1971 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  32
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.  All photo cards contain a blue facsimile autograph.  A lot of the photos used here are repeats from the 1970 team-issued set.  The backs of the photo cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1971.

How Distributed:  The 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.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Larry Bowa 2. Darrell Brandon 3. Byron Browne 4. Jim Bunning 5. Bill Champion 6. Denny Doyle 7. Doc Edwards CO         8. Roger Freed 9. Woodie Fryman 10. Oscar Gamble   11. Terry Harmon

12. Larry Hisle 13. Joe Hoerner 14. Deron Johnson 15. Pete Koegel  16. Barry Lersch 17. Joe Lis 18. Frank Lucchesi MG         19. Greg Luzinski 20. Tim McCarver 21. Don Money 22. Willie Montanez

23. Bob Pfeil 24. Ken Reynolds 25. Mike Ryan 26. Dick Selma 27. Chris Short 28. Ron Stone 29. Tony Taylor 30. John Vukovich 31. Billy Wilson 32. Rick Wise

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Pfeil

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (5):  Brandon, Freed, Koegel, Montanez, Vukovich
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (24):  Bowa, Browne, Bunning, Champion, Doyle, Fryman, Gamble, Harmon, Hisle, Hoerner, Johnson, Lersch, Lis, Luzinski, McCarver, Money, Reynolds, Ryan, Selma, Short, Stone, Taylor, Wilson, Wise

Manager (1):  Lucchesi
Coach (1):  Edwards

Surprises:  The entire 25-man opening day roster received photo cards with the exception of John Briggs, who was traded to the Brewers on April 22nd.  Also receiving cards were Bobby Pfeil, Bill Wilson and a trio of Phillies prospects - Oscar Gamble, Greg Luzinski and John Vukovich.

Omissions:  Briggs is a notable omission, but see below for the possible existence of a Briggs photo card in the Variations/Rarities section.  Other than Briggs, only four players appeared with the Phillies and did not receive a card in this set - Lowell Palmer, who pitched in only 3 games, along with September call-ups Mike Anderson, Wayne Twitchell and Manny Muniz.  Once again, that's a fairly comprehensive checklist.

Variations/Rarities:  The checklist found at The Trading Card Database lists two cards for Larry Bowa, with each card having a slightly different autograph placement.  I'm not necessarily interested in these types of variations, but I'll list it here for completeness sake.  One version features Bowa's autograph parallel to the bottom border of the photo, while the other version features his signature dipping down to the right.  The same checklist omits the Doc Edwards and Pete Koegel cards, which I've added based on a a comment from fellow collector Rick left on the original post for this set.

Finally, fellow collector Steve notes his checklist for the set contains four additional cards.  The existence of these cards would make sense, as it seems odd the Phillies would create a card for coach Doc Edwards but not the other three coaches.  As noted above, Briggs isn't included in the standard checklist, while the player the Phillies acquired from the Brewers for him (Koegel) did get a photo card.

 

Autograph Variation           1. Larry Bowa

Potential Rarities? 1. John Briggs 2. Billy DeMars CO 3. George Myatt CO 4. Ray Rippelmeyer CO

Also See:  1971 Arco Phillies

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

This set was originally featured in a post back in December 2014, 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.

 

1970 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards / 1972 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards

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

1970 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  40
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.  Unlike the rest of the Phillies photo cards issued throughout the 1970s, the players' position is also included.  The backs of the cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1970. 

