Every Picture Tells A Story 1990 Fleer #554 Dennis Cook

Every once in a while you are sorting through junk wax and something catches your eye.

1990 Fleer #554 Dennis Cook

Initially the card was notable because Cook, a pitcher, is shown holding a bat. I was going to add this to my pitchers batting page and then a closer look revealed a goofy bat knob

I was trying to make out Cook's number on the knob. He wore 30 and 39 while playing for the Phillies. I don't see that in there, but maybe maybe his initials DC are written over something else. My invetigation continued:

Looking at the other end of the bat....do my eyes decieve me or does that say Floyd Youmans? Ok I will need you to be the judge on that one, perhaps it is some bat company name or model. But bear with me and my belief that it does indeed say "Floyd Youmans"

According to Baseball-ref Dennis Cook was traded to the Phillies on June 18 1989. Youmans started a game for the Phillies on June 24th and was never heard from again. Cook first started for the Phillies versus the Cardinals on June 22nd and took the mound every 5th day for the next two months. Yes Dennis Cook had basically replaced Floyd Youmans in the rotation. Furthemore remember that goofy bat knob - Floyd Youmans wore Uni #15, Remember my DC reference above, is it mre or does that look like a "DC" Scrawled over top of the nuumber 15?

After 1989 Floyd Youmans never pitched in the majors again, Dennis Cook who is actually a year older than Youmans went on to pitch (mostly as a reliever) for 15 years. Cook was a member of the 1997 World Champion Marlins and returned to the Series three years later as a valuable reliever in the New York Mets bullpen.

The careers of Youmans and Cook intersected for less than a week and here a single junk wax baseball card captures that moment in a single photo

Sources
Baseball-ref

1993 07 28 - 20 years ago today: 1 Game, 2 Grand Slams

One of the many great games I was fortunate enough to attend in the Phillies memorable 1993 season

Ticket Stub 1993 07 28

The game didn't  start off well, 14 pitches in Terry Mulholland gave up a grand slam to the fourth batter of the game. Yes four batters into a critical game with the St Louis Cardinals the Phillies found themselves down 4-0 before recording an out.  

1990 Fleer Todd Zeile (note the position)


That night the then Cardinals third baseman Todd Zeile hit his first of 9 career grand slams to give the Redbirds an early four run lead. Fortunately 4 runs was never enough against the 1993 Phillies.

Terry Mulholland basically settled down after the slam and got through 7 innings. The Phillies dependable offense came through tying the game in the 3rd and taking the lead in the 5th.

1988 Topps #468 Darren Daulton

The Phillies were already up 9-6 in the 8th when Darren Daulton blew the game wide open with a Grand Slam of his own. The Phillies went home 14-6 winners in a game in which they were done four runs in the first inning.   
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20 years ago today that was one of the most memorable games that I ever witnessed. 200+ games later and it is the only game in which I have seen 2 grand slams. Over the course of those 200 games Darren Daulton is the only person I have seen hit multiple grand slams. 

Oddly if you look into the baseball-ref boxscore, Daulton's Slam doesn't rank in the top 5 Win Probability Added scores, and there are 4 ABs that rank higher then Zeile's. In fact the Cardinals lost by 8 runs but recorded the highest WPA of the game when Bernard Gilkey hit a 3 run homer in the 7th. That is just the crazy stuff that happens in a game where 20 runs are scored.

Flashback 1993 Phillies Postings
1993 04 09 - Opening Day - Cubs 11@ Phillies 7 
1993 05 10 - Pirates 1 @ Phillies 5

Sources
baseball-ref.com