Game 4 - Phils, Taijuan Blown Up by Nationals

Washington Nationals	13
Philadelphia Phillies	2

Monday Night, March 30th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
1-3, 5th Place, 2 games behind Braves, Marlins, Mets, Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Nationals blooped and blasted their way to a 17-hit, 13-run win over the Phillies in one of the worst games I've seen in recent history.

What It Means:  Yikes.  Following this game, the Phillies were in sole possession of last place with every other team in the division tied for first.

What Happened:  Taijuan Walker went 4 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits and three walks.  Jonathan Bowlan (two more runs) and Jose Alvarado (four runs in 1/3 of an inning) faired poorly as well.  Super utility player Dylan Moore made his Phillies pitching debut, recording the final two outs in the top of the ninth.  The Phillies offense had seven hits and went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position.  The top of the line-up - Trea Turner (.167), Kyle Schwarber (.125), Bryce Harper (.063) and Alec Bohm (.143) - are sitting in the front row of the struggle bus.

Featured Card:  Our oldest son attended this game without us, joining other college students for the Phillies' College Series Business Analytics Night.  He had a few photo opportunities with club ambassadors Dickie Noles, Milt Thompson and Mickey Morandini and asked for a picture with Wall of Famer Ed Wade, who was surprised a college kid would want a photo with him.  But we've taught Doug well, and he recognizes the contributions the former GM made to the organization.

Field Report:  Two games in a row for Jenna and me, and we had (what was to me) a surprisingly disappointing dinner at Pass & Stow prior to the game.  We had a quick visit from our son and his two friends before briefly settling into our seats in Section 315 to witness this debacle.

2026 Virtual Phillies Wall (Coming Soon) / 2026 Season Summary Index / 2026 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 118 (Continued) - Alumni Weekend Chachi Cards

I didn't have enough room to tag everyone in my main game summary post, so here's a continuation post featuring the bulk of the Chachi Alumni Weekend insert cards.  This is always a fun night, and creating these cards is annually a fun project.

1990 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  45
Card Size:  4 1/8" x 6"

Description:  For the second year in a row, the card fronts feature an action photo with the player's, coach's or manager's name in a red band with white text.  The card backs feature biographical information along with complete career statistics.  The set is sponsor-less, as Tastykake sponsored its final set in 1989 and the Medford Food Company wouldn't come along as the new sponsor until 1991.

How Distributed:  It took me years to track down this set, and I finally found one in September 2014 at The Philly Show.  The dealer I bought the set from told me these cards were never sold in complete set form and he had hand-collated the entire 1990 set.  According to him, the cards were distributed four or five at a time throughout the season at Veterans Stadium.  I don't know if all that's true or not, and I don't know how to verify it, but it would help explain why this photo card set eluded my collection for 24 years.

An eight-card update set was produced very late in the season, featuring what was most likely Dale Murphy's first Phillies baseball card.  Murphy was acquired from the Braves on August 3rd.

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

1. Darrel Akerfelds (#35 - RHP) 2. Rod Booker (#37 - INF) 3. Sil Campusano (#6 - OF) 4. Don Carman (#42 - LHP) 5. Pat Combs (#38 - LHP) 6. Dennis Cook (#39 - No position)    7. Darren Daulton (#10 - C) 8. Lenny Dykstra (#4 - OF) 9. Curt Ford (#27 - OF) 10. Jason Grimsley (#54 - RHP) 11. Charlie Hayes (#8 - 3B) 12. Von Hayes (#9 - OF) 13. Tom Herr (#28 - 2B)

14. Dave Hollins (#15 - INF) 15. Ken Howell (#43 - RHP) 16. Ron Jones (#26 - OF) 17. Ricky Jordan (#17 - 1B) 18. John Kruk (#11 - OF-1B) 19. Steve Lake (#25 - C) 20. Nick Leyva (#16 - MG) 21. Carmelo Martinez (#24 - OF) 22. Roger McDowell (#13 - RHP) 23. Chuck McElroy (#51 - LHP) 24. Terry Mulholland (#45 - LHP)    25. Jeff Parrett (#49 - RHP)

26. Randy Ready (#23 - 3B) 27. Bruce Ruffin (#47 - LHP) 28. Dickie Thon (#21 - SS) 29. Jim Vatcher (#31 - OF) 30. Phillies Coaches 31. Phillie Phanatic 32. Richie Ashburn (#1 - OF) 33. Steve Carlton (#32 - LHP) 34. Robin Roberts (#36 - RHP)    35. Mike Schmidt (#20 - 3B) 36. Phillies Broadcasters 37. PRISM Broadcasters

