1985 Topps - Phillies Cards

1985 Topps #600

1985 Topps #650

1985 Topps #348

1985 Topps #149

I spent a lot of time in 2015 with the 1985 Topps set, as it was the basis for this year's custom Chachi set and I tried to feature relevant cards in each series preview post.  As I've done the last few years, it's time to tally up the Phillies related cards in the 1985 Topps set.  I came up with 153 cards from the base set and the 132-card traded set, falling just short of the 154 Phillies related cards in the 1988 Topps set.  (Links to past posts are below.)

The list below contains every player, coach or manager who spent time with the Phillies and also appeared in the 1985 Topps set.  You'll notice that the N.L. Central blows away the competition thanks to the future and ex-Phillies-heavy Cubs, Reds, Pirates and Cardinals.

National League East (55 - 16 without Phillies)
Atlanta Braves (4) - #25 Steve Bedrosian, #129 Gene Garber, #320 Dale Murphy, #716 Dale Murphy AS
Miami Marlins (0)
New York Mets (6) - #53 Tom Gorman, #492 Dave Johnson MG, #517 Jerry Martin, #649 Sid Fernandez, #677 Wally Backman, #83T Roger McDowell
Philadelphia Phillies (39)
Washington Nationals (Montreal Expos) (6) - #134 Terry Francona FS, #448 Derrel Thomas, #501 Dan Schatzeder, #526 Dave Palmer, #578 Terry Francona, #733 Tony Scott

National League Central (37)
Chicago Cubs (10) - #98 Steve Lake, #124 Rich Hebner, #189 Warren Brusstar, #210 Gary Matthews, #460 Ryne Sandberg, #484 Larry Bowa, #538 Keith Moreland, #563 Dick Ruthven, #589 Bob Dernier, #713 Ryne Sandberg AS
Cincinnati Reds (8) - #6 Pete Rose RB, #107 Tom Foley, #547 Pete Rose MG, #600 Pete Rose, #675 Tony Perez
Milwaukee Brewers (1) - #203 Bob McClure
Pittsburgh Pirates (9) - #125 Kent Tekulve, #139 Bob Skinner FS, #183 Larry McWilliams, #385 Jose DeLeon, #433 Jim Morrison, #537 Bill Robinson, #2T Bill Almon, #55T Al Holland, #75T Sixto Lezcano
St. Louis Cardinals (9) - #113 Tom Herr, #229 Dave LaPoint, #255 Lonnie Smith, #294 Tom Nieto, #421 Dave Rucker, #499 Danny Cox, #551 Andy Van Slyke, #15T Bill Campbell, #30T Ivan DeJesus

1985 Topps #103

1985 Topps #212

1985 Topps #221

1985 Topps Traded #109T

National League West (15)
Arizona Diamondbacks (0)
Colorado Rockies (0)
Los Angeles Dodgers (5) - #57 Pat Zachry, #440 Fernando Valenzuela, #32T Mariano Duncan, #58T Ken Howell, #88T Al Oliver
San Diego Padres (3) - #242 Greg Harris, #273 Bill Almon DP, #558 Carmelo Martinez
San Francisco Giants (7) - #74 Mike Krukow, #103 Randy Lerch, #310 Manny Trillo, #365 Danny Ozark MG, #541 Mark Davis, #27T Jim Davenport MG, #71T Dave LaPoint

American League East (9)
Baltimore Orioles (3) - #173 Mike Young, #289 Tom Underwood, #366 Todd Cruz
Boston Red Sox (2) - #89 Jackie Gutierrez, #686 Mike Easler
New York Yankees (3) - #284 Marty Bystrom, #724 Oscar Gamble, #769 Joe Cowley
Tampa Bay Rays (0)
Toronto Blue Jays (1) - #80T Len Matuszek

American League Central (18)
Chicago White Sox (3) - #221 Ron Reed, #650 Greg Luzinski, #37T Oscar Gamble
Cleveland Indians (5) - #119 Pat Corrales MG, #212 George Vukovich, #237 Julio Franco, #788 Steve Comer, #99T Vern Ruhle
Detroit Tigers (7) - #160 Lance Parrish, #307 Sparky Anderson MG, #333 Willie Hernandez, #408 Sid Monge, #586 Bill Scherrer, #708 Lance Parrish AS, #744 Doug Bair
Kansas City Royals (3) - #671 Dane Iorg, #773 Hal McRae, #109T Lonnie Smith
Minnesota Twins (0)

