Phillies @ Dodgers Game 4 and 1993 NLCS clincher 15th Anniversary!

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the greatest game I ever saw - October 13th 1993 - NLCS game 6 Atlanta Braves @ Philadelphia Phillies. The Phils had taken a 3-2 series lead by winning two very tight games in Atlanta. They were returning home for game 6, which was one of the games I drew as a season ticket holder.


The Phils took a 4-1 lead in the 5th on a Dave Hollins Homer, Mickey Morandini tripled the following inning to stretch the lead to 6-1. Tommy Greene, who was at the end of his best season of his brief career, gave the Phils seven strong innings and left with a 6-3 lead.

1994 Fleer Flair #412 Tommy Greene
Mitch Williams pitched an improbable 1-2-3 Ninth for the save clinching the 1993 National League crown for the Phils.

Amazingly the pitcher that Tommy Greene out-dueled that night is now, 15 years later, a member of the team the Phils are facing in the 2008 NLCS - Greg Maddux.


1994 Fleer Ultra #446 Greg Maddux

The only proper way to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the greatest game I ever saw would be with another playoff victory. Hopefully the baseball fates agree with me.

Note 1 - You can't tell in the scan, but the price of the Phils NLCS ticket in 1993 was $30 - that was for a ticket in the last row of the old Vet. I am not sure what upper level tickets are going for this year but the lowers carry a face value of $120.

Note 2 - The Tommy Greene card is from 1994 Fleer Flair, one of my favorite sets. The dual photos on the front of these cards are usually very good and there is even a 3rd photo on the back. I particularly like the in action pitching shots like this one. The card stock is also very strong - it really gives you the feeling your holding a premium card.

Go Phils!

2008 08 27 Mets 6 @ Phillies 3 - Payback

2008 Topps #305 Carlos Delgado

The New York Mets defeated the Phils 6-3 on Wednesday night taking first place back from the Fightins. Carlos Delgado led the Mets offense hitting his 29th and 30th Home Runs of the season. The two homers extended Delgado’s record for career home runs by a Puerto Rican born player to 461. I would have to say that Delgado is a borderline Hall of Fame candidate.

The Mets and Phils split the two game series, with the Mets giving up the lead in the 9th inning of game one and the Phils returning the favor in the 8th of game two.

Plus - Free tickets from our dear friends Susan n Dave! Kyle Kendrick holds his own versus Johan Santana. This year’s edition of Sam Adams October Fest is out at the ball park.

Minus - Phils cannot manage any key hits after dingers by Howard and Werth in the first two innings. Phils don't acquire Mark Kotsay.

Meh - Parking $10, Turkey BLT Wrap $10.50, Beers $20, Pretzel 3.75. So our night at the ballpark with free tickets still amounted to cost $44.25.

Welcome Aboard – Drew Carpenter made his major league debut for the Phillies last night. Carpenter was ranked ninth among Phillies prospects by Baseball America prior to the 08 season. He pitched a scoreless top of the 9th keeping the Phils within three runs of the Mets.

BlogBlogBlog – In other prospect news the Arizona Fall League rosters have been posted. The Phils will be sending their US Olympic team members, Catcher Lou Marson and Second Baseman Jason Donald, out to the Grand Canyon state. Other Phils on the way to the AFL are Pitchers Carpenter, Joe Bisenius Sergio Escalona, and Patrick Overholt as well as Outfielder’s Quinitin Berry and Jeremy Slayden. The Phils will play for the Mesa Solar Sox squad who count Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg as a member of their coaching staff.

2007 Topps '52 Rookies #88 Joe Bisenius

Around the League - Preliminary 2009 MLB schedules have been leaked and according to the New Jersey Star Ledger the NL and AL East will each play each other. The Phils are expected to visit the New Yankee Stadium in 09.

In more schedule news the local A-10 Basketball teams all released their slates for the upcoming season:
LaSalle St. Joe's Temple

Off the Diamond - The LPGA is thinking of requiring that it's members speak English - I find this odd as there are moments after I have done something wrong, bad, or just plain dumb I find that I wish my favorite Lady would stop speaking English.

Useless Info – Phils set a Citizen’s Bank record with there 45th sellout of the season. Last night was potentially the final game the Phillies will ever play without instant replay.

On Deck – It will most likely be the Mets again. Team Phungo has scheduled a farewell trip to Shea Stadium on the first Saturday in September to catch one more Phils vs Mets contest. In the interim the Phils embark on a road trip to Chicago and Washington.

