Series Preview - Phillies at Pirates: July 22nd to July 24th

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05 and Sunday 1:35
PNC Park - Pittsburgh, PA

Phillies 44-53, 4th place in the N.L. East, 13 1/2 games behind the Nationals
Pirates 49-46, 3rd place in the N.L. Central, 8 1/2 games behind the Cubs

Phillies Probables:  Zach Eflin (2-3, 4.14), Aaron Nola (5-8, 4.41), Vince Velasquez (8-2, 3.15)
Pirates Probables:  Gerrit Cole (5-5, 3.11), Tyler Glasnow (0-1, 6.75), Jameson Taillon (2-1, 3.44)

At the Ballpark:  The first 20,000 fans tonight will receive a Pirates Emoji tee-shirt and tomorrow afternoon's give-away is an oversized Andrew McCutchen Topps card.  On Sunday, all kids will receive a set of Josh Harrison wall decals.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Cesar Hernandez - .282
Runs:  Odubel Herrera - 51
Home Runs:  Maikel Franco - 18
RBIs:  Maikel Franco - 18
Stolen Bases:  Odubel Herrera - 12

Wins:  Vince Velasquez - 8
ERA:  Jeremy Hellickson - 3.84
Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 111
Saves:  Jeanmar Gomez - 26

Pirates Leaders
Average:  Starling Marte - .313
Runs:  Gregory Polanco - 53
Home Runs:  Andrew McCutchen - 14
RBIs:  Gregory Polanco - 51
Stolen Bases:  Starling Marte - 33

Wins:  Jeff Locke and Jon Niese - 8
ERA:  Jon Niese - 4.89
Strikeouts:  Francisco Liriano - 106
Saves:  Mark Melancon - 28

1970 Topps #141

1970 Topps #166

1970 Topps #264

1970 Topps #643

1970 Topps Appreciation:  We've got a series coming up with a non-expansion team, which means it's time to look back on some cards from the 1970 Topps set with both Pirates and Phillies conections.  With the exception of Johnny Jeter, the other four players featured on these cards would go on to spend parts of their careers with the Phillies.

Dave Cash was traded by the Pirates to the Phillies in October 1973 for pitcher Ken Brett.  As I wrote in a Pirates series preview post a few years ago:  He'd make an immediate impact on the Phillies, playing in all 162 games in both 1974 and 1975 and making the National League All-Star team three years in a row.  In 484 games with the Phils, Cash hit .296 and his positive attitude was a huge contributing factor to the team's pennant winning 1976 season.  Following the 1976 season, Cash left via free agency, signing with the Expos.

I originally covered the other three future Phillies in another Pirates series preview post:  Of the players featured here, I know the least about Jose Pagan and I was surprised to see he accumulated a solid 15-year career as an occasional starting shortstop and utility infielder.  Pagan played in just 46 games for the 1973 Phillies at the very end of his career.  Prior to that, he spent eight seasons with the Pirates (1965-1972) and parts of seven seasons with the Giants (1959-1965).

Pagan, Richie Hebner and Al Oliver were all teammates on the World Champion 1971 Pirates club.  Hebner joined the Phillies for two seasons in 1977 and 1978, and Scoop spent a brief time with the Phils in the summer of 1984.

These repetitive series preview posts make me anxious to move onto a different era of Phillies baseball for the 2017 season.  I had originally pegged the 1971 Topps design as the early favorite for the 2017 Chachi set and by extension the 2017 series preview posts.  But I'm starting to yearn for something from the 1980s or perhaps even the early 1990s.  The 2017 Chachi Set Planning Committee will have to meet soon to ponder this crucial decision further.