Phillies at Braves - August 20th to August 22nd

2024 Chachi 1984 Topps Missing Links #5

1984 Topps #466

Tuesday and Wednesday 7:20, Thursday 7:15
Truist Park - Atlanta, GA

At the Ballpark:  On Tuesday, the first 15,000 fans will receive a Chick-fil-A cow bobblehead, with the cow wearing a Braves jersey.  On Wednesday, the first 15,000 fans will receive an Ozzie Albies and Pucci (his dog?) bobblehead.

Philadelphia Phillies 73-51
1st Place in the N.L. East, 7 games ahead of the Braves

Phillies Probables
Zack Wheeler (12-5, 2.72)
Aaron Nola (11-6, 3.45)
Cristopher Sanchez (9-8, 3.46)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Alec Bohm - .296
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 84
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 28
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 85
Stolen Bases:  Bryson Stott - 25

Wins:  Zack Wheeler - 12
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 2.72
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 162
Saves:  Jose Alvarado - 13

Atlanta Braves 66-58
2nd Place in the N.L. East, 7 games behind the Phillies

Braves Probables
Reynaldo Lopez (7-4, 2.06)
Max Fried (7-7, 3.62)
Spencer Schwellenbach (4-6, 4.04)

Braves Leaders
Average:  Marcell Ozuna - .309
Runs:  Marcell Ozuna - 79
Home Runs:  Marcell Ozuna - 36
RBIs:  Marcell Ozuna - 93
Stolen Bases:  Ronald Acuna - 16

Wins:  Chris Sale - 14
ERA:  Chris Sale - 2.62

Strikeouts:  Chris Sale - 187
Saves:  Raisel Iglesias - 26

2024 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2024 Season Summary Index / 2024 Chachi Set Checklist

1984 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  47
Card Size:  3 1/2" x 5 1/4"

Description:  The 1984 Tastykake photo card set got a little more ambitious than its predecessor by adding cards for all the coaches and a broadcaster card.  The fronts are nearly identical to the 1983 set, with the exception of the Phillies script logo added to the top.  The photographer also requested that everyone remove their hats for this set, which was unfortunate for some of the subjects and is reminiscent of the 1976 team-issued photo card set.  The backs of the cards feature a facsimile autograph of the player, coach or manager, and some of the cards include words of encouragement.

I really wish the Phillies had chosen, "Wherever you go, there you are" for the back of Larry Andersen's card.

How Distributed:  All fans 14 and under attending the Phillies game at Veterans Stadium on April 21, 1984, received a complete 40-card set, shrink-wrapped and containing a logo/checklist card on the top.  The back of the logo/checklist card advertised that additional sets could be purchased from the Phillies via mail order for $3.

There are also 7 somewhat rare "update" cards available, and by all accounts at least three of these cards were never released to the general public, at least not in very large quantities.  Here's a verbatim report from a reliable hobby source on the origins of these 7 cards:

"That set was a mess from day 1.  We obtained some uncut sheets from the printer right off the bat.  When the team started selling the shrink wrapped sets, we found that the seven players on one side of the sheets were not included.  I called a friend in the PR dept and asked him what was going on.  He was upset that we’d obtained the sheets and explained that they knew that prospects would be called up from the minors during the season and wanted to avoid making special print runs in order to have pictures for them.  So they picked 7 prominent players and filled out the sheet with their pictures.  When I spoke to him, all the cut cards were in stacks in a back store room.  He was concerned that, if word got out as to which 7 they picked, other players would be upset at not having been included.  As the season went on, I believe that they pulled and used the pictures for Carman, Russell, Stone and Wehrmeister but not for Daulton, Fireovid and Jeltz.  In speaking with the PR guy at the end of the season, he asked what I thought he should do with the supplies of the last three.  I told him I’d deep-six them as they hadn’t been “issued”.  They [the Phillies] ended up selling a bunch of the entire run to a dealer up around, I think, Wilkes Barre.  I believe he sold them as separate “extension” sets for a while."

