Game 35 - Knebel Blows Chance for Sweep

1986 Fleer #452

Dodgers 5, Phillies 4
Game 35 - Sunday Afternoon, May 15th in Los Angeles
Record - 17-18, 2nd Place, 5 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Corey Knebel couldn't secure the win for the Phillies, as the Dodgers walked off to victory, avoiding the four-game sweep.

What It Means:  I watched almost all of this game while flying from Philadelphia to Dallas for a work trip.  The game, much like the flight, was smooth and enjoyable until the end when the game, similar to the flight, hit a bit of bumpy, unpleasant turbulence.

What Happened:  Aaron Nola turned in an effective outing, pitching seven strong innings and allowing just two runs on four hits.  He struck out eight and threw 108 pitches.  Knebel retired the first two Dodgers batters in the bottom of the ninth, but then allowed a triple to Cody Bellinger that opened the floodgates.  He walked Chris Taylor and then surrendered a game-ending two-run double to Gavin Lux.

Lux was redeemed after being responsible for all four Phillies unearned run when he missed a ground ball in the second inning.  With two outs, Johan Camargo on first and Jean Segura on second, Lux couldn't field a Bryson Stott grounder and Segura scored.  Camargo came home on a Garrett Stubbs ground rule double, and Rhys Hoskins brought Stott and Stubbs home with a single to right.  The Phillies offense was fairly quiet after that.

Featured Card:  The last time the Phillies completed a four-game sweep of the Dodgers in Los Angeles was in late August/early September 1985.  The winning pitchers in those four games were Don Carman, Kevin Gross, Shane Rawley and John Denny.  Dave Shipanoff, a Phillies Room Favorite, recorded saves in two of those games, accounting for two of his three career saves.

2022 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2022 Season Summary Index / 2022 Chachi Set Checklist

1986 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  49
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 set issued in 1985.  Fronts feature a full color picture and the backs include brief biographical notes on each player, coach or manager.  The multi-player Future Phillies cards return for a second year in a row and each of the four National League pennant winning teams from the franchise's past get their own team cards.

How Distributed:  The set's entry in the 2001 Standard Catalog Baseball Cards notes the "cards were given away at the Phillies' annual baseball card promotion."  Double checking the team's promotional schedule for the season, there's no actual mention of a photo card giveaway day.  My best guess is that these sets were available for sale at Veterans Stadium throughout the season.

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

1. Luis Aguayo (#16 - INF) 2. Larry Andersen (#47 - RHP) 3. Steve Bedrosian (#40 - RHP) 4. Steve Carlton (#32 - LHP) 5. Don Carman (#42 - LHP) 6. Rocky Childress (#50 - RHP)           7. Darren Daulton (#10 - C) 8. Jim Davenport (#2 - CO) 9. Lee Elia (#4 - CO) 10. John Felske (#7 - MG) 11. Tom Foley (#11 - SS) 12. Greg Gross (#21 - OF-1B) 13. Kevin Gross (#46 - RHP) 14. Von Hayes (#9 - 1B) 15. Charles Hudson (#49 - RHP) 16. Tom Hume (#41 - RHP) 17. Chris James (#26 - OF)

18. Steve Jeltz (#30 - SS) 19. Joe Lefebvre (#23 - OF) 20. Randy Lerch (#35 - LHP) 21. Garry Maddox (#31 - OF) 22. Claude Osteen (#3 - CO) 23. Shane Rawley (#28 - LHP) 24. Gary Redus (#22 - LF) 25. Ronn Reynolds (#29 - C) 26. Robin Roberts (#36 - HOF)           27. Dave Rucker (#39 - LHP) 28. John Russell (#6 - C) 29. Mike Ryan (#5 - CO) 30. Juan Samuel (#8 - 2B) 31. Mike Schmidt (#20 - 3B) 32. Rick Schu (#15 - INF) 33. Dave Shipanoff (#33 - RHP)

34. Dave Stewart (#48 - RHP) 35. Jeff Stone (#14 - OF) 36. Kent Tekulve (#27 - RHP) 37. Milt Thompson (#24 - CF) 38. Fred Toliver (#43 - RHP) 39. Del Unser (#25 - CO) 40. Glenn Wilson (#12 - RF) 41. Ramon Carabello / Joe Cipolloni 42. Arturo Gonzalez / Mike Maddux 43. Francisco Melendez / Ricky Jordan 44. Kevin Ward / Randy Day 45. 1915 Phillies Team 46. 1950 Phillies Team 47. 1980 Phillies Team 48. 1983 Phillies Team 49. June 11, 1985 - A Night to Remember

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (0)

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (11):  Bedrosian, Foley, Hume, Redus, Reynolds, Rucker, Shipanoff, Stewart, Tekulve, Thompson, Toliver
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (22):  Aguayo, Andersen, Carman, Carlton, Childress, Daulton, G. Gross, K. Gross, Hayes, Hudson, James, Jeltz, Lefebvre, Lerch, Maddox, Rawley, Russell, Samuel, Schmidt, Schu, Stone, Wilson

Manager (1):  Felske
Coaches (5):  Davenport, Elia, Osteen, Ryan, Unser

Commemorative Cards (1):  Roberts
Other Cards (5):  Four pennant winning team cards; June 11, 1985 commemorative card

The "Night to Remember" photo card commemorates the night the Phillies defeated the Mets 26-7, thanks in part to two first inning home runs from Von Hayes.  Hayes, Glenn Wilson, Juan Samuel, Mike Schmidt, Garry Maddox and Bo Diaz are all featured on the card in a Dick Perez painting.

