Game 126 - Phils Squeak by Fish on Controversial Umpire Call

Miami Marlins	5
Philadelphia Phillies	6

2025 Topps Chrome Platinum
1955 Topps Doubleheaders #55DH-4

Monday Night, August 17th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
68-58, 2nd Place, 6 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Cristopher Sanchez won his league-leading 16th game and a controversial replay review aided the Phillies in this 6-5 win over the Marlins.

What It Means:  The Phillies kicked off their homestead with their fourth win in a row.  In the seventh, the Marlins' Javier Sanoja doubled down the first base line with the ball initially called foul.  Upon replay review, it was ruled fair, but what would have been the tying run was placed back at third base.  Marlins' manager Clayton McCullough earned a justifiable ejection due to the umpire's mishap.

We arrived home on Monday after our odyssey to Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, and I proudly plopped in front of the TV for the duration of this game.

What Happened:  Sanchez allowed a run on six hits while striking out six over six innings of work.  The Phillies' bullpen allowed the Marlins to creep back into the game, as Sanchez had departed with a 4-1 lead.  Jhoan Duran escaped trouble in the ninth to record his 27th save.  The Phillies received RBI singles from Trea Turner and Luis Arraez in the third, and an RBI pinch-hit single from Derek Hill in the sixth.  Hill also walked with the bases loaded in the seventh.  Alec Bohm provided the needed insurance run in the eighth with an RBI single to drive home Bryce Harper.  Harper was 3 for 4 in the game.

Featured Card:  I'll feature another Harper card here, as there is no shortage of his cards in my collection.  Here's his 1955-inspired card from the recently released Topps Chrome Platinum set, with Mike Schmidt making an appearance on the back of the card.  Even though it's recently released, Topps still considers this a 2025 set for some reason.

2026 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2026 Season Summary Index / 2026 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 117 - Utley Inducted Onto Wall of Fame; Phils Lose to Jays

Toronto Blue Jays	5
Philadelphia Phillies	4

2025 Topps Chrome Platinum #479

Friday Night, August 7th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
62-55, 2nd Place, 8 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  A lack of clutch hitting and a shaky performance from Zack Wheeler led to this 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays.

What It Means:  The Chase Utley Wall of Fame induction ceremony was fantastic, while the game kind of stunk.

What Happened:  Wheeler went 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and walking five.  The Phillies offense had five hits, and went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

Featured Card:  This is the latest addition to the 448 different Utley cards in my Phillies collection.

Field Report:  Before beginning our multi-state, three ballpark odyssey on Saturday morning, Jenna and I attended the Chase Utley Wall of Fame induction ceremony at the ballpark.  This has become a tradition for us, and it's one of the best things the Phillies do all year.  We waited out the two hour rain delay at the outset to listen to Pat Burrell's and Utley's speeches before the game began.  They passed on the traditional "victory lap" around the field in a Toyota truck, likely due to more rain on the way and the fact the ballgame had already been significantly delayed.  Still, it was a fantastic ceremony and I'm glad we were there.  With a big trip kicking off the following morning, we admittedly departed the game early along with several thousand of our fellow fans.

2026 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2026 Season Summary Index / 2026 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 107 - Phils Come Back, But Duran Blows It

Philadelphia Phillies	7
Miami Marlins	8

2025 Topps Chrome Platinum
Autographs #CPA-TP

Monday Night, July 27th

loanDepot park - Miami, FL
57-50, 2nd Place, 5 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  After the Phillies offense mounted an impressive comeback late in this game, Jhoan Duran couldn't hold a two-run lead as the Marlins walked off with a stunning (and deflating) 8-7 victory.

What It Means:  Things continued to fall apart for the Phillies at this point, with this loss beginning a four-game losing streak as I watched and tried to listen from afar.

What Happened:  The Marlins led 5-2 after two innings following a rough start from Zack Wheeler, who only lasted three innings and blamed things on just having "a bad day."  The Phillies would take a 6-5 lead in the sixth.  Bryce Harper walked, was moved to second on a Brandon Marsh ground out and scored on an Alec Bohm single.  Bryson Stott singled and J.T. Realmuto doubled Bohm home.  Justin Crawford would connect for a single to left, scoring Stott and Realmuto and giving the Phillies the lead.  They'd add an insurance run in the eighth, but it wouldn't be enough.

Duran was in trouble from the outset in the ninth.  The Marlins offensive sequence went single, single, stolen base, hit by pitch, single by Heriberto Hernandez to tie the game at 7-7, single, force out, single by Griffin Conine to win the game.

Featured Card:  Former Phillie Tyler Phillips started this game for the Marlins, allowing two runs over the first five innings.  I just added this card of his to my collection from the 2025 Topps Chrome Platinum set, released on June 5th, or a little over five months since the end of 2025.

