Game 110 - 3rd Annual Doug's Big Night of Autographs

For the third year in a row, Doug and I attended the Wall of Fame night at Citizens Bank Park with every intention of not watching any of the actual Phillies game.  Staked out at great location right in front of the door of the alumni suite in the Hall of Fame Club, little did Doug (or I) know that when we arrived at 5:30 we wouldn't leave our spots for the next four hours.  There was a steady stream of Phillies alumni coming in and out of the suite and most of them were very gracious with their time, happy to sign several dozen autographs.


My role was limited to hanging back and taking pictures while Doug asked for autographs on his Bobby Abreu Wall of Fame print, that night's giveaway item.  I had Phillies photo cards from my collection with me and the deal was that if Doug already had his print signed, he'd try to get my photo card signed too.  He ended up with 25 signatures on his print (shown above) to go along with two vintage baseball cards signed by Tony Taylor.  I ended up adding 15 signed photo cards to my collection, thanks to Doug's hard work.  We were hungry and our feet were sore at the end of night, but it was worth it.  The print will occupy a prime spot in Doug's collection along with the prints from the prior two years.  Some other observations:

• Everyone who signed was great, but interactions with Dickie Noles, Greg Dobbs, Scott Eyre and Dale Murphy stuck with me.  Dobbs got dinner with his family, promised to come back to sign for everyone and he did.  Several other notable alumni promised to come back, but never did.
• Doug was really hoping for Bobby Abreu to come back through at some point, but he never returned.
• Ozzie Guillen was there to celebrate Abreu's big night and he was the sole non-Phillie autograph Doug added.
• Shane Victorino signed for maybe five or six people but then ducked inside the suite.  Jayson Werth, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley didn't sign at all, quickly making their way to and from the suite.
• We missed getting an autograph from Ben Francisco as he skipped over a bunch of people standing in Doug's area.
• I blew it with Jack Taschner as I didn't recognize the former relief pitcher at all.  He lingered around our area talking to other alumni, but none of the autograph seekers standing around us knew who he was.  I didn't realize it was Taschner until seeing him in Sunday's pre-game ceremony.
• I did however recognize short-time Phillies Paul Bako and Tyler Walker who were mostly unrecognized by the people standing around us.
• Steve Carlton refused to sign, but he did agree to look in my general direction for a picture.
• There were too many new cards for one post, so I'll post the rest of the custom cards I've created in a follow-up post.

Memory Lane - Past Induction Ceremonies/Alumni Weekends

2009 - Harry Kalas

2010 - Darren Daulton

2011 - John Kruk

2012 - Mike Lieberthal

2013 - Curt Schilling

2014 - Charlie Manuel
2015 - Pat Burrell
2016 - Jim Thome
2017 - Tribute to Jim Bunning, Dallas Green and Darren Daulton
2018 - Roy Halladay and Pat Gillick
2019 - Bobby Abreu

Meanwhile, we watched most of the game on the wall monitor positioned outside the alumni suite.

Phillies 3, White Sox 2
Game 110 - Saturday Night, August 3rd in Philadelphia
Record - 58-52, Tied for 2nd place, 7 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The offense stayed mostly dormant but Aaron Nola and Nick Pivetta managed to keep the White Sox quiet as well in this 3-2 win.

What It Means:  The win moved the Phillies into a tie for second place with the Nationals.

What Happened:  Nola went seven strong innings, striking out 10 and allowing only three hits.  Pivetta pitched the final two innings to record his first career save.  Bryce Harper (19) and Rhys Hoskins (24) hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth.

Transactions:  Mitch Walding was sent outright to Lehigh Valley after clearing waivers and Yacksel Rios was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"Unreleased" Team Issued Photo Cards for 2008 Alumni

Fellow collector Rick recently informed me that the Phillies produced 20 new Alumni Photo Cards for the express purpose of having them available for returning members of the 2008 World Championship team to sign at a potential pre-game autograph event last Sunday during Alumni Weekend.  For whatever reason, the planned autograph event was significantly curtailed with only Eric Bruntlett and Pedro Feliz stationed at one sole table for fans.

For the sake of completion, I'm going to add these cards to the checklist post found here, but I'll note that these cards should be considered unreleased and are generally unavailable to the collecting public.  I've tried contacting the Phillies to see if any extras of these cards could possibly be released into the wild, only to be met with dead ends.  Either the cards have already been destroyed (unlikely) or they've been stashed away in a closet within Citizens Bank Park for some future potential signings.