Scoop – By losing the Phils fell out of first place, which puts them in position to block any waiver claim made by the Mets. This could potentially relate to a potential move for Rockies closer Brian Fuentes.

And finally right before it got ugly I took this photo of what I call the baseball card inning. This is one is sponsered by Upper Deck. As far as I know this is not a design used on any of their cards. They just make it appear like a UD Card. As for the ugly part look at the scoreboard. This picture was taken when thing were still happy. The Phils were still leading in the bottom of the 7th but you can also see doom lurking. On the right it is noted that Greg Dobbs has already pinch-hit for Scott Eyre, foreshadowing the appearance of the games eventual loser Rudy Seanez. Then look to the left. We can see that The Mets #3 hitter for the upcoming inning is Carlos Delgado who will hit the game tying homer that will extend the fateful 8th inning.

2008 04 07 Dodgers 2 @ Phillies 9 - Offense finally comes up big for Hamels

In a mid-August showdown of potential playoff teams the Phils beat the Dodgers 9-2 on Saturday. Cole Hamels gave the Phils 7 quality innings, giving up only two runs which occurred in the third when Hamels gave up a double to James Loney followed by a Home Run by Russell Martin on back to back pitches. Pat Burrell paced the offense with a 5 RBI day including a 3 run homer off Dodgers rookie prospect Clayton Kershaw. It appeared that Kershaw was having trouble locating his off-speed pitches most of the game and the Phils were able to capitalize when he had to throw fastballs for strikes.

Plus – Phils offense pounds out double digit hits for second consecutive day. Perfect weather! Fairly quick game ended in 2:41. There was a pre-game Barbecue hosted by Garry Maddox for his Youth Golf & Academics Program, a charitable organization set up support children in troubled city neighborhoods. Chowing down on some great BBQ for $10 towards a charitable cause was much better than the customary ballpark prices.

The Phils pitchers managed to hold Manny Ramirez to only a single in the game. This is a photo of Manny batting in the 9th inning.
Minus – None

Meh - $27 ticket, Beers and Parking covered by Friends, $8 Parking. $35 total

Around the League – Mets Lose. Phils pull to within 1.5 games of first place.

Useless Info – So Taguchi, uniform #99, flew out versus Joe Beimel, uniform #97 in the 7^th inning. This has to be one of the highest uniformed number hitter-pitcher combinations to ever face each other (196)

On Deck – The Phungo travel team is hopefully headed back to Baltimore this week to catch Jim Thome and those Chicago White Sox.

2008 08 18 - Red Sox 6 @ Orioles 3: Great Starts - Bad Pens

The Orioles lost a 6-3 game to Jon Lester and the Bosox Monday night. Both Lester and Orioles Starter Jeremy Guthrie pitched very well. neither the Orioles nor the Bosox Bullpens pitched real well. Thus a tight 2-1 game after 7 ended up 6-3. And despite having two starters pitch very well, the newest Red Sox Jason Bay (J-Bay take that Man-Ram) was able to go 3-5 with a pair of homers and 4 RBI's while Aubrey Huff had a 3 RBI night with a dinger for the Orioles.

Plus - No JD Drew

Minus - I was not the 50 Millionth fan in Camden Yards History - thus losing out on my chance to win 5 years of O's season tickets and $50,000. Of course Red Sox Nation was out in force in Camden Yards and may have comprised 50M fans by themselves.

BlogBlogBlog - SCU has a quality essay on juxtaposing two different types of collectors - GU/Auto Collectors v Set Builders. I am a returning Joe Collector and consider myself a happy member of both camps.

Around the League -Mets bullpen blows up again I've been falling behind on series summaries - lets just say the Phils had a rough trip out west and my ambition for the next 6 weeks is to keep my weight below the Phils post-break batting average.

Useless Info -The always observant Tim Kurkjian noted that during the 2nd inning of the Bosox-O's game last night J-Bay and Jason Varitek became the first pair of Jason's to homer in an inning in something like 10 years.

Scoop - Orioles Prospect/Fredrick Key Jake Arrieta threw 6 innings of shutout ball guiding the US team to an easy 9-1victory over China in the Olympics on Monday.

On Deck - Team Phungo is hoping to catch a game of the Dodgers Phils series this weekend.

Game Summary

2008 08 18 Red Sox 6 @ Orioles 3: W-Lester L-Guthrie S-Papelbon HR-J Bay (2), A Huff

Expense$ - Ticket $20, Parking $8, Beer $7, Gatorade $3, $ Lost in Soda Machine $1 - total $39.

