ANNIVERSARY: 1993 May 10 - Phillies Win on Dauton Slam, Push record to 23-7

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of the first Grand Slam that I saw in person. This is a re-issue of a posting published here 5 years ago:

I had always been a baseball fan but in 1993 it reached another level. The 93 Phils is where my fascination with baseball as an adult began.

And if I was to point to a single game where this all happened it would have been the Pirates @ Phillies game on May 10th 1993.

1993 05 10 Game Ticket - Pirates 1 @ Phillies 5

The Phillies were coming off a big comeback win where Mariano Duncan had hit an 8th inning Grand Slam off of Lee Arther Smith.  Smith was one of the most dominating closers of the late 80s and The game completed a 3 game sweep of the St Louis Cardinals.

The next afternoon a colleague popped into my office and asked if I wanted to go down to the game.  It was the first time I had ever considered going to a Phils game on a whim - and I am glad I did.

The Pirates and Phils were knotted at 1 in the 7th inning, Lenny Dykstra reached with a one out single Mickey Morandini reached on a 2 base error and John Kruk was intentionally walked to load the bases.  Dave Hollins grounded into a force at home setting up a bases loaded 2 out AB for team leader Darren Daulton.  And Daulton delivered - One day after Mariano Duncan hit a go-ahead slame Daulton had one of his own.  The Philllies had won 4 in a row and ran their record to 23-7 16 games over .500.  They would not look back going all the way to the World Series.

1994 Topps Black Gold #28 Darren Daulton

It was the first time I ever saw a Grand Slam in person and it was the first time I ever really understood what it was like to be watching a great baseball team. To this day it remains one of the greatest games I have ever been to.

Friday marks the 20th anniversary of that game - This year I plan on focussing on commemorating the 1983 Phillies NL Pennant but there will definitely be a few nods to the 1993 Clubs as well.

 Go Phightins!  

Sources and Links
Baseball-Ref
1993 Phillies Index
Darren Daulton Index

ANNIVERSARY: 1993 Apr 9 - Opening Day

Ok the busy/lazy blogger that I am missed an Anniversary. 25 Years ago the Phillies held the home opener for their 1993 Pennant Winning season. 

The 1993 Phillies opened at Houston and took all 3 games from the Astros. The Phillies returned home hosting the Cubs in front of 60,985 - the largest opening day in club history - and Team Phungo was there for the game.

As one can tell in 1993 I was not very picky about taking card of my souvenirs. This is the first major league ticket that I ever had with a play photograph. It was pretty special for the era. Oddly since then we have gone through a period when almost all tickets had pictures to the current situation where we don't use hard tickets at all. 

Regardless, I loved it at the time and I still love the tix today. Note that below the photo the card err I mean ticket honors Darren Daulton by mentioning his 1992 RBI crown. Well on his Ticket Photo day, he had a helluva day which included 5 RBI on a pair of Home Runs. So we have our star player on the tix, and the tix mentions RBIs and he piles on 5 RBI. Well Done Dutch!

Unfortunately that was not enough as the Phillies lost to the Cubs 11-7. The Phillies fell to second place a half game behind the 3-0 Pirates - It was the only day the 1993 Phillies fell out of first place. 

 

Sources and Links

1993 Phillies @ 25 Index

Darren Daulton Index 

Game Dated Cards

Macho Row - William C Kashatus

Baseball-Ref

Darren Daulton (1962-2017)

Earlier this month we got the news that Darren Daulton had died.

The beloved catcher was the anchor of the 1993 NL Championship team.

 2003 Fleer Ultra All-Vet #2 Darren Daulton 

Ten years later he also beat out Bob Boone for the honor being the catcher on the Phillies All Veteran Stadium Squad.

The day the Vet closed the Phillies gave out 12 card packs of cards honoring the All-Vet team. Most of the players were either members of one of the three teams to play a World Series at the Vet (1980, 1983, 1993).

The Phillies lost to the Braves 5-2 that day, but it didn't matter. As fan I was there to say goodbye to the Vet and recall all the good memories I had at the venue. 