How Distributed:  The 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.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Larry Bowa 2. John Briggs 3. Byron Browne           4. Jim Bunning 5. Bill Champion 6. Mike Compton 7. Billy DeMars CO 8. Denny Doyle 9. Doc Edwards CO (with hat) 10. Doc Edwards CO (without hat)           11. Woodie Fryman 12. Oscar Gamble 13. Terry Harmon 14. Larry Hisle

15. Joe Hoerner           16. Jim Hutto           17. Grant Jackson 18. Deron Johnson      19. Rick Joseph 20. Bill Laxton 21. Barry Lersch 22. Joe Lis 23. Frank Lucchesi MG                24. Greg Luzinski 25. Tim McCarver 26. Don Money   27. George Myatt CO

28. Lowell Palmer 29. Sammy Parrilla 30. Scott Reid 31. Ken Reynolds 32. Ray Rippelmeyer CO                33. Mike Ryan 34. Dick Selma 35. Chris Short 36. Ron Stone 37. Tony Taylor 38. Fred Wenz 39. Billy Wilson 40. Rick Wise

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Laxton

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (22):  Bowa, Brown, Champion, Compton, Doyle, Gamble, Harmon, Hoerner, Hutto, Joseph, Lersch, Lis, Luzinski, McCarver, Palmer, Parrilla, Reid, Reynolds, Selma, Stone, Wenz, Wilson
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (11):  Briggs, Bunning, Fryman, Hisle, Jackson, Johnson, Money, Ryan, Short, Taylor, Wise

Manager (1):  Lucchesi
Coaches (5):  DeMars, Edwards (2), Myatt, Rippelmeyer

Surprises:  Two versions of the Doc Edwards card is kind of odd.  The Phillies could have issued a third variation with "catcher" listed as Edwards' position as he was activated on June 6th to help carry the catching load after a rash of injuries at the position.  Edwards hadn't caught in the Majors since 1965 but he got into 35 games with the 1970 Phillies, amazingly making 23 starts!

Omissions:  I'm also surprised by the fact the Phillies had 38 players suit up in 1970 and 34 of them are in this set.  The club can't be blamed for omitting the final four, as they were all short-timers that season.  Catcher Del Bates appeared in 22 games between May 6th and June 5th and reliever Mike Jackson pitched in five games between May 10th and May 24th.  The Phillies would have had to scramble to produce and distribute cards of those two players during the short time they were both active.  If I ever get around to producing my Phillies Missing Links custom cards from the 1970s, Bates and Jackson will be the first two cards in the set as neither ever appeared on a Phillies baseball card.

The other two players omitted were two prospects who would both go on to have much more time in Phillies uniforms.  Outfielder Willie Montanez and infielder John Vukovich were both September call-ups and cards weren't produced for them.

Variations/Rarities:  There are two versions of the Edwards card - one featuring him with a hat, and another featuring him without a hat.  I'm not sure which is more prevalent than the other, so I've listed them both above as part of the main checklist.

Also See:  According to entries found at The Trading Card Database and Beckett.com, there was also a 12-card "Picture Pack" set issued in 1970 containing cards measuring 4 1/4" x 7".  And again per The Trading Card Database, a 26-card set containing 8" x 10" black and white cards featuring a portrait and a posed photo of each player was also released.

Resources:  As far as I can tell, there's no other record or checklist of this set available online.  Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils) was kind enough to send along the scan shown above, which is what I used for my checklist.

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

1950-1969 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards / 1971 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards

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

Game 65 - 1970 Phillies Photocards Frank Lucchesi MG

Reds 4, Phillies 3
Game 65 - Sunday Afternoon, June 9th in Philadelphia
Record - 37-28, 1st place, 1 game ahead of the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  A three-run seventh inning by the Reds doomed the Phillies in this 4-3 loss.

What It Means:  They weren't able to complete the sweep and the Diamondbacks come to town next for a three-game series beginning Monday night.  The Braves won their game in 12 innings against the Marlins, drawing to within a game of the Phillies.

What Happened:  Holding onto a 3-1 lead, the wheels came off for the Phillies with two outs in the seventh.  Aaron Nola allowed a single and a walk before yielding to Jose Alvarez who promptly allowed another hit and then a two-run single to Joey Votto to tie the game.  Vince Velasquez entered and gave up another hit as the Reds took the lead for good.

