Phillies at Marlins - May 10th to May 12th

1984 Topps Traded #130T

2019 Topps 1984 Topps Baseball 35th Anniversary #T84-10

Friday 7:10, Saturday 4:10 and Sunday 1:40
loanDepot park - Miami, FL

At the Ballpark:  There are a bunch of theme tickets available for Friday's and Saturday's games.  On Sunday, the first 3,500 fans will receive a Marlins Mother's Day clutch purse.

Philadelphia Phillies 26-12
1st Place in the N.L. East, 2 games ahead of the Braves

Phillies Probables
Ranger Suarez (6-0, 1.72)
Taijuan Walker (2-0, 6.39)
Zack Wheeler (4-3, 1.64)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Alec Bohm - .346
Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 30
Home Runs:  Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber - 9
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 32
Stolen Bases:  Trea Turner - 10

Wins:  Ranger Suarez - 6
ERA:  Zack Wheeler - 1.64
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 63
Saves:  Jose Alvarado - 7

Miami Marlins 10-29
5th Place in the N.L. East, 16 1/2 games behind the Phillies

Marlins Probables
Trevor Rogers (0-5, 6.15)
TBD
Braxton Garrett (0-0, 0.00)

Marlins Leaders
Average:  Luis Arraez - .299
Runs:  Luis Arraez and Bryan De La Cruz - 22
Home Runs:  Bryan De La Cruz - 8
RBIs:  Bryan De La Cruz - 21
Stolen Bases:  Jazz Chisolm - 8

Wins:  Three tied with - 2
ERA:  Ryan Weathers - 4.54

Strikeouts:  Ryan Weathers - 34
Saves:  Tanner Scott - 4

2024 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2024 Season Summary Index / 2024 Chachi Set Checklist

1984 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards

Number of Cards:  47
Card Size:  3 1/2" x 5 1/4"

Description:  The 1984 Tastykake photo card set got a little more ambitious than its predecessor by adding cards for all the coaches and a broadcaster card.  The fronts are nearly identical to the 1983 set, with the exception of the Phillies script logo added to the top.  The photographer also requested that everyone remove their hats for this set, which was unfortunate for some of the subjects and is reminiscent of the 1976 team-issued photo card set.  The backs of the cards feature a facsimile autograph of the player, coach or manager, and some of the cards include words of encouragement.

I really wish the Phillies had chosen, "Wherever you go, there you are" for the back of Larry Andersen's card.

How Distributed:  All fans 14 and under attending the Phillies game at Veterans Stadium on April 21, 1984, received a complete 40-card set, shrink-wrapped and containing a logo/checklist card on the top.  The back of the logo/checklist card advertised that additional sets could be purchased from the Phillies via mail order for $3.

There are also 7 somewhat rare "update" cards available, and by all accounts at least three of these cards were never released to the general public, at least not in very large quantities.  Here's a verbatim report from a reliable hobby source on the origins of these 7 cards:

"That set was a mess from day 1.  We obtained some uncut sheets from the printer right off the bat.  When the team started selling the shrink wrapped sets, we found that the seven players on one side of the sheets were not included.  I called a friend in the PR dept and asked him what was going on.  He was upset that we’d obtained the sheets and explained that they knew that prospects would be called up from the minors during the season and wanted to avoid making special print runs in order to have pictures for them.  So they picked 7 prominent players and filled out the sheet with their pictures.  When I spoke to him, all the cut cards were in stacks in a back store room.  He was concerned that, if word got out as to which 7 they picked, other players would be upset at not having been included.  As the season went on, I believe that they pulled and used the pictures for Carman, Russell, Stone and Wehrmeister but not for Daulton, Fireovid and Jeltz.  In speaking with the PR guy at the end of the season, he asked what I thought he should do with the supplies of the last three.  I told him I’d deep-six them as they hadn’t been “issued”.  They [the Phillies] ended up selling a bunch of the entire run to a dealer up around, I think, Wilkes Barre.  I believe he sold them as separate “extension” sets for a while."

