2015 Topps Phillies

2015 Topps #687

2015 Topps #309

2015 Topps #51

2015 Topps Update #US204

Almost five years ago, I started the process of composing a series of posts on the Phillies cards found within each of the Topps flagship sets dating back to 1951.  With this post on the 2015 Topps Phillies cards, I'm finally current and I'll continue this series as long as this here blog is still chugging along.

The Set

2015 Topps #420 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  Topps super-sized its set in 2015, with 350 cards each in Series 1 and Series 2 and an all-time high 400 cards in the Update Series.  That's 1,100 base cards and easily two binders worth of nine-pocket pages if you're ambitious enough to go that route.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  I really like it.  It's so different from anything Topps has put out as its flagship set over the past decade and I appreciate the foil-less text on the fronts of the cards.  If I were to over-analyze the design . . . there's quite a lot going on here.  We've got color gradients, random line swiggles, some small white circles under the team name, the bottom border fading and bleeding into the bottom of the player's photo and a semi-transparent target around the team logo.  If I were to not over-analyze the design . . . it's pretty cool.

The backs are also easy to read and they have some personality to them, unlike the card back designs from the prior four years.

2015 Topps #481

2015 Topps #420

2015 Topps #233

2015 Topps #662

2015 Phillies
Record and finish:  The Phillies hit rock bottom in 2015, and their record of 63-99 was their worst mark since the 1969 season.  Finishing 27 games behind the Mets in the division, their record assured them the #1 pick in the June 2016 amateur player draft.
Key players:  Odubel Herrera, a Rule 5 pick from the Rangers who had never played above Double-A before this season, led the Phillies with a .297 average.  Ryan Howard led the team with 23 home runs and 77 RBIs, but hit a lowly .229.  Maikel Franco established himself at third base hitting 14 home runs in 80 games before a broken hand shortened his season.  Cesar Hernandez, Freddy Galvis, Jeff Francoeur and Andres Blanco were all pleasant surprises offensively.

On the mound, and after Cole Hamels was traded to the Rangers, the most reliable starters were rookies Adam Morgan (5-7, 4.48 in 15 starts), Aaron Nola (6-2, 3.59 in 13 starts) and Jerad Eickhoff (3-3, 2.65 in 8 starts).  Aaron Harang (6-15, 4.86) satisfied his role as an innings-eater.  Ken Giles was fantastic out of the bullpen with 15 saves and a 1.80 ERA over 69 games.

Key events:  The Phillies were sellers following the All-Star break, trading away Jonathan Papelbon (to the Nationals), Hamels and Jake Diekman (to the Rangers), Ben Revere (to the Blue Jays), and most painfully Chase Utley (to the Dodgers) for a boatload of prospects.  In his final start with the Phillies, Hamels threw a no-hitter against the Cubs on July 25th.  Manager Ryne Sandberg quit the team on June 26th, unable to put up with the losing any longer.  Third base coach Pete Mackanin took over on an interim basis, and was named the permanent manager late in the season.

2015 Phillies in 2015 Topps
Who's in:  The expanded set size led to only 31 Phillies cards, up two from last year's 29 and up one from 2013's 30 cards.  There's a great short-printed, photo variation card available for Utley featuring him on the dugout steps of Citi Field during a more peaceful time.  There's also a short-printed Phillies card in the updated series featuring Rally Squirrel II, the second squirrel to interrupt a Phillies-Cardinals game.  (This incident took place back on June 19th.)

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 7 cards

#233 Carlos Ruiz (c), #51 Ryan Howard (1b), #481 Freddy Galvis (ss), #309 Maikel Franco (3b), #420 Cody Asche (lf), #687 Odubel Herrera (cf), #US204 Jeff Francoeur (rf)

Hernandez, who had a great season filling in all over the infield, was inexplicably omitted from the Update Series.

2015 Topps Update #US146

2015 Topps #10

2015 Topps #560

2015 Topps Pro Debut #166

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#US146 Aaron Harang, #10 Cole Hamels, #560 Jerome Williams, #218 David Buchanan

I'm not sure how either Morgan or Nola could have been omitted from the Update Series, but they both were.  Nola at least has a card in the 2015 Topps Pro Debut set, but that features him with the High-A Clearwater Threshers.

