Game 56 - Giants' Bullpen Stifles Phils

2021 Topps Archives #56

Giants 1, Phillies 0 (10 Innings)
Game 56 - Late Tuesday Night, May 28th in Philadelphia
Record - 38-18, 1st Place, 5 games ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies lost their season-high third game in a row in a lifeless affair in San Francisco.

What It Means:  I am so glad I decided to turn this game off in the fourth inning and go to bed.

What Happened:  Zack Wheeler did his job, pitching six strong innings and allowing two hits while striking out nine.  The offense couldn't get anything going against the Giants, who went with a bullpen game.  The Phillies left nine runners on base and were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

In the 10th, with no score in the game, ghost runner Brandon Marsh started at second and was moved to third when Kody Clemens grounded out to first.  Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto couldn't push across Marsh and the game went to the bottom of the 10th.  Matt Strahm gave up a few fly balls as the Giants scored the winning run on a sac fly to left.

Featured Card:  The reliever who went the longest out of the Giants' bullpen was former Phillies' prospect Spencer Howard, making his Giants debut.  Spencer threw four scoreless innings, scattering five hits and striking out four.  Here's one of Howard's many, many Phillies cards issued in 2021.

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

Game 47 - Snakes Slay Phils

2011 Topps Heritage Stamps #15

Diamodbacks 6, Phillies 3
Game 47 - Monday Night, May 22nd in Philadelphia
Record - 22-25, 4th Place, 7 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies couldn't overcome the Diamondbacks, losing this series opener, 6-3.

What It Means:  Did the Diamondbacks series actually happen?  Busy with work, for some strange reason at this time of year, I barely registered any of this series.  It didn't help the Phillies provided little reason to get excited until the final innings of Wednesday afternoon's series finale.

What Happened:  It seems I didn't miss much.  Zack Wheeler went six innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits while striking out three.  Errors by Bryson Stott in the second and Kody Clemens in the eighth led to two costly unearned runs.  Kyle Schwarber and Stott both hit solo home runs for the Phillies, who managed just six hits overall.

Featured Card:  I went through my Excel tracking schedule to find any Diamondbacks baseball cards in my collection, and this 2011 Topps Heritage Stamps card caught my eye.  Back in 2011, we thought the Phillies playoff run would never end and it seemed as if at least a few more World Series titles were in our future, especially with the arrival of Dominic Brown.  It was not to be.

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

Game 14 - 1962 Topps #249 Ed Keegan

Cardinals 9, Phillies 4
Game 14 - Saturday Afternoon, April 17th in Philadelphia
Record - 7-7, Tied for 2nd Place, 1 game behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Matt Moore and JoJo Romero helped dig an early hole, and the Phillies couldn't come back, ultimately losing 9-4.

What It Means:  Moore's first three starts have not gone well, and this was the worst of the three.  He's now 0-1 with a 9.82 ERA with 12 earned runs, 17 hits and nine walks allowed over 11 innings pitched.

What Happened:  Moore and Romero combined to allow eight runs on seven hits in the first three innings.  Yadier Molina did the most damage, with two home runs and four RBIs.  With Bryce Harper on the bench with a bad back, Matt Joyce went 0 for 3 and stranded five runners.  Didi Gregorius and Rhys Hoskins tried their best to pace the offense with Gregorius contributing an RBI-double in the fifth and Hoskins having a three-hit day.

Featured Card:  The start of Moore's Phillies career has been historically bad.  Looking at Phillies pitchers all-time with 11 innings or less pitched and having started at least three games, allowing at least 10 earned runs, Moore finds himself in the company of John Milligan (1929), Ed Keegan (1959) and Seth Morehead (1959).  Moore still isn't in Joe Cowley territory however.  In Cowley's first four starts with the Phillies in 1987, he went 0-4 with a 13.91 ERA, allowing 17 earned runs in 11 innings pitched.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

1965 Topps #22 Charlie Smith

While the 2020 baseball season and The Phillies Room have paused and are currently practicing responsible social distancing, I'm still regularly posting on my 1956 Topps and 1965 Topps blogs.  New 1956 Topps posts are scheduled for every Friday morning, while I'll be posting new cards added to our 1965 Topps set on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings.  My 1965 Topps blog took a look at short-time Phillies player Charlie (or Charley) Smith.  Stay safe everyone!


