Game 15 - Pop, Painter Shine, but Offense Falls Short Again

Arizona Diamondbacks	4
Philadelphia Phillies	3

2025 Topps Mascots #M-18

Sunday Afternoon, April 12th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
7-8, Tied for 3rd Place, 2 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Despite gutsy pitching performances from Zach Pop and Andrew Painter, the Phillies couldn't hold on to a slim lead, dropping this series finale, and the series, to the Diamondbacks.

What It Means:  The Phillies played 27 innings over the weekend, scoring runs in just three of them.  We enjoyed (?) most of this game while celebrating my father-in-law's 80th birthday, surrounded by family.

What Happened:  Pop got the emergency start when Painter came down with a migraine prior to first pitch.  Pop would allow a run on three hits in his two innings before Painter recovered enough to enter in the third.  Painter allowed a run on three hits in five innings of relief, striking out seven.  Jose Alvarado's troubles continued as he allowed the Diamondbacks to take a 4-3 lead in the eighth.  Despite having runners on first and third and no outs in the bottom of the eighth, the Phillies couldn't tie it up, largely due to a huge base running blunder from Brandon Marsh.  Questionable base running was a recurring theme for the Phillies throughout the game.

The offense came to life for one inning only, scoring three in the sixth.  Justin Crawford doubled and Trea Turner hit a home run that just cleared the right field wall.  Kyle Schwarber followed with a double and Bryce Harper doubled him home.  That was it for the offense.  Alec Bohm went 0 for 3 as his average for the season dropped to .148.

Featured Card:  It was the Phanatic's birthday yesterday too, and sadly the Phillies couldn't give him a win.

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

Game 3 - Offense's Slow Start Continues in Loss to Texas

Texas Rangers	8
Philadelphia Phillies	3

2026 Philadelphia Phillies
Kids Club / Club 215

Sunday Afternoon, March 29th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
1-2, 5th Place, 2 games behind the Marlins

One Sentence Summary:  A lack of offense, some shaky defense and a pair of home runs given up by starter Jesus Luzardo led to this crappy 8-3 loss.

What It Means:  The Phillies dropped a home series for the first time since July, and the Nationals come to town next for a three game set.

What Happened:  Luzardo got tagged with two home runs - a two-run blast from Brandon Nimmo in the third and a laser, three-run home run from Andrew McCutchen in the fourth that just snuck its way over the left field fence.  He allowed six runs overall in his six inning outing, striking out seven.  Zach Pop gave up the final two Rangers runs.  The Phillies were being no-hit by MacKenzie Gore until Justin Crawford led off the bottom of the sixth with a check swing infield single to third.  The Phillies offense had three hits overall.

Featured Card:  Jenna and I attended this game (see below) and she once again indulged my collector's need to sign up for a Kids Club / Club 215 membership so that we could collect the team-issued baseball cards available throughout the season at the club's kiosk in Ashburn Alley.  As we're now entering the fourth season without a team-issued photo card set, thanks to Fanatics' deal with MLB, this is the closest I'll get to building a team-issued set.  I picked up a Phanatic card and a Crawford card, and as far as I could tell, there are 16 cards in the set to start the season.

Field Report:  The product on the field was lousy, but the afternoon was gorgeous and we enjoyed the game with family from the Diamond Club.  It's now the Philadelphia Insurance Club, after being sponsored by a different company in 2025, but it'll always be the Diamond Club to me.  The Hall of Fame Club underwent a complete overhaul in the offseason, and the Phillies did a fantastic job with the redesign, which features museum quality displays honoring the club's past.

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

Game 33 - Kepler, Realmuto Back Nola for His First Win of '25

Arizona Diamondbacks	2
Philadelphia Phillies	7

2025 Philadelphia Phillies
Kids Club / Club 215

Saturday Night, May 3rd

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
19-14, 2nd Place, 3 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Aaron Nola continued to shake off his early season cobwebs and won his first game backed by home runs from Max Kepler and J.T. Realmuto.

What It Means:  The Phillies have won six of their last seven games and go for the series sweep this afternoon as Ranger Suarez makes his season debut.