Fellow collector Steve sent me the scan of the uncut sheet shown here, showing the 7 "update" cards in the far right column.  I'm calling these update cards, but they could just as easily be labelled as unreleased rarities.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here based  on the numbered checklist found on the back of the header card): 

1. Header Card / Checklist 2. Team Photo 3. Phillie Phanatic 4. Veterans Stadium 5. Steve Carlton - Future HOF 6. Mike Schmidt - Future HOF         7. Phillies Broadcasters       8. Paul Owens MG 9. Dave Bristol CO 10. John Felske CO 11. Deron Johnson CO 12. Claude Osteen CO 13. Mike Ryan CO 14. Larry Andersen

15. Marty Bystrom 16. Bill Campbell 17. Steve Carlton 18. John Denny 19. Tony Ghelfi 20. Kevin Gross 21. Al Holland 22. Charles Hudson 23. Jerry Koosman 24. Tug McGraw 25. Bo Diaz 26. Ozzie Virgil 27. John Wockenfuss

28. Luis Aguayo 29. Ivan DeJesus 30. Kiko Garcia 31. Len Matuszek 32. Juan Samuel 33. Mike Schmidt 34. Tim Corcoran 35. Greg Gross 36. Von Hayes 37. Joe Lefebvre 38. Sixto Lezcano 39. Garry Maddox 40. Glenn Wilson

Complete Update Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Don Carman 2. Darren Daulton         3. Steve Fireovid

4. Steve Jeltz 5. John Russell

6. Jeff Stone 7. Dave Wehrmeister

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (2):  Fireovid, Wehrmeister

First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (19):  Andersen, Campbell, Carman, Corcoran, Daulton, Garcia, Ghelfi, K. Gross, Hudson, Jeltz, Koosman, Lefebvre, Lezcano, Matuszek, Russell, Samuel, Stone, Wilson, Wockenfuss
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (12):  Aguayo, Bystrom, Carlton, DeJesus, Denny, Diaz, G. Gross, Hayes, Maddox, McGraw, Schmidt, Virgil

Manager (1):  Owens
Coaches (5):  Bristol, Felske, Johnson, Osteen, Ryan

Phillie Phanatic (1):  Uses the same ATV photo from the 1983 Tastykake set.
Broadcasters (1):  Chris Wheeler, Harry Kalas, Andy Musser and Richie Ashburn.
Commemorative Cards (2):  Carlton and Schmidt get Future Hall of Famer cards.  The back of the Carlton card features a list of all-time victories leaders, while the back of the Schmidt card features a list of all-time home run leaders.
Other Cards (3):  Header/checklist card, team photo and Veterans Stadium.

Surprises:  Knowing what I know now about the genesis of the 7 update cards, the Phillies PR department did a great job of predicting future roster additions.  Only Darren Daulton didn't see playing time with the club in 1984.  The set contains the entire 25-man opening day roster, plus pitcher Tony Ghelfi who started the season on the disabled list and Marty Bystrom who began the season with Triple-A Portland.

Omissions:  Minor leaguers who would ultimately appear with the Phillies in 1984 who could have received consideration for the update set are Francisco Melendez, Mike Lavalliere and Rick Schu.  And for completists, the Phillies added four players from outside their organization throughout the season - Jim Kern, Shane Rawley, Al Oliver and Renie Martin.  Kern and Martin would never receive actual Phillies baseball cards.

Variations/Rarities:  Again, the 7 update cards could easily appear here as they're not technically true update cards and they're not readily available.

Also See:  The Curious Case of Dave Wehrmeister; Memories of 1984 Phillies Photo Day

Resources:  Beckett.com; 14,000 Phillies - Dave Wehrmeister, Worst Phillies Card of All Time; Fellow collectors Steve F., Rick G. and Bill W.

This set was originally featured in a post back in October 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.

1983 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards / 1985 Tastykake Phillies Photo Cards

1980-1999 Phillies Team-Issued Photo Cards Want List / Phillies Team Issued Sets Index Page

1985 Game 49 - 1985 Topps #39 Johnny Wockenfuss

Padres 6, Phillies 5
Game 49 - Late Tuesday Night, June 4th in San Diego
Record - 18-31, Tied for 5th Place, 13 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies battled back in the late innings to take the lead, only to watch the Padres walk off with a win in the ninth on a Kevin McReynolds triple.

