Larry Bowa Bobblehead Night Tueday August 18th

On Tuesday August 18th the Phillies are hosting Larry Bowa Bobblehead night to mark the Shortstop/Coach/Managers 50 years in Baseball

1975 Topps #420 Larry Bowa

1975 was the first of three times that Larry Bowa picked up an All-Star game flair the other years were 1979, and  1980.

The 1975 All-Star game celebrates Larry Bowa starting the previous years all-star game. An honor he earned despite his season long WAR of 1.2. National League Shortstops that had a Higher WAR than Bowa  included Bill Russell, Chris Speier, Bud Harrelson, and Most Notably Dave Concepcion (5.5 WAR)

Sources and Links

Larry Bowa Index
Philadelphia Phillies
Baseball Card Database
Baseball-ref

Snapshots 2014 08 19 Mariners @ Phillies

The Seattle Mariners spoiled Ryan Howard Bobble Head Night by beating the Phillies 5-2 in a game that really wasn't that close

Snapshots

The Phillies may not have looked that good, but the August Sunset did provide some nice views
 

 Ryan Howard did connect with a Double in his 1-4 night which pretty much made him the Phillies offensive star on a rather dismal night for the squad.

Hisashi Iwakuma

Credit has to be given to the Mariners starting pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma who is having an incredible season. He pitched 8 innings struck out 11 while walking NONE and yielding only 4 hits, Howard's double and three singles. For the season Iwamura is posting a very healthy 10.0 K/BB ration (120-12). A year ago Iwakuma led the AL in Pitchers WAR. 

AJ Burnett

The Tuesday night start by AJ Burnett put him over some sort of Game Started Threshold that netted the veteran more coin then Team Phungo takes home in a year. Postgame it was revealed that Burnett mentioned that he doubts he will pitch in 2015.

 

The Phanatic gives Robinson Cano some pointers. 

I was watching a rebroadcast of the game (Team Phungo is a glutton) and Tom McCarthy mentioned that Cano gave Phillies coach Larry Bowa a Rolex Watch as a thank you gift for all the help that Bowa had given Cano while both were with the Yankees. 

I was impressed with Cano's field presence, while he had an unremarkable game (single in 4ABs, RBI, Run Scored) he showed some leadership. He captained the infield on shifts and appeared to be frequently discussing hitting with rookie 3B Kyle Seager  

GGA

  Felix Hernandez

Good Guy Award goes out to Felix Hernandez who signed A TON of autographs. Other GGAs for The Phillies Cody Asche and the Mariners Fernando Rodney. Several of the Mariners signed a couple of autographs. Pretty good for a club that is right on the edge of the playoff hunt. Princeton Alum Chris Young also appeared to hosting some local fans and invited them down on the field for BP.

 Bobblehead

Just wanted to note that the Ryan Howard comes with a busted bat, which seems pretty appropriate.

A few seasons ago every Phillies game was a sellout and Bobble Head nights were a particularly tough ticket. This week they Honored one of their biggest starts the Phillies drew less than 32 thousand fans.

BryceWatch 2011 08 02 Harrisburg Senators @ Reading Phillies

Went out to Reading to catch the Phils AA affiliate as they hosted Bryce Harper and the rest of the Harrisburg Senators Last night.  This was my second stop on my Bryce Harper tour - to see a game report on my previous game click here.

For Tuesday night Reading was quite busy as a perfect storm of events helped to fill the classic ballpark.  

1) Prospect Bryce Harper was in town and folks definitely knew about him - plenty of flashbulbs for a minor league game

2) Carlos "Chooch" Ruiz Bobble Head giveaway night - one of the most annoying "Talking" bobbleheads ever.

3) Really nice weather - it was warm but really low humidity for this area in August.

The R-Phils won the contest 8-4 with the bulk of their scoring happening during a 6 run 6th highlighted by a Steve Singleton Grand Slam.  Singleton is a castoff from the Twins system who just got called up to Reading from Lakewood.  Harper was 1-4 with a well hit gap double.  Longtime Phils Minor league catcher Tuffy Gosewhich had a dinger for the good guys.  Nats Prospect (Mary) Tyler Moore hit his 25th homer for the Senators.

etc....

-Harper either stepped in a hole or tripped over his elongated pants while trying to field a single in an effort to make a throw to the plate.  In the game I saw Harper play in Harrisburg last month, he played it safe coming in on a ball that may have been catchable allowing it to drop in for a single.  He did run the bases well once again, and that definitely appears to be an asset - especially for a guy that came up as a catcher.  

-Oliver Perez (yes that Ollie Perez) got the start for the Nats.  Not only did he get a hit, but he also had a stolen base in the game.  For all of my complaints about his performance at the major league level, Perez did appear to be having fun in last nights game and did demonstrate some leadership qualities.  Perez had a decent outing giving up only 1 run over 5.  it ws the bullpen that gave up the big runs.

-Reading has done a good job updating their ballpark.  They have added a significant outdoor area w/ pre-game activities and a real clubhosue store, of course it has major league prices.

-Since the Phils promoted Freddy Galvis this week, other than Matt Rizzoti who is playing Ryan Howard's position, I am not sure that Reading had a legitimate prospect playing in the field right now.

-Tyler Moore went 3-4 last night and has homered in both games I saw the Sens play this year. 

-Apparently the Sens have a player named Stepen King.

-The Nats just picked up Erik Komatsu in return for Jerry Hairston Jr at the deadline - Komatsu busted bats in each of his first 3 at bats of the game - he is a LH bat with speed.  Little guy potential leadoff man.