Thursday, September 26, 2013

1997 Collector's Choice #417 Mark Leiter

Marlins 3, Phillies 2
Game 158 - Wednesday Night, September 25th in Miami
Record - 72-86, 4th Place, 21 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies went down quietly in Miami, losing 3-2 to the Marlins.

What It Means:  The Phillies look like they could use a rest.  After four more games with the Braves, they'll have 4 1/2 months to recoup before reporting to Clearwater.

What Went Wrong:  In his final start of the season, Cole Hamels' one mistake was a two-run triple to Adeiny Hechavarria in the second.  He finished the season with a 8-14 record after earning the no-decision for his six innings of work.  Reliever Ethan Martin walked Justin Ruggiano in the eighth, and Ruggiano came around to score the eventual winning run when Carlos Ruiz couldn't handle a Jimmy Rollins throw at the plate.

Featured Card:  Hamels' no decision meant that he avoided becoming the first Phillies pitcher since Mark Leiter in 1997 to lose at least 15 games in a season.

3 comments:

Steve F. said...

Last week (I think Sept. 17 against the Marlins) I bought a $6 ticket off StubHub but, for the first time in my life, left without watching a pitch. I found out that they were giving away Hamels bobbleheads with the purchase of a yearbook and I just wanted to land them for my kids since we had missed that game. Unbeknownst to me, the scorecard vendor outside the stadium also has that deal going, so I could have saved $6. Note to self for next year.

Anyway, it gave me the opportunity to stop in the Majestic store one last time, where I picked up a Michael Young #10 home jersey for $57.25 (75% off) and a "Baseballtown" Reading Phillies alternate jersey (no name or number) for $20, down from $79.99 but perhaps still overpriced. I noticed when I looked at it at home that it's, well, kind of ugly. Also, I used my 25% discount at the Authentics stand and bought...drumroll please...a "game-issued" alternate home helmet for $57 and a 2012 game-issued 1991-style throwback #48 jersey of Brian Sanches for $75. In retrospect, I wish I had bought Hector Luna's #29 because Kruk wore that number, and if I could have found a way to get that nameplate off of there and find a Kruk one, it would have been a good deal. (Kruk, though, wore #28 in 1991 and then traded it to Mitch Williams in 1992 for 2 cases of beer; but no one's gonna notice the incongruity, really.) So I spent a little more than I wanted to, but it was on a few nice deals--a bit of a silver lining on this awful season.

If I can get that helmet autographed by someone good at the ALS Carnival next year I will, but until that happens, I will wear it when playing ball in the yard with the kids. (It's a righty helmet, so that limits who I should get it signed by...not Rollins, Utley or Howard. maybe Chooch, if he is still here next year, or Burrell at some point?)

P.S. "Game-issued" apparently means either they can't figure out whether someone wore it at all (like the helmet) or it was definitely issued to a specific player but they can't se certain it was worn by him. As to the Sanches jersey, they can actually be certain it wasn't as he was released a couple weeks before that game. But I was still happy to get a game-quality 1991-style jersey for just $75; beats the $225 or $300 in the gift shop!

Jim said...

You've got to be the only person in the world with a Sanches jersey, period. Other than Sanches himself.

; )

Steve F. said...

Ha! Good point. Well, him and his mother, I imagine.