1956 Topps - 4th Series Phillies Alumni

After 10 years and exactly 342 posts for each of the 342 cards in the set, my 1956 Topps blog is coming to a close.  Within the next few weeks, I'll wrap up the final few posts and put the finishing touches on both a 4th Series review and an overall review of this wonderful baseball card set.  

As I've done with the prior three series, I wanted to display a gallery of Phillies Alumni from the set's fourth series, or cards #261 to #340.  Here are those 16 players who either played, coached or managed the Phillies.

 

#261

#266

#269

#274

#275

#282

#290

#293

#296

#297

#308

#321

#331

#334

#335

#337

Phillies Alumni in 1956 Topps Set

1st Series - 18

2nd Series - 14

3rd Series - 14

4th Series - 16

Series Preview - Braves at Phillies: July 26th to July 28th

2019 Chachi Fan Favorites #13

2019 Chachi 1971 Topps Missing Links #9

Friday and Saturday 7:05, Sunday 1:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Braves 60-43, 1st place in the N.L. East, 4 1/2 games ahead of the Nationals
Phillies 54-48, 3rd place in the N.L. East, 5 1/2 games behind the Braves

Braves Probables:  Mike Soroka (10-2, 2.46), Max Fried (10-4, 4.08), Kevin Gausman (3-5, 5.71)
Phillies Probables:  Jake Arrieta (8-7, 4.40), Zach Eflin (7-10, 4.25), Aaron Nola (8-2, 3.64)

At the Ballpark:  Christmas in July is the theme for Friday night's game.  On Saturday, players and coaches will stroll on the field for the annual pre-game photo night.  It's also 1970s Retro Night, and the Phillies will be wearing their infamous Saturday Special, all-burgundy uniforms worn only once back in 1979.  Finally on Sunday, all kids will receive a Bryce Harper replica jersey.

Braves Leaders
Average:  Freddie Freeman - .303
Runs:  Ronald Acuna, Jr. - 79
Home Runs:  Freddie Freeman - 25
RBIs:  Freddie Freeman - 79
Stolen Bases:  Ronald Acuna, Jr. - 22

Wins:  Max Fried and Mike Soroka - 10
ERA:  Julio Teheran - 3.42

Strikeouts:  Julio Teheran - 108
Saves:  Luke Jackson - 17

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Cesar Hernandez - .277
Runs:  J.T. Realmuto - 59
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 21
RBIs:  Bryce Harper - 70
Stolen Bases:  Scott Kingery and Jean Segura - 7

Wins:  Jake Arrieta and Aaron Nola - 8
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 3.64

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 145
Saves:  Hector Neris - 18

1973 Topps - Phillies Cards

1973 Topps #535, #396, #572 and #394

We're entering that part of the season when it's time to tie up a few loose ends here on the blog, and set our sights on the better and brighter days that lie ahead for the Phillies.  The 2013 Chachi set uses the design of the 1973 Topps set, and I've enjoyed featuring 1973 Topps cards with some connection to each series opponent in my series preview posts.

Almost a year ago to the day, I posted a comprehensive list of cards from the 1979 Topps set that somehow had a Phillies connection.  This post will serve to do the same with the 1973 Topps set, and it will give me an excuse to show off some cards from teams the Phillies did not face during the 2013 season.

There are 112 (out of 726) cards in the 1979 Topps set with Phillies connections* and I've determined the 1973 Topps set has 107 (out of 660) cards with Phillies connections.

*My original post tallied 111 cards in the 1979 Topps set with Phillies connections, but when the team named Steve Henderson its new hitting coach last October, the number jumped up one to 112.

National League East (41 - 10 without Phillies)
Atlanta Braves (5) - #72 Ron Reed, #169 Ron Schueler, #237 Lew Burdette/Ken Silvestri CO, #550 Davey Johnson, #653 Joe Hoerner
Miami Marlins (0)
New York Mets (4) - #30 Tug McGraw, #184 Jerry Koosman, #223 Bud Harrelson, #525 Jim Fregosi
Philadelphia Phillies (31)
Washington Nationals (Montreal Expos) (1) - #377 Gene Mauch MG

