Game 7 - 1975 Topps #319 Johnny Oates

Braves 8, Phillies 1
Game 7 - Friday Night, April 9th in Atlanta
Record - 5-2, 1st Place, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Not much went right for the Phillies in this 8-1 loss against the Braves in the Atlanta home opener.

What It Means:  In front of about 14,000 mostly maskless fans, which I just don't understand, Zack Wheeler and the Phillies had a bad night.

What Happened:  Wheeler was struggling, but he was prematurely pulled in the fifth inning when manager Joe Girardi forgot he was about to visit the mound for the second time.  Wheeler's final line wasn't great - 4 2/3 innings, seven hits, three runs, four walks, four strikeouts and a very big two-run home run to Ronald Acuna, Jr.  Brandon Kintzler allowed a three-run home run to pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza in the sixth, with Freddie Freeman homering for good measure in the eighth off David Hale.

Andrew McCutchen drove in the only Phillies run with a single to right in the third, and the team had only six hits overall against Braves starter Charlie Morton and three relievers.

Featured Card:  The only positive for me as a baseball fan was seeing the Braves wear their 1974-era throwbacks in honor of the late Hank Aaron.  Former Brave and Phillie Johnny Oates is wearing the uniform the Braves wore last night on his 1975 Topps card.

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

1975 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 photocards issued throughout the 1970s, these cards feature a black and white photo with the players' name below.  The cards are unnumbered.  The backs of the cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1975.  Some of the cards contain blue facsimile autographs, as noted on the checklist below.

The Johnny Oates card shown above features an actual autograph and the original Oates card was distributed without an autograph - facsimile or legitimate.

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. Cy Acosta (auto) 2. Dick Allen 3. Mike Anderson 4. Alan Bannister (auto) 5. Carroll Beringer CO (auto)   6. Bob Boone (auto) 7. Larry Bowa 8. Ollie Brown (auto) 9. Steve Carlton 10. Dave Cash (auto) 11. Larry Christenson (auto) 12. Larry Cox (auto) 13. Billy DeMars CO (auto)

14. Jim Essian (auto) 15. Gene Garber 16. Don Hahn 17. Terry Harmon 18. Tom Hilgendorf 19. Joe Hoerner 20. Tommy Hutton 21. Jay Johnstone (portrait)   22. Jim Lonborg 23. Greg Luzinski 24. Garry Maddox (auto) 25. Jerry Martin 26. Tim McCarver

27. Tug McGraw 28. Willie Montanez (auto) 29. John Oates 30. Danny Ozark MG (auto) 31. Ray Rippelmeyer CO (auto)   32. Mike Rogodzinski 33. Dick Ruthven 34. Mike Schmidt 35. Ron Schueler (auto) 36. Tony Taylor 37. Wayne Twitchell 38. Tom Underwood (auto) 39. Bobby Wine CO (auto)

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (3):  Acosta, Bannister, Hahn

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (6):  Hilgendorf, Maddox, Martin, McGraw, Oates, Underwood
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (25):  Allen, Anderson, Boone, Bowa, Brown, Carlton, Cash, Christenson, Cox, Essian, Garber, Harmon, Hoerner, Hutton, Johnstone, Lonborg, Luzinski, McCarver, Montanez, Rogodzinski, Ruthven, Schmidt, Schueler, Taylor, Twitchell

This set is the only hope of finding Phillies baseball cards for Acosta, Bannister and Hahn.  Acosta's card is particularly interesting to me, as his 1973, 1974 and 1975 Topps cards feature a relatively clean cut pitcher while his card in this set features '70s hair gone wild.

Manager (1):  Ozark
Coaches (4):  Beringer, DeMars, Rippelmeyer, Wine
Phillie Phanatic (0)
Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (0)

Surprises:  The aforementioned Acosta is a bit of a surprise here.  He made the team's opening day roster, but only appeared in six games before getting released.  The scan below is a good reference guide for this set, and this is from a 1975 tri-fold brochure that has the team's full roster and schedule on the back.  

There are six players with cards in the set not included in the composite photo below - (1) Garry Maddox, acquired from the Giants on May 4th for Willie Montanez, (2) Dick Allen and (3) Johnny Oates, acquired from the Braves on May 7th, (4) Tim McCarver signed as a free agent on July 1st and finally (5) Jerry Martin and (6) Mike Rogodzinski who played their first games for the club on May 27th and June 15th, respectively.