New Cards of 2008 Alumni

Mick Billmeyer CO Joe Blanton Eric Bruntlett Clay Condrey Roly deArmas CO

Greg Dobbs Rich Dubee CO Chad Durbin Pat Gillick GM Ryan Howard

Kyle Kendrick Jerry Martin CO Jamie Moyer Brett Myers Jimmy Rollins

J.C. Romero Carlos Ruiz Milt Thompson CO Shane Victorino Jayson Werth

In addition to these 20 new cards, here's a list of previously released Alumni Photo Cards featuring members of the 2008 team and the copyright dates on the cards.  The cards above for Eyre and Feliz were available prior to Alumni Weekend, but signed by both on Saturday night as detailed in this post.

• Pat Burrell (2008) - red pinstripes
• Pat Burrell (2012) - cream alternate uniform
• Scott Eyre (2011)
• Pedro Feliz (2009)
• Geoff Jenkins (2014)
• Brad Lidge (2014)
• Charlie Manuel MG (2011) - red pullover
• Charlie Manuel MG (2017) - red pinstripes
• Matt Stairs (2011)

Game 110 - Doug's Big Night of Autographs, The Sequel

Phillies 8, Marlins 3
Game 110 - Saturday Night, August 4th in Philadelphia
Record - 62-48, 1st place, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Braves

Another Post-Vacation Catch-Up, Part 1 of 7

One Sentence Summary:  Four home runs backed another impressive outing from Zach Eflin as the Phils downed the Fish, 8-3.

What It Means:  The win extended the Phillies' lead in the division to a game and a half over the Braves.

What Happened:  Nick Williams (15), Asdrubal Cabrera (19 overall, 1 with the Phillies), Carlos Santana (17) and Cesar Hernandez (9) all homered.  Eflin went eight strong innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  We were fortunate enough to be able to take two separate vacations this summer and before leaving for vacation #2, Doug and I decided to attend the Phillies Wall of Fame ceremony for the late Roy Halladay and former General Manager Pat Gillick.  We really wanted to witness the ceremony (which was fantastic, as expected) but Doug also wanted to try to get some alumni autographs in the Hall of Fame Club.

It seemed much more crowded than last year (see link below) and Doug wasn't able to wiggle his way to the front of the roped off area outside the suite where the alumni were gathering . . . or so we thought they were gathering.  He just missed getting a Pat Gillick signature and managed autographs from Dickie Noles and Pete Mackanin before frustration and some boredom set in.

That's when I noticed that the players were leaving the suite by another door, mostly unnoticed, and heading down to a different suite.  With most autograph hunters positioned by the first door, the casual fans walking through the Hall of Fame Club didn't notice the alumni leaving by the second door.  But I did.

We stationed ourselves there and Doug was able to top his record from last year by gathering 20 autographs.  Players such as Clay Condrey, Scott Eyre, Pedro Feliz and Eric Bruntlett stood casually in the open while Doug asked them politely for an autograph.  Once other fans saw someone signing something, a slightly bigger crowd gathered.  Some of the returning players and coaches were happy to sign for Doug as long as he walked quickly with them to the second suite down the hall.  Brett Myers, Geoff Jenkins and Jamie Moyer were too quick for me to get pictures, but I managed to get a photo of Moyer from the back, featuring his glorious ponytail.

When the evening was through, Doug had collected autographs from most of the returning alumni, and I've included a legend above of his signed Wall of Fame print for our future reference.  (We're in the process of getting this framed.)  Some of the players/coaches lingered around long enough that he was able to get a second autograph to be included in my collection.  Eyre, Feliz, Rich Dubee and Milt Thompson signed photo cards for Doug along with his Wall of Fame print.  The prize of his collection was Pat Burrell.  Burrell personalized his Wall of Fame print from 2015 and he actually chatted a little with Doug before disappearing.  I don't know if Burrell signed for anyone else.

It was another memorable night, and we'll be back for more next year!  Of course I needed to make a very limited edition insert set to mark the occasion, and those cards are featured here.