What Happened:  Nola scattered four hits and a walk over his six innings of work, striking out eight Diamondback batters.  The Phillies jumped on 2023 NLCS nemesis Brandon Pfaadt for seven runs (six earned), chasing the pitcher in the fifth inning.  Kepler hit a two-run home run in the second, a laser line drive to right.  J.T. Realmuto doubled, Alec Bohm singled and Brandon Marsh doubled home Realmuto to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead.  Realmuto added a three-run home run in the third as the rain intensified.

Featured Card:  This is Kepler's first, and to date only, Phillies baseball card.  18 cards were available to collect at the ballpark with a membership to the Phillies Kids Club or Club 215 through the first month of the season, and last night I was pleasantly surprised to see the addition of a Kepler card to raise the total cards in the set to 19.  Still no sign of a Jesus Luzardo card, which hopefully changes soon.

Field Report:  We attended this game with family and had a great night in spite of the steady rain throughout the middle of the game.  The Phanatic paid our section a visit in the sixth inning and we watched a few pitches together before he departed for the Phanatic Dance with a bunch of lucky kids.

Transaction:  Marsh (of) was activated from the injured list and Cal Stevenson (of) was sent back down to Lehigh Valley.  Suarez (lhp) was also activated with Jose Ruiz (rhp) going on the 15-day injured list with a neck spasm.

2025 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2025 Season Summary Index / 2025 Chachi Set Checklist

1999 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  36
Card Size:  4" x 6"

Description:  The fronts of the photo cards once again feature full color photos with the player's, coach's or manager's name in white letters against a blue band.  Scott Rolen's card celebrates his 1998 Gold Glove win with a picture of a Gold Glove on the front of his card.  The card backs feature biographical information and complete career statistics.

How Distributed:  The 36-card set was available for sale at Veterans Stadium throughout the season.  For the fifth year in a row, there was no update set issued.

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

1. Bobby Abreu (#53 - OF) 2. Marlon Anderson (#16 - 2B) 3. Alex Arias (#26 - INF) 4. Gary Bennett (#14 - C) 5. Jeff Brantley (#45 - RHP) 6. Billy Brewer (#49 - LHP) 7. Rico Brogna (#2 - 1B) 8. Paul Byrd (#34 - RHP) 9. Galen Cisco (#43 - Pitching Instructor)      10. Chuck Cottier (#3 - Bench Coach) 11. Dave Doster (#15 - INF) 12. Rob Ducey (#25 - OF)

13. Terry Francona (#7 - MG) 14. Ron Gant (#5 - OF) 15. Doug Glanville (#6 - OF) 16. Wayne Gomes (#61 - RHP) 17. Mike Grace (#44 - RHP) 18. Ramon Henderson (#59 - Bullpen Coach)      19. Kevin Jordan (#23 - INF) 20. Mike Lieberthal (#24 - C) 21. Carlton Loewer (#46 - RHP) 22. Hal McRae (#56 - Hitting Instructor) 23. Brad Mills (#9 - First Base Coach) 24. Steve Montgomery (#57 - RHP)

25. Chad Ogea (#33 - RHP) 26. Yorkis Perez (#48 - LHP) 27. Jim Poole (#41 - LHP) 28. Tom Prince (#12 - C) 29. Desi Relaford (#8 - SS) 30. Scott Rolen (#17 - 3B) 31. Ken Ryan (#51 - RHP) 32. Curt Schilling (#38 - RHP) 33. Kevin Sefcik (#11 - OF) 34. Paul Spoljaric (#50 - LHP) 35. John Vukovich (#18 - Third Base Coach)      36. Phillie Phanatic

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (2):  Poole, Spoljaric

First Appearance in Phillies Photo Card Set (13):  Anderson, Bennett, Brantley, Byrd, Doster, Ducey, Gant, Loewer, Montgomery, Ogea, Perez, Prince, Ryan
Returning Players in Phillies Photo Card Set (13):  Abreu, Arias, Brewer, Brogna, Glanville, Gomes, Grace, Jordan, Lieberthal, Relaford, Rolen, Schilling, Sefcik

I'm not counting Yorkis Perez's fairly rare photo card issued at the 1998 ALS Autograph and Auction Party as his first appearance.

Manager (1):  Francona
Coaches (6):  Cisco, Cottier, Henderson, McRae, Mills, Vukovich

Phillie Phanatic (1):  The Phanatic gets a close up on his 1999 card.

Broadcasters (0):  N/A

Set Composition:  The entire 25-man opening day roster makes it into the set, along with catcher Tom Prince who began the year on the disabled list.  Relievers Billy Brewer and Steve Montgomery also receive cards, although they began the season in Triple-A.