Omissions:  This set is a fairly complete representation of the 1975 Phillies.  There are five players who briefly played for the team who are not in the set - Wayne Simpson (5 games), John Montague (3 games), Randy Lerch (3 games), Larry Fritz and Ron Clark (both 1 game).

Variations/Rarities:  According to the set's entry at The Trading Card Database, there's a Johnstone variation featuring him kneeling in lieu of the standard portrait photo.  There are also the following variations either including or excluding the blue facsimile autograph

Photo Variation 1. Jay Johnstone (kneeling)

Facsimile Auto Variations 1. Dave Cash (no auto) 2. Tommy Hutton (auto)

Trivia:  The Beckett.com entry for this set lists only 31 cards and the set's entry at The Trading Card Database lists 36 cards (including the Johnstone variation), omitting the Essian, Hahn, Montanez and Rogodzinski cards.

Also See:  1975 Phillies Photo Album

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

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 five years.

1974 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards / 1976 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards

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

Series Preview - Dodgers at Phillies: July 23rd to July 25th

1978 Topps #508

1978 Topps #136

Monday and Tuesday 7:05, Wednesday 12:35
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Dodgers 55-44, 1st place in the N.L. West, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Diamondbacks
Phillies 55-43, 1st place in the N.L. East, 1 game ahead of the Braves

Dodgers Probables:  Ross Stripling (8-2, 2.08), Kenta Maeda (7-5, 3.12), Rich Hill (3-4, 4.26)
Phillies Probables:  Zach Eflin (7-2, 3.15), Aaron Nola (12-3, 2.30), Jake Arrieta (7-6, 3.47)

At the Ballpark:  As a result of Chase Utley's recent announcement that he'd be retiring at the end of this season, the Phillies have announced they'll pay tribute to Utley throughout this series.  Kids can run the bases following the Wednesday afternoon game.

Dodgers Leaders
Average:  Matt Kemp - .316
Runs:  Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor - 58
Home Runs:  Max Muncy - 22
RBIs:  Matt Kemp - 62
Stolen Bases:  Yasiel Puig - 7

Wins:  Ross Stripling - 8
ERA:  Alex Wood - 3.87
Strikeouts:  Kenta Maeda and Ross Stripling - 108
Saves:  Kenley Jansen - 28

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Odubel Herrera - .280
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez - 65
Home Runs:  Odubel Herrera - 17
RBIs:  Rhys Hoskins - 61
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 14

Wins:  Aaron Nola - 12
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 2.30
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 131
Saves:  Hector Neris - 10

1975 Phillies Photocards

I updated this post here in September 2020 and this original post is now outdated.

 

Number of Cards:  39
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  As was the case with all Phillies photocards issued throughout the 1970s, these cards feature a black and white photo with the players' name below.  The backs of the cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1975.  Some of the cards contain blue facsimile autographs, as noted on the checklist below.

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.

It should be noted that the one card from this set in my collection (to date) features an actual autograph from Johnny Oates.  The original Oates card was distributed without an autograph - facsimile or legitimate.

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

Cy Acosta (auto) Dick Allen Mike Anderson Alan Bannister (auto) Carroll Beringer CO (auto) Bob Boone (auto) Larry Bowa Ollie Brown (auto) Steve Carlton Dave Cash (auto) Larry Christenson (auto) Larry Cox (auto) Billy DeMars CO (auto) Jim Essian (auto) Gene Garber Don Hahn Terry Harmon Tom Hilgendorf Joe Hoerner Tommy Hutton

Jay Johnstone Jim Lonborg Greg Luzinski Garry Maddox (auto) Jerry Martin Tim McCarver Tug McGraw Willie Montanez (auto) John Oates Danny Ozark MG (auto) Ray Rippelmeyer CO (auto) Mike Rogodzinski Dick Ruthven Mike Schmidt Ron Schueler (auto) Tony Taylor Wayne Twitchell Tom Underwood (auto) Bobby Wine CO (auto)

