Phillies at Nationals: May 24th to May 26th

Friday 7:05, Saturday 7:15 and Sunday 1:35
Nationals Park - Washington, D.C.

Phillies 23-24, 3rd Place in the N.L. East, 5 1/2 games behind the Braves
Nationals 24-23, 2nd Place in the N.L. East, 4 1/2 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables:  Kyle Kendrick (4-2, 2.82), Jonathan Pettibone (3-0, 3.00), Cole Hamels (1-7, 4.45)
Nationals Probables:  Jordan Zimmermann (7-2, 1.62), Dan Haren (4-5, 5.54), Stephen Strasburg (2-5, 2.66)

At the Ballpark:  On Saturday, the first 15,000 fans will receive a Nationals Lunch Tote.  It's the perfect way to carry your lunch into work with a intense amount of Natitude.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Michael Young - .287

Runs:  Chase Utley - 21

Home Runs:  Domonic Brown - 8

RBIs:  Ryan Howard and Chase Utley - 25

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 8

Wins:  Cliff Lee - 5

ERA:  Cliff Lee - 2.48

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 57

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 8

1973 Topps #486 and #377

1973 Topps Flashback:  Today's flashback features two of the three men to have managed at least 1,000 Phillies games - the other of course being the current Phillies manager, Charlie Manuel.

1973 was Danny Ozark's first season at the helm, and my guess is that there's a Dodgers hat somewhere underneath the airbrushed Phillies logo appearing on this card.  Prior to being hired by the Phillies, Ozark spent eight seasons as a coach for the Dodgers on Walter Alston's staff.  Ozark led the Phils to three division titles in 1976, 1977 and 1978, but his teams never advanced to the World Series. He was fired in August 1979 after 1,105 games with the Phillies and a career win-loss record of 594-510-1.

Three of his four coaches - third base coach Billy DeMars, pitching coach Ray Rippelmeyer and first base coach Bobby Wine - were hold-overs from the previous Frank Lucchesi/Paul Owens administrations.  Only bullpen coach Carroll Beringer was added to the staff  when Ozark joined the team, assuming the same coaching position he had previously held with the Dodgers.  Beringer and Rippelmeyer made it through the 1978 season, while DeMars and Wine would go on to win World Series rings in 1980 under Ozark's successor, Dallas Green.

Gene Mauch began his managerial career with nine tumultuous season with the Phillies between 1960 and 1968.  He joined the expansion Montreal Expos for their first season in 1969 and managed the club through 1975.  In his 1,127 games with the Expos, Mauch compiled a record of 499-627, never finishing better than fourth place in the N.L. East.

There are two other Phillies connections on Mauch's manager card.  Dave Bristol served as the team's hitting coach from 1982 until 1985 and again in 1988, and Cal McLish served under Mauch as a coach during the 1965 and 1966 seasons, following three seasons pitching with the Phillies from 1962 to 1964.

2013 Chachi #26 Charlie Manuel MG and Coaches

#41

Charles Fuqua Manuel

Manager

Bats: Left  Throws: Right  Height: 6'4"  Weight: 230

Born: January 4, 1944, Northfork, WV

Home: Winter Haven, FL

Teams - As Player: Minnesota Twins 1969-1972, Los Angeles Dodgers 1974-1975

Teams - As Coach: Cleveland Indians 1988-1989 and 1994-1999

Teams - As Manager: Cleveland Indians 2000-2002, Phillies 2005-

Contract Status: Signed through the 2013 season

#17

Michael Frederick Billmeyer

Catching Coach

Bats: Left  Throws: Right  Height: 6'2"  Weight: 255

Born: April 24, 1964, Funkstown, MD

Home: Hagerstown, MD
Teams - As Coach: Phillies 2009-

#5
Steven Curtis Henderson
Hitting Coach

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 6'1"  Weight: 240
Born: November 18, 1952, Houston, TX
Home: Tampa, FL
Teams - As Player: New York Mets 1977-1980, Chicago  Cubs 1981-1982, Seattle Mariners 1983-1984, Oakland Athletics 1985-1987, Houston Astros 1988
Teams - As Coach:  Houston Astros 1994-1996, Tampa Bay Rays 1998, 2006-2009, Phillies 2013

#54
Rodney Lee Nichols
Bullpen Coach

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 6'2"  Weight: 240
Born: December 29, 1964, Burlington, IA
Home: Helena, MT
Teams - As Player: Cleveland Indians 1988-1992, Los Angeles Dodgers 1993, Atlanta Braves 1995
Teams - As Coach: Phillies 2013

