2008 Phillies - Where are they now? (Infielders)

2008, of course, was a big year for the Phillies. They made the playoffs for the 2nd consecutive year and, better yet, won the World Series. They would go on to a lose in the 2009 World Series and again reach the playoffs in 2010 and 2011. With the departures of Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley this year. There aren't many left from that 2008 team.

Carlos Ruiz - Catcher

2008 Topps Chrome #77

2015 Topps Heritage #57

Ruiz is only one of two players left from the 2008 team. He was in his second year as the Phillies regular catcher (catching 115 games) but didn't have much offensive impact during the regular season, hitting just .219 with one home run. But the playoffs were a different story. He hit .313 against the Dodgers in the NLCS and .375 against the Rays in the World Series with one home run. In 2015, Ruiz isn't even the regular catcher (appearing in only 79 games) and he's only hitting .219 again. His best season was 2012 when he hit .325 with 16 home runs and an All-Star berth.

Ryan Howard - 1st Base

2008 Topps T205 #10

2015 Stadium Club #199

The Big Piece is the only other 2008 Phillie still with the team. In 2008, Howard lead the league with 48 home runs and 146 rbi. He hit .300 in the NLCS and .286 in the World Series with 3 home runs. After being injured for large parts of the 2011 and 2013 seasons, Howard is not the offensive player he once was. In 2015 he's batting .228 with only 21 home runs. He also has an enormous contract ($25,000,000/year currently) and 2 years to go on his contract.

Chase Utley - Second Base

2008 Sweet Spot #24

2015 Topps #163

In 2008, Chase was in the prime of his career. He played in 159 games, hit .292 with 33 home runs and 104 rbi. He was also an All-Star. He had a great NLCS hitting .353 but tailed off considerably in the World Series. He has lost a lot of playing time since with various leg injuries. For the Phillies in 2015 he was batting only .217 with 5 home runs in 73 games before the Phillies traded him to the Dodgers for John Richy (minors) and Darnell Sweeney.

Jimmy Rollins - Short Stop

2008 UD Masterpieces #70

2015 Topps #659

J-Roll was coming off an MVP season in 2008. And although he had a good 2008 season, his best years were already behind him in his 9th season. He hit .277 with 11 home runs in 2008 and also won a Gold Glove. His defensive abilities were never in question. He hit .375 in the NLDS but was pretty quiet the rest of the 2008 playoffs. In 2014, his last season with the Phillies he hit .243 with 17 home runs. He ended the 2014 season as the Phillies all time hits leader (passing Mike Schmidt) with 2,306 hits. He was traded to the Dodgers in December 2014 or Zach Eflin (minors) and Tom Windle (minors), where he is the Dodgers everyday shortstop.

Pedro Feliz - Third Base

2008 Topps Allen & Ginter #293

2011 Topps Cognac Diamond Anniversary #212

Feliz was a free agent pickup by the Phillies for the 2008 season to replace Abraham Nunez at third. Hitting .249 with 14 home runs, he was a considerable upgrade from Nunez (.234, no home runs). He hit .333 in the 2008 World Series. The Phillies released him after the 2009 season. He signed with the Astros and was then traded to the Cardinals. He retired after the 2010 season. In 2011-2012 he was playing for the Camden Riversharks and a team in the Dominican Republic. The Wikipedia trail ends there.

Random Cards from My Collection #49

#10594
2008 Bowman Chrome Refractor #39 Tom Glavine

Comments on the card: The regular 2008 Bowman cards were the normal black borders with red highlights. I like that the chrome versions had white borders.  Still too much facsimile signature.
When acquired: October 2008
How acquired: Paid $1.00/card for a blaster box.
Player's season: 2008 was Glavine's last season and he finished with the Braves, where it all began. He was 2-4 in 13 starts but that hardly matters in a career where he was 305-203.

Card #6712
1991 Score Von Hayes #426

Comments on the card: This was a good design. Big photo on the front, simple colored borders (one of the colors was white) and nice photo and stat listing on the back.
When acquired: Don't know.
How acquired: Don't know.
Player's season: In June, Hayes got his arm broken by Tom Browning of the Reds. It ended his season. He was traded to the Angels at the end of the season but his career was also effectively over.

Card #4205
1997 Donruss #416 Brady Anderson

Comments on the card: This was a 25-card subset in 1997 Donruss, not an insert, featuring the top players with the top 25 batting averages in 1996. Reaching all the way down to #25, was Anderson at .257. Anderson actually hit .297 in 1996, so maybe this is career average?
When acquired: Don't know.
How acquired: Don't know.
Player's season: Anderson led the American League in being hit by a pitch in 1997, at 19. A little down from his league leading total of 22 in 1996.

Card #34054
2012 Topps Archives #161 Chase Utley

Comments on the card: This was a nice set (as is this year's) but are you getting a bit tired of recycled Topps designs?
When acquired: June 2012.
How acquired: Acquired during the Great 2012 Summer Clearance Trade.
Player's season: Chase missed most of the first half of the season, coming out of spring training with knee problems.