One and Done (3):  Acosta, Bannister, Hahn
First Appearances (6):  Hilgendorf, Maddox, Martin, McGraw, Oates, Underwood
Returning Players (25):  Allen, Anderson, Boone, Bowa, Brown, Carlton, Cash, Christenson, Cox, Essian, Garber, Harmon, Hoerner, Hutton, Johnstone, Lonborg, Luzinski, McCarver, Montanez, Rogodzinski, Ruthven, Schmidt, Schueler, Taylor, Twitchell

This set is only hope of finding Phillies baseball cards for Acosta, Bannister and Hahn.  Acosta's card (click here) is particularly interesting to me, as his 1973, 1974 and 1975 Topps cards feature a relatively clean cut pitcher while his card in this set features '70s hair gone wild.

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.

Manager (1):  Ozark
Coaches (4):  Beringer, DeMars, Rippelmeyer, Wine
Phillie Phanatic (0)
Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (0)

Variations/Rarities:  According to the set's entry at The Trading Card Database, there's a Johnstone variation featuring him kneeling in lieu of the standard portrait photo.  Per Rick's comment below, there's also a Cash card available with no autograph.

• Dave Cash (no auto)
• Jay Johnstone (kneeling)

Also See:  1975 Phillies Photo Album
Trivia:  I found the Oates card featured here through an eBay search for "Phillies Postcard."  It was only through the awesome photos provided at The Trading Card Database for this set that I was able to identify these cards as being from 1979.  Collector Dave Sosidka uploaded the checklist and scans of all cards to the databse back in 2011.

The Beckett.com entry for this set lists only 31 cards and omits the cards for Acosta, Martin, Oates and Ruthven.  The set's entry at The Trading Card Database omits the Essian, Hahn, Montanez and Rogodzinski cards but I've added them here per Rick's comment below.
Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Beckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

1973 Topps - Phillies Cards

1973 Topps #535, #396, #572 and #394

We're entering that part of the season when it's time to tie up a few loose ends here on the blog, and set our sights on the better and brighter days that lie ahead for the Phillies.  The 2013 Chachi set uses the design of the 1973 Topps set, and I've enjoyed featuring 1973 Topps cards with some connection to each series opponent in my series preview posts.

Almost a year ago to the day, I posted a comprehensive list of cards from the 1979 Topps set that somehow had a Phillies connection.  This post will serve to do the same with the 1973 Topps set, and it will give me an excuse to show off some cards from teams the Phillies did not face during the 2013 season.

There are 112 (out of 726) cards in the 1979 Topps set with Phillies connections* and I've determined the 1973 Topps set has 107 (out of 660) cards with Phillies connections.

*My original post tallied 111 cards in the 1979 Topps set with Phillies connections, but when the team named Steve Henderson its new hitting coach last October, the number jumped up one to 112.

National League East (41 - 10 without Phillies)
Atlanta Braves (5) - #72 Ron Reed, #169 Ron Schueler, #237 Lew Burdette/Ken Silvestri CO, #550 Davey Johnson, #653 Joe Hoerner
Miami Marlins (0)
New York Mets (4) - #30 Tug McGraw, #184 Jerry Koosman, #223 Bud Harrelson, #525 Jim Fregosi
Philadelphia Phillies (31)
Washington Nationals (Montreal Expos) (1) - #377 Gene Mauch MG

National League Central (24)
Chicago Cubs (2) - #180 Fergie Jenkins, #393 Jose Cardenal
Cincinnati Reds (9) - #28 Hal McRae, #52 Denis Menke, #130 Pete Rose, #202 Pete Rose NLCS, #208 Bobby Tolan/Denis Menke NLCS, #230 Joe Morgan, #275 Tony Perez, #296 Sparky Anderson MG, #335 Bobby Tolan
Milwaukee Brewers (7) - #71 Johnny Briggs, #74 Billy Champion, #332 John Felske, #386 Don Money, #451 John Vukovich, #526 Ollie Brown, #646 Harvey Kuenn CO
Pittsburgh Pirates (3) - #2 Rich Hebner, #225 Al Oliver, #397 Dave Cash
St. Louis Cardinals (3) - #128 Ted Sizemore, #269 Tim McCarver, #364 Rick Wise