Game Rating - The great pitching performances plus getting a chance to see J-Bay playing for the Bosox and having a bangout night put this game in the Minor Hero Range - Just like this 1981 Topps card of Garry Maddox.

2008 08 06 Marlins @ Phillies - Yahtzee!!!

Yes, I did patiently and politely stand with all the kids hoping for a Cole Hamels Autograph and he was good enough to sign this card for me. Wednesday was the annual Police Athletic League Night. PAL sponsers programs for area kids and brings thousands of them out for one Phils game each year - Several Phils were out signing autographs for the occasion including Joe Blanton, Geoff Jenkins, and of course Jamie Moyer.

In Wednesday night's game starter Kyle Kendrick, Chad Durbin, and Ryan Madson shutout the Marlins on five Hits. Kendrick got himself into a couple of jams but was able to pitch out of them. Ryan Howard had a homer and doubled off the top of the wall to pace the offense and the Phils got good glovework out of Eric Bruntlett and Jimmy Rollins.

Plus - I have always been a big "Goodfellas" fan and last night I was presently surprised to get to see Paul Sorvino perform the National Anthem. And he did a phenomenal job, in addition to being an actor he is also an accomplished opera singer, and it definitely showed.

Milestones - Congrats to Mike Cervenak - the 31 year old rookie got his first hit last night - a single through the left-side and he got an RBI on that hit also.

Minus - NONE - A Win, Auto, Pauly, Mets Lose - there are no minuses here.

BlahBlahBlah - On the same day that Gio Gonzalez make his major league debut, news comes out that the Phils were scouting the one-win wonder Freddy Garcia, whom the Phils had recieved for Gonzalez in a trade prior to the 07 season. It does not appear Garcia would be available this year - In much happier news Kris Benson had another good start last night for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.

Around the League - Glad the Yankees don't need that guy that threw 7+ perfect innings for the Bucos on Wednesday.

Off the Diamond - Thailand's first shot at a gold Medal will come in the Women's weightlifting, which by my calculations will be occuring at 9p on Friday night.

Useless Info - Team Phungo pulls back to even (4-4) in Phils games this year.

On Deck - Hoping to catch the Dodgers and their new left fielder for a game the weekend of August 22nd.

2008 07 13 - 2008 All-Star Futures Game

The World team captured the 2008 All-Star Futures game by a 3-0 score. Nine pitchers combined to shutout the USA Squad on only 3 hits. Che-Hsuan Lin, a Low-A Bosox prospect, from Taiwan captured the MVP trophy for the game by collecting two hits including a 2-run Homer into the left field seats. A's farmhand Henry Rodriguez (Hi-A) also excited the crowd by firing several pitches in the Hi 90s and topping out with a handful at 100 MPH.

Plus - The oft-questioned Phils minor league system, sent 4 prospects to the futures game. Carlos Carrasco playing in his third futures game earned the W for the world team pitching a scoreless first where he struck out 2 and got a broken bat grounder to retire all three batters he faced. One of the three US hits was by Jason Donald.

The game was attended by an estimated 20,000. This was so few that we were able to sit in section 7 behind home plate.

Minus - Of course I paid the full price of $75 for my tickets instead of the $20 I could have easily gotten away with.

Hopefully the performance of Team USA is not indicative of what they will do in Beijing. According to the NY Daily News only two of the world players were expected to represent their native countries in the Olympic games.

Shenanigans - According to Topps Ryan Howard is an "Own the Game" caliber player, unfortunately he does not own enough of it to make the All-Star team. This is despite the fact that he leads the league in both Homers and RBIs. To find the last RBI/HR leader at the break to be a non-star you have to go clear back to Hank Sauer in 1948.

BlogBlogBlog - Baseball America is always a good place for Futures Game Coverage.

BlahBlahBlah - Apparently Jim Leyritz is bent out of shape about not being formally invited to participate in All-Star festivities. Not sure if DUI related manslaughter charges have anything to do with the Yankees oversight.

Off the Diamond - Team Phungo stuck around for the first inning of the celebrity softball game. Wade Boggs Homered in the first AB for the AL/Yankees squad.

This was my third and most likely final trip to Yankee Stadium. I am not a Yankees fan and did not go to enough games for the stadium to have any particular memories for me, but I did enjoy the handful of trips I made to the House that Ruth Built.

Scoop - According to a Phungo source Pat Gillick was spotted at the Futures Game sitting w/ Yankees GM Brian Cashman.

Useless Info - Spotted hungry autograph hounds outside of the Inter-continental @ 48th & Lexington.