The first two Phillies runs scored when Votto misplayed a Rhys Hoskins pop-up, allowing a pair of runs to score.  Bryce Harper was the second run to score on that play, coming into home with an aggressive slide.  Harper's aggressiveness would hurt him in the fifth when he was caught stealing home with Hoskins at the plate.

Featured Card:  It was announced during the game that former Phillies manager Frank Lucchesi passed away on Saturday at the age of 92.  Lucchesi was 166-233 as the team's manager from 1970 until being dismissed part way through the 1972 season.  He managed the last Phillies game at Connie Mack Stadium and the first Phillies game at Veterans Stadium.

Field Report:  As this game was starting, my son Doug and his baseball team were playing the last game of their spring season.  It was a growing year for both him and the team and he was proudest of playing every position except catcher throughout the season.  He was fourth on the team in hits, and from a pitching perspective he was third on the team in strikeouts.  He didn't commit an error in the field the entire season, playing all but one inning of every game.  I'm proud of him and his team!

Series Preview - Phillies at Nationals: April 2nd to April 3rd

1971 Topps #119

1971 Topps #59

Tuesday 7:05 and Wednesday 1:05
Nationals Park - Washington, DC

Phillies 3-0, 1st place in the N.L. East, 1/2 game ahead of the Mets
Nationals 1-2, Tied for 3rd place in the N.L. East, 2 games behind the Phillies

Phillies Probables:  Zach Eflin (0-0, 0.00), Aaron Nola (1-0, 1.50)
Nationals Probables:  Max Scherzer (0-1, 2.35), Anibal Sanchez (0-0, 0.00)

At the Ballpark:  The Phillies and Bryce Harper are in town for the Nationals' home opener on Tuesday night.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Maikel Franco - .444
Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 5
Home Runs:  3 tied with - 2
RBIs:  Maikel Franco - 7
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 1

Wins:  3 tied with - 1
ERA:  Jake Arrieta and Aaron Nola - 1.50
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 8
Saves:  N/A

Nationals Leaders
Average:  Victor Robles - .455
Runs:  Trea Tuner - 4
Home Runs:  Trea Turner - 2
RBIs:  Trea Turner - 4
Stolen Bases:  Trea Turner - 4

Wins:  Sean Doolittle - 1
ERA:  Max Scherzer - 2.35
Strikeouts:  Max Scherzer - 12
Saves:  N/A

Pondering the 2019 Chachi Design - Reader Input Requested #Collect

1971 Topps #119

1972 Topps #528

1984 Topps #101

1986 Topps #585

1987 Topps Traded #103T

It's about this time each year that I start to think ahead to the next season and the design I'll use for my annual custom Phillies team set.  I've called these cards "Chachi" cards since first creating the set during the 2005 season in honor of our late, great first dog, Chachi.  I've been working my way through the Topps designs of the 1970s and 1980s, and my choices are dwindling in terms of sets I've not yet tackled.

As a look into this annual process, here's a summary of what sets are off the board (for now) since they've already been used, and a look at the handful of sets still remaining.

1970 Topps - 2016 Chachi
1973 Topps - 2013 Chachi
1974 Topps - 2010 Chachi
1975 Topps - 2005 Chachi
1976 Topps - 2007 Chachi
1977 Topps - 2008 Chachi
1978 Topps - 2018 Chachi
1979 Topps - 2012 Chachi
1980 Topps - 2009 Chachi
1981 Topps - 2006 Chachi
1982 Topps - 2017 Chachi
1983 Topps - 2011 Chachi
1985 Topps - 2015 Chachi
1988 Topps - 2014 Chachi

And the candidates for the 2019 Chachi set:

1971 Topps - I've come close to using this design so many times, but I've never been able to pull the trigger.  The actual 1971 Topps set is awesome, but I'm afraid I'd get tired of creating cards with the all-black border half-way through the season.  I either need to use this design in 2019, or wait a few years as Topps will be using this design for its 2020 Topps Heritage set.