#8
Juan Milton Samuel
First Base Coach

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 5'11"  Weight: 190
Born: December 9, 1960, San Pedro de Macoris, DR
Home: Ft. Myers, FL
Teams - As Player: Phillies 1983-1989, New York Mets 1989, Los Angeles Dodgers 1990-1992, Kansas City Royals 1992, Cincinnati Reds 1993, Detroit Tigers 1994-1995, Kansas City Royals 1995, Toronto Blue Jays 1996-1998
Teams - As Coach:  Detroit Tigers 1999-2005, Baltimore Orioles 2007-2010, Phillies 2011-
Teams - As Manager:  Baltimore Orioles 2010

1981 Perma-Graphic Super Star Credit Card Phillies

1981 Perma-Graphics Super Star Credit Cards #2, #5 and #16

In the beginning (at least my beginning) there was Topps.  As a wee lad, I collected Topps cards and the occasional card from Kellogg's, Hostess or Burger King.  Fleer and Donruss joined the fray in 1981, and as a soon-to-be 7-year-old, I knew all there was to know about new baseball card releases.  Or did I?

I first saw an example of the cards from the Perma-Graphic Credit Cards set at the Ocean City Baseball Card Show in 1981.  My initial reaction was, "What in the world are those things?"  I recognized the pictures used for the Phillies cards as being lifted from the 1981 Topps set, but our local card shop (The Card Doctor) did not carry these cards.  It was one of the first times I came across a card set that I knew absolutely nothing about.

The cards were printed on a plastic material and they had rounded corners.  The dealer at the card show had all three Phillies for sale - Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton and Pete Rose.  I needed them.  But they were stinkin' expensive.  Slightly deflated, I passed on the cool and amazing new cards and I spent my allowance money elsewhere throughout the baseball card tables scattered throughout the Ocean City Music Pier.

For the next 32 years, I came across instances of these cards in various on-line auctions or in the oddball displays at baseball card shows.  For some reason, though, the cards always cost way more than I was willing to pay for them.  A few weeks ago, on a oddball hunt at Checkoutmycards.com, I came across the three cards featured at the top of this post, made a fair offer for them, and finally added these cards to my collection.

Now that I own the cards, they're not actually all that mystical and cool.  The Perma-Graphics company put out two sets a year between 1981 and 1983.  The 1981 "Super Star" set features a small photo, the player's name and position and a bubble-letter style graphic of the player's team.  The backs are fairly plain with the player's career record to date and a listing of career highlights.  There's a box on the bottom of the backs for the player's autograph.  I wonder if any autograph seekers actually ever made use of this box?

In any event, even though they aren't as awesome as I remember from 32 years ago, I'm glad my decades-long quest for these cards is finally over.

2013 Topps #33 Cliff Lee

Phillies 3, Marlins 0
Game 47 - Wednesday Night, May 22nd in Miami
Record - 23-24, 3rd Place, 5 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Cliff Lee was nearly un-hittable as he and the Phillies easily took care of the Marlins, winning 3-0.

What It Means:  The Phillies won the series and they continue their slow progress to .500.  They've now won seven of their last ten games.  Following an off-day today, they'll open a three-game series in Washington.  If all goes well, the Phillies will find themselves with a winning record and in second place on Memorial Day.

What Went Right:  Lee allowed only three hits in his complete game shut-out and he earned his fifth win of the year.  He was in control from the outset, and it was an absolute pleasure watching him mow down the pedestrian Marlins line-up.  He has a 1.16 ERA in his last four starts.

In the fourth, Delmon Young hit his second home run in as many nights.  Domonic Brown added an RBI-triple in the sixth, followed by an RBI-single from Freddy Galvis.

Featured Card:  I could have featured another Bowman card in this post, but I decided to go with Lee's base card from this year's Topps flagship set.  It's hard to believe that series two will be released in less than a month.

2013 Chachi #35 Delmon Young

#3

Delmon Demarcus Young

Right Field

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 6'3"  Weight: 240

Born: September 14, 1985, Montgomery, AL

Home: Camarillo, CA

Drafted: Selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1st round of the June 2003 draft

Teams: Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2006-2007, Minnesota Twins 2008-2011, Detroit Tigers 2011-2012,  Phillies 2013

Acquired: Signed as a free agent formerly with the Detroit Tigers, January 22, 2013

Contract Status: Signed through the 2013 season

2013 Bowman #190 Ryan Howard

Phillies 7, Marlins 3
Game 46 - Tuesday Night, May 21st in Miami
Record - 22-24, 3rd Place, 5 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The offense supplied seven runs and fifteen hits in support of Tyler Cloyd's great start, as the Phillies defeated the Marlins, 7-3.