Omissions:  It's fairly easy to piece together an imaginary update set checklist, as the injury prone 1999 Phillies team made fairly frequent roster moves and acquisitions throughout the season.  Seven additional players suited up for the Phillies prior to the All-Star break, and an update set released in early July could have consisted of Joel Bennett, Joe Grahe, Robert Person, Cliff Politte, Steve Schrenk, Amaury Telemaco and Randy Wolf.  On the day of the ALS Autograph Party and Auction, June 21st, Person, Telemaco and Wolf were all on the active roster.

Variations/Rarities:  Fellow collector Rick confirmed there are no rarities to be found with this set's design, although in a comment to the original post for this set he mentioned there are a few variations available with facsimile autographs.

Also See:  The Phillies produced three Stadium League sets, and these have proved to be somewhat difficult for me to track down.

• Stadium League SGA - This is a standard-sized, 9-card set with gray borders, given away on Fan Appreciation Day, October 3rd.  The backs of the cards contain individual player highlights from the 1999 season.
• Stadium League Phillies Finest - This is a standard-sized, 9-card set with no borders and Phillies Finest written on the back.  The 14,000 Phillies database entry for the set states the cards were given away as prizes to kids playing a card flipping game in the Fun Zone at Veterans Stadium.
• Stadium League Phillies Finest (5 x 7) - This is a larger version of the 9-card Fun Zone giveaway set, and the origin of these cards is (so far) unknown.

This set was originally featured in a post back in November 2014, and I'm going through these older team-issued photo card set posts to update them with new information learned (if any) over the past nine years.

1998 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards / 2000 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

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

1994 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  46
Card Size:  4" x 6"

Description:  For the sixth year in a row, the card fronts feature a 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 card backs also feature the club's 1993 N.L. Champions logo.  From this point forward (as of this writing), the Phillies team issued sets have been sponsor-less.  Medford Food Company sponsored its third and final set in 1993.

How Distributed:  The original 36-card set was available for sale at Veterans Stadium throughout the season.  A ten-card update series was produced and sold at the ballpark in the second half of the season, before the player's strike ended the season prematurely on August 11th.  The update series is fairly difficult to track down.  I attended a few games at the Vet that July, adding the set to my collection.  The Phillies played on only 19 days following the All-Star break and before the strike, meaning the set was on sale for only a short time.

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

1. Larry Andersen (#47 - RHP) 2. Kim Batiste (#5 - INF) 3. Larry Bowa (#2 - Third Base Coach)      4. Wes Chamberlain (#44 - OF) 5. Norm Charlton (#37 - LHP) 6. Darren Daulton (#10 - C) 7. Mariano Duncan (#7 - INF) 8. Lenny Dykstra (#4 - OF) 9. Jim Eisenreich (#8 - OF) 10. Jim Fregosi (#11 - MG) 11. Tyler Green (#28 - RHP) 12. Tommy Greene (#49 - RHP)

13. Dave Hollins (#15 - INF) 14. Pete Incaviglia (#22 - OF) 15. Danny Jackson (#27 - LHP) 16. Doug Jones (#23 - RHP)* 17. Ricky Jordan (#17 - 1B) 18. Jeff Juden (#43 - RHP) 19. John Kruk (#29 - 1B) 20. Tony Longmire (#16 - OF) 21. Roger Mason (#48 - RHP) 22. Denis Menke (#14 - Hitting Instructor)      23. Mickey Morandini (#12 - INF) 24. Bobby Munoz (#35 - RHP)

25. Johnny Podres (#46 - Pitching Coach) 26. Todd Pratt (#6 - Catcher) 27. Ben Rivera (#34 - RHP) 28. Mel Roberts (#26 - First Base Coach) 29. Mike Ryan (#9 - Bullpen Coach) 30. Curt Schilling (#38 - RHP) 31. Heathcliff Slocumb (#51 - RHP) 32. Kevin Stocker (#19 - INF) 33. Milt Thompson (#25 - OF) 34. John Vukovich (#18 - Dugout Assistant)      35. David West (#40 - LHP) 36. Mike Williams (#41 - RHP)

