The First Phillie - 2024 Topps!

Topps mixed things up this year, making collectors wait until January 11th to reveal the design of its 2024 flagship set.  In year's past, the design was released in August or September and when the season came to a close with no announcement and no inkling as to what the 2024 Topps cards would look like, I was a little worried.  I prepared myself to be underwhelmed whenever the design was finally released.

My first thought on seeing the design in mid-January:  These are cool.  My second thought:  The neon-like team name is fantastic, and how has Topps not done this before?  This is what a baseball card in 2024 should look like.  It's a modern look with the foggy border elements Topps likes so much from recent years, but collectors are given a solid photo, a unique way of presenting the team name, the team logo and clearly legible names and positions.  It's a great looking card, and it springs to the top of my list of favorite Topps flagship releases over the past 10 years.

The set was officially released on Valentine's Day, but I didn't open my first packs until February 19th.  My wife Jenna found three blaster boxes at our local Target that day, and I happily opened all three after dinner.  In the past, we've made a big show of the first packs of the year, but this year was a little more subdued.  The First Phillie hunt was extremely anti-climatic, as J.T. Realmuto was staring at me atop the first plastic-wrapped bunch of 59 cards I took from the first box I opened.

This is an exciting design, and Topps clearly creates its base cards now to work well with multiple parallel versions.  It wasn't until I had the cards in hand that I realized the team name and photo borders have foil-like features to them.  Scans don't do the cards justice, as these elements can't really be seen unless you're holding them.  I had a blue-bordered Alec Bohm card in one of my three boxes, and I like the full blue border more than the smoky black and white border on the normal base cards.  That's my only complaint, and if I had designed the cards, each card would have a border color corresponding to the player's team.  I like the backs too - very clean, with complete career statistics as has always been the norm with Topps flagship sets.

Finally, it's a promising sign of things to come that three of my top four sets over the past 10 years are all recent releases.  With 2014 dropping off the list, here's a look at my updated rankings:

Best Five:  2024, 2015, 2023, 2022, 2019

Bottom Five:  2016, 2018, 2021, 2017, 2020

Best - 2024 Topps #194

#2 - 2015 Topps #309

#3 - 2023 Topps #278

#4 - 2022 Topps #249

#5 - 2019 Topps #303

#6 - 2016 Topps #15

#7 - 2018 Topps #26

#8 - 2021 Topps #79

#9 - 2017 Topps #247

Worst - 2020 Topps #221

Past First Phillies

2010 Topps #300 Chase Utley

2011 Topps #242 Brad Lidge

2012 Topps #98 Domonic Brown

2013 Topps #6 Ryan Howard
2014 Topps #90 Ethan Martin
2015 Topps #309 Maikel Franco
2016 Topps #15 Ryan Howard
2017 Topps #247 Hector Neris
2018 Topps #26 Cesar Hernandez
2019 Topps #303 Ranger Suarez
2020 Topps #190 Aaron Nola

2021 Topps #79 Roman Quinn

2022 Topps #249 Zack Wheeler

2023 Topps #278 Aaron Nola

2024 Topps #194 J.T. Realmuto

The Tradition Continues! - 2023 First Phillie Winner

I surprised myself last week by deciding to buy a hobby box of Topps Series One, as I'm still riding the high of the Phillies being in the World Series and this is the first flagship set design in several years I really like.  As much as I enjoyed the 2022 Topps design, it was almost too plain for me and this year's design will definitely not be accused of that.  There's a lot going on here.

I appreciate that Topps recognizes a somewhat under appreciated tradition of having two photos - one action, one portrait - on the front of its flagship cards every 20 years in years ending in -3.  This started in 1963, came back in 1983, kept the tradition going in 2003 and makes its triumphant return in 2023.  Well done, Topps.  While I expect the 2043 Topps baseball cards to just be holograms we launch from our tricorders, hopefully the two photos on the front return for a fifth time in the sequence.

Since I've been opening packs of Topps flagship cards, we've had a family tradition of seeking the First Phillie of the year.  My Dad and I started the tradition in the early 1980s, I carried it through, some years by myself, through the early 2000s, and the practice has continued with my wife and sons since then.  On late Friday afternoon, not soon after the box had been delivered to the door, we selected our packs and commenced the search for the First Phillie of 2023.  There was some controversy this year as Doug pulled a league leaders card featuring Kyle Schwarber seconds before I found this Aaron Nola card in my first pack.  Ben quickly followed with the J.T. Realmuto card in his first pack.  Consulting the hallowed family First Phillie bylaws, I'm awarding First Phillie honors this year to myself, as the league leaders card doesn't quite count.

