1992 Medford Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  46
Card Size:  4 1/8" x 6"

Description:  For the fourth year in a row, the card fronts feature a photo with the player's, coach's or manager's name in a red band with white text.  The card backs feature biographical information along with complete career statistics.  Medford Food Company sponsored the set for the second year in a row. 

In the spring of 1992, the new Phillies uniform were kept top secret and they didn't make their public debut until opening day.  The cards in this set feature portraits of all players, coaches and the manager in their new uniforms, and (in my opinion) this is one of the nicer team-issued photo card sets released by the Phillies.

How Distributed:  The original 36-card base set was available for sale at Veterans Stadium throughout the 1992 season.  The ten card update set was available for sale at some point beginning in late June or early July.  Pat Combs is the "newest" Phillie in the update set, having joined the team on June 18th.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the front of cards): 

1. Kyle Abbott (#47 - LHP) 2. Ruben Amaro (#33 - OF) 3. Andy Ashby (#40 - RHP) 4. Wally Backman (#6 - INF) 5. Kim Batiste (#5 - INF) 6. Larry Bowa (#2 - CO) 7. Cliff Brantley (#51 - LHP) 8. Wes Chamberlain (#44 - OF)            9. Danny Cox (#34 - RHP) 10. Darren Daulton (#10 - C) 11. Mariano Duncan (#7 - INF) 12. Lenny Dykstra (#4 - OF)

13. Jim Fregosi (#11 - MG) 14. Tommy Greene (#49 - RHP) 15. Dave Hollins (#15 - INF) 16. Barry Jones (#50 - RHP) 17. John Kruk (#29 - INF) 18. Steve Lake (#30 - C) 19. Jim Lindeman (#19 - OF) 20. Denis Menke (#14 - CO) 21. Mickey Morandini (#12 - INF) 22. Terry Mulholland (Close up photo - #45 - LHP)     23. Dale Murphy (#3 - OF) 24. Johnny Podres (#46 - CO)

25. Wally Ritchie (#39 - LHP) 26. Mel Roberts (#26 - CO) 27. Mike Ryan (#25 - CO) 28. Curt Schilling (#38 - RHP)        29. Steve Searcy (#24 - LHP) 30. Dale Sveum (#8 - INF) 31. John Vukovich (#18 - CO) 32. Mitch Williams (#28 - LHP)     33. Phillie Phanatic 34. Phillies Team 35. Veterans Stadium 36. Uniforms Through the Years

Complete Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the front of cards):

1. Bob Ayrault (#55 - RHP) 2. Brad Brink (#23 - RHP) 3. Pat Combs (#21 - LHP)        4. Jeff Grotewold (#48 - C)

5. Mike Hartley (#42 - RHP) 6. Ricky Jordan (#17 - INF/OF)        7. Tom Marsh (#9 - OF)

8. Terry Mulholland (Shoulders visible - #45 - LHP) 9. Ben Rivera (#34 - RHP) 10. Don Robinson (#35 - RHP)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Robinson

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (13):  Abbott, Amaro, Ayrault, Batiste, Brantley, Duncan, Grotewold, Hartley, Jones, Marsh, Rivera, Schilling, Sveum
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (21):  Ashby, Backman, Brink, Chamberlain, Combs, Cox, Daulton, Dykstra, Greene, Hollins, Jordan, Kruk, Lake, Lindeman, Morandini, Mulholland (two versions), Murphy, Ritchie, Searcy, Williams

Don Robinson's eight game stint with the Phillies to wrap up his 15-year career is commemorated with his sole Phillies baseball card in the update set.

Managers (1):  Fregosi
Coaches (6):  Bowa, Menke, Podres, Roberts, Ryan, Vukovich

Phillie Phanatic (1):  Like everyone else in the set, the Phanatic is posed in a studio setting, wearing his new uniform.

Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (1):  Uniforms Through the Years
Other Cards (2):  Phillies Team, Veterans Stadium

The Uniform Through the Years card is perhaps one of the coolest cards ever produced by the Phillies for its team-issued photo card sets.  It was originally given out on Opening Day as a poster.  Veterans Stadium gets its first card since the 1984 Tastykake Phillies set.

