Marlins at Phillies: April 10th to April 12th

2014 Topps Heritage #146

1965 Topps #474

Monday and Tuesday 6:40, Wednesday 4:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  Tonight the Phillies will host their annual Asian Pacific Heritage Celebration, and Tuesday is the first Dollar Dog night of the year.

Marlins
3rd Place in the N.L. East, 2 games behind the Braves

Marlins Probables
Sandy Alcantara (1-0, 1.84)
Jesus Luzardo (1-0, 0.71)
Edward Cabrera (0-1, 5.40)

Marlins Leaders
Average:  Luis Arraez - .471
Runs:  Five tied with - 4
Home Runs:  Garrett Cooper and Jorge Soler - 3
RBIs:  Garrett Cooper - 7
Stolen Bases:  Three tied with - 2

Wins:  Four tied with - 1
ERA:  Jesus Luzardo - 0.71
Strikeouts:  Jesus Luzardo - 15
Saves:  A.J. Puk - 1

Phillies
4th Place in the N.L. East, 2 1/2 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Matt Strahm (0-0, 0.00)
Aaron Nola (0-1, 7.45)
Zack Wheeler (0-1, 5.59)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Bryson Stott - .429
Runs:  Nick Castellanos - 6
Home Runs:  Alec Bohm and Kyle Schwarber - 2
RBIs:  Alec Bohm and Kyle Schwarber - 5
Stolen Bases:  Jake Cave - 2

Wins:  Three tied with - 1
ERA:  Bailey Falter - 2.61

Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 12
Saves:  Craig Kimbrel - 1

2023 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2023 Season Summary Index / 2023 Chachi Set Checklist

NEW BLOG: Collecting the 1969 Topps Set

Earlier this week, as we turned the calendar to 2023, I started a new set-collecting blog for the 1969 Topps set we're building.  It's going to look and feel mostly like the blog I recently wrapped up, which chronicled our collation of a complete 1965 Topps set between December 2019 and December 2022.  Presented below is the post for the first official card we added to our set - Cookie Rojas.

Please check out my new project and follow along as I collect the under appreciated 1969 Topps set.

1969 Topps #507 Cookie Rojas - Philadelphia Phillies

Octavio Victor Rojas
Philadelphia Phillies
Infield-Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  160
Born:  March 6, 1939, La Habana, Cuba
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1956 season
Major League Teams:  Cincinnati Reds 1962; Philadelphia Phillies 1963-1969; St. Louis Cardinals 1970; Kansas City Royals 1970-1977

As a Manager:  California Angels 1988; Florida Marlins 1996

A long-time utility player for the Phillies, Cookie Rojas enjoyed the best years of his career as the starting second baseman for the Royals in the early 1970s.  Rojas was a five time All-Star - once with the Phillies in 1965 and then four times with the Royals between 1971 and 1974.  Blocked at second base by Tony Taylor (#108) early in his career, Rojas moved around the field playing wherever needed for Phillies manager Gene Mauch (#606).  He finished in the top 10 in singles in his respective league in 1965, 1966 and 1974.  Rojas is second on the Royals' all-time games played list at second base behind Frank White.

Rojas played for 16 seasons, accumulating a .263 average over 1,822 games.  Following his playing career, Rojas stayed in the game serving as a coach for the Cubs between 1978 and 1981, and becoming the first Cuban born manager in major league history when he was at the helm for the Angels in 1988, succeeding his former manager Mauch as manager of that club.  He later served as a coach for the Marlins (1993-1996), Mets (1997-2000) and Blue Jays (2001-2002).  He's been the Spanish-language color commentator on Marlins television broadcasts since 2003.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #3
November 6, 2021 from Cooperstown, NY (Stonehouse Toys of Fame)

In early November 2021, needing a quick vacation and wanting to take our sons to Cooperstown for the first time, we took advantage of the annual NJEA Teacher Convention in which public schools are closed for a few days.  We loaded our car on a Thursday morning with a loose plan of spending two days in Cooperstown and the surrounding area over the weekend, shopping in the village, soaking in the Hall of Fame exhibits and eating a few good dinners.  The 4 1/2 hour drive to Otsego County was scenic and enjoyable.  Most of the day Friday was spent in the Hall of Fame and Saturday was dedicated largely to shopping in the many stores, mostly baseball related, located in the blocks surrounding the Hall.