Yes, the fronts of these cards are busy.  Yes, there are a few too many design elements crammed on the bottom of the cards.  But I like them, and these seem to me what baseball cards should look like in the year 2023.  Our box had amazing collation, as we didn't have any doubles and we were just 14 cards short of a complete 330-card first series set.  There seemed to be way fewer inserts and parallels than in prior years, and I was completely fine with that.  My one continued gripe with Topps flagship is that I wish the checklist grouped subsets together.  League leaders and the combo card/checklists should be grouped sequentially and not dropped in randomly throughout the checklist.  

Revisiting a ranking of Topps flagship sets from the past 10 years, the 2023 Topps set, at least for now, finishes near the top.  I think I could flip flop the 2022 and 2019 designs in these rankings too:

Best Five:  2015, 2023, 2022, 2019, 2016

Bottom Five:  2018, 2014, 2021, 2017, 2020

Best - 2015 Topps #309

#2 - 2023 Topps #278

#3 - 2022 Topps #249

#4 - 2019 Topps #303

#5 - 2016 Topps #15

#6 - 2018 Topps #26

#7 - 2014 Topps #90

#8 - 2021 Topps #79

#9 - 2017 Topps #247

Worst - 2020 Topps #221

Past First Phillies

2010 Topps #300 Chase Utley

2011 Topps #242 Brad Lidge

2012 Topps #98 Domonic Brown

2013 Topps #6 Ryan Howard
2014 Topps #90 Ethan Martin
2015 Topps #309 Maikel Franco
2016 Topps #15 Ryan Howard
2017 Topps #247 Hector Neris
2018 Topps #26 Cesar Hernandez
2019 Topps #303 Ranger Suarez
2020 Topps #190 Aaron Nola

2021 Topps #79 Roman Quinn

2022 Topps #249 Zack Wheeler

2023 Topps #278 Aaron Nola

Game 93 - Cubs Club Phils in Sweltering Heat

2014 Bowman Chrome Fire
Die-Cut Refractors #FDC-MF

Cubs 15, Phillies 2
Game 93 - Friday Night, July 22nd in Philadelphia
Record - 49-44, 3rd Place, 8 1/2 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  So much for getting off to a good start following the All-Star break, as the Phillies were demolished by the second division Cubs, 15-2.

What It Means:  The Phillies and Cardinals are still tied for the third National League Wild Card spot.

What Happened:  Kyle Gibson didn't have it, allowing six runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings.  Jeurys Familia allowed two inherited runners to score, along with a run of his own.  JoJo Romero and catcher Garrett Stubbs pitched the final two innings, allowing a combined eight runs on nine hits, including two home runs.

Kyle Schwarber hit the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning to right center field for his 30th home run of the season.  Darick Hall connected for his fifth home run in the ninth on a long home run into the bullpen.

Featured Card:  I did a search for the word "hot" and "fire" in my Phillies baseball card database, and this Maikel Franco card from 2014 jumped out at me. 

Field Report:  Jenna and I braved the heat to attend this game, enjoying a pre-game meal inside the air conditioned Pass and Stow.  We spent most of the game looking for a breeze from the various standing room only perches throughout the ballpark, finding the most success while in the Yuengling Party Pavilion behind Section 105.  Making the wise choice to depart the long, hot game following the sixth inning, we missed the late inning damage and were home to watch the end of the game on my phone as the game was streamed exclusively on Apple+.

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

Nationals at Phillies: July 5th to July 7th

2022 Chachi Fan Favorites #9

2022 Chachi 2000 Topps Missing Links #12

Tuesday and Wednesday 7:05, Thursday 4:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  Tuesday night is the annual Jewish Heritage Celebration.

The Phillies Room staff are currently taking their scheduled summer sabbatical, and daily posting will return in early July.

 

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

Game 68 - Harper-less Phils Fall to Nats on Father's Day

2019 Topps Big League Players'
Weekend Nicknames #PW-17

Nationals 9, Phillies 3
Game 68 - Sunday Afternoon, June 19th in Washington
Record - 36-32, 3rd Place, 8 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Zach Eflin lasted only two innings and Bryce Harper sat again as the Phillies somewhat quietly dropped this game, losing 9-3 to the Nationals

What It Means:  Harper missed another game with a blister and Eflin could be pitching with an injured knee as the Phillies dropped the final game of the five-game series and the Nationals avoided the five-game sweep.  Following an off-day on Monday, the Phillies open a quick two-game series in Arlington against the Rangers on Tuesday night.

What Happened:  Eflin was hit hard in his outing, allowing four runs on five hits, including a three-run home run to Juan Soto.  The bullpen didn't fare much better, with Andrew Bellatti, the demoted Corey Knebel and Nick Nelson allowing five more runs over their five innings of relief.  The Phillies offense went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position.  Matt Vierling had a pair of hits and Bryson Stott contributed an RBI-single.

