2009 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  41
Card Size:  4" x 6"

Description:  The Phillies went with black borders for the first time ever.  The cards have a very basic design featuring the team logo and the player's number, name and position in a digital font.  Other than the 2008 World Champions card, which is my all-time favorite card from a team-issued set, there's no indication the Phillies had won the World Championship in 2008 on the cards themselves.  The horizontal card backs feature biographical information and complete career statistics.

How Distributed:  The original 37-card set was available at Citizens Bank Park throughout the first half of the season.  Following the signing of Pedro Martinez on July 15th and the acquisition of Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco on July 29th, cards of Martinez, Lee and Francisco, along with back-up catcher Paul Bako, were inserted into the set.  With the addition of these four cards to the updated set, five cards available from the original set were removed - the 2008 World Champions card, along with the cards for Chris Coste, Tim Gradoville, Geoff Jenkins and Ronny Paulino.  Jenkins and Paulino had been released prior to the start of the season and Coste was claimed off waivers by the Astros on July 10th.

Complete Set Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position): 

1. 2008 World Champions 2. Mick Billmeyer (#17 - Bullpen Coach) 3. Joe Blanton (#56 - RHP) 4. Eric Bruntlett (#4 - INF/OF) 5. Clay Condrey (#55 - RHP) 6. Chris Coste (#27 - C) 7. Greg Dobbs (#19 - INF/OF) 8. Rich Dubee (#30 - Pitching Coach) 9. Chad Durbin (#37 - RHP) 10. Scott Eyre (#47 - LHP) 11. Pedro Feliz (#7 - 3B) 12. Tim Gradoville (#60 - Bullpen Catcher)         13. Cole Hamels (#35 - LHP)

14. J.A. Happ (#43 - LHP) 15. Ryan Howard (#6 - 1B) 16. Raul Ibanez (#29 - LF) 17. Geoff Jenkins (#10 - OF) 18. Brad Lidge (#54 - RHP) 19. Davey Lopes (#15 - First Base Coach) 20. Pete Mackanin (#45 - Bench Coach) 21. Ryan Madson (#46 - RHP) 22. Charlie Manuel (#41 - Manager)         23. Jamie Moyer (#50 - LHP) 24. Brett Myers (#39 - RHP) 25. Chan Ho Park (#61 - RHP)

26. Ronny Paulino (#23 - C) 27. Sam Perlozzo (#2 - Third Base Coach) 28. Jimmy Rollins (#11 - SS) 29. J.C. Romero (#16 - LHP) 30. Carlos Ruiz (#51 - C) 31. Matt Stairs (#12 - OF) 32. Milt Thompson (#25 - Hitting Coach)         33. Chase Utley (#26 - 2B) 34. Shane Victorino (#8 - CF) 35. Jayson Werth (#28 - RF) 36. Phillie Phanatic 37. Phillies Broadcasters

Complete Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position):

1. Paul Bako (#23 - C) 2. Ben Francisco (#10 - OF)

3. Cliff Lee (#34 - LHP) 4. Pedro Martinez (#45 - RHP)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Bako

First Appearance in Phillies Photo Card Set (8):  Eyre, Francisco, Ibanez, Lee, Martinez, Park, Paulino, Stairs
Returning Players in Phillies Photo Card Set (21):  Blanton, Bruntlett, Condrey, Coste, Dobbs, Durbin, Feliz, Hamels, Happ, Howard, Jenkins, Lidge, Madson, Moyer, Myers, Rollins, Romero, Ruiz, Utley, Victorino, Werth

Paul Bako wrapped up his 12-year career playing 44 games with the Phillies in 2009.  His card in this set is his sole Phillies baseball card.  Paulino was traded on March 27th to the Giants for Jack Taschner, and never appeared in a game for the Phillies.  He has a second Phillies card in the 2009 Topps Heritage set.

Manager (1):  Manuel
Coaches (7):  Billmeyer, Dubee, Gradoville, Lopes, Mackanin, Perlozzo, Thompson

Phillie Phanatic (1):  The Phanatic is shown atop the dugout is his alternate day-game uniform.

