Wall of Fame Night - Meeting Phillies Legends

Phillies 9, Braves 3
Game 104 - Friday Night, July 31st in Philadelphia
Record - 40-64, 5th Place, 15 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The offense continued their second half surge as the Cole Hamels-less Phillies defeated the Braves, 9-3.

What It Means:  The Phillies are inexplicably 11-2 since the All-Star break.  They're just 2 1/2 games behind the fourth place Marlins and exiting last place in the division would be a major accomplishment.

2001 Topps Golden Anniversary
Autographs #GAA-PB

What Happened:  David Buchanan had a strong outing, throwing 7 1/3 innings and allowing three runs on eight hits.  Ryan Howard's three-run double in the first set the tone and the Phillies put up a four spot in the first frame.  They plated five more in the fifth, led by Domonic Brown's two-run home run.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  Doug and I attended this game, as we wanted to watch Pat Burrell's induction into the Phillies Wall of Fame.  We once again upgraded to Hall of Fame Club tickets, which allowed us the opportunity to greet the Wall of Famers as they left their suite and headed down to the field for the pre-game ceremonies.  Mike Schmidt and Charlie Manuel both paused long enough to give Doug five, which was the highlight of both our nights.  (That's the red brim of Doug's Phillies hat in the photo below with Schmidt.)

Burrell was humble and somewhat funny in his acceptance speech and it was a nice touch to have his former teammates Nick Punto and Jason Michaels unveil his Wall of Fame plaque in Ashburn Alley.  After the ceremony, Doug and I went in search of popcorn and came across Garry Maddox waiting for an elevator.  Maddox graciously agreed to a photo, and a Chachi Special Edition card was born.  It was another great night at the ballpark and the Phils improved to 4-5 in games I've attended this season.


Finally, the Phillies have added an Aaron Nola card to their second series photo card set.  Other than the addition of the Nola card, the rest of the 40-card set remains unchanged.

Virtual Phillies Wall Updates:  I made a bunch of updates yesterday, removing cards for the traded Hamels, Jake Diekman and Ben Revere.  Buchanan, outfielder Jordan Danks and reliever Dalier Hinojosa were all recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take their roster spots.  Danks and Hinojosa (who I don't know much about) will receive Chachi card posts in the upcoming week.  Matt Harrison, officially acquired from the Rangers yesterday, was placed on the 15-day disabled list.