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

Another Wonderful Christmas: Diamond Stars, Phillies Yearbooks and Vintage Cards

As has become tradition, we spend the day after Christmas at my Mom's house with my sister and her family.  The day is filled with food, way too many presents and a steady stream of laughter.  This year was no different and there were a few different times I was literally out of breath as I was laughing too hard.  In between the food and the laugher and handing out presents, I sat down to open my presents from my Mom and as is also tradition, the gifts were spectacular.  The baseball card/Phillies portion of this year's gifts consisted of the following:

• 1963 and 1979 Phillies Yearbooks - The 1963 Yearbook is new to my collection, and the 1979 is a much-needed upgrade from the original version obtained during my first ever Phillies game.
• 1953 Bowman Black & White - I needed two more cards to complete my Phillies team set and Mom added them both, #35 Johnny Wyrostek and #64 Andy Hansen.  I'm now the happy owner of a full run of Bowman Phillies cards, with the sole and notable exception of the Richie Ashburn rookie card from the 1949 Bowman set.
• 1956 Topps - To wrap up my Phillies team set from this iconic release, and essentially the second time I've collected these cards, the last five cards I needed were added.  There were two Phillies cards, #180 Robin Roberts and #334 Bob Miller, and three cards of players on other teams who played with the Phillies during the 1956 season, #3 Elmer Valo, #77 Harvey Haddix and #293 Stu Miller.
• 1934-36 Diamond Stars - Finally, two cards were added to my growing 1934-36 Diamond Stars set, and I'll cover both of those with separate posts over on my blog for that set.  I think the coolest, and most unexpected, gift was an original yellow wrapper from the set.  I've seen pictures of these, and I know this is one of three colors available, but I've never actually held one and now it will make an excellent top page within my set's binder.

My Mom puts so much thought and care into her Christmas presents for all of us, and she once again outdid herself this year!  I hope Santa brought plenty of new baseball cards for your collection this holiday season and here's to a wonderful, hopeful and healthy 2022!

1956 Topps - 1st Series Phillies Alumni

Similar to what I did recently with the 1965 Topps set and the Phillies Alumni within that set's first series, I wanted to post a gallery of the Phillies within the first 100 cards of the 1956 Topps set.  You can follow along as I document each card in the iconic 1956 Topps set here, and clicking on the links below each card will take you to that player's post.

#3

#7

#9

#17

#24

#46

#48

#49

#58

#60

#63

#67

#71

#75

#77

#78

#80

#81

1989 Pacific Legends II #187 Elmer Valo

My new 1956 Topps blog is up to three posts at this point, which means the latest post is covering card #3 in the 1956 Topps set - Elmer Valo.  Please check it out, leave a comment and tell your friends!

I'll be doing some cross-posting whenever a former Phillies player is featured on the 1956 Topps blog.

At 35 years old, Valo was released by the Athletics on May 21, 1956, and signed the next day with the Phillies.  He'd spend the entire season with the Phillies serving as one of the team's regular outfielders in right alongside Richie Ashburn in center and Del Ennis in left.  In 98 games with the Phillies, Valo hit .289 with 5 home runs and 37 RBIs.

In April 1957, Valo was part of a six-player trade with the Dodgers ending his short time back in Philadelphia.  He'd return one more time to the Phillies in June 1961, appearing in 50 games and hitting .186 (8 for 43) before calling it a career.  Valo served as a scout for the Phils between 1969 and 1982 and served for several of those years as a special instructor at spring training in Clearwater.

Valo entered the Athletics portion of the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1995, being inducted alongside Mike Schmidt.  He has two Phillies baseball cards that I'm aware of - 1957 Topps #54 and 1989 Pacific Legends II #187.

1957 Topps Phillies

1957 Topps #54, #91, #224, #231

I've always viewed the 1957 Topps set as a bit of a let-down following the iconic 1956 Topps baseball card set. In short, and this is only my personal opinion, I think the '57 Topps cards are dull. The colors are washed out and there's really no vibrancy to the set. But I wonder what I would have thought upon first seeing these cards in the summer of 57? First off, the size of the cards is smaller than the Topps cards from 1951 through 1956. Would that have ticked me off? I probably would have had my older Topps cards stored in a shoe box, held together with rubber bands, and the smaller '57 Topps cards would have looked out of place within the box. But would I have liked the full color pictures on the front? I’ve read dozens of blog posts over the past few weeks critiquing and analyzing the 2011 Topps set. What did young collectors think back in the spring of 1957 when they opened their first packs of '57 Topps baseball cards?