National League West (10)
Arizona Diamondbacks (0)
Colorado Rockies (0)
Los Angeles Dodgers (3) - #239 Pete Richert, #490 Claude Osteen, #609 Davey Lopes RS
San Diego Padres (4) - #12 Johnny Podres/Bob Skinner CO, #57 Derrel Thomas, #133 Dave Roberts, #542 Pat Corrales
San Francisco Giants (3) - #121 Dave Rader, #322 Garry Maddox, #606 Gary Matthews RS

1973 Topps #9, #20, #301 and #362

American League East (9)
Baltimore Orioles (3) - #9 Johnny Oates, #362 Eddie Watt, #396 Grant Jackson
Boston Red Sox (1) - #317 Danny Cater
New York Yankees (5) - #68 Sparky Lyle LL, #116 Jim Hegan CO, #394 Sparky Lyle, #479 Hal Lanier, #535 Johnny Callison
Tampa Bay Rays (0)
Toronto Blue Jays (0)

American League Central (18)
Chicago White Sox (6) - #20 Stan Bahnsen, #62 Dick Allen LL, #63 Dick Allen LL, #310 Dick Allen, #356 Joe Lonnett CO, #379 Cy Acosta
Cleveland Indians (4) - #247 Del Unser, #272 Ed Farmer, #372 Oscar Gamble, #425 Alex Johnson
Detroit Tigers (3) - #29 Tony Taylor, #146 Woodie Fryman, #369 Lerrin LaGrow
Kansas City Royals (3) - #188 Cookie Rojas, #428 Wayne Simpson, #593 Galen Cisco CO
Minnesota Twins (2) - #530 Jim Kaat, #622 Larry Hisle

American League West (5)
Houston Astros (2) - #242 George Culver, #572 Gary Sutherland
Los Angeles Angels (1) - #301 Billy Grabarkewitz
Oakland Athletics (1) - #274 Darold Knowles
Seattle Mariners (0)
Texas Rangers (1) - #138 Horacio Pina

1973 Topps #12, #208 and #606

Memory Lane

1979 Topps - 111 cards with Phillies connections, plus one more

1976 SSPC Phillies - Part One

If you've been following along with The Shlabotnik Report, and you should be, you know there was a recent report of a 1,200-card haul of wonderful 1976 SSPC cards.  I hadn't planned on featuring the 1976 SSPC Phillies team set during Gallery Week, but his posts on the set inspired me to dig out my 1970s Phillies binder and take in the glory of these little known cards once again.  (I hope this doesn't steal TSR's thunder for any future posts.)

Jim Kaat is a member of the White Sox on the front of his card, but the back of his card lists him as a Phillie and mentions his acquisition on December 10, 1975.

#136 Jim Kaat

#456 Joe Hoerner

#457 Tug McGraw

#458 Gene Garber

#459 Steve Carlton

#460 Larry Christenson

#461 Tom Underwood

#462 Jim Lonborg

#463 Jay Johnstone

#464 Larry Bowa

#465 Dave Cash

#466 Ollie Brown

#467 Greg Luzinski

#468 Johnny Oates

#469 Mike Anderson

Dodgers at Phillies: June 4th to June 7th

Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 7:05, Thursday 1:05

Dodgers 33-21, 1st Place in the N.L. West, 3 games ahead of the Giants
Phillies 28-27, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 3 1/2 games behind the Nationals and Marlins

Dodgers Probables:  Clayton Kershaw (4-3, 2.42), Chad Billingsley (2-4, 4.09), Chris Capuano (7-2, 2.50), Aaron Harang (4-3, 3.90)
Phillies Probables:  Vance Worley (3-2, 3.07), Cliff Lee (0-2, 3.00), Kyle Kendrick (2-4, 4.02), Cole Hamels (8-2, 2.81)

At the Ballpark:  If there's one give-away I wish I could score this season, it's tonight's as all fans will receive a Cliff Lee bobble head.  Off to eBay I go!

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Carlos Ruiz - .371

Runs:  Hunter Pence - 40

Home Runs:  Hunter Pence - 13 

RBIs:  Hunter Pence - 34

Stolen Bases:  Shane Victorino - 13

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 8

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.81

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 80

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 15

Interestingly enough, the stats on the Phillies website have Ruiz not qualifying with enough plate appearances to lead the team in batting average.  It lists Placido Polanco (.289 in 180 at-bats) as the team leader.

