Phillies at Nationals: October 1st to October 3rd

Nationals Park - Washington, D.C.
Monday and Tuesday 7:05, Wednesday 1:05

Phillies 80-79, 3rd Place in the N.L. East, 16 games behind the Nationals
Nationals 96-63, 1st Place in the N.L. East, 3 games ahead of the Braves

Phillies Probables:  Kyle Kendrick (10-12, 4.08), B.J. Rosenberg (1-2, 6.86), Cliff Lee (6-8, 3.12)
Nationals Probables:  Chien-Ming Wang (2-3, 6.60), Gio Gonzalez (21-8, 2.89), Edwin Jackson (9-11, 4.13)

At the Ballpark:  The Nationals are paying tribute to their Teddy Roosevelt mascot with three separate give-aways.  Tonight, fans will receive Teddy Eye Black, and on Tuesday they'll receive a Teddy Bumper Sticker.  Finally, fans will receive a Teddy Lapel Pin on Wednesday afternoon.  Note that all three giveaways are limited to the first 20,000 fans.  (If the Nationals are able to draw that many.)

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Jimmy Rollins - .250

Runs:  Jimmy Rollins - 102

Home Runs:  Jimmy Rollins - 23

RBIs:  Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Ruiz - 68

Stolen Bases:  Juan Pierre - 37

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 17

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 3.05

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 216

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 38

1979 Topps #673 and #628

1979 Topps Flashback:  Del Unser and Tommy Hutton, both players with Expos and Phillies connections, are the final two 1979 Topps cards featured this year in this, the last series preview post.  For a full list of what I believe are all the 1979 Topps cards with Phillies connections, please see here.

Hutton was a left-handed back-up first baseman/corner outfielder for the Phillies between 1972 and 1977.  As his Baseball Reference Bullpen page points out, Hutton had a knack of delivering against Tom Seaver throughout his career, hitting .320 off Seaver in 62 plate appearances with three home runs.

Unser and Hutton were teammates with the Phillies in 1973 and 1974 during Unser's first stint with the Phillies.  Unser came back to the Phils in 1979 following three seasons with the Expos.  I've featured Unser's cards and written about the highlights of his Phillies career here and here.