Phillies Acquire Kendrick from Dodgers for Ruf, Sweeney

2017 Chachi New Additions #2

2017 Chachi Departures #2

2017 Chachi Departures #3

On Friday afternoon, the Phillies seemingly found their coveted "professional hitter," acquiring Howie Kendrick from the Dodgers for Darin Ruf and Darnell Sweeney.  Kendrick is expected to be the team's everyday left fielder in 2017.  An 11-year veteran, Kendrick has played the majority of his career at second base and only 120 of his 1,112 games have been in left.  But the Phillies wanted his bat and they're hopeful he can add some punch to what was a mostly punchless offense in 2016.

In 146 games for the Dodgers last season, Kendrick hit .255 with 8 home runs and 40 RBIs.  An All-Star in 2011 with the Angels, Kendrick is a career .289 hitter.  His most recent mainstream baseball cards can be found within the 2016 Topps Update, Topps Allen & Ginter, Topps Gypsy Queen and Topps Heritage sets.

The Phils bid farewell to Ruf, part of the Phillies system since 2009.  Blocked at first base by Ryan Howard for most of his Phillies career, he's ironically departing the organization the same year as Howard.  Between 2012 and 2016, Ruf appeared in 286 games, hitting .240 with 35 home runs and 96 RBIs.

Sweeney was originally acquired from the Dodgers in the August 2015 Chase Utley deal.  He spent all of 2016 with the IronPigs, and he appeared in 37 games for the 2015 Phillies, hitting .176.  Here's a complete listing of Ruf's and Sweeney's Chachi cards:

Darin Ruf Chachi Checklist
2012 Chachi #57
2013 Chachi #48
2014 Chachi #43
2015 Chachi #13
2016 Chachi #11
2017 Chachi Departures #2

Darnell Sweeney Chachi Checklist
2015 Chachi #59
2016 Chachi IronPigs Signing Autographs #3
2016 Chachi Almost #24
2017 Chachi Departures #3

16 Who Were Almost Phillies

2016 Chachi Almost #10

2016 Chachi Almost #11

2016 Chachi Almost #12

2016 Chachi Almost #13

Beginning in Spring Training, whenever I come across a cool photo of a newer player or coach in a Phillies uniform, I set it aside and eventually create a Chachi card.  I also make it a point to create Chachi cards for anyone added to the team's 40-man roster, or anyone who played for the Phillies in a prior season who is still with the organization.  This way, when an Alec Asher or a Roman Quinn gets the call to the big leagues, their Chachi card is ready to go.  The Phillies Room and the Chachi card creation process runs like a well-oiled machine, the envy of custom card creators throughout the land.*

These are the 16 remaining cards I created this year for players (and one coach) who didn't suit up for the Phillies in 2016.

Will Venable (of) - The final outfield spot on the opening day roster came down to Venable or Cedric Hunter, with Hunter getting the nod.  Venable requested and was granted his release in June to allow him to sign with the Dodgers.  In 12 games with the Dodgers, he went 1 for 18 (.056).

Angelys Nina (inf) - Nina was released by the IronPigs on the same day Venable was let go.

Reinier Roibal (rhp) - Roibal appeared in 19 games for the IronPigs and Fightin Phils, and was released by the Double-A team in late June.

Edward Mujica (rhp) - The former big league All-Star was an All-Star for the IronPigs before requesting and being granted his release in mid-July.  He spent the rest of the season with the Royals and Twins organizations.

2016 Chachi Almost #14

2016 Chachi Almost #15

2016 Chachi Almost #16

2016 Chachi Almost #17

Mark Appel (rhp) - The top prospect's season ended in late June when he had elbow surgery.

David Buchanan (rhp) - After starting 15 games for the club last season, Buchanan didn't make it back up to the majors in 2016.  In 26 starts for the IronPigs, he went 10-9 with a 3.98 ERA.

Jimmy Cordero (rhp) - A member of the 40-man roster, Cordero lost most of the season to a shoulder injury.

Matt Harrison (lhp) - Get used to seeing this card again in the style of the 2017 Chachi set. Harrison will most likely never pitch for the Phillies due to ongoing back issues, but he has a guaranteed contract and a spot on the team's 40-man roster.

2016 Chachi Almost #18

2016 Chachi Almost #19

2016 Chachi Almost #20

2016 Chachi Almost #21

Mario Hollands (lhp) - Hollands last pitched for the Phillies in 2014 and he's spent the last two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Gregory Infante (rhp) - A non-roster invitee, Infante spent the bulk of the season in Double-A.  He last pitched in the majors with the White Sox in 2010.