Charles William Smith
New York Mets
Third Base-Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  170
Born:  September 15, 1937, Charleston, SC
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1957 season
Major League Teams:  Los Angeles Dodgers 1960-1961; Philadelphia Phillies 1961; Chicago White Sox 1962-1964; New York Mets 1964-1965; St. Louis Cardinals 1966; New York Yankees 1967-1968; Chicago Cubs 1969
Died:  November 29, 1994, Reno, NV (age 57)

Charlie Smith, or Charley Smith per most reference sources, played for 10 years in the Majors mostly in a utility infielder role.  Primarily a third baseman, he appeared in over 120 games in a season five different times with the Dodgers and Phillies in 1961, the White Sox and Mets in 1964, the Mets again in 1965, the Cardinals in 1966 and the Yankees in 1967.  Smith was sent to the Yankees in December 1966 in the deal that saw Roger Maris (#155) head to St. Louis.

In 771 career games, Smith hit .239 with 69 home runs and 281 RBIs, finishing three years in the top 10 for strikeouts.

Building the Set
January 25, 2020 from Los Angeles, CA - Card #39
Some January days are longer than others, and on a particularly long January day at work a few months ago, I decided I needed a few more 1965 Topps cards for our set.  I've been familiar with Greg Morris Cards for a while now, as I've been using a lot of the images of old Topps cards scanned for their eBay auction listings in these posts and within the posts over at my 1956 Topps blog.  The images are always centered and clear and for all the help Greg Morris has indirectly provided me, I thought I'd browse his eBay store.

Given the vast inventory available, I figured there had to be at least a few 1965 Topps cards up for auction, and I was correct.  I stumbled upon a set break and I set about finding auctions with no current bidders and cards graded at least EX-MT.  I bid on a total of 20 auctions, winning 10 of them, including this Smith card.  I was the first and sole bidder on the Smith card and the first Mets card for our set was on its way to us from Los Angeles for a winning bid of $0.79.

The Card
This card gives us a fantastic look at the New York World's Fair patch the Mets wore on their sleeves during the 1964 season.  Smith appeared in every Topps set between 1962 and 1969, and he's Charlie on his cards for every year except 1963 and 1967 when Topps went with Charley.  This is his only Topps card to refer to him as a part-time outfielder, as Smith had played 13 games in left field for the Mets in 1964.  For his career, Smith appeared on the field in 698 games with 623 of those appearances coming at third base.

His 20 home runs in 1964 were indeed tops on the Mets, with Joe Christopher (#495) and his 16 home runs finishing second on the team.

Mets Team Set

1965 Season
This would be Smith's best season in the Majors.  As the everyday first baseman for the Mets, Smith hit .244 over 135 games with 16 home runs and a career high 62 RBIs.  Following the season, the Mets traded Smith to the Cardinals with Al Jackson (#381) for Ken Boyer (#100).

1961 Sports Service Phillies
Set B

Phillies Career
On May 4, 1961, the Phillies traded Turk Farrell (#80) and Joe Koppe to the Dodgers for Smith and Don Demeter (#429).  The Dodgers were in need of a closer having lost Ed Roebuck (#52) to a shoulder injury and the Phillies were looking to rebuild following a 95-loss season in 1960.  Demeter was the key return for the Phillies with the 23-year-old Smith seemingly included as a throw-in.  Smith immediately took over the starting third baseman's job from the platoon of Bobby Malkmus and Bob Sadowski (#156).

In 112 games for the Phillies, Smith hit .248 with 9 home runs and 47 RBIs.  His defense was shaky as he finished in fourth place for the highest number of errors committed in the N.L. with 28.  Following the season, Smith was on the move again, traded to the White Sox on November 28th with John Buzhardt (#458) for Roy Sievers (#574).

Smith appeared on a few oddball issuances as a Phillie, but there's no mainstream baseball cards to mark his one season with the club.