We'd add nine cards to our 1965 Topps set during the weekend and four cards to our not-yet-collecting 1969 Topps set.  This Rojas card was pulled from a stack of loosely organized vintage Topps commons found within the subterranean Stonehouse Toys of Fame and it cost me $3.  I hadn't planned on adding any 1969 Topps cards during this trip, but by the end of the weekend Rojas would be joined by three other cards from the set.  It's fitting Rojas would be the first official card purchased for our 1969 Topps set build, as his 1965 Topps card was one of the first five cards we purchased for that set in December 2019.

The Card / Phillies Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

Given the card comes late in the set, I'm going to assume this is one of the newer photos to appear, perhaps taken as late as spring training 1969.  The back of the card highlights Rojas' 14-game hitting streak in 1968 which came in May and early June.  Rojas' versatility is also mentioned, and through the 1968 season he had pitched in one game, caught in seven games, played a game at first base and played three games at third base.

Accuracy Index:  This card scores a +5 for showing Rojas on the correct team and not recycling an old photo.

1969 Season
This was to be Rojas' seventh and final season with the Phillies.  In 110 games, he batted .228, the fourth year in a row his average had declined.  Rojas made 96 starts overall, with 94 starts coming a second base and a pair of starts in April in left field.  Taylor gradually saw more playing time at second base as the season progressed, and by the end of the season the Phillies had decided to move ahead with young Denny Doyle as Rojas' permanent replacement for 1970.  As noted below, Rojas was shipped to the Cardinals on October 7, 1969 as part of a blockbuster seven-player deal.

Phillies Career
The Phillies acquired Rojas from the Reds on November 27, 1962 for reliever Jim Owens, and his Topps rookie card in the 1963 set shows him wearing a Reds uniform top.  He played for seven seasons with the Phillies, appearing in at least 100 games every year except his first in 1963.  His best season with the club was 1965 when Rojas was named to his first All-Star team, joining his teammates Dick Allen (#350) and Johnny Callison (#133).  He appeared in 142 games that year, and saw more time at second base than usual due to a season long slump endured by regular second baseman Taylor.  He also led the team with a .303 average, which placed him eighth overall in the league.

After several years of declining offensive output, the Phillies traded him in October 1969.  Rojas was one of the players included in the blockbuster deal between the Phillies and Cardinals that shipped Allen and Jerry Johnson (#253) to St. Louis in exchange for Curt Flood (#540), Tim McCarver (#475), Byron Browne and Joe Hoerner (#522).  (Flood never reported to the Phillies, but that's a story for another post.)

Rojas played in 880 games for the Phillies - the exact amount of games he played for the Royals.

1963 Topps #221

1968 Topps #39

1971 Topps #118

1975 Topps #169

1988 Topps Traded #97T

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1963 Topps #221
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (16):  1963-1977, 1988
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2019 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-CR
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  90 in the Beckett online database as of 12/27/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

A Look at What Santa Brought . . . with Help from My Mom (#SBWTMABCTJ)

This is a post I look forward to writing all year.  We're on the other side of another Christmas, and our family continued our tradition of turning Christmas into a 3-day event.  We celebrate in our house on Christmas day, at my Mom's house the day after Christmas and with my wife's family a few days after that.  It's a fun three days that leave me happy, slightly tired and stuffed with food.

At my Mom's house, I anxiously unwrapped a present to find a box of Fralinger's Salt Water Taffy.  There wasn't any salt water taffy inside the box, but instead I found the first card needed from my (now outdated) Ten Most Wanted list and a clue to the location of more cards.  With the help of my sons and my nieces, the clue was solved and my boyhood teddy bear was found holding a package with the rest of the cards shown in the photo above.  Once again, my Mom had made a Ten Most Wanted list obsolete!  It was another successful installment of Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim, and the hauls from past Christmases are linked below.

Here's a list of the treasures added in the 2019 Edition of #SBWTMABCTJ:

1949 Bowman #216 Schoolboy Rowe
1952 Topps #185 Bill Nicholson
1953 Topps #10 Smoky Burgess
1956 Topps #296 Andy Seminick
1957 Topps #314 Ed Bouchee
1965 Topps #474 Cookie Rojas
1966 Topps #585 Tony Taylor
1967 Topps #242 RBI Leaders
1970 Topps #645 Don Money
1972 Topps #690 Willie Montanez

These ten most wanted lists are going to be tougher to put together as I'm getting closer and closer to a complete run of Bowman and Topps cards throughout the 1950s and 1960s.  The 1965 Topps Cookie Rojas card completed my Phillies team set from that year, and I now have the pleasure of tracking down those Phillies cards all over again for our 1965 Topps set.