What It Means:  It's probably best this game would have been mostly ignored by Phillies fans on the East Coast not willing to stay up late on a Tuesday night to watch their bottom-dwelling team take on the first place Padres.

Given the time of game was exactly three hours, the winning run would have scored at a little past 1am.

What Happened:  The Phillies were trailing 4-3 heading into the eighth inning.  John Denny had exited after 5 2/3 innings, having allowed four runs on nine hits.  A two-run single from Tim Flannery in the sixth gave the Padres the lead and chased Denny from the game.  The Phillies had scored their runs on an RBI-triple from Juan Samuel and an RBI-double from Ozzie Virgil in the first.  Tim Corcoran, getting his first start of the season in right field, added a sacrifice fly in the third.

The Phillies tied the game in the eighth when Juan Samuel started the inning with a double off Padres starter Andy Hawkins.  Rich Gossage relieved Hawkins and surrendered an RBI-triple to Mike Schmidt.  In the ninth, Rick Schu and Glenn Wilson singled to give the Phillies runners at first and third.  Pinch-hitter John Wockenfuss came through with a clutch single off reliever Craig Lefferts to give the Phils the slim 5-4 lead.

Kent Tekulve came on to attempt to close out the game in the ninth, but he allowed a single to Tony Gwynn and walked Graig Nettles.  With two outs, McReynolds hit his game winning triple, handing the Phillies a loss and Tekulve's second blown save with the club.

Featured Card:  Wockenfuss was nearing the end of his 12-year big league career at this point, and the 36-year-old was being used primarily as a bench bat.  He had only six hits in 1985, with this being by far his biggest one.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

1982 Topps - Phillies Cards

1982 Topps #720

1982 Topps Traded #69T

1982 Topps #438

1982 Topps Traded #52T

Each year I sincerely enjoy planning out my Chachi set of custom cards, and I have fun spending the entire year with the design and cards from a vintage Topps set.  I spent a lot of time with the 1982 Topps set and design in 2017, and get ready to see a whole bunch of 1978 Topps cards in 2018.  Before closing the book on the 1982 Topps set, I wanted to tally the number of Phillies and Phillies-related cards in the set, as I've done in prior years with other Topps sets - see below.

By my very unofficial count, there are a whopping 172 cards in the 1982 Topps and 1982 Topps Traded sets featuring players, coaches or managers who at one point suited up for the club.  I attribute the high count to the massive number of trades the Phillies pulled off in the late 1970s/early 1980s.  Here's the complete list and some cards that weren't previously featured this year in series preview or game summary posts.

National League East (63 - 17 without Phillies)
Atlanta Braves (6) - #32 Gene Garber, #296 Bob Walk, #502 Steve Bedrosian FS, #668 Dale Murphy, #733 Larry McWilliams, #4T Steve Bedrosian
Miami Marlins (0)
New York Mets (3) - #399 Pat Zachry, #743 John Stearns, #783 Greg Harris
Philadelphia Phillies (46)
Washington Nationals (Montreal Expos) (8) - #118 Terry Francona/Brad Mills FS, #131 Stan Bahnsen, #292 Dave Palmer, #779 Grant Jackson, #788 Woodie Fryman, #7T Tim Blackwell, #83T Al Oliver, #104T Dan Schatzeder

National League Central (34)
Chicago Cubs (14) - #23 Willie Hernandez, #89 Steve Henderson, #117 Rawley Eastwick, #215 Mike Krukow, #273 Doug Bird, #374 Tim Blackwell, #484 Ivan DeJesus, #10T Larry Bowa, #16T Bill Campbell, #49T Fergie Jenkins, #52T Jay Johnstone, #76T Keith Moreland, #82T Dickie Noles, #92T Mike Proly
Cincinnati Reds (3) - #763 Tom Hume, #41T Greg Harris, #56T Jim Kern
Milwaukee Brewers (4) - #93 Larry Hisle, #466 Randy Lerch, #487 Bob McClure, #709 Don Money
Pittsburgh Pirates (7) - #235 Mike Easler, #332 Don Robinson, #458 Willie Montanez, #485 Kent Tekulve, #543 Bill Robinson, #24T Dick Davis, #77T Jim Morrison
St. Louis Cardinals (6) - #27 Tom Herr, #86 Dane Iorg, #262 Doug Bair, #367 Jim Kaat, #727 Sixto Lezcano, #108T Lonnie Smith