On Deck - Next game on the team Phungo slate is a Phillies road game @ DC scheduled for 7/31, but I would think we will try and squeeze in a game or two between now and then.

2008 04 07 - Cardinals 2 @ Phils nil - No Offense

Perennial Cy Young Candidate Joel Pineiro tosses a shutout vs Phils Vaunted Offense.

It may be the Phungo Curse. The Phungo team has been to 3 Hamels' games this season and The Phils have been shutout in two of them.

Plus - Game finished in a brisk 2:21. I was actually home shortly after 10.

Minus - Remember y-day note about not scoring in the first 5 frames. Phils now up to (or should I say standing at) 4 runs in those beginning frames through the last 5 games.

It may not be like falling 7 games in 17 days but since the Phils 20-2 outburst v the Cards on Friday the 13th of June, The Mets have picked up 6 games on the Phils.

Shenanigans - What does a genius like Tony LaRussa do during BP? Carefully examine hitters? No. Run precision field Drills? No. Work on the finer points of the game with a younger player? No. The answer is......The Genius Putts. Yes, during BP Tony LaRussa helped manage his team by golfing baseballs towards the collection bucket at second base.

Meh - got a look at the new all-star jerseys. basically they look like the Yankees away jerseys.

Useless Info - Phils sell out streak did end at 13. Still a good crowd for a hot Tuesday night.

On Deck - The Futures Game @ Yankee Stadium. Looking forward to the game and the weekend in New York.

2008 04 07 - Mets @ Phils - Drenched

Punchless Phils get nothing off of journeyman Oliver Perez as they drop another game to the Mets. Phils finally tie game on Jayson Werth's 2 Run dinger in the 9th, only to lose the game in the 12th on a Fernado Tatis Homer.

Plus
Kyle Kendrick doesn't pitch great, but manages to get himself out of some jams. Jayson Werth homers with 2 outs in the 9th off Billy Wagner ruining yet another save opportunity for the former Phil.

Minus
Team Phungo gets drenched not at game but on way out of game. I just couldn't wait out the three hour delay and called it a day about an hour after the game had been suspended.

Phils "vaunted" offense doesn't get an extra base hit all day other than the Werth Homer. Phils have come up with 3 XBH during the entire 30 innings of the Mets series. Tom Gordon heading to the DL, bullpen starting to show some wear.

Around the League
Brew Crew on a Roll on and off the field. Milwaukee already has the 2nd best record in the NL, and now they most likely have the best pitcher who will get moved during the season.

blahblahblah
Philadelpia Soul win a playoff game on botched call at the end of regulation. How comes the only time a call goes Philadelphia teams way its for a team that doesn't count.

Meh
There was the obligatory rain delay field crasher yesterday. He eluded Phillies security by jumping into the Tarp tube roller. Of course he had nowhere to go and was handcuffed at the opposite end.

On Deck
Next Phungo game Tuesday Cardinals @ Phils. Joel Pineiro v non-all-star Cole Hamels

2008 06 01 Royals 5 @ Orioles 7

Orioles defeat Royals 7-5 behind a quality start by Rookie Rhadames Liz and a big four run 3rd inning.

Plus - First Trip to Camden Yards for 08, Night out w/ crime partner Stove.

Free T-Shirt George Sherill - Closer. Sherill is one of a bunch of players the O's received for Erik Bedard. So far the trade has worked out very well for the O's who have also gotten contributions from CF Adam Jones (the Baseball one, not the one formerly known as PacMan).

O's not drawing real well so we moved down to the rich people seats in about the 5th inning.

Minus - Parking up a dollar at my favorite garage

Shenanigans - Ran out of Free T-Shirts before I got mine.

Meh - $44 night - 15 ticket, 11 for two beers, 8 Parking, 10 food.

BlahBlahBlah - Brett Myers gets sent to AAA - hope the young ladies in the Lehigh Valley have been brushing up on their kickboxing classes.

Around the League - Good night for scoreboard watching, one because they have nice new scoreboards at Camden Yards and two, because the Phils Won and the Marlin lost. Phils lead is now 1.5 games.

Off the Diamond - As an homage to A-Rod/Madonna 'news" local sports radio station starts faux rumour regarding Charlie Manuel and Amy Winehouse - love it.

Useless Info - In Phungo Games Mark Grudzielanek has appeared for 5 different teams (Expos, Dodgers, Cubs, Cards, and now the Royals).

On Deck - The Next Phungo Game is scheduled for Sunday 7/6 as the Phillies host the New York Mets. Probables Odalis Perez v Kyle Kendrick.