1985 Topps #333

1985 Topps #724

1985 Topps #754

1985 Topps Traded #75T

American League West (19)
Houston Astros (3) - #44 Dickie Thon, #426 Vern Ruhle, #634 Bill Dawley
Los Angeles Angels (3) - #133 Bob Boone FS, #348 Bob Boone, #81T Gene Mauch MG
Oakland Athletics (7) - #5 Joe Morgan RB, #12 Dave Lopes, #231 Dwayne Murphy, #352 Joe Morgan, #472 Jim Essian, #607 Bill Almon, #50T Steve Henderson
Seattle Mariners (4) - #449 Phil Bradley, #640 Steve Henderson, #656 Chuck Cottier MG, #754 Larry Milbourne
Texas Rangers (2) - #149 Dickie Noles, #47T Greg Harris

Other
Team USA (0)

Memory Lane

1973 Topps - 107 cards with Phillies connections
1979 Topps - 111 cards with Phillies connections, plus one more
1988 Topps - 154 cards with Phillies connections

1989 Pacific Legends II #187 Elmer Valo

My new 1956 Topps blog is up to three posts at this point, which means the latest post is covering card #3 in the 1956 Topps set - Elmer Valo.  Please check it out, leave a comment and tell your friends!

I'll be doing some cross-posting whenever a former Phillies player is featured on the 1956 Topps blog.

At 35 years old, Valo was released by the Athletics on May 21, 1956, and signed the next day with the Phillies.  He'd spend the entire season with the Phillies serving as one of the team's regular outfielders in right alongside Richie Ashburn in center and Del Ennis in left.  In 98 games with the Phillies, Valo hit .289 with 5 home runs and 37 RBIs.

In April 1957, Valo was part of a six-player trade with the Dodgers ending his short time back in Philadelphia.  He'd return one more time to the Phillies in June 1961, appearing in 50 games and hitting .186 (8 for 43) before calling it a career.  Valo served as a scout for the Phils between 1969 and 1982 and served for several of those years as a special instructor at spring training in Clearwater.

Valo entered the Athletics portion of the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1995, being inducted alongside Mike Schmidt.  He has two Phillies baseball cards that I'm aware of - 1957 Topps #54 and 1989 Pacific Legends II #187.

Phillies Missing Links of the 1980s - #11 Jeff Bittiger

#34
Jeffrey Scott Bittiger
Starting Pitcher

When rosters initially expanded in September 1986, the Phillies recalled outfielder Chris James, infielder Greg Legg and starting pitcher Jeff Bittiger.  Bittiger had come to the Phillies along with catcher Ronn Reynolds in January in a deal with the Mets that sent two prospects to New York.  He had a decent season with Triple-A Portland (13-8, 4.15 ERA) and the Phillies needed starting pitching help during the final month of their season, so he got the call-up.

In three starts, Bittiger would go 1-1 with a 5.52 ERA and the Phils ended up releasing him in December.  His longest stint in the Majors came in 1988 with the White Sox when he appeared in 25 games, earning him a number of mainstream baseball cards in 1989.  Bittiger pitched professionally with the Fargo-Moorhead Red Hawks for seven seasons between 1996 and 2002, finally retiring at the age of 40.

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  175
Born:  April 13, 1962, Jersey City, NJ
Drafted:  Drafted by the New York Mets in the 7th round of the June 1980 amateur player draft
Major League Teams:  Phillies 1986, Minnesota Twins 1987, Chicago White Sox 1988-1989
Professional Affiliations:  New York Mets 1980-1985, Phillies 1986, Minnesota Twins 1987, Chicago White Sox 1988-1989, Los Angeles Dodgers 1990, Cleveland Indians 1991, Oakland Athletics 1992, Rochester Aces (Independent) 1993, Kansas City Royals 1993, Winnipeg Goldeyes (Independent) 1994-1995, Oakland Athletics 1995, Fargo-Moorhead Red Hawks 1996-2002

Phillies Career
3 games, 1-1, 5.52 ERA in 14 2/3 innings pitched
Acquired:  Acquired from the New York Mets with Ronn Reynolds for Rodger Cole and Ronnie Gideon, January 16, 1986.
Debut:  September 2, 1986 - Lasted five innings against the Padres, allowing five runs on six hits.
Final Game:  October 4, 1986
Departed:  Released on December 8, 1986, and signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves, December 20, 1986.