2017 Phillies Alumni Weekend

2017 08 13 - Three Catchers

Darren Daulton's passing occurred shortly before Alumni Weekend and the Phillies honored the All-Star catcher by painting his #10 behind the plate. Alum introductions closed with a about a dozen of his 1993 teammates entering the field wearing his #10 jersey and encircling the plate area in tribute.

The above photo is one that I have simply titled "Three Catchers". The pix was taken between innings, at the right you have Jorge Alfaro entering the frame while Cameron Rupp exits. The two were both on field at one time because Alfaro was either on-deck or on base during the previous half inning while Rupp was in to warm up the pitcher. The third catcher in the picture is Darren Daulton, memorialized here by the #10 behind the catchers box at home plate.  

Other Darren Daulton Memorials 
Phillies Room
Nick Diunte interview with Don Carmen (The Sports Post)

Sources and Links
Darren Daulton Wall of Fame Index
baseball-ref

Darren Daulton Index

This is an Index to our postings related to Darren Daulton.

 2003 Fleer Ultra All-Vet Team #2 Darren Daulton

1986 Topps #264 - Wall of Fame induction tease

1988 Topps #468 - Daulton and Todd Zeile both hit Grand Slams in same game (1993 07 28)
1989 Donruss #549 - Daulton batting righty (the Phillies Collector)
1989 Topps #187 - Card Show Tease
1990 Topps #542 - Daulton sells 1997 World Series Ring
1993 Opening Day Tix - The first home game for the 1993 Phillies (1993 04 09)
1993 Opening Day Tix - 25th Anniversary posting
1993 Upper Deck Team Stars #485 - 1993 NL Champs
1994 Topps Black Gold #28 - The 1993 Phillies may be for real (1993 05 10)

1996 Topps #85 - Daulton first reports brain tumor (2013 July)
2003 Fleer Ultra All-Vet - Darren Daulton Memorial

Card Show 2013 11 02 - Daulton breaks up a snit between Mitch Williams & Lenny Dykstra

Swag from Nachos Grande

Couple of highlights from a recent Nachos Grande Box Break

2015 Topps Heritage #596 Freddy Galvis

We lead off our Swag posting with a rare Freddy Galvis card. Topps seems to snub Galvis for some reason. He is not exactly a star and really more of a reserve player, but he is right at the top of the list of Phillies that don't get Topps cards.

This card is from the Heritage High  Number set, likewise #596 was a high number in the original 1966T  but it did not correspond to a Phillies player. The original card was as Rookie Card issued to Nate Colbert with Houston. I was unaware that Colbert debuted with the Astros until I saw the RC. He eventually moved to the Padres as an expansion draft pickup. Colbert shares his dual RC with Greg Sims who had a grand total of 7 career MLB Plate Appearances.

2014 Topps Stadium Club Chase Utley Base & Black Parallel 

He's gone and may have to sign a minor league contract to hook up with a team in 2016 but that won't stop us from being fans. Nice to pick up this short print in the break. 

2011 Topps Wilson Valdez 

There are not a lot of cares of Phan Phavorite Wilson Valdez. 

2013 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor Ryan Howard Purple 

Picked up a couple Purple Refractor shorties, The more notable of the two is the above Ryan Howard...

2013 Topps Chrome Purple Refractor Jonathan Pettibone

Pettibone had Shoulder surgery during the summer of 2014 and was expected to return to the Phillies by spring of this year but never made it to the mound in an official game. He is not currently on the 40 man roster.

2015 Topps Ken Giles

One of the few bright spots for the Phillies the last few seasons has been reliever Ken Giles. With contenders looking for closers and the rebuilding Phillies not reall needing one there is a chance that Giles will be on the move this winter. 

2015 Topps Heritage Odubel Herrera 

The Phillies rule 5 pickup Odubel Herrera also provided a few highlights during the Phillies 2015 campaign.

2015 Topps Chrome Ryan Howard

Still good to see cards of one of the 2008 Phillies last remaining heroes.

Bobby Abreu 
Darren Daulton
Ricky Otero

Some other heroes from the past were part of the break

2008 Topps Home Run Derby Chase Utley

Closing with another Chase Card.

