Game 2 - Not How the Season was Supposed to Start

2020 Topps Opening Day
Ballpark Profile Autographs #BPA-DB

Braves 12, Phillies 4
Game 2 - Saturday Afternoon, March 30th in Philadelphia
Record - 0-2, Tied for 3rd Place, 2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Aaron Nola was hit early and often in his season debut as the Braves throttled the Phillies, 12-4.

What It Means:  It's early, but the Phillies have looked flat and the pitching (save Zack Wheeler and a few relievers) has been bad in the team's first two games.  They'll try to avoid the early season sweep behind Ranger Suarez on Easter Sunday afternoon.

What Happened:  Nola was behind 2-0 before the crowd could settle back into their seats following a 27-minute rain at the outset of the game.  The Phillies retaliated quickly in the bottom of the first, with a questionable bases loaded walk to Nick Castellanos and a two-run single from Bryson Stott.  Stott's hit chased Braves' starter Max Fried from the game.  But the Braves bullpen regained control from that point while Nola, and the Phillies bullpen, did not.  Nola's final line was ugly - 4 1/3 innings, 12 hits, seven earned runs, including a pair of home runs allowed.  The only other excitement for Phillies fans came in the third when J.T. Realmuto hit a solo home run.

Featured Card/Field Report:  Jenna and I attended this game, our first of the season, and 20 years since our first visit to Citizens Bank Park in 2004.  We waited out the rain delay inside Pass & Stowe, and we can highly recommend their french fries.  Like many from the sell-out crowd, we made our way to the exits around the seventh inning as the rain returned and intensified.

One of the highlights for me each year upon the return of Phillies baseball is the ambiance of Citizens Bank Park.  The Phillies have always known how to do pregame ceremonies the right way, and this year was no different with first pitches thrown out yesterday by Eagles' greats Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox.  Dan Baker, the public address announcer, celebrating his 52nd year with the club, was front and center during the ceremonies and it was refreshing to hear his voice yet again after a long, cold winter.  So I'll give Baker the card here as Topps gave him an autographed card in its 2020 Topps Opening Day set.

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Game 106 - Gibson Pitches Gem as Alumni Return

Phillies 7, Nationals 2
Game 106 - Friday Night, August 5th in Philadelphia
Record - 58-48, 3rd Place, 9 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Kyle Gibson was perfect through six and masterful through eight, and the offense contributed five home runs in this 7-2 win over the Nationals.

What It Means:  There was a game?

What Happened:  Gibson had a perfect game going through six innings before he hit Victor Robles with a pitch to open the seventh.  Luis Garcia singled two pitches later and the no-hitter as gone too.  Overall, Gibson allowed a pair of hits, one run and struck out four on the way to his seventh win.  The Phillies line-up continued to mash the ball, with Rhys Hoskins, Nick Castellanos, Darick Hall, J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber all connecting for home runs.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  All four of us were on-hand to watch the pre-game ceremony honoring public address announcer Dan Baker and his 50 years with the Phillies.  But while Jenna and Ben settled into their seats, Doug and I prepared to stand for the duration of the game in the Hall of Fame Club in the hopes of Doug adding a few autographs to his collection.  We didn't see many alumni, but those we did see all stopped to sign for the gathered collectors.  He was thrilled to get signatures on his Wall of Fame prints from John Kruk, Manny Trillo and Charlie Manuel.  At one point, Gary "Sarge" Mathews wheeled out a cart of milkshakes and handed them out to the assembled fans.  Also signing were Tommy Greene, Del Unser, Marty Bystrom, Pat Gillick and newest Wall of Fame inductee Ron Reed.  As an added bonus, it was great chatting with the proprietor of the Relief Room throughout the night, as we shared our appreciation of Barry Jones, Steve Fireovid and Scott Eyre.

For the first time since 2019, I'm happy to present a small set of custom cards to memorialize the Phillies alumni who signed for Doug, along with a few photos taken by Jenna of the fantastic pre-game ceremony.  I particularly liked the picture she captured of Larry Bowa and Cesar Hernandez having a lengthy discussion during the National Anthem.

Transaction:  Yairo Munoz (inf) was optioned to Lehigh Valley and Nick Maton (inf) was recalled.

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Meeting Franco, Hammer and Dan Baker at the Deptford Mall

The Phillies Room support staff had a very busy Saturday, first heading to the Deptford Mall to meet a few Phillies and later making the trek to Lakewood for our annual Lakewood BlueClaws outing.  I'll have a full write-up of the BlueClaws game, the resulting autographs and an obligatory (now annual) BlueClaws Signing Autographs insert set, but first I wanted to share a post on our Deptford Mall outing.

Originally advertised as a Maikel Franco/Odubel Herrera joint appearance, Phillies reliever JD Hammer stepped in to take the place of the suspended Herrera.  It was a relatively light crowd for the event, but both Hammer and Franco were friendly and both graciously posed for pictures.  Hammer noted that he really liked his recently released Reading Fightin Phils card (modelled after the 1990 Topps set) and he also signed a few copies of the Chachi Photo Card I created given that the Phillies haven't gotten around to making a photo card for him yet.

The highlight for the boys though was meeting Phillies public address announcer Dan Baker who was there emceeing the event.  Baker posed with the boys and let them each try on his 2008 World Series ring.  Very cool indeed.