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)

1983 NL Champions: Pat Corralles Topps #637

Just some quick 2013 Clean up here.  Last year we honored the Phillies Wheeze Kids who took the 1983 NL pennant.  Over the next couple of days I want to knock out a couple of folks I didn't get to during 2013 proper. 

 

1983 NL Champions: Pat Corralles Topps #637  

Corrales was the Phillies manager for the first half of the 1983, He was fired 85 games into the season.  The Phillies were tied with the Cardinals for first place, the day Pat Corrales was fired (albeit only a game above .500)

1983 was only the 2nd year for Corrales at the helm of the Phillies after replacing Dallas Green.  Taking over for the man who had won the teams only World Championship is a tough task. This makes me nervous for Ryne Sandberg tyring to replace Charlie Manuel - that and the fact that the average age of this years squad will be about Pat Corrales age today.

Corrales had one more managerial stint after leaving Philadelphia - He led the Indians for 5 seasons, never finishing better than 5th.      

Currently Corrales(age 72) is working in the Dodgers organization as a Special Assistant to the GM.

Sources & Links

1983 NL Champions Series   

1983 NL Champions: Mike Schmidt 1973 Topps #615 (RC)

In today's edition of 1983 Wheeze Kids we present a Big Fish in any Phillies Fans Collection.

Mike Schmidt 1973 Topps #615 (RC)

The 1983 Phillies didn't have many standout hitting seasons on their roster. The exception was Mike Schmidt, He led the league in Home Runs, Walks and OBP . It was good enough for 3rd in the MVP voting behind Dale Murphy and Andre Dawson.

Schmidt's regular season carried into the NLCS which saw him bat .467 with a pair of doubles and a Home Run, for a nice .800 slugging number. Unfortunatley for the Phillies The Orioles pitching staff figured out the future Hall of Famer and Schmidt stuggled during the World Series only managing a single in 20 ABs.

For the Collector
I picked up the above card a little over a year ago for just under $42 via ebay.  At some point I will do a full FTC on the auction numbers for this card, but don't have my stuff together today.

In OtherWords

Night Owl Cards - A view of this card from a Dodger Fan.

HoF Index: Mike Schmidt
1973 Topps #615 (RC)
1974 Topps #283  (First Solo Card)
1975 Topps #70 & related Mini
1976 All-Star Program
1977 Topps #441 (70th Birthday)
1981 Fleer #645 Triple Threat Schmidt, Rose, Bowa
1981 Topps #206 Record Breakers (Single Season HRs for 3B)
1988 Fleer Superstars #33 
2002 Fleer GotG Dueling Duos #DD-27 (with HoF George Brett)
2005 UD Classic Moments #CM-MS (30th Anniversary 500 Home Runs)
2008 UD Baseball Heroes #138 (40th Anniversary of 4 Home Run Game - 1976 0417)
2013 Panini USA Baseball #34
2013 Topps Chasing History (gold) #CH-92 Mike Schmidt


Complete Phungo HoF Index
 
Sources & Links
1983 Wheeze Kids Index
Baseball-ref.com

1983 NL Champions Marty Bystrom 1983 Topps #199 - Headed to the SHOW (Philly Show that is)

Today our 1983 Champs series takes a quick look at Right Handed Starter Marty Bystrom

1983 Topps #199 Marty Bystrom 

Marty had a tough 1983 season as a bottom starter in the Phillies rotation. So poor that Bystrom didn't get a start in the postseason. His sole inning was versus the Orioles in the final game of the World Series.  In 1983 the 24 year old Marty Bystrom was already on his way out of baseball. His 119+ innings in '83 were the most he would pitch in a season, by June of 1984 he was on his way to the Yankees in a deal that would return Shane Rawley. Bystrom got 15 more starts with the Yankees over two seasons then was done at the Major league level. 

Philly Show
I doubt Marty would have made the cut for our Wheeze Kids series, but he is one of several Phillies in town to sign autographs at the Philly Show in Valley Forge this weekend. The show runs Friday 12/6 - Sunday 12/8 at the Valley Forge Casino. Admission is $8 - There may be a $1 off coupon in local papers.

Show Guests:

Shane Victorino (CANCELLED - No notification by Hunt Auctions, PhillyShow, Sports Vault or WIP Radio)
It is not uncommon for The PhillyShow to have autograph cancellations and not keep their website updated.  

