Game 95 - Phils Continue Slog Towards All-Star Break

Philadelphia Phillies	4
San Diego Padres	5

1983 Topps #397

Saturday Night, July 12th

Petco Park - San Diego, CA
54-41, 2nd Place, 1/2 game behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Zack Wheeler had a rare spotty outing and the Phillies offense went 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position in this 5-4 loss to the Padres.

What It Means:  The Phillies fell into second place with this loss, with one more game to play this afternoon before the All-Star Break.  They've lost four of their last five.  I did manage to watch most of this game, despite the Fox broadcasters, but I admittedly turned the game off once Jordan Romano entered in the seventh.  I made the right call.

What Happened:  Wheeler gave up a pair of home runs and four runs overall in his six innings of work before yielding to the bullpen.  Tanner Banks gave up back-to-back singles in the seventh before Romano took over with the game tied at 4-4.  Romano needed two pitches to give the Padres the lead when Manny Machado hit a sacrifice fly to right.  Nick Castellanos (single) and J.T. Realmuto (double) drove in a pair of runs in the second, and Edmundo Sosa added a two-run single in the fifth.  Sosa was in the game to replace Alec Bohm, who departed after being drilled in the back by a Yu Darvish fastball.

Featured Card:  I used to get absolutely giddy as the All-Star Game approached, and it makes me sad that I'm heading into this coming All-Star break with an overall sense of apathy.  Kyle Schwarber will be in Atlanta, while Zack Wheeler will be resting at home.  Ranger Suarez, Cristopher Sanchez and Trea Turner were all snubbed, although Sanchez wouldn't have pitched in the game anyway as he's starting today.  I wish I could get half as excited about the game as I did back in the 1980s.

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

Game 32 - Phils Slammed & Swept Out of L.A.

1983 Kellogg's #58

Dodgers 10, Phillies 6
Game 32 - Wednesday Afternoon, May 3rd in Los Angeles
Record - 15-17, 4th Place, 6 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Max Muncy hit a walk-off, game-winning grand slam off Craig Kimbrel to give the Dodgers the win and the series sweep.

What It Means:  This was an ugly series, and an ugly way to start the month.  The Phillies come home on Friday for a weekend series against the Red Sox.

What Happened:  Our oldest son Doug's high school baseball game also started at 4pm, so we thankfully missed almost this entire Phillies game.  By the time I tuned in, the Phillies were holding on to a 5-4 lead, and at one point had led 5-0.  Bryson Stott had a sacrifice fly in the first, and four runs scored in the third on hits from Nick Castellanos, Alec Bohm, Edmundo Sosa and Garrett Stubbs.  But Aaron Nola let the Dodgers creep back into the game, and his final line showed four runs allowed on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Jose Alvarado came on in the eighth to try to hold off the Dodgers, and he couldn't do it.  With runners on second and third and two outs, Austin Barnes lined what should have been the third out of the inning to Sosa, but Sosa completely missed it as it fell into left field.  Two runs scored, giving the Dodgers a 6-5 lead.  The Phillies would tie it up in the ninth on a Bryson Stott single, but Kimbrel could only retire one batter in the ninth before Muncy's game-winning slam.

Featured Card:  This game gave me nothing, so here's a favorite card of mine from my 1983 Phillies binder.  I've worked my way through my Phillies cards from the 1970s for my TCDB.com collection, and I'm through 1982 as I dive into the 1980s.  In happier times, the Phillies defeated the Dodgers in four games in the 1983 NLCS.

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

Spring Training Games 20 & 21 - Phils Win Twice on St. Patrick's Day

1983 Donruss #371

Phillies 4, Blue Jays 2
Spring Training Game 20 - Friday Afternoon, March 17th in Clearwater

Phillies 8, Blue Jays 1
Spring Training Game 21 - Friday Afternoon, March 17th in Dunedin
Record - 11-9-1

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies split their squad, donned green hats for St. Patrick's Day, and won both games against the Blue Jays.

