Phillies at Nationals: May 22nd to May 24th

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05 and Sunday 1:35
Nationals Park - Washington, DC

Phillies 18-25, 4th Place in the N.L. East, 7 games behind the Nationals
Nationals 24-17, 1st Place in the N.L. East, 1/2 game ahead of the Mets

Phillies Probables:  Sean O'Sullivan (1-2, 3.68), Cole Hamels (4-3, 3.24), Aaron Harang (4-3, 1.82)
Nationals Probables:  Max Scherzer (4-3, 1.75), Stephen Strasburg (3-4, 5.98), Gio Gonzalez (3-2, 4.94)

At the Ballpark:  The first 10,000 fans will receive a 10th Anniversary poster on Sunday afternoon.  It's hard for me to believe there's been baseball back in Washington for 10 years now . . . and the Montreal Expos have been gone for 11 years.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Freddy Galvis - .319
Runs:  Freddy Galvis - 18
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 9
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 21
Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 9

Wins:  Cole Hamels and Aaron Harang - 4
ERA:  Aaron Harang - 1.82
Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 62
Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 11

1985 Topps #143

1985 Topps #134

1985 Topps Appreciation:  Father's Day is a month away, but I wanted to be able to fit in these two cards given the Expos/Phillies connection with the Tito and Terry Francona card.  Before the younger Francona managed the Phillies through four grueling seasons (1997-2000), the elder Francona already had a Phillies connection.

Tito played 15 years in the majors, squeezing in 27 games with the Phillies in 1967.  Tito was purchased from the Cardinals by the Phils on April 10, 1967 and then sold again (hopefully at a profit) to the Braves by the Phils on June 12, 1967.  His short stint earned him a late series Phillies baseball card in the 1967 Topps set.

The elder Ozzie Virgil had no Phillies connection that I could find during his playing days.  The younger Virgil was an All-Star with the Phillies in 1985 and spent parts of six seasons behind the plate in maroon pinstripes.