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2015 - 13 Cards

#118 Domonic Brown, #123 Ben Revere, #143 Jonathan Papelbon, #163 Chase Utley, #553 Grady Sizemore, #561 Ken Giles, #662 Darin Ruf, #663 Jake Diekman, #US84 Sean O'Sullivan, #US95 Elvis Araujo, #US166 Severino Gonzalez, #US205 Andres Blanco, #US318 Phillippe Aumont

• Base cards of players who did not play with the Phillies in 2015 - 4 Cards

#187 Marlon Byrd, #212 Cliff Lee, #222 Antonio Bastardo, #624 Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez

• Team card - 1 Card, #441
• 2014 Baseball Highlights cards - 1 Card, #659 Jimmy Rollins and Mike Schmidt
• 2015 National League All-Star cards - 1 Card, #US240 Jonathan Papelbon

The team card features a post-game handshake line from 2014 with Byrd and Brown front and center.

2015 Topps #561

2015 Topps Update #US205

2015 Topps #118

2015 Topps Update #US95

Who's out:  See my commentary above.  Catcher Cameron Rupp, who received the bulk of the playing time in the second half behind the plate, was left out.  Rookie Aaron Altherr was also omitted.
Phillies on other teams:  Not counting the players who left the Phillies during the season, there are no 2015 Phillies on other teams.
What's he doing here:  Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, who pitched 5 1/3 innings for the Phillies in 2014 and missed the entire 2015 season due to injury, has no business receiving a card in this set.

For the first time in several years, I have to take issue with Topps' Phillies player selection.  With so many rookies making their debuts in 2015, there was quite a crop of Phillies prospects Topps could have featured in the Update Series.  Instead, we received Phillies cards of O'Sullivan (1-6, 6.08 ERA in 13 starts) and Aumont.  The Aumont card is especially annoying since he was released in June by the Phillies, signed by the Blue Jays organization and then released by them prior to the end of the season.

Cards that never were candidates:  And there's a lot . . . Nola, Morgan, Hernandez, Rupp, relievers Justin De Fratus, Jeanmar Gomez and Luis Garcia for starters.  Prospects acquired in trades who could have feasibly had cards in the Update Series include Eickhoff and Darnell Sweeney.

I recently received an e-mail from reader/Phillies fan Burnell who informed me there were several variations of 2015 Topps Phillies cards to be found within the Topps Bunt app.  I have yet to venture into Topps Bunt world, but after seeing some of the scans that Burnell e-mailed to me, I might have to give it a try.  Courtesy of Burnell, I'm going to have another post up soon showing some of the 2015 Topps Phillies variations to be found within Topps Bunt.

Favorite Phillies card:  I love the Rollins/Schmidt card just because it features two franchise icons celebrating Rollins ascension to the franchise's all-time hit king.  If I had to pick a favorite player card, it would be a tie between Hamels and Utley since these are last Topps Phillies cards as active players.

2015 Topps #163

2015 Topps Phillies #PHI-1

2015 Topps Chrome #100

2015 Topps #163B

Other Stuff
Variations:  Utley is the winner here, with three different photos used across three different sets. The photo of him in a throwback uniform was also used on his Topps Opening Day Franchise Flashback insert card.

2014 Topps Phillies

2014 Topps #502

2014 Topps #484

2014 Topps #312

2014 Topps #105

My oldest son Doug recently asked me to help him organize his quickly expanding baseball card collection.  I of course dropped everything and immediately obliged.  When sorting his cards into years, I had no problem identifying Topps cards up through 2010.  I was a little alarmed to discover that I had to check the backs of some of the cards to identify Topps flagship cards from between 2011 and 2014.  (As an aside, I had no issue identifying 2015 Topps cards, which I think is a good thing. And I know I won't have an issue picking out a card from the even more unique 2016 Topps set.)

2014 Topps #180 (Back)

Some people might love the Topps designs for the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 sets, but I find the designs mostly forgettable.  My thought on the 2014 Topps set when it first came out was that it had way too much going on with the design elements on the front, and overall look reminded me of something I'd see in a recent Bowman set.