What It Means:  The Phillies will be playing meaningful baseball in less than two weeks, as the spring schedule has 11 games remaining over the next 11 days.

What Happened:  In Clearwater, Rhys Hoskins hit a first inning home run on his 30th birthday and doubled later in the game.  Minor leaguer Gabriel Rincones, Jr. hit a two-run home run for the Phillies in the sixth.  Bailey Falter, likely the team's fifth starter, went five innings, allowing a run on three hits.

In Dunedin, Jake Cave and Kody Clemens led the offense, with both players fighting for the same bench job.  Cave was 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs, including an RBI double in the first and a two-run single in the fourth.  Clemens was 2 for 4 with a solo home run in the fourth and an RBI-single in the fifth.  Matt Strahm drew the start for the Phillies, and looked great in two shutout innings, allowing a hit and striking out four.

Featured Card:  I'm fine with any excuse to post a Tug McGraw card, and I'll feature him here as it was McGraw who pushed the Phillies to wear green jerseys and hats for St. Patrick's Day beginning in the early 1980s.  There were only green hats yesterday, which was a little jarring given the bright red jersey pairing.

Camp Head Count:  55

Game 38 - Yu Gotta Believe?

1983 Donruss #499

Padres 2, Phillies 0
Game 38 - Thursday Afternoon, May 19th in Philadelphia
Record - 18-20, 2nd Place, 7 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Yu Darvish and two Padres relievers baffled the Phillies offense in this 2-0 loss.

What It Means:  The Phillies and Padres traded shutouts in this three-game series, with the Phillies coming out on the short end.  They're seven games out of first place and the Dodgers come to town Friday night for a weekend series.

What Happened:  The Phillies offense had eight hits - all singles - and went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position.  Darvish went seven solid innings for the Padres, allowing six hits and striking out five.  Kyle Gibson was the recipient of the Phillies' lethargic offense, and he gave up a pair of runs in his 5 2/3 innings of work.  Gibson struck out seven.

Featured Card:  I've got nothing.  The Phillies offense, which should be hitting a lot of home runs, doesn't seem to be able to even string together a few extra base hits at home.  Bryce Harper missed his second straight game after getting an injection in his right elbow to hopefully manage that injury.  Here's a fantastic vintage card of former Padres and Phillies great Sixto Lezcano.

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

Spring Training Game 18 - Stay on Target

2018 Topps 1983 Topps
Baseball Rookies #83-22

Yankees 5, Phillies 2
Spring Training Game 18 - Monday Afternoon, April 4th in Tampa
Record - 8-7-3

One Sentence Summary:  Kyle Gibson looked decent in his final spring tune-up and Seranthony Dominguez surrendered a three-run home run to Aaron Judge in this 5-2 loss.

What It Means:  There are just two more spring training games remaining, and the game on Tuesday afternoon against the Pirates will be the Clearwater finale.

What Happened:  Gibson threw 72 pitched in 5 2/3 innings, allowing a pair of runs on nine hits.  Dominguez, coming back from Tommy John surgery, had struggled at times this spring but it's great to see him at least on the mound at this point.  Mickey Moniak and Ronald Torreyes each had multi-hit games for the Phillies.

Featured Card:  Dillon Maples, reassigned to minor league camp following the game, seems like a pitcher we'll see wearing red pinstripes at some point this season.  He was roughed up a bit this spring, owning a 16.88 ERA in 2 2/3 innings pitched.  Maples pitched in parts of five seasons with the Cubs, beginning in 2017, and has a lifetime record of 3-0 with a 5.10 ERA in 59 relief appearances.

Camp Head Count:  38 - 3 = 35

Following the game, the Phillies reassigned Maples (rhp), Yairo Munoz (inf) and Ronald Torreyes (inf) to minor league camp.  The last three non-roster invitees in camp are Andrew Bellatti (rhp), Michael Kelly (rhp) and Bryson Stott (inf).