1962 Topps #283

1963 Topps #424

1966 Topps #358

1968 Topps #596

1969 Topps #538

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #283
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1962-1969
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1978 TCMA 1960s I #289

33 - Smith non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 1/26/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
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.

Philly Baseball Card Show Report - Finishing 1971 Topps, Starting 1965 Topps

On Saturday, and for the third and final time this year, Doug and I attended the Valley Forge baseball card show.  Doug was given a "loan" based on his anticipated upcoming birthday money haul and he spent the show picking up new Bryce Harper, Scott Kingery and other Phillies cards along with adding to his Mike Trout personal collection.

We added autographs from Benito Santiago, Brad Lidge and Ryan Howard, and I'll have photos of those friendly encounters up in a separate post.  Doug was happy to get the other half of his Pride of the Phillies print signed by Howard, as it had been previously signed by Carlos Ruiz.

Here's a summary of what I tracked down during another very productive, very crowded show:

•  I completed my 1971 Topps set, giving me a complete run of Topps flagship sets from 1970 to 2018.  The entire set took about 18 years to complete with the first batch of cards arriving from Santa on Christmas morning in either 2001 or 2002.  I purchased a large lot of cards (maybe 150 or so?) in the summer of 2002, and I've been slowly adding cards ever since.  The final three cards needed were #596 Mike Jorgensen, #662 Mike Hedlund and #715 Horace Clarke.
• Doug and I officially started our 1965 Topps set with the addition of 26 cards.  We had a goal of adding a bunch of commons and one or two semi-star cards, and that mission was accomplished.  I was very happy to add cards of Robin Roberts, Dick Sisler, Jim Fregosi, Cookie Rojas, Rick Wise, Johnny Callison, Dallas Green and Tony Taylor as part of this first batch.  I'll slowly post each of the cards added over at my new 1965 Topps blog.  I'm also proud to say that Doug rejected a few cards I had picked if they had corners a little too dinged up.  We're looking to build a set in great shape.
• I added three Phillies cards that had been on my want lists for quite a while - the 1972 Topps Steve Carlton, the Traded version, a 1941 Play Ball card of Chuck Klein and the 1962 Topps Rookie Parade card featuring Jack Hamilton, whose face is covered by a price tag in the photo above.
• Finally, a 1965 Phillies Yearbook entered my collection as I continue to slowly fill in the gaps I have in my Phillies Yearbooks collection.

It was another great day, although I'm happy (and my wallet is happy) that we now have a few months off until our next show.

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

1956 Topps #71 Frank Sullivan

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

Franklin Leal Sullivan
Boston Red Sox
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'6"  Weight:  215
Born:  January 23, 1930, Hollywood, CA
Signed:  Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams:  Boston Red Sox 1953-1960; Philadelphia Phillies 1961-1962; Minnesota Twins 1962-1963
Died:  January 19, 2016, Lihue, HI (age 85)

Frank Sullivan was a two-time All-Star with the Red Sox, and he was at the height of his playing career when this 1956 Topps card was issued.  Sullivan tallied at least 13 wins in five of his eight seasons playing in Boston, with his best season coming in 1955 when he went 18-13 with a 2.91 ERA over 35 starts and a league-leading 260 innings pitched.  In his 11-year big league career, Sullivan went 97-100 and retired following the 1963 season at the age of 33.

After retiring from baseball, Sullivan moved to Hawaii in 1964 with his good friend and former batterymate Sammy White (#168).  Sullivan had never set foot on the islands before making his big move, and he'd go on to eventually become the head golf pro at Kauai Surf Hotel.  He was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2008.

Building the Set
January 8, 2000 in Raleigh, NC - Card #195
Having survived Y2K, this is one of three cards I purchased at the Raleigh Sportscard & Memorabilia Show a week into the new year, along with Alex Grammas (#37) and Dale Long (#37).  My records show I paid $3 for the card.  I would have had to call my Dad to tell him to update his lists, as he was still working in Millville, NJ at the time.

The late 1990s and early 2000s were a very confusing time for me, and those years are all but lost in my memory.  I have little to no recollection as to the apartments or houses in which I was living or the things I was doing on a day to day basis.  Sometimes I feel as if the experiences of those years are something that happened to someone else.