With that underwhelming assessment out of the way, let's take a look at the 2014 Topps Phillies cards.  I'll be all caught up with this series (finally) until the 2015 Topps Update set comes out next month.

The Set
Number of cards in the set:  For the ninth year in a row, Series 1 and Series 2 have 330 cards each with #7 omitted in honor of Mickey Mantle.  The Update Series adds another 330 cards.  It's important to note that I'm omitting any gimmick or short-printed cards in these tallies.  A number of star cards are available with a sparkle added to the photo on the front.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  In light of what would come after it, with the unique designs of the 2015 and 2016 Topps sets, this set's design comes off as uninspired and seemingly a mish-mosh of design elements Topps couldn't fit into other sets.  For the third year in a row, the backs of the cards are very plain.

2014 Topps #182

2014 Topps #4

2014 Topps #296

2014 Topps #180

2014 Phillies
Record and finish:  In manager Ryne Sandberg's first (and only) full season, the Phillies went 73-89, finishing in last place in the N.L. East, 23 games behind the Nationals.
Key players:  Chase Utley had a decent year, hitting .270 with 11 home runs and 78 RBIs and he was the team's sole representative at the All-Star game.  Marlon Byrd returned to his original team and led the way with 25 home runs.  Ryan Howard had 95 RBIs, but hit an awful .223 while Jimmy Rollins dipped down below .250 with a .243 average.

The pitching was rough to witness with Kyle Kendrick leading the staff with 10 wins and his 4.61 ERA was just a little worse than team leader A.J. Burnett's 4.59.  Burnett (8-18) was one and done with the Phillies in 2014, opting to take a severe pay cut to return to the Pirates for 2015.  Cole Hamels received very little run support, which explains his 9-9 record despite a 2.46 ERA in 30 starts.  Jonathan Papelbon recorded 39 saves.
Key events:  There were a few big events for the club in 2014 that kept the fans entertained.  First, on June 14th, Rollins collected his 2,235th career hit, eclipsing the franchise mark for most hits previously held by Mike Schmidt.  On Labor Day, Hamels combined with Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Papelbon to throw a combined no-hitter against the Braves.

Finally, top prospect Maikel Franco made his Major League debut the day after the combined no-hitter on September 2nd.

2014 Phillies in 2014 Topps
Who's in:  The complete Phillies team set consists of 29 cards, broken down with 10 cards in Series 1, 11 cards in Series 2 and eight cards in the Update Series.  There are no short-printed, photo variation cards for any of the Phillies.

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#182 Carlos Ruiz (c), #105 Ryan Howard (1b), #502 Chase Utley (2b), #312 Jimmy Rollins (ss), #4 Cody Asche (3b), #296 Domonic Brown (lf), #180 Ben Revere (cf), #484 Marlon Byrd (rf)

2014 Topps #641

2014 Topps #196

2014 Topps #503

2014 Topps Update #US-281

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#641 A.J. Burnett, #196 Cole Hamels, #503 Kyle Kendrick, #US-281 David Buchanan

Roberto Hernandez, who started 23 games but was traded to the Dodgers in early August, got shut out from having a Phillies card.  It bugs me that Topps couldn't bother with an actual photo of Burnett in a Phillies uniform.  His base card is obviously photoshopped, and it still shows him wearing his gold and black Pirates necklaces.  Similarly annoying, but less egregious, is that Byrd's card features a photo from his first stint with the club from between 2002 and 2005.  Byrd wore #3 with the Phillies in 2014.

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2014 - 14 Cards

#74 John Mayberry Jr., #90 Ethan Martin, #122 Jonathan Papelbon, #345 Darin Ruf, #451 Luis Garcia, #609 Jonathan Pettibone, #629 Cliff Lee, #637 Freddy Galvis, #US-33 Grady Sizemore, #US-74 Antonio Bastardo, #US-77 Wil Nieves, #US-78 Reid Brignac, #US-129 Mike Adams, #US-181 Tony Gwynn Jr.

