Game 58 - Luzardo Shelled, Hoskins Homers Twice in Rout

Milwaukee Brewers	17
Philadelphia Phillies	7

2023 Topps Archives
1954 Topps Tarzan 3D #TZ3D-6

Saturday Afternoon, May 31st

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
36-22, Tied for 1st Place, 8 games ahead of the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Jesus Luzardo suffered through the worst start of his career and Rhys Hoskins hit a pair of three-run home runs in this lopsided 17-7 defeat to the Brewers.

What It Means:  The Phillies will look to avoid a home sweep this afternoon, and their fourth loss in a row, with Ranger Suarez on the mound.

What Happened:  Luzardo lasted 3 1/3 innings and was charged with 12 runs on 12 hits, including home runs to Hoskins in the first and fourth innings.  His ERA went from 2.15 to 3.58 in a little over an hour.  Reliever Jose Ruiz gave up five more runs in the fifth, and utility player Weston Wilson stopped the bleeding with two shutout innings to close out the game.  The Phillies scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth, making the score slightly more respectable.  Johan Rojas had a two-run triple and Brandon Marsh hit a two-run home run before the game mercifully ended.

Featured Card:  In a sign of ultimate respect, cheers for Hoskins turned to boos following his home runs.  I wasn't aware this card existed until I was filling my cart during a recent COMC order, and as the name of the card suggests, it borrows the design from the 1954 Topps Tarzan set.

Field Report:  Jenna and I were enjoying the great spring weather at the ballpark until the Brewers started to quickly barrel up Luzardo.  Our enjoyment pivoted to working on an escape plan when the rains arrived in the fourth inning.  Our traditional pre-game meal was once again at Pass and Stow's.

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

Game 149 - Sanchez Deals, while Kennedy and Realmuto Deliver Huge Hits

2023 Topps Chrome Platinum
Anniversary #44

Phillies 2, Mets 1
Game 149 - Sunday Afternoon, September 15th in Philadelphia
Record - 90-59, 1st Place, 8 games ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Cristopher Sanchez threw another gem and J.T. Realmuto walked it off with a clutch single up the middle, as the Phillies won a hug game over the Mets, 2-1.

What It Means:  The Phillies are the first team in the majors with 90 wins this season, and their Magic Number to clinch the pennant dropped to six.  They'll head to Milwaukee next for a three-game series against the Central division-leading Brewers.

What Happened:  Sanchez was fantastic, allowing a solo home run to Tyrone Taylor as his only blemish on the day.  He allowed six hits overall while striking out seven.  Orion Kerkering and Jose Ruiz pitched the final two scoreless innings.  Weston Wilson led off the bottom of the eighth with a double, and Buddy Kennedy doubled him home to tie the game.  In the bottom of the ninth, with Mets' closer Edwin Diaz on the mound, Nick Castellanos singled to right, stole second base and came home to score the winning run on Realmuto's big hit.

Featured Card:  Realmuto's hit was obviously the bigger hit here, but Kennedy's RBI-double tied the game and set up the walk-off heroics.  Kennedy will hopefully receive a Phillies card or two in 2025, and for now, I'll settle for showing his card from the 2023 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary set, not released until this past May.

Transaction:  Alec Bohm (3b) was activated from the injured list and Aramis Garcia (c) was designated for assignment.

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

Game 103 - Phils Look Un-Lively; Acquire Hays for Dominguez, Pache

2018 Choice Lehigh Valley
IronPigs #15

Guardians 3, Phillies 1
Game 103 - Friday Night, July 26th in Philadelphia
Record - 64-39, 1st Place, 9 games ahead of the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Ben Lively and the Guardians' bullpen silenced the Phillies' bats in this 3-1 series opening loss.

What It Means:  The Phillies are suddenly not fun to watch.  They look as if they're pressing and I'm hoping they find their groove again soon.  The surging Mets are now in second place, a half game ahead of the Braves.

What Happened:  Lively improved to 9-6 with six strong innings, allowing just a fifth inning solo home run to Bryson Stott.  Stott had a three-hit night and Alec Bohm had a double, with the two through seven spots in the line-up going a combined 1 for 24.  Cristopher Sanchez dropped to 7-6, allowing all three Guardians runs on eight hits.

