Game 111 - Alumni Weekend Continues

White Sox 10, Phillies 5
Game 111 - Sunday Afternoon, August 4th in Philadelphia
Record - 58-53, 3rd place, 7 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  In a game celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the 2009 N.L. Champions, the current version of the Phillies lost to the White Sox, 10-5.

What It Means:  The Phillies lost two out of three to the White Sox, who are not a very good team.  They'll head to the west coast next, opening a three-game series in Phoenix against the Diamondbacks on Monday night.

Alumni and the 2009 Phillies

Pedro Martinez throws to Jayson Werth

What Happened:  One bad inning ruined Drew Smyly's successful start to his Phillies career, as he allowed five runs - including a Leury Garcia grand slam - in the second.  Mike Morin also fared poorly, giving up four more runs in his two innings of work.  Corey Dickerson received his first start, going 2 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  We got to the ballpark early as the Phillies had announced there would be autograph opportunities with alumni before the game.  They didn't announce who or where the autograph tables would be, but we did know there would be a table in the Hall of Fame Club.

Once inside, the four of us divided and conquered with Jenna and Ben waiting in line for Joe Blanton and Brett Myers while Doug and I hustled to the Hall of Fame Club.  (Side story . . . We rode up in the elevator with someone I could have sworn was a former player.  Turns out it was former Phillie Keith Hughes and we blew an opportunity to get his autograph.)  Somehow Doug and I managed to be the first in line for Kyle Kendrick and Jamie Moyer in the Hall of Fame Club, while Jenna and Ben made their way to Bull's BBQ to get in line for Dale Murphy.

Autographs from Blanton, Myers, Kendrick, Moyer and Murphy secured, Doug and I waited in the long line for Mike Lieberthal and Randy Wolf, while Jenna and Ben headed back up to the Hall of Fame Club to try to get Kendrick and Moyer again.  We managed to get Lieberthal and Wolf right before the line cut off while Jenna and Ben were among the last to get Moyer (Kendrick had already departed).

After catching our breath, we enjoyed the fantastic pre-game ceremony honoring alumni and the 2009 team.  It was especially cool to watch Pedro Martinez throw out the first pitch to Jayson Werth.

Transactions:  In a somewhat surprising move, Maikel Franco was optioned to the IronPigs and Brad Miller was activated from the injured list.  Franco has all but lost the starting third baseman's job and the move allows the Phillies to see more of Scott Kingery in the position while also giving more playing time in the outfield to Roman Quinn, Adam Haseley and Corey Dickerson.

3rd Annual Doug's Big Night of Autographs (Part 2)

Here are the rest of the cards I created featuring Phillies alumni signing for Doug during Saturday night's Wall of Fame celebration.


Memory Lane - Past Induction Ceremonies/Alumni Weekends

2009 - Harry Kalas

2010 - Darren Daulton

2011 - John Kruk

2012 - Mike Lieberthal

2013 - Curt Schilling

2014 - Charlie Manuel
2015 - Pat Burrell
2016 - Jim Thome
2017 - Tribute to Jim Bunning, Dallas Green and Darren Daulton
2018 - Roy Halladay and Pat Gillick
2019 - Bobby Abreu (Part One and Two)

Philly Baseball Card Show Report - 5 Autos, Vintage Phillies, '71 Topps High Numbers

After a long week at work (and some longer weeks ahead of me) it was nice to make the hour long drive to Valley Forge on Sunday for a baseball card show.  As has been my goal for the last few shows Doug and I have attended, my goal was to look for older Phillies cards and cross a few more 1971 Topps cards off my shrinking checklist.  Missions accomplished.

Here's what I added to my collection.

• Autographs of former Phillies Ricky Bottalico, Dale Murphy, Kyle Kendrick, Joe Blanton and Brett Myers.  All were very pleasant and didn't seem to mind the ferocious coughing from Doug as he's currently getting over a bad cold.  Murphy even gave us an extra signed 1984 Topps card.
• A 1952 Red Man Tobacco Richie Ashburn card with the tab still attached.  I found a dealer who had all four Phillies from the set lined up with the Ashburn being the nicest of the bunch.  I would have loved to have pulled the trigger on the full team set (which includes Granny Hamner, Willie Jones and Robin Roberts) but that would have fully depleted my card show budget.  I settled for just the Ashburn and it's a gorgeous card.
• The Richie Allen and Cookie Rojas cards from the 1969 Transogram set.  I had never seen these cards before so when I found two Phillies together I was happy that the dealer was willing to work with me on a bundled price for the pair.  I just need the Johnny Callison card now for this elusive Phillies team set.
• A 1982 Phillies photo booklet from that season's "Camera Night at the Vet."  Inside the little booklet is a 1982 team photo and a $4 coupon to The Camera Shop which has most likely expired.
• The 1969 Topps Team Poster for the Phillies, which is another item I had never seen in person and for sale.  This thing is way bigger than I had imagined, and I'll need to figure out how to properly display this.
• Always on the look-out for pre-War Phillies cards, I couldn't pass up adding Russell Wrightstone's card from the 1922 Neilson's Chocolate (V61) set.
• And finally, I added 19 more cards to my 1971 Topps set.  I'm now down to needing just 22
  
  more cards for the complete set.  

