Nationals at Phillies: May 21st to May 23rd

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

Nationals 24-17, 2nd Place in N.L. East, 1 1/2 games behind the Braves
Phillies 21-21, 5th Place in N.L. East, 5 games behind the Braves

Nationals Probables:  Gio Gonzalez (5-1, 2.22), Jordan Zimmermann (2-4, 2.58), Edwin Jackson (1-1, 3.31)
Phillies Probables:  Kyle Kendrick (0-3, 5.96), Roy Halladay (4-3, 3.22), Cole Hamels (6-1, 2.48)

At the Ballpark:  It's another Dollar Dog night on Tuesday night.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Carlos Ruiz - .355

Runs:  Hunter Pence - 26

Home Runs:  Hunter Pence - 10 

RBIs:  Carlos Ruiz - 29

Stolen Bases:  Shane Victorino - 13

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 6

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.48

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 58

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 12

1979 Topps #395 and #90

1979 Topps Flashback:  Dave Cash and Bob Boone were teammates with the Phillies during Cash's three-year stay in Philly from 1974 through 1976.  Cash had won a World Series ring with the Pirates in 1971, and he brought his winning attitude to the Phillies following an October 1973 trade.  The Phils sent Ken Brett to the Pirates for Cash, and the trade paid immediate dividends for the team.  As the team's regular second baseman, Cash made the National League All-Star squad three years in a row.  He left via free agency following the 1976 season and signed with the Expos.

Boone spent ten years in Philly (1972-1981), winning a World Championship, two Gold Gloves and attending three All-Star Games.  He was named the catcher on the Phillies Centennial Team in 1983, and he was elected into their Wall of Fame in 2005.

2003 Donruss #354 Vicente Padilla

Red Sox 5, Phillies 1
Game 42 - Sunday Afternoon, May 20th in Philadelphia
Record - 21-21, 5th Place, 5 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Cliff Lee suffered another off-day and Josh Beckett silenced the bats as the Phils lost to the Sox, 5-1.

What It Means:  It means bragging rights belong to Section 36.  At least for now.

What Went Wrong:  Mike Aviles hit his second first inning, lead-off home run in as many days and it was pretty much all over for the Phillies from that point on.  Lee lasted seven innings, allowing five runs on nine hits (two home runs) while striking out six.  The offense was held to seven hits.

Featured Card:  Seven years after his ouster from Philadelphia, Vicente Padilla has re-invented himself as a semi-reliable, eephus-pitch throwing middle reliever.  He pitched 1 2/3 of an inning over the past two games against his former club, allowing a run on four hits.  Former Phillies Nick Punto and Marlon Byrd have also found there way to Boston.  Punto went 0 for 2 with two strikeouts on Friday night to lower his season average down to .135.  Byrd went 2 for 8 in the series to actually increase his average up to .205.

1999 Finest #131 Pat Burrell

Red Sox 7, Phillies 5
Game 41 - Saturday Night, May 19th in Philadelphia
Record - 21-20, 5th Place, 4 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies lost 7-5 to the Red Sox for the following three reasons - Joe Blanton allowed four home runs, the offense stranded 11 runners on base and they batted into three double plays.

What It Means:  It means the team's modest six-game winning streak is over.  The Phils could have gained ground in the N.L. East as every other team in the division lost on Saturday.

What Went Wrong:  Despite banging out 15 hits, the offense couldn't execute when it counted the most.  The three double plays definitely hurt, but two other plays in particular stand out in my mind.  In the bottom of the seventh, the Phils had runners on first and second when Carlos Ruiz launched what could have been a two-run double into right-center.  Red Sox center fielder Ryan Sweeney made an unbelievable diving catch, ending the inning and deflating the ballpark.  Then, in the bottom of the eighth, the Phillies loaded the bases with two outs.  Shane Victorino, following a four-pitch walk to John Mayberry, Jr., popped up weakly to short on the first ball he saw.  Not good.

Three-hit nights from Mayberry, Victorino and Hector Luna were wasted, as was the two-run home run from Freddy Galvis in the fourth.