1986 ProCards Portland Beavers #1

1988 Score Rookie & Traded #66T

1989 Topps #209

1989 Upper Deck #509

1 Bittiger Baseball Card in My Collection
First Card:  1986 ProCards Portland Beavers#1

Other Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1988 Score Rookie & Traded #66T
First Topps Base Card:  1989 Topps #209
Last Mainstream Card:  1989 Upper Deck #509
Other Notable Cards:  1982 TCMA Jackson Mets #1, 1989 Bowman #60, 1989 Score #512, 2003 Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks Team Issue #35

Sources:  Baseball Reference and The Trading Card Database

This is a continuing series looking at those players who spent time with the Phillies but possess no baseball card proof of their time in Philadelphia.  I will make my way through the decade of the 1980s first and then work my way forward.  In some cases, the First and Last Mainstream cards listed above have been subjectively chosen if multiple cards were released in that year.

2014 Topps Phillies

2014 Topps #502

2014 Topps #484

2014 Topps #312

2014 Topps #105

My oldest son Doug recently asked me to help him organize his quickly expanding baseball card collection.  I of course dropped everything and immediately obliged.  When sorting his cards into years, I had no problem identifying Topps cards up through 2010.  I was a little alarmed to discover that I had to check the backs of some of the cards to identify Topps flagship cards from between 2011 and 2014.  (As an aside, I had no issue identifying 2015 Topps cards, which I think is a good thing. And I know I won't have an issue picking out a card from the even more unique 2016 Topps set.)

2014 Topps #180 (Back)

Some people might love the Topps designs for the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 sets, but I find the designs mostly forgettable.  My thought on the 2014 Topps set when it first came out was that it had way too much going on with the design elements on the front, and overall look reminded me of something I'd see in a recent Bowman set.

With that underwhelming assessment out of the way, let's take a look at the 2014 Topps Phillies cards.  I'll be all caught up with this series (finally) until the 2015 Topps Update set comes out next month.

The Set
Number of cards in the set:  For the ninth year in a row, Series 1 and Series 2 have 330 cards each with #7 omitted in honor of Mickey Mantle.  The Update Series adds another 330 cards.  It's important to note that I'm omitting any gimmick or short-printed cards in these tallies.  A number of star cards are available with a sparkle added to the photo on the front.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  In light of what would come after it, with the unique designs of the 2015 and 2016 Topps sets, this set's design comes off as uninspired and seemingly a mish-mosh of design elements Topps couldn't fit into other sets.  For the third year in a row, the backs of the cards are very plain.

2014 Topps #182

2014 Topps #4

2014 Topps #296

2014 Topps #180

2014 Phillies
Record and finish:  In manager Ryne Sandberg's first (and only) full season, the Phillies went 73-89, finishing in last place in the N.L. East, 23 games behind the Nationals.
Key players:  Chase Utley had a decent year, hitting .270 with 11 home runs and 78 RBIs and he was the team's sole representative at the All-Star game.  Marlon Byrd returned to his original team and led the way with 25 home runs.  Ryan Howard had 95 RBIs, but hit an awful .223 while Jimmy Rollins dipped down below .250 with a .243 average.

The pitching was rough to witness with Kyle Kendrick leading the staff with 10 wins and his 4.61 ERA was just a little worse than team leader A.J. Burnett's 4.59.  Burnett (8-18) was one and done with the Phillies in 2014, opting to take a severe pay cut to return to the Pirates for 2015.  Cole Hamels received very little run support, which explains his 9-9 record despite a 2.46 ERA in 30 starts.  Jonathan Papelbon recorded 39 saves.
Key events:  There were a few big events for the club in 2014 that kept the fans entertained.  First, on June 14th, Rollins collected his 2,235th career hit, eclipsing the franchise mark for most hits previously held by Mike Schmidt.  On Labor Day, Hamels combined with Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Papelbon to throw a combined no-hitter against the Braves.

Finally, top prospect Maikel Franco made his Major League debut the day after the combined no-hitter on September 2nd.

2014 Phillies in 2014 Topps
Who's in:  The complete Phillies team set consists of 29 cards, broken down with 10 cards in Series 1, 11 cards in Series 2 and eight cards in the Update Series.  There are no short-printed, photo variation cards for any of the Phillies.

