Snapshots 2012 10 08 - ALDS Game 2 - Yankees 2 @ Orioles 3

Team Phungo closed our 2012 MLB campaign where we started it, At Camden Yards. For the sixth consecutive year I was able to procure a playoff ticket.  Somewhat sadly that ticket was not for a Philles Postseason game.  Regardless time moves on and it has been exciting to watch the Baltimore Orioles usher in a new playoff era.

On Monday night the Orioles defeated their AL East Division Rivals 3-2 in a rather dramatic game.  There weren't many offensive fireworks as both teams had to scratch out all five of their combined runs.

There were a couple of notable performances Wei-Yin Chen and Andy Pettitte both pitched well, Chris Davis had a pair of RBIs for the O's.  Ichiro basically stole a run for the the Yankees with some creative baserunning in the first inning. 

Snapshots (click on any photo to enlarge) 

National Anthem  

Always cool to be at any Big Flag game.  Both Baltimore and For McHenry take great pride in their place in American History and their connection to the Star Spangled Banner. 

 Wei-Yin Chen

After getting into some jams early Chen was able to settle down and gave the O's 6 1/3 innings.  This photo of Wei-Yin was taken during warm ups.

Nate McClouth 

Hard to imagine after a few up and down years Nate McClouth is batting leadoff for a 90+ Win team in the ALDS.

Record Setter

Alex Rodriguez (looking a bit exasperated)

I heard last night that Alex Rodriguez set the  blob postseason record.  Blob is the term that Night Owl Cards has used for the last out of the Season, a Series, or Game.  A-Rod has now been the final out of 4 Playoff games  

Coda

Andy Pettitte

I really haven't heard what Pettitte is going to be up to after the 2012 season.  But he turned 40 this summer and has already retired once.  If the O's end up defeating the Yankees, Monday night may have been Pettittes final MLB appearance. 

2011 Phungo Cards - Randy Wolf

The Phils are out of the postseason playoffs.  while I have not completely recovered from their ouster at the hands of the St Louis Cardinals I still enjoy baseball enough that I am try to watch the other playoff games whenever possible. 

There are very few players with Philly connnections on the four remaining squads, but one of those players is Phungo Household favorite Randy Wolf.

2011 Phungo #16 Randy Wolf

Wolf is never going to be the A starter for a team with World Series aspirations, but he is a decent lefty who can hold down that 3 or 4 spot on a good team.  Tonight he will try and hold off Albert Pujols and the rest of the Cardinals lineup in game 4 of the NLCS.  I would like to see Brewers advance in the playoff just so I can have a former Phil to root for in the Series. 

The Brewers are facing another former Phils Pitcher in Kyle Lohse, but I really don't count him.  He was only here for a brief post trade deadline stint, and I think he only lasted an inning in the sole game I saw him pitch for the Phils. 

Some Nights are Almost Perfect

2010 10 06 Line Score Reds @ Phillies after 7 innings

This is the best Line Score photo I have from late in the game.


Game Ticket

Roy Halladay v Brandon Phillips

If you click on this one, you can see the line score down by the foul pole and Phillips batting stats to the right.


Phillies Celebrate

It is only one game but it was a great one.

I will see if I can find some other game shots and try and post them later in the week. Too hoarse to talk now.

Just a thought on Terrell Owens

Time Out from spring training for a football posting

21 of the NFLs 30 Teams that have won playoff games more recently then Terrell Owens (last playoff Win January 5 2003)

Eagles Giants Redskins
Vikings Bears Packers
Buccaneeers Panthers Falcons Saints
Cardinals Seahawks Rams
Jets Pats
Steelers Ravens
Colts Titans Jaguars
Raiders Chargers Broncos

Of the 9 that have not won a playoff game since then, two of the teams are relatively recent expansion teams - Texans(02) and Browns(99). And two are teams that Owens has played for the 49ers and Cowboys.

In addition to being on the losing side of playoff games with the Cowboys and 49ers, Owens was also involved in the Eagles 2005 Superbowl Loss.

The remaining 5 teams who like Owens have not won a playoff game in the last 6+ years are the Chiefs Bills Dolphins Lions and Bengals

Bring on the Rays

2008 Topps Year In Review #YR110 B J Upton

B J Upton and the rest of the Rays have won the 2008 ALCS and will be facing the Philadelphia Phillies. I like this card because it mentions two of the Rays good young players Upton and Dioner Navarro and it is also commemorates a game where the Rays defeated the AL East Goliath New York Yankees. In the ALCS the Rays defeated the other AL East perennial champion Boston Red Sox.