Featured Card:   Lively was designated for assignment in September 2018 by the Phillies and claimed off waivers by the Royals, when a roster spot was needed for Jerad Eickhoff.  He's since spent time with the Royals, in Korea and with the Reds, and he's been pitching well for Cleveland this season.

Transaction:  On Friday afternoon, the Phillies announced the first of possibly many trades in advance of Tuesday's trade deadline.  Austin Hays (of) was acquired from the Baltimore Orioles for Seranthony Dominguez (rhp) and Cristian Pache (of).  Hays is expected to see quite a bit of playing time in left field, with a likely platoon in center developing with Johan Rojas and Brandon Marsh.  Hays was an All-Star in 2023, and he's batting .255 with three home runs and 14 RBIs in 63 games this season.

Dominguez, the team's closer at one point, appeared in at least 50 games for the Phillies in 2018, 2022 and 2023.  In 230 games, he was 19-17 with a 3.55 ERA and 28 saves, with 16 blown saves.  Dominguez was a huge part of the Phillies' pennant-winning bullpen in 2022, and was the winning pitcher in NLDS Game 1 against the Braves and in World Series Game 1 agains the Astros.  I currently have 22 baseball cards for Dominguez in my Phillies Collection, dating back to his first appearance in 2016 in the Williamsport Crosscutters team set.  (It seems as if that number should be higher, but such is the fate of a reliever in today's baseball card sets.)

Pache had a few big highlights with the Phillies, but had largely struggled at the plate since joining the team right before opening day in 2023.  In 98 games with the Phillies overall, he batted .218 with a pair of home runs and 20 RBIs.  I've got six Pache cards in my Phillies Collection.

2024 Topps Heritage #13

2024 Philadelphia Phillies Kids Club

2023 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary #385

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Game 91 - Turner, Phils Slam Dodgers as Harper, Schwarber Return

2023 Topps Chrome Platinum
Anniversary #315

Phillies 10, Dodgers 1
Game 91 - Tuesday Night, July 9th in Philadelphia
Record - 59-32, 1st Place, 7 1/2 games ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Trea Turner stayed red hot, smashing a fourth inning grand slam, as the Phillies made it look easy against the first place Dodgers.

What It Means:  They'll try to keep it going tonight with All-Star snub Cristopher Sanchez on the mound for the Phillies.

What Happened:  Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber returned from the injured list sooner than expected, with Schwarber providing a two-run single in the second inning.  Rafael Marchan connected for three hits and raised his season average to an impressive .313.  Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh added solo home runs in the hit barrage against Dodgers' pitching.

Zack Wheeler earned the win, but left the game after five innings as a precaution with back tightness.  Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez become the first pitching trio in franchise history to each have 10 wins before the All-Star break.  Wheeler struck out seven in his abbreviated outing.

Featured Card:  I'm happy to continue to feature Turner cards, and in 19 games since his return from the injured list he's batting .342 with four doubles, six home runs and 18 RBIs.  In the 33 games before he was injured, Turner batted .343 with ten doubles, a pair of home runs and nine RBIs.

Transaction:  Harper (1b) and Schwarber (dh) were activated from the injured list.  Kody Clemens (1b) was sent back down to Lehigh Valley and David Dahl (of) was designated for assignment.  The hope is that Dahl passes through waivers and goes back to the IronPigs.

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

Game 17 - Phils Take First Game of Twinbill from Sox

1954 Bowman #143

Phillies 7, White Sox 4 (Game 1)
Game 17 - Tuesday Afternoon, April 18th in Chicago
Record - 7-10

One Sentence Summary:  Bryson Stott extended his season opening hitting streak to 17 games and the Phillies took care of the White Sox in this 7-4, Game 1 win.

What It Means:  Stott's 17-game hitting streak broke the 16-game consecutive streak record set by Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones in 1950.

What Happened:  The Phillies plated three first inning runs, with Nick Castellanos singling home Stott, and Alec Bohm adding a two-run single.  In the third, Josh Harrison added a two-run single to put the Phillies up 5-0.  Zack Wheeler ran into trouble in the third, allowing four runs to score, and Wheeler would exit after five innings.  His final line shows four runs on eight hits and five strikeouts.  Harrison hit a two-run home run in the seventh, his first with the Phillies, giving him four RBIs on the day.  Jose Alvarado pitched a perfect ninth inning, recording his first save of the season.