2026 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2026 Season Summary Index / 2026 Chachi Set Checklist

Introducing My 1955 Bowman Blog

I wanted to sneak this post in under the wire before the calendar switched over to 2026, given I had designed a banner for my new 1955 Bowman blog with an "Established 2025" tagline in it.  The blog is still likely a little bit away from regular posting, but the first official post for the first official card collected for the set, #2 Al Dark, is now live.  I can tangentially post the Dark card here, given his short time with the Phillies in 1960.

Also shown below is the text and pictures from the Introduction page of the blog, giving some context for this latest set build.  I'm looking forward to this, and maybe I'll even complete the set in less time than it took my Dad and me to complete the 1956 Topps set.

* * *

My Dad posing with a 1951 Ford Custom Deluxe Tudor Sedan, circa early to mid 1950s

When and if I ever have access to a time machine, my very selfish first stop will be Oak Street in Millville, New Jersey in August 1962.  My Dad had graduated high school a few months before and he was about to make the eight hour drive to Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina to start his freshman year.  Shortly after his departure, or maybe even before he left, my Mom-Mom, a very practical and loving woman with an absolutely wicked sense of humor, gathered some of the now unneeded childhood mementoes from my Dad's former bedroom, including his extensive baseball card collection, and put them in a trash can at the curb.  She saved some things, deemed to have sentimental value, including his prized marble collection.

I don't think it was until a few decades later, while cleaning out that house in 1985 following my Mom-Mom's passing, that my Dad fully realized his baseball card collection was truly and completely gone.

He had held out hope that maybe some of his old baseball cards were stashed away in a forgotten box somewhere.  On what was possibly the last day I was ever in that house, now empty and ready to be put on the market, we found the card above on the floor of the attic.  At the time, I had no idea how old the card was, or what set it had come from.  All I knew was that it was the back of a Mickey Mantle card, and all of Mantle's cards were extremely valuable.  My Dad leaned down, picked up the card and flipped it over.

What greeted us was the blank piece of cardboard seen here.  This would have been one of his doubles, and he vaguely remembered separating the front picture from the cardboard backing and either hanging the picture on his bulletin board or gluing it into a long-lost album somewhere.  We were more than a little disappointed and my Dad's faint hope of being reunited with his old baseball card collection was completely dashed.

Even though it's only the back of a vintage Mickey Mantle card, this little piece of cardboard still has an important place in my collection, as it's the sole survivor from my Mom-Mom's long ago baseball card purge and I'm happy to have it today.  My time travel trip, at least the first one, would rescue the garbage bag of baseball cards from the late 1940s to the early 1960s from that curb on Oak Street.  In a glass half full kind of way, the mid-1980s saw a resurgence in baseball card collecting, and my Dad's urge to reacquire some of the mementos of his youth led to our collecting (and completing) the 1956 Topps set.

When the Magic Shoebox arrived in our house in summer of 1983 (or 1984?) there were 44 cards from the 1956 Topps set in the box, including the pricey cards of Ed Mathews, Yogi Berra, Willie Mays and the Yankees Team Card.  But there were also 18 cards from the 1955 Bowman set, consisting of mostly commons or semi-stars, but no star cards.

The decision to collect the 1956 Topps set came during a family vacation to Cooperstown in the summer of 1987, when we came across a few commons for sale at one of the many baseball card stores on the main drag.  We spent the next 20 years collecting that set, and I've covered how each of those cards came into our collection over at my now completed 1956 Topps blog.

I'll never know for sure, but I'm estimating this will be the third or fourth time my family has attempted to collect a complete 1955 Bowman set.  My Dad once told me he had built this set several times over, as this was his favorite set of baseball cards growing up.  He would have been 11 years old at the time these cards were first for sale at corner stores and five and dimes, and I can still hear him saying, "I had them all, Jimmy."  

And now it's time to get them all back.  Welcome to my blog chronicling the latest (and last?) time our family will build a 1955 Bowman baseball card set.

2024 Christmas Baseball Card Additions from Santa (and His Helpers)

We interrupt the daily 2024 Chachi card postings to bring a brief report on the annual Christmas baseball card additions to The Phillies Room.  It was another solid year in our household in the gift-giving department.

On Christmas morning, Santa delivered the previously seen 2024 Topps factory set and the Diamond Stars Jimmie Foxx card.  Also added to the mix was a 2024 Topps Holiday Mega Box, which was a lot of fun to open, and the very first card in the Diamond Stars set, Lefty Grove.  Truth be told, Grove was delivered to our house on December 1st, but I decided it was a big enough card that it should be under the tree with the Foxx card.  I had somewhat surprisingly won the Grove card in an eBay auction I had no intention of actually winning.  With the addition of Foxx and Grove, I'm down to needing just six more Diamond Stars cards for my version of a master set.  Progress on that set will likely slow until Christmas 2025.