The Rays are a well balanced team with good hitting, fielding, and pitching. They should present a formidable challenge for the Phils. Looking forward to the Series - just wishing it wasn't so far away.

For coverage of the Rays I will be checking in at Fielder's Choice. I am sure we will have much to talk about over the next two weeks.

Brush Backs - Shane Victorino - Dickie Noles

2006 Upper Deck #750 Shane Victorino

There has been a little bit of inside pitching during the entire NLCS this year. The Phils need to pitch inside to hitters like Manny Ramirez and Russell Martin. Similarly the Phils have batters like Chase Utley who like to stand right on top of the plate and will find inside pitches coming at them.

During game 3 the Dodgers and Phils almost found themselves in a brawl when a ball was thrown near Shane Victorino's head. Victorino saved his best response to the purpose pitch for a crucial at-bat the following night - a game tying homer in the 8th inning. This homer turned around game four and was followed by Matt Stairs mammoth go-ahead home run a few batters later.

Head hunting is nothing new to Phillies Playoff Baseball. During the Phillies Royals World Series in 1980, Dickie Noles only got into one game, a loss in game 4, but he is forever remembered in Phillies lore as the man who knocked down George Brett. Yes, The Phils did lost game 4, but they would take games 5 and 6 to win the pennant. Perhaps it was Noles inside heat that fired up the Phils and pushed them on to the Series victory.

2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #193 Memorable Moments - Dickie Noles

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!

Game 3 Phillies @ Dodgers

1972 Topps #520 Larry Bowa
1979 Topps #290 Davey Lopes

Today the Phillies head out to LA to face the Dodgers in the enemy territory of Chavez Ravine. Davey Lopes spent the first 10 years of his Major League career manning 2nd base for the Dodgers. During that same era, Larry Bowa was playing Shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies. Currently they have swapped teams for their post playing career work. There is some symmetry in their coaching postions too. Lopes has moved to the first base coaches box which is just to the left of 2nd base, while Bowa has moved to the right of shortstop and into the third base coaches box. I loved Bowa as a player but I am cheering for Lopes' new team this weekend. Hopefully Davey can help the Phils runner steal some bags just like he did for so many years at Dodger Stadium and come back to Philadelphia as a member of the National League Champs.

Sources & Links (added 2020 0108)
Larry Bowa Index

Game 2 Dodgers @ Phillies

2007 Topps Heritage #90 Pat Burrell

Another big hit for Pat last night. As I have mentioned before, I feel that there is a chance that Burrell may be in his last year in Philadelphia. This means that if things don't go the Phils way in the next four games, today's game in Philadelphia might be the last one Burrell ever plays in front of the home fans. Of course, I hope the Phils manage to win several more games this year and we will get to see Pat Burrell play as a Phil in the World Series.

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Philadelphia Phillies, Citizen's Bank Ballpark Philadelphia PA: October 10th 2008 4:35 PM

Game 2

2002 Topps206 #411 Brett Myers

For good reason there has been a lot of talk about how well C.C. Sabathia has been pitching and how he is an old-school workhorse pitcher. Well Brett Myers may not be CC, and is wildly inconsistent, but he does have a lot of bulldog in him and can be pretty old-school himself. With that in mind I am posting this old-school retro-heritage style card in the hopes that the Baseball Gods will smile on Brett Myers today.

With some luck I will get to go to today's game. I have a friend pulling some strings for me and am hoping to get tickets. If it falls together I should have some pictures up tomorrow or over the weekend.

Milwaukee Brewers @ Philadelphia Phillies Citizen's Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia PA. October 2 2008 6:07 PM

Go Phils!!!

Playoffs!!!

2002 Fleer Fall Classic #90 Steve Carlton
2007 SP Authentic #34 Cole Hamels

Presenting some playoff mojo cards - We're hoping Cole fairs better in todays playoff opener versus the Brewers than he did in his playoff debut a year ago - to help out the Phils current ace Lefty I am also posting Hamels card with a card of the Phils all-time Lefty.

Milwaukee Brewers @ Philadelphia Phillies, Citizen's Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia PA. October 1, 2008 3:07 PM

Go Phils!