Set Composition:  The 25 players in the base set represent the entire opening day roster, which is a fairly impressive feat.  The nine new players in the update set feature players who made their season debut with the team between mid-April (Grotewold) and mid-June (Combs).  For some reason, Mulholland receives another card in the update set, with a different posed photo than the original base set.  

Omissions:  Those who could have had cards in the update set but were omitted are Julio Peguero, Darrin Chapin and Steve Scarsone.  Peguero was called up on the second day of the season after Dykstra suffered a broken hand on opening day.  Chapin was on the active roster for six games in late April/early May, and Scarsone was on the active roster for 18 games in May into early June.

Variations/Rarities:  In the original post for this set, fellow collectors Rick and Steve helped me piece together a checklist of photo cards available at the annual ALS Autograph Party.  The checklist below features four players who were on the active roster, but had not appeared on officially released photo cards by the time of the annual fund raising event, held on August 10th.  Mike Williams received a card, and must have been at the event, although the team's transaction log shows him being optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on July 29th.  Only Greg Mathews was omitted here, which is odd, as the pitcher had been recalled from Triple-A on July 17th and stayed with the team for the remainder of the season.

Along with these five "update" cards for recently added players, 12 more cards were produced for either returning Phillies alumni or other, non-alumni former players.

ALS Autograph Party 1. Dick Allen 2. Jay Baller (#56 - RHP)           3. Steve Bedrosian 4. Dave Cash 5. Joe Coleman, Jr.

6. Joe Coleman, Sr. 7. Stan Javier (#22 - OF) 8. Sparky Lyle       9. Garry Maddox 10. Tug McGraw 11. Joe Millette (#27 - INF)

12. Dickie Noles 13. Todd Pratt (#23 - C) 14. Bobby Shantz 15. Joe Torre 16. Elmer Valo 17. Mike Williams (#41 - RHP)

Also See:  Scrapbook Sunday: April 7, 1992; Uniforms Through the Years

Resources:  Beckett.com; Phillies collectors Rick (@rickphils) and Steve F.

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

1991 Medford Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards / 1993 Medford Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

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

1974 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  39
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  As was the case with all Phillies photo cards issued throughout the 1970s, these cards feature a black and white photo with the players' name below.  Most of the cards (excluding the cards for Ollie Brown, Jay Johnstone, Pete Richert and perhaps Gene Garber) have blue facsimile autographs on the fronts.  The backs of the photo cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1974.

How Distributed:  The photo cards were handed out to fans individually and supplied to the players in
order to reply to fan mail or honor autograph requests.  I could be wrong, but I don't believe the cards were ever available in complete set form.  I believe after an original batch of 32 photo cards, featuring the manager, the coaches, and 27 players, an additional 7 cards were released throughout the season, as evidenced by the inclusion of Richert, Brown and Garber who started the season with other teams.  Richert was purchased from the Cardinals on June 21st, Brown was selected off waivers from the Astros on June 24th and Garber was purchased from the Royals on July 12th.  (Steve F. and Rick G. clued me in to the existence of the Garber card in comments to this set's original post almost six years ago.)

The back of a 1974 Phillies schedule shown here contains photos of the entire 25-man opening day roster, plus Mike Rogodzinski and Wayne Twitchell who would play in their first games in mid-April and early May respectively.  I'm making the assumption the photos shown here represent the original 32 photo cards, with 7 cards added later for the 3 players acquired along with Larry Cox, Jesus Hernaiz, Johnstone and Larry Christenson.  Ed Farmer was also added right before the season, purchased from the Yankees on March 21st, which explains why his background is different than all other "original" photo cards.  Finally, the Billy Grabarkewitz photo card is identical to his 1973 photo card, with the exception of the facsimile autograph placement.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Mike Anderson 2. Carroll Beringer CO           3. Bob Boone 4. Larry Bowa 5. Ollie Brown 6. Steve Carlton 7. Dave Cash 8. Larry Christenson 9. Larry Cox 10. George Culver       11. Billy DeMars CO 12. Ron Diorio 13. Jim Essian

14. Ed Farmer 15. Gene Garber 16. Bill Grabarkewitz 17. Terry Harmon 18. Jesus Hernaiz 19. Tommy Hutton 20. Jay Johnstone 21. Frank Linzy 22. Jim Lonborg 23. Greg Luzinski 24. Willie Montanez 25. Danny Ozark MG           26. Pete Richert