Featured Card:  I really don't want to pass up the opportunity to feature a vintage Jones baseball card, especially one showing an actual signature of his where he signed his first name as "Puddin' Head."

Transaction:  Yunior Marte (rhp) was added to the bullpen as the 27th man for this double header.

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

1956 Topps #67 Vic Power

This a crossover post from my other blog, chronicling each card in the wonderful 1956 Topps set. Today's post features former Phillies first baseman Vic Power.  Please click on over there for all of the posts to date, including a look at all the Phillies Alumni featured in the set.

Victor Pellot Power
Kansas City Athletics
First Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  186
Born:  November 1, 1927, Arecibo, Puerto Rico
Acquired:  Purchased by the New York Yankees from Drummondville (Provincial) before 1951 season
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Athletics 1954; Kansas City Athletics 1955-1958; Cleveland Indians 1958-1961; Minnesota Twins 1962-1964; Los Angeles Angels 1964; Philadelphia Phillies 1964; California Angels 1965
Died:  November 29, 2005, Bayamon, Puerto Rico (age 78)

Vic Power, who assumed that name for American baseball but used his actual name of Vic Pellot when playing in Puerto Rico, played for 12 years in the Majors, making the All-Star team in four seasons and winning seven consecutive Gold Gloves for his defense at first base.  Traded by the Yankees to the Philadelphia A's in December 1953, he was the first player of Puerto Rican descent to play for the club.  Despite the rampant racial discrimination he experienced during his early playing days, Power became a star with the A's and later the Indians, second only to Roberto Clemente (#33) in popularity back in his native Puerto Rico.

Power accumulated 126 career home runs and 658 RBIs while hitting .284, finishing in the top ten for hits in the American League in five different seasons.  Power never played in the postseason, getting closest to winning pennants with the 1959 Indians, the 1962 Twins and the 1964 Phillies, all teams that finished in second place.  He retired at the age of 37 following the 1965 season in which he hit .259 over 124 games for the Angels.

Building the Set
October 3, 1999 in Raleigh, NC - Card #183
We bought this card on October 3rd at the Raleigh Sports Card Show, and it ended up being part of a birthday present to me from my Dad.  I was still living in Raleigh in late 1999, and my parents made the trip south to visit me for my birthday.  We bought 8 cards that day (that I knew about) paying $5 for seven of the cards, including this Power card, and $2 for the Grady Hatton (#26) card.  Unbeknownst to me, my Dad also purchased the Sandy Koufax card (#79) but squirreled that one away until Christmas morning 1999.

The Card
Power appears to be out at a play at the plate, and my best guess at the catcher is Sammy White (#168) who wore #22 and was the primary catcher for the Red Sox in 1955.  The Tigers' Frank House (#32) is also a possibility as he wore #2.  The head shot of Power is the same used on his 1954 and 1955 Topps cards, and it appears as if the photo features him in a Yankees uniform with the blue pinstripes still visible.

On the back of the card, Topps skims four years off Power's age, stating he was born in 1931 while all other current sources show his birth year as 1927.

1956 Season
Power enjoyed his second All-Star season in 1956, hitting .319 with 14 home runs and 63 RBIs. 

Despite an impressive line-up consisting of Power, third baseman Hector Lopez (#16) and right fielder Harry Simpson (#239), the A's finished in last place in the American League with a record of 52-102.

Phillies Career
On September 9, 1964, the Phillies acquired Power from the Angels for a player to be named later and cash.  The Phillies would send pitcher Marcelino Lopez to the Angels a month later to complete the deal.  The Phillies' regular first baseman, Frank Thomas (#153), had broken his thumb and Power was seen as a right-handed hitting compliment at the position to the left-handed hitting John Herrnstein.

Power became the second player in Phillies franchise history to wear #62, as the number had been worn earlier in the season by rookie pitcher Rick Wise.  Relief pitchers Ken Roberts and Patrick Schuster wore the number for the Phillies in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Power's month with the Phillies allowed him to witness one of the worst collapses in professional sports history as the team had a 6 1/2 game lead over the Cardinals on September 20th, but ended up finishing the season in second place.  Power hit .208 (10 for 48) over 18 games with four doubles and three RBIs, starting 11 of those games at first base.  Following the season, the Phillies sold Power back to the Angels.

He has one Phillies "baseball card" to his name, having appeared within the 1964 Philadelphia Bulletin Phillies Album series.