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

1. Joe Boever (#30 - RHP) 2. Jose DeJesus (#54 - RHP) 3. Marvin Freeman (#48 - RHP)

4. Tommy Greene (#49 - RHP)    5. Chuck Malone (#53 - RHP) 6. Brad Moore (#46 - RHP)

7. Dale Murphy (#3 - OF) 8. Dickie Noles (#34 - P)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (0):  N/A

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (15):  Akerfelds, Boever, Booker, Campusano, Combs, DeJesus, Freeman, Greene, Grimsley, Hollins, Malone, Martinez, McElroy, Murphy, Vatcher
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (21):  Carman, Cook, Daulton, Dykstra, Ford, C. Hayes, V. Hayes, Herr, Howell, Jones, Jordan, Kruk, Lake, McDowell, Moore, Mulholland, Noles, Parrett, Ready, Ruffin, Thon

Manager (1):  Leyva
Coaches (1):  The coach's card features Larry Bowa, Darold Knowles, Hal Lanier, Denis Menke, Mike Ryan and John Vukovich.

Phillie Phanatic (1):  The Phanatic returns after a one year absence.  The photo used pictures him atop the Phillies dugout.

Broadcasters (2):  The core TV/radio broadcast team of Richie Ashburn, Harry Kalas, Andy Musser and Chris Wheeler are featured on a card.  The PRISM broadcast team of Jim Barniak, Garry Maddox and Mike Schmidt are featured on another.
Commemorative Cards (4):  Ashburn, Carlton, Roberts and Schmidt

Schmidt's #20 was retired in a pre-game ceremony on May 26th, and cards of the four players to have their numbers retired - Ashburn, Roberts, Carlton and Schmidt - are included in the set.  Also of interest is Schmidt's first card as a broadcaster, featuring him with his fellow PRISM broadcasters.  Schmidt's first stint as a broadcaster lasted just the one season.

For those of you not in the Philadelphia area, PRISM was the Philadelphia-based HBO equivalent that broadcast a handful of Phillies games every year between 1976 and 1997.

Set Composition:  Of the 27-man opening day roster, only Moore and Frohwirth are omitted from the original set, with Moore getting a card in the update set.  Tommy Barrett and Floyd Youmans spent the entire season on the Disabled List, and Steve Ontiveros spent all but the last month of the season out with an injury, and none of those three are in the set.  Beginning the year in the minors, but earning a spot on the checklist are Grimsley, Jones and Vatcher.  The latter two were added to the roster on May 30th, and Grimsley wasn't called up until August 8th.

The eight card update set may not have all been issued all at once, given Freeman and Boever are both in it and they were traded for each other on July 23rd.  Freeman headed to the Braves with Boever coming to the Phillies.  Murphy and Greene were acquired from the Braves on August 3rd for Parrett, Vatcher and minor leaguer Victor Rosario.  Noles is a surprise addition, as he was on the active roster for three games in early May, his comeback attempt cut short by arm injuries.

Omissions:  Back-up catcher Tom Nieto appeared in 17 games but was on the team's active roster for 73 games during the season.  Late season call-ups Wes Chamberlain, Mickey Morandini, Louie Meadows and Darrin Fletcher all saw time with the Phillies in September, so it's understandable no photo cards were created for that quartet.

Variations/Rarities:  Fellow collector Rick left a few comments on my original post for this set and sent me an e-mail with scans showing 12 cards made available at the 1990 ALS Autograph Party fund raising event (later the Phillies Phestival) held at Veterans Stadium on July 30th.  The Phillies issued 10 cards celebrating the ten year anniversary of the 1980 World Champions.  Coach Hal Lanier received his own card and there are two versions of cards for Larry Bowa - one showing him as a coach, and one showing him up at bat.  The back of the 1980 commemorative cards feature a 10th Reunion logo.

ALS Autograph Party 1. Larry Bowa (coach) 2. Larry Bowa (1980) 3. Dallas Green (1980)    4. Greg Gross (1980)

5. Hal Lanier (coach) 6. Greg Luzinski (1980) 7. Garry Maddox (1980) 8. Bake McBride (1980)

9. Tug McGraw (1980) 10. Paul Owens (1980) 11. Manny Trillo (1980)    12. Del Unser (1980)

Also See:  The Mysterious Jim Vatcher Card
Trivia:  The Beckett database incorrectly lists the set as "1990 Phillies Tastykake" even through the Tastykake logo or name is nowhere to be found on the set.  The Beckett database also omits the eight update cards.  The 2001 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards lists the set at "1990 Phillies Photocards," and omits the Vatcher card from the main set.  For years, my want list for this set included only 44 cards as most published checklists for the set omit the Vatcher card.
Resources:  Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

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.