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

1. Toby Borland (#42 - RHP)      2. Andy Carter (#50 - LHP) 3. Billy Hatcher (#3 - OF) 4. Mike Lieberthal (#24 - C)

5. Tom Marsh (#21 - OF) 6. Paul Quantrill (#48 - RHP)        7. Randy Ready (#31 - INF)

8. Fernando Valenzuela (#33 - LHP)      9. Phillie Phanatic 10. 1994 Phillies All-Stars

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Carter

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (12):  Borland, Charlton, Hatcher, Jones, Juden, Lieberthal, Longmire, Marsh, Munoz, Quantrill, Slocumb, Valenzuela
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (24):  Andersen, Batiste, Chamberlain, Daulton, Duncan, Dykstra, Eisenreich, Green, Greene, Hollins, Incaviglia, Jackson, Jordan, Kruk, Mason, Morandini, Pratt, Ready, Rivera, Schilling, Stocker, Thompson, West, Williams

*The Jones card in the original 36-card set erroneously lists his date of birth of January 2, 1972.  This was corrected with a second Jones card (with an identical photo) issued with the update set.

Andy Carter's only Phillies baseball card can be found within the update set.  

Manager (1):  Fregosi
Coaches (6):  Bowa, Menke, Podres, Roberts, Ryan, Vukovich

Phillie Phanatic (1):  The Phanatic is shown atop the Phillies dugout, wearing his blue hat which was briefly introduced at certain home games during the 1994 season.

Broadcasters (0):  N/A
Other Cards (1):  1994 Phillies All-Stars, featuring Vukovich, Fregosi, Podres, Dykstra, Jones, Jackson and Duncan.

Set Composition:  The entire 25-man opening day roster made it into the set, with the exception of outfielder Tom Marsh, who didn't get a card until the update set was released.  Also appearing in the original set were John Kruk, Norm Charlton, Wes Chamberlain and Larry Andersen, who all began the season on the Disabled List.  Charlton would miss the entire season.  The oft-injured Tyler Green got a card too, but he spent the entire season with the Triple-A Red Barons.

The eight players included in the update set were added to the roster between opening day (Marsh) and June 29th (Mike Lieberthal), meaning the update set was likely released shortly after the All-Star break.  Fernando Valenzuela looks as if he was asked to put on a uniform for the sole purpose of letting the Phillies take pictures.

Omissions:  Shawn Boskie, who pitched in 18 games for the Phillies in 1994, is the big omission here.  Boskie was added too late for inclusion in the original set, as the Phillies acquired him from the Cubs on April 12th for Kevin Foster.  He could have been added to the update set, as he was with the club and active up until his trade to the Mariners on July 21st.  Boskie was included within the Mellon Bank Phillies SGA set, given away to all kids attending the June 26th game.  There are four other players who appeared with the Phillies during the strike-shortened season who didn't get team-issued photo cards:  Tom Quinlan, on the roster for 45 days in May and June, Bob Wells, Ricky Bottalico and Tom Edens, who was acquired from the Astros a few weeks before the end of the season.

Variations/Rarities:  In the comments to the original post for this set, fellow Phillies collector Rick  pointed out the following non-set cards/variations.  Rick also adds some of the popular players (including John Kruk) had cards issued including a facsimile autograph.

1. Dick Allen (with 1994 copyright) 2. Doug Jones (corrected birthday of 6/24/57)

Trivia:  The Beckett database lists the set as "1994 Phillies Medford" even though Medford Food Company was not the sponsor of this set.  The listing also omits the ten card update set.  The set's listing in the 2001 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards lists the set as "1994 Phillies Photocards" and includes only the base 36 cards.

Resources:  Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

This set was originally featured in a post back in November 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.

1993 Medford Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards / 1995 Philadelphia 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 9 - Phils Get Rings; Blow Game Late

Reds 6, Phillies 4
Game 9 - Sunday Afternoon, April 9th in Philadelphia
Record - 3-6, 4th Place, 2 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Baserunning blunders and a poor outing from Seranthony Dominguez led to this stunning 6-4 defeat by the Reds.

What It Means:  The Phillies won the series, but should have had the sweep.  The Marlins with Jean Segura come to town next for a three-game series beginning Monday night.

