Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 8:10
Phillies 29-33, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 8 1/2 games behind the Nationals
Twins 24-35, 5th Place in the A.L. Central, 8 1/2 games behind the White Sox
Phillies Probables: Kyle Kendrick (2-5, 4.44), Cole Hamels (8-3, 2.93), Joe Blanton (5-6, 5.40)
Twins Probables: Nick Blackburn (2-4, 7.75), P.J. Walters (2-1, 4.42), Scott Diamond (5-1, 1.61)
At the Ballpark: There are no give-aways at the ballpark, but Hope Week continues this week for the Twins. See here for more information on this wonderful community outreach program.
Phillies Leaders
Average: Carlos Ruiz - .347
Runs: Hunter Pence - 43
Home Runs: Hunter Pence - 13
RBIs: Hunter Pence - 38
Stolen Bases: Shane Victorino - 13
Wins: Cole Hamels - 8
ERA: Cole Hamels - 2.93
Strikeouts: Cole Hamels - 86
Saves: Jonathan Papelbon - 16
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| 1979 Topps #112 and #41 |
1979 Topps Flashback: Manager Charlie Manuel has been the subject of much second guessing and the cause of general overall angst so far this season to the Phillies fanbase (see here and here for specific comments from friend o' the blog, Jim from Downingtown), and today's flashback features two former skippers of the Phightin' Phils.
Danny Ozark managed the club from 1973 until his dismissal towards the end of the 1979 season. His 594 wins as manager of the Phillies are good enough for fourth place on the team's all-time manager wins list, behind Manuel's 675, Gene Mauch's 645 and Harry Wright's 636. Could the first sentence of this newspaper article from the day after Ozark was fired appear in print again sometime soon in connection with the team's current manager?:
Danny Ozark was fired yesterday as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, putting an early end to a season troubled by injuries to key players and capped by a dive into fifth place in the National League East.
And one of Ozark's quotes from the article also seems applicable to today's club:
"I feel disappointed in the way the players performed for me this year. I think I could have gotten more out of them, but I couldn't find the answer."
Mauch managed the Twins from 1976 through part-way through the 1980 season, compiling a record of 378-394 and never finishing above third place in the A.L. West. When he was fired by the Twins in 1980, it was essentially the first time since being named manager of the Phillies in 1960 that he had been out of a managerial job. Mauch returned to the helm during the 1981 season with the California Angels.
I don't understand the interleague schedule...the AL Central is playing the NL Central this year, which as a Tiger fan is great as there are many regional rivalries that are interesting with the Cubs and Reds for example, so how do the Twins get the Phillies...does anybody care about this matchup?
ReplyDeleteSelig probably wants the Brewers to play the Yankees, so another divisional mismatch has to occur to offset that.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I like it when the Phillies play teams in Interleague play other than the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays. If I had a less hectic work schedule right now, I would have loved to have taken a trip to see Target Field.
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