Broadcasters (1):  Harry Kalas, who passed away on April 13, 2009, is joined on this card by Tom McCarthey, Gary Matthews, Chris Wheeler, Larry Andersen and Scott Franzke.
Commemorative Cards (1):  2008 World Champions

The 2008 World Champions card (see below) features manager Charlie Manuel along with the team's main stars (minus Pat Burrell who had departed during the offseason) decked out in tuxedos with red bow ties flanking the World Series trophy.

Set Composition:  The Phillies created the first 37-card checklist a few days before the start of the regular season, accounting for the cards in the set for Paulino and Jenkins.  Miguel Cairo and Taschner, both on the opening day roster, got left out of the original set and the update set.  J.C. Romero started the season on the Restricted List, but he's in the set as well.

Omissions:  The Phillies could have included a few more update cards, in addition to the four players who were added late in the season to the set.  Cairo and Taschner would have been in the set had the Phillies waited until early April to create the checklist.  Kyle Kendrick, John Mayberry, Jr., Sergio Escalona and Tyler Walker all spent sufficient enough time on the roster to merit cards as well.  Escalona spent quite a bit of time going back and forth between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley, as the lefty pitcher was with the team in six different stints.

Variations/Rarities:  I'm going to separate the known rarities into two different groups - non-set cards and cards with a 2009 National League Champions logo on the back.  14,000 Phillies featured a post many years ago containing a Jayson Werth card I had never seen before, and I've never seen since.  The card was distributed to kids participating in the team's annual Home Run Derby competition and contains a purple facsimile autograph and the Home Run Derby logo. The card uses a different photo than Werth's regular team issued card.

As pointed out in a comment from Steve F. in an earlier post, a card was issued for Placido Polanco in the style of the 2009 team-issued set.  Polanco was signed as a free agent on December 3rd.  Finally, fellow collector and invaluable resource Rick added a comment to this set's original post with a number of other rarities available - clipped and shown below.  Roy Halladay received his first Phillies baseball card in the style of this set, as the future Hall of Famer had signed with the Phillies on December 16, 2009.

Other than the Halladay card, which is an original, the cards featuring the 2009 National League Champions logo on the back use the same photos as the cards found in the set sold at the ballpark.

Non-Set Cards 1. Kyle Drabek (#4 - Reading Phillies) 2. Lou Marson (#3 - C) 3. Placido Polanco (#27 - blank back) 4. Brian Schneider (#23 - blank back) 5. Michael Taylor (#40 - Reading Phillies)         6. Jayson Werth (#28 - Home Run Derby)

National League Champions 1. Chad Durbin (#37 - RHP) 2. Roy Halladay (#34 - RHP) 3. Cole Hamels (#35 - LHP) 4. J.A. Happ (#43 - LHP) 5. Brad Lidge (#54 - RHP) 6. Ryan Madson (#46 - RHP) 7. Jimmy Rollins (#11 - SS)

Also See:  Here's my original post from August 31, 2009, covering the discovery of the updated team issued set.

Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

This set was originally featured in a post back in December 2014, and I'm going through these older team-issued photo card set posts to update them with new information learned (if any) over the past nine years.

2008 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards / 2010 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards - 1st Edition

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

Unused 2020 Chachi Fan Favorites Cards

Another offseason activity of mine is looking ahead to the upcoming Phillies schedule and planning out the cards I'll use for the Phillies and their opponents for each series preview post.  The pandemic meant the planned 2020 schedule was thrown out the window, and cards I created for several expansion teams went unused.  Again, solely to get these cards out there and out of my draft folder, here are the remaining Fan Favorites cards that would have appeared throughout the 2020 season if not for the pandemic.

Larry Milbourne was a casualty of the early season series cancellations due to the coronavirus outbreak on the Marlins.