An unexpected surprise was the addition of the 1966 Phillies Yearbook and a Sports Illustrated from 1958 with outfielding and base running tips from Richie Ashburn.  My Mom once again did an amazing job and she already knows how much she means to me.

2011 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim

Part 1 - Continuing a Tradition

Part 2 - 1971 Topps Set - 13 More Down

Part 3 - 1952 Topps Phillies

Part 4 - 1951 Bowman Phillies

Part 5 - Curt Simmons - Two New Bowman Cards

Part 6 - 1955 Bowman and Topps Phillies

2012 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1941 Double Play Litwhiler & May
Part 2 - 1963 Topps John Herrnstein rookie card (featuring Willie Stargell)
Part 3 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 1
Part 4 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 2
Part 5 - 1950 Bowman Del Ennis

2013 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1998 Upper Deck Scott Rolen
Part 2 - 1968 Topps Phillies Team Card
Part 3 - 1966 Topps Bob Uecker
Part 4 - 1955 Bowman Robin Roberts
Part 5 - 1965 Topps Johnny Callison
Part 6 - 1954 Bowman Richie Ashburn

2014 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1952 Bowman and 1953 Bowman Color Richie Ashburn
Part 2 - 1950 Bowman Roberts, 1951 Topps Blue Backs Jones, 1955 Bowman Wyrostek
Part 3 - 1995 Collector's Choice Hayes and 1999 Fleer Mystique Burrell

2015 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Seven Phillies Cards from the 1950s Crossed Off the List

2016 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 10 vintage Phillies cards added to the collection
Part 2 - 2 modern oddball Phillies cards find a new home

2017 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Vintage cards crossed off the list, 1959 Topps Phillies team set completed!

2018 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
8th annual haul completes 1953 Bowman Color Phillies team set

2019 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
1965 Topps team set completed, getting closer to most 1950s team sets

Philly Baseball Card Show Report - Finishing 1971 Topps, Starting 1965 Topps

On Saturday, and for the third and final time this year, Doug and I attended the Valley Forge baseball card show.  Doug was given a "loan" based on his anticipated upcoming birthday money haul and he spent the show picking up new Bryce Harper, Scott Kingery and other Phillies cards along with adding to his Mike Trout personal collection.

We added autographs from Benito Santiago, Brad Lidge and Ryan Howard, and I'll have photos of those friendly encounters up in a separate post.  Doug was happy to get the other half of his Pride of the Phillies print signed by Howard, as it had been previously signed by Carlos Ruiz.

Here's a summary of what I tracked down during another very productive, very crowded show:

•  I completed my 1971 Topps set, giving me a complete run of Topps flagship sets from 1970 to 2018.  The entire set took about 18 years to complete with the first batch of cards arriving from Santa on Christmas morning in either 2001 or 2002.  I purchased a large lot of cards (maybe 150 or so?) in the summer of 2002, and I've been slowly adding cards ever since.  The final three cards needed were #596 Mike Jorgensen, #662 Mike Hedlund and #715 Horace Clarke.
• Doug and I officially started our 1965 Topps set with the addition of 26 cards.  We had a goal of adding a bunch of commons and one or two semi-star cards, and that mission was accomplished.  I was very happy to add cards of Robin Roberts, Dick Sisler, Jim Fregosi, Cookie Rojas, Rick Wise, Johnny Callison, Dallas Green and Tony Taylor as part of this first batch.  I'll slowly post each of the cards added over at my new 1965 Topps blog.  I'm also proud to say that Doug rejected a few cards I had picked if they had corners a little too dinged up.  We're looking to build a set in great shape.
• I added three Phillies cards that had been on my want lists for quite a while - the 1972 Topps Steve Carlton, the Traded version, a 1941 Play Ball card of Chuck Klein and the 1962 Topps Rookie Parade card featuring Jack Hamilton, whose face is covered by a price tag in the photo above.
• Finally, a 1965 Phillies Yearbook entered my collection as I continue to slowly fill in the gaps I have in my Phillies Yearbooks collection.

