Sunday, July 1, 2012

1986 Sportflics #132 John Denny, Fernando Valenzuela & Vida Blue

Rays 7, Phillies 3 (Game 2)
Game 74 - Sunday Night, June 24th in Philadelphia
Record - 34-40, 5th Place, 9 games behind the Nationals

Vacation Catch-Up - Part 3 of 9

One Sentence Summary:  Cliff Lee's struggles continued as the lefty remains winless on the season.

What It Means:  I barely paid much attention to this game, as once the Rays had the lead it just seemed as if the Phils weren't going to be able to get back into the ballgame.  My hunch was correct.

What Went Wrong:  Lee allowed five runs in his seven innings of work and the offense went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.  It was a bullpen game for the Rays and other than Placido Polanco's two RBI doubles, the offense looked lethargic, once again.

Featured Card:  This is a stretch, I know, but hear me out.  Lee is now in dubious company, becoming just the second former Cy Young Award winning in history to be winless through at least 12 starts in a subsequent season.  (Per the MLB.com game summary write-up.)  The other pitcher was Vida Blue, who started the 1983 season with an 0-5 record after 14 starts with the Royals.

This is the only Blue card in my Phillies collection.  If you tilt your computer screen just right, you'll see that Blue shares this card with former Phillies Fernando Valenzuela and John Denny.

(Please leave a comment if you actually tried tilting your computer screen to see the other two pitchers.  I could use a pick-me-up now that my vacation is over.)

4 comments:

Dan said...

What did the ocean say to the other ocean?

Nothing, it just waved...

Laughing yet?

Jim said...

Comic gold! Thanks Dan.

Steve F. said...

I actually instinctively moved my head up and down to see it move before even reading your comment!

P.S. I was also at the beach with my family last week, returning on June 30. We (peaking at 22 of us in a 7-bedroom house) had every night game on TV, and I followed the day games on the beach on MLB.com. I'm glad I forgot my transistor radio, as it gave me 2 breaks from actually hearing them lose. Depressing baseball, but a beautiful week.

Jim said...

Definitely was nice to get away. I wish some of the current Phillies would take the same advice.