1982 Topps #669

1982 Topps Traded #42T

1982 Topps #629

1982 Topps #27

National League West (19)
Arizona Diamondbacks (0)
Colorado Rockies (0)
Los Angeles Dodgers (11) - #6 Fernando Valenzuela LL, #166 Fernando Valenzuela LL, #213 Dave Stewart, #338 Dave Lopes AS, #345 Fernando Valenzuela AS, #348 Derrel Thomas, #510 Fernando Valenzuela, #681 Ron Roenicke, #740 Dave Lopes, #741 Dave Lopes IA, #774 Jay Johnstone
San Diego Padres (3) - #330 Rick Wise, #434 Joe Lefebvre, #63T Sixto Lezcano
San Francisco Giants (5) - #406 Al Holland, #722 Jerry Martin, #754 Joe Morgan, #755 Joe Morgan IA, #66T Renie Martin

American League East (8)
Baltimore Orioles (0)
Boston Red Sox (3) - #255 Tony Perez, #256 Tony Perez IA, #619 Bill Campbell
New York Yankees (5) - #472 Oscar Gamble, #669 Larry Milbourne, #694 Dave Wehrmeister, #706 Barry Foote, #95T Shane Rawley
Tampa Bay Rays (0)
Toronto Blue Jays (0)

American League Central (29)
Chicago White Sox (9) - #269 Jim Essian, #328 Ed Farmer, #363 Bob Molinaro, #521 Billy Almon, #599 Jay Loviglio FS, #654 Jim Morrison, #714 Jerry Koosman, #720 Greg Luzinski, #721 Greg Luzinski IA
Cleveland Indians (8) - #141 Von Hayes FS, #258 Bo Diaz, #287 Allan Bannister, #601 Sid Monge, #773 John Denny, #42T Von Hayes, #69T Bake McBride, #71T Larry Milbourne
Detroit Tigers (6) - #238 Kevin Saucier, #261 Dave Rucker FS, #535 Lance Parrish, #603 Rich Hebner, #629 Johnny Wockenfuss, #691 Dan Schatzeder
Kansas City Royals (5) - #397 Ken Brett, #594 Renie Martin, #625 Hal McRae, #46T Grant Jackson, #65T Jerry Martin
Minnesota Twins (1) - #438 Pete Mackanin

1982 Topps #706

1982 Topps #238

1982 Topps #603

1982 Topps #258

American League West (19)
Houston Astros (5) - #218 Dave Roberts, #377 Kiko Garcia, #404 Dickie Thon, #539 Vern Ruhle, #698 Tony Scott
Los Angeles Angels (California Angels) (1) - #9T Bob Boone
Oakland Athletics (4) - #29 Dwayne Murphy, #392 Rick Bosetti, #757 Tom Underwood, #64T Dave Lopes
Seattle Mariners (3) - #52 Larry Andersen, #197 Shane Rawley, #31T Jim Essian
Texas Rangers (6) - #16 Steve Comer, #36 Al Oliver TL, #463 Jim Kern, #590 Al Oliver, #591 Al Oliver IA, #624 Fergie Jenkins

Memory Lane

1970 Topps - 114 cards with Phillies connections
1973 Topps - 107 cards with Phillies connections
1979 Topps - 111 cards with Phillies connections, plus one more
1982 Topps - 172 cards with Phillies connections
1985 Topps - 153 cards with Phillies connections
1988 Topps - 154 cards with Phillies connections

Cubs at Phillies: September 10th to September 13th

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

Cubs 80-58, 3rd Place in the N.L. Central, 7 1/2 games behind the Cardinals
Phillies 54-86, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 24 1/2 games behind the Mets

Cubs Probables:  Jake Arrieta (18-6, 2.03), Kyle Hendricks (6-6, 4.08), Dan Haren (9-9, 4.78), Hammel (8-6, 3.59)
Phillies Probables:  Adam Morgan (5-5, 4.42), Alec Asher (0-2, 10.61), Jared Eickhoff (1-3, 4.70), Aaron Harang (5-15, 5.02)

At the Ballpark:  On Friday night, all fans 15 and over will receive a Phillies knit hat.  On Sunday afternoon, all kids receive the Phanatic's latest DVD entitled The Phillie Phanatic's One-Man Band. I'll think I'll just wait for it to come to Netflix.