Game 67 - 1983 Donruss #119 Mike Krukow

Giants 5, Phillies 3
Game 67 - Late Friday Night, June 18th in San Francisco
Record - 33-34, 2nd Place, 4 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Little defensive miscues led to big problems as the Giants prevailed in the series opener, 5-3.

What It Means:  The game was annoying for several reasons, including the sloppy play on the field.  After downloading the Peacock app, signing up, and starting our stream, we realized the feed was a full batter behind and the video kept going blurry on us.  After five innings, I called it a night.

What Happened:  Odubel Herrera misplayed a few balls in center field, Rhys Hoskins couldn't catch a line drive, Andrew Knapp couldn't seem to catch the ball at all and Bryce Harper seemingly didn't run out of the box on a ball to the gap and was thrown out in the sixth trying for a double.  The Phillies runs came on a home run from Herrera to lead off the game and a two-run home run to center in the fourth from Andrew McCutchen.

The game was briefly tied at 3-3 heading to the bottom of the fourth but Vince Velasquez walked the opposing pitcher Johnny Cueto with two outs and LaMonte Wade, Jr. tripled him home.

Featured Card:  The broadcast team was the best part of the Peacock broadcast.  Jon Miller and Mike Krukow from the Giants were joined by John Kruk and Jimmy Rollins from the Phillies.  The latter three were all former Phillies, and I was surprised to see on Twitter that people didn't realize Krukow had played with the club.  He made 33 starts for the Phils in 1982, going 13-11 with a 3.12 ERA, second behind Steve Carlton on the staff in wins and ERA.

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

1983 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  32
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/4"

Description:  This is the first team-issued photo card set featuring full color photos.  A color head shot of each player is on the front and the backs are either blank or contain an encouraging message "written" by the player.  Most of these messages begin with a standard, "Dear Fan: Thanks for your letter.  the Phillies and I appreciate your interest."  In the checklist below, I've indicated which photo cards have the "Dear Fan" greeting on the back, which are blank and which have a message variation.  This is the second consecutive year Tastykake sponsored the set, and the black Tastykake logo can be found on the backs of all cards with the exception of the card for Veterans Stadium.

Interestingly enough, the 2001 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards lists Joe Amalfitano in the checklist instead of Porfi Altamirano.  The Beckett database entry for the set perpetuates this error.  As pointed out by 14,000 Phillies in his checklist entry for the set, both Beckett and the Standard Catalog omit the Dave Roberts card from their checklists.

How Distributed:  My guess is these photo cards were available to purchase in set form at Veterans Stadium and also available individually as players responded to fans' autograph requests.  I personally had a tough time tracking down the cards for John Denny, Von Hayes and Bill Robinson.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically, with Dear Fan inscriptions unless otherwise noted): 

1. Luis Aguayo 2. Porfi Altamirano 3. Marty Bystrom (blank) 4. Steve Carlton (blank) 5. Larry Christenson 6. Pat Corrales MG (blank)       7. Ivan DeJesus 8. John Denny 9. Bob Dernier 10. Bo Diaz 11. Ed Farmer

12. Greg Gross 13. Von Hayes 14. Al Holland 15. Garry Maddox 16. Gary Matthews 17. Tug McGraw (Support . . . )       18. Larry Milbourne 19. Bob Molinaro 20. Sid Monge 21. Joe Morgan 22. Tony Perez

23. Ron Reed (blank) 24. Dave Roberts 25. Bill Robinson 26. Pete Rose 27. Dick Ruthven (blank) 28. Mike Schmidt (blank) 29. Ozzie Virgil 30. Phillies Coaches (blank) 31. Phillie Phanatic  32. Veterans Stadium (blank)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (0)

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (7):  Denny, Hayes, Holland, Milbourne, Molinaro, Morgan, Perez
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (21):  Aguayo, Altamirano, Bystrom, Carlton, Christenson, DeJesus, Dernier, Diaz, Farmer, Gross, Maddox, Matthews, McGraw, Monge, Reed, Roberts, Robinson, Rose, Ruthven, Schmidt, Virgil

Manager (1):  Corrales
Coaches (1):  There's one card featuring all five Phillies coaches - Mike Ryan, Deron Johnson, Bobby Wine, Dave Bristol and Claude Osteen.