Memory Lane - Past Induction Ceremonies/Alumni Weekends

2009 - Harry Kalas

2010 - Darren Daulton

2011 - John Kruk

2012 - Mike Lieberthal

2013 - Curt Schilling

2014 - Charlie Manuel
2015 - Pat Burrell
2016 - Jim Thome
2017 - Tribute to Jim Bunning, Dallas Green and Darren Daulton
2018 - Roy Halladay and Pat Gillick

Grapefruit Game 11 - 2008 Upper Deck Goudey #141 Jimmy Rollins

Phillies 4, Blue Jays 2
Spring Training Game 11 - Sunday Afternoon, March 4th in Clearwater
Record - 3-8

One Sentence Summary:  Jerad Eickhoff pitched well and Scott Kingery had two more hits in this win against the Blue Jays.

What It Means:  We watched Phillies baseball on TV for the second day in a row.  It was glorious.

What Happened:  Eickhoff didn't allow a run in his 2 2/3 innings, striking out two.  Carlos Santana collected his first hits of the spring, going 2 for 3.

Featured Card:  Prior to the game, the Phillies honored a small gathering of coaches and players from their 2008 championship team.  The coolest sight was seeing Jimmy Rollins in a Phillies jersey for the first time since being traded to the Dodgers following the 2014 season.  Rollins said he'd be open to retiring as a Phillie after signing a one-day contract, but that he'd want to actually take the field while doing so.  We'll see what happens!  (Photo below from the team's Twitter feed.)

L to R: Jimmy Rollins, Brett Myers, Pedro Feliz, Scott Eyre, Andy Tracy, coach Jimy Williams, coach Rich Dubee and manager Charlie Manuel

Camp Head Count:  63

2010 Chachi Ex-Phillies #X8 Scott Eyre

This Chachi card of retired reliever Scott Eyre carries one important message:  Chillax.  Postseason posting to commence shortly.

(Game 162 summary also coming soon.)

2009 Upper Deck #811 Scott Eyre

Phillies 3, Braves 2

Audio on mute again, I managed to watch the 9th inning tonight out of the corner of my eye. Thankfully, Brad Lidge pitched a 1-2-3 inning for his 27th save, and the Phils hung on to win the game, 3-2. The magic number to clinch the division is now down to 26.

The offensive star was Carlos Ruiz. Chooch went 3 for 3, and his 2-run double in the 7th inning was the difference in the game. (The double was originally scored a sacrifice fly and an error on Garret Anderson, but a scoring change awarded Carlos the double.) Joe Blanton pitched seven strong innings, allowing only three hits (but uncharacteristically walking four) while striking out seven. The win was his 9th of the year.

But the star of the game was reliever Scott Eyre. Pitching for the first time since August 16th, Scott entered the game in the 8th inning with runners on first and second, no one out, and the Phils clinging to a one-run lead. (The runners were inherited from Ryan Madson, who did not get the job done tonight.) Scott pitched out of the jam, inducing an impressive double play ground-out and an inning-ending ground out to preserve the lead.

2008 Chachi #45 Scott Eyre

How much longer will Chan Ho Park remain in the Phillies' starting rotation? He lasted just 1.1 innings today, surrendering 5 hits, 4 walks and 5 runs. His ERA stands at 7.08.

The biggest contributing factor to the Phils' win this afternoon (and resulting 4-game sweep of the Nationals) was the 7.2 innings pitched by the bullpen, in which only 1 run was surrendered. Sergio Escalona walked away with his first Major League win in his big-league debut.

Scott Eyre served as the set-up man today and Brad Lidge saved his 2nd game in as many days. Off day tomorrow and then 3 with the Reds . . .

2009 Chachi #23 Scott Eyre

Lou Piniella's loss is the Phillies' gain. Scott apparently found himself in Sweet Lou's doghouse and was traded to the Phillies last August.

Phillies debut: August 10, 2008
Major League debut: August 1, 1997
Former teams: Chicago White Sox 1997-2000, Toronto Blue Jays 2001-2002, San Francisco Giants 2002-2005, Chicago Cubs 2006-2008
How acquired: Acquired from the Chicago Cubs for Brian Schlitter, August 7, 2008
2008 Postseason: Scott pitched in 5 Postseason games for the Phillies, and had a key strikeout of Akinori Iwamura to close out the 7th inning of World Series Game 3.
Pictured: October 26, 2008 - World Series Game 4