National League Central (24)
Chicago Cubs (2) - #180 Fergie Jenkins, #393 Jose Cardenal
Cincinnati Reds (9) - #28 Hal McRae, #52 Denis Menke, #130 Pete Rose, #202 Pete Rose NLCS, #208 Bobby Tolan/Denis Menke NLCS, #230 Joe Morgan, #275 Tony Perez, #296 Sparky Anderson MG, #335 Bobby Tolan
Milwaukee Brewers (7) - #71 Johnny Briggs, #74 Billy Champion, #332 John Felske, #386 Don Money, #451 John Vukovich, #526 Ollie Brown, #646 Harvey Kuenn CO
Pittsburgh Pirates (3) - #2 Rich Hebner, #225 Al Oliver, #397 Dave Cash
St. Louis Cardinals (3) - #128 Ted Sizemore, #269 Tim McCarver, #364 Rick Wise

National League West (10)
Arizona Diamondbacks (0)
Colorado Rockies (0)
Los Angeles Dodgers (3) - #239 Pete Richert, #490 Claude Osteen, #609 Davey Lopes RS
San Diego Padres (4) - #12 Johnny Podres/Bob Skinner CO, #57 Derrel Thomas, #133 Dave Roberts, #542 Pat Corrales
San Francisco Giants (3) - #121 Dave Rader, #322 Garry Maddox, #606 Gary Matthews RS

1973 Topps #9, #20, #301 and #362

American League East (9)
Baltimore Orioles (3) - #9 Johnny Oates, #362 Eddie Watt, #396 Grant Jackson
Boston Red Sox (1) - #317 Danny Cater
New York Yankees (5) - #68 Sparky Lyle LL, #116 Jim Hegan CO, #394 Sparky Lyle, #479 Hal Lanier, #535 Johnny Callison
Tampa Bay Rays (0)
Toronto Blue Jays (0)

American League Central (18)
Chicago White Sox (6) - #20 Stan Bahnsen, #62 Dick Allen LL, #63 Dick Allen LL, #310 Dick Allen, #356 Joe Lonnett CO, #379 Cy Acosta
Cleveland Indians (4) - #247 Del Unser, #272 Ed Farmer, #372 Oscar Gamble, #425 Alex Johnson
Detroit Tigers (3) - #29 Tony Taylor, #146 Woodie Fryman, #369 Lerrin LaGrow
Kansas City Royals (3) - #188 Cookie Rojas, #428 Wayne Simpson, #593 Galen Cisco CO
Minnesota Twins (2) - #530 Jim Kaat, #622 Larry Hisle

American League West (5)
Houston Astros (2) - #242 George Culver, #572 Gary Sutherland
Los Angeles Angels (1) - #301 Billy Grabarkewitz
Oakland Athletics (1) - #274 Darold Knowles
Seattle Mariners (0)
Texas Rangers (1) - #138 Horacio Pina

1973 Topps #12, #208 and #606

Memory Lane

1979 Topps - 111 cards with Phillies connections, plus one more

1969 Topps Phillies

1969 Topps #350, #297, #133 and #369

Man walked on the moon, the Beatles recorded and released Abbey Road, but Topps still couldn't find pictures of Woodie Fryman or Rick Joseph in Phillies uniforms.  (And is it Woodie or Woody?)

The Set

1969 Topps #188 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  The set is numbered to 664, but there are quite a few variations available, pushing the number of cards in a master set closer to 700.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  I've never been a huge fan of this set, as it looks as if the Topps design team took the year off.  They took the team name from the top of the '67 set and moved it to the bottom of the card.  They took the gray circle from the '68 set and bumped it to the top of the card.  Fortunately, a new decade was right around the corner and things were about to get interesting again.

Notable competition:  Topps was still a few years away from any type of notable competition (with the 1976 SSPC set), but there were a few oddball sets out there (Transogram statues and cards, Citgo Coins) featuring Phillies players.

1969 Phillies

Record and finish:  The tailspin that started in 1968 continued in 1969.  The team's record of 63-99 was their worst record since 1961 and fortunately, that loss total hasn't been matched since.  Only the expansion Montreal Expos kept the Phillies from the cellar of the newly formed National League East division.