The Card
This is Sullivan's second Topps card, and it uses the same portrait photo as his 1955 Topps rookie card.  It's the third blue-yellow top bar color combination in a row, following Chuck Tanner (#69) and Jim Rivera (#70).  His Baseball Reference height is listed at 6'6", but the back of this Topps card gives him an extra inch and a half.  The back references his service in Korea where he served for two years following the 1950 season, spending 4 1/2 months on the front lines.  He was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant in 1952 having been awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge.

1956 Season
Sullivan was one of the Red Sox' two top starting pitchers in 1956 along with Tom Brewer (#34).  He went 14-7 with a 3.42 ERA over 33 starts and was second only to Brewer in complete games pitched with 12 - Brewer had 15.

1962 Topps #352

On an off-day during the 1956 season, Sullivan, along with his teammates White and Jackie Jensen (#115) were told to take a drive to meet with who they were told was a photographer.  The photographer, who was actually famous painter Norman Rockwell, used the photographs he took that day as the basis of his painting, The Rookie, which appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post in March 1957.  Sullivan, who actually wore #18 at the time, is the player with #8 on his back.  In 2014, the original Rockwell painting sold for $22.5 million.  Sullivan and the model for the arriving rookie player, Sherman Safford, posed with the painting at an exhibition at Fenway Park prior to its sale.

Phillies Career
On December 15, 1960, the Red Sox traded Sullivan to the Phillies for Gene Conley (#17).  Conley had refused to end his basketball career to focus on baseball and the Red Sox were looking to upgrade their pitching staff after Sullivan went 6-16 with a 5.10 ERA in 1960.  Two of the tallest pitchers of the era had just been traded for each other.  Crushed to be leaving the only team he had ever known, his new manager Gene Mauch had to talk him out of retiring.  Sullivan was one of the more reliable pitchers on an awful Phillies pitching staff, but he still went 3-18 with a 4.54 ERA in 68 games with the club.

As the closer for the woeful 1961 Phillies team, Sullivan told his SABR biographer, "I shudder whenever I think of that team."  The 1961 Phillies lost five straight games, won one and then lost another 23 consecutive games from late July through most of August.  That team finished the season with a 47-107 record and was one of the worst teams in franchise history.  Sullivan appeared in 19 games for the Phillies early in the 1962 season before being released on July 14th.  He appears in the 1961 and 1962 Topps sets as a Phillie.

1955 Bowman #15

1955 Topps #106

1959 Topps #323

1963 Topps #389

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Bowman #15
First Topps Card:  1955 Topps #106
Representative Phillies Card:  1962 Topps #352
Last Topps Card:  1963 Topps #389
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2012 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-FS

32 - Sullivan non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/19/19.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
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.

2019 Chachi #65 Deivy Grullon

#73
Deivy Wilfin Grullon
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  240
Opening Day Age:  23
Born:  February 17, 1996, Bonao, DR
Signed:  Signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent, July 2, 2012
Teams:  Phillies 2019
Acquired:  Via free agency

2013 Bowman Chrome #BCP128

2014 Choice Williamsport Crosscutters #10

First Phillies Card:  2013 Bowman Chrome #BCP128
First Phillies Minor League Card:  2014 Choice Williamsport Crosscutters #10
Newest Card Added:  2019 Choice Lehigh Valley IronPigs #11
First Topps Flagship Base Card:  N/A
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  N/A

11 - Grullon baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 9/2/19.

Complete Chachi Checklist
2019 Chachi #65

2019 Chachi Set Checklist
Virtual Phillies Wall - Featuring Current Active Roster

1956 Topps #46 Gene Freese

I'm considering this a crossover post as I've recently dusted off my other blog, chronicling each card in the wonderful 1956 Topps set. I hope to maintain a regular posting schedule and today's post features former Phillies player Gene Freese.  Please click on over there for all of the posts to date, including a look at all the Phillies Alumni featured in the set.