We traditionally spend the day after Christmas at my Mom's house with my sister's family.  As is now tradition, there was a box of individually wrapped baseball cards waiting to be opened and cherished.  My Mom is going somewhat in order through my 1955 Bowman want list, since I'm not yet officially collecting the set.  She veered off the path of adding cards in order, opting to also track down the Whitey Ford and Roy Campanella cards, two names she recognized from my list and players she thought should enter my set build sooner rather than later.

I hope Santa (or his helpers) brought you plenty of new baseball cards this year too.  Happy New Year!

The Philly Show Report - 12 Years Gone in a Flash

Last Sunday, Doug and I made the hour-plus drive to Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of The Philly Show, now a major sports card and memorabilia event with eBay as its corporate sponsor.  Doug's first winter track meet of the 2024-25 season precluded us from going on Saturday and obtaining a So Taguchi autograph, but the word was Sunday's crowds were much smaller and more manageable.  Our oldest son is in his senior year of High School, so it shouldn't have caught me off guard when he commented on the way into the show, "This could be my last one of these for a while."

His first baseball card show was somehow already 12 years ago.  It's been a blur since then.

His interests have changed over the years of course, and in the past his disposable income would have gone to low-numbered autographed or relic cards of recent, fringe Phillies players.  And while he did find a few moderately priced cards of Bailey Falter, Weston Wilson and Hans Crouse that gave him a smile, he ultimately opted to hang on to his money for gas, food, dates and other stuff a typical 18-year-old would spend his money on.  Still, I was glad to have him with me and I enjoyed what could have definitely been our last baseball card show together for a little bit.

The Oaks show floor is massive, and it's expanded since our last visit, last December.  We were there for a little over two hours and I saw maybe 40% or so of the show's offerings.  But I had some goals in mind, and having attained those goals, and run out of money, I was fine with the abbreviated visit.

• 1969 Topps Commons:  I pulled up a folding chair one more time at Uncle Dick's Cards, picking up where I had left off a year ago, and pulling commons I needed between card #500 and the final card in the set, #664.  I crossed 98 more cards off my list, and bundled in the Rollie Fingers rookie card for good measure and at a good price, given the stack of commons I had already committed to buy.

• 1969 Topps Stars:  Along with the Fingers card, I found a dealer with good prices on the Ted Williams and Brooks Robinson All-Star cards.

• 1955 Bowman Wrapper:  My sole non-focused purchase was a fairly beat-up 1955 Bowman wrapper.  Once I finish up my 1956 Topps blog, likely at some point in 2025, I'll officially begin collecting the 1955 Bowman set.  This wrapper will look great in the front of that set's binder.

• 1935 Diamond Stars Jimmie Foxx:  My monster purchase was the Foxx card from the Diamond Stars set I'm collecting, and slowly getting close to completing.  Doug gets credit for finding the slabbed Foxx card in his journeys.  The card was priced at almost twice what I ended up paying for it, and it won't officially enter my collection until Santa presents it on Christmas morning as my major gift for the year.

• 1969 and 1959 Topps Semistars:  Nearing the end of our stay, I added 14 semistars to our 1969 Topps set and six commons to our not-yet-collecting 1959 Topps set.

• 2024 Topps Factory Set / 2024 Topps Heritage Hobby Box:  And finally, before we made our way to the exit, I purchased an obligatory 2024 Topps factory set for Santa to also deliver on Christmas morning and we decided it would be fun to open a box of 2024 Topps Heritage once we were home.  (And I can confirm, it was fun.)

So that's a wrap on the first and only baseball card show we attended in 2024.  I'm excited for the 2025 baseball card shows, but I'm honestly more excited for whatever comes next for Doug in the coming year.

 

Annual Christmas Haul: Santa Mom Writes Book, Delivers Baseball Cards

The author with her book and grandkids

It's become a tradition to gather at my Mom's house on the day after Christmas to exchange gifts with her and my sister's family.  There are way too many gifts exchanged, way too much food eaten, and it's one of the best days of my year.  

Before we get to that though, on Christmas day I unwrapped three cards from my wife Jenna and our sons with a common theme.  They were kind enough to get me the three #1 cards from my next three set builds, 1959 Topps, 1955 Bowman and 1966 Topps, which given I now have a sizable stack from each set, I guess I can say I'm now officially collecting.  

