This was a very old team, as they were referred to as the "Wheeze Kids". This was the last hurrah for the late '70s, early '80s Phillies. This may also be considered the last chance for the Big Red Machine as Tony Perez and Joe Morgan were brought on board and joined Pete Rose. But this wasn't a typical old team that played strong early and coasted to the playoffs. They actually finished very strong to finish 6 games up in the division, and carried that momentum into the playoffs against the Dodgers. But their luck would run out after game 1 of the World Series.
Best Player: Mike Schmidt
Best Pitcher: John Denny
All-Stars: Mike Schmidt
Rookie Card of the Year: Len Matuszek; there wasn't much to choose from on this team as it was either Matuszek or Porfi Altamirano. Matuszek had an unremarkable career playing for the Phillies, Blue Jays, and Dodgers from 1981 - 1987. But he can tell his grandkids that he replaced Pete Rose at first base for the Phillies and that he was once traded for someone who comes up in Hall-of-Fame arguments (Al Oliver) and not be lying.
Other rookie cards: Porfi Altamirano
First Phillies cards (other than rookie cards): Pat Corrales, John Denny, Kiko Garcia, Von Hayes, Willie Hernandez, Al Holland, Joe Lefebvre, Bob Molinaro, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Dave Roberts (listed under retired players), Ozzie Virgil (solo card)
Most interesting non-Topps cards: There were no cards produced for other sets that didn't appear in the Topps sets.
Other Notes: Steve Comer and Larry Andersen both played only for the Phillies in 1983 but didn't have a Phillies card, so I am putting their cards showing them with other teams in this checklist.
Starters
| __ | TO | 175 | C | Bo Diaz | PHI |
| __ | TO | 100 | 1B | Pete Rose | PHI |
| __ | TT | 77 | 2B | Joe Morgan | PHI |
| __ | TO | 587 | SS | Ivan de Jesus | PHI |
| __ | TO | 300 | 3B | Mike Schmidt | PHI |
| __ | TO | 780 | LF | Gary Matthews | PHI |
| __ | TO | 615 | CF | Garry Maddox | PHI |
| __ | TT | 40 | RF | Von Hayes | PHI |
| __ | TT | 61 | RF | Joe Lefebvre | PHI |
| __ | TT | 85 | 1B | Tony Perez | PHI |
| __ | TO | 279 | OF | Greg Gross | PHI |
| __ | TO | 43 | OF | Bob Dernier | PHI |
Starting Pitchers
| __ | TO | 211 | SP | John Denny | PHI |
| __ | TO | 70 | SP | Steve Carlton | PHI |
| __ | SP | Charles Hudson | |||
| __ | SP | Kevin Gross | |||
| __ | TO | 199 | SP | Marty Bystrom | PHI |
Relief Pitchers
| __ | TT | 46 | CL | Al Holland | PHI |
| __ | TT | 45 | RP | Willie Hernandez | PHI |
| __ | TO | 728 | RP | Ron Reed | PHI |
| __ | TO | 510 | RP | Tug McGraw | PHI |
| __ | TO | 668 | SP | Larry Christenson | PHI |
Other Players
| __ | TO | 383 | C | Ozzie Virgil | PHI |
| __ | TT | 36 | 2B | Kiko Garcia | PHI |
| __ | TO | 357 | 1B | Len Matuszek | PHI |
| __ | TT | 72 | 2B | Larry Milbourne | PHI |
| __ | 2B | Juan Samuel | |||
| __ | OF | Sixto Lezcano | |||
| __ | TO | 664 | PH | Bob Molinaro | PHI |
| __ | IF | Steve Jeltz | |||
| __ | TO | 754 | UT | Bill Robinson | PHI |
| __ | RF | Alejandro Sanchez | |||
| __ | TO | 252 | SS | Luis Aguayo | PHI |
| __ | CF | Jeff Stone | |||
| __ | C | Darren Daulton | |||
| __ | 1B | Tim Corcoran | |||
| __ | TO | 432 | RP | Porfi Altamirano | PHI |
| __ | TO | 484 | SP | Dick Ruthven | PHI |
| __ | TO | 459 | RP | Ed Farmer | PHI |
| __ | TO | 234 | RP | Larry Andersen | SEA |
| __ | SP | Tony Ghelfi | |||
| __ | TO | 564 | RP | Sid Monge | PHI |
| __ | TO | 353 | RP | Steve Comer | TEX |
| __ | RP | Don Carman |
Managers
| __ | TO | 637 | MG | Pat Corrales | PHI |
| __ | MG | Paul Owens |
I remember rooting for this team to beat the O's. Man, that Denny card is awful LOL ....I didn't remember Topps was still doin' some airbrushing in '83.
ReplyDeleteI know the 1989 set has some bad airbrushing...but I think they stopped that practice shortly there after...computer graphic programs, such as Photoshop probably ended the practice
ReplyDelete