1972 Topps - I can say the same thing about the 1972 Topps set - awesome set, but I could get tired of the psychedelic tombstone design by early summer.  And there's no way I'm talented enough to re-create the team name font so I'd have to scan in a card for each team I wanted to feature and I'd pass on making cards for minor league teams.  No fun.

1984 Topps - This design has grown on me, and I'm far enough away from having used the 1983 Topps design that maybe it's time to give this a shot.  As an added bonus, it's colorful.

1986 Topps - This set is also a dark horse candidate, and it's moved up in the rankings since someone gave me the name of the font to use for the team name (Napoli Serial Heavy).  But it's somewhat of a boring design.

1987 Topps - Like the 1971 Topps design, I've come close to using this in the past but Topps' over-saturation of 1987 Topps style cards as inserts in prior years caused me to back away.

1989 Topps - I'll probably never use this design.  I wouldn't know how to re-create the style and font used for the team name and I'd have to go the 1972 Topps route (see above) if I were to use this set's design.

1965 Topps #352

1981 Donruss #175

1982 Donruss #219

1983 Fleer #163

1991 Topps #618

I've also recently given some thought to leaving the friendly confines of the Topps sets from these two decades and using the design of one of my other favorite sets.

1965 Topps - My favorite design from the 1960s.
1981 Donruss - One of the first sets I remember collecting, and I've always had a soft spot for the very early Donruss designs.
1982 Donruss - See above.
1983 Fleer - Another nostalgic set for me with a simple design.
1991 Topps - My son Doug has become partial to this set's design for some reason.  Given that 2020 will be the 15th anniversary of the first Chachi set, maybe I'll go with this design then and replace the "40" from the original with a "15".

What do you think?  What set would you like to see on this blog throughout next season?  Any other sets I'm omitting that deserve consideration?

Series Preview - Phillies at Tigers: May 23rd to May 25th

Monday and Tuesday 7:10, Wednesday 1:10
Comerica Park - Detroit, MI

Phillies 25-19, 3rd place in the N.L. East, 2 games behind the Nationals
Tigers 21-22, 4th place in the A.L. Central, 4 1/2 games behind the White Sox

Phillies Probables:  Vince Velasquez (5-1, 2.42), Jeremy Hellickson (4-2, 3.99), Aaron Nola (3-3, 2.85)
Tigers Probables:  Mike Pelfrey (0-4, 5.49), Justin Verlandar (3-4, 4.58), Anibal Sanchez (3-5, 6.23)

At the Ballpark:  On Tuesday night, the first 10,000 adults will receive a Tigers patriotic hat in celebration of Armed Forces and Veteran Recognition night at the ballpark.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Odubel Herrera - .325
Runs:  Odubel Herrera - 26
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 8
RBIs:  Maikel Franco - 25
Stolen Bases:  Odubel Herrera - 6

Wins:  Vince Velasquez - 5
ERA:  Vince Velasquez - 2.42
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 64
Saves:  Jeanmar Gomez - 16

Tigers Leaders
Average:  Nick Castellanos - .340
Runs:  Ian Kinsler - 40
Home Runs:  Ian Kinsler - 10
RBIs:  Nick Castellanos - 30
Stolen Bases:  Ian Kinsler and Cameron Maybin - 4

Wins:  Jordan Zimmermann - 7
ERA:  Jordan Zimmermann - 2.52
Strikeouts:  Justin Verlander - 60
Saves:  Francisco Rodriguez - 12

1970 Topps #662

1970 Topps #313

1970 Topps Appreciation:  I wonder how these two former Phillies manager would handle the entire Ryan Howard situation?  Howard, clearly in continuous decline, has struggled mightily so far this season and has lost his every day first baseman's job whenever there's a left-handed pitcher starting for the opponent.  Darin Ruf shared platoon duties with Howard at the start of the season and Tommy Joseph is now languishing behind the former All-Star.  I get that it's a delicate situation, but Howard's .161 average and his 4 for 44 in the month of May (through Saturday) is impossible to defend.