What It Means:  If the Phillies could just play like this on a consistent basis, the rest of the season could get interesting.  They'll go for the series win tonight.

What Went Right:  Cloyd pitched seven strong innings, allowing two runs on eight hits.  The bats actually didn't wake up until the fourth, when Delmon Young homered to left-center.  Another run followed in the sixth, but the big inning was the seventh when the Phils plated four runs on five hits.  The big blows that inning were Ryan Howard's two-run single to right and Domonic Brown's RBI-double.

Featured Card:  The offense hasn't given me many opportunities so far this year to feature any of their 2013 baseball cards.  So when Howard goes 3 for 5 with 3 RBIs, I have a bunch of 2013 cards of his I could post that I haven't yet featured.  Howard wasn't even supposed to be in the line-up last night, as he's dealing with some knee issues.

After sorting through my 2013 Howard collection, I settled on his Bowman card since that one just arrived in my mail box a few days ago.  I've seen a few other bloggers comment on how much they like the Bowman design this year, and you can count me among the design's fans.  The white border works well and there's not an overwhelming use of silver foil on the cards' fronts.  Overall, it's a nice effort for Topps.

1972 Topps #635 Don Money

Marlins 5, Phillies 1
Game 45 - Monday Night, May 20th in Miami
Record - 21-24, 3rd Place, 5 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Once again the offense failed to provide any run support for Cole Hamels and once again the Phillies lost to the lowly Marlins, 5-1.

What It Means:  Hamels' record dropped to 1-7 and the Phillies are 1-9 when he pitches.  In his last eight starts, Hamels' ERA is 3.12 and the Phillies have supplied him with 15 runs.  He declined to comment following last night's game, and I can't say I blame him.

What Went Wrong:  The Phillies went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.  Reliever Phillippe Aumont allowed two runs in the bottom of the eighth to put the game out of reach as Chad Qualls (yes, Chad Qualls) shut down the Phils in the ninth.

Featured Card:  The Inquirer's Matt Gelb had the Tweet of the night, noting that the Phillies are scoring 3.49 runs per game, which is the lowest for the team since 1972.  The '72 Phillies finished with a record of 59-97, 37 1/2 games behind the first place Pirates.  It's hard to single out any one player to represent the futility of that club, so I opted to go with third baseman Don Money, who hit .222 that season before going on to bigger and better things with the Brewers.

2013 Chachi #24 Mike Adams

#37

Jon Michael Adams

Relief Pitcher

Bats: Right  Throws: Right  Height: 6'5"  Weight: 193

Born: July 29, 1978, Corpus Christi, TX

Home: Robstown, TX

Signed: Signed by the Milwaukee Brewers as a non-drafted free agent, May 15, 2001

Teams: Milwaukee Brewers 2004-2006, San Diego Padres 2008-2011, Texas Rangers 2011-2012, Phillies 2013

Acquired: Signed as free agent formerly with the Texas Rangers, December 20, 2012

Contract Status: Signed through the 2014 season, with a vesting/club option for 2015

Phillies at Marlins: May 20th to May 22nd

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 7:10
Marlins Park - Miami, FL

Phillies 21-23, 3rd Place in the N.L. East, 4 1/2 games behind the Braves
Marlins 12-32, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 13 1/2 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables:  Cole Hamels (1-6, 4.61), Tyler Cloyd (0-0, 2.84), Cliff Lee (4-2, 2.83)
Marlins Probables:  Alex Sanabia (2-6, 5.00), Jose Fernandez (2-2, 3.48), Kevin Slowey (1-4, 3.44)

At the Ballpark:  It seems as if most of the promotions going on this season at Marlins Park aren't centered around collectible or wearable giveaways.  Rather, the promotions are focused on trying to entice anyone to come to the game by giving away free or at least reduced price food.  Case in point, tonight is an all you can eat special at the ballpark and Wednesday is a "Kids Eat Free Wednesday."

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Michael Young - .294

Runs:  Chase Utley - 21

Home Runs:  Domonic Brown and Chase Utley - 7

RBIs:  Chase Utley - 25

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 8

Wins:  Kyle Kendrick and Cliff Lee - 4

ERA:  Kyle Kendrick - 2.82

Strikeouts:  Cliff Lee - 50

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 8

2013 Chachi #39 Freddy Galvis & Erik Kratz HL

Phillies 3, Reds 2
Game 44 - Sunday Afternoon, May 19th in Philadelphia
Record - 21-23, 3rd Place, 4 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Erik Kratz and Freddy Galvis keyed an improbable walk-off win with back-to-back home runs in the ninth, as the Phillies won, 3-2.