Gabriel Lino (c) - A back-up catcher, Lino split time in 2016 between Clearwater and Reading.

John Mizerock (coach) - The team's assistant hitting coach in 2014 and third base coach in 2015, Mizerock was a coach for the Rooke-A Williamsport Crosscutters in 2016.

2016 Chachi Almost #22

2016 Chachi Almost #23

2016 Chachi Almost #24

2016 Chachi Almost #25

Logan Moore (c) - Another back-up catcher, Moore played for both Lehigh Valley and Reading this season.

Brock Stassi (1b) - Stassi appeared in 117 games for the IronPigs in 2016, hitting .267 with 12 home runs and 58 RBIs.

Darnell Sweeney (inf/of) - Like Buchanan, Sweeney seemed to be poised to be a major part of the team's plans in 2016 but like Buchanan he never got the call to the big club in 2016.  In 118 games with the IronPigs, the versatile Sweeney hit just .233.

Nick Williams (of) - Williams hopes to be a part of the team's starting outfield in 2017.  In 125 games with the IronPigs, he hit .258 with 13 home runs and 64 RBIs.

*Maybe.  But probably not.

New Rare Insert Set - 2016 Chachi IronPigs Signing Autographs

2016 Chachi IronPigs Signing Autographs #1

2016 Chachi IronPigs Signing Autographs #2

2016 Chachi IronPigs Signing Autographs #3

2016 Chachi IronPigs Signing Autographs #4

2016 Chachi IronPigs Signing Autographs #5

The 2016 Chachi master set checklist recently grew by five more cards when these blue-bordered beauties found their way into late series, retail-only hanger packs.  The cards feature action photos of actual autograph signings in process, as evidenced by the IronPigs cards in this post.  Good luck tracking these down!

1st Annual @IronPigs Outing - Autographs! Corn! Fun! #Bacon

2016 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #18

2016 Topps Phillies #PP-10

2016 Topps Pro Debut #109

2016 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #21

Braves 2, Phillies 0
Game 136 - Sunday Afternoon, September 4th in Philadelphia
Record - 60-76, 4th place, 19 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Jake Thompson turned in his second straight solid start, but the anemic Phillies offense continued their struggles in this 2-0 loss to the Braves.

What It Means:  The Phillies head to Miami to try to snap a six-game losing streak.

What Happened:  Thompson allowed four hits and one run in his seven innings of work.  He also struck out six.  The offense managed five hits off Julio Teheran and three Braves relievers, going 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

2016 Topps Phillies #PP-7

Featured Cards/Field Report:  Late Sunday afternoon, we made the two-hour trek to Allentown for our sons' first visit to Coca-Cola Park, home of the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.  It had been at least six (or seven?) seasons since Jenna and I last visited this ballpark, and we've already made plans to make this part of our annual summer schedule along with taking in a Lakewood BlueClaws game.

We got there right as the gates opened and both Doug and Ben positioned themselves along the third base line by the IronPigs' dugout where they patiently waited for almost an hour for the players to emerge.  The first player to sign a card from their IronPigs team sets was catcher Logan Moore, who was heading to the bullpen to warm up the starting pitcher, Phil Klein.

The days' starters emerged about 25 minutes before game time to get in their pre-game stretching and then one by one (with the exception of a few) they headed over to the stands to sign autographs.  Cam Perkins and Darnell Sweeney were both very accommodating with their time.  Doug specifically called over top prospect Nick Williams for an autograph and told him he was there to see him play. Cody Asche was the most impressive however, signing every last autograph request right up until the start of the National Anthem.

Unfortunately, the IronPigs lost the game 5-4.  Klein pitched very well, but Jimmy Cordero, making his Triple-A debut, allowed four runs to the Rochester Red Wings in the eighth inning.  Perkins, Sweeney and Asche all enjoyed multi-hit games, while Williams went hitless in four at-bats.  On a more important note, Jenna and I can officially recommend the Aw Shucks corn, the BBQ turkey sandwich, the walking taco and beer in an IronPigs mason jar.  We'll be back next year!

Asche signs for the IronPigs fans

As discussed in this post, I'm taking a poll on how collectors track baseball card collections. 

Please vote in the poll on the sidebar if you haven't already.  Thanks!