Eugene Lewis Freese
Pittsburgh Pirates
Third Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  175
Born:  January 8, 1934, Wheeling, WV
Signed:  Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an amateur free agent, March 25, 1953
Major League Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates 1955-1958; St. Louis Cardinals 1958; Philadelphia Phillies 1959; Chicago White Sox 1960; Cincinnati Reds 1961-1963; Pittsburgh Pirates 1964-1965; Chicago White Sox 1965-1966; Houston Astros 1966
Died:  June 19, 2013, New Orleans, LA (age 79)

Gene Freese was a journeyman infielder who played in parts of 12 big league seasons with six different teams, including two separate stints with the Pirates and White Sox.  He tallied a .254 average over 1,115 career games and was the primary starting third baseman for the 1959 Phillies, 1960 White Sox and 1961 Reds.  His 1961 season with the Reds was his best, as he helped the Reds win the N.L. pennant with career highs in home runs (26) and RBIs (87).

Building the Set
July 31, 1993 in Ocean City, NJ - Card #115
This is one of five 1956 Topps cards I purchased at the Ocean City baseball card show during the summer of '93.  My notes indicate we paid $6 for the card, and like the other 1956 Topps cards we purchased that day this card is flawless.

I wrote about the summer of '93 and the first of five cards purchased in my post for Frank House (#32).

The Card
The Topps photographer posed Freese near what seems to be the backstop at Forbes Field.  The grand slam referenced in the final panel on the back happened on May 10, 1955 in Milwaukee's County Stadium.  With the Braves ahead 2-1 heading to the top of the 8th, and with 2 outs, Freese homered off Dave Jolly, scoring Jerry Lynch (#97), George Freese and Toby Atwell (#232).  The Pirates scored eight times that inning, taking a 9-2 lead.

George was Gene's older brother, and he played in 61 Major League games with the 1953 Tigers, 1955 Pirates and 1961 Cubs.

If you're keeping score at home (I happen to be) this is the first appearance of the green-orange bar color combination on the front of a 1956 Topps card.  There have been eight color combinations so far, and I'll post the final tally for series one in a series one wrap-up post following card #100.

1956 Season
Freese slumped in his second season in the Majors, splitting time between the Pirates and their Pacific Coast League affiliate, the Hollywood Stars.  With the Pirates, Freese appeared in 65 games, hitting .208 with 3 home runs and 14 RBIs.  Frank Thomas (#153) had arrived on the scene for the Pirates and Freese essentially lost his third base starting job to him.

Freese would rebound in 1957, splitting time at third with Thomas that season before Thomas broke out with a monster 1958 season.  No longer in need of Freese's services, the Pirates traded him to the Cardinals on June 15, 1958 with Johnny O'Brien (#65) for Dick Schofield and cash.

Phillies Career
At the end of the 1958 season, the Cardinals traded Freese the Phillies for Solly Hemus.  The regular third baseman for the 1959 Phillies, Freese would lead the team in home runs (23) and finished third in RBIs (70) behind Wally Post (#158) and Ed Bouchee who had 94 and 74 respectivley.  His claim to fame while with the Phillies were the five pinch-hit home runs he hit between April 18th and May 31st, falling one short of the record of six pinch-hit home runs set by Johnny Frederick in 1932.  His pinch-hitting days ended when the Phillies traded Willie Jones (#127) to the Indians on June 6th and Freese took over the everyday third baseman's job.

Freese led the Majors with three grand slams during the 1959 season.  The photo at right shows him crossing the plate after his second grand slam on July 2nd.  #15 Joe Koppe, Richie Ashburn (#120) and #12 Dave Philley (#222) had scored ahead of Freese, and #5 Bouchee was on deck.

Freese's Phillies tenure was over after the 1959 season, as he was traded to the White Sox on December 9th for Johnny Callison.  The Phillies would use 7 different third baseman in 1960 in an attempt to replace Freese, but Callison would go on to become a three-time All-Star for the Phillies and a fan favorite.

Freese has two Phillies baseball cards - his 1959 Topps card and a 1979 Diamond Greats oddball issue.

1955 Topps #205

1959 Topps #472

1962 Topps #205

1966 Topps #319

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #205
First Topps Card:  1955 Topps #205
Representative Phillies Card:  1959 Topps #472
Last Topps Card:  1966 Topps #319
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1981 TCMA '60s II #304

58 - Freese non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/30/19.