Dave Parker

HoF Steve Carlton

Pete Rose

Charlie Hayes

Dale Murphy

Matt Stairs
For more info on signing pricing and times check in with Sports Vault   

Cardboard Bystrom
1982 Topps #416

1983 NL Champions Series   
Darren Daulton
Bo Diaz  
John Denny
Ivan DeJesus
Garry Maddox  
Gary Matthews (with John Denny)
Joe Morgan
Tony Perez
Pete Rose

Steve Carlton Passes Walter Johnson (Strikeouts) Steve Carlton 300 Wins
 
Sources  
Baseball-ref.com

Post Updated 2013 12 07 11am

1983 NL Champions: Gary Matthews 1984 Topps #637 Phillies Team Leaders

I am going to see if we can wrap up the 1983 Phillies postings before the end of the year.  Today we look at 1983 NLCS MVP and current Phils TV color analyst Gary "Sarge" Matthews.

1984 Topps #637 Team Leaders Gary Matthews and John Denny

Sarge had a mediocre regular season for the Phillies.  He hit .258 with 10 Home Runs and 50 RBIs.  Those numbers are far below what Matthews expected from himself throughout is career, but as noted on the above card the .258 led the team. Says a lot about what that team had to do to win and the importance of batting average vs on-base pct (Mike Schmidt led the team with a respectable .399 OBP).

The Phillies Room is posting an interesting series with Custom Phillies Team Leader cards that homage the 1973 Topps LL format. In his columns Jim is noting the 5 best and worst leaders for each category over the last 40 years. The Batting Average Custom is here. As you can see in the posting, Gary Matthews .258 in 1983 ranked one slot above the bottom (Jimmy Rollins who led the 2012 offense with a .250!!!)

During the NLCS the veteran left fielder made up for his sup-par year by hitting .429 with 3 Home Runs over 4 games.  The third Home Run gave the Philles a 3-0 first inning lead which they would not relinquish.

Matthews is also homered in Game 3 of the World Series, it was his last dinger as a Phillies player.  Just prior the 1984 seaosn Matthews was traded to the Cubs along with Bob Dernier for Bill Campbell and Mike Diaz.

Numbers and Accolades
Gary Matthews played 16 seasons in the majors. As a Giant, he won the rookie of the year award in 1973.  He made one all-star appearance in 1979. In 1984 he led the league in OPB at .410, his best Offense WAR finish was 4th in the strike shortened 1981 season.
 

1983 NL Champions Series   
Darren Daulton
Bo Diaz    
John Denny
Ivan DeJesus
Garry Maddox  
Joe Morgan 
Tony Perez
Pete Rose
 
Steve Carlton Passes Walter Johnson (Strikeouts) Steve Carlton 300 Wins
 
Sources  
Baseball-ref.com
The Phillies Room

Steve Carlton 300 Career Victories: 1984 Topps #706

30 Years ago today Steve Carlton won his 300th game. I am curious if any other 300th win came at a bigger moment.  The Phils entered play on the 23rd of September 3 games up with 9 to play. They had won eight consecutive games  - a streak that would eventually run to 11.

1984 Topps #706 NL Active Career Victory Leaders Carlton, Jenkins, Seaver

Carlton had 29 more victories left in him.  Fergie Jenkins was done pitching following the 1983 season and the above card reflects his career win total of 284.  Seaver eventually passed Jenkins and finished with 311 Wins.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago the 1984 Topps active leaders subset is a fun one for Phillies fans to collect and this Wins Leader card is another great example.


1983 NL Champions Series   
Darren Daulton
Bo Diaz    
John Denny
Ivan DeJesus
Garry Maddox  
Joe Morgan 
Tony Perez
Pete Rose
 
Steve Carlton Passes Walter Johnson (Strikeouts) Steve Carlton 300 Wins
 
Sources  
Baseball Card Database  
Baseball-ref.com
ebay.com 

1983 NL Champions: Joe Morgan 1984 Topps #705 NL Active Stolen Base Leaders

One of the most notable Wheeze Kids was Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. 

1984 Topps #705 NL Active Stolen Base Leaders Morgan Cedeno Bowa

Regardless of what folks may think of Morgan as a broadcaster he was a helluva ballplayer.  Most people remember him from his days with the Big Red Machine, but he was also played second base for the Phils during their 1983 NL Pennant winning season.  

Morgan was down to his penultimate season by the time he got to the Phillies and his age was showing.  He only batted .230, but he did have a good World Series. He hit a game tying Home Run in the only game of the series which Phillies won. In the last post season AB of his career Morgan Tripled off of Scott McGregor. It was the last hit of the Phillies season. 