What Happened:  Baserunning blunders in the first, fourth and eighth innings by Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh and Kyle Schwarber, respectively took away runs or potential runs and eventually cost the Phillies the ballgame.  The pitching staff also gave up nine walks, led by five from starter Taijuan Walker and a costly pair from Dominguez that would prove to be the winning runs for the Reds.  Dominguez entered in the ninth trying to secure a save with the Phillies up 4-2.  He walked two batters, TJ Friedl reached on an infield single and then Jake Fraley hit a bases-clearing double to give the Reds the lead.

Alec Bohm broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth with a two-run home runs to left, scoring Bryson Stott.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  We watched the game from our seats in the Diamond Club, which I was told today has been rebranded the CP Rankin Club.  CP Rankin spent a ton of money I'm sure for the branding rights, all for me to continue to call it the Diamond Club.  In any event, the pregame ring ceremony was spectacular.  Every member of the current Phillies club was on hand to receive their rings, with the loudest ovations saved for the last two players out of the dugout - Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper.  There were also a number of players who appeared with the Phillies in 2022 who are still in the system receiving rings, including Simon Muzziotti, Damon Jones, Francisco Morales, Scott Kingery, Rafael Marchan, Will Toffey and Michael Plassmeyer.  The game itself was enjoyable . . . until the ninth inning.  And we even got a quick visit with the Phanatic, resulting in a very limited edition Chachi Special Edition insert card.

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

#34 Raising the 2022 Flag HL

Philly Baseball Card Show Report - 1969 Topps Commons Explosion

On Sunday, Doug and I drove an hour north to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks for the March Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, known to its friends as the Philly Show.  This could be our last show for a while, as baseball schedules along with a packed summer and fall tend to keep us away from any June or September shows.  We were happy we had decided to attend on Sunday, as we both heard from dealers and other collectors that Saturday's show was, "way too crowded, "a madhouse" and "chaos."  There were still a lot of people there on Sunday, but we were able to leisurely browse the dealer tables and we both came away with hauls that had us smiling all the way home.

• Doug's collecting habits are geared towards cards he thinks are cool, which is usually some combination of a signature, a relic and/or a low serial number for a favorite baseball or basketball player.  He's got quite the display going on his bedroom desk, and he added the cards shown below to his collection after a few hours of scouting and negotiating.
• After being a big spender on star cards at the December show, and completing our 1965 Topps set, I was focused on volume this time around.  I pulled up a chair at Uncle Dick's table, found the first binder of 1969 Topps commons (1-300) and plowed through it.  I stopped after each 100 cards to ask for a price check, and with the understanding I'd buy more if there was as a discount in play for volume, I soldiered on.  I added 193 cards to our 1969 Topps set, which is most likely the highest single set tally since the 1980s when my Dad and me were collecting the 1976 Topps set and we bought most of the commons needed for that set at an Ocean City baseball card show.
• I was happy to find quite a few dealers with Diamond Stars cards for sale.  I visited three separate dealers, making three separate purchases, all of which came in a little lower than the advertised prices. With five more cards added to that set, I'm down to needing 38 cards out of the 119 I'm collecting as my version of a master set.

I purchased one Phillies card, a 1987 team-issued variation card of the Phillie Phanatic, and we didn't purchase autographs from any of the dozens of autograph signers.  It was another great show, and it may need to hold us over until December.

Doug's Haul

New Diamond Stars cards

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
Valley Forge 9 - September 2019 - Closing in on 1971 Topps set and Andrew McCutchen
Valley Forge 10 - December 2019 - Finishing 1971 Topps set, Starting 1965 Topps set, adding key autographs from Ryan Howard and Brad Lidge
Valley Forge 11 - February 2020 - More 1965 Topps cards, Jimmy Rollins, Mike Lieberthal and Jim Kaat

Valley Forge 12 - December 2021 - Huge haul of 1965 Topps, Jim Thome

Valley Forge 13 - March 2022 - Easy like Sunday morning, close to completing 1965 Topps

Oaks 3 - December 2022 - 1965 Topps set completed, dent made in 1969 Topps, Schwarber, Vierling and Stott

Oaks 4 - March 2023 - Huge haul of 1969 Topps and five Diamond Stars cards added

Blue Jays 8, Phillies 3
Spring Training Game 16 - Sunday Afternoon, March 12th in Clearwater
Record - 7-8-1

One Sentence Summary:  Further south, the Phillies dropped a spring training game to the Blue Jays.

What It Means:  With our fresh spoils in hand, we listened to the start of this game on our ride home from the Philly Show.