1954 Topps #52

1957 Topps #167

1959 Topps #229

1963 Topps #40

1966 Topps #192

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1954 Topps #52
First Topps Card:  1954 Topps #52
Representative Phillies Card:  1964 Philadelphia Bulletin Phillies Album
Last Topps Card:  1966 Topps #192
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #52

77 - Power non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/15/19.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Phillies Room
The Trading Card Database

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

Phillies Missing Links of the 2000s - #20 Randall Simon

#12
Randall Carlito Simon
Pinch Hitter

Three years after the "Sausage race incident," Randall Simon found himself with the Phillies, contending for the N.L. Wild Card and serving in a pure pinch-hitting role.  The experiment didn't really work as Simon went just 5 for 21 (.238) with no extra base hits and only two RBIs.  In 2007, the Phillies invited him to spring training as a non-roster invitee, but he didn't make the team and his Major League baseball career ended.

Simon's best season came in 2002 with the Tigers when he hit .301 with 19 home runs and 82 RBIs.  His production dropped every year afterwards as he bounced from the Pirates to the Cubs, back to the Pirates, briefly with the Devil Rays and Rangers and then finishing with the Phillies.  Only 31 in 2006, Simon played in parts of four more seasons (through 2010) in Mexico and with various independent teams.

The photo I had to use for his 2016 Chachi card features Simon playing for the Netherlands in the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  180
Born:  May 25, 1975, Willemstad, Curacao
Signed:  Signed by the Atlanta Braves as an amateur free agent, July 17, 1992
Major League Teams:  Atlanta Braves 1997-1999; Detroit Tigers 2001-2002; Pittsburgh Pirates 2003; Chicago Cubs 2004; Pittsburgh Pirates 2004; Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2004; Phillies 2006
Professional Affiliations:  Atlanta Braves 1993-1999; New York Yankees 2000; Florida Marlins 2000; Detroit Tigers 2001-2002; Pittsburgh Pirates 2003; Chicago Cubs 2004; Pittsburgh Pirates 2004; Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2004; Texas Rangers 2006; Phillies 2006; Potros de Tijuana (Mexico) 2007; Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz (Mexico) 2007; Newark Bears (Independent) 2008; Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks (Independent) 2009; Gary SouthShore RailCats (Independent) 2010; Rockford RiverHawks (Independent) 2010

Phillies Career
23 games, .238 (5 for 21) with 2 RBIs and 2 walks
Acquired:  September 1, 2006 - Purchased from the Texas Rangers.
Debut:  September 2, 2006 - Pinch-hit for Jon Lieber in the 8th inning against the Braves, singling off Tyler Yates.  Simon was replaced with pinch-runner Joe Thurston.
Final Game:  September 30, 2006 - Pinch-hit for Geoff Geary in the 9th inning against the Marlins, striking out against Joe Borowski.
Departed:  Spring Training 2007 - Released.

0 Simon Baseball Cards in My Collection

Complete Chachi Checklist
2006 Chachi #58

1997 Fleer #653

2003 Topps #119

2003 Topps Heritage #156

2004 Topps #624

2006 Chachi #58

Other Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1997 Fleer #653
First Topps Base Card:  2003 Topps #119
Last Mainstream Card:  2004 Topps Chrome #356
Other Notable Cards:  1997 Bowman #131, 1998 Upper Deck #301, 2002 Fleer Tradition #321, 2002 Topps 206 #338, 2003 Topps Heritage #156, 2004 Topps #624

Sources:  Baseball Reference and The Trading Card Database

Phillies Missing Links of the 2000s
1 Kirk Bullinger
2 Chris Pritchett
3 Bryan Ward
4 Mark Holzemer
5 Turner Ward
6 P.J. Forbes
7 Matt Walbeck
8 Kelly Stinnett
9 Valerio de los Santos
10 Josh Hancock
11 Brian Powell
12 Paul Abbott
13 Todd Jones
14 A.J. Hinch
15 Ramon Martinez
16 Matt Kata
17 Aquilino Lopez
18 Adam Bernero
19 Jose Hernandez
20 Randall Simon

This is a continuing series looking at those players who spent time with the Phillies but possess no baseball card proof of their time in Philadelphia.  In some cases, the First and Last Mainstream cards listed above have been subjectively chosen if multiple cards were released in that year.