Blanton looked suspect from the outset, allowing a lead-off home run to Mike Aviles, and the recently reliable pitcher didn't survive the fifth inning  

Featured Card:  Prior to the game, Pat Burrell threw out the first pitch (to Chase Utley) and officially retired as a Phillie.  There was a nice pre-game ceremony and a touching reminder of just how much former coach John Vukovich meant to Burrell and the Phillies franchise in general.

The card featured here was one of the cards that was a must have in the summer of '99 for Phillies fans and rookie card collectors.  Burrell had a ton of cards released that year, but I recall this card, along with his Fleer Mystique card, and his Bowman Chrome card as being in the highest demand for some reason.

Field Report:  I was there for the second night in a row, as a guest of one of my friends with a partial season ticket plan in Section 138.  No offense to my friend, but I enjoyed the Friday night game more than this one.  The loss dropped my personal attendance record to 2-4 this year.

1980 Phillies - The Missing Links

1980 Burger King Phillies #8, 1981 TCMA Oklahoma City 89ers #8 and #13 and 1980 Topps #624

I've been struggling to finish off my 2001 Topps Phillies post.  Every time I sit down to work on it, I'm reminded how much I really don't want to travel back to that year even it is just for the purpose of writing about the Phillies that appeared within the 2001 Topps baseball card set.

So I'm going to take a small break from the Topps Phillies posts and travel backwards with my Missing Links posts instead.  I've already completed Missing Links posts for 1990 through 2000, and now I'll turn my attention to those unfortunate Phillies who received little to no cardboard recognition during their stint in red pinstripes between 1980 and 1989.

A quick note about this particular post - I don't have the 1980 Phillies Postcards set, nor have I ever actually seen the set for sale.  I'm relying on the 34-card checklist available in the Beckett database for this post.  And as you'll soon see, the obscure regional set is a must-have for obtaining the only Phillies cards of three Phillies pitchers from 1980.

3 Cards or More
31 Players

2 Cards
**John Vukovich (153 games from 1970-1971, 1976-1977 and 1979-1981) - 1980 Burger King Phillies #8 and 1981 Fleer #22
Mark Davis (11 games in 1980 and 1981, 25 games in 1993) - 1982 Topps #231 and 1993 Ultra #437

Of course, Vukovich has over a dozen cards featuring him as a Phillies coach, but there were only two cards issued of him during his playing career as a Phillie.  Davis had to wait for his second stint with the club before he received a solo Phillies card.

1981 Topps #526 and 1982 Topps #231

1 Card

Lerrin LaGrow (25 games in 1980) - 1980 Phillies Postcards #14

Dan Larson (21 games from 1978-1981) - 1980 Phillies Postcards #15

Jay Loviglio (16 games in 1980) - 1981 Topps #526
Scott Munninghoff (4 games in 1980) - 1980 Phillies Postcards #21

It amazes me that Larson bounced around the Phillies organization for four seasons.  I honestly thought he had appeared in a few games in 1980 and that was it.  Larson appeared in a career-high 32 games with the 1977 Astros and was awarded with his one and only Topps card within that year's set.

LaGrow put together a 10-year career primarily as a relief pitcher, although he did lose 19 games as a starting pitcher for the Tigers in 1974.  His Topps card featured at the top of this post was the last card issued of him during his playing days, and I created a Phillies "card that never was" to celebrate LaGrow's 25 games with the Phils in 1980.

0 Cards
Orlando Isales (3 games in 1980)
Don McCormack (5 games from 1980-1981)

Only two players from the team's first World Championship year have been completely omitted from the Phillies baseball card universe.  Isales had toiled in the Phillies minor league system since 1975 when he was promoted to the team as a September call-up.  Overall, he went 2 for 5 in his Phillies career over three games.  He was the team's starting right fielder for the final regular season game in Montreal.

McCormack was another September call-up, although he didn't make his debut until September 30th.  With the Phils up 14-2 against the Cubs, catcher Keith Moreland was pulled from the game in the 9th and McCormack replaced him for an inning.  His only big league start came on the final game of the 1981 season.  Following his playing days, McCormack managed in the Phillies minor league system from 1988 through 1995.

**UPDATE (6/19/15) - I know now that Vukovich had additional Phillies baseball cards in the 1971, 1980 and 1981 Phillies Photocards sets.