Sources and Links
Baseball Card Database
Baseball-reference
Phillies - Todd Zolecki
Philly.com - Jake Caplan 

2014 Topps Stadium Club Group Break Swag from Nachos Grande

Couple of cards from a recent Nachos Grande group break. Unfortunately, Topps came up a little short on coallation and there were some duplicate autographs/hits in the break. Regardless 2014TSC has some quality photography and some fun shots.

2014 Topps Stadium Club #167 Domonic Brown

One of the blogs I miss most is Dinged Corners. I bring this up here because they had a collection of players smiling cards. If they are still collecting the above Dom Brown card surely would be a candidate.

When I first saw this card I also noticed that Brown is being interviewed by CSNPhilly broadcaster Gregg Murphy. I asked Mr Murphy about this via Twitter (@GMurphCSN) He noted "My Best side for sure"
 
Flip It

2014 Topps Stadium Club #165 Cole Hamels (A&B sides)

As mentioned above the collation among the boxes in the break wasn't great. A product of this was getting two Cole Hamels cards, which makes it easy to display the front & back of 2014 TSC in a single photo.  

Nice Pix, kind of a Meh back. basically a 6 year old blurb, minimalist demographic info and stats. I would think TSC would be better suited for more SABRmetric stats than WHIP.

Parallels

2014 Topps Stadium Club Gold Parallel #170 Ryan Howard

According to Cardboard Connection gold foil parallels appear one per master box. The card is running at a BIN of $3 on ebay


Bonus Cards

2010 UD Pure Heat #PH-13 Ryan Howard

Nacho's Grande being the good Group Breaker that he is threw in some bonus box breaks and cards. This is a nice Ryan Howard Die Cut by 2010 UD.  This was an unlicensed product and we don't see the Phillies nickname on the front, however it is on the text of the cards b-side.

Pure Heat is a 15 card insert set of 2010 UD. Among the 15 cards are 2 Phillies - Howard and #PH-4 Cole Hamels.

1989 Donruss #549 Darren Daulton

The 1989 Darrren Daulton Donruss Card is noteworthy for featuring the Phils Catcher posing in a right-handed batting stance. Earliest this year The Phillies Collector Blog asked Daulton about the card/pix and got the scoop from the subject himself. Happy to get this card as a bonus in the Group Break.

Sources & Links
Cardboard Connection
ebay 
Baseball Cardpedia
Phillies Collector

Spats Grudges and Card Shows - Mitch Williams v Lenny Dykstra

I spent the last decent weather day of the year in a mall at a card show. Yes I questioned the wisdom of the decision, but Darren Daulton was there and he is battling brain cancer. The man had provided me with many baseball memories and I wasn’t sure when I would get a chance to see him again.

Autograph collecting at shows isn’t really my thing, the lines and cost really don’t fit my collection budget. But I do enjoy going to the shows to check out cards, take pictures and chat with other collectors. Seeing the players off the field is always fun and sometimes interesting.

Apparently Saturday was more interesting than most shows as Mitch Williams and Lenny Dykstra got themselves into a snit.

Mitch Williams

 

 

Unfortunately, I left before the incident. I don’t have much to add to the story other than I saw Mitch close to the end of his signing stint and he appeared annoyed, which is converse to the attitude he generally has on TV as a commentator and at the few events I have seen him appear in the past.

Darren Daulton

 

Darren Daulton  appeared pretty decent for a man in such a dire situation. He was in good spirits and was willing to spend time with fans and take pictures. Hard to believe that a man with enough issues already had to keep Mitch Williams and Lenny Dykstra from getting into a fistfight.

1989 Topps #187 Darren Daulton - autograph appearance Granite Run Mall Media PA Sat November 2nd

Darren Daulton will be one of several 1993 Phillies at the Granite Run Mall this weekend for a Poppell.com sponsored card/autograph show.

1989 Topps #187 Darren Daulton

As Phillies fans know, this past summer Darren Daulton was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Poppell is billing this is a rare public appearance and sadly it could one of Daulton's last in the Philadelphia area.

