1964 Phillies @ 50 (now 51) Dallas Green

We are struggling to get over the finish line on our 1964 Phillies Feature. Today we take a look at pitcher Dallas Green. 

1962 Topps #111 Dallas Green

I had originally planned on featuring the three Manager related cards Gene Mauch, Pat Corrales, and Dallas Green all in the same week or time frame, but that fell apart. And I got scolded by Jim From Downingtown who correctly noted that the Corrales card was not a manager card. And neither is this 1962T card of Dallas Green.

Phillies fans know that Dallas Green was the manager of the 1980 World Championship team, A team with core players that reached the playoffs several times but was unable to get to the World Series. However two things folks may not know are that 1) he is a local born and raised in Delaware and 2 he was part of the only Phillies team between the Whiz Kids and the Late 70s playoff teams to get near the Postseason.

Dallas Green spent parts of six seasons with the Phillies including 42 relief innings with the 1964 squad. The then 29 year old Green was the longest tenured member of the 64 Phillies, unfortunately he had an extremely tough campaign which resulted in a mid-season demotion to Triple-A. Green did return to the club in September, just in time to be part of the infamous collapse.

Late in the 1979 season Dallas Green's managerial career began when he took the reins of a 5th place Phillies on an interim basis. The teams 19-11 finish earned Dallas the full time position, and he led the club to their first World Championship.

Dallas Green 2015
As many know the Green family experienced a tragedy in 2011 when Christina Taylor Green, Granddaughter of Dallas, was one of six people fatally shot by a gunman who targeted congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords at a Meet and Greet event. 

MLB.com columnist Hal Bodley who was University of Delaware classmate of Dallas Green asked the former Phllies manager if it is difficult to continue in an unimportant activity like baseball when dealing with a tragedy of such magnitude. Green responded:

“[Baseball] has helped me, because you sink yourself into the work,”

And Dallas Green does remains active with the Phillies. He largely fills an ambassador role and makes it out for several fan related events every year.

2014 10 18 Dallas Green at the Fan Authentics show in Oaks PA 

I saw Dallas Green at an autograph appearance last fall. At age 80 he still appears active and healthy. Looked a lot better than Pete Rose (74) who was at the same show. 



Phungo Dallas Green Index
1961 Topps #359 (b-side only/ 2010 Heritage preview)
2014 Phungo #46 (Memorial Posting)

Dallas Green Autograph Ball (General Autograph Discussion)
2015 Topps F40-7 Andre Dawson (Props for Green on the back)


Sources and Links
MLB - Hal Bodley
1964 Phillies @ 50 Index
Baseball Ref
Year of the Blue Snow SABR Bio -  Gregory H Wolf

1964 Phillies @ 50 (now 51) Pat Corralles

This is our second 1964 Phillies related posting in the last couple of days and we have another manager related card.

1965 Topps #107 Rookie Stars Pat Corrales & Costen Shockley 

And like last weeks card today's entry is another Manager card, Pat Corrales was not the leader of the 64 club but he would helm the Phillies in the early 80s. He is also the man who connect the team series that we have run so far - Corrales played for the 1964 Phils and managed the 1983 Phils.

Corrales' contributions to the 1964 squad were negligible, He was a rookie who pinch hit in two games.  He remained with the Phillie for the 1965 season with whom he played a career high 63 games. The rest of his career was spent bouncing around the fringes for three different clubs, his final Major League game came in 1973.

As mentioned above Pat Corrales was a manager of the NL Pennant winning 1983 Phillies. However, he was not THE manager. Despite having the team in first place, Corrales was fired after the All-Star Break, Paul Owens took over and led the team to the playoffs. 

1965 Topps Rookie Stars
We featured the other half of this Rookie Stars card in this column last September

Sources & Links
1964 Phillies Index
Year of the Blue Snow (James Lincoln Ray)
baseball-ref 

2015 Heritage the Originals: Teammates Subset?

There are a couple of special cards in the 1966T set that include 2 or 3 teammates.

1966 Topps #52 Power Plus Wes Covington Johnny Callison

At card #52 we have the first of the combo cards which happens to be dedicated to the Phillies. Johnny Callison is a worthy subject for a card titled Power Plus, not so sure about his partner.

Wes Covington was coming off a 1965 season in which he hit 15 homers and tallied 45 RBIs. Which I would consider unremarkable power numbers even in the pitching centric middle 60s. Other candidates for the card could have been Dick Allen (20 HR, 85 RBI) or Dick Stuard (28/95).

In addition it was Covington's last season with the Phillies, he was traded during the off-season and was likely gone by the time this card was issued.

1964 Phillies @ 50
Wes was also the a  member of the 1964 Phillies, as a Left fielder for the club he had similar numbers to 1965 13 HR, 58 RBI, .280 BA 126 OPS+, and 1.4 WAR. Covington's dWAR numbers hurt his total throughout his career.