As we approach the end of 2023, I'm 18 cards away from a 1934-36 Diamond Stars set, with that set build likely slowing down in 2024 given the scarcity and price tags of the remaining cards needed.  We're almost two-thirds of the way through the 1969 Topps set, and if I compose five posts a week on the cards we've added, my 1969 Topps blog should be caught up by this time next year.  It's feasible that set is completed by 2025.

My Mom kicked off my collection of the 1955 Bowman set last Christmas, and I've since added a few more cards throughout 2023.  A family friend gifted me his 1959 Topps doubles in February, and I'll be tackling that set once the 1969 Topps set is wrapped up.  And then there's the 1966 Topps set, which I started collecting in the late 1980s given I had the "big" card from the set already in my collection - card #50, Mickey Mantle.  Adding these three #1s was a great way to admit I'm now once again a full-fledged complete set collector, having spent the better part of the last two decades exclusively collecting Phillies baseball cards.

Three #1s

My family also gave me a 2023 Topps factory set, continuing that tradition, and I'm now the proud owner of every Topps flagship set from 1956, 1965 and 1970 through 2023.  The 2023 Topps cards have already been sorted.

My Mom's big surprise for us on the 26th was the announcement she had written a book.  It's wonderful.  It's a collection of stories from her childhood through today, with brief histories of her family and poignant remembrances I'm grateful will now be passed down to our grandkids.  I'm about half-way through reading it as I write this, and I'm taking my time, making sure to take it all in.  She told us writing the book was fun and therapeutic, which I can completely understand given I've authored posts for this blog with only brief interuptions over the past almost 15 years.  Honestly, all the other gifts opened yesterday were very much overshadowed by my Mom's book, and at first I missed the fact I hadn't opened two boxes in my pile about an hour into the exchange.  Since I hadn't yet opened any baseball cards, I had a fairly good idea what was in them, or at least what was in one of them.

Mom has always come through with items from my want lists, and she decided this year to tackle my few remaining Phillies Media Guide needs.  I had never even seen the Phillies Media Guides from the 1960s, and now I'm just one away (1967) from having a full run between 1965 and 2023.  The next box I opened contained 10 individually wrapped baseball card-sized packages, and as I started opening them I noticed they were the first cards from the 1955 Bowman checklist.  Ironically enough, I went from having no Hoyt Wilhelm cards from the 1955 Bowman set to having two over a two day period, and one of them will be offered up for trade soon.  (If you're reading this, and looking to obtain a 1955 Wilhelm card for something of equal value, please leave a comment or send me a message.)

It was another wonderful Christmas, and I'm reminded again how lucky I am.  I hope you and your family had a fantastic holiday season, and here's to a happy, healthy and safe 2024.

Santa/Mom Kicks Off Collecting the 1955 Bowman Set (Again)

Alternate Post Title:  Family Tradition - Collecting the 1955 Bowman Set for the Third or Fourth Time

Having re-entered the realm of the baseball card set-builder a few years ago, I've so far completed our 1965 Topps set and made an impressive dent in the daunting 1934-36 Diamond Stars set.  My main focus will now turn to the 1969 Topps set, and once we've polished off that 664-card collection we'll have a complete Topps flagship 54-set run from 1969 to 2022.

In the background, and unofficially, I've started lists for three other sets I'm kind of collecting and I'll gladly add a card or two to these collections in the coming years if the opportunity presents itself.  The 1959 Topps set is next.  After the design of the 1965 Topps set, this is my favorite vintage set design from the golden age of baseball cards.  As of this writing, I already have 15 cards accumulated for that set.

The 1966 Topps set may be collected concurrently with 1959 or after that pricer set is near completion.  The hard-to-find and expensive high numbers from 1966 are going to be an issue, but having briefly started to collect the set in 1988, we already have the Mickey Mantle card.  ("We've already got the Mantle," is something I can still hear my Dad saying.)  I don't remember the specifics of how or why my Dad and I added this particular Mantle card, but it's in my collection and ready to have a set built around it.

And then there's the 1955 Bowman set, with its wood-grained color TV borders, its gorgeous photography and its iconic baseball cards that define the sport from the mid-1950s.  My Dad once told me he had built this set several times over, as this was his favorite growing up, and "I had them all, Jimmy."  He would have been 11 years old at the time these cards were first for sale at corner stores and five and dimes.  Seven years later when he departed for college, his mother, my Mom-Mom, bundled the entire collection, including his treasured 1955 Bowman sets, in trash bags and took them to the curb in front of their duplex on Oak Street.  The thought of that still gives me chills.  Cleaning out my Mom-Mom's attic in early 1985 after she had passed away, my parents found only one remnant of my Dad's lost collection - the torn off back of a 1955 Bowman Mickey Mantle card, its front lost forever as it had been separated and likely affixed to a notebook or tacked to a bulletin board.  Horrifying.