1979 Topps #104 and #297

1979 Topps Flashback:  Today's flashback features another duo traded for one another.  On December 20, 1976, the Phillies shipped catcher Johnny Oates and a player to be named later (Quency Hill) to the Dodgers for infielder Ted Sizemore.

Oates served as Bob Boone's primary back-up behind the plate during the 1975 season, and he was the team's third-string catcher (behind Tim McCarver) during the 1976 season.  His playing time in 1976 was limited due to a broken collar bone suffered during the first game of the season in a home plate collision with Dave Parker.  

He played in a total of 127 games with the Phillies, hitting .277 with one home run.  He continued his back-up role with the Dodgers from 1977 through 1979, appearing in both the 1977 and 1978 World Series against the Yankees.  Oates found greater success as a manager, being named the 1996 American League Manager of the Year after guiding the Orioles to a division title.  Sadly, Oates passed away on Christmas Eve 2004 after bravely battling brain cancer.

Sizemore started his 12-year career with the Dodgers in 1969, winning the National League Rookie of the Year award.  Following the 1970 season, he was traded to the Cardinals (for Dick Allen) where he spent five seasons before coming back to the Dodgers for the 1976 season.  He served as the Phillies primary second baseman in 1977 and 1978 before getting shipped to the Cubs as part of the blockbuster deal that netted Manny Trillo for the Phils.  In his two years with the club, Sizemore hit .256 in 260 games.  The highlight of his time in Philly is perhaps his .385 average in the 1978 N.L.C.S. against the Dodgers.

1975 Topps Phillies

1975 Topps #630, #70, #22 and #420

I crossed the threshold from "kid with a nice collection of baseball cards" to "baseball card collector" the day my Dad bought me the George Brett rookie card.  It was the early '80s, and we had stumbled into a baseball card show at a local mall.  My Dad paid a ridiculous price for the card - I think it was $12 - and it was at that moment I realized we were baseball card collectors.  To own a card of that magnitude was unheard of at the time in my circle of boyhood collecting friends, as the oldest cards we possessed at that point were from the 1979 Burger King set.  Once my Dad added that Brett card to my collection, there was no looking back.

1975 Topps #70 (Back)

The Set
Number of cards in the set:  For the third straight year, Topps went with the now-standard 660 cards.  The company also released a test issue of mini cards, replicating the same 660 cards as the standard set, just shrunken down a bit.

My very brief thoughts on the set:  If not for the 1956 Topps set, this would be my favorite set.  It's got a great design, great cards, and I collected the whole thing with my Dad - just like the '56 set.  Also, it's far out, man.

Notable competition:  Hostess started including cards on its snack cake boxes and Kellogg's once again included cards within its boxes of cereal.  The Hostess set is notable for containing Tug McGraw's first baseball card as a Phillie.

1975 Phillies

Record and finish:  The Phillies finished above .500 for the first time since 1967 with a record of 86-76.  They finished in second place in the division, 6 1/2 games behind the Pirates.

Key players:  Greg Luzinski led the offense with an even .300 average, 34 home runs and 120 RBIs.  Mike Schmidt wasn't far behind with his 38 home runs and 95 RBIs, although he hit only .249.  Middle infielders Larry Bowa and Dave Cash both hit .305 while Jay Johnstone and Ollie Brown split time in right and both hit over .300.  Steve Carlton (15-14, 3.56 ERA, 192 strikeouts) again anchored the pitching staff, followed by Tom Underwood (14-13) and Larry Christenson (11-6).

Key events:  General manager Paul Owens was busy wheeling and dealing.  He acquired reliever McGraw from the Mets in December 1974, sending Del Unser to New York.  He swapped center fielders with the Giants in May, shipping out Willie Montanez, and bringing in Garry Maddox.  And Dick Allen came back to his original team when he was obtained from the Braves with catcher Johnny Oates.

1975 Topps #351, #242, #596 and #574

1975 Phillies in 1975 Topps

Cards needed for a complete team set: There are only 27 Phillies cards in a 1975 Topps team set.  We're up to 179 Topps Phillies cards from 1970-1975 and 647 Topps Phillies cards from 1951-1975.