2020 Chachi Fan Favorites #4

2020 Chachi Fan Favorites #8

2020 Chachi Fan Favorites #9

2020 Chachi Fan Favorites #10

2020 Chachi Fan Favorites #12

2020 Chachi Fan Favorites #14

2020 Chachi Fan Favorites #15

2020 Chachi Fan Favorites #17

2020 Chachi Fan Favorites #19

Game 110 - 3rd Annual Doug's Big Night of Autographs

For the third year in a row, Doug and I attended the Wall of Fame night at Citizens Bank Park with every intention of not watching any of the actual Phillies game.  Staked out at great location right in front of the door of the alumni suite in the Hall of Fame Club, little did Doug (or I) know that when we arrived at 5:30 we wouldn't leave our spots for the next four hours.  There was a steady stream of Phillies alumni coming in and out of the suite and most of them were very gracious with their time, happy to sign several dozen autographs.


My role was limited to hanging back and taking pictures while Doug asked for autographs on his Bobby Abreu Wall of Fame print, that night's giveaway item.  I had Phillies photo cards from my collection with me and the deal was that if Doug already had his print signed, he'd try to get my photo card signed too.  He ended up with 25 signatures on his print (shown above) to go along with two vintage baseball cards signed by Tony Taylor.  I ended up adding 15 signed photo cards to my collection, thanks to Doug's hard work.  We were hungry and our feet were sore at the end of night, but it was worth it.  The print will occupy a prime spot in Doug's collection along with the prints from the prior two years.  Some other observations:

• Everyone who signed was great, but interactions with Dickie Noles, Greg Dobbs, Scott Eyre and Dale Murphy stuck with me.  Dobbs got dinner with his family, promised to come back to sign for everyone and he did.  Several other notable alumni promised to come back, but never did.
• Doug was really hoping for Bobby Abreu to come back through at some point, but he never returned.
• Ozzie Guillen was there to celebrate Abreu's big night and he was the sole non-Phillie autograph Doug added.
• Shane Victorino signed for maybe five or six people but then ducked inside the suite.  Jayson Werth, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley didn't sign at all, quickly making their way to and from the suite.
• We missed getting an autograph from Ben Francisco as he skipped over a bunch of people standing in Doug's area.
• I blew it with Jack Taschner as I didn't recognize the former relief pitcher at all.  He lingered around our area talking to other alumni, but none of the autograph seekers standing around us knew who he was.  I didn't realize it was Taschner until seeing him in Sunday's pre-game ceremony.
• I did however recognize short-time Phillies Paul Bako and Tyler Walker who were mostly unrecognized by the people standing around us.
• Steve Carlton refused to sign, but he did agree to look in my general direction for a picture.
• There were too many new cards for one post, so I'll post the rest of the custom cards I've created in a follow-up post.

Memory Lane - Past Induction Ceremonies/Alumni Weekends

2009 - Harry Kalas

2010 - Darren Daulton

2011 - John Kruk

2012 - Mike Lieberthal

2013 - Curt Schilling

2014 - Charlie Manuel
2015 - Pat Burrell
2016 - Jim Thome
2017 - Tribute to Jim Bunning, Dallas Green and Darren Daulton
2018 - Roy Halladay and Pat Gillick
2019 - Bobby Abreu

Meanwhile, we watched most of the game on the wall monitor positioned outside the alumni suite.

Phillies 3, White Sox 2
Game 110 - Saturday Night, August 3rd in Philadelphia
Record - 58-52, Tied for 2nd place, 7 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The offense stayed mostly dormant but Aaron Nola and Nick Pivetta managed to keep the White Sox quiet as well in this 3-2 win.

What It Means:  The win moved the Phillies into a tie for second place with the Nationals.

What Happened:  Nola went seven strong innings, striking out 10 and allowing only three hits.  Pivetta pitched the final two innings to record his first career save.  Bryce Harper (19) and Rhys Hoskins (24) hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth.

