Friday, April 1, 2016

Former and Future Phillies Stars Clash in Reading

2004 Multi-Ad Reading Phillies #12
2004 Multi-Ad Reading Phillies #19
Phillies 19Phillies Futures 4 (7 Innings)
Phillies Futures Game 1 - Thursday Night, March 31st in Reading

One Sentence Summary:  It was an enjoyable night of baseball as the current Phillies used the long ball to easily handle the future Phillies by a score of 19-4.

What It Means:  In the first ever Phillies Futures Series game, the top 26 players from the entire Phillies minor league system faced off against the big club at Reading's First Energy Stadium.

What Happened:  There was a very strong wind blowing out to left field and it got ugly quickly for the Futures team.  When it was all done, the Phillies had hit eight home runs (Odubel Herrera, Freddy Galvis, Darin Ruf, Cesar Hernandez, Tyler Goeddel, Maikel Franco, Cedric Hunter and Ryan Howard) and the Futures had hit three home runs (Dylan Cozens, Roman Quinn and J.P. Crawford).

Former Reading Phillies stars Howard and Carlos Ruiz received standing ovations upon their entrances into the game.  Not that it matters, but from the Futures team pitchers Zach Eflin (3 innings, 11 hits, 9 earned runs) and Mark Appel (3 innings, 8 hits, 6 earned runs) were both hit fairly hard.

Featured Cards:  Howard pinch hit for Hernandez in the top of the seventh and received a very warm standing ovation from the Reading crowd.  In 102 games in Reading in 2004, Howard hit 37 home runs and drove in 102 runs.

Ruiz played in parts of two seasons in Reading in 2003 and 2004.  It appeared as if he wouldn't make it into this game, but he ended up pinch-hitting for Will Venable in the seventh following a loud "We want Chooch" chant by the fans.  In the bottom of the inning, Ruiz finished out the game at third base.

Camp Head Count:  36


5 comments:

Section 36 said...

What a fun idea for a game!

Jim said...

I agree and they're doing it again this afternoon, weather permitting. It gives the fans in Reading a chance to cheer for the stars who played there in prior years, and it gives the young guys the chance to suit up at Citizens Bank Park.

Steve F. said...

Jim, where did you get that picture of the top prospects? I went to the game in Reading with my son and he got a Fathead poster with stickers of the minor league teams' logos, plus some photos on the back, but I didn't see the one you showed. Is that just something from the website? That would have made a nice giveaway poster!

Jim said...

Hi Steve. I think the Phillies Tweeted out this image and I swiped it from there. I agree, this would have been a nice giveaway!

Steve F. said...

Thanks--at least I didn't miss it or I'd have to figure out how to find it on eBay!