Cubs Leaders
Average:  Anthony Rizzo - .285
Runs:  Dexter Fowler - 90
Home Runs:  Anthony Rizzo - 29
RBIs:  Anthony Rizzo - 88
Stolen Bases:  Dexter Fowler - 17

Wins:  Jake Arrieta - 18
ERA:  Jake Arrieta - 2.03
Strikeouts:  Jake Arrieta - 197
Saves:  Hector Rondon - 27

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Odubel Herrera - .300
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez and Odubel Herrera - 57
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 21
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 72
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 19+

Wins:  Aaron Nola - 6*
ERA:  Aaron Harang - 5.02*
Strikeouts:  Aaron Harang - 96*
Saves:  Ken Giles - 12^

+Ben Revere, now with the Blue Jays, is the overall team leader with 24 stolen bases.
*Cole Hamels, now with the Rangers, is the overall team leader with 6 wins (tied), 3.64 ERA and 137 strikeouts
^Jonathan Papelbon, now with the Nationals, is the overall team leader with 17 saves.

1985 Topps #98

1985 Topps #39

1985 Topps Appreciation:  When these two teams first met up in July, I featured eight cards of players who appeared with the Cubs in the 1985 Topps set who had previously spent time with the Phillies.  I don't have anything nearly as interesting planned this time around, although two cards of two underrated back-up catchers who spent time with the Phillies is certainly interesting to me.

Any time I get the chance to feature a baseball card of Phillies Room favorite Johnny Wockenfuss, I'm taking it.  And this Steve Lake baseball card contains no clue of the future cardboard greatness Lake, and his exotic pet bird Ruffles, would one day attain.  We had no idea.

1979 Topps - Phillies Cards

1979 Topps #231, #253, #88 and #74

As the 2012 baseball season draws to a close, I'm getting closer to the end of my season-long appreciation of the 1979 Topps set.  Where possible, and when there's been a logical connection, I've featured the 1979 Topps cards of ex, current or future Phillies in my series preview posts.

There were several American League teams the Phillies didn't play against this year, so several worthy 1979 Topps Phillies-related cards didn’t have a chance to be properly featured. For posterity's sake, I decided to showcase some of those cards here and provide the full list of Phillies-related cards within the 1979 Topps set. (Please let me know if I’ve missed any.)

Of the 726 cards in the set, 111 have a Phillies connection, representing a little over 15% of the total set.  The list only includes people who actually played, coached or managed with the Phillies and it does not include those who passed through the Phillies minor league system.  So #243 Buck Martinez (drafted by the Phillies in 1967, but lost to the Royals via the Astros in the 1968 Rule 5 draft), #132 Rowland Office (played for the Phillies Triple-A affiliate in 1982), and several others aren’t included in the tally.

National League East (43 - 18 without Phillies)
Atlanta Braves (4) - #39 Dale Murphy, #85 Gary Matthews, #504 Larry McWilliams, #629 Gene Garber
Miami Marlins (0) - None (obviously)
New York Mets (5) - #305 Willie Montanez, #545 John Stearns, #566 Nino Espinosa, #621 Pat Zachry, #655 Jerry Koosman
Philadelphia Phillies (25)
Washington Nationals (9) (the team formerly known as the Montreal Expos) - #43 Wayne Twitchell, #124 Dan Schatzeder, #269 Woodie Fryman, #395 Dave Cash, #468 Stan Bahnsen, #495 Tony Perez, #581 Darold Knowles, #628 Del Unser, #673 Tom Hutton