In the summer of 1983 (or 1984), when the Magic Shoebox of vintage baseball cards arrived in my life, and I spent several glorious afternoons in our screened-in porch on 12th Street sorting and documenting those treasures, I first learned of my Dad's fondness for the 1955 Bowman set.  There were 44 cards in the box from the 1956 Topps set, but 18 cards in the box from the 1955 Bowman set.  Had those quantities been reversed, we probably would have started a 25-year journey collecting the 1955 Bowman set.  But with '56s more than doubling '55s, the decision was made to keep the wood-grained cards in the Magic Shoebox and begin our 1956 Topps set quest.  A few decades later, with the help of my Mom over several Christmases, I did ultimately finish off a 1955 Bowman Phillies team set.

A month or so ago, not having any baseball cards to wrap and present to me on December 26th, the day my sister and I officially exchange gifts with our families, my Mom asked me for a list.  Over the past decade, she's single-handedly crossed off most vintage Phillies baseball cards I've needed, leaving only a handful of expensive high numbers from the 1952 Topps set and one elusive 1967 Topps Rookie Stars card for Gary Sutherland.  I'll add those cards one day, but they're way too expensive to ask Santa/Mom to track down.

I didn't want to give her my 1969 Topps or Diamond Stars lists, as I planned on adding a few of those to our sets at the December Philly Show.  So I put together a list for our 1955 Bowman set, crossing off 17 cards (one card from the Magic Shoebox was a double) and highlighting the Phillies in the set.  True, I've collected the Phillies cards from the set once, but those are secure within my 1950s Phillies baseball card binder.  The baseball card set builder's paradox is adding cards for a set build that could already be included in another part of his collection.  But I digress.

On Monday, as our families gathered at my Mom's, among the laughter, joking and piles of cast off wrapping paper, I spotted the box likely containing baseball cards and saved that present to open last.  As suspected, inside was my baseball card haul from Santa for the year - nine 1955 Bowman cards, including eight Phillies cards, and one Athletics card purchased by accident since the text with team names on my list was hard for Santa to read.  These nine cards mark the official start of collecting the 1955 Bowman set, 67 years after my Dad had built the set several times.  ("I had them all, Jimmy!")  Once again, my Mom outdid herself this Christmas - not only because of these cards but with every thoughtful gift she presented to her entire family.  She shines every day of the year, but always a little brighter on December 26th.

I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday season, and I wish you all the best for 2023!  Go ahead and get yourself some vintage baseball cards in the coming year - Mel Clark and his many bats would approve.

1955 Bowman #41

Game 134 - Deptford Mall Baseball Card Show Precedes Another Loss

Giants 5, Phillies 3
Game 134 - Sunday Afternoon, September 4th in San Francisco
Record - 73-61, 3rd Place, 11 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies couldn't complete the comeback against the Giants, as David Robertson allowed a two-run walk-off home run to Wilmer Flores in this latest loss.

What It Means:  It's not going well, and I'll admit I'm starting to worry.  The Phillies hold a 2 1/2 game lead over the Brewers for the National League's third Wild Card spot.  They went 1-6 on a disastrous west coast trip against two teams with losing records.  A six-game homestand begins on Tuesday night against the Marlins and Nationals.

What Happened:  Ranger Suarez joined the ranks of Phillies starting pitchers who have been ineffective lately, pitching just four innings and allowing three runs.  The Phillies dramatically tied up the game in the eighth inning when J.T. Realmuto connected for a three-run home run off Giants' reliever John Brebbia.  Robertson couldn't preserve the tie however, allowing Flores' home run and ending the game.

Featured Card:  Before this debacle began, Doug and I drove to the Deptford Mall for a mini baseball card show and Bobby Abreu signing.  We were among the first in line to secure our Abreu signatures, and then we spent about a half hour browsing the six or so tables set up in the mall.  I found one dealer with stacks of vintage commons for sale, adding cards to my not-yet-officially-collecting 1955 Bowman, 1959 Topps and 1969 Topps sets.  It was a good afternoon, diminished a few hours later by the Phillies' loss.

Transaction:  Nick Castellanos (of) was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain and Dalton Guthrie (of) had his contract selected from Lehigh Valley.  To make room for Guthrie on the 40-man roster, Luis Garcia (inf) was designated for assignment.

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

Game 27 - 2021 Topps 70 Years of Topps #70YT-5 Andrew McCutchen

Mets 5, Phillies 4
Game 27 - Saturday Night, May 1st in Philadelphia
Record - 13-14, Tied for 1st Place, 1 game ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  A missed fly ball and a missed umpire's call were the differences in this 5-4 loss to the Mets.