On to the 1970 Topps Appreciation portion of this post . . . Frank Lucchesi was a first year manager in 1970, guiding the Phillies to a fifth place finish in the National League with a 73-88 record.  His tenure would last until July 9, 1972 when Paul Owens came down from the front office to manage the team through the duration of one of their worst seasons in franchise history.  Lucchesi's overall record at the helm for the Phillies was 166-233.  He'd manage again for the Rangers from 1975 to 1977 (142-149) and on an interim basis for the Cubs in 1987 (8-17).

Mayo Smith managed in parts of three decades for the Phillies (1955-1958), Reds (1959) and Tigers (1967-1970).  He's featured as the Phillies manager in both the 1955 and 1956 Topps sets.  1970 was to be his final season managing in the Majors, and he guided the Tigers to a 79-83 finish.  Billy Martin would take over in Detroit in 1971.

A quick word about my 1956 Topps blog . . . It's still out there, although it's been dormant since late March.  I kind of thought this would happen once the Phillies season was in full swing, although I thought I'd have more time to dedicate to the 1956 Topps set since the Phillies were predicted to be awful in 2016.  The Phillies haven't been awful, and my 1956 Topps blog has paid the price.  Rest assured, I'll pick it up again at some point and my goal is to finish it up in a shorter time frame (about 20 years) than it took my Dad and me to complete the set.

1956 Topps #60

Cubs at Phillies: June 13th to June 15th

Friday 7:05, Saturday 3:05 and Sunday 1:35
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  Tonight is 1960s Retro Night with both teams wearing uniforms from the '60s.  Former Phillies Tony Taylor, Cookie Rojas and John Herrnstein will throw out the ceremonial first pitches.

1988 Topps Appreciation:  Like I recently did for the Reds, I need to cram in a few more Phillies-related Cubs cards here since this is the last meeting between these two teams in 2014.  (As an aside, I think it's been at least a year or so since I mentioned that I really despise interleague play and the fact that we only get to see National League Central or West teams only once a year.)

Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg is having a difficult rookie season at the helm of the Phillies.  It's not his fault of course, and it's very unlikely that Sandberg won't be back for at least another season in 2015.  Jamie Moyer has the unenviable task of witnessing the 2014 Phillies from the announcer's booth, as the one-time Cub and Phillie joined the Phillies broadcasting team this season.  He's done a nice job so far, although I still prefer to listen to the radio guys, Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen.

1988 Topps #10, #36, #564 and #717

Frank Lucchesi finished up the 1987 season as the Cubs manager after then GM Dallas Green had fired Gene Michael.  Lucchesi managed the Cubs to an 8-17 record over the final 25 games of the season, and those 25 games would be the last he'd manage in the big leagues.  27 years earlier, Lucchesi got his start as a manager with the 1970 Phillies.  He'd compile a record of 166-233 before being dismissed part way through the awful 1972 season.

Finally, Jay Baller and his magnificent chest hair spent the bulk of his six-year career with the Cubs, but  he started and finished his career with the Phillies.  Baller appeared in four games for the 1982 Phillies before being one of the five players shipped to Cleveland in the Von Hayes deal.  He returned to the Phillies for eight games during the 1992 season, and he quickly departed after running up an 8.18 ERA over 11 innings of work.

Programming Note:  I'm returning from a brief out of town trip tonight and game summary posts will be updated shortly.  In case you were worried.

1972 Topps Phillies

1972 Topps #112, #751, #690 and #520

Of all the "vintage" sets I've completed from the '70s, this was probably the most difficult to put together.  It was a challenge finding some of the high numbers in decent shape and I collected the bulk of this set during a time of transition in my life when things weren't exactly rainbows and lollipops.  Thankfully, I had the majesty of the psychedelic tombstone set to keep me company when I found myself in times of trouble.

