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.
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 Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the back of cards):
Manager (1): Leyva
Coaches (1): The coach's card features Larry Bowa, Darold Knowles, Hal Lanier, Denis Menke, Mike Ryan and John Vukovich.
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.
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.
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 |
| 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
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
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.
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.
| 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)
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.