Series Preview - Mets at Phillies: April 30th to May 2nd

1986 Topps #191

1986 Topps #69

Friday 7:05, Saturday 6:05, Sunday 7:08
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  On Sunday night, as part of the team's annual Mother's Appreciation Day, all women will receive a pink J.T. Realmuto t-shirt.

Mets 9-10
Tied for 1st Place in the N.L. East, 1/2 game ahead of the Marlins

Mets Probables
Marcus Stroman (3-1, 2.25)
Taijuan Walker (1-1, 2.14)
David Peterson (1-3, 5.59)

Mets Leaders
Average:  Brandon Nimmo - .345
Runs:  Pete Alonso - 9
Home Runs:  Pete Alonso - 5
RBIs:  Pete Alonso - 12
Stolen Bases:  Brandon Nimmo - 2

Wins:  Marcus Stroman - 3
ERA:  Jacob deGrom - 0.51

Strikeouts:  Jacob deGrom - 59
Saves:  Edwin Diaz - 2

Phillies 12-13
Tied for 1st Place in the N.L. East, 1/2 game ahead of the Marlins

Phillies Probables
Chase Anderson (0-3, 6.48)
Zack Wheeler (2-2, 3.13)
Zach Eflin (1-1, 3.58)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  J.T. Realmuto - .329
Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 19
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 8
RBIs:  Didi Gregorius and Rhys Hoskins - 14
Stolen Bases:  Roman Quinn - 4

Wins:  Connor Brogdon - 3
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 3.11
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 39
Saves:  Hector Neris - 5

2021 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2021 Season Summary Index / 2021 Chachi Set Checklist

September 29th to October 1st: Mets at Phillies

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 7:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Mets 89-67, 1st Place in the N.L. East, 9 1/2 games ahead of the Nationals
Phillies 59-97, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 30 games behind the Mets

Mets Probables:  Bartolo Colon (14-12, 4.15), Steven Matz (4-0, 2.27), Logan Varrett (1-1, 2.70)
Phillies Probables:  David Buchanan (2-9, 7.96), Alec Asher (0-5, 7.52), Jerad Eickhoff (2-3, 3.07)

At the Ballpark:  There are no promotions or giveaways scheduled.  The N.L. East champs will most likely trot out their B or C team while the Phillies will do their best to stave off the inevitable 100 loss season.

Mets Leaders
Average:  Daniel Murphy - .285
Runs:  Curtis Granderson - 96
Home Runs:  Lucas Duda and Curtis Granderson - 25
RBIs:  Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy - 70
Stolen Bases:  Curtis Granderson - 11

Wins:  Bartolo Colon and Jacob deGrom - 14
ERA:  Jacob deGrom - 2.60
Strikeouts:  Jacob deGrom - 198
Saves:  Jeurys Familia - 42

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Odubel Herrera - .287
Runs:  Odubel Herrera - 60
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 23
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 77
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 19+

Wins:  Ken Giles, Aaron Harang and Aaron Nola - 6*
ERA:  Aaron Harang - 4.86
Strikeouts:  Aaron Harang - 106*
Saves:  Ken Giles - 13^

+Ben Revere, now with the Blue Jays, is the overall team leader with 24 stolen bases.
*Cole Hamels, now with the Rangers, is the overall team leader with 6 wins (tied) and 137 strikeouts.
^Jonathan Papelbon, now with the Nationals, is the overall team leader with 17 saves.

1985 Topps #677

1985 Topps #302

1985 Topps Appreciation:  We've reached the penultimate series of this dreadful season, and I've got two cards of mustachioed former Mets and Phillies to feature.  Before checking his Baseball Reference page, I had forgotten that Wally Backman played two seasons for the Phillies in 1991 and 1992.  I had thought he was only around for a single season, but he did in fact suit up in both the maroon pinstripes of 1991 and the red pinstripes of 1992.  Backman of course started his career with 9 seasons with the Mets.

Tim Corcoran was a teammate of Backman's on the 1986 Mets team for all of six games.  He accumulated seven at-bats with the Mets in April and June going 0 for 7 before being released on June 9th.