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#182 Carlos Ruiz (c), #105 Ryan Howard (1b), #502 Chase Utley (2b), #312 Jimmy Rollins (ss), #4 Cody Asche (3b), #296 Domonic Brown (lf), #180 Ben Revere (cf), #484 Marlon Byrd (rf)

2014 Topps #641

2014 Topps #196

2014 Topps #503

2014 Topps Update #US-281

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#641 A.J. Burnett, #196 Cole Hamels, #503 Kyle Kendrick, #US-281 David Buchanan

Roberto Hernandez, who started 23 games but was traded to the Dodgers in early August, got shut out from having a Phillies card.  It bugs me that Topps couldn't bother with an actual photo of Burnett in a Phillies uniform.  His base card is obviously photoshopped, and it still shows him wearing his gold and black Pirates necklaces.  Similarly annoying, but less egregious, is that Byrd's card features a photo from his first stint with the club from between 2002 and 2005.  Byrd wore #3 with the Phillies in 2014.

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2014 - 14 Cards

#74 John Mayberry Jr., #90 Ethan Martin, #122 Jonathan Papelbon, #345 Darin Ruf, #451 Luis Garcia, #609 Jonathan Pettibone, #629 Cliff Lee, #637 Freddy Galvis, #US-33 Grady Sizemore, #US-74 Antonio Bastardo, #US-77 Wil Nieves, #US-78 Reid Brignac, #US-129 Mike Adams, #US-181 Tony Gwynn Jr.

• Base cards of players who did not play with the Phillies in 2014 - 2 Cards

#498 Steve Susdorf, #565 Roy Halladay

• 2014 National League All-Star cards - 1 card, #US292 Chase Utley

2014 Topps #122

2014 Topps Update #US-33

2014 Topps #74

2014 Topps #637

Who's out:  I feel like Topps really picked up its game over the past decade in terms of player selection.  Once again, they did a nice job including a full array of Phillies players this season, from the bench guys to the bullpen.  Of the players not receiving cards, I'd include Cesar Hernandez (66 games), along with relievers Diekman, Justin De Fratus, Mario Hollands and Giles.

Phillies on other teams:  Jerome Williams (#US-236) is in the Update Series with the Rangers.

2014 Topps #498

What's he doing here:  I have no problem at all with the final tribute card for Halladay, showing his full career statistics.  Halladay announced his retirement prior to the 2014 season.  And I think it's great that career minor leaguer Susdorf ended up on a card.  Susdorf made it into three games with the 2013 Phillies after having spent 5 1/2 years in the Phillies minor league system.  He was released by the Triple-A IronPigs in July 2014.

Cards that never were candidates:  Both Hernandez's - Cesar and Roberto, Diekman, De Fratus, Hollands and Giles.  Just to amuse by oldest son Doug, I'd also have a card for reliever Jeff Manship.

Favorite Phillies card:  I really liked the Galvis card when I first saw it, but then it bothered me that you can't even see Galvis's face.  (Besides, I like to think I did this card better.)  I'll go with the Rollins card as my favorite, since it's his last Phillies card as an active player.  Rollins would be traded to the Dodgers in December following the season.

Other Stuff

Variations:  There are no variations to be found between the flagship, retail, Chrome and Opening Day sets.  After years of asking myself, "Well why did they bother to do that?", I find that I'm actually disappointed now when there are no strange, unexplained variations.

Opening a 2015 Phungo HOT PACK from @phungo2008

I'm no stranger to the annual Phungo baseball card product and its world-renowned packs.  For the seventh year in a row, an unexpected bubbleope showed up in our mail box yesterday and when I saw the return address, I immediately knew there was going to be great stuff inside.  I was right.

I'll have to check the packs from prior years, but I certainly don't remember the packs being so jam packed as the 2015 edition.  Maybe I received a special retail-only blaster special hot pack?  In any event, and as has been the case in prior years, the pack was full of this year's Phungo cards and an assortment of "buyback" cards that were miraculous all needed for my (and Doug's!) collections.

2015 Phungo #1

2015 Phungo #42

2015 Phungo #53

2015 Phungo #26

I was happy to add the first card in this year's set, former Phillies ace Cole Hamels, to my collection. Sadly, Hamels' season is done courtesy of shoddy Rangers fielding and the Jose Bautista bat flip heard 'round the world.  Ben Revere will advance to the ALCS along with the rest of the Blue Jays. Current Phillies closer Ken Giles was in the pack as was a nice card of Chase Utley, showing him in a non-take-out slide pose.