Transactions:  Mitch Walding was sent outright to Lehigh Valley after clearing waivers and Yacksel Rios was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Just One Card - 2000s Phillies Edition (Part Two - 2005 to 2009)

2005 Phillies Team Issue #33

2008 Phillies Team Issue #57

2009 Phillies Team Issue Update #23

Having tackled the Phillies players of the 1980s and 1990s to have never before appeared on a Phillies baseball card, I'm now going to turn my attention to the decade of the 2000s.  I started the Chachi custom baseball card sets in 2005, so the players from 2005 onwards have already appeared (at least in virtual form) on a Phillies baseball card.  But I'll still pay tribute to those players with an official Missing Links card.

By my tally, and I'll readily admit up front that I could be wrong, there were 34 players who suited up for the Phillies between 2000 and 2009 who never appeared on a Phillies baseball card.  But before we get to those 34 players, here are the players who just missed the cut having appeared on exactly one baseball card as a member of the Phillies.  (This is part two, and part one appears here.)

2005
Jose Offerman - 2005 Phillies Team Issue #33
Michael Tucker - 2005 Topps Update #UH4
Ugueth Urbina - 2005 Topps Update #UH80

2006
Rick White - 2006 Topps Phillies Fan Appreciation Day #12

2008
Rudy Seanez - 2008 Phillies Team Issue #57

2009
Paul Bako - 2009 Phillies Team Issue Update #23
Jack Taschner - 2010 Upper Deck #381

2005 Topps Update #UH4

2005 Topps Update #UH80

2006 Topps Phillies Fan Appreciation Day #12

2010 Upper Deck #381

Just One Card Links
1990 to 1995
1996 to 1999
2000 to 2004
2005 to 2009

2009 Phillies Team Issue

I updated this post here in June 2024 and this original post is now outdated.

 
Number of Cards:  41
Card Size:  4" x 6"
Description:  The Phillies went with black borders for the first time ever.  The cards have a very basic design featuring the team logo and the player's number, name and position in a digital font.  Other than the 2008 World Champions card, which is my all-time favorite card from a team issued set, there's no indication that the Phillies had won the World Championship in 2008 on the cards themselves.  The horizontal card backs feature biographical information and complete career statistics.

How Distributed:  The original 37-card set was available at Citizens Bank Park throughout the first half of season.  Following the signing of Pedro Martinez on July 15th and the acquisition of Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco on July 29th, cards of Martinez, Lee and Francisco, along with back-up catcher Paul Bako, were inserted into the set.  With the addition of these four cards to the update set, five cards available from the original set were removed - the 2008 World Champions card, along with the cards for Coste, Gradoville, Jenkins and Paulino.

Complete Standard Checklist (37):  The cards are unnumbered, but I've presented them below ordered by uniform number.

2008 World Champions 2 - Sam Perlozzo CO 4 - Eric Bruntlett 6 - Ryan Howard 7 - Pedro Feliz 8 - Shane Victorino 10 - Geoff Jenkins 11 - Jimmy Rollins 12 - Matt Stairs 15 - Davey Lopes CO 16 - J.C. Romero 17 - Mick Billmeyer CO 19 - Greg Dobbs 23 - Ronny Paulino 25 - Milt Thompson CO 26 - Chase Utley 27 - Chris Coste 28 - Jayson Werth 29 - Raul Ibanez

30 - Rich Dubee CO 35 - Cole Hamels 37 - Chad Durbin 39 - Brett Myers 41 - Charlie Manuel MG 43 - J.A. Happ 45 - Pete Mackanin CO 46 - Ryan Madson 47 - Scott Eyre 50 - Jamie Moyer 51 - Carlos Ruiz 54 - Brad Lidge 55 - Clay Condrey 56 - Joe Blanton 60 - Tim Gradoville CO 61 - Chan Ho Park Phillie Phanatic Phillies Broadcasters

Complete Update Checklist (4):

10 - Ben Francisco 23 - Paul Bako

34 - Cliff Lee 45 - Pedro Martinez

One and Done (1):  Bako
First Appearances (8):  Eyre, Francisco, Ibanez, Lee, Martinez, Park, Paulino, Stairs
Returning Players (21):  Blanton, Bruntlett, Condrey, Coste, Dobbs, Durbin, Feliz, Hamels, Happ, Howard, Jenkins, Lidge, Madson, Moyer, Myers, Rollins, Romero, Ruiz, Utley, Victorino, Werth

Bako wrapped up his 12-year career playing 44 games with the Phillies in 2009.  His card in this set in his sole Phillies baseball card.  Paulino was traded on March 27th to the Giants for Jack Taschner, and never appeared in a game for the Phillies.  He has a second Phillies card in the 2009 Topps Heritage set.

