Snapshots: 2014 07 25 & 27 D-Backs @ Phillies

Been a strange week in what has been a forgettable season for the Philadelphia Phillies. Team Phungo ended up going to the bookends of Phils 3 game series with Diamondbacks. Fortunately these were the two games the Phillies won 9-5 on Friday Night and 4-2 on Sunday.

Turned out Ryan Howard's name came up an awful lot this weekend.

Friday night Howard was out of the lineup for the 3rd consecutive game.  Yet he had the honor of being the subject of the cover photo for our ticket. Each night a Phillies player is also the representative for their Charitable Ticket Program.  On Friday in a continuation of the unfortunate confluence of events Howard's Sluggers were the beneficiaries of the ticket program - on a night when the actual Slugger never played.

Snapshots

Marlon Byrd 

It was 25th of July and the Phillies celebrated Christmas July. As part of the festivities the player pix were outfitted with holiday attire. Marlon Byrd got a Santa Cap and an ugly sweater.


The Phanatic got into the Holiday Spirit as well, here he celebrates with a couple of Phillies ballgirls. 

 

Grady Sizemore

I was disappointed the Phillies have gotten away from the Topps sponsored game day lineup cards. They have opted to use their own design shown here. I believe this is this is the same design that is used on their postcard player sets. Grady Sizemore has only been with the club since the beginning of the month, so this is sort of like his first card as a Phil. 

Sunday

 Ryne Sandberg and Chase Utley

Sunday was Hall of Fame day, to mark the occasion all MLB players wore a special 75th anniversary of the HoF patch. Here we have HOF second baseman Ryne Sandberg with Chase Utley who may someday find his way into the Hall.

Good Guy Award

Ryan Howard 

As mentioned above Ryan Howard had a crazy week. He was in the lineup on Sunday but still found time to sign autographs almost right up to the anthem.  About 15 minutes later Howard blasted a line drive Home Run into the left-centerfield bleachers.

In addition to Howard, Darin Ruf and Chase Utley also get GGAs for taking some time to greet the fans and pen some signatures.   

Paul Goldschmidt

One of the reasons the Phillies won the series was they were able to keep D-Backs slugger Paul Goldschmidt in check.  Goldschmidt was 2-11 on the weekend.

Sunday was also Cole Hamels T-Shirsey day. Here he is being interviewed by Scott Palmer.

Vidal Nuno got the start for Arizona. The rookie was acquired by the D-Backs earlier this month in the trade that sent Brandon McCarthy to the Yankees.

Marlon Byrd has been the subject of trade rumors in recent weeks. Here it appears that he made sure to get one last good meal off of the Phillies buffet.

Sources
Baseball-ref.com
Philles Behind the Pinstripes

Lou Brock Hall of Fame Index

This is an index of our posts related to Lou Brock.

1971 Topps#625  Lou Brock

In 1971 Topps featured a Stolen Base column on their cards for the first time. Additional Information on this card can be found on my SABR posting.

Phungo Lou Brock HoF Index

1964 Topps #29 (w/ Cubs)

1968 Topps #372 All-Stars

1971 Topps #625 (First Topps Year with Stolen Bases)
1974 Topps #64 (First Topps Stole Base Leaders Card)

Snapshots: 2014 07 21 Giants 7 @ Phillies 4

The Return of Cliff Lee turned out to be a Meh event in a disappointing season. The Phillies lost to the Giants 7-4 in a game that had a lot of hits but few fireworks. Not much else to add on this one so right to the pix.

Snapshots

Lee's velocity was down and he had trouble finiahing hitters. He did little to enhance his trade value.

Grady Sizemore is the latest veteran the Phillies have added to the roster.

Former Phil Hunter Pence was in town and did some damage with 3 hits including a triple and a couple of RBIs.

There game featured 29 hits, but only one Home Run which was provided by rookie Adam Duvall.

Cliff Lee facing Buster Posey in the 5th inning.

Ultimate Frisbee - MLU Championship DC Current 23 Vancouver Nighthawks 17

On Saturday July 19, 2014 the 2nd Major League Ultimate Championship was held at PPL park in Chester PA - home of the MLS Philadelphia Union. 

The contest between the DC Current and Vancouver Nighthawks was largely decided in the first quarter. The Current got off to a quick start taking an 8-2 first quarter lead.  That early six point differential would be equivalent to the final tally as DC won 23-17.

Vancouver mounted a couple of rallies, but I believe the closest the made the contest was 13-9 late in the 3rd quarter.

Snapshots

DC Current - According to the Posted roster that is Connor Maloney with the wave

Vancouver Nighthawks - The West Coast Reps Starting Seven, The right most player is Conference MVP Brendan Wong.