What Happened:  Starting pitcher Bailey Falter got hit early and often, allowing seven hits and three runs (two earned) in 2 2/3 innings of work.  Jake Jewell was the recipient of four unearned runs in the ninth due to a costly error by second baseman Hao-Yu Lee.  Josh Harrison hit a two-run home run in the fifth.

Featured Card:  See above!

Camp Head Count:  65 - 7 - 3 = 55

Before the game, James McArthur (rhp) was optioned and Mick Abel (rhp), Andrew Baker (rhp), Jon Duplantier (rhp), Griff McGarry (rhp), Francisco Morales (rhp) and Billy Sullivan (rhp) were all assigned to minor league camp.  Following the game, Jhailyn Ortiz (of) and Simon Muzziotti (of) were optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and Johan Rojas (of) was optioned to Double-A Reading.

2022 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  34
Card Size:  4" x 6"
Description:  Similar to the other photo card sets issued by the Phillies over the past decade, the front of the cards features a simple design with the focus on the photography.  All player photos, with the exception of Sam Coonrod, appear to have been taken early in the 2022 season.  Only the player's name - no uniform number and no position - is included on the front of the card, along with a simple white Phillies logo.  The horizontal card backs feature biographical information and career statistics.

How Distributed:  Single cards from the set first appeared in the wild at the Phillies game on June 3rd, as identification within grab bags containing autographed hats or baseballs sold as part of the annual ALS Night.  The entire 34-card set appeared for sale at the ballpark (for $6) on June 10th, shrink wrapped with the Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos cards visible on either side.  The cards were packaged in alphabetical order, save for the Harper and Castellanos cards.  This is the first team-issued photo card set produced by the Phillies since 2019, as no sets were issued during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season or the entire 2021 season.

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

1. Jose Alvarado (#46 - LHP)       2. Andrew Bellatti (#64 - RHP) 3. Alec Bohm (#28 - 3B) 4. Johan Camargo (#7 - INF) 5. Nick Castellanos (#8 - OF) 6. Sam Coonrod (#54 - RHP) 7. Seranthony Dominguez (#58 - RHP)      8. Zach Eflin (#56 - RHP) 9. Bailey Falter (#70 - LHP) 10. Jeurys Familia (#31 - RHP) 11. Kyle Gibson (#44 - RHP) 12. Didi Gregorius (#18 - INF)

13. Brad Hand (#52 - LHP) 14. Bryce Harper (#3 - RF) 15. Odubel Herrera (#37 - OF) 16. Rhys Hoskins (#17 - 1B) 17. Corey Knebel (#23 - RHP) 18. Mickey Moniak (#16 - OF) 19. Simon Muzziotti (#40 - OF)       20. Nick Nelson (#57 - RHP) 21. Aaron Nola (#27 - RHP) 22. James Norwood (#49 - RHP) 23. Roman Quinn (#24 - OF)

24. J.T. Realmuto (#10 - C)  25. Cristopher Sanchez (#61 - LHP) 26. Kyle Schwarber (#12 - OF) 27. Jean Segura (#2 - INF) 28. Bryson Stott (#5 - INF) 29. Garrett Stubbs (#21 - C)       30. Ranger Suarez (#55 - LHP) 31. Rob Thomson (#59 - Interim Manager) 32. Matt Vierling (#19 - OF) 33. Zack Wheeler (#45 - RHP) 34. Phillie Phanatic

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Norwood

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (22):  Alvarado, Bellatti, Bohm, Camargo, Castellanos, Coonrod, Falter, Familia, Gibson, Gregorius, Hand, Knebel, Moniak, Muzziotti, Nelson, Sanchez, Schwarber, Stott, Stubbs, Suarez, Vierling, Wheeler
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (9):  Dominguez, Eflin, Harper, Herrera, Hoskins, Nola, Quinn, Realmuto, Segura

The One and Done list above could get some future company, but for now I'm going to assume this is the only Phillies baseball card for reliever James Norwood, who was designated for assignment on June 13th.  I'll update this list as it grows.  Only nine Phillies players in this set were around when the Phillies last issued a photo card set back in May 2019.  This is the first appearance in a team-issued set for Ranger Suarez, who made his debut with the team in 2018.