2012 Topps Phillies #PHI15 Jonathan Papelbon

Phillies 6, Red Sox 4
Game 40 - Friday Night, May 18th in Philadelphia
Record - 21-19, 5th Place, 4 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies scored early, added a few home runs and rode Cole Hamels' strong start to a 6-4 victory over the Sox.

What It Means:  The Phillies have now won six in a row, and they'll try to make it seven in a row tonight.

What Went Right:  The Phils scored four runs in the first thanks in part to three walks from Red Sox starter Daniel Bard.  Carlos Ruiz started the scoring with a two-run single, continuing his red hot month of May.  Ty Wigginton added a sac fly and John Mayberry, Jr. capped off the first inning scoring with an RBI-double.

The Phillies added two key add-on runs via solo homers from Hunter Pence in the fifth and Freddy Galvis in the eighth.

Hamels allowed three runs and six hits over seven innings of work, striking out nine on the way to his sixth win of the season.

Featured Card:  Prior to the game, Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon made it clear he was anxious to face his former team.  "I've been looking forward to this since the day I signed here - facing old teammates, bragging rights," he said.  Well he earned bragging rights through at least the first game of the series.  Papelbon came on in the ninth and would have had a one-two-three inning if not for a hard-hit ball booted by third baseman Mike Fontenot.  And it was fitting that the last two men he retired for his 11th save of the season were former Phillies - Marlon Byrd and Nick Punto.

The card featured here is one of Papelbon's three Phillies cards available to date.  He also has a Phillies card in the Topps Heritage set and a card within the team issued postcard set.

Field Report:  Jenna and I were there last night, and it was another gorgeous night for baseball.  There were quite a few Red Sox fans in attendance, but the four-run first quieted them down from the get-go.  The Phils are now 2-3 in games I've attended this year.

Red Sox at Phillies: May 18th to May 20th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
Friday 7:05, Saturday 7:15, Sunday 1:35

Red Sox 18-20, 5th Place in the A.L. East, 6 1/2 games behind the Orioles
Phillies 20-19, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 4 games behind the Braves

Red Sox Probables:  Daniel Bard (3-4, 4.30), Jon Lester (2-3, 3.71), Josh Beckett (3-4, 4.97)
Phillies Probables:  Cole Hamels (5-1, 2.28), Joe Blanton (4-3, 2.96), Cliff Lee (0-1, 1.95)

At the Ballpark:  Pat Burrell will return to Philadelphia, sign a one-day contract and ceremoniously retire on Saturday.  He'll throw out the first pitch before Saturday night's game.  On Sunday, all kids receive a W.B. Mason collectible Phillies truck.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Carlos Ruiz - .363

Runs:  Hunter Pence - 24

Home Runs:  Hunter Pence - 9 

RBIs:  Hunter Pence and Carlos Ruiz - 27

Stolen Bases:  Shane Victorino - 12

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 5

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.28

Strikeouts:  Roy Halladay - 50

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 11

1979 Topps #375 and #446

1979 Topps Flashback:  Both the Sox and the Phillies of the mid to late 1970s fielded some very good teams, but they always seemed to finish just one step behind another hot team in their respective leagues.  

Bill Campbell spent five season in Boston between 1977 and 1981.  During that time, he compiled a very respectable record of 28-19 with a 3.57 ERA and 51 saves.  He led the American League in saves in 1977 with 31.  Campbell came to the Phillies in March 1984 in a deal that to this day is still painful for me.  The Phils traded away my favorite player, Bob Dernier, along with Porfi Altamirano and Gary Matthews to the Cubs for Campbell and Mike Diaz.  Campbell was with the Phillies for only the 1984 season, going 6-5 with a 3.43 ERA in 57 games.

Jim Lonborg enjoyed a 15-year career, pitching the first seven seasons in Boston (1965-1971) and his last seven seasons in Philly (1973-1979).  In between, he had a brief one-year interlude (1972) in Milwaukee. Lonborg started three games of the 1967 World Series for the Sox, in a series they would eventually lose to Steve Carlton and the Cardinals.  Another big '70s trade brought Lonborg to the Phils following the 1972 season.  The Brewers shipped Lonborg, Ken Brett, Ken Sanders and Earl Stephenson to the Phillies for Billy Champion, Don Money and John Vukovich.

