Friday, April 19, 2013

1987 Drake's #23 Mike Schmidt

Cardinals 4, Phillies 3
Game 16 - Thursday Night, April 18th in Philadelphia
Record - 6-10, 4th Place, 7 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies couldn't come up with a clutch hit in the ninth (or even a sacrifice fly) as the Cardinals took the series opener, 4-3.

What It Means:  This is the fourth Phillies loss in a row.  The Phillies are closer in the standings to the last place Marlins, who are 10 1/2 back, than the first place Braves.

What Went Wrong:  With the Cardinals up by a run, the Phillies opened the bottom of the ninth with runners at first and third and nobody out.  Pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen swung at the first pitch he saw and grounded out to short.  Jimmy Rollins whiffed and Freddy Galvis grounded to second and the game was over.

Both teams traded runs until the Cards went ahead for good when Carlos Beltran homered to left off Phillies reliever Mike Adams.  Starting pitcher Cole Hamels lowered his ERA to 6.46 by allowing three runs in his seven innings of work.

Featured Card:  It was 26 years ago yesterday, on April 18, 1987, that Mike Schmidt hit his 500th home run off the Pirates Don Robinson.  I could have gone with a more commonly known Fleer, Donruss or Topps card from 1987 for this post, but I was feeling a bit oddballish.  This is Schmidt's very skillfully hand-cut card from the 1987 Drake's set, which began its life as part of a box holding a delicious collection of Yodels.

Why do I have a feeling I'll be featuring more vintage cards this year in these game summary posts than cards of current Phillies players?

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