Coonrod, currently on the 60-day injured list, is the only player in the set to have not appeared yet in a game in 2022.  Roman Quinn snuck into the set despite having been designated for assignment on June 1st.  (Quinn has since signed with the Royals' organization.)

Interim Manager (1):  Thomson
Phillie Phanatic (1):  The Phanatic is shown wearing the team's cream alternate jersey.

For the first time since the Phillies started issuing annual photo card sets back in 1970, no cards were produced for the team's coaches.  This could have something to do with the fact the team's coaching staff has ballooned from four in 1970 to ten at the start of the 2022 season.  Rob Thomson, named the team's interim manager on June 3rd following the dismissal of Joe Girardi, is identified as such on the back of his card.

Omissions:  I'm not going to complain at all about the set's checklist, given we waited two years for the return of this fan and collector's favorite.  Of the 36 players to have suited up for the Phillies in 2022 up until June 3rd, only five players are left out of the set - relievers Connor Brogdon and Damon Jones, who were both on the opening day roster, pitcher Jeff Singer, who was active for a day, pitcher Francisco Morales, who was on the roster for nine games in early May and infielder Nick Maton, who was active for three days before landing on the injured list.  It would have been nice to have cards of either Brogdon or Jones in place of Coonrod, but again beggars can't be choosers.

Variations/Rarities:  There's only one (potential) rarity to report at this time.  As mentioned above, single cards from the set first starting appearing on June 3rd, included within grab bags sold for $30 at the ballpark to benefit the ALS Association.  My son Doug and I both received bags with Joe Girardi cards to go along with a Girardi-signed baseball and a Girardi-signed hat.  The former Phillies manager had been relieved of his duties earlier that day, which was too late for Phillies employees to try to find and remove bags containing items he had autographed.  Who knows how many of these cards made it out before the Phillies recycled them?

1. Joe Girardi (#25 - MG)

2019 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards - 2nd Edition / 2023 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

2000-Present Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page

Game 52 - Thomson Era Begins with Blow-Out Win; #StrikeOutALS

Phillies 10, Angels 0
Game 52 - Friday Night, June 3rd in Philadelphia
Record - 23-29, 3rd Place, 11 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Under new interim manager Rob Thomson, the Phillies blasted the Angels with five home runs and eight shutout innings from Zach Eflin in this 10-0 win.

What It Means:  Thomson is 1-0 as Phillies manager, and he'll look to add to that tally by hopefully about 60 or so games over the remainder of the 2022 season.

What Happened:  Eflin was dominant, allowing five hits and striking out six, and James Norwood pitched a perfect ninth to preserve the combined shutout.  Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper both homered twice and Bryson Stott connected for his first big league home run, a three-run blast in the second.  Nick Maton made a diving catch in the sixth inning on a blooper hit by Mike Trout, and had to leave the game with a shoulder injury.  Trout and Shohei Ohtani went a combined 0 for 7 with three strikeouts.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  I've been involved with the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the ALS Association for the past several years, and I was proud to attend this game with my family, watching with other sponsors of the event from the Bill Giles Party Suite.  We can now say we've enjoyed a game from that particular suite with the suite's namesake, former Phillies owner Giles.  There were a number of Phillies alumni who made their way through the suite at various times throughout the game, and I enjoyed my time talking with each of them.  The Phanatic stopped by to say hello too.

We purchased a bunch of grab bags created for the night containing signed memorabilia and past Phillies giveaway items, and I was happy to see actual 2022 team-issued photo cards included in some of the bags to identify who had signed either a ball or a hat.  In total, the Phillies helped raise $344,000 for the ALS Association, and it was an overall wonderful night for a fantastic cause.

Transaction:  With the Phillies seriously underperforming, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made the decision on Friday morning to fire Joe Girardi and name Rob Thomson the interim manager for the remainder of the 2022 season.  Girardi's decisions around bullpen management and line-up construction had been increasingly baffling over the past few weeks, and the Phillies decided a regime change was needed.  Girardi had guided the club to a 22-29 record this season and a 132-141 record overall since taking the helm in 2020.  Ryne Sandberg (2013-2015) managed five more games than Girardi did, and Girardi's win total was less than Nick Leyva's (148), Gabe Kapler's (161) and Pete Mackanin's (174).

Thomson had been the team's bench coach since 2018.  Bobby Meacham, who had the nebulous title of "assistant coach," was also fired, with Mike Calitri being promoted from Quality Assurance Coach to bench coach.

