#14 Phillies Rookie Stars Pete Koegel Mike Anderson Wayne Twitchell

Close inspection on the back of the card shows the making of a formidable front basketball team....and maybe they should have tried.....Phillies of the early 70s were in full rebuild mode with a few stars and future HOFers in the wings, but aside from that some short it largely missed this crew.

Pete Koegel  standing at 6’ 6” was an applicant in the derby to be the regular Phillies backstop with offensive capabilities....A location of stop gap applicants....Slow start but built a solid body of work in minors during 1970-71....was able some MLB time with the Brewers and then Phillies but neither excited critics....was able to stay in Philly for the during of 1972 but was used very little....any chance of career enhancement ruined by the arrival of Bob Boone....bounced along a couple of farm systems with rapidly diminishing returns.

Mike Anderson Billed as the doppelganger of Greg Luzinski, who was just called up and would make inroads.....Sizeable man 6’ 2” .....Massive minor league stats seem to promise great things.... In the major leagues you could die of encouragement and like several other Philadelphia fledglings fell on his face in 1972....relegated back to minors....Anderson returns to Philly for next stint but lost time to injuries....relegated to 5^th or 6^th outfielder or pinch hitter....numbers passable at best but a near shadow of AAA figures....trail took him to St. Louis, Baltimore, and then a final return to Philly.

Wayne Twitchell  Another tall timber.....boyish looks on a 6 ’6 ½” frame..... Like Pete Koegel plucked from the Brewers system....In absence of other alternatives was thrown into the competitive MLB breech of 1972 and given a swing man role with an occasional start....Came out with 5-9 W-L record....followed up with an all star season in 1973 and 2.50 ERA good for 3^rd best....13 wins put him a four way tie for club lead....but after last game injury altered the hopeful upstart was never the same....started 1974 on DL and once returned ineffective, a tract continued next year....ERA improved greatly but work load was shrunk to mop up only....pitching woes return and stay in 1977 splitting time between Phillies and Montreal.....released by Expos after next year....Signed by Mets for 1979 then sold to Mariners....both resulting in a inflated ERA....grant free agency but with no takers.

Close inspection on the back of the card show the making of a formidable front basketball team....and maybe they should have tried.....Phillies of 1972 were in full rebuild mode with stars and HOFers in the wing, but it missed this crew....Pete Koegel  standing at 6’ 6” was an entrant in the derby to be the mainstay Phillies backstop with offensive capabilities....A location of stop gap applicants....Slow start but built a solid body of work in minors during 1970-71....was able some MLB time with the Brewers and then Phillies but neither excited critics....was able to stay in Philly for the during of 1972 but was used very little....any chance of career enhancement ruined by the arrival of Bob Boone....bounced along a couple of farm systems with rapidly diminishing returns.

Mike Anderson Billed as the doppelganger of Greg Luzinski, who was just called up and would make inroads.....Sizeable man 6’ 2” .....Massive minor league stats seem to promise great things.... In the major leagues you could die of encouragement and like several Philadelphia fledglings fell on his face in 1972....relegated back to minors....Anderson returns to Philly for next stint but lost time to injuries....relegated to 5^th or 6^th outfielder or pinch hitter....numbers passable at best and a near shadow of AAA figures....trail took him to St. Louis, Baltimore, and then a final return to Philly.

Wayne Twitchell  Another tall boy.....boyish looks on a 6 ’6 ½” frame..... Like Pete Koegel plucked from the Brewers system....In absence of other alternatives was thrown into the competitive MLB breech of 1972 and given a swing man role with an occasional start....Came out with 5-9 W-L record....followed up with an all star season in 1973 and 2.5 ERRA good for 3^rd best....13 wins put him a four way tie for club lead....but after last game injury altered the hopeful upstart was never the same....started 1974 on DL and once returned ineffective, a tract continued next year....ERA improved greatly but work load was shrunk to mop up only....pitching woes return and stay in 1977 splitting time between Phillies and Montreal.....released by Expos after next year....Signed by Mets for 1979 then sold to Mariners....both resulting in a inflated ERA....grant free agency but with no takers.