The First Appearance designation is for players who have never before appeared within a Phillies team issued set.  These players may have already appeared on other Phillies baseball cards.  (I'm not counting the semi-rare Matt Stairs card from 2008 as his official first appearance.)

Manager (1):  Manuel
Coaches (7):  Billmeyer, Dubee, Gradoville, Lopes, Mackanin, Perlozzo, Thompson
Phillie Phanatic (1):  The Phanatic is shown atop the dugout is his alternate day uniform.
Broadcasters (1):  Harry Kalas, who passed away on April 13, 2009, is joined on this card by Tom McCarthey, Gary Matthews, Chris Wheeler, Larry Andersen and Scott Franzke.
Commemorative Cards (1):  2008 World Champions

The 2008 World Champions card (see below) features Hamels, Utley, Howard, Rollins, Lidge, Manuel, Madson, Victorino, Werth, Myers, Ruiz and Moyer decked out in tuxedos with red bow ties flanking the World Series trophy.  Gradoville is listed above with the coaches, but he was actually the team's bullpen catcher.

Variations/Rarities:  14,000 Phillies featured a post a few years ago containing a Jayson Werth card I had never seen before.  The card was distributed to kids participating in the team's annual Home Run Derby competition and contains a purple facsimile autograph and the Home Run Derby logo. The card uses a different photo than Werth's regular team issued card.

And as pointed out in a comment from Steve F. in an earlier post, a card was issued for Placido Polanco in the style of the 2009 team issued set.  Polanco was signed as a free agent on December 3rd.

Finally, Rick adds a number of other rarities available in the design of this set in his comment below.  Of most interest to me personally is the blank backed Roy Halladay card, which would be his first official Phillies card.

• 3 - Lou Marson (2008 statistics on back)
• 4 - Kyle Drabek (Reading Phillies)
• 23 - Brian Schneider (blank back)
• 27 - Placido Polanco (blank back)
• 28 - Jayson Werth (Home Run Derby)
• 34 - Roy Halladay (blank back)
• 40 - Michael Taylor (Reading Phillies)

Rick adds that several cards are available with a 2010 copyright date and a 2009 National League Champions logo on the backs.  I've addded to the list Rick originally provided with a few additional cards I've picked up over the years. 

• 11 - Jimmy Rollins
• 34 - Roy Halladay
• 35 - Cole Hamels
• 37 - Chad Durbin
• 43 - J.A. Happ
• 46 - Ryan Madson
• 54 - Brad Lidge

Also See:  Here's my original post from August 31, 2009, covering the discovery of the updated team issued set.
Trivia:  Beckett.com has no record of this set in its database, and the checklist at The Trading Card Database omits the four update cards.
Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

2009 Topps Heritage Update #411T Paul Bako

Phillies 3, Rockies 1

It's a dreary and gray day at the shore, but that didn't matter to Cliff Lee or the Phillies as they beat the Rockies this afternoon, 3-1. Cliff Lee won his second game in as many starts as a Phillie behind the strength of his change-up and his two-seam fastball. He pitched seven solid innings, striking out nine in his home debut. I may or may not have taken a nap during the middle innings of the game.

With the score tied 1-1 in the 5th inning, Paul Bako broke the tie, hitting his first home run since June 9, 2008. Paul (Cliff Lee's personal catcher?) inched his average closer to the Mendoza line adding a single to his fifth inning solo home run.

Jimmy Rollins finished the game a home run short of the cycle, raising his average to .245. Brad Lidge made it look easy in the ninth, earning his 21st save of the season. The second place Marlins roll into town tomorrow for a weekend series. Hopefully the sun will roll back to the shore for the weekend.