Game 96 - Friday Night, July 18th in Atlanta
Record - 42-54, 5th Place, 11 games behind the Braves
One Sentence Summary: A.J. Burnett struggled in Atlanta as the Braves defeated the Phillies 6-4 to start the second half of the 2014 season.
What It Means: And we're back! I wonder how many days until pitchers and catchers report in Clearwater?
What Happened: Burnett lasted five innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits. Ryan Howard contributed a two-run single in the loss.
Featured Card: I spend more time these days wading through trade rumors than I do actually focused on that day's game or how the current players are performing. The latest round of rumors has the Phillies close to dealing Marlon Byrd to the Mariners for a few prospects. Thanks to the wonder of interleague play, the Mariners visit Philadelphia in mid-August. So if Byrd does end up in Seattle, we'll be able to watch him play again, albeit for the visiting team.
I didn't take the time to check the official records, but I believe this clunker of a deal was the last time the Phillies and Mariners hooked up to make a trade. Before that, the Phils reached out to the Mariners in August 2006 to acquire Jamie Moyer.
All of this has nothing to do with Larry Andersen of course, but I still enjoy his commentary throughout the team's radio broadcasts and I thought this card would be fitting for this post. I imagine the look on Andersen's face on this card is pretty much the same look on just about every Phillies fan's face at this point. (This card is in my Phillies collection as Andersen played with the Phils in 1983.)
"I wonder how many days until pitchers and catchers report in Clearwater?"
ReplyDeleteAround 210. But the better question is: I wonder how many days until pitchers and catchers report in Clearwater under a new general manager? I'm thinking it's more like 575 or 940, unfortunately. That's when we we will have real hope as opposed to quickly-dashed hope. (Recall the 1-8 start to spring training, with a final record of 9-18, including a 4-10 home record--two quite accurate harbingers of the season.)