Who’s in:

• Cards of the eight starting position players - 6 cards

#351 Bob Boone (c), #22 Dave Cash (2b), #420 Larry Bowa (ss), #70 Mike Schmidt (3b), #630 Greg Luzinski (lf), #242 Jay Johnstone (rf)

The regular first baseman (Allen) and center fielder (Maddox) are in the set, but they're featured on other teams.

1975 Topps #185, #551, #94 and #326

• Cards of the starting pitching rotation - 4 cards

#185 Steve Carlton, #551 Larry Christenson, #94 Jim Lonborg, #326 Wayne Twitchell

Underwood is featured on a multi-player "Rookie" card.

• Base cards of other players who played with the Phillies in 1975 - 9 cards

#118 Mike Anderson, #162 Willie Montanez, #267 Dick Ruthven, #292 Ron Schueler, #399 Terry Harmon, #444 Gene Garber, #477 Tom Hutton, #574 Tony Taylor, #596 Ollie Brown

• Phillies appearing on multi-player "Rookie" cards - 1 card

#615 Tom Underwood with Pat Darcy (Reds), Dennis Leonard (Royals) and Hank Webb (Mets)

• Base cards of players who didn't play with the Phillies in 1975 - 4 cards

#138 Del Unser, #374 Eddie Watt, #501 Bill Robinson, #527 Mac Scarce

• League Leaders cards - 2 cards

#307 Home Run Leaders - Mike Schmidt with Dick Allen (White Sox), #312 Strikeout Leaders - Steve Carlton with Nolan Ryan (Angels)

• Team card with manager - 1 card, #46 with Danny Ozark

1975 Topps #46

Who’s out:  Jerry Martin didn't receive a card, despite appearing in 57 games with the '75 Phillies.

Phillies on other teams:  There are a whopping 10 cards of players who played with the Phillies in 1975, but appeared in the set with other teams - #67 Tug McGraw (Mets), #182 Don Hahn (Mets), #240 Garry Maddox (Giants), #319 Johnny Oates (Braves), #377 Tom Hilgendorf (Indians), #400 Dick Allen (White Sox), #405 John Montague (Expos), #586 Tim McCarver (Red Sox), #629 Joe Hoerner (Royals) and #634 Cy Acosta (White Sox)

What’s he doing here:  It's hard to argue with any of the players selected for the Phillies team set.  Given the entire set was issued at once, Topps no longer had the opportunity to include players who changed teams in the off-season with their new teams in a higher series.

Cards that never were candidates:  There's quite a few good candidates.  I'd make Phillies cards for Allen, Maddox, Oates, McGraw and perhaps Martin.  Underwood should have his own card.  (I've already made a card for Maddox, and there's a great card for Allen over at the Dick Allen Hall of Fame blog.)

Favorite Phillies card:  I'll pick Lefty's card, but it's not an easy choice.  I've always loved the Jay Johnstone card too - baby blue road unis, slanted background and a smiling Johnstone.

1975 Topps #400, #240, #67 and #319

Other Stuff

Recycled:  Upper Deck borrowed heavily from the design for an O-Pee-Chee insert set in 2009 and this was the design I used for the very first Chachi set back in 2005.  There's also a great looking card of Luzinski in the 2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites set, which uses the 1975 Topps design but features a picture of Bull with The Vet's multi-colored seats in the background.  Finally, Upper Deck tried the multi-color approach for its 2001 Decade 1970's set, and I discussed my disappointment with that set here.

Blogs/Websites:  You need to check out Night Owl's 1975 Topps blog, as it's one of the best set blogs out there.  Unfortunately, as of this writing, he has only 58 more cards to go in the set.

Did You Know?:  Here's the break-down of the different color combinations used for the 1975 Topps Phillies cards - Green-yellow (4), Purple-pink (3), Red-orange (3), Yellow-light blue (3), Yellow-red (3), Blue-orange (2), Brown-tan (2), Orange-yellow (2), Pink-yellow (2), Green-light green (1), Green-purple (1), Orange-brown (1).  I would have sworn there were more purple-pink Phillies cards than just three.