Lonborg anchored the team's pitching staff for seven seasons, winning 17 games in 1974 and 18 games in 1976.  The Phillies released him n June 1979 after he had put together a record of 75-60 in maroon pinstripes.  He first appeared in the 1965 Topps set, and the card featured here was his last baseball card issued during his active playing career.

2012 Bowman #117 Carlos Ruiz

Phillies 8, Cubs 7
Game 39 - Thursday Night, May 17th in Chicago
Record - 20-19, 5th Place, 4 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Carlos Ruiz paced the offense and Roy Halladay pitched eight strong innings as the Phils defeated the Cubs, 8-7.

What It Means:  The Phillies have a winning record for the first time since the first game of the season.  They'll try to keep their five-game win streak going against the Red Sox as the Sox are coming town for a three-game series starting tonight.  Also hopefully on tap - getting out of last place in the East.

What Went Right:  With the exception of a few tense moments in the ninth, the Phillies controlled this game pretty much from the outset.  Halladay (4-3) allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out four.  Jake Diekman, who looked unhittable a few nights before, was touched for four runs in the ninth before Jonathan Papelbon was summoned to record the final out and notch his 11th save.

Ruiz enjoyed a four-hit night, raising his season average to .363.  He also drove in three runs.  Hunter Pence, Juan Pierre and Halladay also had multiple hits for the Phils.  Pierre added some fine defense in left to partially make amends for his miscue on Wednesday night.

Featured Card:  For the second game in a row, I have to go with another card for Ruiz.  This is Chooch's latest 2012 baseball card, released a few weeks ago.  Topps mixed it up this year with its Bowman release, opting for white borders instead of the frequently used black borders for the Bowman base cards.  The large color logo on the front of the card is also a nice touch.

I usually don't get too excited about the annual Bowman release, as I'm not a prospector, and this year is no exception.  The Phillies have two prospects featured within the Bowman Prospects insert set - starting pitcher Julio Rodriguez, currently 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA for Double-A Reading and outfielder Kyrell Hudson, who is hitting .183 through 34 games with Low-A Lakewood.

2012 Topps Stickers #190 Carlos Ruiz

Phillies 9, Cubs 2
Game 38 - Wednesday Night, May 16th in Chicago
Record - 19-19, 5th Place, 4 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Kyle Kendrick gave the Phils a solid spot start and Carlos Ruiz' homer in the eighth broke a 2-2 tie before the offense piled it on and downed the Cubs, 9-2.

What It Means:  The Phillies are back at .500.  Let's keep this going.

What Went Right:  Kendrick got the nod when Vance Worley landed on the disabled list with a bad elbow.  In his six innings of work, he allowed two runs (one earned) and struck out four.  He would have had a chance for the win had Juan Pierre not dropped a routine fly ball in the fourth, which gave the Cubs a baserunner when Alfonso Soriano launched a home run into left.

Ruiz broke the tie in the eighth with his seventh home run.  The Phils added six big runs in the ninth, highlighted by Hector Luna's grand slam.  It was Luna's first at-bat as a Phillie and his first career slam.

Featured Card:  It's awesome to be able to show off so many of Chooch's cards this year, as he's off to the best season of his career.  As of this writing, he leads all National League catchers in home runs (7) and RBIs (24) and he's second in the league in hits (37) and runs scored (19).  This is his sticker from the aptly named Topps Stickers set.

Luna would have been a good candidate for this post's featured card, but he has yet to appear on any official Phillies cards.  (Hurry up, second edition of the Phillies team issued set!)

Stick-Ons and Diekman's Debut

2012 Topps Heritage Stick-Ons
#38 and #39

Phillies 4, Astros 3 (10 Innings)
Game 37 - Tuesday Afternoon, May 15th in Philadelphia
Record - 18-19, 5th Place, 5 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Hunter Pence redeemed himself with a game-winning, walk-off home run after his error in the ninth allowed the Astros to tie it up.

What It Means:  The victory marked the first time this season the Phillies have won three in a row.  Following the game, they were just a game under .500.

