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John Melvin Phillips
Detroit Tigers
Outfield-Third Base
Born: February 24, 1928, West Point, MS
Acquired: Sent from Stroudsburg (North Atlantic) to the Tigers in an unknown transaction before 1949 season
Major League Teams: Detroit Tigers 1955; Chicago White Sox 1956-1959; Cleveland Indians 1960-1962; Detroit Tigers 1963-1964
Died: June 22, 1993, Hattiesburg, MS (age 65)
Bubba Phillips was a high school and college football star in Mississippi, before opting to give up the gridiron for the baseball diamond. He enjoyed his best seasons while with the White Sox in the late 1950s as their every day third baseman. Phillips also appeared regularly at all three outfield positions in addition to his time at third. He batted .269 in his four seasons with the White Sox and he experienced his sole postseason action in 1959 when the White Sox faced off against the Dodgers. In three World Series games, Phillips batted .300 (3 for 10) while starting at third in Games 5 and 6. The Dodgers would prevail in six games.
Building the Set
June 19, 2021 from Moorestown Mall Baseball Card Show - Card #337
Following our youngest son Ben's flawless performance of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy at his piano recital, our family headed to the Moorestown Mall in New Jersey to browse a real live baseball card show. Traditionally, I only venture into malls for baseball card shows and I can't honestly remember the last time, pre-pandemic, I had stepped foot into a mall. The show was small, hosted by S&B Sports Promotions, with about a dozen tables and not much vintage to offer, but it was a sight for sore eyes. It took us only about 15 minutes to scout the whole place out and I was lucky enough to find a friendly dealer with 1960s and 1970s Topps cards in great shape, in order and (best of all) reasonably priced. I took my time going through his 1965 Topps commons, settling on 29 cards we needed and adding a card from the star pile to give us 30 new cards total. I spent an even $100 (after a generous dealer discount) and this Phillips card was about $3.25.
The Card / Tigers Team Set
This is the second "OF-3rd Base" position combination I've encountered so far while building the set, with the first being the card for George Banks (#348). This is the first and only Bubba in the set. Phillips was released by the Tigers on February 16, 1965, so by the time collectors were finding this card in their packs he had already departed Detroit. This is his ninth and final appearance in a Topps flagship set and the back of the card contains his lifetime major league statistics.
1965 Season
Following his release from the Tigers, Phillips latched on with the Braves organization. At 37 years old, and for the first time since 1952, he appeared in minor league games, ultimately playing in 111 games for the Triple-A Atlanta Crackers. Phillips batted .230 with the Crackers, hitting four home runs and driving in 29 runs. He'd retire after the season.
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First Mainstream Card: 1955 Bowman #228
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9): 1957-1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1978 TCMA The 1960s I #192
40 - Phillips non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 9/10/21.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
Previous Card: #305 Rico Carty - Milwaukee Braves
Previous Card: #305 Rico Carty - Milwaukee Braves
Next Card: #307 Barry Latman - Los Angeles Angels
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