It was another great day, although I'm happy (and my wallet is happy) that we now have a few months off until our next show.

Memory Lane

Valley Forge 1 - September 2010 - Thinking of my Dad
Valley Forge 2 - October 2012 - Doug's first baseball card show
Valley Forge 3 - September 2014 - Meeting Darren Daulton
Oaks 1 - October 2015 - Meeting Pete Rose and Steve Carlton
Valley Forge 4 - September 2016 - Phillies acquisitions and 4 Phillies Legends
Valley Forge 5 - December 2016 - Meeting Don Money
Valley Forge 6 - September 2017 - Doug's big day
Valley Forge 7 - December 2017 - Ben's first baseball card show with Mike Schmidt and Rhys Hoskins!
Oaks 2 - December 2018 - Meeting Matt Stairs and Cole Hamels
Valley Forge 8 - March 2019 - 5 Phillies Autographs and Vintage Phillies Additions
Valley Forge 9 - September 2019 - Closing in on 1971 Topps set and Andrew McCutchen
Valley Forge 10 - December 2019 - Finishing 1971 Topps set, Starting 1965 Topps set, adding key autographs from Ryan Howard and Brad Lidge

Series Preview - Phillies at Royals: May 10th to May 12th

1971 Topps #511

1971 Topps #118

Friday 8:15, Saturday 7:15 and Sunday 2:15
Kauffman Stadium - Kansas City, MO

Phillies 21-15, 1st place in the N.L. East, 4 games ahead of the Braves
Royals 13-25, 5th place in the A.L. Central, 11 1/2 games behind the Twins

Phillies Probables:  Jake Arrieta (4-2, 3.40), Zach Eflin (4-3, 3.00), Vince Velasquez (1-2, 3.86)
Royals Probables:  Homer Bailey (3-3, 5.25), Brad Keller (2-3, 3.99), Jakob Junis (3-3, 5.52)

At the Ballpark:  On Saturday, the first 15,000 fans arriving will receive an Adalberto Mondesi bobble head, and Sunday's giveaway is a Royals photo frame for the first 10,000 fans.  On Sunday, both teams will wear their Mother's Day themed uniforms.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Jean Segura - .306
Runs:  Andrew McCutchen - 26
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 11
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 32
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 3

Wins:  Jake Arrieta and Zach Eflin - 4
ERA:  Zach Eflin - 3.00
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 45
Saves:  Hector Neris - 5

Royals Leaders
Average:  Terrance Gore - .375
Runs:  Whit Merrifield - 30
Home Runs:  Hunter Dozier and Jorge Soler - 9
RBIs:  Adalberto Mondesi - 33
Stolen Bases:  Adalberto Mondesi - 10

Wins:  Homer Bailey and Jakob Junis - 3
ERA:  Brad Keller - 3.99
Strikeouts:  Jorge Lopez - 39
Saves:  Ian Kennedy - 2

Thanks Santa! Time to Update My Most Wanted List (#SBWTMABCTJ)

1950 Bowman #121

1952 Topps #158

1952 Bowman #184

We made it!  It's 2017 and the sun is (sort of) shining, the coffee is hot and I've decided to spend the first day of the year sorting baseball cards.  My first order of business is to once again completely update my Ten Most Wanted - Vintage list on the sidebar, which until the day after Christmas looked like this:

For the past six Christmases, my Mom has been chipping away at my Phillies team set needs one card at a time.  For as long as I can remember, Santa (with help from my parents I suppose) has gifted me with amazing baseball cards each and every Christmas morning.  Through my college years, the Dark Times and even after I had married and had kids of my own, my Dad continued the tradition of hunting down baseball cards that would amaze me and become treasured additions to my collection. My Mom has continued that tradition since my Dad passed away in 2011.

She truly outdid herself this year for the annual Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim (SBWTMABCTJ) extravaganza, completely wiping out my Ten Most Wanted - Vintage list.  Here's a run-down of the 10 vintage cards from this year's haul.  (Click on any of the photos of the cards to enlarge.)

1950 Bowman #121 Andy Seminick
This brings me down to needing just two more cards to complete the 1950 Bowman 19-card Phillies team set.  Once I have the final two cards, I'll definitely be showing off the complete set in a gallery-style post.