27. Ray Rippelmeyer CO 28. Bill Robinson 29. Mike Rogodzinski 30. Dick Ruthven 31. Mac Scarce 32. Mike Schmidt 33. Ron Schueler 34. Tony Taylor 35. Wayne Twitchell 36. Del Unser 37. Mike Wallace 38. Eddie Watt 39. Bobby Wine CO

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (3):  Hernaiz, Linzy, Richert

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (8):  Brown, Cash, Cox, Farmer, Garber, Johnstone, Schueler, Watt
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (23):  Anderson, Boone, Bowa, Carlton, Christenson, Culver, Diorio, Essian, Grabarkewitz, Harmon, Hutton, Lonborg, Luzinski, Montanez, Robinson, Rogodzinski, Ruthven, Scarce, Schmidt, Taylor, Twitchell, Unser, Wallace

Manager (1):  Ozark
Coach (4):  Berringer, DeMars, Rippelmeyer, Wine

Surprises:  The only surprise (to me at least) in the inclusion of a Garber card.  Acquired on July 12th, he didn't make his Phillies debut until July 31st.

Omissions:  40 players appeared with the Phillies in 1974 and only 6 of them do not appear in this set.  Reliever Dave Wallace gets the shaft for the second year in a row, as he appeared in 3 games in early May.  Outfield prospects Alan Bannister (26 games) and Jerry Martin (13 games) got overlooked, as did left-handed pitcher Tom Underwood (7 games).  The last two omissions each appeared in one sole game for the Phillies - pitcher Erskine Thomason on September 18th and catcher John Stearns on September 22nd.  Stearns would go on to enjoy a 10-year, All-Star career with the Mets.

Variations/Rarities:  The checklist found at The Trading Card Database lists four cards with autograph variations, featuring a slightly different placement of the facsimile autograph on each card.

Signature Variations 1. Larry Bowa 2. Jim Lonborg 3. Willie Montanez 4. Danny Ozark MG

Also See:  1974 Topps Stamps Phillies; 1974 Johnny Pro Phillies; 1974 Phillies Team-Issued Mike Schmidt

Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Phillies collectors Steve F. and Rick G.

This set was originally featured in a post back in January 2015, and I'm going to slowly go through these team-issued set posts and update them with new information learned (if any) over the past six years.

 

1973 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards / 1975 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards

1970-1979 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page

Series Preview - Phillies at Pirates: July 19th to July 21st

1971 Topps #682

1971 Topps #582

Friday and Saturday 7:05, Sunday 1:35
PNC Park - Pittsburgh, PA

Phillies 50-47, 3rd place in the N.L. East, 7 1/2 games behind the Braves
Pirates 45-50, 4th place in the N.L. Central, 6 1/2 games behind the Cubs

Phillies Probables:  Jake Arrieta (8-7, 4.54), Zach Eflin (7-9, 4.16), Vince Velasquez (2-5, 4.87)
Pirates Probables:  Jordan Lyles (5-6, 5.16), Trevor Williams (3-3, 5.17), Joe Musgrove (6-8, 4.31)

At the Ballpark:  Now this is cool.  The Pirates will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of their 1979 World Championship all weekend with a 1979 Pirates t-shirt being given out on Friday night (to the first 20,000 fans) and a retro bobble head giveaway on Saturday.  The Phillies and Pirates will wear throw-back uniforms on Saturday night and there will be a pre-game ceremony honoring members of the 1979 Pirates team.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Cesar Hernandez - .279
Runs:  J.T. Realmuto and Jean Segura - 57
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 20
RBIs:  Bryce Harper - 69
Stolen Bases:  Jean Segura - 7

Wins:  Jake Arrieta and Aaron Nola - 8
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 3.77

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 138
Saves:  Hector Neris - 18

Pirates Leaders
Average:  Josh Bell - .293
Runs:  Josh Bell - 71
Home Runs:  Josh Bell - 27
RBIs:  Josh Bell - 84
Stolen Bases:  Starling Marte - 13