Featured Card:  Old friend Maikel Franco went 2 for 3 for the Nationals, including a two-run home run in the fifth off Knebel.  He and Cesar Hernandez make up half the Nationals' infield in a reunion of the two former teammates who played together in Philly between 2014 and 2019.  Both were non-tendered following the 2019 season, with Franco since playing for the Royals, Orioles and Nationals and Hernandez playing with the Indians, White Sox and Nationals.

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

The First Phillie of 2020: A 10-Year Low

We opened our first packs of 2020 Topps on Saturday afternoon and I have one word to describe the design of this year's offering:  Messy.  While the photography used for the cards is great, the design itself is a major distraction with bars, lines and rectangles cluttering the card fronts.  Depending on the orientation of the photo, the player's name could appear on the right, left or bottom of the cards when thumbing through a stack.

My wife Jenna brought home three blaster boxes from Target, and as we opened the packs the consensus was that none of us liked the horizontal cards.  Which makes it fitting this year's First Phillie was a horizontal card - #190 Aaron Nola - as found in my son Doug's first pack of the year.  This is a set that won't look great in 9-pocket pages given that every other card is oriented in a different direction.  The backs of the cards are drab and unimpressive.

I'm also again bothered by the placement of "special" cards throughout the set, as Topps interrupts the flow of player card with Postseason cards, League Leader cards, team celebration cards or team cards.  I'd like these so much better if they were grouped together as subsets.

Ben was unimpressed

Doug just wanted the Trout card

And finally, and perhaps my final complaint, is that the Phillies primary logo has been altered by Topps here.  The bell should be blue and not white.  The correct logo was used on Phillies cards found within the 2019 Topps set, so why make the change for this year's cards?  Based on a gut reaction ranking, I'm bummed this is my least favorite design of the last ten years and I can't believe I'm already missing the imperfect design from 2019.

Also, I'm getting old.

Subjective, Unscientific Gut Reaction Topps Flagship Set Design Rankings (2011 to 2020), Best to Worst

Best - 2015 Topps #309

#2 - 2011 Topps #242

#3 - 2019 Topps #303

#4 - 2012 Topps #98

#5 - 2016 Topps #15

#6 - 2013 Topps #6

#7 - 2018 Topps #26

#8 - 2014 Topps #90

#9 - 2017 Topps #247

Worst - 2020 Topps #221

Past First Phillies

2010 Topps #300 Chase Utley

2011 Topps #242 Brad Lidge

2012 Topps #98 Domonic Brown

2013 Topps #6 Ryan Howard
2014 Topps #90 Ethan Martin
2015 Topps #309 Maikel Franco
2016 Topps #15 Ryan Howard
2017 Topps #247 Hector Neris
2018 Topps #26 Cesar Hernandez
2019 Topps #303 Ranger Suarez
2020 Topps #190 Aaron Nola

Catching Up on Offseason Moves . . . More to Come?

2020 Chachi Departures #18

2020 Chachi Departures #19

2020 Chachi Departures #4

2020 Chachi Departures #6

While most of the former 2019 Phillies listed below are still looking for jobs, a few former players have already found new homes, including half the 2019 infield.  Both Maikel Franco (Royals) and Cesar Hernandez (Indians) will be spending their time in the A.L. Central in 2020.

Here's a refreshed look at the comings and goings so far this offseason, with under a month to go until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.  Also, the cards presented above are the "New Team" variations from the 2020 Chachi Departures insert set.

Moving On - 2019-2020 Offseason

• Rob Brantly - c (9/30/19) - Elected free agency.
• Fernando Salas - rhp (9/30/19) - Elected free agency.
• Corey Dickerson - of (10/31/19) - Elected free agency, signed with the Miami Marlins (1/7/20).
• Tommy Hunter - rhp (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Brad Miller - inf (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Logan Morrison - 1b (10/31/19) - Elected free agency, signed with the Milwaukee Brewers (1/9/20).
• Juan Nicasio - rhp (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Sean Rodriguez - inf-of (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Drew Smyly - lhp (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Nick Vincent - rhp (10/31/19) - Elected free agency.
• Jose Pirela - of (11/1/19) - Released.
• Jared Hughes - rhp (11/4/19) - Club option declined, elected free agency.
• Pat Neshek - rhp (11/4/19) - Club option declined, elected free agency.
• Jason Vargas - lhp (11/4/19) - Club option declined, elected free agency.
• Jerad Eickhoff - rhp (11/4/19) - Outrighted, elected free agency.
• Mike Morin - rhp (11/4/19) - Outrighted, elected free agency.
• Blake Parker - rhp (11/4/19) - Outrighted, elected free agency.
• Edubray Ramos - rhp - (11/4/19) - Outrighted, elected free agency.
• Maikel Franco - 3b (12/2/19) - Non-tendered, elected free agency, signed with the Kansas City Royals (12/27/19).
• Cesar Hernandez - 2b (12/2/19) - Non-tendered, elected free agency, signed with the Cleveland Indians (12/29/19).