Fellow collector Steve sent me the scan of the uncut sheet shown here, showing the 7 "update" cards in the far right column.  I'm calling these update cards, but they could just as easily be labelled as unreleased rarities.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here based  on the numbered checklist found on the back of the header card): 

1. Header Card / Checklist 2. Team Photo 3. Phillie Phanatic 4. Veterans Stadium 5. Steve Carlton - Future HOF 6. Mike Schmidt - Future HOF         7. Phillies Broadcasters       8. Paul Owens MG 9. Dave Bristol CO 10. John Felske CO 11. Deron Johnson CO 12. Claude Osteen CO 13. Mike Ryan CO 14. Larry Andersen

15. Marty Bystrom 16. Bill Campbell 17. Steve Carlton 18. John Denny 19. Tony Ghelfi 20. Kevin Gross 21. Al Holland 22. Charles Hudson 23. Jerry Koosman 24. Tug McGraw 25. Bo Diaz 26. Ozzie Virgil 27. John Wockenfuss

28. Luis Aguayo 29. Ivan DeJesus 30. Kiko Garcia 31. Len Matuszek 32. Juan Samuel 33. Mike Schmidt 34. Tim Corcoran 35. Greg Gross 36. Von Hayes 37. Joe Lefebvre 38. Sixto Lezcano 39. Garry Maddox 40. Glenn Wilson

Complete Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Don Carman 2. Darren Daulton         3. Steve Fireovid

4. Steve Jeltz 5. John Russell

6. Jeff Stone 7. Dave Wehrmeister

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (2):  Fireovid, Wehrmeister

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (19):  Andersen, Campbell, Carman, Corcoran, Daulton, Garcia, Ghelfi, K. Gross, Hudson, Jeltz, Koosman, Lefebvre, Lezcano, Matuszek, Russell, Samuel, Stone, Wilson, Wockenfuss
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (12):  Aguayo, Bystrom, Carlton, DeJesus, Denny, Diaz, G. Gross, Hayes, Maddox, McGraw, Schmidt, Virgil

Manager (1):  Owens
Coaches (5):  Bristol, Felske, Johnson, Osteen, Ryan

Phillie Phanatic (1):  Uses the same ATV photo from the 1983 Tastykake set.
Broadcasters (1):  Chris Wheeler, Harry Kalas, Andy Musser and Richie Ashburn.
Commemorative Cards (2):  Carlton and Schmidt get Future Hall of Famer cards.  The back of the Carlton card features a list of all-time victories leaders, while the back of the Schmidt card features a list of all-time home run leaders.
Other Cards (3):  Header/checklist card, team photo and Veterans Stadium.

Surprises:  Knowing what I know now about the genesis of the 7 update cards, the Phillies PR department did a great job of predicting future roster additions.  Only Darren Daulton didn't see playing time with the club in 1984.  The set contains the entire 25-man opening day roster, plus pitcher Tony Ghelfi who started the season on the disabled list and Marty Bystrom who began the season with Triple-A Portland.

Omissions:  Minor leaguers who would ultimately appear with the Phillies in 1984 who could have received consideration for the update set are Francisco Melendez, Mike Lavalliere and Rick Schu.  And for completists, the Phillies added four players from outside their organization throughout the season - Jim Kern, Shane Rawley, Al Oliver and Renie Martin.  Kern and Martin would never receive actual Phillies baseball cards.

Variations/Rarities:  Again, the 7 update cards could easily appear here as they're not technically true update cards and they're not readily available.

Also See:  The Curious Case of Dave Wehrmeister; Memories of 1984 Phillies Photo Day

Resources:  Beckett.com; 14,000 Phillies - Dave Wehrmeister, Worst Phillies Card of All Time; Fellow collectors Steve F., Rick G. and Bill W.

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.

1983 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1985 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards

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

Off Day Odds & Ends - 1984 Tastykake Phillies & 2016 Chachi Almost

2016 Chachi Almost #5

2016 Chachi Almost #6

2016 Chachi Almost #7

2016 Chachi Almost #8

Yesterday's off day gives me the chance to post some images saved to my drafts folder and provide an update to my series on the Phillies team issued sets.

First up is a group of Chachi Almost cards, featuring players who never officially played with the team and these four players were all non-roster invitees to spring training.  Ernesto Frieri was released on April 5th and he has yet to latch on elsewhere.  Catcher J.P. Arencibia requested and received his release from the IronPigs on May 16th and signed with the Rays organization a few days later.

Ryan Jackson's services were no longer needed in Lehigh Valley when J.P. Crawford earned his promotion and he was sold to the Angels on May 20th.  Finally, Bobby LaFromboise, who appeared to be close to making the team out of spring training, was released on June 2nd.  His spot on the IronPigs was claimed by the activated Mario Hollands who missed all of last season following Tommy John surgery.  LaFromboise is the only one of this quartet with an official Phillies baseball card, having appeared in the first team issued photo card set.