Card #3915
1980 Topps #526 Phillies Team Photo

Comments on the card: I love team photo cards. I wish Topps would bring them back.
When acquired: Don't know.
How acquired: Don't know.
Player's season: My favorite Phillies team of all time. They were 91-71 in 1980 and won the first World Series in franchise history.

Card #770
1990 Score Rising Stars #6 Todd Zeile

Comments on the card: This was a 100-card set sold as a complete set in a blister pack. It features up and coming rookies.
When acquired: August 2003.
How acquired: Paid $9.00 for the entire set on eBay.
Player's season: 1990 was Todd's first full season. He played 144 games for the Cardinals, hitting .244 with 15 home runs. Good enough to place 6th on the ROY voting.

Card #21941
2002 Upper Deck Vintage #236 Jimmy Rollins

Comments on the card: Upper Deck Vintage was an attempt by Upper Deck to mimic Topps success at recycling their past designs by recycling old Topps designs. I like cards featuring players signing autographs but Jimmy looks a bit distracted here.
When acquired: Don't know.
How acquired: Don't know.
Player's season: In his second full season, J-Roll lead the league in plate appearances with 637 and triples, with 10. He was also an All-Star.

Card #2731
1982 Donruss #585 Mike Schmidt/Pete Rose

Comments on the card: From Donruss' second year of production. They really loaded up on the popular players of the day.
When acquired: Don't know.
How acquired: Don't know.
Player's season: Pete and Mike were both All-Stars in 1982.

Card #40470
2001 Fleer Tradition #234 Eric Davis

Comments on the card: Here's Fleer pretty much doing the same thing as Upper Deck Vintage.
When acquired: 2001
How acquired: Don't know.
Player's season: Eric had hit .303 in 93 games for the Cardinals in 2000. He singed with the Giants in 2001 and only hit .205 in 74 games. And that was the end.

Card #22310
2004 Donruss Elite #130 Bob Abreu

Comments on the card: Mirror finished cards with multiple parallels. I never bought much of this product.
When acquired: Don't know.
How acquired: Don't know.
Player's season: Bobby hit .301 in 2004 and and went to his first All-Star game.

2010 Topps 206 Part 2

Last week I featured the regular Topps 206 cards. I said I'd feature the inserts and short prints in Part 2.

Just like last year, the set features Bronze cards printed in heavy board. There are 352 cards. None of the cards (as near as I can tell) are short prints. In the base set, the cards numbered over 300 are short prints. The Bronze cards come one per pack. I featured this card because it's the only card I have with Johnny Evers. Now all I need is Tinker and Chance.Topps didn't go overboard with non-baseball cards in the set. There is one non-baseball insert, called Historical Events. They are mini cards and there are 20 of them. I got a few in my 3 blasters so they seem easy to get. This one features the first sale of an airplane by the Wright Brothers to the army.
As I mentioned, the cards numbered over 300 are short prints which feature a different picture from the non-short print card. The cards are also un-numbered. There are two Pujols short prints so I don't know which one I got.
Here is the back which is different than the regular cards. One thing I forgot to mention in my other post is that none of the cards (regular or short print) have fake smudges on the back. Last year's set had facsimile smudges to make them look old. The problem was that every card had exactly the same smudges.
The mini cards follow the same predictable pattern of ancient tobacco brands. Except for the card number, the backs are the same for each mini card within each subset. As usual, Piedmont is the easiest to get. There is one mini card per pack.
Based on what I got, American Caramel is the second easiest to get. Notice that the player's team name is on the back.
And since it's a Phillie, Chase Utley, I'll show you the front.
I got two Polar Bears.
And one Old Mill.

Cards from Dinged Corners

The ladies at Dinged Corners were having a clearance so I put in my order. They also set along a nice random set of Phillies and Astros, about half of which I didn't have. How do they do it? I'll be keeping my eye out for David Wright and Curtus Granderson cards for them. Here's just a small sample of what they sent.

2007 Bowman Heritage Foil Chase Utley No Signature variation #193I already had the base card and the base card no signature variation of this card. The base card no sig card is a short print but apparently, the foil no sig variation is not a short print. This was one of my favorite years of Bowman Heritage and I really like the foil cards. It's the only no sig foil card I have.

2008 Topps Moments and Milestones Autographs Felipe Paulino #RA-FP
I now have the honor of owning two 2008 Felipe Paulino cards with sticker autos. The other is from the Topps Co-Signers set. According to today's Houston Chronicle, Paulino will be competing in spring training for the 4th or 5th starting pitcher spot. He was 3-11 in 17 starts in 2009 with an ERA of 6.27. I think he's going to have to better than that in 2010.

2007 Bowman Heritage Pieces of Greatness Craig Biggio # PG-CB
2007 was Biggio's final season. By the time I got to the Houston area in 1995, Biggio was in his 8th season. But I'd been a fan of his for years. It was a pleasure to see him play for 12 more years.

2002 Disabled American Veterans Craig Biggio
Disabled American Veterans is a non-profit group which helps disabled American veterans. I didn't know this but apparently they sponsor special events at a number of ball parks every summer and some teams produce DAV cards for the games.