The Set

1972 Topps #520 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  Topps upped the ante once again, going with 787 cards in the complete set.  It would be ten years until Topps produced a baseball card set this large, when it released its 1982 set with 792 cards.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  I love it.  As difficult a set as it was to put together, it was a fun set to collect. Every time I asked a dealer if he had any '72 commons, inevitably the dealer would smile.  This is just one of the baseball card sets I could easily flip through on a grumpy day and not help but cheer up.  Completely off the top of my head, my favorite Topps sets would have to be - 1956, 1975, 1972, 1981, 1976.  (The order of this listing is subject to change without notice.)

Notable competition:  Not a darn thing really.  There were the usual oddballs, a Kellogg's set with no Phillies in it and 10-card locally issued Phillies Ticketron set.

1972 Phillies

Record and finish:  1971 was a bleak year, but 1972 was even worse.  The Phillies went 59-97, finishing 37 1/2 games behind the Pirates, securely in last place.  Things could only go up from here.

Key players:  A discussion of the team's key players in 1972 starts and ends with Steve Carlton.  Carlton put together perhaps one of the greatest seasons any pitcher has ever thrown, going 27-10 and winning almost half of his team's 59 total wins.  He finished 30 of his 41 starts, had a 1.97 ERA and 310 strikeouts.  Following the season, he was the unanimous pick for the Cy Young Award.  Young Greg Luzinski won the team's offensive triple crown, hitting .281 with 18 home runs and 68 RBIs.

Key events:  Following the 1971 season, Rick Wise and Carlton both wanted pay increases neither team's owner's were willing to grant.  A straight-up one-for-one deal was struck, shipping Wise to the Cardinals and Carlton to the Phillies on February 25, 1972.  Carlton would go on to help lead the Phillies to their World Championship in 1980 and he was enshrined in Cooperstown in 1994 as one of the greatest left-handed pitchers of all time.

1972 Topps #768, #635, #69 and #377

Manager Frank Lucchesi was fired in July and general manager Paul Owens stepped in for the rest of the season.  In September, the Phillies recalled two of their top prospects - Mike Schmidt and Bob Boone.

1972 Phillies in 1972 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 30 Phillies cards in a master team set.  We're up to 90 Topps Phillies cards from the '70s, and 558 total Topps Phillies cards from 1951 through 1972.

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 7 cards

#167 Deron Johnson (1b), #768 Denny Doyle (2b), #520 Larry Bowa (ss), #635 Don Money (3b), #112 Greg Luzinski (lf), #690 Willie Montanez (cf), #69 Roger Freed (rf)

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#751 Steve Carlton TR, #252 Ken Reynolds, #599 Billy Champion, #357 Woodie Fryman

1972 Topps #252, #599, #357 and #665

• Base cards of other players who played with the Phillies in 1972 - 11 cards

#139 Tim McCarver, #283 Darrell Brandon, #324 Mike Ryan, #377 Terry Harmon, #423 Oscar Gamble, #453 Barry Lersch, #482 Joe Hoerner, #528 Ron Stone, #587 Bill Wilson, #665 Chris Short, #726 Dick Selma

• 1972 Rookie Stars cards - 2 cards

#14 Pete Koegel, Mike Anderson and Wayne Twitchell, #741 Tom Hutton with John Milner (Mets) and Rick Miller (Red Sox)

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1972 - 1 card, #43 Rick Wise
• In Action cards - 2 cards, #44 Rick Wise and #168 Deron Johnson
• Boyhood Photo cards - 1 card, #345 Rick Wise
• Manager card - 1 card, #188 Frank Lucchesi
• Team card - 1 card, #397

1972 Topps #397

Who’s out:  Bill Robinson, one of the team's bright spots, was left out of the set, despite appearing in 82 games for the Phils.  Back-up first baseman Joe Lis and left reliever Mac Scarce also got left out.

Phillies on other teams:  Regular catcher John Bateman (#5) is featured with the Expos.  Relievers Jim Nash (#401) and Gary Neibauer (#149) are both featured with the Braves.  Carlton appears as a Cardinal (#420) before making his appearance as a Phillie in the final series.  Bobby Wine appears with the Expos (#657).  Wine was released by Montreal in July and joined the Phillies coaching staff.