Wins:  Joe Musgrove - 6
ERA:  Joe Musgrove - 4.31

Strikeouts:  Chris Archer - 106
Saves:  Felipe Vazquez - 21

Series Preview - Nationals at Phillies: August 27th to August 29th

1978 Topps #495

2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites #132

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 7:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Nationals 65-66, 3rd place in the N.L. East, 8 1/2 games behind the Braves
Phillies 70-60, 2nd place in the N.L. East, 3 games behind the Braves

Nationals Probables:  Stephen Strasburg (6-7, 4.23), Max Scherzer (16-6, 2.13), Gio Gonzalez (7-11, 4.35)
Phillies Probables:  Zach Eflin (9-4, 3.93), Aaron Nola (15-3, 2.13), Jake Arrieta (9-9, 3.37)

At the Ballpark:  The Phillies have a bunch of theme nights going on during the series, the best of which (in my opinion) is their Marvel theme night on Wednesday for which a special ticket gets you a Hulk-Phillies bobble head.

Nationals Leaders
Average:  Anthony Rendon - .295
Runs:  Bryce Harper - 82
Home Runs:  Bryce Harper - 30
RBIs:  Bryce Harper - 84
Stolen Bases:  Trea Turner - 33

Wins:  Max Scherzer - 16
ERA:  Max Scherzer - 2.13
Strikeouts:  Max Scherzer - 244
Saves:  Sean Doolittle - 22

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Maikel Franco - .276
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez - 81
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 26
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 81
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 16

Wins:  Aaron Nola - 15
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 2.13
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 169
Saves:  Seranthony Dominguez - 14

Series Preview - Phillies at Pirates: July 22nd to July 24th

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05 and Sunday 1:35
PNC Park - Pittsburgh, PA

Phillies 44-53, 4th place in the N.L. East, 13 1/2 games behind the Nationals
Pirates 49-46, 3rd place in the N.L. Central, 8 1/2 games behind the Cubs

Phillies Probables:  Zach Eflin (2-3, 4.14), Aaron Nola (5-8, 4.41), Vince Velasquez (8-2, 3.15)
Pirates Probables:  Gerrit Cole (5-5, 3.11), Tyler Glasnow (0-1, 6.75), Jameson Taillon (2-1, 3.44)

At the Ballpark:  The first 20,000 fans tonight will receive a Pirates Emoji tee-shirt and tomorrow afternoon's give-away is an oversized Andrew McCutchen Topps card.  On Sunday, all kids will receive a set of Josh Harrison wall decals.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Cesar Hernandez - .282
Runs:  Odubel Herrera - 51
Home Runs:  Maikel Franco - 18
RBIs:  Maikel Franco - 18
Stolen Bases:  Odubel Herrera - 12

Wins:  Vince Velasquez - 8
ERA:  Jeremy Hellickson - 3.84
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 111
Saves:  Jeanmar Gomez - 26

Pirates Leaders
Average:  Starling Marte - .313
Runs:  Gregory Polanco - 53
Home Runs:  Andrew McCutchen - 14
RBIs:  Gregory Polanco - 51
Stolen Bases:  Starling Marte - 33

Wins:  Jeff Locke and Jon Niese - 8
ERA:  Jon Niese - 4.89
Strikeouts:  Francisco Liriano - 106
Saves:  Mark Melancon - 28

1970 Topps #141

1970 Topps #166

1970 Topps #264

1970 Topps #643

1970 Topps Appreciation:  We've got a series coming up with a non-expansion team, which means it's time to look back on some cards from the 1970 Topps set with both Pirates and Phillies conections.  With the exception of Johnny Jeter, the other four players featured on these cards would go on to spend parts of their careers with the Phillies.

Dave Cash was traded by the Pirates to the Phillies in October 1973 for pitcher Ken Brett.  As I wrote in a Pirates series preview post a few years ago:  He'd make an immediate impact on the Phillies, playing in all 162 games in both 1974 and 1975 and making the National League All-Star team three years in a row.  In 484 games with the Phils, Cash hit .296 and his positive attitude was a huge contributing factor to the team's pennant winning 1976 season.  Following the 1976 season, Cash left via free agency, signing with the Expos.