Phillies Phanatic (1):  The more readily available version features the Phanatic on his ATV.

Other Cards (1):  Veterans Stadium.

Surprises:  There are no real surprises here, and I'm assuming the set was issued once with no updates made.  The entire 25-man opening day roster, with the exception of the two players discussed below, received photo cards.  The Phillies also had five players on the disabled list to start the 1983 season, and they all received cards too - Luis Aguayo, Marty Bystrom, Hayes, Al Holland and Roberts.

Omissions:  Len Matuszek and Alejandro Sanchez both made the opening day roster, but were omitted from the set.  Sanchez returned to the minors a week into the season when Hayes was activated from the disabled list.  Matuszek stuck around a bit longer, optioned down to Triple-A Portland on April 29th.  Kiko Garcia started the season at Portland, but was recalled on May 17th and he'd remain with the club through the rest of the season.  I wish the Phillies had considered an update set as Garcia and a number of players acquired during the season - Joe Lefebvre, Willie Hernandez, Larry Andersen and Sixto Lezcano - would have been obvious choices.  There were also a number of prospects who debuted during 1983, including Charles Hudson, Kevin Gross, Steve Jeltz, Juan Samuel and Darren Daulton, and update cards for those players would have been highly sought after by collectors.

Variations/Rarities:  According to the set's entry in the 2001 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, several cards are available with different backs.  There's also a different Phanatic card available showing him walking around the field in the vicinity of home plate.  I've listed these variations below.

Fellow collector Bill e-mailed to let me know of a few other back variations.  The Greg Gross card can be found with both "Dear Fan" and "Support amateur baseball" backs.  And the ATV variation of the Phanatic can be found with "Dear Fan" and "Tell your parents" backs.

Back Variations       1. Greg Gross (Support . . . ) 2. Sid Monge (Quitters never win)      3. Pete Rose (A good eduction) 4. Phillie Phanatic (Tell your parents)

Phanatic Variation        1. Phillie Phanatic - Not on ATV

Resources:   14,000 Phillies, Beckett.com, Phillies collector Bill, 1984 Phillies Media Guide.

This set was originally featured in a post back in October 2014, and I'm going to slowly go through these team-issued set posts and update them with new information gathered (if any) over the past six years.

Standard Version

Variation

1982 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1984 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards

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

1985 Game 10 - 1985 Donruss #624 Jeff Stone

Phillies 7, Mets 6
Game 10 - Saturday Afternoon, April 20th in Philadelphia
Record - 2-8, 6th Place, 6 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Jeff Stone drove in five runs as the Phillies squeaked by the first place Mets, 7-6.

What It Means:  This was the Phillies' second win in their first 10 games, and they nearly gave it away.  With the tying run on first base and nobody out in the top of the ninth, Larry Andersen induced a ground ball out and then struck out Wally Backman and Mookie Wilson to end the game.

What Happened:  Stone and Von Hayes hit back-to-back home runs off Ed Lynch in the third to tie the game at three.  Stone struck again with a three-run home run in the fourth followed by an RBI double from Mike Schmidt a few batters later.  John Denny pitched into the ninth before running into trouble and getting relieved by Andersen.

Featured Card:  Stone went 3 for 4 with 5 RBIS and two runs scored in his big game.  As the Phillies regular left fielder, Stone was batting .314 through the first 10 games of the season.

Transaction:  In a transaction that absolutely thrilled me, and as announced shortly after this game ended, the Phillies traded reliever Al Holland and minor leaguer Frankie Griffin to the Pirates for their long-time closer Kent Tekulve.  Tekulve had always been one of my favorite players, and the thought of him in maroon pinstripes had me giddy at the time.  Tekulve was excited for the deal, but Holland was not according to media reports.