The Set
Number of cards in the set:  Mirroring the number of cards in the '52 Topps set, there are 407 cards in the complete set.  If you include the mega rare four unnumbered checklists, it's a 411-card complete set.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  Meh.  It introduced the now standard baseball card size of 2 1/2" by 3 1/2", but it's still a let-down after the classic '56 Topps set.
Notable competition:  Just a few regional and food issued sets were around to compete with Topps.

1957 Topps #15

1957 Phillies
Record and finish:  The team finished at an even 77-77, in 5th place in the National League behind the pennant winning Milwaukee Braves.
Key players:  First baseman Ed Bouchee hit .293 with 17 home runs and 76 RBIs.  He shared the rookie spotlight with Jack Sanford who went 19-8 with a 3.08 ERA while leading the league in strikeouts (188).  Sanford bested Bouchee for National League Rookie of the Year honors.  Fellow rookie Harry Anderson shined as the team's regular left fielder, hitting .268 with 17 home runs.  Rip Repulski led the team in home runs with 20, and Richie Ashburn once again led the team with a .297 average.
Key events:  Following the '56 season, slugger Del Ennis was traded to the Cardinals for Bobby Morgan and Repulski.  The Phillies Encyclopedia summarizes the 1957 season for the Phils as a rebuilding year, noting that "1957 became the year of the Phillies' youth movement."  The team found themselves in first place as late as July, but a 9-19 slump in August erased any hopes of a Postseason.  It didn't help that Robin Roberts lost 22 of his 32 starts, in one of the worst years of his career.

1957 Phillies in 1957 Topps

1957 Topps #15 (Back)

Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 27 Phillies cards in the set, topping the 21 cards found in the '56 set in the prior year.  We're up to 108 total Phillies cards in the run of Topps sets starting in 1951.
Who’s in:  Everybody.  Even though I'm not a huge fan of this set, this set represents the first time Topps didn't leave any Phillies behind.  The eight starters are featured, six bench guys made the cut, the five pitchers in the starting rotation are in, along with four relievers.  Rounding out the team set are a team card, catcher Mack Burk who played with the Phillies in '56 and '58 and two guys traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers the week before the season started - Elmer Valo and Ron Negray.  One of the guys acquired from the Dodgers in the trade, Chico Fernandez, appeared as a Phillie in a later series in the set.
Who’s out:  Reliever Seth Morehead appeared in 34 games for the team, but he wasn't featured in the set.  Andy Seminick played in 8 games before calling it a career.  It would have been nice to have had one more card of the long-time Phillies catcher.
Phillies on other teams:  Chuck Harmon (#299) was acquired from the Cardinals for Glen Gorbous in May.  Reliever Warren Hacker (#370) was selected off waivers from the Reds in June.  And Ron Northey (#31) was signed in July after being released by the White Sox.
What’s he doing here:  I can't really argue with any of the player selection within the team set.  Saul Rogovin got a card in the set, but only pitched in four games for the '57 Phils.
Cards that never were candidates:  Morehead and Seminick.
Favorite Phillies card:  I don't own many '57 Topps Phillies cards (yet), but I've always liked the Valo card with the new-fangled television camera in the background.

2006 Topps Heritage #326, #164, #211, #471

Other Stuff
Recycled:  Topps used the '57 Topps design for its 2006 Topps Heritage set, my least favorite Heritage set to date.
Blogs/Websites:  I am very much against the encasing of baseball cards within plastic crypts, but I thought this was a good overall article summarizing the set.  It's a little more favorable in its review of the set than I was.
Did You Know?:  Del Ennis enjoyed another solid season in 1957, his first with the Cardinals, hitting .286 with 24 home runs and 105 RBIs.  His production dropped significantly in 1958, and he was traded after that season to the Reds.  Part way through the '59 campaign, Ennis was shipped to the White Sox where he appeared in just 26 games before being let go in June.  Thus ended the 14-year career of one of my Dad's favorite Phillies.

1956 Topps #PR3 Elmer Valo

Elmer Valo was the Phillies' starting right fielder in 1956, hitting .289 in 90 games. Elmer is probably best known in Philadelphia for his long tenure with the Philadelphia Athletics, from 1940 to 1954. He missed the 1944 and 1945 seasons while serving his country in World War II.

Elmer finished his career with the Phillies in 1961, and served as a scout for the Phils from 1969 until 1982. The Phillies elected him to the Athletics' portion of their Wall of Fame in 1990.

Did You Know?: Elmer played on three franchises which relocated while he was on the team - the Philadelphia/Kansas City Athletics (1954/1955), the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1957/1958), and the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins (1960/1961).

(From the Baseball Reference Bullpen).