• Base cards of players who did not play with the Phillies in 2014 - 2 Cards

#498 Steve Susdorf, #565 Roy Halladay

• 2014 National League All-Star cards - 1 card, #US292 Chase Utley

2014 Topps #122

2014 Topps Update #US-33

2014 Topps #74

2014 Topps #637

Who's out:  I feel like Topps really picked up its game over the past decade in terms of player selection.  Once again, they did a nice job including a full array of Phillies players this season, from the bench guys to the bullpen.  Of the players not receiving cards, I'd include Cesar Hernandez (66 games), along with relievers Diekman, Justin De Fratus, Mario Hollands and Giles.

Phillies on other teams:  Jerome Williams (#US-236) is in the Update Series with the Rangers.

2014 Topps #498

What's he doing here:  I have no problem at all with the final tribute card for Halladay, showing his full career statistics.  Halladay announced his retirement prior to the 2014 season.  And I think it's great that career minor leaguer Susdorf ended up on a card.  Susdorf made it into three games with the 2013 Phillies after having spent 5 1/2 years in the Phillies minor league system.  He was released by the Triple-A IronPigs in July 2014.

Cards that never were candidates:  Both Hernandez's - Cesar and Roberto, Diekman, De Fratus, Hollands and Giles.  Just to amuse by oldest son Doug, I'd also have a card for reliever Jeff Manship.

Favorite Phillies card:  I really liked the Galvis card when I first saw it, but then it bothered me that you can't even see Galvis's face.  (Besides, I like to think I did this card better.)  I'll go with the Rollins card as my favorite, since it's his last Phillies card as an active player.  Rollins would be traded to the Dodgers in December following the season.

Other Stuff

Variations:  There are no variations to be found between the flagship, retail, Chrome and Opening Day sets.  After years of asking myself, "Well why did they bother to do that?", I find that I'm actually disappointed now when there are no strange, unexplained variations.

2013 Topps Phillies

2013 Topps #625

2013 Topps #26

2013 Topps #637

2013 Topps #367

Over the past few years, I've fallen into a pattern with these Topps Phillies posts where I ignore them throughout the year and then I rattle off a few years during the Phillies-less postseason.  The patten continues again this season.  While trying to stay up for Game 1 of the Dodgers-Mets N.L.D.S., I somehow found myself flipping through my 2013 Phillies binder.

2013 Topps #367 (Back)

The wheels completely fell off the Phillies in 2013 as they endured their first losing season since 2002.  Manager Charlie Manuel was dumped in mid-August right after winning his 1,000th career game and the non-productive Ryne Sandberg era began.

The Set
Number of cards in the set:  Both Series 1 and Series 2 have 330 cards with #7 once again omitted in honor of Mickey Mantle.  As such, the full set is numbered to 661.  The Update Series once again contains 330 cards.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  I was underwhelmed by the 2013 Topps set when it first came out, and almost three years later I find the set, like the 2013 Phillies season, fairly forgettable.  Night Owl Cards christened the set the "sea turtle set" since the curved home plate and baseball diamond in the bottom left corner vaguely resemble an abstract swimming turtle.  Once you see the turtle in the set's front border design, you can never un-see it.

2013 Topps #6

2013 Topps Update #US90

2013 Topps Update #US242

2013 Topps #206

2013 Phillies
Record and finish:  The Phillies finished fourth in the N.L. East, 23 games behind the Braves, with a record of 73-89.  As mentioned previously, Manuel was dismissed in mid-August and the brief Sandberg era began.
Key players:  Domonic Brown made his first and only All-Star team and he'd finish the season with a .272 average and team leading 27 home runs and 83 RBIs.  He hasn't touched those numbers since. Chase Utley hit .284 over 131 games and was second on the team in both home runs (18) and RBIs (69).  Carlos Ruiz (.268) had a solid year behind the plate while newcomer Ben Revere hit .305 with 22 stolen bases.

Cliff Lee (14-8, 2.87) and Cole Hamels (8-14, 3.60) led the pitching staff and third starter Kyle Kendrick contributed 10 wins.  In his final season, Roy Halladay struggled mightily, going 4-5 with a 6.82 ERA in 13 starts.  Jonathan Papelbon led the team with 29 saves with Antonio Bastardo (2.32 ERA, 2 saves) and Jake Diekman (2.58 ERA) serving as reliable relievers.

