2006 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  43
Card Size:  4" x 6"
Description:  The Phillies moved back to a simplified design with their 2006 team-issued set, with the fronts featuring full color photos and a white block design in one of the top corners.  The horizontal card backs once again feature biographical information and complete career statistics.

How Distributed:  The original 37-card, first version of this set was available for sale at Citizens Bank Park throughout at least the first month of the season.  At some point after the season was underway, and perhaps even as early as mid-May, four player cards were added, and for some reason the cards of coaches Mick Billmeyer and Milt Thompson were re-issued with different photos.  The cards of Tomas Perez, Ricardo Rodriguez and Robinson Tejada were removed from the second version of the set.  Rodriguez was released on March 29th, Tejada was traded to the Rangers on April 1st for David Dellucci and Perez was released on April 2nd.

The second version of the set was advertised with a sticker displayed prominently on the front of the packaging (see below).  Three of the four players added were on the team's opening day roster - Dellucci, Gavin Floyd and Geoff Geary.  Top prospect Cole Hamels was the fourth player added, and he was recalled from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on May 12th.  As the photo used for Hamels' card was taken during spring training, the Phillies could have rushed an updated version of the set to be ready for Hamels' debut or at least shortly thereafter.

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

1. Bobby Abreu (#53)          2. David Bell (#25) 3. Mick Billmeyer CO (#17)           4. Marc Bombard CO (#7) 5. Eude Brito (#58) 6. Pat Burrell (#5) 7. Rheal Cormier (#37) 8. Bill Dancy CO (#16) 9. Rich Dubee CO (#28) 10. Sal Fasano (#13) 11. Ryan Franklin (#23)  12. Aaron Fultz (#46) 13. Alex Gonzalez (#8)

14. Tom Gordon (#45) 15. Ramon Henderson CO (#31)           16. Ryan Howard (#6) 17. Cory Lidle (#30)        18. Jon Lieber (#21) 19. Mike Lieberthal (#24) 20. Ryan Madson (#63) 21. Charlie Manuel MG (#41) 22. Brett Myers (#39) 23. Abraham Nunez (#3) 24. Tomas Perez (#9) 25. Arthur Rhodes (#22)

26. Ricardo Rodriguez (#47) 27. Jimmy Rollins (#11)  28. Aaron Rowand (#33)          29. Julio Santana (#44) 30. Robinson Tejada (#50) 31. Milt Thompson CO (#15)           32. Chase Utley (#26) 33. Gary Varsho CO (#19) 34. Shane Victorino (#18) 35. Randy Wolf (#43) 36. Phillie Phanatic 37. Phillies Broadcasters

Complete Update Checklist, 2nd Version:  

1. Mick Billmeyer CO (#17) - In the dugout    2. David Dellucci (#2)

3. Gavin Floyd (#34) 4. Geoff Geary (#56)

5. Cole Hamels (#35)           6. Milt Thompson CO (#15) - Watching BP

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (1):  Rodriguez

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (14):  Brito, Dellucci, Fasano, Franklin, Geary, Gonzalez, Hamels, Howard, Nunez, Rhodes, Rowand, Santana, Tejada, Victorino
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (16):  Abreu, Bell, Burrell, Cormier, Floyd, Fultz, Gordon, Lidle, Lieber, Lieberthal, Madson, Myers, Perez, Rollins, Utley, Wolf

Manager (1):  Manuel
Coaches (7):  Billmeyer (2), Bombard, Dancy, Dubee, Henderson, Thompson (2), Varsho
Phillie Phanatic (1)
Broadcasters (1):  The set contains the highly coveted Scott Franzke rookie card.  Franzke is featured along with fellow broadcasters Scott Graham, Chris Wheeler, Larry Andersen and Harry Kalas.

Version 1

Version 2

Version 1

Version 2

Surprises:  The Phillies made a flurry of roster moves before opening day, so the creator of this set's checklist can be forgiven for opting to include Rodriguez (who never played a game for the Phillies) Perez and Tejada and missing out on Dellucci, Floyd and Geary.

Omissions:  There are a few omissions here, although none are egregious.  Reliever Chris Booker started the season on the disabled list and was claimed off waivers by the Royals on May 10th.  There are a number of players who were seeing regular time with the club prior to the All-Star Break.  Catchers Carlos Ruiz and Chris Coste were both recalled at various points over the first few months of the season due to injuries to Mike Lieberthal and Sal Fasano.  Relievers Clay Condrey and Brian Sanches were up and down a few times as was outfielder Chris Roberson.  Rick White was claimed off waivers from the Reds on June 23rd.

The annual ALS Phillies Phestival was held on May 22nd.  The only players on the active 25-man roster on that date without photo cards are Coste, Roberson and Ruiz.  The Phillies acquired veterans Jamie Moyer, Jose Hernandez and Jeff Conine in August for an improbable pennant run, so there were plenty of options had the team decided to issue an update set.