During the clubs fateful stretch run manager Gene Mauch elected to frequently use a platoon in Left field. Following the teams collapse Covington was very unhappy and he would eventually ask for the aforementioned trade.

One of the more humorous parts of an extremely interesting SABR Bio by Andy Sturgill mentions that Covington had already spent his World Series bonus money. He purchased a rifle which he brought into the clubhouse and declared "This is for the sportswriters"

Fortunately for Wes Covington he was able to make the postseason both prior to and after his Phillies tenure. He won a World Series withe 1957 Milwaukee Braves and returned to the series with the club the following season. He also got a pinch hit appearance in the 1966 Series with the Dodgers who lost to the Orioles. 

1966 Topps Combos
Sorry drifted into our 1964 Phils coverage there, now back to our regularly scheduled post.

You may have noticed I had a Question Mark in the title, that is because I am not really sure one should call this theme a subset.  There are 5 combo cards in 1966 Topps with no apparent rationale for the players or teams. All 5 cards appear in the first couple of series. The four other teams repped are the Pirates, Giants, White Sox and Astros.

Willie Stargell is the only Hall of Famer in the subset with each card containing a player that is somewhat comparable to Johnny Callison.

#99 Bucs Belters - Willie Stargell, Don Clendennon

#156 DP Combo Dick Schofield Hal Lanier 

#199 Chisox Clubbers Bill Skowron, Johnny Romano, Floyd Robinson 

#273 Astros Aces - Bob Aspromante and Rusty Staub

Special Thanks to Jim From Downingtown who's research I stole for this post. He points out that the power outage doesn't occur just on the Phillies card, The Chisox card is dubious and ignoring Roberto Clemente on a Bucs Belters card does sound like a gaffe. 

Flipped

1966 Topps #52 Power Plus Wes Covington Johnny Callison (b-side)


There is a fairly detailed write up on the back of each card, although the Wes Covington portion of this one devotes a lot more time to his Braves career than his Phillies tenure.

2015 Heritage Combos
Who will Topps go with for the 2015 Combos?
Will 2015 Heritage have combos? 

I am saying yes to the combos and take a stab at some projections

Phillies Power Plus - egads nobody, I will stick with the standbys of Utley and Howard or Topps could maintain the continuity of the Covington trade by including Jimmy Rollins
Bucs Belters -McCutchen and How about Super Utility guy Josh Harrison filling the Clendennon role.
DP Combo (Giants) - This one is a little complicated. Brandon Crawford is the starting Shortstop for the World Champs, but there was a revolving door at 2nd. I am going with St Johns Alum Joe Panik.
Chisox Clubbers - If we can't go with Jose Abreu 3 times, I will add Konerko and Adam Dunn. I know they are both gone, but it is a deserved nod to their long careers.
Astros Aces - This is great the card is named Aces but has two batters. Going to go with 2 young guys here Altuve and Singleton - just because he came up with the Philllies.

Sources and Links
Willie Stargell HoF index 
1966 Topps Blog
2015 Heritage/1966 Topps Index
1964 Phillies @ 50 Index
SABR Bio by Andy Sturgill
cardboard connection
Topps Database
Baseball-ref

1964 Phillies @ 50: Roy Sievers 1964 Topps #43

This feature has extended into year two so this is really 1964 Phillies at 51 but I have decided to stick to the original title. My Blog My Rules.

1964 Topps #43 Roy Sievers

Yesterday we returned to our 2014 series on the 1959 Baseball Thrills Subset and discussed Roy Sievers 42 home run season in 1957. Today we move forward seven years and find Sievers at age 37 and playing for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Roy Seivers came to the Phillies prior to the 1962 campaign. His all-star seasons were behind him, but he remained productive combining for 40 homer runs and 160 RBIs in 282 games during his first two seasons with the club.

Unfortunately he was unable to contribute during the Phillies near miss 1964. Sievers batting average fell to .183 with and OPS+ of 66 - The position ended up being a revolving door for the 64 Phils, with John Herrnstein and his .234 average with 6 homers leading the team in games at first.

Sources n Links
1964 Phillies Index
baseball-ref

1964 Phillies @ 50 Art Mahaffey

Fifty years ago on Sunday the 1964 Phillies entered the day 6 1/2 games up with 12 to play.

1960 Topps #138 Art Mahaffey

The Philies faced the Reds that day sending Art Mahaffey to the mound. He pitched very well taking a shutout into the 6th inning and then something happened. With 2 outs, Mahaffey faced future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson with a runner on 3rd base. 

Chico Ruiz, the runner at 3rd base, broke for the plate. Mahaffey's pitch went wide and Ruiz scored. It was the only run the Reds scored. Unfortunately for the Phillies they were shutout by John Tsitsouris. It is the game that started the 1964 Phillies famous collapse -The first of 10 consecutive losses the club would endure.

