Saturday, March 3, 2012

Adolfo Phillips (#32)

This is Adolfo Phillips' rookie card. It's also his only card as a Phillie. He was signed by Philadelphia in September 1960, and played the 1961-64 seasons in their farm system. Phillips made his major-league debut in September 1964, and split the 1965 season between Philadelphia and their AAA team in Little Rock, Arkansas.



The Phillies' farm system was cranking out young outfielders during this time: Johnny Briggs made the team in 1964; Alex Johnson (1965's addition) was shipped off to the Cardinals as part of the deal that brought Bill White and Dick Groat to Philly after the '65 season. Early in the 1966 season, Phillips was traded to the Cubs in the Fergie Jenkins deal. For the next 3 seasons ('66-'68) he was Chicago's regular center fielder.

In June 1969, Phillips was traded to the Expos (with pitcher Jack Lamabe) for infielder Paul Popovich. He immediately assumed the starting centerfield job in Montreal, but after 6 weeks was replaced by journeyman Ty Cline (among others).

In 1970, Adolfo alternated in center field with Boots Day and Jim Fairey, then spent all of 1971 in the minors. After the season, he was sold to the Indians. In 1972 he only played 12 games for Cleveland, while spending most of his final season with triple-A Portland, Oregon.

Phillips' final card was in the 1971 set. He was left out of the 1970 set.
at

3 comments:

  1. Eric C. LoyMarch 6, 2012 at 5:03 AM

    Phillips was in the last series in 1970 for Topps: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-TOPPS-666-ADOLFO-PHILLIPS-NM-HI-6927-/380392302961?pt=US_Baseball&hash=item589125e971.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jim from DowningtownMarch 6, 2012 at 6:56 PM

    Thanks for the correction, Eric.

    I usually consult my Topps book before making statements like that, but I just moved, and it's still packed. This time, I searched Zistle for "Adolfo Phillips Topps", but I must have been searching "my cards" and not "all cards".

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jim from DowningtownMarch 6, 2012 at 10:30 PM

    Hmm... Zistle has Phillips listed as "Adolpho" for his 1970 card, and "Adolfo" for all others, which is why I missed him in my "all cards" search.

    ReplyDelete