Cubs at Phillies: June 13th to June 15th

Friday 7:05, Saturday 3:05 and Sunday 1:35
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

At the Ballpark:  Tonight is 1960s Retro Night with both teams wearing uniforms from the '60s.  Former Phillies Tony Taylor, Cookie Rojas and John Herrnstein will throw out the ceremonial first pitches.

1988 Topps Appreciation:  Like I recently did for the Reds, I need to cram in a few more Phillies-related Cubs cards here since this is the last meeting between these two teams in 2014.  (As an aside, I think it's been at least a year or so since I mentioned that I really despise interleague play and the fact that we only get to see National League Central or West teams only once a year.)

Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg is having a difficult rookie season at the helm of the Phillies.  It's not his fault of course, and it's very unlikely that Sandberg won't be back for at least another season in 2015.  Jamie Moyer has the unenviable task of witnessing the 2014 Phillies from the announcer's booth, as the one-time Cub and Phillie joined the Phillies broadcasting team this season.  He's done a nice job so far, although I still prefer to listen to the radio guys, Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen.

1988 Topps #10, #36, #564 and #717

Frank Lucchesi finished up the 1987 season as the Cubs manager after then GM Dallas Green had fired Gene Michael.  Lucchesi managed the Cubs to an 8-17 record over the final 25 games of the season, and those 25 games would be the last he'd manage in the big leagues.  27 years earlier, Lucchesi got his start as a manager with the 1970 Phillies.  He'd compile a record of 166-233 before being dismissed part way through the awful 1972 season.

Finally, Jay Baller and his magnificent chest hair spent the bulk of his six-year career with the Cubs, but  he started and finished his career with the Phillies.  Baller appeared in four games for the 1982 Phillies before being one of the five players shipped to Cleveland in the Von Hayes deal.  He returned to the Phillies for eight games during the 1992 season, and he quickly departed after running up an 8.18 ERA over 11 innings of work.

Programming Note:  I'm returning from a brief out of town trip tonight and game summary posts will be updated shortly.  In case you were worried.