The Phils World Series aspirations evaporated during those two weeks, The St Louis Cardinals took the league by 1 game over the Phillies.    


Sources & Links
1964 Phillies Index
Year of the Blue Snow (Ralph Berger Mel Marmer)
Baseball-ref

1964 Phillies @ 50: Costen Shockley 1965 Topps #107

As part of our 1964 Philles coverage you will get to see this Rookie Stars card a couple of times.

1965 Topps #107 Costen Shockley

Today we look at the lesser known side of the card which belongs to Costen Shockley. As noted earlier in the week the Philly Show will be in Valley Forge the weekend of September 26-28th.While most of the autograph portion of the show is focused on No-Hit pitchers, there are a handful of additional guests that will be part of the festivities.

Costen Shockley was signed by the Phillies out of a nearby Georgetown DE high school. At the age of 22 he made his Major League debut with the 64 Phillies squad. He only got into 11 games with the team, during the off-season Shockley was involved in a trade to the Angels that returned Bo Belinski.

Shockley made the opening day roster for the Angels but struggled at the plate. In June the Angels decided to send Shockley to the minors an assignment he refused. That was it - at the age of 23 Costen Shockley was done playing baseball.

He returned to his native Delaware and worked in construction until his retirement in 2005. He has no regrets about moving on from baseball and his fortunate to have several family members that have played the game at several different levels. His son Costen Jr was a member of the 1981 Senior Little League championship team.

Costen Sr is a member of several local sports Halls of Fame including the Delaware HS coaches and Delaware Sports Museum HoF.

Sources & Links
1964 Phillies Index
Year of the Blue Snow (Nelson 'Chip' Greene)
Baseball-ref

1964 Phillies @ 50: Rick Wise 1972 Topps #44 IA

The weekend of September 26-28 The PhillyShow returns to the Valley Forge Convention Center (and now casino) for one their tri-annual visits. As time marches on the card show is becoming more of an autograph show which I have some quibbles with, but I won't let that keep me from mentioning a few guests.

This edition of the autograph portion of the show features a no-hitter theme.  Roy Halladay, Tommy Greene, and Terry Mulholland are all scheduled to appear - For a mere $3000 you can get special VIP access to a private autograph session with five of the Phillies No-Hit pitchers.

1972 Topps #44 Rick Wise IA

One of the guests included in the No-Hit Quintuplet is Rick Wise. I was a bit surprised to find out that Wise made his debut with the 1964 Phillies. He and Jim Bunning are both members of the crossover between the handful of 1964 Phillies and No-Hit pitchers that will be at the show.

Rick Wise and Jim Bunning bare a connection in no-hitter history. As a rookie in 1964 Rick Wise made his second career start in the latter game of the Double-header in which Jim Bunning pitched his perfect game.

A mere two days past the 7th anniversary of the Bunning Perfecto, Rick Wise would throw his own No-Hitter, and it was done in spectacular fashion.  Most importantly, Wise shut down a star laden Reds line-up that featured 2 future Hall of Famers (Johnny Bench & Tony Perez) and MLBs all-time hits leader Pete Rose. Wise also hit not one but two Home Runs that day. He accounted for 3 of the Phils 4 runs in the 4-3 victory.  

Wise did get to the World Series but not for the Phillies. As most folks know he was traded to the St Louis Cardinals for Steve Carlton - he was later traded to the Boston Red Sox. As a member of the Bosox Wise got the W versus the A's in the deciding game of the 1975 ALCS. In the ensuing World Series Wise was awarded the Win as a reliever for game 6 - The legendary Carlton Fisk game.

Following his playing career Wise stayed in baseball holding various coaching positions in the A's organization. He also coached in the Independent Atlantic league for the nearby Lancaster Barnstormer.  Wise retired from coaching in 2008.
 
Phun Phact
Rick Wise was traded for two Hall of Famers. In addition to Carlton Wise was also involved in a trade for Dennis Eckersley just prior to the 1978 season


1972 Topps In Action
The In Action Sub/Insert Set consisted of 24 cards in 1972 Topps that Paralleled a base card of the subject. In 2011 the late Chris Stufflestreet authored this post that summarizes the card backs associated with the 1972T IA cards. 


Sources & Links
1964 Phillies Index
Sports Vault
Baseball-ref
the Vintage Sportscards Blog
The Year of the Blue Snow - The 1964 Phillies  Bill Nowlin

1964 Phillies @ 50: Clay Dalrymple 1963 Fleer #52

Tonight we return to our 1964 Phillies feature with the Phillies Catcher Clay Dalrymple.