2015 Topps Bunt Phillies

Thanks to a tip and a series of e-mails from fellow collector Burnell, I was made aware of several 2015 Topps Phillies variations to be found within the Topps Bunt App.  I have no idea how this App actually works, but I do know that it seems to be very popular.  From the official description from the Topps website:

Topps BUNT is the only real-time, real world Major League Baseball digital trading card game where the cards you own and collect earn points based on how your players perform on the field each day. Download BUNT for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch on the App Store.

Burnell sent me the scans shown in this post, and based on these cards I may have to give the App a try in 2016.  The design is the same as the 2015 flagship design with the exception of the Phillies "P" replacing the primary logo on the front and some dots appearing along the right borders.  Several Phillies players who were inexplicably omitted from the 2015 Topps Update set have cards available through the App, and I'll probably eventually print these to be added to my 2015 Phillies binder.

Interestingly enough, the images for Luis Garcia and Severino Gonzalez are swapped.

Meeting The Bull (Again)

Phillies 4, Mets 3
Game 157 - Tuesday Night, September 29th in Philadelphia
Record - 60-97, 5th Place, 29 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Darin Ruf's three-run home run in the first along with excellent relief pitching gave the Phillies the 4-3 win.

What It Means:  The Phillies will need to go 3-2 the rest of the way to avoid 100 losses.

What Happened:  Ruf's home run was key but it turned out the Phillies also needed the insurance run delivered with an Aaron Altherr RBI single in the seventh.  Adam Loewen retired the final batter of the fifth inning which made him the pitcher of record.  He recorded his first win since 2007 and also recorded his first hit since 2011 when he was an outfielder for the Blue Jays.

Featured Card/Field Report:  The paid attendance was 15,227, but I'd estimate there were much fewer than half of that actually at the game.  Doug and I were at this game, along with a few thousand of our closest friends and a lot of empty blue seats.  We got a little wet from a steady rain in the later innings, but overall we had a good time.

The sparse crowd gave us just about all of Section 315 to ourselves and allowed us to leisurely browse the concourse and the various merchandise stores and kiosks prior to and during the game. The Phillies are now an improbable 8-6 this season in games I've attended.  A few other observations:

• Greg Luzinski was perched in his usual seat by Bull's BBQ and Doug had brought along a 1972 Ticketron Phillies card for The Bull to sign.  Luzinski obliged with an autograph and a picture, although he did seem a little cranky.  I guess sitting through 70+ Phillies home games this season will do that to a guy.
• Darnell Sweeney has an official giant line-up card, but Brian Bogusevic does not.
• I bought a $3 second series photo card set solely to confirm there were no new cards added to the set.  Suspicion confirmed.

Memory Lane

Bull Meeting #1 - April 2010

Bull Meeting #2 - August 2013

2013 Topps Pro Debut #15 Adam Morgan

Phillies 4, Padres 3
Game 130 - Saturday Night, August 29th in Philadelphia
Record - 52-78, Tied for 4th Place, 19 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Adam Morgan, with support from Darnell Sweeney, pitched and hit his way to victory as the Phillies defeated the Padres, 4-3.

What It Means:  The Phils will go for the series sweep this afternoon.  And it's hard to believe there's only 32 games left of the 2015 season.

What Happened:  Morgan threw six strong innings allowing two unearned runs on four hits.  He collected his first big league RBI in the fourth for what would be the decisive run in this game.  Sweeney hit a two-run home run in the second to get the Phils on the board first.

Featured Card:  Morgan gets the nod over Sweeney for the featured card since (a) Morgan was impressive on the mound and at the plate and (b) I have no actual Sweeney baseball cards in my collection.

No cards for Altherr or Sweeney

Field Report:  Doug and I attended this game together and we were happy to pick up our Maikel Franco Fatheads as we entered the ballpark.  Doug's Maikel is situated prominently in his bedroom and my Maikel found some open wall space in the real Phillies Room.  Doug's younger brother Ben made away with the other Phillies logos and the Phanatic, that came with the main Maikel Fathead.

We were a little disappointed that Aaron Altherr and Sweeney didn't have giant line-up cards*, but our disappoinment vanished after Doug appeared on Phanavision three times during this game.  In his final appearance, he rocked a nice solo on Bongo Cam.  I'm now at an even .500 for the season as the Phillies are 6-6 in games I've attended.

*Not only didn't they have cards, Doug noticed they misidentified Sweeney as the starting third baseman.

Virtual Phillies Wall Update:  Alec Asher replaced Nefi Ogando on the Wall and Asher will make his first Major League start this afternoon.  Ogando did not appear in a game during his brief call-up, putting him in danger of replacing Ender Inciarte as the last player to be on the Phillies roster but not actually appear in a game.