1989 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1991 Medford Phillies Photo Cards

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

Game 60 - Turner, Nola Star on ALS Night; #StrikeOutALS

Phillies 8, Tigers 3
Game 60 - Monday Night, June 5th in Philadelphia
Record - 28-32, 4th Place, 7 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies won decisively against the Tigers, with two home runs from Trea Turner and an Aaron Nola no-hitter through six innings, broken up by former Phillie Nick Maton.

What It Means:  The Phillies hosted their annual ALS Night a few days after the June 2nd Lou Gehrig Day.  One year ago, the team fired fired manager Joe Girardi prior to ALS Night, and they'd go on a tear for the reset of the season to eventually reach the postseason.  Here's hoping history repeats itself.

What Happened:   Prior to the game, current Tigers Nick Maton and Matt Vierling received their National League Champions rings in a brief on field ceremony.

Trea Turner was responsible for two of the Phillies' first three runs with an RBI single in the first and his first home run, a solo shot, in the third.  The Phillies would take a 5-0 lead in the fifth on a Bryce Harper RBI single and Turner's second solo home run of the game.  In the top of the seventh, with two outs and Nola working on a no-hitter, Maton hit a second deck, three-run home run to bring the Tigers within two runs.  Runners had reached in advance of Maton on a walk and an Edmundo Sosa error.

The Phillies quickly recaptured their five-run lead with three more runs in the bottom of the inning.  J.T. Realmuto laced a two-run double and Sosa drove him home with a single to center.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  As we did last year, my family attended the game with other ALS Night event sponsors, watching from the Bill Giles Party Suite.  We obtained our grab bags, which included autographed hats and 2023 photo cards, which apparently won't be sold in set form this year.  Phillies Alumni spent the night in the suite with us, and it was great to talk with Mickey Morandini, Ruben Amaro, Jr., Greg Gross and Dickie Noles.  Milt Thompson and Gary Matthews were there too, and the Phanatic made a brief, frenzied cameo appearance.  Thanks to the Phillies, the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the ALS Association raised $408,000 to continue to fund care services and research.

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

Game 107 - Reed, McBride Inducted Into Wall of Fame

Phillies 11, Nationals 5
Game 107 - Saturday Night, August 6th in Philadelphia
Record - 0-1, 3rd Place, 9 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Following the induction of Bake McBride and Ron Reed into the Phillies Wall of Fame, the current offense stayed hot as the hapless Nationals fell yet again, 11-5.

What It Means:  The Phillies own a four game winning streak and have won nine of their last ten.  They have a one game lead over the Brewers for the third Wild Card spot and they'll go for the four-game series sweep this afternoon.

What Happened:  Every starter except Kyle Schwarber had at least one hit, with Jean Segura leading the way with a three-hit night.  Rhys Hoskins hit his third straight first inning home run in a row.  Matt Vierling added a three-run home run in the first, with J.T. Realmuto contributing a two-run home run in the sixth.  Bryson Stott had a two-run triple and Edmundo Sosa doubled home Realmuto for his first hit with the team.  Ranger Suarez picked up the win, going 5 1/3 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  Doug and I returned to the Hall of Fame Club, arriving shortly after the gates opened and grabbing a prime spot once again right aside the suite where various Wall of Famers and alumni were gathered.  Doug was on a roll the entire night, adding autographs to his Bake McBride/Ron Reed print (shown above) and adding solo signatures to past Wall of Fame prints.  Some of the signers were repeats from the night before, and other than Charlie Manuel, who gets a second card, I've created cards for all the new alumni who signed for Doug on Saturday night.

We were bummed McBride wasn't able to join the festivities, and it was somewhat surreal for me to see all my heroes from the 1980 team.  Of the former players and coaches stopping to sign, only Luis Aguayo and George Vukovich stopped short of Doug's spot before going into the suite.  Bob Boone, Dick Ruthven and (I believe) Warren Brusstar didn't sign at all.

We found it extremely impressive that Manny Trillo, Bobby Abreu, Manuel, Dickie Noles, Mike Lieberthal, Randy Wolf and Lee Elia all signed as many autographs as wanted.  They were gracious with their time, often stopping to chat with the assembled fans.  Trillo especially took his time, working slowly through the line, signing anything and everything put in front of him.  It was a memorable night, and we're already looking forward to next year!

My early prediction for the 2023 Wall of Fame inductee is Larry Andersen.  The current broadcaster has cut back on his schedule, and he was a member of both the 1983 and 1993 Phillies teams, who will be celebrating their 40th and 30th anniversaries next season, respectively.

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