Phillies at Mets: May 9th to May 11th

Friday and Saturday 7:10, Sunday 1:10
Citi Field - Flushing, NY

Phillies 15-18, 5th Place in the N.L. East
Mets 16-17, 4th Place in the N.L. East

Phillies Probables:  Roberto Hernandez (2-1, 4.50), Kyle Kendrick (0-3, 3.58), Cole Hamels (0-2, 7.02)
Mets Probables:  Jenrry Mejia (3-0, 5.23), Dillon Gee (3-1, 2.51), Jon Niese (2-2, 1.82)

At the Ballpark:  There's all kinds of stuff going on this weekend at Citi Field.  Free Shirt Friday happens tonight with all fans in attendance receiving a Mets t-shirt.  Saturday Night is 1969 Commemorative Nolan Ryan Bobblehead night with the first 20,000 fans receiving this nice looking collectible.  Finally, all Moms and kids will receive a Mets t-shirt on Sunday afternoon.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Chase Utley - .325

Runs:  Carlos Ruiz - 19

Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 7

RBIs:  Marlon Byrd - 22

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 11

Wins:  Antonio Bastardo and Cliff Lee - 3

ERA:  A.J. Burnett - 2.90

Strikeouts:  Cliff Lee - 51

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 9

1988 Topps #781 and #333

1988 Topps Appreciation:  There's no really connection between the two players featured here other than they both spent time with the Phillies and Mets during their careers.

Nothing against Keith Hughes, but I surprised to find he had a card in the 1988 Topps set back in the day when these cards first came out.  Hughes was originally drafted by the Phillies in 1981 and then traded to the Yankees in 1984 with Marty Bystrom for Shane Rawley.  Three years later, he came back to the Phillies with Shane Turner when the Phils sent Mike Easler back to the Bronx.  In 37 games for the '87 Phillies, Hughes hit .263 while playing both corner outfield positions.  He landed with the Mets in 1990 where he appeared in eight games.

Wally Backman is best remembered for being the starting second baseman on the '86 Mets team.  He spent parts of nine seasons with the Mets before being traded to the Twins in December 1988.  He'd play the next two seasons with the Twins and Pirates respectively before coming to the Phillies via free agency prior to the 1991 season.  In parts of two seasons with the Phils, Backman hit .249 in 136 games.

Scrapbook Sunday: June 16, 1991

1992 Donruss #384 Wes Chamberlain

1992 Topps #456 Pat Combs

1992 Upper Deck #350 Wally Backman

1992 Stadium Club #156 Joe Boever

Turn back the clock games are fairly commonplace now, but that wasn't always the case. In June 1991, the Phillies tried the promotion for the first time, wearing retro uniforms from 1957. It was very, very strange to watch the Phils play a game in something other than their familiar maroon and white uniforms. So strange in fact, I distinctly remember videotaping this game for posterity. (The Phillies announcers did the pre-game opening in vintage '50s gear and the first few minutes of the broadcast was in black and white. I recall Andy Musser looked particularly out of place.)

The retro uniforms didn't help the Phils against the World Champion Reds in this game, as the team lost for the seventh time in eight games. Pat Combs was hammered, Dickie Thon made a crucial error in the 9th inning and Wes Chamberlain's first home run of the year was wasted.

Retro Cards: Pictures of the Phillies wearing these uniforms turned up on several baseball cards in late 1991 and throughout 1992, as follows:

1991 Medford Phillies Update #39 Wally Ritchie

1992 Donruss #384 Wes Chamberlain, #493 Joe Boever, #614 Danny Cox (back), #631 Wally Ritchie (back)

1992 Stadium Club #156 Joe Boever

1992 Topps #331 Steve Lake, #456 Pat Combs, #754 Charlie Hayes

1992 Triple Play #128 Andy Ashby, #220 Mitch Williams

1992 Upper Deck #350 Wally Backman, #402 Joe Boever, #410 Mitch Williams (back), #442 Pat Combs (back), #567 Tommy Greene

Dale Murphy shows up wearing a retro uniform on his 1991 Studio card (#220), but I didn't count that here as it's a staged studio shot. Pitchers Tommy Greene, Wally Ritchie and Mitch Williams show up on cards wearing their retro uniforms, even though they didn't pitch in the game.