1963 Fleer #52 Clay Dalrymple

Prior to 1964 Dalrymple had a couple of decent offensive seasons as the Phillies full time Catcher. For the 64 campaign Manager Gene Mauch elected to platoon the left-handed Dalrymple with Gus Triandos. The part-time play was likely not the reason, but Clay developed a hitch in his swing and never really recovered. Prior to 1964 during his age 23 through 26 seasons Dalrymple hit 30 of his 55 career home runs. His career BA after those four seasons was .252. He would stick around the league for 8 more seasons as a defense first catcher and would never hit above .245 again. 

His defensive reputation certainly appears deserved. For his career Dalrymple eliminated a very impressive 49% of base stealing attempts. Three times he led the league in Caught Stealing, Those same three seasons (61, 63, 65) he also led the NL in assists.

While he didn't get to the World Series with the 1964 Phillies, Dalrymple did get to play in the Fall Classic as a member of the 1969 Orioles. He was also a member of the 1970 World Champion Orioles, although he was not a part of the postseason roster. In 71 he was on the roster for the O's AL Championship squad but did not appear in any games.

Clay Dalrymple now 77 lives in Northern California, He has been married five times - and a Widower twice. His first wife, Celia, died of cancer near the end of his playing career.

Dalrymple stayed in contact with major league baseball in various capacities after his retirement as a player. His time with the Orioles include a stint as a color commentator. In 2005 Dalrymple submitted a heartfelt letter to the Baltimore Sun regarding the death of the towns legendary broadcaster Chuck Thompson - Dalrymple commented on the support that Thompson gave him as he began a new career.

1963 Fleer
1963 Fleer is a set that I am fond of and at various times have considered building. The abbreviated set is a mere 66 cards - Due to a legal action from Topps, Fleer was only able to produce a single series. The series is significant for containing the first Maury Wills card.

There are five Philies in the set that run from #50-54. If you want an easy to build Vintage Phillies team set, this may be the one for you, The cards can often be found for $2.     

My only quibble with the set is the drawing of the catcher in the bottom left. He is clearly demonstrating poor form. You have to get that off hand behind your back, no need to get it busted by a foul tip.

For more info on 1963 Fleer please read the Cardboard Connection article by the late Chris Stufflestreet   

Sources & Links
1964 Phillies Index
Year of the Blue Snow (Rory Costello)
Baseball-ref
Baltimore Sun

1969 Topps #507 Cookie Rojas - 1965 All-Star

The first All-Star Game hosted by the Twins was in 1965. The game was held at Metropolitan Stadium. The Phillies Cookie Rojas made the first of his Five All-star appearances in that game.

1969 Topps #507 Cookie Rojas Sources

The NL won the game 6-5, 3 future Hall of Famers Homered for the senior circuit, Willie Stargell, Willie Mays and Joe Torre. The AL got a home run from hometown hero Harmon Killiebrew.

Rojas flew out to centerfield in his only plate appearance.  The NL Squad included two other Phillies, Dick Allen who started and batted cleanup and Johnny Callison who did not play. The team was  piloted by Phillies manager Gene Mauch.

1964 Phillies  
I am adding this post to our 1964 Phillies series. Click on the team link to find some more profiles on the club include the aforementioned Dick Allen and Johnny Callison. 

2014  Phungo All-Star Coverage
Ozzie Virgil
Glenn Wilson
Johnny Callison
Chase Utley

More Cookie 
1969 Topps Blog has a nice career summary on Rojas

Sources
Baseball-ref

50 Years Ago: Johnny Callison All-Star Game Hero

One of the highlights for the 1964 Phillies season was in the 35th Midsummer Classic played on July 7 1964.  

1967 Topps #85 Johnny Callison

Less than three weeks after Jim Bunning tossed a perfect game versus the Mets another Phillies player had a memorable day at Shea Stadium. Johnny Callison came up with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning of a tie ballgame. With two men on the left-handed hitter pulled the first pitch into the right field stands. The 3 run homer gave the NL a dramatic 7-4 victory.

The 1964 Phillies SABR collection Year of the Blue Snow has a chapter dedicated to Callison's Home Run in the 1965 ASG. Among the interesting tidbits unearthed by SABR biographer Mel Marmer are that Johnny Callison came into the game as a pinch hitter for the pitcher (Bunning) and expected to be removed. However, Hank Aaron wasn't feeling well and Callison ended up remaining in the game. Callison Also got to face the same pitcher twice, Dick "the Monster" Radatz.  In his first AB Callison flew out to CF Mickey Mantle. In the 9th versus Radatz, Callison felt he needed a lighter bat and used the lumber of future HoF ASG teammate Billy Williams.

Callison's fly out came on a low pitch from Radatz. Apparently it was deep enough to scare "the Monster" and the pitcher threw a High Fastball for his first pitch. Callison folllowed the same thought process, correctly guessing the pitch and location enabling him to connect perfectly.