1952 Bowman #184 Curt Simmons
I'm also close to completing the 16-card Phillies team set from 1952 Bowman.  After adding this Simmons card to my collection, I'm only four cards away.  The back of this card references Simmons' return from military service.  Although it's slightly miscut, this may be my favorite card of the bunch.

1952 Topps #158 Eddie Waitkus
The bio on the back of this card begins, "Shot by a crazed girl in June, 1949, Ed was close to death." Most of the remaining Phillies cards I need from the 1952 Topps set are from the scarce and pricey high number series.

1952 Bowman Black & White #58

1953 Bowman Color #133

1958 Topps #90

1959 Topps #8

1953 Bowman Black & White #58 Jim Konstanty
1953 Bowman Color #133 Willie Jones
It's always exciting to add cards of any of the Whiz Kids to my collection.  I've seen these two cards for years both at baseball card shows and online, and it's a fantastic feeling to have them both in my collection now.  Kids opening packs of baseball cards in 1953 had no idea how good they had it.

1958 Topps #90 Robin Roberts
1959 Topps #8 Phillies Team Card
With the exception of cards needed from the 1952 Topps set, I'm surprisingly close to having a complete run of Phillies cards from the Topps sets of the 1950s.  I'm pretty sure I have this Roberts card in my collection in reprint form, so it's nice to finally have the original.

1965 Topps #4

1967 Topps #560

1967 Topps #595

1965 Topps #4 N.L. Home Run Leaders
Johnny Callison's head appearing in the bottom left of this card meant that I needed it to complete my 1965 Topps Phillies team set.  It's also great to have an excuse to add a card featuring three Hall of Famers (Willie Mays, Billy Williams and Orlando Cepeda) to my collection.

1967 Topps #560 Jim Bunning
1967 Topps #595 Cookie Rojas
Wrapping up the vintage portion of the annual SBWTMABCTJ are two Phillies cards I needed for my 1967 Topps team set.  These are both from the tougher high-number series, and the Rojas card is a close runner up to the 1952 Bowman Simmons card as my favorite addition.

But wait, there's more!  My Mom also crossed off two extremely oddball wants from my Ten Most Wanted - Modern list and I'll feature those two cards in a future post.

Series Preview - Phillies at Cardinals: May 2nd to May 5th

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 8:15, Thursday 1:45
Busch Stadium - St. Louis, MO

Phillies 15-10, 3rd place in the N.L. East, 2 1/2 games behind the Nationals
Cardinals 12-13, 3rd place in the N.L. Central, 6 games behind the Cubs

Phillies Probables:  Jeremy Hellickson (2-1, 3.81), Aaron Nola (1-2, 3.55), Adam Morgan (0-0, 5.40), Jared Eickhoff (1-3, 4.15)
Cardinals Probables:  Adam Wainwright (1-3, 7.16), Michael Wacha (2-1, 3.07), Mike Leake (0-3, 5.83), Jaime Garcia (1-2, 3.73)

At the Ballpark:  On Wednesday, the first 30,000 fans will receive a Cardinals tote bag, presented by MLB.com.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Odubel Herrera - .301
Runs:  Odubel Herrera - 15
Home Runs:  Maikel Franco and Ryan Howard - 5
RBIs:  Maikel Franco - 14
Stolen Bases:  Odubel Herrera - 4

Wins:  Vince Velasquez - 4
ERA:  Vince Velasquez - 1.44
Strikeouts:  Vince Velasquez - 39
Saves:  Jeanmar Gomez - 8

Cardinals Leaders
Average:  Aledmys Diaz - .405
Runs:  Aledmys Diaz - 18
Home Runs:  Brandon Moss - 6
RBIs:  Matt Carpenter - 17
Stolen Bases:  Three tied with - 2

Wins:  Carlos Martinez - 4
ERA:  Carlos Martinez - 2.60
Strikeouts:  Jaime Garcia - 35
Saves:  Trevor Rosenthal - 5

1970 Topps #40

1970 Topps #162

1970 Topps #569

1970 Topps #360

1970 Topps #388

1970 Topps #511

1970 Topps #90

1970 Topps Appreciation:  The Phillies first meeting with the Cardinals this season gives me the opportunity to feature all of the players involved in the infamous Phillies-Cardinals trade from October 7, 1969.  On that date, the Phillies traded Dick Allen, Jerry Johnson and Cookie Rojas to the Cardinals for Curt Flood, Byron Browne, Joe Hoerner and Tim McCarver.  Browne, Hoerner and McCarver all reported to the Phillies but Flood refused, challenging the reserve clause which bound a player to whichever team held his contract.  For much more on Flood, please see his SABR biography.

