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

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