What It Means:  The two teams face off in tonight's rubber match on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

What Happened:  Zack Wheeler was in trouble early, allowing four runs in a long first inning, but then he settled back down and threw six scoreless innings.  The big hit in the first for the Mets was a sharp line drive hit right to left fielder Andrew McCutchen that he never saw.  The ball flew past McCutchen to the wall and Conforto had a two-run double.  Down 4-0, the Phillies chipped away with a pair of runs in the second and a two-run, game-tying home run from Alec Bohm in the sixth.

With the score tied, Hector Neris allowed a go-ahead home run in the ninth to Conforto, ultimately giving the Mets the win.

Featured Card:  The McCutchen miscue led to multiple runs in the first, and then an umpire's miscue involving McCutchen took the Phillies out of a potential rally in the seventh.  McCutchen was called out for leaving the base paths on a hard ground ball hit by Matt Joyce.  He clearly never left the base path, running in a perfectly straight line, but he was ruled out and Joyce was also out at first for an inning-ending double play.  (Bryce Harper got tossed from the bench for letting the umpires know how he felt.)

This is the second Phillies card from the 70 Years of Topps insert set.  The interesting thing about this card is the front features the 1955 Topps design, but the back is from the 1955 Bowman set.  I can't help but wonder if Topps did this on purpose (unlikely) or completely by accident (probably).

Transactions:  After only a day out, Didi Gregorius (ss) was activated from the Covid-related injured list and Mickey Moniak (of) was recalled.  Roman Quinn (of) went on the Covid-related injured list and Rafael Marchan (c) was sent back down.

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

Game 25 - 2020 Topps Archives #66 J.T. Realmuto

Phillies 8, Nationals 3
Game 25 - Tuesday Night, August 25th in Washington
Record - 11-14, 3rd Place, 3 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  J.T. Realmuto bounced a three-run home run off the top of the right field wall and the bullpen kept the Nationals in check in this 8-3 win.

What It Means:  This was a relatively easy win for the Phillies, which is a welcome change of pace.

What Happened:  Realmuto had the big hit, but Andrew McCutchen and Jean Segura also both also knocked in a pair of runs.  McCutchen's second RBI was a fielder's choice that scored the speedy Roman Quinn from third as Quinn was able to race home and elude the tag of catcher Kurt Suzuki.

Jake Arrieta started and threw five strong innings, allowing a lead-off home run to Trea Turner, before an hour-plus rain delay cut his outing short.  The bullpen performed well again with Tommy Hunter throwing an inning and a 1/3 of scoreless relief.

Featured Card:  Realmuto gets the card, but his home run was less than an inch away from bouncing the other way and back onto the field.  His 9 home runs are tops on the club.  This is his 1955 Topps-inspired card from the just released Topps Archives set.

Transaction:  Deolis Guerra (rhp) cleared waivers after being designated for assignment and was outrighted to Lehigh Valley.

2020 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2020 Season Summary Index / 2020 Chachi Set Checklist

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.

1956 Topps #60 Mayo Smith MG

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



Edward Mayo Smith
Philadelphia Phillies
Manager

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  183
Born:  January 17, 1915, New London, MO
Drafted:  Drafted by the Philadelphia Athletics from the Detroit Tigers in the 1944 Rule 5 draft.
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Athletics 1945
As a Manager:  Philadelphia Phillies 1955-1958; Cincinnati Reds 1959; Detroit Tigers 1967-1970
Died:  November 24, 1977, Boynton Beach, FL (age 62)

Mayo Smith spent almost four decades in organized baseball, first as an outfielder in the Tigers, Reds, Athletics and Yankees system between 1933 and 1952, and then as a manager for the Phillies, Reds and Tigers between 1955 and 1970.

Smith's sole year as a player in the big leagues came in 1945 when he hit .212 over 73 games for the Athletics.  He was named the manager of the Phillies in October 1954 at the age of 39, replacing the outgoing Terry Moore.  The Phillies never finished above fourth place in his 3 1/2 years at the helm, and he was fired in mid-1958.  Smith briefly managed the 1959 Reds before getting fired again mid-season.

He found his most success as manager of the Tigers for four seasons, leading the Tigers to a World Series title in 1968.  The Cardinals had taken a commanding three games to one lead in that series, but the Tigers won three in a row to take the title.  Smith was named A.L. Manager of the Year in 1968 and would manage the Tigers for two more seasons.  He was fired following the 1970 season and replaced by Billy Martin (#181), having gone 363-285.  After a single season as a scout for the Oakland Athletics in 1971, Smith officially retired from baseball.