The MLU Trophy - In a move borrowed from the NHL, the trophy is given the glove treatment. Directly behind the trophy bearer is MLU Comissioner Jeff Snader. MLU VP Nic Darling is to the left.

For TV/Streaming Video reasons the crowd was seated to provide a background for game action. Because of this MLU logo was upside down for those of us in attendance at the game. You can see the lower portion of the logo at the bottom of the above shot.





Starters for both Squads pose for photograhers with the MLU trophy. 

L

Lloyd Blake catches a goal midway through quarter 2. This score put DC up 10-2. I was busy enjoying the game, so I ddin't get many action shots. The ones that I did get were pretty blurry. this Is the best of the bunch. 

MLU Social Media Director, Alexandra Wittchen  sung both the Canadian and American anthems. She did a great job with both. 

Locally the Philadelphia Spinners always do a terrific job with the off field entertainment aspects of ultimate. The MLU championship was no exception. I didn't get the name of the emcee above. I believe he may have been connected with the Seattle Rainmakers Club, part of his job was to lead cheers, toss discs into the crowd and coordinate the non-game portions of the night.

The evenings festivities included a Disc Golf challenge and a Fan Sign competition. The MLU also took time to honor our Military Veterans as well.

There is one embarrassing Snafu on MLU's Part

22 years ago during the 1992 World Series the Atlanta Braves infamously (and accidentally) flew the Canadian Flag upside down. Unfortunately the MLU had their own flag issue on Saturday Night. Old Glory dwarfed it's Canadian counterpart. The smaller flag flapped around the rafter a few times, a staffer had to be assigned to keep it flying.

No Dancers 
The MLU Spinners have come under fire in the past for having a dance squad at games, The MLU championship did not include any form of dance squad or cheerleading unit.

Not sure how much this was connected to the controversy, but I was disappointed with the omission. I have family members that have put a lifetime of effort into dance and I have felt that the Fly Girls respected the artform. 
 

Sources 
MLU
Ultiworld
LA Times

Happy Anniversary Bob Gibson 3000 Ks: 1975 Topps #3

Busy here Phungo HQ, but I wanted to put up this quick posting.

Thursday July 17th marks the 40th anniversary of the ngiht Bob Gibson recorded his 3000th Strike out.

 

 1975 Topps #3 '74 Highlights Bob Gibson Throws 3000th Strikeout 

Topps honored the event with the #3 card of their 1975 Set,

 1975 Topps #3 '74 Highlights Bob Gibson Throws 3000th Strikeout (b-side)

Sources & Links
Phungo Bob Gibson HoF Index
Game Dated Cards Index

1969 Topps #507 Cookie Rojas - 1965 All-Star

The first All-Star Game hosted by the Twins was in 1965. The game was held at Metropolitan Stadium. The Phillies Cookie Rojas made the first of his Five All-star appearances in that game.

1969 Topps #507 Cookie Rojas Sources

The NL won the game 6-5, 3 future Hall of Famers Homered for the senior circuit, Willie Stargell, Willie Mays and Joe Torre. The AL got a home run from hometown hero Harmon Killiebrew.

Rojas flew out to centerfield in his only plate appearance.  The NL Squad included two other Phillies, Dick Allen who started and batted cleanup and Johnny Callison who did not play. The team was  piloted by Phillies manager Gene Mauch.

1964 Phillies  
I am adding this post to our 1964 Phillies series. Click on the team link to find some more profiles on the club include the aforementioned Dick Allen and Johnny Callison. 

2014  Phungo All-Star Coverage
Ozzie Virgil
Glenn Wilson
Johnny Callison
Chase Utley

More Cookie 
1969 Topps Blog has a nice career summary on Rojas

Sources
Baseball-ref

1986 Topps #95 Ozzie Virgil - 1985 All-Star

This is our second Installment featuring Phillies that have played in All-Star games hosted by the Minnesota Twins.

1986 Topps #95 Ozzie Virgil 

Ozzie Virgil's trip to the Metrodome was more successful than teammate Glenn Wilson's. Virgil entered the game in the 4th inning as a defensive replacement for starting catcher Terry Kennedy. His lone at-bat came an inning later versus future Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, Ozzie batted a pair of runners to give the NL a 4-1 Lead in the game which was eventually won 6-1. According to the Baseball-ref the AB was the highest WPA (win probability added) At Bat of the game - The hit increased the NLs victory chances from 64% to 80%

1985 was the first to two all-star games in which Ozzie Virgil played. As a representative of the Braves Virgil made the 1987 squad.

2014 Team Phungo ASG Coverage
Glenn Wilson
Chase Utley

Sources
Baseball-ref