 |
 |
Adolfo Emilio Phillips
Chicago Cubs
Outfield
Born: December 16, 1941, Bethania, Panama
Signed: Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent, September 21, 1960
Major League Teams: Philadelphia Phillies 1964-66; Chicago Cubs 1966-69; Montreal Expos 1969-70; Cleveland Indians 1972
Adolfo Phillips played in eight big league seasons, and was the everyday center fielder for the Cubs between 1966 and 1968. Phillips debuted with the Phillies in 1964 as a September call-up, witnessing first hand the team's epic collapse down the stretch drive. He was a back-up outfielder for the Phillies in 1965 before a trade sent in to Chicago at the start of the 1966 season. Phillips would assume regular center field duties for the Cubs, and had his best season in 1967. In 144 games that year, he batted .268 with career highs in home runs (17) and RBIs (70), while leading the league with 29 intentional walks. The high amount of free walks set a record at the time, and was due to Phillips staying in the eight-hole all season in manager Leo Durocher's (#147) line-up.
A broken hand at the start of the 1969 season cost him playing time and may have eventually led to his trade to the Expos that June. Phillips finished his big league career with two seasons in Montreal and a comeback attempt with the Indians in 1972. He'd continue to play professionally through the 1979 season, spending four full seasons playing in Mexico. Phillips batted .247 in 649 major league games, with 463 hits, 59 home runs and 173 RBIs.
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times. I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.
Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders. I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500. This card was the 55th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me less than $1.
Collectors hadn't seen this photo of Phillips before, although the pose is similar to his pose on his 1968 Topps card. The write-up on the back somehow combines his league-leading 46 stolen bases in 1962, and his 14 outfield assists in 1966. The cartoon highlights the three home runs Phillips hit against the Mets on June 11, 1967. His victims were former teammate Jack Lamabe, Chuck Estrada and Don Shaw (#183).
Accuracy Index: Phillips' card scores a solid +5.
1969 Season
Phillips appeared in 28 games for the Cubs, and the start of his season was delayed after a pitch from the Reds' Pedro Borbon broke his hand in a spring training game on March 11th. Getting little playing time, the Cubs traded the popular Phillips to the Expos with Lamabe for Paul Popovich (#47), on July 11th. Reunited with his former manager Gene Mauch (#606), Phillips made 48 starts in center field but a prolonged slump cost him playing time as the season progressed. Overall, he batted .218 for the year with four home runs and eight RBIs.
Phillips made his debut with the Phillies in September 1964, and returned to the minors at the start of the 1965 season with no room for him in the Phillies outfield that consisted of Johnny Callison (#133), Tony Gonzalez (#501) and John Briggs (#73). He was called up in mid-July, batting .230 in 41 games for the Phillies through the remainder of the season. In 1966, Phillips was the club's opening day center fielder, leading off and going 0 for 3. He'd never start another game for the Phillies, and his last appearance with the club came on April 15th as a pinch-runner. On April 21, 1966, in one of the worst deals in Phillies' history, Phillips was traded to the Cubs with John Herrnstein and Fergie Jenkins (#640), for Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson. In 56 games with the Phillies, Phillips batted .223 with three home runs and five RBIs.
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps #32
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6): 1966-71
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1971 Topps #418
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 33 in the Beckett online database as of 8/18/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment