Phillies at Cubs: May 16th to May 17th

Wrigley Field - Chicago, IL
Wednesday and Thursday 8:05

Phillies 18-19, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 5 games behind the Braves
Cubs 15-21, Tied for 5th Place in the N.L. Central, 6 games behind the Cardinals

Phillies Probables:  Kyle Kendrick (0-3, 7.32), Roy Halladay (3-3, 3.20)
Cubs Probables:  Matt Garza (2-1, 2.56), Chris Volstad (0-5, 6.92)

At the Ballpark:  Now this is something I can get behind.  Tonight is Social Media Night at Wrigley.  With the purchase of a separate ticket, fans attending this pre-game event receive a grab bag of goodies including a six-card set of Cubs "Social Media Series" baseball cards featuring Cubs players and their Twitter handles.  Some packs will include randomly inserted autographed versions of the cards.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Carlos Ruiz - .337

Runs:  Hunter Pence - 22

Home Runs:  Hunter Pence - 9 

RBIs:  Hunter Pence - 25

Stolen Bases:  Shane Victorino - 11

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 5

ERA:  Cliff Lee - 1.95

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 49

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 10

1979 Burger King Phillies #14 and 1979 Topps #639

1979 Topps Flashback:  It's a trade that I've mentioned several times already within these 1979 Topps Flashback blurbs - On February 23, 1979, the Phillies traded Henry Mack, Derek Botelho, Barry Foote, Jerry Martin and Ted Sizemore to the Cubs for Manny Trillo, Greg Gross and Dave Rader.  Had my five-year-old brain been able to process such things at the time, it would have probably exploded.  Eight-player trades just don't happen all that often and (believe me) there have been plenty of times in the past twenty years that I've fantasized about the Phils pulling off such a trade and jettisoning the old and bringing in the new.

Featured here are Trillo's last Cubs card and his first Phillies card, both available to collectors in the summer of '79.  Trillo earned a World Series ring, three Gold Gloves and two trips to the All-Star Game during his four seasons with the Phillies.  He was traded to the Indians in December 1982 as one of the five players shipped to Cleveland for Von Hayes.  Although he was gone after only four seasons, he was definitely not forgotten.  The Phillies fans named Trillo as the franchise's greatest second baseman in voting that took place throughout the centennial 1983 season.