1967 Topps #85 Johnny Callison #85 (b-side)

Johnny Callison's ASG heroics are the subject of the first cartoon on the flip side of his 1967 Topps Cards

1967 Topps
Last year we discussed Callison's HR during our 2013 ASG coverage - The game was hosted by the Mets for the first time since the Day Callison hit his dinger. Around the same time the card was also profiled by the 1967 Topps Blog

More 1964 Phllies
1964 Phils Series  Index


Sources
Baseball-ref
YouTube/The Baseball Page
The Year of the Blue Snow: The 1964 Phillies

Happy Anniversary Jim Bunning 1965 Topps #20

This weekend will mark the 50th anniversary of Jim Bunning's Perfect Game.

1965 Topps #20 Jim Bunning

On Father's Day, Sunday June 21, 1964 the Philllies beat the Mets 6-0 at Shea Stadium. The Future Hall of Famer struck out 10 Mets in the contest finishing out with a pair of K's versus Pinch Hitters George Altman and John Stephenson. It was the first Perfect Game pitched since Don Larsen tossed one in the 1956 World Series and the first NL perfect game pitched since 1880.  

The perfect game was Bunning's second no-hitter. As a Tiger he had no-hit Ted Williams and the Boston Red Sox in 1958.

After his playing career Jim Bunning went on to represent the State of Kentucky in the US Senate. He likely got his taste for politics when as a player he was involved in the development of the players union.

Phun Phact
Jim Bunning appeared on the Ed Sullivan show following his perfect game. 
 
2014 Heritage
Earlier this year we ran off a bunch of postings related to 2014 Heritage and the related original 1965 Topps. As the second half of this feature I intended to take a closer look at Heritage, but still haven't gotten that started. I will mention here that Heritage likes to give a nod to the earlier set by sharing card numbers with similar players. Jim Bunning's modern day partner on card #20 is Cliff Lee. That is a solid match Cliff Lee is on the shelf right now, but either he or Cole Hamels would have to be considered the team's ace.

Jim Bunning HoF Index 
1964 Topps #265
1970 Topps #403
2010 Phungo BFI (with Robin Roberts)
   
1964 Philies Series 
1964 Topps #135 Johnny Callison  

Other Voices
The Great 1965 Topps Project

Sources
The Year of the Blue Snow
Baseball-ref
Baseball Hall of Fame

1964 Phillies @ 50: Alex Johnson 1966 Topps #104

A few weeks ago we put together a couple of postings featuring Dick Groat. Today as part of our 1964 Phillies series we are taking a look at one of the players sent to the Cardinals when Groat came over to the Phillies.

1966 Topps #104 Alex Johnson

As a rooking 21 year old Alex Johnson played 43 games for the 1964 Phillies. He Debuted on July 25^th as the fightins’ starting left fielder. Johnson went 3 for 4 that day foreshadowing the fine season he would have. He batted .303 with 4 homers in 109 ABs – good enough for an OPS+ of 135.

Alex Johnson remained with the Phillies through 1965 before being traded following the season. Once again he batted well hitting .294 with modest power (8 HR, 20 XBH, 120 OPS+, 1.0 WAR). 

Following his stint with the Phillies Johnson spent the rest of his career as a journeyman outfielder. His best year was with the Angels in 1970, he made his only all-star team and led the AL in hitting.

Johnson was an enigmatic player with a quick bat. His batting average always hung around .300 and he could put up Home Run numbers in the teens. But he appears to have had little or no interest in being a baseball player.  

His talent kept him in the majors for 13 years. However, it was with eight different clubs, never lasting more than 2 seasons with any single team. According to his SABR biography by Mark Armour there are numerous accounts of him being benched for various reasons. Johnson appears to have been a contrarian only hustling when he pleased, alienating both teammates and coaches.  

Johnson's on field issues may have only hinted at greater problems for the ballplayer.  

During the 1971 season Johnson found himself on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Unfortunately it was for all the wrong reasons. There was a series of incidents that led to Johnson suspension by the Angels.

Marvin Miller and the players union filed a grievance which was won by Johnson. He was found to be emotionally disabled. Miller successfully argued that Johnson should have been place on the DL rather than suspended. 

Afterwards Johnson was traded to the Indians, he hung on with various teams including his hometown Tigers who gave him his final release at age 34. 

A 1998 SI article by Jeff Pearlman found Alex Johnson was running a truck repair company  business that was started by his father. Johnson remained bitter about his time in baseball, but was happy to continue the family business.  

1966 Topps
No you are not experiencing double vision, I have not double posted the Alex Johnnson card above. They are actually two different cards. Topps now routinely produces variations across several of it's products, but back in 1966 it was either to correct an error or to add a piece of updated information.  

1966 Topps #104 Alex Johnson (b-sides)

Looking closely at the bottom of the flip of each card one can see that there is an extra line on the bottom of the card in the fore. The addendum mentions the trade of Johnson to the Cardinals. The card also has moved the Topps Chewing Gum (T.C.G) copyright. The card without the trade is somewhat more rare than the traded variation.  Late last year I picked up the scarcer no-trade version via auction for $5.48 - close to half that cost was shipping. 