The Big Red Machine
The Reds are The Great Eight of the Big Red Machine. The centerpiece of the event will be Joe Morgan weekend which will feature the unveiling of a statue of the Hall of Famer. For more information on Joe Morgan Weekend click here.   

1984 Topps Active Leaders
The Active Leaders Subset from 1984 is a great one for Phillies fans. The set celebrates Career Leaders in 9 different categories and since the Phils were the Wheeze kids in 1983, they are well represented. Morgan, Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Larry Bowa, and Tony Perez all make appearances. The set consists of 18 cards (9 per league) and runs from #701-#718

Other Voices
Andy from High Heat Stats did an in depth analysis of the SB leaders on the old Baseball-ref blog

1983 NL Champions Series  
Darren Daulton
Bo Diaz  
John Denny
Garry Maddox  
Tony Perez
Pete Rose
 
Steve Carlton Passes Walter Johnson


Sources & Links
Larry Bowa Index
Baseball Card Database
Cincinnati Reds 
Baseball-ref.com

1983 NL Champions: 1983 Topps #101 Super Veterans Pete Rose

Last week there was a bit of buzz revolving around Ichiro getting 4000 hits. This led to discussions about including career hits from different leagues. These discussions included folks like Derek Jeter Minnie Minoso and of course Pete Rose.

1983 Topps #101 Super Veterans Pete Rose

Man, Baseball-ref has everything. Even Minor League stats from 1962.  Pete Rose had 3 Minor League Seasons collecting 427 hits.  Add that to his 4256 in the Majors and you get 4683. But wait Rose also had 86 postseason hits this brings hist total to 4769 - Turns out that Rose is the All-Time combined league hit king as well as the traditional hit king. For a further look into Rose and the other players that were found to collect 4000 hits check this SABR article by Scott Simkus 

1983 Phillies
By 1983 Pete Rose was 42 and his abilities were slipping.  He posted the worst batting average of his career (.245). His OPS+ was an anemic 69. Game 5 of the 83 Series was Rose's final World Series game. He played Right Field in that game.  Between 1971 and 1983 Rose had played 3 innings of RF, The Phils patchwork wheeze kids line up put him there 34 times that season.    

1983 Super Veterans
Terrific set, that I had ignored until 30 Year Old Cardboard dedicated a series of postings to it.

Other Voices
 Found two other card postings on the Rose Super Vet.
30-Year Old Cardboard

1983 Topps Blog

1983 NL Champions Series
Darren Daulton
Bo Diaz 
John Denny
Garry Maddox
Tony Perez

Steve Carlton Passes Walter Johnson



Sources
Baseball-Reference.com
wikipedia.org
SABR.org

1983 NL Champions: Bo Diaz 1985 Topps #737

Today we continue our 1983 Wheeze Kids series by taking a look at the man behind the plate - Bo Diaz  

1985 Topps #737 Bo Diaz

Bo Diaz hit .236 during the Phillies 1983 season but he did have some big games including one on April 13 1983. The Phillies were down 3 runs to the Mets with 2 outs in the 9th inning. This is the moment Diaz picked to hit an Ultimate Grand Slam - A game ending slam down 3 runs. Another highlight for Diaz was catching Steve Carlton's 300th win on September 23rd.
 
During the '83 World Series, Diaz was one of the few offensive bright spots for the Phillies, He batted .333 collecting 5 hits in 15 ABs.

Notice at the top of this posting I did not say that "man behind the DISH" - This is because, sadly, Bo Diaz died at age 37 while installing a satellite dish in his native Venezuela.

1985 Topps

Catchers are great for baseball cards.  All the gear makes for photos that are more than just headshots, even when your show that guy just standing there.  Bo Diaz is shown here carrying his mask and looks to be removing his glove perhaps he is getting ready to talk to Lefty or signal the defense.

I like the photo, dislike the design. 1985 Topps falls into the Phillies purple card genre.  That is Topps designated oddball color for the team for a couple of sets in the 1980s (1985, 1988, 1989). Maybe it's the purple or perhaps it is the ubiquity of the three sets - regardless, I have never been a fan of anf them.
1983 NL Champions Series
Darren Daulton
Bo Diaz 
John Denny
Garry Maddox
Tony Perez

Steve Carlton Passes Walter Johnson

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
wikipedia.org

1983 NL Champions: Ivan DeJesus 1985 Topps #791

Today we have the other half of the trade referred to in Tuesday's Ryne Sandberg posting.   