Key players:  First baseman Dick Allen (.288, 32 home runs, 89 RBIs), center fielder Larry Hisle (.266, 20 home runs, 56 RBIs) and left fielder Deron Johnson (.255, 17 home runs, 80 RBIs) paced the offense.  In his final season with the club, right fielder Johnny Callison (.265, 16 home runs, 64 RBIs) also enjoyed a fine season.  The pitching staff was suspect with the top three starters - Grant Jackson, Fryman and Rick Wise - putting up the best numbers for the struggling club.  Jackson was the team's lone All-Star Game representative.

Key events:  The Dick Allen saga culminated with the slugger missing team flights, moving out of the team's locker room and scrawling messages in the dirt around the first base area.  Manager Bob Skinner was fired in August and coach George Myatt once again took over on an interim basis to finish out the season.

1969 Topps #28, #507, #108 and #73

1969 Phillies in 1969 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are just 25 cards in a complete 1969 Topps Phillies team set, if you count the Clay Dalrymple variation (#151) featuring the catcher with the Phillies.  The "normal" Dalrymple card, and the one more readily available, features him as a hatless Oriole.  There are 295 cards in a complete run of Topps Phillies cards between 1960 and 1969.  Overall, there are 468 Topps Phillies cards between 1951 and 1969.  That would make for a very cool album of baseball cards.  (I'm working on it.)

Who’s in:  Here's how the 24 shake out -

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 6 cards

#28 Mike Ryan (c), #350 Dick Allen (1b), #507 Cookie Rojas (2b), #108 Tony Taylor (3b), #297 Deron Johnson (lf), #133 Johnny Callison (rf)

The regular shortstop (Don Money) and center fielder (Hisle) had to share their cards - see below.

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#174 Grant Jackson, #51 Woodie Fryman, #188 Rick Wise, #253 Jerry Johnson

1969 Topps #174, #51, #188 and #253

• Base cards of other players who played with the Phillies in 1969 - 8 cards

#73 John Briggs, #229 Don Lock, #276 Gary Wagner, #329 Rick Joseph, #395 Chris Short, #477 Jeff James, #531 Turk Farrell, #599 John Boozer

• Base cards of players who did not play with the Phillies in 1969 - 1 card for Clay Dalrymple, #151

• 1969 Rookie Stars cards - 4 cards

#206 Larry Hisle/Barry Lersch, #454 Larry Colton/Don Money, #576 Ron Stone/Bill Wilson and #624 Terry Harmon with the Mets' Duffy Dyer and the Reds' Darrel Chaney.  The Harmon card is just weird - Chaney looks as if he's ducking to avoid the blue "National League" circle, Dyer's head is huge and Harmon better be careful or he's going to catch some flies.

• League Leader card - 1 card, #6 Home Run Leaders with Allen, Willie McCovey and Ernie Banks
• Manager card - 1 card, #369 Bob Skinner

Who’s out:  Back-up catcher Dave Watkins was omitted, despite appearing in 69 games.  Pitchers Bill Champion (20 starts, 5-10 record), Lowell Palmer (26 games, 9 starts, 5.20 ERA) and Al Raffo (45 games, 4.10 ERA) were also left out.

Phillies on other teams:  Catcher Vic Roznovsky (#368) was acquired from the Orioles in April.

What’s he doing here:  After sharing a card in 1968 with Dick Thoenen, Larry Colton again makes an appearance, this time sharing a card with Money.  Colton pitched in one game for the Phillies in 1968, lasting two innings.

Cards that never were candidates:  Money and Hisle deserve their own cards, and Myatt would have received a manager card had there been a 1969 Topps Traded set.  Watkins and Champion were also deserving of cards.

Favorite Phillies card:  Don Lock's card?  I'll go with a tie for Allen and Callison's last Phillies cards.

1969 Topps #454, #206 and #624

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Other than a few repli-cards in 1990 issues of Baseball Cards Magazine, I'm not aware of any Phillies cards that recycle the 1969 Topps design.

Blogs/Websites:  It's been quiet for a while, but there's a 1969 Topps Baseball blog out there.

Did You Know?:  The last page of the 1969 Phillies Yearbook features an artist's rendering of "The New Phillies Stadium," to be located at Broad and Pattison.  A caption with the rendering notes that construction workers were rushing toward the planned Spring 1970 deadline.  Bad weather and a bad budget would conspire to push the opening of Veterans Stadium back a year to 1971.