I originally covered the other three future Phillies in another Pirates series preview post:  Of the players featured here, I know the least about Jose Pagan and I was surprised to see he accumulated a solid 15-year career as an occasional starting shortstop and utility infielder.  Pagan played in just 46 games for the 1973 Phillies at the very end of his career.  Prior to that, he spent eight seasons with the Pirates (1965-1972) and parts of seven seasons with the Giants (1959-1965).

Pagan, Richie Hebner and Al Oliver were all teammates on the World Champion 1971 Pirates club.  Hebner joined the Phillies for two seasons in 1977 and 1978, and Scoop spent a brief time with the Phils in the summer of 1984.

These repetitive series preview posts make me anxious to move onto a different era of Phillies baseball for the 2017 season.  I had originally pegged the 1971 Topps design as the early favorite for the 2017 Chachi set and by extension the 2017 series preview posts.  But I'm starting to yearn for something from the 1980s or perhaps even the early 1990s.  The 2017 Chachi Set Planning Committee will have to meet soon to ponder this crucial decision further.

1974 Johnny Pro Phillies - Complete Set (at least by my standards)

Several years ago, I began a quest to collect a complete Phillies team set of 1974 Johnny Pro Phillies cards.  I was able to easily (and cheaply) add 11 of the 12 cards to my collection, but the twelfth card, the elusive (and expensive) Mike Schmidt card, remained the sole card I needed to complete this team set.

To provide a little more background on this set, here's what I wrote about it back in November 2012:

I wasn't aware of the awesomeness of the 1974 Johnny Pro Phillies set until adding the Bill Robinson card to my collection last month at the Valley Forge card show.  Johnny Pro Enterprises (not sure what they did back in the day) issued two regional baseball card sets in the early '70s.  Their first set was released in 1973 and featured 28 different Orioles cards on a green background.  In 1974, Johnny Pro issued 12 Phillies cards on a white background.

The player photos on these cards were designed to be perforated and displayed in a stand that could also be punched out of the white background.  Which brings us to the reason for this post.

A few weeks ago, I was browsing eBay and came across a partial set of eleven 1974 Johnny Pro Phillies cards for sale, but the photos had long ago been separated from their original white backgrounds.  The picture accompanying the auction is shown at the top of this post.  Most importantly to me, included in the lot was the Schmidt card I needed.  I was one of only two bidders, and I was a little surprised my low bid actually won the auction.  Sure, the Schmidt card is missing its background, but I'm now considering my 1974 Johnny Pro Phillies set to be complete.

A few of these cards may need to be upgraded at some point, but the full gallery of this terrific oddball set from 1974 is presented below.

Memory Lane
10/3/12 - Baseball Card Show Report - Valley Forge
11/8/12 - Two More Added
12/4/12 - Four More to Go

1975 Phillies Photo Album

One of my favorite stops on the Ocean City, New Jersey boardwalk is the quaint little Only Yesterday shop.  The newest items for sale in the store are probably from the late 1980s and I spend a good chunk of time each year checking out the old stuff and commenting to one of my family members, "I used to have one of those."  The shop carries everything from vintage vinyl to old magazines to antique postcards to Happy Meal trinkets from the 1970s.  In the back, there's a section dedicated to old sports publications.

I found this 1975 Phillies Photo Album in between the 1974 Phillies Yearbook and a program from 1975 celebrating the silver anniversary of the 1950 Whiz Kids.  I had never seen this photo album before and for $12, I couldn't pass it up.

There's not a lot on the internet about this photo album, except for a few random websites containing a "checklist" of the seven player photos included within.  The album is connected, accordion-style, and it doesn't look as if the photos were meant to be separated.  There's no perforation or other markings indicating that the photos should be divvied up.  The back of each photo contains career stats through the 1974 season along with a nice full bio of each player featured.

If I had to guess, the photo album was a late season give-away which accounts for the inclusion of Garry Maddox, who joined the club in May after being acquired from the Giants.  The last page contains a season ticket plug for the 1976 Bicentennial season.  Plan G interests me the most, as $67.50 (or $135 for two seats) seems like a bargain for 15 night games.

It's worth noting that the seven players presented are the 1975 position player regulars, with the exception of catcher Bob Boone.  A bad knee limited Boone to only 97 games in 1975, so it makes sense that he'd be the odd man out with only seven slots open for the photo album.

Presented below are the seven photos, including a fantastic look at Mike Schmidt's mid-1970s perm.