1985 Topps #791 Ivan DeJesus

It would be more proper to state that Ivan DeJesus was acquired for Larry Bowa and Ryne Sandberg was a throw in, regardless the two men were involved in the same trade.

As we noted previously, the deal is a frequently mentioned as a Phillies trade blunder. In defense of DeJesus and the Phillies side it is worth mentioning that the 1983 Phillies won the NL Pennant.  Ryne Sandberg may have hit 280 homers for the Cubs, but none of those teams went to the World Series.

The Phillies were the 3rd of seven clubs DeJesus played for in his 15 year career. Steady best describes his 3 seasons with the Phillies. In 1983 he batted .254 while playing 158 games as the teams starting shortstop. DeJesus also started all 9 games of the Phillies 83 post season.  

Ivan De Jesus had done some coaching but appears to currently out of baseball.  His son Ivan De Jesus Jr has had a couple of Major league call ups. He is currently in the Pirates organization as a second baseman with the Indianapolis Indians (batting .328 in 86 games)  

1983 NL Champions Series
Darren Daulton
Ivan DeJesus
John Denny
Garry Maddox
Tony Perez


Steve Carlton Passes Walter Johnson

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
wikipedia.com
Indianapolis Indians Official site

1983 NL Champions: John Denny 1983 Topps #211

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1983 Phillies Wheeze Kids team that won the NL Pennant and faced the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

Throughout the season I plan on taking a look back at some of the members of this special team.

1983 Topps #211 John Denny
John Denny was a good pitcher that had one great season which occurred in 1983. Denny went 19-6 for the year with a 2.37 ERA and won the Cy Young Award.  It was a significant spike in a 13 year career and the only time that John Denny ever received a Cy Young vote.  His 1983 WAR of 7.6 also led the league for all players, not just pitchers.

It was also the only season Denny reached the post season. He got the W in the game 1 of the World Series, giving up only 1 run over 7 2/3 inning. Unfortunately it was the only game the Phillies were able to take in the series.

1983 was John Denny's first full season with the Phillies. He stayed through 1985 compiling a 37-29 record with the team. He retired following the 1986 season which he spent with the Reds.

He worked with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the early 2000s but appears to currently be away from baseball. I did find this interesting interview over at Baseball Analysts

 Airbrush Classics 

The 1983 Topps John Denny Card recently made the Top Ten Terrible Airbrush Jobs  over at Hall of Very Good.  

1970 Topps #380 Hall of Famer Tony Perez

The Phillies are in Cincinnati to face the Reds this week and today I would like to take a look at Hall of Famer Tony Perez.  Perez was a member of the Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s as well as the Phillies Wheeze Kids squad.

1970 Topps #380 Tony Perez

The "Wheeze Kids" were the 1983 Philadelphia Phillies - the monicker was a play on "The Whiz Kids" who were the much younger 1950 Phillies. Despite the differences in player ages the two teams had some things in common, most notably representing the National League in the World Series.

The Wheeze Kids had several former Big Red Machine stars on the squad including Future Hall of Famer Joe Mogan and current baseball exile Pete Rose. The other notable Red and Future HoF was Tony Perez

Perez's Hall of Fame resume includes 2 World Championships(75-76) with the Reds. In addition to those World Series squads and the Phils 83 team Perez was also a member of 2 other Reds NLCS teams.  Tony Perez made a total of 6 trips to the postseason - amassing 189 Plate appearance which is pretty good for the era. He has 6 post season Home Runs including 3 in the 1975 World Series v Boston.

His regular seaon career numbers include 379 Home Runs, 1652 RBIs and 2732 Hits. 

Wiki

Tony Perez was born in Cuba and was signed by the Reds in 1960.  Apparently he was able to get out of the country prior to the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution and severing of ties with the US. Perez has been allowed to return to Cuba a couple of times, His son Eduardo played for the Reds and has been a commentator for ESPN. 

1970 Topps #380

This card has some new information to me.  To me Perez was always a first baseman.  The Reds Thirdbaseman of the 1970s was always Pete Rose.  This of course is not true if you go back a few years.  In the early 70s Perez was the 3B and Rose was playing Right Field - one of many positions the gambler would play.

For the Collector

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I picked up the 1970 Perez card above in March of 2010 from a 3 for a buck bin.  1970 Topps is one of my least favorite of the vintage sets, but I would still got a $1 on any HoF even a lower tier one like Tony Perez. 

Phungo Tony Perez HoF Index
1984 Topps #385