Coming Back - 2019-2020 Offseason

• Phil Gosselin - inf (11/4/19) - Outrighted, elected free agency, signed with the Phillies (12/20/19).

New Arrivals - 2019-2020 Offseason

• Robert Stock - rhp (10/30/19) - Claimed off waivers from the San Diego Padres.
• Cristopher Sanchez - lhp (11/20/19) - Acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays for Curtis Mead.
• Trevor Kelley - rhp (12/2/19) - Claimed off waivers from the Boston Red Sox.
• Zack Wheeler - rhp (12/9/19) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the New York Mets.
• Didi Gregorius - ss (12/13/19) - Signed as a free agent formerly with the New York Yankees.

Infield Reboot: Maikel & Cesar Non-Tendered

2020 Chachi Departures #18

2020 Chachi Departures #19

On Monday night, up against an 8pm deadline to tender contracts to eligible players, the Phillies announced they had not tendered contracts to long-time third baseman Maikel Franco and second baseman Cesar Hernandez.  Both are now free agents and the Phillies are tasked with revamping half their infield over this offseason.  The graphic below from Meghan Montemurro's story in The Athletic shows where Franco and Hernandez rank in games played together among Phillies teammates since 2009.  They're the only tandem on this table to depart at the same time.  (Note that the games together tally is as of September 29th, so add a few more games to their total.)

Hernandez came up first, making his debut on May 29, 2013.  His departure makes Odubel Herrera (for now) the longest tenured position player on the club.  Hernandez peaked with the Phillies in 2016 and 2017, enjoying his two best seasons, and he departs with a .277 lifetime average over seven seasons.  He was maddeningly inconsistent on defense and baserunning.

Franco, a favorite of my younger son Ben, was a September 2014 call-up and despite flashes of brilliance he never quite reached what was hoped to be star status.  He departs having hit .249 over 656 games and with a career home run total of 102 - averaging a little less than 23 per his 4 1/2 full seasons with the Phillies.  Looking through Franco's Complete Chachi Checklist below, it's remarkable to me how many times we interacted with him over the years either at the annual Phillies Phestival or during Photo Day/Night.  Even though he never quite lived up to expectations, he's earned a place as a Phillies Room favorite for his always cordial interactions with my sons.

Hernandez Complete Chachi Checklist
2013 Chachi #42
2014 Chachi #15
2015 Chachi #12
2016 Chachi #1
2016 Chachi Archives #6
2016 Chachi Photo Day #10
2016 Chachi #65 Batting Leaders (with Odubel Herrera and Maikel Franco)
2017 Chachi #1
2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #13
2017 Chachi #64 Team Leaders (with Aaron Nola)
2018 Chachi #1
2018 Chachi Phillies Phestival #1 (with Jose David Flores)
2019 Chachi #7
2020 Chachi Departures #22

Franco Complete Chachi Checklist
2014 Chachi #62
2015 Chachi #40
2016 Chachi Preview #1
2016 Chachi Preview #6
2016 Chachi #3
2016 Chachi #55 - Triple Play
2016 Chachi #65 Batting Leaders
2016 Chachi #66 RBI Leaders
2016 Chachi #67 Home Run Leaders
2016 Chachi Archives #3
2016 Chachi Photo Day #35
2017 Chachi Preview #4
2017 Chachi #4
2017 Chachi Phillies Phestival #10
2017 Chachi Archives #12
2017 Chachi Photo Night #16
2018 Chachi #7
2018 Chachi Phillies Phestival #14 (with Pedro Florimon)

2019 Chachi #8
2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #16
2019 Chachi #50 HL (with Jean Segura)
2019 Chachi Friendly Encounters #13
2019 Chachi #54 HL
2019 Chachi Photo Night #17
2020 Chachi Departures #21

The Phillies seem very interested in former Yankee Didi Gregorious, with new manager Joe Girardi publicly lobbying for his former player to come to Philly.  A Gregorious signing would most likely move Jean Segura to second base with Scott Kingery taking over at third.

* * *

2020 Chachi New Additions #6

Also on Monday, the Phillies claimed reliever Trevor Kelley off waivers from the Red Sox.  In 10 games with the Red Sox last season, Kelley was 0-3 with a 8.64 ERA over 8 1/3 innings.  A product of the University of North Carolina, he's had more success at the minor league level.  Kelley's baseball card appearances are scarce to date as he's only appeared in various Red Sox minor league team sets dating back to 2017.