In announcing the trade, club President Bill Giles noted that Holland was in the last year of his contract and the team had decided not to extend him.  When asked if he was bitter about the trade, Holland's quote was, "No comment."

Tekulve would be a fantastic reliever for the Phillies for 3 1/2 seasons, departing following the 1988 season for the Reds.  Holland would appear in 38 games for the Pirates, pitching relatively well, before being dealt in August with John Candelaria and George Hendrick to the Angels.

1985 Topps Traded #117T

1985 Topps Traded #55T

1983 TCMA Reading Phillies #6

Here's the updated 25-man Phillies roster following the trade:

Starting pitchers (4) - Steve Carlton, John Denny, Jerry Koosman, Shane Rawley
Relief pitchers (6) - Larry Andersen, Don Carman, Kevin Gross, Charles Hudson, Kent Tekulve, Pat Zachry
Catchers (3) - Darren Daulton, Ozzie Virgil, John Wockenfuss
Infielders (6) - Luis Aguayo, Kiko Garcia, Steve Jeltz, John Russell, Juan Samuel, Mike Schmidt
Outfielders (6) - Tim Corcoran, Greg Gross, Von Hayes, Garry Maddox, Jeff Stone, Glenn Wilson
Disabled List (2) - Bo Diaz, Joe Lefebvre

Dispatches from the Quarantine

2014 Topps Heritage #208

How is everyone doing?

Our family has reluctantly settled into our new routine, staying home and only venturing outside for exercise or a very quick trip to the grocery store.  With everything going on, I consider ourselves extremely lucky as we're all healthy and keeping relatively busy throughout the week.  My wife is a fourth grade teacher and she's essentially running three classrooms throughout the day - her own (virtually), and then assisting with our two boys' homework whenever one of them has questions.  I'm fortunate enough to have a job that can be done just as effectively most of the time from home.  While this is typically my busiest time of the year at work, it's been somewhat slower as the regular pace of my day-to-day job has changed.  I'm on calls or in online meetings for most of the day, and I'm trying to establish healthy barriers between work life and home life.

I miss baseball.  I never took for granted the daily cadence and the mundane regularity of the baseball schedule, as it has been a daily part of my life for the past 40 years between April and October.  I published my first posts on March 30, 2009, and for the past 11 years this blog has served as a daily outlet for me and I miss that routine.  I toyed with the idea of daily posts reliving the 1985 Phillies season through my meticulously kept 1985 Phillies scrapbook, but then two thoughts struck me about this potential project.  First, it was a project that would hopefully not be completed and I don't like not completing things.  I could post the boxscores and write about daily Phillies games from 1985 through April and probably most of May, but then it would halt abruptly when the 2020 season got underway.  Second, what if I did complete this project?  I truly believe baseball will return this season, but what if it doesn't?  Do I want to lock myself into a project where I'm reliving a season 35 years ago, between now and October?  Not really.  So this blog will go somewhat dormant with the occasional post until baseball comes back.  If nothing else, the postponement of the 2020 season has allowed me to focus daily on my other two blogs celebrating the cards from the 1956 and 1965 Topps sets.  I have posts for those blogs scheduled and ready to go through May.

2015 Topps Archives #244

I'm hopeful, trying to stay positive and more and more frequently avoiding the news.  I hope you're doing well too.  Stay healthy, take care of your family and friends and go wash your hands.

* * *

I originally sat down to write this post solely to thank Section 36 for the package that arrived in the mail last week.  The package was dominated by Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels cards, which is somewhat prescient given our family's viewing choices the past few days.  We re-watched the Roy Halladay perfect game on Thursday (what would have been the 2020 Opening Day) and we re-watched Cole Hamels' no-hitter from 2015 on Saturday.  Typically, I would have received Phillies cards from 2010 with this annual shipment, but I'm told there was a tragic accident in the basement of Section 36 headquarters involving water.  Still, it was great to get new baseball cards in the mail, and I'll gladly take what I can get these days.  Thanks Section 36!