Key events:  Looking at the Chachi Highlight cards for the season, the most notable events include Halladay winning his 200th career game and walk-off home runs from Freddy Galvis and John Mayberry, Jr.  Outfielder Casper Wells and infielder John McDonald both pitched in an 18-inning loss to the Diamondbacks in August.

2013 Phillies in 2013 Topps
Who's in:  Series 1 and Series 2 each include 10 Phillies cards, with the Update Series adding 10 more for a total of 30.  There are three short-printed variation cards for Howard, Utley and John Kruk (in the Update Series).

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 8 cards

#367 Carlos Ruiz (c), #6 Ryan Howard (1b), #26 Chase Utley (2b), #206 Jimmy Rollins (ss), #US90 Michael Young, #625 Domonic Brown (lf), #637 Ben Revere (cf), #US242 Delmon Young (rf)

Michael Young's card is baffling, as it features a photo of him scoring the winning run in a thrilling 4-3 win over the Royals on April 6th.  We get a nice look at Young's back and short-term Phillie Ezequiel Carrera is to his left, but Young's face is completely obscured.

2013 Topps #33

2013 Topps #332

2013 Topps #71

2013 Topps #410

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 5 cards

#33 Cliff Lee, #332 Cole Hamels, #71 Kyle Kendrick, #US281 Jonathan Pettibone, #US280 John Lannan

• Base cards of players who played with the Phillies in 2013 - 12 cards

#83 Darin Ruf, #197 Tyler Cloyd, #361 Erik Kratz, #410 Roy Halladay, #424 Steven Lerud, #472 John Mayberry, #514 Jonathan Papelbon, #646 Phillippe Aumont, #US30 Mike Adams, #US58 Kevin Frandsen, #US71 Cody Asche, #US156 Laynce Nix

• Base cards of players who did not play with the Phillies in 2013 - 2 cards

#152 Jose Contreras, #249 Vance Worley

• 2013 National League All-Star cards - 2 cards, #US188 Cliff Lee, #US309 Domonic Brown
• 2013 Record Chase cards - 1 card, #264 Roy Halladay

The Record Chase card doubles as a checklist for cards 264 to 331 and calls attention to Halladay's chase of 200 wins.

2013 Topps #514

2013 Topps #472

2013 Topps Update #US58

2013 Topps #83

Who's Out:  Infielder Galvis got left out of the set for the second year in a row and the entire bullpen, except Papelbon, was ignored.  The top four relievers in terms of number of appearances could have merited cards in the set - Justin De Fratus, Bastardo, Diekman and Jeremy Horst.
Phillies on other teams:  Delmon Young (#121, Tigers) and Michael Young (#320, Rangers) both appear with their former teams in the base set.  Wells (#US247, White Sox) appears in the Update Series as well as the Mariners retail team set (#SEA11).

What's he doing here:  Contreras and Worley both departed during the off-season so it makes sense they'd appear in Series 1 with the Phillies.  As has been the case with the past few years of Topps sets, I really don't have any issues with their Phillies player selections.  Back-up catcher Lerud is a surprising inclusion, as he appeared in three games with the Phillies in 2012 and just six more games in 2013.
Cards that never were candidates:  Galvis, De Fratus, Basardo and Diekman.
Favorite Phillies card:  Phillies Room Favorite Frandsen finally received a Topps card, and the photo is perfect - Frandsen is smiling on his way up to the plate with his filthy, pine tar stained helmet on full display.  Easily my least favorite Phillies card, and perhaps my least favorite Phillies card ever, is Papelon's card showing him in mid-maniacal scream.

2013 Topps Phillies #PHI-1

2013 Topps Phillies #PHI-9

2013 Topps Phillies #PHI-10

2013 Topps #424

Other Stuff
Variations:  There are a few variations to be found in the Chrome, Opening Day and retail team set as shown on the table below.  I'd love to pick the brain of the Topps photo-selection committee and ask them why Revere had different photos on his flagship and Chrome cards, both showing him making a diving catch.  Both Young's received Photoshopped Phillies uniforms in the retail team set.