Doug did his usual free-style pickin', adding some cool autograph and relic cards of current Phillies, including cards of Harper, along with a few Mike Trout additions.

After the show, Doug and I stopped at the Majestic Clubhouse Store at Citizens Bank Park where we joined apparently thousands of other Phillies fans in purchasing their new Bryce Harper gear.  T-shirts were purchased for the family with Harper's new #3.  The store was packed with fans who weren't willing to wait until April for their new Harper t-shirts.  I'd say the line of customers waiting for custom Phillies jerseys was about 30 deep at 2pm on Sunday afternoon.

Memory Lane

Valley Forge 1 - September 2010 - Thinking of my Dad
Valley Forge 2 - October 2012 - Doug's first baseball card show
Valley Forge 3 - September 2014 - Meeting Darren Daulton
Oaks 1 - October 2015 - Meeting Pete Rose and Steve Carlton
Valley Forge 4 - September 2016 - Phillies acquisitions and 4 Phillies Legends
Valley Forge 5 - December 2016 - Meeting Don Money
Valley Forge 6 - September 2017 - Doug's big day
Valley Forge 7 - December 2017 - Ben's first baseball card show with Mike Schmidt and Rhys Hoskins!
Oaks 2 - December 2018 - Meeting Matt Stairs and Cole Hamels
Valley Forge 8 - March 2019 - 5 Phillies Autographs and Vintage Phillies Additions

2015 Topps Heritage #397 Kyle Kendrick

Phillies 3, Red Sox 3
Spring Training Game 29 - Saturday Afternoon, March 25th in Fort Myers
Record - 10-15-4

One Sentence Summary:  The offense delivered 12 hits, but the Phillies had to settle for a 3-3 tie against the Red Sox.

What It Means:  The main event for this game was the pitching performances of Alec Asher, Adam Morgan and Joely Rodriguez.  Asher is expected to start the season in Triple-A, but Morgan and Rodriguez are battling for one the final spots in the bullpen.  Morgan allowed a run over three innings while Rodriguez pitched two shutout innings while striking out three.

What Happened:  Pedro Florimon and Jesmuel Valentin, also battling for roster spots, each had two hits.

Featured Card:  Former Phillie Kyle Kendrick, in camp with the Red Sox as a non-roster invitee, turned in another impressive outing.  Over six innings, Kendrick struck out six while allowing two runs on eight hits.  He's 4-0 with a 2.16 this spring, but the logjam in the Red Sox rotation means he's probably going to start the season in Triple-A.  This is Kendrick's last baseball card appearance with the Phillies from the 2015 Topps Heritage set.

Camp Head Count:  40

Phillies Alumni and Fan Favorites (including Mike Trout)

2016 Chachi Alumni #8

I introduced an Alumni insert set within last year's overall Chachi offering, and in checking my records, I realized I never officially released the final card in that eight-card set.  To right that wrong, Shane Victorino's 2016 Chachi Alumni card is presented here and I believe it's one of his few (if not his only) virtual baseball card featuring him with the Cubs.  Victorino was signed by the Cubs as a minor league free agent last February 26th, but a little over a month later he was released.

I wanted to repeat the alumni theme this year, but I also wanted to include a card for non-alumni, but Phillies Room favorite, Mike Trout.  Therefore, after careful consideration, I'm introducing the new 2017 Chachi Fan Favorites set . . . which consists entirely of Phillies alumni and Trout.

Chase Utley in blue is still a strange sight for me, as is Cole Hamels with a full mountain man beard. But perhaps the strangest sight this year is that of Jimmy Rollins in Giants orange and black.  Rollins has a chance to make the club as a back-up infielder.  I'll add to this checklist as more Phillies players move around or as additional players are deemed worthy enough to be called Chachi Fan Favorites. (Suggestions welcome!)

2017 Chachi Fan Favorites #1

2017 Chachi Fan Favorites #2

2017 Chachi Fan Favorites #3

2017 Chachi Fan Favorites #4

2017 Chachi Fan Favorites #5

2017 Chachi Fan Favorites #6

2017 Chachi Fan Favorites #7

2017 Chachi Fan Favorites #8

2017 Chachi Fan Favorites #9

2017 Chachi Fan Favorites #10

2017 Chachi Fan Favorites #11

2016 Chachi #69 Pitching Leaders - Hellickson, Eickhoff, Velasquez

The win is becoming an old school statistic, but it's still impressive to me that Jeremy Hellickson and Jared Eickhoff produced the highest win totals for the Phillies since Cliff Lee's 14 in 2013.  We're taking a step in the right direction here.

Memory Lane - Chachi Wins Leaders Cards
2005 - Jon Lieber, 17
2006 - Brett Myers, 12
2007 - Cole Hamels, 15
2008 - Jamie Moyer, 16
2009 - Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ and Jamie Moyer, 12
2010 - Roy Halladay, 21
2011 - Roy Halladay, 19
2012 - Cole Hamels, 17
2013 - Cliff Lee, 14
2014 - Kyle Kendrick, 10
2015 - Ken Giles, Cole Hamels, Aaron Harang and Aaron Nola, 6 (no card created)
2016 - Jeremy Hellickson, 12

2005 Chachi #56

2006 Chachi #65

2007 Chachi #63

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.