1958 Hires Root Beer #29 Stan Lopata

Pirates 6, Phillies 2
Game 88 - Sunday Afternoon, July 6th in Pittsburgh
Record - 37-51, 5th Place, 12 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies were completely over matched once again, losing the game 6-2 and allowing the Pirates to complete the easy sweep.

What It Means:  I would think some moves need to be made at this point.  But then again, I'm not in charge.  The Phils travel to Milwaukee to play the Brewers for four games.  The Brewers have the best record in the National League.

What Happened:  At least Marlon Byrd is still trying.  Byrd had half of the team's four hits, including a solo home run in the seventh inning.  Every time he bats at this point, I have to wonder if it's his final at-bat with the club.

Featured Card:  I had a few options for this post.  I could have gone with a Phillies card from 2002, as this was the first time the Phillies were swept in a three-game series in Pittsburgh since April 2002.  I could have gone with a Phillies card from 1982, as the last time the Phillies were held to 11 or fewer hits in a three-game series was back in September 1982 against the Cardinals.  (Hat tip to Reuben Frank.)

Instead, here's another vintage Phillies card I recently added to my collection.  This Stan Lopata card has absolutely nothing to do with the 2014 Phillies and their current woes, but it's an awesome baseball card using the knothole design that was one of the finalists for the never produced 1956 Bowman baseball card set.  I wonder if my Dad ever owned this card at some point?  He collected baseball cards in his youth and he loved root beer, so there's a good chance this card was in his collection that was unfortunately part of the Great Oak Street Purge of 1962.