry in the 2001 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, several cards are available with different backs.  There's also a different Phanatic card available showing him walking around the field in the vicinity of home plate.  I've listed these variations below.

Fellow collector Bill e-mailed to let me know of a few other back variations.  The Greg Gross card can be found with both "Dear Fan" and "Support amateur baseball" backs.  And the ATV variation of the Phanatic can be found with "Dear Fan" and "Tell your parents" backs.

Back Variations       1. Greg Gross (Support . . . ) 2. Sid Monge (Quitters never win)      3. Pete Rose (A good eduction) 4. Phillie Phanatic (Tell your parents)

Phanatic Variation        1. Phillie Phanatic - Not on ATV

Resources:   14,000 Phillies, Beckett.com, Phillies collector Bill, 1984 Phillies Media Guide.

This set was originally featured in a post back in October 2014, and I'm going to slowly go through these team-issued set posts and update them with new information gathered (if any) over the past six years.

Standard Version

Variation

1982 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1984 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards

1980-1999 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page

1985 Game 19 - 1985 Fleer #256 Jerry Koosman

Phillies 11, Expos 0
Game 19 - Tuesday Night, April 30th in Philadelphia
Record - 8-11, Tied for 4th Place, 4 1/2 games behind the Cubs and Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Jerry Koosman pitched a complete game shutout, Von Hayes tallied a four-hit game and Glenn Wilson drove in four runs in this 11-0 blowout win against the Expos.

What It Means:  Not a great start to the season, but April wasn't a complete disaster.  The Phillies would enter May riding a four-game win streak and within striking distance of fist place in the N.L. East.

What Happened:  Koosman allowed 11 hits in his complete game effort, but the Expos offense went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.  The Phillies offense scored all 11 runs against Expos starter Bill Gullickson and reliever Rick Grapenthin.  First baseman Razor Shines pitched the eighth inning for the Expos, allowing a hit but not giving up any more runs.

The big blow in the game was a bases-clearing double in the first from Wilson.  The Phillies kept piling on with Hayes, Schmidt and Jeltz each enjoying 2-RBI games.

Featured Card:  This was the 33rd and final complete game shutout in Koosman's 19-year big league career.  He must have done something in this game to aggravate his bad left knee, as he'd go on the disabled list shortly after this start and not pitch again until June 8th.

I clipped the Phillies opening day roster from an April 1985 issue of TV Guide and preserved it within my scrapbook (see below). The listing didn't include Darren Daulton or Kent Tekulve, added to the roster after opening day, so I wrote them in with their uniform numbers.  Kiko Garcia and Luis Aguayo were on the opening day roster, but both had been used so sparingly I assumed they were also "New Players."

Looking at the coaching staff, manager John Felske's bench coach was Lee Elia.  Elia would eventually take over for Felske when his time as Phillies manager ran out in the middle of the 1987 season.  The 1985 Phillies media guide lists Elia's job as dugout coach and not bench coach, which is the term used more frequently today.  Claude Osteen was the pitching coach and Del Unser provided double duty as both the hitting coach and the first base coach.  Dave Bristol coached third, Mike Ryan was the bullpen coach and Hank King (pictured on the Tastykake coaching staff card below) was the team's batting practice pitcher.

Bristol, Ryan and Osteen were all holdovers from Paul Owens' coaching staff in 1984.  To start the 1985 season, Elia replaced Felske as the bench coach and Unser replaced Deron Johnson as the Phillies' hitting coach.

Series Preview - Phillies at Dodgers: May 31st to June 2nd

1971 Topps #533

1971 Topps #10

Friday and Saturday 10:10, Sunday 4:10
Dodger Stadium - Los Angeles, CA

Phillies 33-23, 1st place in the N.L. East, 3 games ahead of the Braves
Dodgers 38-19, 1st place in the N.L. West, 8 1/2 games ahead of the Padres

Phillies Probables:  Jake Arrieta (5-4, 3.60), Cole Irvin (2-1, 5.60), Nick Pivetta (3-1, 7.71)
Dodgers Probables:  Kenta Maeda (6-2, 3.67), Clayton Kershaw (5-0, 3.46), Rich Hill (1-1, 2.73)

At the Ballpark:  On Saturday night, fans will receive a Steve Garvey bobblehad as part of the Dodgers' Alumni Weekend celebrations.  Prior to the game, Dodgers alumni will take part in a special exhibition game.  Former Phillies Kevin Gross, Derrel Thomas and Fernando Valenzuela are expected to be in attendance.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Jean Segura - .307
Runs:  Andrew McCutchen - 44
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 13
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 42
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez and Jean Segura - 3

Wins:  Aaron Nola - 6
ERA:  Zach Eflin - 3.02

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 74
Saves:  Hector Neris - 10

Dodgers Leaders
Average:  Cody Bellinger - .377
Runs:  Cody Bellinger - 50
Home Runs:  Cody Bellinger - 20
RBIs:  Cody Bellinger - 52
Stolen Bases:  Cody Bellinger - 7

Wins:  Hyun-Jin Ryu - 8
ERA:  Hyun-Jin Ryu - 1.48

Strikeouts:  Hyun-Jin Ryu - 69
Saves:  Kenley Jansen - 16

1987 Tastykake Phillies

I updated this post here in November 2020 and this original post is now outdated.

 
Number of Cards:  51
Card Size:  3 1/2" x 5 1/4"
Description:  With the exception of the copyright date on the bottom right, these cards are identical in design to the sets issued in 1985 and 1986.  Fronts feature a full color picture and the backs include brief biographical notes on each player.
How Distributed:  All fans attending the April 12, 1987 Phillies game at Veterans Stadium received the 47-card set.  The four blank-backed update cards (I believe) were sold separately at the stadium late in the season.  I have a very vague recollection of purchasing the four-card update set for $1 at a game during the '87 season.