In order to show each of the players involved in this trade on their new teams, Topps didn't have to do that much work.  Hatless photos were available for all but Allen and Flood.  If you didn't look too closely at Allen's profile photo, you may have been convinced he was wearing a Cardinals hat and uniform.  Flood's photo used the then standard brim up pose, which was employed by Topps photographers in case of team changes.

Of course, Flood would never play a game for the Phillies and minor leaguers Willie Montanez and Jim Browning were sent by the Cardinals to the club instead.  Flood sat out the 1970 season and was traded by the Phillies to the Senators that November.

2015 Topps Heritage vs. 1966 Topps Phillies

1966 Topps #170

2015 Topps Heritage #170

It looks as if I skipped going through this exercise last year, but I've always enjoyed seeing how Topps matches up cards in its Heritage releases to the cards to be found in their original sets.  I've put together a table below that compares the Phillies related cards to be found in the 2015 Topps Heritage set with their 1966 Topps counterparts and vice versa.  I've listed below links to my posts looking at the 2012 and 2013 Topps Heritage sets.

The number of "hits" decreased again in 2015, with only 7 Phillies cards from the 2015 Topps Heritage set having clear and logical counterparts in the original 1966 Topps set.  I assigned a "Hit" to card #52 in each set as both sets feature two power hitters in a "Power Plus" multi-player card.  Unfortunately, there just wasn't a logical or meaningful choice of Phillies players to use for this card given the team's declining offense in 2014.

1966 Topps #411

2015 Topps Heritage #411

It would be impossible to match up every card in a Heritage set, due to modern expansion and the smaller size of the modern Heritage sets, but I'd love to see Topps return to the days of at least trying to match up more cards.  In the earlier days of the Hertiage sets, Topps would have used a close cropped head shot of Chase Utley to better approximate Cookie Rojas' card in the original set.  They also would have come up with more similar poses to the older set than the crossed arm pose that is ubiquitous in the new Heritage set.

The average collector will never notice stuff like this, but if I worked for Topps you know I would have made sure the "M" in manager was capitalized on Ryne Sandberg's card in order to more closely approximate the original version.  It also bums me out that the Phillies didn't receive a team card in the 2015 Topps Hertiage set.

If and when time permits, I'd like to go back through all the Topps Heritage sets to see which sets have the highest number of matches.

Memory Lane
2012 Topps Heritage vs. 1963 Topps Phillies - 25 Hits
2013 Topps Heritage vs. 1964 Topps Phillies - 11 Hits

Angels at Phillies: May 13th to May 14th

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

Angels 19-17, 2nd Place in the A.L. West, 3 games behind the Athletics
Phillies 17-19, Tied for 4th Place in the N.L. East, 4 games behind the Braves

Angels Probables:  Matt Shoemaker (0-1, 4.05), Garrett Richards (3-0, 2.80)
Phillies Probables:  Cliff Lee (3-3, 3.64), A.J. Burnett (2-2, 2.90)

At the Ballpark:  All fans will receive a pair of Phillies sunglasses at tonight's ballgame.  Unofficially, it's also Millville, NJ night as the town sold over 6,000 tickets to this game in order to provide a warm welcome to hometown hero Mike Trout.  As a native of Millville, I'll be in attendance with a few thousand fellow Phillies fans who will undoubtedly change their life-long allegiances once Trout comes up to bat.  If I had my way, the Phillies will jump to a 10-0 lead and the only runs scored by the Angels will come on a few Trout home runs.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Chase Utley - .338

Runs:  Jimmy Rollins - 21

Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 7

RBIs:  Marlon Byrd - 23

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 12

Wins:  Antonio Bastardo and Cliff Lee - 3

ERA:  A.J. Burnett - 2.90

Strikeouts:  Cliff Lee - 51

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 11

1988 Topps #774 and 1988 Topps Traded #97T

1988 Topps Appreciation:  I thought these two cards would be a cool pair to put together for this series preview post.  The two Angels managers pictured here - Gene Mauch and Cookie Rojas - will forever be part of Phillies history for their roles not only in the fateful 1964 season, but throughout the decade of the '60s.