I plan on hitting the show for at least of part of Saturday afternooon, Daulton is scheduleds for 11-1. Other 1993 Phillies expected to appear are Mitch Williams, Lenny Dykstra, Mickey Morandini and Dave Hollins. The Phillies 2 World Champinonship teams will be represented by Dallas Green, Brett Myers, Pedro Feliz and Eric Bruntlett. Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers is also on the Schedule.

There will also be a contingent of Flyers Alums in the house including Rick MacLeish and Jim Watson.

For More info on times and pricing click here.

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.   
. 
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

1996 Topps #85 Darren Daulton

Earlier this month the baseball world got the sad news that Phillies Alum Darren Daulton has been diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer.  

Daulton's website has some information regarding his condition, but from what I understand the long term prognosis is not good.  

1996 Topps #85 Darren Daulton


Dutch was one of the first players that I became a fan of as an adult. Becoming a fan of a player as an adult differs from when your a kid. You see all sorts of flaws issues and questions - they are there for you to accept or ignore. Darren Daulton may not have been perfect, but for a few seasons in the early 1990s he between the whilte llines he  was damn near perfect. For that he will always be one of my favorite players.

I have seen Daulton at a handful of card show signings, and he always has seemed like a really decent guy.  Mostly a regular dude, but with a bit of a superstar aura to him. 

I sincerely hope that Darren Daulton wins his battle with brain cancer and continues being a happy influence on the Philadelphia sport scene.     

1983 Phillies 
Folks may not know this but Darren Daulton had a cup of coffee with the 1983 Phillies - I have heard him cite being around that pennant winning team as an influence on his playing career. He may have only played 2 games with that squad, but he is the man that connects the 1983 NL champs with the beloved 1993 NL Champs.
  

The Game that Changed Everything - 1993 05 10 Pirates 1 @ Phillies 5

I had always been a baseball fan but in 1993 it reached another level. The 93 Phils is where my fascination with baseball as an adult began.

And if I was to point to a single game where this all happened it would have been the Pirates @ Phillies game on May 10th 1993.

1993 05 10 Game Ticket - Pirates 1 @ Phillies 5

The Phillies were coming off a big comeback win where Mariano Duncan had hit an 8th inning Grand Slam off of Lee Arther Smith.  Smith was one of the most dominating closers of the late 80s and The game completed a 3 game sweep of the St Louis Cardinals.

The next afternoon a colleague popped into my office and asked if I wanted to go down to the game.  It was the first time I had ever considered going to a Phils game on a whim - and I am glad I did.

The Pirates and Phils were knotted at 1 in the 7th inning, Lenny Dykstra reached with a one out single Mickey Morandini reached on a 2 base error and John Kruk was intentionally walked to load the bases.  Dave Hollins grounded into a force at home setting up a bases loaded 2 out AB for team leader Darren Daulton.  And Daulton delivered - One day after Mariano Duncan hit a go-ahead slame Daulton had one of his own.  The Philllies had won 4 in a row and ran their record to 23-7 16 games over .500.  They would not look back going all the way to the World Series.

1994 Topps Black Gold #28 Darren Daulton

It was the first time I ever saw a Grand Slam in person and it was the first time I ever really understood what it was like to be watching a great baseball team. To this day it remains one of the greatest games I have ever been to.

Friday marks the 20th anniversary of that game - This year I plan on focussing on commemorating the 1983 Phillies NL Pennant but there will definitely be a few nods to the 1993 Clubs as well.

 Go Phightins!  


Sources and Links
Baseball-Ref
1993 Phillies Index
Darren Daulton Index


Updates
2018 05 10 - Added Source and Links


             

1993 04 09 - 20 years ago today my first home opener

The game didn't go real well, but the magical season that followed was a lot of fun.

I honeslty don't remember much about the game - I think it was a little windy and chilly for the suckers in the shade.  Krukker got to 2nd on a defensive indifference in the 9th, which brought a cheer from a bunch of fans that saw it as a fat man steal. Game featured a bunch of Homers by all the Phils stars, Kruk,  Dykstra and Daulton (2).  Unfortunately got four of their own including one by Mark Grace.