Building the Set
October 1, 1987 in Bridgeton, NJ - Card #49
My notes indicate we bought this card at Hummel's in Bridgeton, NJ a few days before my 14th birthday.  We acquired three Phillies card that day - Smith, Murry Dickson (#211) and Frank Baumholtz (#274) and I don't know how much we paid for the trio.  My memories of Hummel's are hazy at best, but I seem to recall it was a large building with a sprawling liquor store on the first floor and a baseball card shop on the second floor.  With baseball card stores booming in the mid to late 1980s, we'd often take a ride to one of the four or five local card shops we were lucky enough to have near us.  October 1st was a Thursday, so it's strange to me that we would have made the 20 minute or so drive to Hummel's on a week night after work and school.  My approaching birthday might have contributed to the motivation for the trip.

I tried to find Hummel's on Google Maps and sure enough a liquor store came up, but not the one I remember.  I remember a bigger builder, with the second floor, and this clearly isn't it.

The Card
We're through 60 cards in the set, and Smith is only the second Phillies card to appear.  All other teams have had at least three cards up to this point, with the Athletics and Pirates leading the way with five cards each.  Mayo is the first of four subjects in the set with the last name of Smith with two Hals (#62 and #283) and an Al (#105) coming up.

I can only assume the photographer asked Smith to give his best "get down and slide" sign for the pose found here.  And kudos to the artist responsible for the back three panels of this card, as there clearly wasn't a lot of material with which to work.  While the back also indicates Smith was a lefty, his Baseball Reference page indicates he threw right-handed.

Smith is one of only two manager cards featured in the 1956 set, along with Walter Alston (#8).  I've always been curious as to why Smith was chosen as a subject along with the well-known (and successful) Alston instead of any other Major League manager.  Here's a list of all the managers who could have had cards in the 1956 set, in order of each team's finish from the 1955 season.  No offense to Smith, but there's a few better candidates than him in this list:

Dodgers - Walter Alston Braves - Charlie Grimm (1955-56) or Fred Haney (1956) Giants - Leo Durocher (1955) or Bill Rigney (1956) Phillies - Mayo Smith  Reds - Birdie Tebbetts Cubs - Stan Hack Cardinals - Eddie Stanky (1955), Harry Walker (1955) or Fred Hutchinson (1956) Pirates - Fred Haney (1955) or Bobby Bragan (1956)

Yankees - Casey Stengel Indians - Al Lopez White Sox - Marty Marion Red Sox - Pinky Higgins Tigers - Bucky Harris Athletics - Lou Boudreau Orioles - Paul Richards Senators - Chuck Dressen

1956 Season
Returning for his second season as manager of the Phillies, Smith guided the team to a 71-83 record and a fifth place finish in the National League.  The team performed well for most of the season, climbing to just one game under .500 as late as August 8th.  Despite the rough year, Smith was given a one year extension following the season and he'd hang on to manage through all of 1957 and half of the 1958 season.

Phillies Career
Smith's record as Phillies manager was 264-282-2, and his best season came in 1957 when the Phillies battled at the top of the division until mid-July.  That team finished that season right at .500 with a 77-77 record.  The play was much of the same at the start of the 1958 season, and the Phillies reached a winning record on July 12th at 39-38.  However, the team lost eight of their next nine games and Smith was fired on July 22nd.  Whiz Kids manager Eddie Sawyer was brought back to replace Smith, his second managerial stint with the club.

Smith received two mainstream baseball cards to mark his time with the Phillies, in the 1955 and 1956 Topps sets.  He also appears in the 1956, 1957 and 1958 Jay Publishing Phillies sets, as well as in the oddball 1956 Topps Pins and 1956 Topps Hocus Focus sets.  He's also in the rare 1955 Felin's Franks Match the Phillies set, which according to my edition of the Standard Catalog of Vintage Baseball Cards, may not have actually been released.

1955 Topps #130

1967 Topps #321

1968 Topps #544

1969 Topps #40

1970 Topps #313

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #130
First Topps Card (as a manager):  1955 Topps #130
Last Topps Card (as a manager):  1970 Topps #313
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1970 Topps #313

26 - Smith non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 8/3/19.

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.

1956 Topps #58 Ed Roebuck

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



Edward Jack Roebuck
Brooklyn Dodgers
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  185
Born:  July 3, 1931, Millsboro, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers 1955-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958, 1960-1963; Washington Senators 1963-1964; Philadelphia Phillies 1964-1966
Died:  June 14, 2018, Lakewood, CA (age 86)

All but one of Ed Roebuck's 460 appearances in the Major Leagues came in relief, and he served as one of the game's most reliable relievers from the mid-1950s through the mid-1960s.  Roebuck was a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers team that won a World Series in 1955 and lost the Series in 1956 to the Yankees.  In 6 1/3 innings in the 1955 and 1956 World Series, he allowed one one run, and had an impressive ERA of 1.42.  Perhaps Roebuck's best season was 1962 when he went 10-2 with a 3.09 ERA and nine saves while appearing in 64 games for the Dodgers.  In his 11-year career, he finished in the top ten in the league in saves and appearances four different times.

