Phillies 2009 Alumni Night

First off I want to let everyone know that there is still time to get involved in the

John Hughes Memorial Trading Card Trivia Contest!

It's looking like a crummy weather day here in the Northeast, I'm sure there are some 80s trivia buffs out there who could waste 20 minutes on the net finding the answers, and someone has to challenge Dayf.

Moving on to the present post:

Alumni Night was a bit of a bummer for several reasons. The Phils lost for the 2nd game in a row v the 2nd place Marlins. The Phils appeared to have a favorable pitching matchup (Cole Hamels v Sean West). The Alumni accessibility was not as good as expected. And finally we got caught up in a traffic jam on the way home.

Within the game itself the Marlins were terribly sloppy but the Phils let the Fish off the hook several times by going about 2 for 20 with runners on base. The Marlins won 6-4. Dingers were hit for the bad guys by Chris Coghlan (member of Phungo Fantasy Squad at least) and Cody Ross. Former Phil Brian Sanches got the W in relief, Cole Hamels was unimpressive in yet another loss and failed to go 6 innings. On a positive note Ryan Howard looked good without hitting a homer - a rare event. He has not been hitting well recently, hopefully his 4-4 night gets him out of his slump.

Despite the frustrating loss, I did have a good time and I am glad I went. I was able to pick up a couple of autos and got a couple of decent pictures.

Here are some of the hilights (all pix can be clicked to enlarge):

Harry Kalas was this years inductee to the Phillies Wall of Fame, this is his brand new plaque.


Phils New Addition:
Anybody notice anything odd about the above picture?



Mickey Morandini


Jim Eisenreich



National Anthem with Phillies Alumni and Current Phillies on the field

Close Up of Alums including all four Phils living HOFs

And I got some shots of the bad guys.



This is what Chris Coghlan looks like right before he hits a homer to center field

and Marlins Pitcher Sean West:


I met West's Aunt and Uncle at a local restaurant last year and have been following him a bit since then. He is young and has had mixed starts this year. Last night he was fair at best, he was able to get out of a few jams, but lasted less than 5 innings. The Marlins bullpen did a great job of holding the Phils in check and along with Chris Coghlan were the stars of the game.

2008 07 20 Phillies @ Marlins - More J-Roll Hustle

Phils drop 2 of 3 to the Marlins including losing the rubber match in extras. In the 7th inning Jimmy Rollins was on first with two outs and failed to score on a Shane Victorino double. Rollins definitely was not running when the ball was hit and it's questionable that he would have scored - but you have to be running when that ball is hit and give yourself a chance to score. This is the second time this has happened to Rollins this year, and yes it happens to other players but....Rollins is 1) to good a player to let it happen to him and 2) an important leader on the Phillies team and the Phillies need him to display leadership qualities.

Plus - Way back on Friday night Jamie Moyer came out of the break with another good outing. Ryan Howard has picked up where he left off before the break, and continues to hit well.


Minus - J-Roll - read paragraph 1. Geoff Jenkins can't even break a bat right - he had to be removed from the game on Sunday as he injured himself by getting hit by his own broken bat swing. Phils waste yet another good outing by Cole Hamels.



Blahblahblah - Interesting article on Jamie Moyer and Mike Mussina over @ dugoutcentral



Around the League - Extra Innings is offering it's mid-season free preview. We are not offered the package on my FiOS service, but I was fortunate enough to be in a pub that carried a couple of games Saturday night. The O's hosted the Tigers in a pretty crazy game while the D-Backs held off the Dodgers preserving a W for my newest fantasy pitcher Dan Haren.



Off the field - The Philadelphia Flyers Schedule came out this week. The schedule starts off with a nice match up v the Rangers. Both the Pens and Caps bring in there superstars on Saturday nights in December and There is a Home and Home with the Hurricanes over Thanksgiving - of which the back-end is a day gm on the Friday of the wkend. Those are some of the highlights of the early season. For those interesting in good winter travel the Flyers head to southern California to play the Ducks and Kings right after New Years.

Oh and congrats to Greg Norman - may not have been a W on Sunday, but he showed that there is such a thing as golf without Tiger - just like there will be foorball without Brett.

Scoop - Ran into some family of Marlins minor league prospect Sean West over the weekend. I didn't know anything about West but did look up his info via Baseball America. He is a big Lefty (6'8") playing at AA. Sean's aunt and uncle were very nice folks and I hope for the best for him...just not against the Phils. They said they would like to see him get a shot at playing in the majors this September.

On Deck - Meet the Mets. Mets were just getting hot when they were in town a couple of weeks ago, now the Phils get to face the red hot Mets for 3 games with first place on the line. Monday Night Joe Blanton will get his first career Phils start v Mets Ace Johan Santana.