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

Game 1 - An Electric Opening Day!

2022 Chachi Special Edition #1

2022 Topps Now Spring Training #ST-11

2020 Topps Heritage Minor League #175

1959 Topps #300

Phillies 9, Athletics 5
Game 1 - Friday Afternoon, April 8th in Philadelphia
Record - 1-0, 2nd Place, 1/2 game behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  In an electric Citizens Bank Park, the first "normal" opening day since 2019 was celebrated with a 9-5 win over the visiting Athletics.

What It Means:  As promised, the offense was impressive and the defense was at times shaky.  Bryson Stott, making his big league debut, mishandled three balls in a rough seventh inning, but redeemed himself with an RBI-double in the eighth.  The base running was also suspect, which I believe can be chalked up to an over-excited and aggressive Phillies line-up.

What Happened:  Kyle Schwarber introduced himself to the Phillies fans with a lead-off first inning home run, and then earned the first curtain call of the season.  In the third, Bryce Harper doubled home Schwarber, Rhys Hoskins drove in a pair with a line drive single to right and Didi Gregorius drove home Hoskins with his own RBI single.  Every Phillies starter had a least one hit, other than Matt Vierling, although Vierling contributed a sacrifice fly in the sixth.  Nick Castellanos, who had struck out in his first three at-bats, doubled home Harper in the seventh.  Stott and Schwarber added a few more runs in the eighth with Stott's first big league double and an RBI-single from Schwarber.

Aaron Nola cruised through the first three innings, and his first hit allowed was a solo home run to Chad Pinder in the fourth.  It was relatively smooth sailing for Jeurys Familia, Brad Hand and Seranthony Dominguez out of the bullpen, and Corey Knebel pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two, in his Phillies debut.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  For the second year in a row, Doug and I were there!  Here's a summary of a memorable opening day:

• We were there right after gates opened at 1:05.  Traffic was heavy and I've never seen the parking lots surrounding the ballpark so crowded.  Tailgating had obviously been going on for the better part of the day and we ended up parking right outside Lincoln Financial Field.
• Doug was craving Bull's and we waited in a long line for his standard order - BBQ pulled pork with cole slaw on top, with sides of baked beans and corn bread.
• The pre-game ceremony was once again impressive, with the Phanatic skydiving into the ballpark with the first pitch ball and Dan Baker throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.  Baker, the long-time public address announcer for the Phillies, was celebrating his 50th opening day with the club and his catcher for the first pitch was the first batter he every announced - Larry Bowa.
• We were lucky to have Diamond Club seats with my brother-in-law and his Dad.  Tommy Greene was seated a few rows in front of us.
• The Phillies Authentics store now has a wide selection of baseball cards for sale!  The cards all seemed reasonably priced and they were organized by player (Utley, Thome, Harper, Rollins, etc.) or alphabetical in white boxes.  There was a nice selection of star cards underneath a glass countertop.  I added the 1959 Topps Richie Ashburn card and Doug got a Luke Williams game-used base Topps Now card.  I'm not collecting the 1959 Topps set for a little bit, but we thought it would be cool to add a card to our set from the ballpark.
• The ballpark was PACKED.  We had trouble walking around and navigating through the lengthy lines that stretched beyond each concession stand.  The paid attendance was 44,232, and it seemed as if there were at least 10,000 more people than that there.
• Word is that team-issued photo card sets will make a return in 2022 after a two-year absence.  According to an employee from the Phillies Authentics store, they expect to have Yearbooks and photo card sets available for sale in May.

Transactions:  On Thursday, to get to the 28-man opening day roster, Stott (inf) had his contract selected from Lehigh Valley.  To make room for Stott on the 40-man roster, Rafael Marchan (c) was recalled and placed on the 60-day injured list with a knee injury.  Odubel Herrera (of), Sam Coonrod (rhp) and Ryan Sherriff (lhp) were placed on the 10-day injured list while James Norwood (rhp) was placed on the bereavement list.

On Thursday afternoon, we learned the unfortunate news that Mickey Moniak had suffered a hair-line fracture in his hand and would miss four to six weeks.  Moniak was set to be the club's opening day center fielder after his extremely impressive spring, and he received a warm welcome from the fans during pre-game introductions.  Simon Muzziotti (of) was recalled from Lehigh Valley to take his place.

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