1951 Bowman #111 Curt Simmons

Braves 9, Phillies 3

Game 50 - Monday Afternoon, May 31st in Atlanta

The Phils continue to find new ways to lose, this time falling victim to a costly error by Ryan Howard and a couple of Braves home runs from Chipper Jones (2-run home run in the 1st) and Troy Glaus (3-run home run in the 7th). Wearing his Memorial Day white cap with red brim (great idea, awful looking hat), Joe Blanton spotted the Braves 3 runs in the 1st, including Chipper's blast.

The offense continued their hibernation until briefly waking up in the 7th to score 3 runs with 2 outs on 4 consecutive doubles - Raul Ibañez, Carlos Ruiz, Wilson Valdez and Ben Francisco. They then promptly went back into slumber-mode. The loss knocked the Phils out of first place in the division as they now find themselves looking up at the Braves.

Game Notes: Manager Charlie Manuel was ejected in the 3rd inning after the umpires ruled Greg Dobbs had not been hit by a pitch. Jayson Werth sat out the game after going 0 for 4 with 4 strikeouts on Sunday afternoon. Placido Polanco missed his fourth straight game with a sore elbow.

Memorial Day: Curt Simmons missed the 1950 World Series and the entire 1951 season while serving in the military in Korea. I wanted to somehow pay a small tribute to our American soldiers on Memorial Day, and featuring a baseball card of Simmons seemed fitting.

In related news, the burgers and dogs were delicious yesterday, the weather was perfect and I was fortunate to spend a wonderful day with family.