What Went Right:  Cliff Lee pitched another wonderful game, striking out ten in eight innings while just allowing a run on five hits.  Chad Qualls entered the game in the ninth* and coughed up the lead with an assist from Pence's error in right.  Fortunately, Jake Diekman, making his Major League debut, shut down the Astros, striking out three in 1 1/3 inning of work.  He was awarded with his first big league win for his efforts, as Lee inexplicably remains winless on the season.

Pence's 10th inning blast was his second of the game.  Brian Schneider added a two-run home run in the second and the back-up catcher has very quietly put up a .303 average.

2009 Multi-Ad Lakewood
BlueClaws #11

Featured Cards:  I'm going with multiple "cards" for this post.  Lee and Pence were the stars of this game, and I'm featuring their floating head Stick-On stickers inserted into packs of 2012 Topps Heritage.  While the base Topps Heritage set uses the 1963 Topps design, these Stick-Ons are based on what the Standard Catalog deems "Peel-Offs" inserted into packs of 1963 Topps cards.  The Stick-Ons or Peel-Offs or whatever you want to call them are roughly the size of the current year Topps Stickers.

I also wanted to pay tribute to Diekman, whose fastball topped out at 96 mph in this game.  Diekman was one of the final cuts in Spring Training, and the hope is that he becomes a key cog within a Phillies bullpen that has struggled so far in 2012.  As far as I can tell, Diekman has only three minor league baseball cards as of this writing, including what I believe to be his first professional baseball card which I've featured here.

Phillies at Cubs: May 16th to May 17th

Wrigley Field - Chicago, IL
Wednesday and Thursday 8:05

Phillies 18-19, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 5 games behind the Braves
Cubs 15-21, Tied for 5th Place in the N.L. Central, 6 games behind the Cardinals

Phillies Probables:  Kyle Kendrick (0-3, 7.32), Roy Halladay (3-3, 3.20)
Cubs Probables:  Matt Garza (2-1, 2.56), Chris Volstad (0-5, 6.92)

At the Ballpark:  Now this is something I can get behind.  Tonight is Social Media Night at Wrigley.  With the purchase of a separate ticket, fans attending this pre-game event receive a grab bag of goodies including a six-card set of Cubs "Social Media Series" baseball cards featuring Cubs players and their Twitter handles.  Some packs will include randomly inserted autographed versions of the cards.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Carlos Ruiz - .337

Runs:  Hunter Pence - 22

Home Runs:  Hunter Pence - 9 

RBIs:  Hunter Pence - 25

Stolen Bases:  Shane Victorino - 11

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 5

ERA:  Cliff Lee - 1.95

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 49

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 10

1979 Burger King Phillies #14 and 1979 Topps #639

1979 Topps Flashback:  It's a trade that I've mentioned several times already within these 1979 Topps Flashback blurbs - On February 23, 1979, the Phillies traded Henry Mack, Derek Botelho, Barry Foote, Jerry Martin and Ted Sizemore to the Cubs for Manny Trillo, Greg Gross and Dave Rader.  Had my five-year-old brain been able to process such things at the time, it would have probably exploded.  Eight-player trades just don't happen all that often and (believe me) there have been plenty of times in the past twenty years that I've fantasized about the Phils pulling off such a trade and jettisoning the old and bringing in the new.

Featured here are Trillo's last Cubs card and his first Phillies card, both available to collectors in the summer of '79.  Trillo earned a World Series ring, three Gold Gloves and two trips to the All-Star Game during his four seasons with the Phillies.  He was traded to the Indians in December 1982 as one of the five players shipped to Cleveland for Von Hayes.  Although he was gone after only four seasons, he was definitely not forgotten.  The Phillies fans named Trillo as the franchise's greatest second baseman in voting that took place throughout the centennial 1983 season.