New Blog! - Slowly Collecting the 1965 Topps Set

The offseason is when I tend to get my fairly ambitious ideas, as I attempt to fill the void created by a lack of daily Phillies games.  I recently made the joint decision to not only start collecting the 1965 Topps set, but also to chronicle the addition of each new card over at a new blog - Collecting 1965 Topps.  An introduction post can be found here, and today's post features the second card in our set - the rookie card of former Phillies player Joe Morgan.  

Please check it out, give it a follow and spread the word!  As a reminder, my other blog about a 20-year journey collecting the 1956 Topps set is also back and I hope to maintain a weekly posting schedule over there.  Thanks!

Joe Leonard Morgan
Houston Astros
2nd Base

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'7"  Weight:  160
Born:  September 19, 1943, Bonham, TX
Signed:  Signed by the Houston Colt .45s as an amateur free agent, November 1, 1962
Major League Teams:  Houston Colt .45s 1963-1964; Houston Astros 1965-1971; Cincinnati Reds 1972-1979; Houston Astros 1980; San Francisco Giants 1981-1982; Philadelphia Phillies 1983; Oakland Athletics 1984
Hall of Fame Induction:  1990

Roland Thomas Jackson
Houston Astros
Shortstop

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'9"  Weight:  150
Born:  July 9, 1944, Washington, DC
Signed:  Signed by the Houston Colt .45s as an amateur free agent before the 1963 season
Major League Teams:  Houston Colt .45s 1963-1964; Houston Astros 1965-1967; Atlanta Braves 1968-1974

Joe Morgan put together a Hall of Fame career, playing 22 seasons and winning the N.L. MVP award in back-to-back years in 1975 and 1976.  He was a ten-time All-Star, winning the All-Star Game MVP honors in 1972.  He won five Gold Gloves and helped lead the Big Red Machine to two World Series titles in 1975 and 1976.  He's currently ranked 11th all-time in stolen bases with 689, and second all-time at games played at second base with 2,527.  Only fellow Hall of Famer Eddie Collins played more games at the position with 2.650.  Morgan was elected into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1990.

Sonny Jackson played in parts of 12 seasons with the Astros and Braves, finishing second in the N.L. Rookie of the Year voting in 1966 behind Tommy Helms.  That was also his best season statistically when he stole 49 bases, and led the league in singles and sacrifice hits.

Building the Set
Acquired Circa 1983 - Card #2
I'm fairly certain I purchased this card at the 1983 Ocean City Baseball Card Show, held inside the Music Pier on the Ocean City Boardwalk.  I would have wanted the card for two reasons - Morgan was on the Phillies roster in the summer of 1983 as part of the Big Red Machine reunion with Pete Rose and Tony Perez.  The so-called Wheeze Kids would go on to lose to the Orioles in the 1983 World Series.  The other reason was I wanted to own a card for a team I had only recently learned even existed - the Houston Colt .45s.  Now technically this is an Astros card since the franchise switched its name prior to the 1965 season, but I still thought it was cool to own a card with the .45s logo on the caps of the players.

This along with the Joe Jay card (#174) are the only two non-Phillies 1965 Topps cards we owned prior to making the decision to collect the entire set.

The Card
I never realized how crooked this card was until I scanned it for this post.  On December 1, 1964, the Houston Colt .45s officially changed their name to the Houston Astros.  This was too little notice for Topps to update their first series cards, and to play it safe Topps used just the "Houston" moniker until they got to the second series.  This is technically the first ever Houston Astros baseball card.

This is also the first multi-player Rookie Stars card in the set.  Topps had introduced the multi-player rookie concept in its 1962 set as a way to squeeze more players into its checklist, a challenge given the expansion teams added that season.

1965 Season - Morgan
1965 was to be Morgan's first full season as he appeared in 157 games for the Astros and led the league with 97 walks.  He earned some MVP votes and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting behind the Dodgers' Jim Lefebvre.

He led the Astros in runs (100), hits (163), and triples (12).  Even with the offensive fire power provided by Morgan and center fielder Jim Wynn, the Astros still finished ninth in the National League, saved from the cellar only by a woeful Mets team.