What’s he doing here:  I can't really argue with any of the players selected.  Rick Wise ended up with a regular card and an In Action card in the first series, as well as a Boyhood Photo card in the third series.  One interesting tidbit (at least to me) - Jim Fregosi, who was traded from the Angels to the Mets in December 1971, appears as an airbrushed Met on his Boyhood Photo card (#346) but as an Angel on his series one base card (#115).  I guess the Topps airbrush artist didn't have enough time to replace Wise's Phillies hat with a Cardinals hat for his Boyhood Photo card.

Cards that never were candidates:  Robinson, Lis and Scarce are candidates.  I'd also add a card for interim manager Owens, who had to wait for the 1984 Topps set for his "rookie" card.  Hutton and Twitchell both appeared on multi-player Rookie Stars cards, but they should have their own cards.  And I'd add a Rookie Stars card featuring Schmidt and Boone. 

Favorite Phillies card:  Based on historic significance - Carlton's Traded card or the team card featuring The Vet scoreboard in the background for the first time on cardboard.  Based on pure aesthetics - Luzinski's first solo card.

1972 Topps #423, #168, #345 and #188

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Given the popularity of the Topps Heritage set, why not have an all '70s themed Heritage release as well?  The thought of waiting ten more years to see this design back in packs of cards is a little depressing.

Blogs/Websites:  It's been inactive for over a year, but there's a lot of good stuff archived over at the 1972 Topps Set blog.  I also miss the frequent postings from Dinged Corners on the glory of the '72 set.

Did You Know?:  This set marks Topps first foray into the world of Traded cards, as there's a 7-card Traded subset featured in the sixth and final series.  Topps would try the format again in 1974 and 1976 before making the set a permanent fixture in 1981.  (Barring a few years in the mid-'90s.)

1970 Topps Phillies

1970 Topps #125, #645, #564 and #539

In the summer of 1989, I started collecting the 1970 Topps set.  My Dad and I had previously completed the full run of Topps sets from 1973 through 1989, and we needed a new set to collect.  We skipped 1971 (too difficult) and 1972 (high series too expensive) and started looking for the gray-bordered cards from 1970.  I graduated high school and college before finding the final card I needed nearly ten years after we had started collecting the set.  I remember the Mets and Yankees cards from this set being particularly difficult to find, but it was the Pirates Team Card (#608) that eluded me until I found a mint copy at a baseball card show in Raleigh, North Carolina on Valentine's Day, 1999.

The Set

1970 Topps #564 (Back)

Number of cards in the set:  Topps crossed the 700-card threshold for the first time, as this set comes in at 720 cards.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  This could be one of the most under-rated sets from the 1970's.  After three years of ho-hum designs, Topps changed things up a bit with better photography, a clean gray border and the player's name in a script font.  I would have liked it better if the color used for each team name was consistent, but that's a minor quibble.  I also really like the backs of the cards, and I'm glad to see the backs ranked #28 in Night Owl's Card Back Countdown.

Notable competition:  Kellogg's released their inaugural issue of 3-D style baseball cards, found in boxes of Kellogg's cereal.  There are four Phillies to be found within the 75-card set.

1970 Phillies

Record and finish:  The team could only go up after 1969.  The Phillies finished with a 73-88 record, in fifth place and 15 1/2 games behind the pennant-winning Pirates.

Key players:  First baseman Deron Johnson (.256, 27 home runs, 93 RBIs) and third baseman Don Money (.295, 14 home runs, 66 RBIs) provided the most offense for the team.  The pitching staff did the best they could as Rick Wise (13-14, 4.17 ERA), the recently returned Jim Bunning (10-15, 4.11 ERA) and Chris Short (9-16, 4.30 ERA) soldiered on.  Dick Selma led the bullpen with 22 saves.  A World Series championship was a decade away, but three members of that team made their debuts in 1970 - Larry Bowa, Greg Luzinski and John Vukovich.