Mauch's 1,331 career wins with the Phillies between 1960 and 1968 are now second only to Charlie Manuel's 1,416 career wins.  Mauch never made it to the World Series, although he came closest with the 1964 Phillies and the 1982 and 1986 Angels.  In the middle of spring training in 1988, Mauch abruptly announced his retirement due to health issues.  He was replaced by his long-time player and coach, Rojas.

Rojas had a decent first year with an aging Angels team, going 75-79, but he was fired with eight games left in the season and replaced by Moose Stubing.

Royals at Phillies: April 5th to April 7th

Friday 4:05, Saturday 7:05 and Sunday 1:35
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Royals 1-2, Tied for 4th Place in A.L. Central, 1 game behind the Indians, White Sox and Twins
Phillies 1-2, 4th Place in N.L. East, 2 games behind the Nationals

Royals Probables:  Wade Davis (0-0, 0.00), Luis Mendoza (0-0, 0.00), James Shields (0-1, 1.50)
Phillies Probables:  Kyle Kendrick (0-0, 0.00), John Lannan (0-0, 0.00), Cole Hamels (0-1, 9.00)

At the Ballpark:  The Phillies are going all out for their home opener, with pre-game festivities, rally towels for all fans and 1980 World Series foes Mike Schmidt and George Brett throwing out the ceremonial first pitches.  Tomorrow night is Kids Opening Night with all kids getting a Jimmy Rollins Replica Gold Glove Trophy.  And on Sunday, all kids will receive a Ryan Howard Wiffle Ball Set.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Chase Utley - .455

Runs:  Three tied with - 2

Home Runs:  Chase Utley - 1

RBIs:  Chase Utley - 6

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere and Jimmy Rollins - 2

Wins:  Cliff Lee - 1

ERA:  Cliff Lee - 0.00

Strikeouts:  Roy Halladay - 9

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 1

1973 Topps #188 and #166

1973 Topps Flashback:  Today's flashback features two teammates from the 1969 Phillies squad.  Cookie Rojas came to the Phillies in a trade with the Reds in November 1962 for pitcher Jim Owens.  He spent the next seven seasons patrolling the infield (and the outfield in the early years) of Connie Mack Stadium.  His best season with the club was perhaps 1965 when he made the All-Star team and hit .303 while playing every position except third base and pitcher.

Rojas was shipped to the Cardinals in October 1969 as part of the trade in which Curt Flood refused to report to the Phillies, eventually opening the door to the free agency era.  After a few months in St. Louis, Rojas was traded again to the Royals, where he'd spend the better part of the 1970s.  Strangely enough, Rojas played in exactly 880 games with both the Phillies and the Royals.

Terry Harmon spent his entire 10-year career in Phillies pinstripes.  Never a regular, Harmon played all three infield positions and hit .233 in 547 career games.  Looking through my Harmon cards for this post, I never realized that he appeared in every Topps set from 1969 to 1978 and every single card features him in a posed shot.

1969 Topps Stamps Phillies

Whenever I receive baseball cards in a trade, the stuff that truly wows me are the oddball cards included within the package.  The old Topps cards are great, and I'll definitely spend plenty of time studying and appreciating them, but it's cool to receive something that you've never really seen before.  I already featured the three Exhibits cards received in my trade with John, but I also received several much smaller oddball items in the magic box as well.

John sent three stamps from the 1969 Topps Stamps set along with a unused Phillies Stamp Album.  I sure do wish Topps would issue more items like this today.  I have two boys under the age of five, and both of them love anything to do with stickers.  I'd gladly plunk down a few dollars for a pack of 2012 Topps Stamps if it meant I could help my boys with "their" collections.  Topps took a step in the right direction with their sticker set in 2011, but I'd like to see them bring back stamp sets too.  But I digress.

There are ten Phillies stamps included within the 1969 set, and the first page of the stamp album offers a helpful Table of Contents for those young collectors who couldn't be bothered to just flip through the seven pages of the booklet to find a certain player.  I'll be leaving my three new stamps loose and I'll be on the look-out for the seven remaining Phillies stamps in the set.

Thanks again John!