Phillies Career - Morgan
On December 14, 1982, the Giants traded the 39-year-old Morgan with Al Holland to the Phillies for Mark Davis, Mike Krukow and minor leaguer C.L. Penigar.  Morgan had enjoyed an impressive 1982 season, winning the N.L. Comeback Player of the Year award and a Silver Slugger at second base.  As the regular second baseman for the Phillies, He appeared in 123 games, hitting .230 with 16 home runs, 59 RBIs and 18 stolen bases.

He played in his final postseason games with the Phillies, appearing in all five World Series games and hitting .263 with two home runs.  He homered off the Orioles' Scott McGregor in the sixth inning of Game 1, tying up the game.  The Phillies released Morgan after the World Series and he signed with the A's, where he'd close out his career the following season.

1965 Season - Jackson
Jackson appeared in only 10 games for the Astros in 1965 as a September call-up, hitting .130 (3 for 23).  He spent the majority of the season playing for the Astros' top farm team in the Pacific Coast League - the Oklahoma City 89ers.  In 142 games for the 89ers, Jackson hit .330 and was second in the league with 53 stolen bases.

SI cover, March 14, 1983

1966 Topps #195

1975 Topps #180

1976 Topps #420

1983 Topps Traded #77T

1985 Topps #352

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Morgan
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #16
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (21):  1965-1985
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2019 Topps Update Est 1869 EST6

1,377 - Morgan non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/2/19.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
National Baseball Hall of Fame
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Jackson
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #16
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10):  1965-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2003 MLB Showdown Strategy #S6

69 - Jackson non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/2/19.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database

1967 Topps #415

1970 Topps #413

1971 Topps #587

1973 Topps #403

1974 Topps #591

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.

Game 69 - 1983 Fleer #169 Ron Reed

Braves 9, Phillies 8
Game 69 - Thursday Night, June 14th in Atlanta
Record - 38-31, 2nd place, 2 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Leading by a score of 7-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh, the Phillies bullpen allowed seven Braves runs in the final three innings, losing the game in horrendously painful fashion, 9-8.

What It Means:  So much for a series sweep.

What Happened:  Everything was right with the world as the Phillies had home runs from Bryce Harper (12), Scott Kingery (8) and Rhys Hoskins (15).  Nick Pivetta was on the mound and cruising towards a victory and then everything fell apart.  Brian McCann did the most late damage, homering in the seventh and then hitting the bloop single in the ninth that would score the tying and winning runs.

2018 Topps #478

Hector Neris had been fairly dependable so far this season, but he could only retire two batters in the ninth before the Braves scored the three runs they needed to win the game.

Featured Card:  I was surprised to hear this was Neris' first blown save of the season, as I would have sworn he had been tagged with a few other blown saves.  That started me wondering - who has the most blown saves in franchise history, at least since the stat became official?  I was surprised to find out that Ron Reed holds the record with 31 blown saves.  Neris is fairly far down on the list with 11, and the list shown below presents every Phillies reliever with at least 10 blown saves.

Transactions:  On Thursday afternoon, the Phillies acquired utilityman Brad Miller from the Yankees for cash considerations and he was activated prior to this game.  I'm not that familiar with Miller and looking at his career statistics, I was surprised to see he had hit 30 home runs for the Rays in 2016.  He's a career .240 hitter over seven seasons with the Mariners, Rays, Brewers and Indians.

Miller appeared in a decent amount of 2018 baseball card releases, but it doesn't look as if he's made it into any 2019 sets yet.

2019 Chachi #28 Phillies Coaches - Jim Gott

#35
James William Gott
Bullpen Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  250
Opening Day Age:  59
Born:  August 3, 1959, Hollywood, CA
Teams - As Player:  Toronto Blue Jays 1982-1984; San Francisco Giants 1985-1987; Pittsburgh Pirates 1987-1989; Los Angeles Dodgers 1990-1994; Pittsburgh Pirates 1995
Teams - As Coach:  Phillies 2018-

1983 Topps #506

2018 Chachi #28

First Topps Flagship Base Card:  1983 Topps #506
First Phillies Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #35
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #35
First Topps Phillies Flagship Base Card:  N/A
Newest Card Added:  2019 Phillies Team Issue #35

2018 Phillies Team Issue #35

3 - Gott baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/1/19.