1954 Wilson Franks Del Ennis

Dad passed away five years ago this morning, which is absolutely stunning to me.  Considering that I think of him each and every day and that in some ways I'm still talking with him daily, five years has quickly flown by.

I know he'd be frustrated by the season that just ended for the Phillies, although he'd be cautiously optimistic about their chances in 2017.  "Need a bat in the middle of that line-up," would most likely be his advice and he'd also want Larry Bowa to coach for the next decade or so.  He'd be so proud of his grandkids, and he'd be amazed at how quickly they're growing and how special each of them are in their own little ways.  He'd attend or want the details of each of Doug's soccer games, Ben's tennis lessons and Molly and Julie's dance recitals.

I love tracking down cards of his favorite players - Dick Sisler and Del Ennis.  Each time I add one of their cards to my collection, I have to wonder if it's a card he would have had in his collection when he was younger.  I can still hear him saying, "I had them all Jimmy!"  But as was the fate for so many collections from that era, his entire glorious inventory was deposited at the curb when he departed for college in the early 1960s.  (Still working on that time machine to go back and somehow stop this tragic event.)

I don't know if my Dad ever had a 1954 Wilson Franks Del Ennis card, but I was happy to recently add this card to my collection.  Using design elements from the 1954 Topps set, I'm fairly certain this is the first baseball card in my collection featuring a floating package of hot dogs.  Ennis is the only Phillies player in the set of 20 cards, which features several Hall of Famers.  The All-Star outfielder was omitted from the 1954 Topps set, so this card looks especially nice in 8-pocket pages along with my 1954 Topps Phillies cards.

In general, the Wilson Franks cards are very hard to find, and even more difficult to find without the almost unavoidable grease stains that would have resulted from the unprotected cards being packaged directly on top of the Wilson Weiners.  The front of my card is clean, but the back suffers from some long-gone hot dog residue.  Here are a few good articles with some more details around this semi-rare food issue:

Hot Dogs and High Dollars: 1954 Wilson Franks, from Sports Collectors Digest
1954 Wilson Franks Baseball Cards, from The Cardboard Connection

1954 Red Heart #1 Richie Ashburn

The off day yesterday gives me the chance to show off this fantastic vintage baseball card of His Whiteness, Richie Ashburn.  I recently added this card to my collection via an eBay auction.  Ashburn had cards in the Bowman and Topps sets from 1954 along with oddball offerings in the Red Man Tobacco, Dixie Lids and this Red Heart set.

Red Heart Dog Food Co. released 33 cards in 1954 through a mail-in offer with coupons available on packages of their dog food.  Of course before I read about this distribution method in the Standard Catalog, I smelled the card noting that it was strange it didn't smell like dog food.  But I digress.

The set featured three groups of 11 cards with either a blue, green or red background with the red background cards (such as the Ashburn) considered to be harder to find.  Ashburn is the only Phillies player in the set, so my quest for a full 1954 Red Heart Phillies team set is now complete!

Go Royals!

2003 Topps Heritage #91

I'm predicting Royals in 6 with at least one dramatic contribution from Raul Ibanez or Erik Kratz.

1954 Bowman #15 Richie Ashburn

This is the last of the six cards I received from my Mom this Christmas, and it might just be my favorite of the bunch.  The 1954 Bowman set has really grown on me, and this card of Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn brings me one card closer to completing the Phillies team set.  As of this writing, I need just four more Phillies cards and I'll have all 14 Phillies appearing in Bowman's penultimate release.

It's also worth noting that I've replaced five cards originally appearing on this list, with five more "Most Wanted - Vintage" cards on the sidebar.  The quest continues!

2013 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1998 Upper Deck Scott Rolen
Part 2 - 1968 Topps Phillies Team Card
Part 3 - 1966 Topps Bob Uecker
Part 4 - 1955 Bowman Robin Roberts
Part 5 - 1965 Topps Johnny Callison
Part 6 - 1954 Bowman Richie Ashburn

2012 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim

Part 1 - 1941 Double Play Litwhiler & May

Part 2 - 1963 Topps John Herrnstein rookie card (featuring Willie Stargell)

Part 3 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 1

Part 4 - 1940 Play Ball Phillies - Part 2

Part 5 - 1950 Bowman Del Ennis

2011 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim

Part 1 - Continuing a Tradition

Part 2 - 1971 Topps Set - 13 More Down

Part 3 - 1952 Topps Phillies

Part 4 - 1951 Bowman Phillies

Part 5 - Curt Simmons - Two New Bowman Cards

Part 6 - 1955 Bowman and Topps Phillies

1950 Bowman #31 Del Ennis

The final card to be featured in the "Santa Brings Way to Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim" series of posts is the final Bowman card I needed of one of my Dad's favorite players - Del Ennis.  For the better part of the past year, this card sat atop my Ten Most Wanted list until my Mom added it to my collection for Christmas.  One of my long-term collecting goals is to eventually have full runs of the Phillies cards featured in Bowman's sets between 1948 and 1955.  This fantastic card gets me one step closer.