Key events:  Frank Lucchesi was hired as the team's new manager following the dreadful 1969 campaign.  In October 1969, the Phillies parted ways with Dick Allen, Cookie Rojas and Jerry Johnson, sending them to the Cardinals for Tim McCarver, Joe Hoerner, Byron Browne and Curt Flood.  When Flood refused to report to the Phillies, challenging the reserve clause which bound a player to whichever team held his contract, the first domino eventually leading to free agency fell.  As part of the compensation for Flood refusing to report to the Phillies, the Cardinals sent Willie Montanez instead.  Long-time Phillie Johnny Callison was also shipped off in a November 1969 deal with the Cubs, with the Phillies receiving Oscar Gamble and Selma in return.

1970 Topps #605, #403, #270 and #6

1970 Phillies in 1970 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 29 Phillies in a complete 1970 Topps team set.

Who’s in:  

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 6 cards

#90 Tim McCarver (c), #125 Deron Johnson (1b), #645 Don Money (3b), #564 John Briggs (lf), #288 Larry Hisle (cf), #388 Byron Browne (rf)

Denny Doyle and Larry Bowa, the starting middle infield, shared their card - see below.

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 5 cards

#605 Rick Wise, #403 Jim Bunning, #270 Chris Short, #5 Grant Jackson, #677 Woodie Fryman

• Base cards of other players who played with the Phillies in 1970 - 10 cards

#24 Dick Selma, #28 Bill Wilson, #149 Bill Champion, #186 Rick Joseph, #218 Ron Stone, #252 Lowell Palmer, #324 Tony Taylor, #486 Terry Harmon, #511 Joe Hoerner, #591 Mike Ryan

1970 Topps #90, #591, #324 and #24

• 1969 Rookie Stars cards - 3 cards

#56 Scott Reid/Joe Lis, #539 Denny Doyle/Larry Bowa, #654 Oscar Gamble with Boots Day (Cubs) and Angel Mangual (Pirates)

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1970 - 2 cards

#168 Dave Watkins, #302 Jeff James

• Base cards of players who never played with the Phillies - 1 card, #360 Curt Flood
• Manager card - 1 card, #662 Frank Lucchesi
• Team card - 1 card, #436

Who’s out:  Pitcher Barry Lersch should have been in the set as he appeared in 42 games for the Phillies.   A case could also be made for the back-up to the back-up catcher Mike Compton and outfielder/infielder/catcher Jim Hutto.

Phillies on other teams:  Similar to the 1968 Topps set, there are no Phillies players appearing on other teams in this set.

What’s he doing here:  The ultimate "What's he doing here" Phillies card from the entire run of Topps sets is most likely Curt Flood's 1970 Topps card.

Cards that never were candidates:  Bowa, Doyle and Gamble each deserve his own card and Lersch deserves a card, period.  Topps could have also included rookie cards of Montanez, Luzinski and Vukovich.

Favorite Phillies card:  There are a few contenders here including Bowa's rookie card and Taylor at the bat rack.  But I've always liked the classic simplicity of Money's first solo baseball card, complete with the gold Topps All-Star Rookie trophy.

1970 Topps #360, #252, #218 and #662

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Topps just hasn't dipped into the 1970 Topps well enough, in my opinion.  Between you and me, the set's design is an early contender for the 2012 Chachi set.  Baseball Cards Magazine used the design for their 1992 Repli-Cards set, which included a John Kruk card.

Blogs/Websites:  This concludes the series of Jim from Downingtown's landscape of baseball card set blogs.  The 1970 Topps Baseball blog was started once Jim realized there was a void in set-related blogs for this underrated set.  If you're not following along with his blogs, you're missing out.

Did You Know?: Starting with Series 2, card #133, Topps decided a white line was needed on the front of the card to separate the player's name and position.