Series Preview - Phillies at Reds: April 3rd to April 6th

Monday 4:10, Wednesday 7:10 and Thursday 12:35
Great American Ballpark - Cincinnati, OH

From 2016
Phillies 71-91, 4th Place in the N.L. East, 24 games behind the Nationals
Reds 68-94, 5th Place in the N.L. Central, 35 1/2 games behind the Cubs

Phillies Probables:  Jeremy Hellickson (12-10, 3.71), Jared Eickhoff (11-14, 3.65), Clay Buchholz (8-10, 4.78)
Reds Probables:  Scott Feldman (7-4, 3.97), Brandon Finnegan (10-11, 3.98), Rookie Davis (0-0, 0.00)
Statistics from 2016

At the Ballpark:  It's Opening Day today!  At the Wednesday night game, the first 20,000 fans will receive a 2017 Reds calendar.

Phillies Spring Training Leaders
Average:  Tommy Joseph - .313
Runs:  Aaron Altherr - 14
Home Runs:  Maikel Franco and Brock Stassi - 6
RBIs:  Maikel Franco and Brock Stassi - 17
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 6

Wins:  Joely Rodriguez and Vince Velasquez - 2
ERA:  Jeremy Hellickson - 5.92
Strikeouts:  Vince Velasquez - 25
Saves:  Five tied with - 1

Reds Spring Training Leaders
Average:  Jose Peraza - .343
Runs:  Arismendy Alcantara - 17
Home Runs:  Adam Duvall - 6
RBIs:  Arismendy Alcantara - 16
Stolen Bases:  Billy Hamilton - 6

Wins:  Amir Garrett - 3
ERA:  N/A
Strikeouts:  Sal Romano - 25
Saves:  Four tied with - 1

1982 Topps #780

1982 Topps #763

1982 Topps Appreciation:  As I've done every year since 2005, I pick a Topps set from yesteryear and use that set's design as the basis for my custom made Phillies cards.  I affectionately named these cards after our first dog Chachi.  (For further reading, please see here.)  For each series preview post, I'll take a look at the original 1982 Topps cards and feature one (or more) cards that have some Phillies connection.  Get used to seeing a lot of the 1982 Topps design this season, along with its mysteriously strange team color choices.

(Seriously, what were the card designers at Topps thinking?  Light blue and brown for the Reds? Pink and orange for the Phillies?)

To start us off, here are two players who were teammates on the Reds for the 1977 and 1978 seasons.

Pete Rose is my prediction for this year's inductee into the Phillies Wall of Fame.  The Reds honored Charlie Hustle last season, paving the way for the Phillies to do the same this year.  Rose played all 162 games for the Phillies in 1982, hitting .271 and making his fourth and final All-Star team as a member of the team.

Tom Hume was an All-Star himself for the Reds in 1982 and he finished the year with 17 saves.  He pitched in parts of two seasons with the Phillies in 1986 and 1987, appearing in 86 games.