What It Means:  A walk-off win for the Phils!  They took the series and now head to Miami to try to (finally) get back to .500.

What Went Right:  Nothing went right for the offense for most of the day.  They managed to score their first run in the eighth when Chase Utley singled home Ben Revere.

It was looking pretty grim in the ninth when the Reds brought in their closer Aroldis Chapman.  Chapman walked Delmon Young to start the inning, but then pinch-runner Cliff Lee was caught wandering too far off first and got picked off.

With an out and nobody on, Kratz blasted a solo home run to left to tie the ballgame.  Lee could be seen fuming in the dugout, as the game would have ended then and there had he not been picked off.  On the third pitch Galvis saw, a 95-miles per hour fastball, he lined a home run to left just over the fence and just inside the foul pole.  A home plate celebration ensued and for the rest of the day at least, all was right with the Phillies.

Featured Card:  I'm an optimist, but I don't know how many more highlights these 2013 Phillies have in them.  For that reason, and because this game had me more excited about the team than I had been all year, I felt a highlight card was merited.  I used this design to celebrate Roy Halladay's 200th career win, and it's based off the Boyhood Photos subset from the 1973 Topps release.

2013 Chachi #33 Jonathan Pettibone

#44

Jonathan H. Pettibone

Starting Pitcher

Bats: Left  Throws: Right  Height: 6'6"  Weight: 225

Born: July 19, 1990, Placentia, CA

Home: Yorba Linda, CA

Drafted: Selected by the Phillies between the 3rd and 4th rounds of the June 2008 draft

Teams: Phillies 2013

Acquired: Via draft

Contract Status: Pre-arbitration eligible

2008 Upper Deck Phillies World Series Champions #PP-23 Chad Durbin

Reds 10, Phillies 0
Game 43 - Saturday Afternoon, May 18th in Philadelphia
Record - 20-23, 3rd Place, 4 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies were shellacked by the Reds, 10-0, and never even had a chance in the middle game of the series.

What It Means:  As I mentioned yesterday - no consistency.  They look great one day, and appear completely lifeless the next.  The Phils can still win the series with a victory this afternoon.

What Went Wrong:  Kyle Kendrick suffered his first rough outing of the year, allowing four runs on eight hits over six innings.  Over the final three innings, the bullpen failed to keep the game even remotely close.  B.J. Rosenberg (3 runs in 1 1/3 innings) and Chad Durbin (2 runs in an inning) were the main offenders.

The offense managed seven hits, while going 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position.

Featured Card:  This loss was by no means Durbin's fault, and the game was well out of hand before he surrendered two meaningless runs in the top of the ninth inning.  But how much longer can the Phils stick with Durbin?  His ERA stands at 8.10 in 13 appearances this year.  There's got to be a better option available at Triple-A.

2013 Topps Heritage #258 Michael Young

Phillies 5, Reds 3
Game 42 - Friday Night, May 17th in Philadelphia
Record - 20-22, 3rd Place, 3 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies battled back to win late against the Reds, 5-3.

What It Means:  It's easy to feel good about the Phillies when they play like they played last night.  Now if they could only maintain some level of consistency.

What Went Right:  First, let's discuss what went wrong.  With the scored tied at two, Antonio Bastardo allowed an eighth-inning, lead-off home run to Joey Votto, giving the Reds a 3-2 lead and completely sucking all the air out of Citizens Bank Park.  The home run cost Cliff Lee, who had pitched well again, a win.

But then in the bottom of the eighth, things went right.  Michael Young worked a 10-pitch walk, Ryan Howard inexplicably reached on a check-swing infield single to the left side of the infield, Delmon Young was plunked, and Domonic Brown reached on an error, scoring Michael Young.  A Carlos Ruiz sac fly brought home Howard a batter later, although replays showed that Howard might have been out.

Featured Card:  Young drew his third walk of the game with his outstanding at-bat in the eighth, and he came around to score the eventual winning run.  I'm still waiting for my Bowman Phillies team set to arrive in the mail, which includes Young's first card wearing an actual Phillies uniform.  (Unless you count his team-issued card featuring him in Spring Training action.)  The Topps Heritage card featured here does a decent job of creating the illusion of a Phillies uniform, and it features a rare Young smile.

2013 Chachi #37 Justin De Fratus

#79

Justin A. De Fratus

Relief Pitcher

Bats: Switch  Throws: Right  Height: 6'4"  Weight: 220

Born: October 21, 1987, Oxnard, CA

Home: Oxnard, CA

Drafted: Selected by Phillies in 11th round of June 2007 draft

Teams: Phillies 2011-

Acquired: Via draft

Contract Status: Pre-arbitration eligible