National League Central (27)
Chicago Cubs (9) - #398 Ivan DeJesus, #412 Hack Wilson ATRH, #489 Larry Cox, #513 Dave Johnson, #579 Greg Gross, #592 Mike Krukow, #614 Willie Hernandez, #639 Manny Trillo, #693 Dave Rader
Cincinnati Reds (6) - #20 Joe Morgan, #126 Doug Bair, #204 Pete Rose RB, #259 Sparky Anderson MG, #301 Tom Hume, #650 Pete Rose
Houston Astros (1) - #49 Vern Ruhle
Milwaukee Brewers (4) - #180 Larry Hisle, #265 Don Money, #474 Dick Davis, #685 Sixto Lezcano
Pittsburgh Pirates (4) - #117 Grant Jackson, #223 Kent Tekulve, #264 Don Robinson, #637 Bill Robinson
St. Louis Cardinals (3) - #59 John Denny, #111 Roger Freed, #143 Tony Scott

National League West (6)
Arizona Diamondbacks (0)
Colorado Rockies (0)
Los Angeles Dodgers (2) - #104 Johnny Oates, #290 Dave Lopes
San Diego Padres (4) - #263 Oscar Gamble, #342 Dave Roberts, #616 Billy Almon, #679 Derrel Thomas
San Francisco Giants (0)

1979 Topps #199, #365, #61 and #544

American League East (8)
Baltimore Orioles (3) - #37 Joe Kerrigan, #102 Mike Anderson, #543 Kiko Garcia
Boston Red Sox (1) - #375 Bill Campbell
New York Yankees (3) - #365 Sparky Lyle, #558 Jay Johnstone, #626 Bob Lemon MG
Tampa Bay Rays (0)
Toronto Blue Jays (1) - #64 Tom Underwood

American League Central (17)
Chicago White Sox (6) - #88 Bob Molinaro, #134 Alan Bannister, #169 Bill Nahorodny, #514 Mike Proly, #527 Lerrin LaGrow, #686 Ron Schueler
Cleveland Indians (4) - #61 Bo Diaz, #253 Rick Wise, #459 Sid Monge, #573 Jim Kern
Detroit Tigers (3) - #231 Johnny Wockenfuss, #272 Tim Corcoran, #469 Lance Parrish
Kansas City Royals (2) - #585 Hal McRae, #664 Doug Bird
Minnesota Twins (2) - #41 Gene Mauch MG, #709 Sam Perlozzo

American League West (10)
Los Angeles Angels (2) - #424 Jim Fregosi MG, #557 Ken Brett
Oakland Athletics (2) - #458 Jim Essian, #711 Dwayne Murphy
Seattle Mariners (2) - #74 Shane Rawley, #199 Larry Milbourne
Texas Rangers (4) - #391 Al Oliver, #463 Steve Comer, #499 Pat Corrales MG, #544 Fergie Jenkins

1979 Topps #499, #709 and #424

1984 Tastykake Phillies #27 John Wockenfuss

Mets 7, Phillies 4
Game 31 - Tuesday Night, May 8th in Philadelphia
Record - 14-17, 5th Place, 5 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Mets tallied seven unanswered runs as they downed the bad news Phillies, 7-4.

What It Means:  Mercy.

What Went Wrong:  Missed opportunities.  Crappy bullpen.  Sloppy play on the field.  Lackadaisical, phoned-in game summary post.

Featured Card:  It is time to bring the 'Fuss and the 'Fuss is not amused.  See here and here, and over here.  It had to be done.

1985 Donruss #549 John Wockenfuss

Nationals 7, Phillies 5
Game 155 - Wednesday Night, September 21st in Philadelphia

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies remained winless since clinching the division, losing their fifth in a row, 7-5 to the Nationals.

What It Means:  Anyone else worried?  The Phils are now 98-57.

What Went Wrong:  Vance Worley (11-3) surrendered two, two-run home runs in his six innings of work.  It was Worley's final start of the season before he joins the bullpen to practice for the postseason.  Antonio Bastardo continued his recent swoon, allowing three more runs to score in the eighth.