Surprises:  Robin Roberts was presumably a guest instructor during spring training 1986, hence his inclusion in the set.  I always think it's odd seeing former Phillies wear current uniforms they themselves didn't wear during their playing days.  Seeing Roberts in maroon pinstriped jersey is just strange.  Dave Shipanoff is the only player to receive his own solo card not to appear in a game with the Phillies in 1986.

Omissions:  This is a very comprehensive set, featuring the entire 25-man opening day roster, the two players who started the season on the disabled list (Tom Foley and Tom Hume) and solo photo cards for six players who started the season at Triple-A Portland - Jeff Stone, Chris James, Ronn Reynolds, Randy Lerch, Fred Toliver and Rocky Childress.  The checklist creators missed out on five players who would start the season in the minors and make an appearance with the Phillies during 1986 - Greg Legg, Michael Jackson, Jeff Bittiger, Bruce Ruffin and Marvin Freeman.  Legg was the first one up, getting recalled on April 14th when Samuel landed on the disabled list.

Variations/Rarities:  Surprisingly, none.

Also See:  Scrapbook Sunday: February 21, 1986

Resources:  Beckett.com

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.

1985 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1987 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards

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

1985 Phillies - No Missing Links

1985 Topps Traded #121T, 1986 Donruss #34 and 1986 Topps #418

For just the second time since I started this series, I came across a year in which every single player spending time with the Phillies actually has a Phillies baseball card.  (The only other year to this point is 1993.)  I don't think there's any real reason for this to have happened in 1985, as it wasn't a terrific year for the Phils.  But with a little luck, and the existence of the team-issued Tastykake sets, every member of the 1985 squad graces at least a little Phillies cardboard.

In fact, there are just 10 players who appeared with the Phillies in 1985 who didn't appear in either the regular Topps base or traded set.  I created cards for these 10 players, and posted them here.

3 Cards or More
32 Players

Right-handed reliever Dave Shipanoff just makes the cut with three total cards from the 1986 Donruss, Fleer and Tastykake sets.  He appeared in 26 games with the Phils in late 1985, before injuries cut his career short.

2 Cards

Derrel Thomas (63 games in 1985) - 1985 Topps Traded #121T and 1986 Topps #158
Rocky Childress (16 games in 1985 and 2 games in 1986) - 1985 Tastykake Phillies and 1986 Tastykake Phillies

Thomas finished up his 15-year career with the Phillies.  He has the distinction of appearing with three different teams on 1985 baseball cards.  His 1985 Topps card features him as a member of the Expos.  The Expos sold Thomas to the Angels in September 1984, and he played in just 14 games with California.  Fleer hustled a little more than Topps and has him with the Angels on his 1985 card.  Finally, Topps issued a Phillies card for Thomas within its traded series.

Childress never received a standard-sized Phillies card.

1 Card

Pat Zachry (10 games in 1985) - 1985 Tastykake Phillies

Alan Knicely (7 games in 1985) - 1986 Topps #418
Rich Surhoff (2 games in 1985) - 1985 Tastykake Phillies

The inclusion of Knicely's card within the 1986 Topps set always puzzled me, and it would never happen in today's Topps sets.  Knicely came to the Phillies in August 1985 as part of the Bo Diaz deal with the Reds.  Injuries limited his time with the club, and his final Phillies line reads - 0 for 7 with 4 strikeouts.

Technically, Zachry has two cards as he's featured with the rest of the Phillies pitching staff on a multi-player card included within the 1985 Tastykake set.  The 1976 National League Rookie of the Year appeared in just 10 games for the Phillies before getting released in June 1985.

Surhoff, B.J.'s older brother, pitched just one full inning for the Phillies, earning a win on September 8th.  On September 13th, he was traded to the Rangers for Dave Stewart.

Past Missing Link Posts

1980 Phillies - Orlando Isales and Don McCormack

1981 Phillies - Jerry Reed

1982 Phillies - Stan Bahnsen and Alejandro Sanchez

1983 Phillies - Steve Comer
1984 Phillies - Renie Martin, Jim Kern and Mike LaValliere

1990 Phillies - Louie Meadows

1991 Phillies - Dave LaPoint

1992 Phillies - Darrin Chapin and Mickey Weston

1993 Phillies - None

1994 Phillies - Tom Edens and Bob Wells

1995 Phillies - Jim Deshaies, Kevin Elster, Omar Olivares, Chuck Ricci and Dennis Springer

1996 Phillies - Glenn Dishman, Bronson Heflin, Manny Martinez and Rafael Quirico

1997 Phillies - Rob Butler and Mike Robertson

1998 Phillies - Robert Dodd and Matt Whiteside

1999 Phillies - Joel Bennett, Domingo Cedeno, Joe Grahe and Torey Lovullo

2000 Phillies - Clemente Alvarez, Kirk Bullinger, Mark Holzemer and Bryan Ward

1985 Topps Phillies - Missing Links

My post on the 1985 Topps Phillies cards is not quite ready yet, but I wanted to share these "cards that never were" for players who should have had Phillies cards in the 1985 Topps set.  There are only ten players who appeared with the Phils in 1985 who didn't have Topps Phillies cards in either Topps' regular or traded sets.  Here are those missing ten cards:

PR1

PR2

PR3

PR4

PR5

PR6

PR7

PR8

PR9

PR10