The 1966 Topps Dick Groat (one of many players involved in the Alex Johnson trade) has the same variations and resides right next door to Alex Johson in the Binder at #103. 

For more information on Alex Johnson and this card consult Jim from Downingtown's 1966 Topps Blog 


1964 Philies Series
Dick Allen (65 Topps)
Dick Allen John Hernstein RC (64 Topps) 
Dennis Bennett
Johnny Callison
Tony Gonzalez
Alex Johnson
John Herrnstein (65 Topps)
Chris Short
Tony Taylor
Frank Thomas    
Bobby Wine 
   
Sources
baseball-ref
The Year of the Blue Snow: The 1964 Phillies
Sports Illustrated - Jeff Pearlman 
LA Times - Chris Foster
Bob Lemke's Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards   

1964 Phillies @ 50

This is an index of postings related to the Phillies infamous 1964 Phillies team that led the National League most of the season only to collapse in the final few weeks. 

1964 Topps #135 Johnny Callison
Most of these posts were written during 2014 thus the feature title. I am sure we will add some postings in the future but the foundation is all 2014. 

1964 Philies Series
Dick Allen (65 Topps) 
Dick Allen John Hernstein RC (64 Topps)   
Ruben Amaro
Dennis Bennett (64 Topps)
Jim Bunning Perfect Game  (65 Topps)
Johnny Callison  (64 Topps)
Johnny Callison ASG Home Run (1967 Topps)
Johnny Callison 1964 ASG (1983 Topps Dale Murphy)
Clay Dalrymple (1963 Fleer)
Pat Corrales (1965 Topps RC)
Wes Covington
Ray Culp
Ryne Duren
Tony Gonzalez (61 Topps)
Dallas Green (62 Topps)
Alex Johnson (66 Topps, 66T w/ Trade Statement)
John Herrnstein (65 Topps)
Art Mahaffey (1960 Topps Rookie Star) 
Gene Mauch
Cookie Rojas (first ASG in Minnesota - 1965)
Bobby Shantz
Costen Shockley (1965 Topps Rookie Stars) 
Roy Sievers (1964 Topps)
Chris Short (1967 Topps)
Tony Taylor (1976 Topps)
Frank Thomas (1965 Topps) 
Bobby Wine  (1963 Topps)
Rick Wise (1972 Topps In Action)

Team Features Index

This is an Index to a couple of Features we have run. Each of the team links has several entries associated with the team mentioned

1964 Phillies (Originally featured in 2014 - 50th Anniversary)
1983 Wheeze Kids (originally featured in 2013 - 30th Anniversary)

1964 Phillies @ 50: Dick Allen (RC) 1964 Topps #243

Last week we may committed a bit of a fuax pas by marking a Mets 50th anniversary and overlooking a significant Phillies Anniversary

1964 Topps #243 Richie Allen & John Herrnstien (RC)

50 years ago last Thursday Dick Allen, then known as Richie, Hit his first career Home Run as the Phillies defeated the Cubs 10-8. The Homer was hit at Wrigley Field off of southpaw Dick Ellsworth.

The 18 run slugfest that day featured 8 Home Runs between the two teams, including 4 from 3 different Hall of Famers (Billy Willaims (2), Ron Santo, and Lou Brock). Phillies pitcher Art Mahaffey also hit his last of 3 career Homers that day.

1964T Rookie Card
We have featured both Allen and Herrnstein in our 1964 Phillies retrospective previosuly. I have been meaning to post this card to bring the two players together since posting each of them separately as part of the Phungo cross feature on 1965T/2014 Topps Heritage. Herrnstein was originally posted here on February 17, A week later we put together this posting on Dick Allen. 

   
Sources
1964 Phillies Series 
Dick Allen Player Collection Index
baseball-ref

1964 Phillies @ 50: Dennis Bennett

After a bit of a hiatus today we return to our 1964 Phillies feature. On this date 50 years ago the Phillies begin their surprising 1964 campaign

1964 Topps #396 Dennis Bennett

On a team that had both Jim Bunning and Chris Short, the player that earned the opening day start for the 1964 Phillies was Lefty Dennis Bennett. The Phillies beat the Mets 5-3 that day, despite the fact that Bennett only went 4 2/3 innings. Roy Sievers had the big blow that day with a 3 run homer in the first and the Phillies never trailed.

Bennett's 1964 Season got of to a great start and he ran his record to 8-4 with a 2.94 ERA by mid June. Unfortunately a nagging shoulder injury would hamper the rest of his season. By contrast, after the 20th of June Bennett was 4-10 with an ERA of 4.10.