John Mayberry, Jr. provided the offense for the Phillies, going three for four with a two-run homer in the eighth.  It was his 15th of the season.

Featured Card:  I haven't had to do this yet this year, but I'm going to go ahead and break out a Wockenfuss.  The 'Fuss is not pleased with how things are going with the Phillies right now.  This all but guarantees a victory and an offensive explosion tonight.

1985 Topps #39 Johnny Wockenfuss

Red Sox 10, Phillies 2

Game 60 - Saturday Afternoon, June 12th in Boston

Maybe it was the smoke from the grill as I cooked our dinner. Maybe I was dehydrated from the 3+ hour lawn mowing marathon from earlier in the day. Whatever the reason, I had a vision while listening to the Phillies absolutely embarrass themselves in Boston this afternoon. My vision flash forwarded to the end of September, and the Phils had just wrapped up their fourth straight division title. What follows below is my blog post for September 26, 2010. And inexplicably, in the future, I've been issued a press pass and I'm interviewing Phillie personnel as part of my game summary posts. I know. I couldn't believe it either.

September 26 - The Phillies did it again! Shutting out the Mets in front of a sold-out Sunday crowd, the team clinched their fourth straight pennant. Most of the talk following a low-key on-field celebration centered around how the team had managed to turn things around after a rough stretch in May and June. "We just got tired of losing, you know?" commented Jayson Werth. "I don't remember when it all clicked, but I think it was after that awful series in Boston back in June. Jamie and Joe got lit up, nobody was hitting and I couldn't figure out if shaving my beard again would somehow reverse our fortune."

Ryan Howard echoed that sentiment. "Look, I'm making like $40 gazillion this year and I realized after the Boston series I had to start picking it up. We just came together as a team after a few horrible losses and we started playing again like we knew we could."

Manager Charlie Manuel, who kept his cool throughout the June swoon couldn't be happier with how his team responded to adversity. "I mean, what the hell?" the manager sagely opined. "That's baseball. Look, these guys can hit and I knew they were too good a team to be in a mix-up for too much longer. I mean, these guys can hit. That's baseball."

"I think what really flipped the switch was the day you featured that Johnny Wockenfuss baseball card in your blog." After I had spoken to most of the team, an emotional Chase Utley sought me out in the champagne drenched clubhouse. "We were collectively ashamed the only baseball card you could bring yourself to post after our second loss in Boston was a '85 Topps Wock card," Utley continued. "That's when we knew we needed to pull it together and get back to winning."

And the vision ended. It's a little eerie, isn't it?

1985 Tastykake Phillies #14 John Wockenfuss

Like much of the Northeast, we're snowed in today. I've spent a lot of time today looking out my windows debating whether I should start shoveling, or wait until the blizzard stops at some point tomorrow morning. For now, the latter option is winning.

And is it me, or does John Wockenfuss sort of look like a young Santa Claus here? Maybe it's just me.

Quote of the Day: Upon first seeing the snow outside this morning, our 3-year-old son Doug asked, "Does this mean Ho Ho is coming?"

1984 Topps Traded #130T Johnny Wockenfuss

The current state of the Philadelphia Phillies and the their 6-game losing streak calls for something much more powerful than a Kent Tekulve card. In times like these, The Phillies Room feels the need to break out a Johnny Wockenfuss card.

Consider the following, which led to this drastic measure:

- The Phillies finished this current home stand with a record of 1-8. This is one of the worst Phillies home stands in the history of the franchise.

- Saturday's loss was especially devastating as the team rallied to a 5-3 lead on Ryan Howard's pinch-hit 3-run homer, only to lose 6-5 when Ryan Madson couldn't hold the Orioles in the 9th. Madson was 1 strike away from saving the game, but Brian Roberts' 2-run home run stunned Phillies fans everywhere.

- Before his pinch-hit home run, Ryan Howard had spent time in the hospital with a 103+ degree fever. (He had to go back to the hospital following Saturday's game and missed today's finale).

- The Mets keep losing, but the Braves and Marlins are gaining ground in the NL East.

The team has an off-day tomorrow and then they head out on the road to defend their Major League best 23-9 road record.