After a few mediocre seasons with the Senators, Roebuck found new life with the Phillies, serving as one of the most durable relievers during the 1964 season but unfortunately he was part of that team's epic, late season collapse.  One of the game's most proficient fungo hitters, Roebuck was invited to Houston in 1964 to hit fungos as high as he could inside the Astrodome, still under construction, to make sure the roof would be high enough once official games commenced.

Following his playing days, Roebuck served as a scout for the Dodgers, Phillies, Braves, Reds, Pirates and Red Sox.  He retired in 2006 after earning his second World Series ring in 2004 as a scout for the Red Sox.

Building the Set
August 29, 1988 in Millville, NJ - Card #62
I shared this story back in March when I posted the Tom Brewer (#34) card, but I'll repeat it again here.  The Roebuck card was one of four cards I acquired for our 1956 Topps set via a trade, and all I had to surrender were a bunch of 1988 Topps doubles.

We were about a year in to officially collecting the 1956 Topps set when I added four cards to the set through a trade with a friend of mine.  Now my friend probably has no recollection of this, but I'm going to omit his name to protect the innocent.  In the summer of 1988, I was aware of a few different baseball card collectors from my school.  Most of them were busy accumulating as many "Future Stars" cards from the 1988 Topps set as possible, convinced these cards would be worth hundreds of dollars in a matter of a few short years.  The Kevin Elster card was a particularly hot commodity, as was anything with a Topps Rookie Cup on it such as the cards for Mark McGwire, Mike Greenwell, Ellis Burks and Casey Candaele.

My friend had four 1956 Topps cards set aside in an "oldies" pile, and I'm guessing he had added these to his collection by accident or maybe through an older relative.  In any event, I went over to his house this late summer day in August, equipped with my 1988 Topps doubles, and ready to deal.  I don't remember the specifics of the trade, but I ended up with four 1956 Topps commons and he ended up with a small stack of 1988 Topps rookies.  We were both happy with our respective hauls, so in our minds it was a fair deal.

I've lost track of this friend over the years, but his name lives on in my official records of how each card in our 1956 Topps set was obtained.

The Card
Here's something I found extremely interesting, and I've been tracking this since starting this project.  Roebuck's card is the 47th card in the set to feature a player also included within the 1955 Topps set.  However, his is the first instance of a card using a different photo for his 1956 Topps card than what was used for his 1955 Topps card.  Why did Topps suddenly decide to go with a new photo for Roebuck's 1956 Topps card, when it had used the same photo for the prior 46 players?

1956 Season
Roebuck appeared in 43 games for the Dodgers, all in relief, going 5-4 with a 3.93 ERA.  Only closer Clem Labine had more appearances in relief that season for the Dodgers with 62.  He led the National League in wild pitches with 10.  Against the Yankees in the 1956 World Series, Roebuck appeared in three games, pitching 4 1/3 innings and allowing only one hit and one run - a solo home run to Mickey Mantle in Game 4.

Phillies Career
On April 21, 1964, the Senators sold Roebuck to the Phillies and he appeared in 60 games in relief.  In parts of three seasons with the Phillies, Roebuck appeared in 110 games, pitching to a 10-8 record and a 2.83 ERA.  He recorded 15 saves, second only to Jack Baldschun (27 saves) during that same stretch.  During the late season collapse of 1964 resulting in ten straight losses, Roebuck pitched in four games and was scored upon only once.

The Phillies released him following the 1965 season, but he re-signed with them as a free agent and appeared in six games before getting released again on July 23, 1966.  He served as a scout for the Phillies after retiring as an active player, but I can't find any reference to what years he was with the club either online or from the team's yearbooks or media guides.

Roebuck's most readily available Phillies baseball card can be found in the 1965 Topps set.  He's also in the 1964 Philadelphia Bulletin set, the 1978 TCMA The 1960s set and he signed reprints of his 1965 Topps card for the 2014 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs insert set.

1955 Topps #195

1961 Topps #6

1964 Topps #187

1965 Topps #52

1978 TCMA The 1960s #165

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #195
First Topps Card:  1955 Topps #195
Representative Phillies Card:  1965 Topps #52
Last Topps Card:  1965 Topps #52
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2014 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-ER

52 - Roebuck non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 7/22/19.

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.