There was one interesting highlight to a rather poor start form Dennis Bennett's 1964 season. On June 12th he wasn't able to get out of the 3rd inning, as the Mets banged him around for 5 early runs. The game ended up being a 11-3 blowout, but the otherwise miserable game did provide the opportunity for Dennis' younger brother Dave Bennett to make his Major League Debut. Dave Bennett pitched the 9th inning that day giving up a run on a pair of hits. He had a single strikeout. It was Dave Bennett's only Major League appearance.   

During a recent Phillies broadcast it was noted that with Jayson Nix(younger brother of Laynce)  the Phillies have now featured 10 sets of brothers - The Bennett's were of course one of those 10 sets.


Flip Side

1964 Topps #386 Topps Dennis Bennett (b-side)

The blurb on the flip of Bennett's 64T card notes that he was recovering from an accident at the time. However, Topps doesn't tell us the whole tragic story of the incident which occurred while Bennett was in Puerto Rico playing winter ball. The driver in the accident was killed and Bennett's injuries were quite serious. He was sent through the cars windshield and broke his left ankle, collarbone and pelvis. At the time doctors suggested Bennett would never pitch again, possibly not walk. 

Bennett recovered and returned to the Phillies by June of 1963. He pitched well, but the broken collarbone is what likely led to his shoulder issues that would mar the 2nd half of the 1964 season. 

Following his playing career Dennis Bennett settled in Klamath Falls Oregon, a small city in the South Central part of the state. He lived there operating various restaurants until his death in 2012. 
1964 Philies Series
Dick Allen  
Dennis Bennett
Johnny Callison
Tony Gonzalez
John Herrnstein 
Chris Short
Tony Taylor
Frank Thomas  
Bobby Wine 
 
Sources
Baseball-ref 
Year of the Blue Snow
Klamath Falls
CSN Phillies Broadcast 
 

1964 Phillies @ 50: Bobby Wine 1963 Topps #71

During the 1964 season the Phillies carried two Gold Glove Shortstops. There was Ruben Amaro who took home the hardware following the season and Bobby Wine who won the award in 1963.

1963 Topps #71 Bobby Wine

Amaro may have collected the 1964 Gold Glove, but it was Wine who started the majority of games at the position in Gene Mauch’s platoon heavy lineup. The 25 year old Wine batted .212 over 126 games during the ’64 season. In addition to playing short he also spelled Dick Allen at third base. Bobby Wine never hit much above those numbers for his career, however His glovework kept him around the Major Leagues for 12 years. He played 1100+ games with 3000 ABs despite being a career .215 hitter.

Bobby Wine stayed with the Phillies through 1968 season and ending up being the Phillies primary Shortstop for the decade. In 1969 Wine served as the Shortstop on the inaugural Montreal Expos club, which like the 1964 Phillies was helmed by Gene Mauch. In 1970, Wine set the single season Double Play record for shortstops with 137. The record still stands for the NL today.

Folks who (like me) are in their middle 40s will likely remember Bobby Wine the Phillies Coach who served with the organization in a variety roles throughout the 70s and 80s. One of those roles was as Dallas Green’s bench coach for the Phillies 1980 World Championship squad. In 1985 he also served as the Manager of the Braves on an interim basis for 41 games.

Bobby's son Robbie also played major league baseball getting into 23 games as a catcher for the 1986 and 87 Astros. Following his playing career Robbie Wine went into coaching. He served as the Penn State Head coach for nine season before resigning this past June.  

1964 Philies Series
Dick Allen 
Johnny Callison
Tony Gonzalez
John Herrnstein 
Chris Short
Tony Taylor
Frank Thomas
Bobby Wine 

Sources
baseball-ref
Year of the Blue Snow
Go PSU Sports

 

1964 Phillies @ 50: Dick Allen 1965 Topps #460

In 1964 the then 22 year old Dick Allen was the starting third baseman for every one of the '64 Phillies 162 games. He batted .318 with 29 Homers and 91 RBI and led the league in both Runs scored (125) and total bases (352).

1965 Topps #460 Richie Allen

Not only was Allen a member of the Topps All-Rookie team, He was also the overwhelming NL selection for Rookie of the Year, receiving 18 of the 20 RoY votes cast. His rookie numbers were so good that he finished 7th in the MVP voting and likely deserved better finishing 3rd in the league in WAR(8.8) trailing only Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Ron Santo.

The 64 Phillies may have collapsed in September, but none of that can be blamed on Dick Allen. Even during their 10 game losing streak he batted .415, slugged .634 - good enough for an OPS of 1.076.  

For various reasons Dick Allen wore out his welcome in Philadelphia and in 1969 he was traded. Allen and the Phillies eventually resolved their differences and he returned to the Phillies in 1975. A year later he helped the Phillies to make the playoffs, it was Allen's only appearance in the Postseason.