2016 Chachi Almost #1

2016 Chachi Almost #2

Both Kelly Dugan and Jesse Biddle were on the offseason 40-man roster, but were eventually removed and moved on to other teams.  Dugan is currently playing with the Cubs Double-A team in Tennessee after spending his first seven professional seasons with the Phillies organization.

Biddle is recovering from Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2016 season.  He was traded to the Pirates in early February for pitcher Yoervis Medina and then claimed off waivers by the Braves in March.  He's currently on the Braves 60-day disabled list.

* * *

Reader and Friend O' the Blog Steve F. recently e-mailed me the image below, showing an uncut sheet of 1984 Tastykake Phillies cards.  The sheet includes the rarely seen seven "update" cards, including the very difficult to find cards of Steve Jeltz, Darren Daulton and Steve Fireovid.  As reader and collector Rick pointed out in his comment to the original 1984 Tastykake Phillies post, these update cards were never released to the general public.  A local baseball card dealer somehow obtained the sheets and had them professionally cut, selling the additional seven update cards as a separate set.

I still find this stuff fascinating and thanks to Steve F. for sending me the image below.  And I still need the Fireovid and Jeltz cards for my collection!

1984 Phillies - The Missing Links

1987 Topps #357, 1984 Topps #603, 1983 Topps #772 and 1986 Fleer Update #U-65

A few days ago, I sat down to try to finally start a post on the Phillies cards within the 2001 Topps set.  My Topps Phillies series of posts has laid dormant since I published the 2000 Topps Phillies post way back in late April 2012.  Instead of focusing on the 2001 Topps Phillies post, however, I decided to tackle the next year in The Missing Links series - 1984.  These Missing Links posts are way more fun to research than the Topps cards of the Phillies teams from the 2000s.

1984 was a lost season for the Phillies, and they tried to plug various roster holes with a combination of fading veterans and suspicious prospects.  Four members of this squad join the ranks of cardboard-less Phillies.

3 Cards or More
33 Players

Al Oliver was acquired from the Giants in late August and appeared in just 28 games for the 1984 Phillies.  But he had Phillies cards in each of the big three sets - Donruss, Fleer and Topps - in 1985.

2 Cards

1984 Cramer Pacific
Coast League #199

Francisco Melendez (30 games in 1984 and 1986) - 1985 Tastykake Phillies and 1986 Tastykake Phillies

First baseman Melendez never had the pleasure of appearing on a Phillies card by himself.  He shares his 1985 Tastykake card with Ken Jackson and his 1986 Tastykake card with Ricky Jordan.  Both cards use the same picture of Melendez, just cropped differently.  He earned his first proper baseball card within the 1989 Donruss set as a member of the Giants.

1 Card
Dave Wehrmeister (7 games in 1984) - 1984 Tastykake Phillies Update
Steve Fireovid (6 games in 1984) - 1984 Tastykake Phillies Update

Ah, yes.  Dave Wehrmeister.  Please see this post for one of the finest pieces of investigative reporting ever attempted by this here blog.  The post includes my attempt at the 1984 Topps Wehrmeister card that should have been.

0 Cards
Renie Martin (9 games in 1984)
Jim Kern (8 games in 1984)
Mike LaValliere (6 games in 1984)
Steve Fireovid (6 games in 1984)

1984 Topps #PR5

Martin wrapped up his 6-year career with 9 uneventful games with the Phils late in the 1984 season.  He was the player to be named later sent by the Giants in the Oliver deal.  Former All-Star Kern spent a little less than two months as property of the Phillies, pitching to a 10.13 ERA in eight relief appearances in June and July.  I've never even seen a picture of Kern in a Phillies uniform.

Before playing in parts of 11 seasons with the Cardinals, Pirates and White Sox, LaValliere was a September call-up with the Phils in 1984.  He appeared in the 1983 TCMA Reading Phillies set, but I have yet to add that set to my collection.

Finally, Fireovid made a brief stop in Philly in the middle of his 16-year odyssey of a professional baseball career.  When all was said and done, Fireovid had spent time with 9 different organizations - Padres, Phillies, White Sox, Mariners, Blue Jays, Royals, Expos, Pirates and Rangers.  His 10 games with the Mariners in 1986 somehow merited him inclusion within the 1987 Fleer, Sportflics and Topps sets.  He also has a card in the 1992 Bowman set as a member of the Rangers.

UPDATE - Fireovid has a card in the very little known 1984 Tastykake Phillies Update set, although I've never actually seen the card for sale.

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

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