Complete Chachi Checklist
2018 Chachi #28 (with Dusty Wathan, Pedro Guerrero and Chris Young)
2019 Chachi #28 (with Paco Figueroa and Dusty Wathan)

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

Pondering the 2019 Chachi Design - Reader Input Requested #Collect

1971 Topps #119

1972 Topps #528

1984 Topps #101

1986 Topps #585

1987 Topps Traded #103T

It's about this time each year that I start to think ahead to the next season and the design I'll use for my annual custom Phillies team set.  I've called these cards "Chachi" cards since first creating the set during the 2005 season in honor of our late, great first dog, Chachi.  I've been working my way through the Topps designs of the 1970s and 1980s, and my choices are dwindling in terms of sets I've not yet tackled.

As a look into this annual process, here's a summary of what sets are off the board (for now) since they've already been used, and a look at the handful of sets still remaining.

1970 Topps - 2016 Chachi
1973 Topps - 2013 Chachi
1974 Topps - 2010 Chachi
1975 Topps - 2005 Chachi
1976 Topps - 2007 Chachi
1977 Topps - 2008 Chachi
1978 Topps - 2018 Chachi
1979 Topps - 2012 Chachi
1980 Topps - 2009 Chachi
1981 Topps - 2006 Chachi
1982 Topps - 2017 Chachi
1983 Topps - 2011 Chachi
1985 Topps - 2015 Chachi
1988 Topps - 2014 Chachi

And the candidates for the 2019 Chachi set:

1971 Topps - I've come close to using this design so many times, but I've never been able to pull the trigger.  The actual 1971 Topps set is awesome, but I'm afraid I'd get tired of creating cards with the all-black border half-way through the season.  I either need to use this design in 2019, or wait a few years as Topps will be using this design for its 2020 Topps Heritage set.

1972 Topps - I can say the same thing about the 1972 Topps set - awesome set, but I could get tired of the psychedelic tombstone design by early summer.  And there's no way I'm talented enough to re-create the team name font so I'd have to scan in a card for each team I wanted to feature and I'd pass on making cards for minor league teams.  No fun.

1984 Topps - This design has grown on me, and I'm far enough away from having used the 1983 Topps design that maybe it's time to give this a shot.  As an added bonus, it's colorful.

1986 Topps - This set is also a dark horse candidate, and it's moved up in the rankings since someone gave me the name of the font to use for the team name (Napoli Serial Heavy).  But it's somewhat of a boring design.

1987 Topps - Like the 1971 Topps design, I've come close to using this in the past but Topps' over-saturation of 1987 Topps style cards as inserts in prior years caused me to back away.

1989 Topps - I'll probably never use this design.  I wouldn't know how to re-create the style and font used for the team name and I'd have to go the 1972 Topps route (see above) if I were to use this set's design.

1965 Topps #352

1981 Donruss #175

1982 Donruss #219

1983 Fleer #163

1991 Topps #618

I've also recently given some thought to leaving the friendly confines of the Topps sets from these two decades and using the design of one of my other favorite sets.

1965 Topps - My favorite design from the 1960s.
1981 Donruss - One of the first sets I remember collecting, and I've always had a soft spot for the very early Donruss designs.
1982 Donruss - See above.
1983 Fleer - Another nostalgic set for me with a simple design.
1991 Topps - My son Doug has become partial to this set's design for some reason.  Given that 2020 will be the 15th anniversary of the first Chachi set, maybe I'll go with this design then and replace the "40" from the original with a "15".

What do you think?  What set would you like to see on this blog throughout next season?  Any other sets I'm omitting that deserve consideration?