Variations/Rarities:  Fellow collector Rick clued me in to cards being available with black facsimile autographs for four of the team's stars.

Facsimile Autographs        1. Pat Burrell (#5) 2. Ryan Howard (#6) 3. Mike Lieberthal (#24) 4. Jimmy Rollins (#11) Also See:  The Phillies gave away a set of Wall of Fame postcards on August 11th featuring cards of the 29 Wall of Famers, up through the 2006 induction of Dallas Green.  On Fan Appreciation Day, September 24th, the Phillies handed out a Topps team card pack containing 27 cards with yellow ink replacing the normal foil found on regular 2006 Topps cards.  There's a nice entry for the set over at 14,000 Phillies.

Resources:  Phillies collectors Steve and Rick (@rickphils).

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

2005 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards / 2007 Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

2000-Present Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page

2006 Phillies Team Issue

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

 
Number of Cards:  43
Card Size:  4" x 6"
Description:  The Phillies moved back to a simplified design with their 2006 team issued set, with the fronts featuring full color photos and a white block design in one of the top corners.  The horizontal card backs once again feature biographical information and complete career statistics.

How Distributed:  The original 37-card set was available for sale at Citizens Bank Park throughout the first half of the season.  At some point in the second half of the season, six new cards were added, and the cards of Perez, Rodriguez and Tejada were removed.

In summary, a 37-card set was available at the start of the season and a 38-card set was available at some point during the second half of the season.  To have a "complete" set, there are 43 different cards needed.

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

3 - Abraham Nunez 5 - Pat Burrell 6 - Ryan Howard 7 - Marc Bombard CO 8 - Alex Gonzalez 9 - Tomas Perez 11 - Jimmy Rollins 13 - Sal Fasano 15 - Milt Thompson CO 16 - Bill Dancy CO 17 - Mick Billmeyer CO 18 - Shane Victorino 19 - Gary Varsho CO 21 - Jon Lieber 22 - Arthur Rhodes 23 - Ryan Franklin 24 - Mike Lieberthal 25 - David Bell 26 - Chase Utley

28 - Rich Dubee CO 30 - Cory Lidle 31 - Ramon Henderson CO 33 - Aaron Rowand 37 - Rheal Cormier 39 - Brett Myers 41 - Charlie Manuel MG 43 - Randy Wolf 44 - Julio Santana 45 - Tom Gordon 46 - Aaron Fultz 47 - Ricardo Rodriguez 50 - Robinson Tejada 53 - Bobby Abreu 58 - Eude Brito 63 - Ryan Madson Phillie Phanatic Phillies Broadcasters

Complete Update Checklist (6):

2 - David Dellucci 15 - Milt Thompson CO (watching BP) 17 - Mick Billmeyer CO (posed photo)

34 - Gavin Floyd 35 - Cole Hamels 56 - Geoff Geary

One and Done (1):  Rodriguez
First Appearances (14):  Brito, Dellucci, Fasano, Franklin, Geary, Gonzalez, Hamels, Howard, Nunez, Rhodes, Rowand, Santana, Tejada, Victorino
Returning Players (16):  Abreu, Bell, Burrell, Cormier, Floyd, Fultz, Gordon, Lidle, Lieber, Lieberthal, Madson, Myers, Perez, Rollins, Utley, Wolf

Rodriguez never suited up with the Phillies.  He was acquired from the Rangers in December 2005 (for Vicente Padilla) and released at the very end of spring training 2006.

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.  Gonzalez appears as a Phillie in name only on his 2006 Fleer and Upper Deck cards.  He's wearing a Rays uniform on those cards, making the card found in this set his sole Phillies card on which he's actually wearing a Phillies uniform.

Manager (1):  Manuel
Coaches (9):  Billmeyer (two versions), Bombard, Dancy, Dubee, Henderson, Thompson (two versions), Varsho
Phillie Phanatic (1)
Broadcasters (1):  The set contains the much coveted Scott Franzke rookie card.  Franzke is featured along with fellow broadcasters Scott Graham, Chris Wheeler, Larry Andersen and Harry Kalas.
Commemorative Cards (0)

Variations/Rarities:  As Rick points out in his comment below, cards with black facsimile autographs can be found for Burrell, Howard, Lieberthal and Rollins.

Also See:  The Phillies issued a set of Wall of Fame postcards on August 11th featuring cards of the 29 Wall of Famers.  I'd eventually like to put together a post on this set.  On Fan Appreciation Day (September 24th), the Phillies handed out a Topps team card pack containing 27 cards with yellow ink replacing the normal foil found on regular 2006 Topps cards.  There's a nice entry for the set over at 14,000 Phillies.
Trivia:  Beckett.com lists the set as "2006 Phillies Postcards" and its checklist contains 38 cards, omitting the cards for Perez, Rodriguez and Tejada.  This is the version of the set that was available later in the season at Citizens Bank Park.
Resources:  Beckett.com; Phillies collectors Steve F. and Rick (@rickphils)