2012 Chachi #18 Joe Blanton

#56

Joseph Matthew Blanton

Starting Pitcher

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 6'3"  Weight: 235

Born: December 11, 1980, Nashville, TN

Home: Nashville, TN

Drafted: Selected by Oakland Athletics in 1st round of June 2002 draft

Teams: Oakland Athletics 2004-2008, Phillies 2008-

Acquired: Acquired from the Oakland Athletics for Adrian Cardenas, Josh Outman and Matt Spencer, July 17, 2008

Contract Status: Signed through the 2012 season

2010 Topps 206 Mini Framed Autographs #TA-PP Placido Polanco

Phillies 5, Astros 1
Game 36 - Monday Night, May 14th in Philadelphia
Record - 17-19

One Sentence Summary:  The Phils won a rainy affair, 5-1, on the night Placido Polanco collected his 2,000 career hit.

What It Means:  In spite of the steady rain that fell throughout this game, things are getting brighter for the Phils.  They're now only two games under .500 and they'll try to sweep the quick two-game series with the Astros tomorrow afternoon.

What Went Right:  Joe Blanton (4-3) had another strong outing, allowing just a run on six hits while striking out seven in seven innings.  Freddy Galvis had three hits and two RBIs and he's now hitting .346 (9 for 26) with nine RBIs in his last nine games.  His 15 RBIs on the season are the third highest total on the team, behind Carlos Ruiz and Hunter Pence, who both have 23 RBIs.

Featured Card:  I was all geared up to feature one of Galvis' minor league cards when Polanco hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth for his 2,000 career hit.  Polanco became the 17th active Major Leaguer to amass 2,000 hits, drilling a fastball from David Carpenter into the left field flower bed at the top of the fence.  Polanco has slowly improved his average this season to a very respectable .281 and he's still steady with the glove at third.

This is one of two autograph cards of Polanco I have in my collection.  The other card, also from 2010, is from that year's Allen & Ginter set.

Astros at Phillies: May 14th to May 15th

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

Astros 15-19, Tied for 4th in the N.L. Central, 5 games behind the Cardinals
Phillies 16-19, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 6 games behind the Braves

Astros Probables:  Aneury Rodriguez (0-0, 3.00), Lucas Harrell (2-2, 4.58)
Phillies Probables:  Joe Blanton (3-3, 3.24), Cliff Lee (0-1, 2.17)

ESPN has Rodriguez pitching tonight and Harrell pitching tomorrow, while MLB.com has Harrell pitching tonight and TBA listed for tomorrow's game.

At the Ballpark:  Tonight, all fans receive a nice looking Phillies Liberty Bell cap, courtesy of Teva.  Following tomorrow afternoon's game, senior citizens will be invited down to the field to stroll the bases.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Juan Pierre - .351

Runs:  Hunter Pence - 20

Home Runs:  Hunter Pence - 7 

RBIs:  Hunter Pence - 23

Stolen Bases:  Shane Victorino - 11

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 5

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.28

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 49

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 10

1979 Topps #49 and 1979 Burger King Phillies #22

1979 Topps Flashback:  The two players featured here were never teammates with the Astros, but they both coached with the Phillies under manager Larry Bowa in 2001 and 2002.  Vern Ruhle served as the team's pitching coach for two years before being replaced in 2003 by Joe Kerrigan.  Greg Gross served as Bowa's original bench coach in 2001 and he then assumed the hitting coach duties in 2002 following the dismissal of Richie Hebner.  Gross served as the team's hitting coach through the 2004 season when he, along with Bowa and several other coaches, were fired.  He came back for a second term as the team's hitting coach following Milt Thompson's dismissal part way through the 2010 season.

Ruhle spent over half of his 13-year career with the Astros, compiling a record of 39-46 while wearing the rainbow uniforms between 1978 and 1983.  He started Game 4 of the 1980 N.L.C.S. against the Phillies.  He was cruising with a 2-0 lead heading into the eighth inning when Gross led off the inning with a single.  Gross, Lonnie Smith and Pete Rose would eventually score that inning, giving the Phils a 3-2 lead and chasing Ruhle from the game.  The Phillies would win the game in the 10th and go on to defeat the Astros in one of the most thrilling Championship Series ever.

Gross bookended his 17-year career by playing in parts of four seasons with the Astros from 1973 through 1976, and then a final season in 1989.  This is his first official Phillies card, included within the Burger King Phillies set, following the big trade with the Cubs in February 1979 that first brought Gross to Philly.