Fleer Bought the 1987 Phillies Phenom
But Tastykake beat them to the punch -- not that anyone noticed
Today’s Lineup…
☕ Card of the Day - The Cup-of-Coffee Kid
😋 Tasty. Kake. Tastykake.
🧙 Magic in Wax
1987 Fleer Update Ken Dowell (#U-27) - Card of the Day
Coming off an 86-75, second-place finish to the champion New York Mets in the old National League East, the Philadelphia Phillies had one thing on their mind heading into 1987: world domination!
Or, at least improvement.
And why not? The Phils had reigning N.L. MVP Mike Schmidt to lead the charge, surrounded by a talented young core that included the likes of Juan Samuel, Milt Thompson, Chris James (a possible heir to Schmitty at third), Rick Schu, Darren Daulton, Jeff Stone, and others.
They also brought in All-Star catcher Lance Parrish as a free agent to handle a mixed-bag pitching staff that included veterans like Shane Rawley and Kent Tekulve among youngsters Don Carman, Bruce Ruffin, and Kevin Gross.
One of the key pieces of the phuture for the team was supposed to be shortstop Steve Jeltz, a minor league speedster who even showed a little pop in the bushes before finding major league pitching to be a challenge in 1983…and 1984…and 1985…and 1986.
Still, Philly brass held out hope that, not only could he make a nice double-play partner for Samuel, but that the elder batsman might help Jeltz take advantage of his tools.
Alas, the Phils began 1987 with a 39-32 record, which was enough for general manager Bill Giles to make some changes.
Gone was manager John Felske, replaced by Lee Elia, who after 1983 was forced by league rules to travel with a suitcase full of bar soap in case a postgame press conference broke out.
Gone, too, was Jeltz, who took his .179 batting average to the Triple-A Maine Guides.
And who replaced Jeltz in Philadelphia? Well, it wasn’t any of the backups they had on hand, like Luis Aguayo or Greg Legg (at least not directly, or fully).
Instead, Giles pulled off a straight-up swap within his own franchise, calling up Guides shortstop Ken Dowell.
Dowell had been in the organization since 1980, when the Phillies selected him in the sixth round of the June draft. In most of the intervening summers, he had shown himself to be a typical light-hitting middle infielder, but he had boosted his average to .301 in 1986 and continued to hit well in the early parts of 1987.
And so, for the first month of summer in 1987, Ken Dowell was more or less the starting shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies.
He debuted on June 24, at age 26. He made his last appearance on July 19, still age 26. As it turned out, that would be the end for Dowell in the majors.
In between those summer mileposts, Dowell collected five singles and two walks in 42 plate appearances across 15 games. That was “good” for a .128 batting average (and slugging percentage!) and a .171 on-base percentage.
It was also good enough for Fleer to buy the hype and include Dowell in their Update set that fall. As “only” cards go, it’s a pretty nifty one.
And a good way to celebrate Ken Dowell’s 63rd birthday today. Happy birthday!
(If you want to see another January 19 birthday boy, Jon Matlack is your man. Not only does he turn 74 today, but we had some good fun with one of his classic cards awhile back. Read all about it!)
1987 Tastykake Phillies
Truth be told, that 1987 Fleer Update card is not the only one showing Dowell in a Phillies uniform. Nope, thanks to local snack legend Tastykake, Dowell was part of the 47 oversize (3 1/2" x 5 1/4") cards handed out to Phils fans at Veterans Stadium when the Cubs came to town.
Considering that was more than two months before Dowell blew into town, maybe the Phils had plans for him that summer all along.
1980 Topps Wax Box
Of course, just a few years before Dowell had his moment in the sun, the Phils had maybe the greatest season in franchise history.
That 1980 Phillies team not only won the organization’s first World Series championship, they also showed the city what a little baseball magic could do, courtesy of Schmidt, Pete Rose, Steve Carlton, Tug McGraw, and all the rest.
So it’s fitting that we wrap up to today with a little 1980s hobby magic, courtesy of this wax box with an asking price of a cool $4000.
Of course, it’s the prospect of finding a cherry Rickey Henderson rookie card (or even a few of them) that drives that number. But even if the price tag sends your wallet into hibernation, it’s still fun to look and remember how it felt to hold a real, live wax pack in your grubby little fingers.
As usual, this isn’t mine, so I don’t know where it’s been or what it’s been doing for the last 44 years. Doesn’t look a day over “fresh off the truck” to me, though.
Check out the listing right here.
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So that’s a lot of words stemming from a guy who was only in the bigs for a cup of coffee. But, hey, I’d want my due if I made it, like Ken Dowell did. Consider this my contribution to that effort on his birthday.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have weekend prep to do. It’s Friday, after all, and I still have to round up my Saturday morning cartoons for the week.
Thanks for reading.
—Adam
More cardboard fun: