Thursday, May 9, 2013

1984 Fleer #47 Juan Samuel

Giants 4, Phillies 3 (10 Innings)
Game 35 - Wednesday Afternoon, May 8th in San Francisco
Record - 16-19, 3rd Place, 5 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies battled back to tie the game in the ninth, only to lose it in the tenth as the Giants won the series finale, 4-3.

What It Means:  The Phils showed a little fight in this series, and hopefully it carries over to Phoenix.

What Went Wrong:  Antonio Bastardo didn't escape the tenth inning as he was done in by a lead-off single from Buster Posey, a sac bunt, a wild pitch and an RBI-single from Andres Torres.

The Phillies had come back to tie the game in the ninth with an RBI-single from Chase Utley and a sacrifice fly from Delmon Young.  Kevin Frandsen hit his first home run of the year in the fourth.

Jonathan Pettibone, now the team's fourth starter due to Roy Halladay's shoulder woes, pitched another effective game.  In 5 2/3 innings, he allowed three runs on seven hits.

Featured Card:  Had the Phillies managed to sweep the Giants, it would have marked their first three-game sweep in San Francisco since May 1984.  The winning pitchers in those games were Marty Bystrom, John Denny and Charles Hudson.  Second baseman Juan Samuel, now the team's first base coach, went 7 for 14 in the series with a double, two triples, a home run and two stolen bases.  Sammy's two major 1984 baseball card releases can be found in the Fleer and Topps Traded sets.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It always amazed me that Samuel didn't actually appear in any of the regular big three sets in 1984 and had to wait until Fleer and Topps issued updates sets. He appeared in 18 games in 1983, logged 71 plate appearances and was clearly going to be the starting 2B in 1984. Admittedly, the hobby was very different at the time, but it's not like he was some scrub who was merely a September call-up in '83.