Complete Standard Checklist (47):  The cards are unnumbered, but I've presented them below ordered by uniform number.

6 - John Russell 7 - John Felske MG 8 - Juan Samuel 9 - Von Hayes 10 - Darren Daulton 11 - Greg Legg 12 - Glenn Wilson 13 - Lance Parrish 14 - Jeff Stone 15 - Rick Schu 16 - Luis Aguayo 17 - Ron Roenicke 18 - Chris James 20 - Mike Schmidt 21 - Greg Gross 23 - Joe Cipolloni 24 - Milt Thompson 27 - Kent Tekulve 28 - Shane Rawley 29 - Ronn Reynolds 30 - Steve Jeltz 33 - Mike Jackson 34 - Mike Easler 35 - Dan Schatzeder

37 - Ken Dowell 38 - Jim Olander 39 - Joe Cowley 39 - Bob Scanlan 40 - Steve Bedrosian 41 - Tom Hume 42 - Don Carman 43 - Freddie Toliver 44 - Mike Maddux 45 - Greg Jelks 46 - Kevin Gross 47 - Bruce Ruffin 48 - Marvin Freeman 49 - Len Watts 50 - Tom Newell 51 - Ken Jackson 52 - Todd Frohwirth 58 - Doug Bair Phillies Coaches Jeff Kaye/Darren Loy Shawn Barton/Rick Lundblade Phillies Team Card Phillie Phanatic

Complete Update Checklist (4):

4 - Lee Elia MG 19 - Keith Hughes

31 - Jeff Calhoun 38 - Wally Ritchie

Elia was named manager on June 18th following the firing of Felske.  The others featured in the update set made their Phillies debuts in May or June, as follows:  Ritchie - May 1st, Hughes - May 19th and Calhoun - June 16th.

One and Done (7):  Bair, Cowley, Jelks, Legg, Olander, Scanlan, Watts
First Appearances (12):  Calhoun, Dowell, Easler, Freeman, Frohwirth, Hughes, M. Jackson, Newell, Parrish, Ritchie, Roenicke, Schatzeder
Returning Players (25):  Aguayo, Bedrosian, Carman, Cipolloni, Daulton, G. Gross, K. Gross, Hayes, Hume, K. Jackson, James, Jeltz, Maddux, Rawley, Reynolds, Ruffin, Russell, Samuel, Schmidt, Schu, Stone, Tekulve, Thompson, Toliver, Wilson

As originally documented in this 1987 Phillies Missing Links post, this set is the only place to find Phillies baseball cards for Bair, Cowley, Jelks and Legg.  (I have a little more on the other three guys below.)  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.

Managers (2):  Felske, Elia
Coaches (1):  Jim Davenport, Lee Elia, Claude Osteen, Mike Ryan and Del Unser are all featured on a card together.
Phillie Phanatic (1):  I believe the photo used was taken as the Phanatic was atop the Phillies dugout in Clearwater.
Broadcasters (0)
Multi-Player Prospect Cards (2):  Kaye/Loy, Barton/Lundblade
Other Cards (1):  Team card

Variations/Rarities:  Steve was kind enough to send me the scan below of the Phanatic variation available in 1987.  The more prevalent version is the card on the right, while the rarer version is the card on the left featuring the Phanatic on his ATV.

• Phanatic on ATV

Based on Rick's comment below, it appears as if there's an additional variation of the Phanatic card featuring different writing on the back.

Update (11/15/18) - Fellow collector Bill e-mailed me the photo below of a black and white Don Carman card, bearing a 1987 copyright date.  Bill obtained the card at a baseball card show in Pennsylvania where Carman was an autograph guest.

Also See:  One of the more desirable (in my opinion) and difficult to find team issued sets is the 1987 Phillies Great Performers of 1986 set, issued to season ticket holders who renewed their 1987 season tickets early.  14,000 Phillies created an entry for this set as part of his Phillies Database Project.

Trivia:  There are a couple of things with this set that only a few of us would find interesting . . . As far as I can tell, this is the first team-issued set featuring solo cards of players that never actually played for the Phillies.  Cipolloni, Olander, Scanlan and Watts never got the call to the big leagues with the Phils, nor did the four prospects featured on the multi-player cards for that matter.

There are two #39's in the original set - Scanlan and Cowley.  I'm assuming Scanlan started the spring with #39 and Cowley requested the number upon his arrival from the White Sox late in the spring on March 26th.  Cowley had worn #40 with the White Sox, but that number already belonged to Bedrosian.
Resources:  Phillies SGA 1987; Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils) and Steve F.

Phillies at Dodgers: June 27th to June 30th

Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10:10, Sunday 4:10
Dodger Stadium - Los Angeles, CA

At the Ballpark:  In one of the best giveaways I've seen so far this season, all fans attending tonight's game will receive a Sandy Koufax bobble head.  The bobble head is sponsored by Philadelphia's own Mitchell & Ness.  Fireworks will follow tomorrow night's game.

1973 Topps #490

1973 Topps Flashback:  Before I knew he pitched for the Dodgers, I knew the subject of today's flashback for his super fresh 1980s perm.  Claude Osteen was the pitching coach for the Phillies from 1982 to 1988, during which time he sported the unfortunate hair style choice.

Osteen enjoyed a lengthy 18-year career, spending nine seasons (1965-1973) wearing Dodger blue.  He was a three-time All-Star with the Dodgers, and a two-time 20-game winner (1969 and 1972).  Osteen was a key contributor to the 1965 Dodgers, the eventual World Series champions.

No pitching probables or Phillies team leaders in this game summary post, as I'm currently away from The Phillies Room HQ and the blog is on auto-pilot.