To celebrate the fact that I now have all of Ennis' Bowman cards in my collection, I present below a mini-gallery of his 1950 through 1955 Bowman cards.

Thanks again Mom!

1950 Bowman #31

1951 Bowman #4

1952 Bowman #76

1953 Bowman Color #103

1954 Bowman #127

1955 Bowman #17

1958 Topps #230 Richie Ashburn

Thanks to a tip from a family friend and my Mom, we found ourselves at the baseball card show scattered throughout the Deptford Mall on Saturday afternoon.  Jenna and Ben went in one direction while Doug and I set out to find some cool stuff.  And I'm happy to say, some cool stuff was found.

Armed with $40, a six-year-old, and all my want lists on my iPhone, I made my way to the first table.  Within 30 seconds, I spotted a cheese box jammed with top loaders and this sign sticking out the top:

"VINTAGE PHILLIES $ CHEAP $"

The card at the front of the box was the very 1951 Bowman card of Dick Sisler featured in the banner of my blog.  I took it as a sign and I also made a point to show the card to Doug.  "This was one of your Pop-Pop's favorite baseball players," I told him.  "It was?  Cool!", was his response.  He wanted to buy it, but I explained that we already had it in our collection.

The box was loaded with Phillies cards in decent shape spanning the years 1951 through 1969.  I went to work and added the following 9 cards to my collection for the grand total of $30.  The gem of the bunch was the 1958 Topps Richie Ashburn card featured at the top of this post.  Well-centered, with four nice corners and only a slight crease in the top right corner, the card set me back only $8.

1953 Topps #136 Ken Heintzelman
1954 Bowman #143 Willie Jones
1954 Bowman #223 Steve Ridzik
1955 Topps #46 Ted Kazanski
1955 Topps #167 Tom Casagrande
1958 Topps #230 Richie Ashburn
1959 Topps #452 Chico Fernandez
1959 Topps #546 Al Schroll
1962 Topps #550 Art Mahaffey

It was one of my more successful vintage baseball card hauls, and the whole thing took less than 10 minutes!

1954 Bowman #143, 1953 Topps #136 and 1954 Bowman #223

1954 Topps #212 Mickey Micelotta

I wrote a few weeks ago about the awesome birthday present I received from my Mom.  To recap, she tracked down 10 different 1954 Topps cards needed for my collection, leaving me one card shy of a full Phillies team set.

Last Sunday, my family gathered at my sister's house to spend time together and reminisce about my Dad.

My Mom came bearing gifts for her grandchildren . . . and for me.  After handing out her goodies to the younger kids, she produced the card featured here for her oldest kid.  And with the addition of Mickey Micelotta to my collection, my 1954 Topps Phillies team set is complete!

She's done an unbelievable job carrying on my Dad's tradition of tracking down cards for my collection.  I'm one lucky kid.

1954 Topps Phillies - Only 1 Card Remains

I've previously established on this blog that my Mom rocks.  However, if you're new to the blog or if you'd like a quick recap of the reasons for this sentiment:

1.  She is unconditionally supportive and loving and has had my back since the day I was born.
2.  She checks my want lists and finds me old Phillies baseball cards for Christmas, my birthday or other special occasions.
3.  See statement 1.

I recently celebrated a birthday and my Mom's gift selection abilities amazed me yet again.  Thanks to her, I'm now just one card away from a complete 1954 Topps Phillies team set.  The 10 cards featured here have been added to my collection, courtesy of my Mom's continued awesomeness.

(Yes, the Herman Wehmeier card is a Reds card, but he pitched part of the 1954 season with the Phillies, so into the 1950s Phillies binder it goes.)

#41

#51

#104

#108

#127

#162

#174

#183

#196

#236