Friday, October 2, 2020

Game 60 - Pandemic Shortened Season Mercifully Concludes

2020 Chachi #47
2020 Chachi #54

Rays 5
, Phillies 0
Game 60 - Sunday Afternoon, September 27th in St. Petersburg
Record - 28-32, 3rd Place, 7 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Rays shut out the Phillies as the postseason eluded the team once again.

What It Means:  With the Giants and Brewers both losing on the final day of the regular season, all the Phillies had to do to clinch a playoff spot was beat the Rays with Aaron Nola on the mound.  They couldn't do it, and they were never even close.  Instead, the Rays swept the series and the Phillies scattered to begin their 2020-2021 offseason.  The Phillies went 1-7 in their final eight games.  J.T. Realmuto and Didi Gregorius might have played their final games in a Phillies uniform.

What Happened:  Nola went 3 2/3 innings, giving up six hits and three runs.  Hector Neris allowed a few more runs for good measure.  The Phillies had six hits, including two from Bryce Harper and a double from Alec Bohm.  

Featured Cards:  At the top, I wanted to re-create the 1991 Topps-style Record Breaker cards that lead off that original 792-card set.  There weren't a lot of memorable highlights on the field during the season, but the low key number retirement ceremony for Dick Allen in early September was something I wanted to commemorate.  The Record Breaker card unfortunately marks the Phillies' bullpen finishing with the highest ERA (7.06) in MLB over the past 90 years.  Only the 1930 Phillies kept them from the top spot with their mark of 8.16.  (Per Todd Zolecki Tweet.)

The other mini cards below are to commemorate some of the top performers for the club in 2020, and I sincerely hope they're ALL back in 2021.

2020 Topps Allen &
Ginter Mini #16
2020 Topps 206

2020 Topps Allen &
Ginter Mini #260
2020 Topps Allen &
Ginter Mini #266

2020 Topps Allen &
Ginter Mini #14

Memory Lane - Game 162*
This is my 12th season of posting on this blog and I truly enjoy and appreciate the outlet this has provided for me to share my love of baseball, baseball cards and (occasionally) the Phillies.  If the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise, I'll be back in 2021 and I sincerely thank you for following along.  Let's hope next year isn't as adventurous, except for perhaps a World Series parade down Broad Street in October.
  1. October 4, 2009 - Catcher Paul Hoover singled in the winning run in the 10th in a 7-6 win over the Marlins.
  2. October 3, 2010 - The Phillies lost 8-7 to the Braves in their final tune-up before facing the Reds in the NLDS.
  3. September 28, 2011 - The Phillies closed out the 2011 regular season with a 13-inning victory against the Braves, setting a franchise record with their 102nd regular season win.
  4. October 3, 2012 - The Phillies closed out their 2012 season with a lethargic 5-1 loss to the N.L. East Champion Nationals.
  5. September 29, 2013 - Zach Miner got the ball for the Phillies and lasted 2 1/3 innings in a 12-5 loss to the Braves.
  6. September 28, 2014 - Cole Hamels pitched another fine game and suffered through another outing with minimal run support.
  7. October 4, 2015 - Phillies avoid 100 losses and Ichiro makes his pitching debut in a 7-2 victory.
  8. October 2, 2016 - Phillies bid an emotional farewell to franchise icon Ryan Howard.
  9. October 1, 2017 - Phils clobber Mets in Pete Mackanin's final game as manager.
  10. September 30, 2018 - Lame duck Phillies win season finale in Gabe Kapler's frustrating debut season.
  11. September 29, 2019 - Phillies miss postseason for 8th year in a row, Brad Miller finishes the season red hot.
  12. September 27, 2020 - *Shortened 60-game season ends with Phillies swept out by the Rays.

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