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

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.

Old Phillies Baseball Cards and a Quilt Too! (#SBWTMABCTJ)

1949 Bowman #76

1949 Bowman #142

1951 Berk Ross #1-9

She did it again.

Before Christmas, my Ten Most Wanted - Vintage list on the sidebar looked like this:

Thanks to my Mom, and a now seven-year tradition, nine of those ten cards have been removed from my want lists and an updated Ten Most Wanted - Vintage list is needed.  On the day after Christmas, we visited my Mom's house so that her grandkids and kids could each open their stockings, unwrap their way too many thoughtful gifts and so that I could once again experience the annual phenomenon now known as Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim (SBWTMABCTJ, for short).

I don't remember a Christmas when I didn't receive one or two or dozens of amazing baseball cards from Santa.  Be it a card I needed to complete my 1975 Topps set (#638 Cubs Team Card) or a pricey card needed for the 1956 Topps set, I've always had the pleasure of adding great cards to my collection every Christmas.  This year was no different.

Presented here in chronological order are the cards I crossed off my list thanks to my Mom.

1949 Bowman #76 Bill Nicholson
1949 Bowman #142 Eddie Waitkus
Appearing in Cubs uniforms, both of these cards are technically Phillies cards.  The backs of both cards list the Phillies as the team designation, as Nicholson was acquired from the Cubs on October 4, 1948, and Waitkus was acquired a few months later on December 14th.  I now need six cards to complete the 1949 Bowman team set, including the rookie cards of Richie Ashburn and Robin Roberts.

1951 Berk Ross #1-9 Richie Ashburn
Speaking of Ashburn . . . This 1951 Berk Ross card came encased in a PSA graded slab but it's now been freed.  No offense to the other cards I received, but this may be my favorite of the lot.

1953 Bowman Color #113

1953 Bowman Color #131

1953 Bowman Color #113 Karl Drews
1953 Bowman Color #131 Connie Ryan
With the addition of these two cards, I'm now just one card away from a complete 1953 Bowman Color Phillies team set (#158 Howie Fox).  When I'm one day rich and famous, it would be tough to decide whether to collect this complete set or the complete 1955 Bowman set.  These cards are gorgeous.

1959 Topps #31 Ken Lehman
1959 Topps #352 Robin Roberts
These are the last two cards I needed to complete the 1959 Topps Phillies team set.  Together in nine-pocket pages, the team set looks incredible and I may need to feature all the cards in a gallery in a future post.

1961 Topps Topps #569 Frank Herrera AS
1962 Topps #534 Tony Gonzalez
Jumping ahead to the 1960s, I'm inching closer to complete Phillies team sets from 1961 and 1962 Topps.  These two high numbered cards have been difficult for me to find, but by Mom was able to track them both down.

1959 Topps #31

1959 Topps #352

1961 Topps #569

1962 Topps #534

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

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

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

2014 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 1952 Bowman and 1953 Bowman Color Richie Ashburn
Part 2 - 1950 Bowman Roberts, 1951 Topps Blue Backs Jones, 1955 Bowman Wyrostek
Part 3 - 1995 Collector's Choice Hayes and 1999 Fleer Mystique Burrell

2015 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Seven Phillies Cards from the 1950s Crossed Off the List

2016 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Part 1 - 10 vintage Phillies cards added to the collection
Part 2 - 2 modern oddball Phillies cards find a new home

2017 Santa Brings Way Too Many Awesome Baseball Cards to Jim
Vintage cards crossed off the list, 1959 Topps Phillies team set completed!

Before ending this post, the post title promised a quilt as part of my annual Christmas summary.  Gathering old t-shirts and baseball uniforms, my Mom had a large quilt made that perfectly captures my formative years.  I hadn't seen some of these shirts in over 30 years, and I had no idea she had kept them.  The resulting quilt is a nostalgic reminder of my youth and a perfect gift.  (My sister got one too, featuring t-shirts from the many local and school plays in which she had appeared.)

If you're interested, and I can highly recommend them, please check out Keepsake Theme Quilts here.