I believe that someday Dick Allen will get in the Hall of Fame. In addition to his Rookie of the Year award he took home MVP hardware in 1972 (White Sox).  For his career Allen hit 351 Homers and racked up 1119 RBI. He led the league multiple times in several key offensive categories: Home Runs (twice), OBP (twice 2), Slugging (3 times), OPS (4). His MVP was earned as he led the league in oWAR that season, the second time that he had done so (1966).  

Today Dick Allen is 71 and near as I can tell he is based out of Western Pennsylvania and maintains a fairly active Twitter account. He is a regular at Phillies Alumni events and always appears to be enjoying the festivities. 

1965 Topps
This card is doing double duty, in addition to being part of the 1964 Phillies retrospective, we are also using it as part of our 1965 Topps series. On this card we see the Rookie Cup Trophy icon which was in use for the 6th time in 1965.  The 64 Topps Rookie team is well represented in the 1965T set with members including Bert Campaneris, Rico Carty, Tony Conigliaro, and Tony Oliva.

In 2014 Heritage the Rookie Cup third baseman will be Nolan Arenado of the Rockies who we have seen already in flagship.  Since Dick Allen is #460 in 65T that means his card number will fall in the short print series in Heritage. It will be interesting to see what route Topps takes with the #460 card, They could put in current Phillies rookie 3B Cody Asche. or match the RC trophy with Arenado or more likely ignore Dick Allen altogether. 

Richie Allen
Early in his career Dick Allen played under the name Richie, which is his Topps On card name through 1969. In 1970 Topps he becomes Rich Allen, He finally becomes Dick Allen in 1973 Topps  

2014 Topps Heritage the Originals Index
Base Cards (John Herrnstein)
Rookie Cup (Dick Allen)

Sources & Links

1965 Topps Rookie Cup Team
1964 Phillies Series 
Dick Allen Player Collection Index
Baseball-ref
Wrigley Wax
baseball Card Database

1964 Phillies @ 50: Chris Short 1967 Topps #395

This is Chris Short's first Topps Card.

1967 Topps #395 Chris Short

The Boxscore from Short's first game is here.

Yes Chris Short pitched in a game 8 years before he had a baseball card.For most of the 1960s Chris Short, like Matt Wieters who we featured yesterday, was not seen on a Topps Card. I poked around a bit to try and find out exactly what Short's objection was and why that changed. There is the well documented case of Maury Wills not appearing in Topps until 1967 - Apparently Topps didn't view Wills as a prospect and then he got contracted to Fleer (which only made one release). I didn't see any evidence that Short went unsigned for the same reason. One theory I have are that Short was the son of a lawyer and perhaps he saw the Topps contract as unfairly cheap, Chris Short's SABR biographer Andy Sturgill proposed that Short was strictly focussed on baseball and may not have wanted to bother with outside issues.    


1964 
It is well documented how during the closing weeks of the 1964 season Gene Mauch used/misused Chris Short and future Hall of Famer Jim Bunning. Between September 22 and October 2 1964 Short started 4 games. Prior to that he had pitched on 2 days rest a couple of times he accumulated 10 starts between August 30th and 10/2.

The Phillies collapse cannot erase what was otherwise a very good campaign by Short. The then 26 year old lefty put together a 17-9 record with a 2.20 ERA (3rd in the NL) and 6.2 WAR(4th). This was all good enough to put Short on the first of his 2 all-star squads and pick up a couple of MVP votes.

Chris Short spent almost his entire career with the Phillies winning 132 games over 14 seasons ranking him 2nd behind only Hall of Famer Steve Carlton among the clubs southpaws. 

Banished
Banished is a term that Night Owl Cards came up with to describe a player that isn't on the Topps Checker for contractual or other reasons. NOC was basically talking about the above mentioned Maury Wills situation, but also discussed Matt Wieters and others. Between his column and Comments especially several by Jim from Downingtown of the late 1960s Topps blogs this is a pretty good list of the Banished.  
.     
Maury Wills - No Topps pre-1967
Chris Short - No Topps pre-1967
Rusty Staub - 
Dick Hall 64-66, 69
Joe Adcock 64-66
Tony Horton 66-70
Lenny Green 67-68
Vinegar Bend Mizell - No Cards after 1958

Kevin McReynolds (1985-86)
Danny Jackson (1985-86)


Matt Wieters - No Topps cards period 
Barry Bonds - 2004
Jason Varitek
Alex Rodriquez
Ichiro - 2013 

Pete Rose - No one speaketh his name on 2013 Topps backs and several other recent Topps sets.   

Other Voices
For a fine description of the beauty of this card and some additional information please check out Jim From Downingtown and his 1967 Topps Blog

Chris Short Index
1967 Topps #395 (1967 Topps/2016 Heritage feature)
1969 Topps #395 (18 K game 50th Anniversary)

Sources
1964 Phillies Series Index
The Year of the Blue Snow: The 1964 Phillies
Baseball-ref.com
Night Owl Cards