Game 153 - Friday Night, September 20th in Philadelphia
Record - 71-82, 3rd Place, 20 games behind the Braves
One Sentence Summary: Cole Hamels and the Phillies offense couldn't overcome the Mets and Daisuke Matsuzaka.
What It Means: It means the Phillies have officially clinched their first losing season since 2002.
What Went Wrong: Hamels was roughed up early, allowing three first inning runs and never really recovering. In his seven innings of work, Hamels allowed six runs on 10 hits while striking out eight. Darin Ruf had the big hit in this ballgame, with a two-run double in the fourth. A third run scored on the play after an Eric Young error, and that was pretty much it for the excitement provided by the Phillies.
Featured Card: I opted to go with a Brandon Duckworth card from 2002 to properly represent the futility of both the 2002 and 2013 Phillies seasons. (No offense, Brandon.)
Field Report: We were there, and it was our last game of the 2013 season. My personal record this year at Phillies games was 5-9, which wasn't much better than my 2012 personal record of 4-8.
Before leaving the ballpark, Jenna and I walked around the team's close-out sale tent, which featured significantly marked down Phillies merchandise. The tent had the atmosphere of a post-Christmas Target, trying to unload the last unwanted remnants of a season that was gone too soon.
Most telling (promising?) was the sight of all Jonathan Papelbon t-shirts and jerseys on sale for 75% off their original prices. There were no T-shirts or jerseys of Roy Halladay and Carlos Ruiz in the discount tent, at least not when we got there, and those players are more likely to depart this offseason than Papelbon. So what do the Phillies sales people know at this point that we don't know?
Of course, the team could have every intention of bringing back Papelbon, but they've just figured out that no one wants to buy his shirts.
3 comments:
I should have emailed you--I was there too (with two of my kids and friend and his daughter). It was my last game of the season too. I sprung for a Phan Photo set; the price was $35, but I got 10% off with my season ticket discount, and somehow they ended up giving me 20% off instead--I guess those things aren't moving. The only highlight was hanging out with the kids for the whole game. They really don't care if it's a win or loss. Oh yeah, also I completed my Greg Luzinski signed Topps collection. Next year I will look to get his Topps stickers signed plus maybe move in to Fleer and Donruss. I'm sure the Bull is looking forward to that too!
Otherwise, what a blahhh game. A fitting end to my season with this team. I will have to calculate my personal record, but I think it was also in the neighborhood of your own 4-8.
Oops. I see 4-8 was your 2012 record. Technically your 5-9 was an improvement, so congrats!
I wish I had known about that Phan Photo set.
We went with friends of ours and splurged for seats in the HOF Club via StubHub. The cost per seat wasn't much more than our usual seats, which is a sad testament to how far the Phils have fallen this year.
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