2015 Phungo #54

2015 Phungo #19

2015 Phungo #11

2015 Phungo #27

Some of my favorite cards this year feature former Phillies.  I received my first ever card of infielder Don Hasenmayer, who appeared in 11 games for the 1945 and 1946 Phillies.  Strangely enough, his Baseball Reference page indicates he wore #21 and #40 with the Phillies, but the team gave him a jersey with #23 on it for Alumni Day.  I also received Jayson Werth's card, which features a cameo from Garry Maddox, and a Jim Fregosi In Memoriam card.  I was able to scan the Mike Trout card before my oldest son Doug added it to his Mike Trout binder.

And then there were the "buybacks" not so randomly inserted into my pack.  I received a few early 1970s Phillies cards needed for my team sets along with another Trout card (for Doug's collection) and a short-printed 2013 Topps Archives card of Anthony Rizzo (again, for Doug's collection). Minor league cards of obscure Phillies are always welcome, and I added cards of Jim Vatcher and Gene Schall to my collection.  And that's just scratching the surface!  Without a doubt, this was my favorite Phungo pack yet and I definitely consider myself fortunate to receive such awesomeness each year.

1971 Topps #533

1972 Topps #587

1989 Star Clearwater Phillies #14

1992 Classic Best #266

Memory Lane

2009 Phungo
2010 Phungo
2011 and 2012 Phungo
2013 Phungo
2014 Phungo

Introducing My 1956 Topps Blog

1956 Topps #220

When (and if) I ever have additional time to start a second baseball card-related blog, I'd write about each of the 342 baseball cards comprising the 1956 Topps set - where we bought each card, my thoughts on the cards, and where I was during those twenty wonderful years of collecting this set with my Dad.  (February 6, 2011)

In early 2009, still riding the emotional high of the Phillies winning the World Series, I decided I was going to start a blog.  I had long read the great early baseball card blogs that began cropping up in the mid-2000s, and I wanted to throw my hat into the ring.  I decided I was either going to do a blog about the Phillies and their baseball cards, or I would do a complete set blog and cover the cards of the glorious 1956 Topps set.  After mulling my decision over for a few weeks, I decided to start a Phillies-related blog.

The Phillies Room made its debut on March 30, 2009, and two of the first ten posts featured cards from the 1956 Topps set at my Dad's request.  "What's this you're doing?" he asked the morning after my first few posts and "When are you going to put up some more '56s?"  My Dad and I officially started collecting the 1956 Topps set when I was about to enter 7th grade and we finished the set four years before my Dad would pass away at the way too young age of 67, four years ago today.  I always knew I'd eventually get around to launching a blog to chronicle the baseball card set I built with my Dad over a 20 year period.  And now it's here.

This blog will be finite in nature.  I plan on publishing exactly 342 posts - one post for each of the 340 cards in the set, plus the two unnumbered checklists.  I'll write briefly about the player (or league president) on the card and his career, with some biographical information and a summary of his playing days.  I'll feature some of the other more notable baseball cards available for the player and I'll document the player's connection to the Phillies if one exists.  I've always enjoyed tracking a player's career through his history of baseball cards and for each post I'll show that player's first and last cards, along with any Phillies cards that may have existed in between.

Most importantly to me, I'm going to document when and where my Dad and I added each card to our collection.  I took meticulous notes over a 20-year period, keeping track of when and where we found each card including, in most instances, the price we paid for each card.  From the old Ocean City baseball card shows at the Music Pier, to visits to local card stores in South Jersey, to cards that travelled from Kit Young Cards and found their way under the Christmas tree, I know where all of these cards came from.

This won't be a blog that goes into great detail for each player's career.  There are far better places to learn about Mickey Mantle or Ted Williams or Jackie Robinson.  Although ideally, I'd love it if readers of this blog would leave comments with their own memories of each card or each player. What this blog will be is a walk down memory lane for me and a lasting tribute to my Dad.

One final note . . . don't fear if it appears as if this blog has gone dormant for weeks or months at a time.  When the Phillies begin their inevitable and highly probable march towards the 2016 postseason, my attention will most likely focus solely on The Phillies Room.  But I'll be back every now and then over at the 1956 Topps blog loyally plodding through all 342 posts.  My goal is to wrap up this blog in a shorter time frame than it took my Dad and me to complete the set.