  

Ticket Stub 1993 04 09 Darren Daulton

Phillies 2010 Alumni Weekend

1986 Topps #264 Darren Daulton

The Philadelphia Phillies 2010 Alumni Weekend is upon us. This year the Phils will be inducting Darren Daulton into their "Wall of Fame"

Daulton was the captain of the 93 Phils NLCS team and Won a World Series with the 97 Marlins. He was a 3 time All-Star with 137 Homers over a 14 year career. The 1993 season was his best as he hit 27 Homers and a league leading 109 RBIs.

Alumni Weekend will start this Friday August 6th and Run through August 8th. The Phils will be hosting the New York Mets for a 3 game series.

I have been to a couple of Alumni Nights and have had a good time. In the past couple of years there have been some painless autograph opportunities as well. Last year the signers were Jim Eisenreich, Mickey Morandini, and Mike Lieberthal.

For a look back at Phillies 2009 Alumni Weekend click here.

For the Collector

The card above is Daulton's first Topps Card. His Rookie Card is 1985 Fleer #U-33.

Phungo Consumer Heads Up - Figurines, Jewelry, and Sports Cars

Five Below is a Philadelphia area chain of "upscale" dollar stores. As their name implies everything is $5 and under - actually most items are $5.30 including PA Sales Tax. They are good for stocking bricks of baseball cards in those clear plastic containers. The other things they have that may be of interest to a sports collector are baseball caps and other items of apparel with team logos.

On a recent visit I noticed they had several New York Yankess McFarlane figurines running for $5. I don't really know anything about these things but $5 seemed reasonable for the right customer.

They had Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Johnny Damon. A quick scan for these figurines on ebay found completed sales as low as $7.95 for Pettitte. Others sold for as high as $17

1990 Topps #542 Darren Daulton

If you are into higher end memorabillia I found it disturbing to find out that Darren Daulton is following in the footsteps of Lenny Dykstra and is selling off his 1997 World Series Ring (acquired with the Marlins).

I have been prone to compulsive behavior myself but to any of us that would give up a limb just to be able to play professional sports at any level, the hocking of a World Series Ring at any price just sounds so ridiculous.

Finally, There is one other special item for the right customer with an extra 40 thousand to throw around. Last year Cole Hamels was named the World Series MVP and won a brand new custom Camaro. Apparently the car that GM delivered was not what Hamels had ordered. Hamels is giving the car to his wife, Reality TV starlet Heidi Hamels, as a Birthday Present. Heidi correctly cited that the car is a sports car and should definitely have a manual transimission, unfortunately the car GM built was an Automatic.

The erroneous Hamels car that GM had custom made was put up for sale locally and recently sold to a Philadelphia area buyer. For the Full details of the story click here.

Phillies World Series Teams - 1993

As you're well aware, the Phillies will be competing in their first World Series in 15 years. This week I am going to feature posts related to the five previous Phillies teams to compete in the World Series.

1993 Upper Deck Team Stars # 485

The 1993 Phillies simply are one of the most loved teams in Philadelphia History. And this great card sums them up. The 93 team flat out bashed the ball - sure they had Curt Schilling and a bunch of other solid pitchers but they won on their hitting. Thanks to guys like Dykstra and the Krukker they seemed to always have men on base and then Dauton and Hollins would drive them in.

The 1993 Phillies shocked the perennial NL Champion Atlanta Braves in a 6 game NLCS but would ultimately lose in the World Series, also in 6 games, to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Philadelphia fans get a lot of bad pub for how they treat their athletes - oddly, Mitch Williams has had a fairly unexpected post playing career. He has become an incredibly popular figure in Philadelphia. Williams consistently shows up on sports talk shows and with quality information and analysis while also giving his honest opinion. He also spends some time hawking is salsa. I haven't tried the salsa, but I do enjoy having Mitch around. It's a story that took a weird turn and has had a happy ending - A nice story for Mitch for the Phils and for Philadelphia.

If you want to see a great card related retrospective on the 1993 Phils check out this series of posts that was written earlier this year over at Capewood's Collections.