Grapefruit Game 2 - Phillie Phanatic Evolution

2020 Chachi Preview #10

2001 Nabisco Phillies

1992 Donruss Triple Play #133

2019 Topps Opening Day Mascots #M-21

Phillies 4, Pirates 3 (10 Innings)
Spring Training Game 2 - Sunday Afternoon, February 23rd in Clearwater
Record - 1-0-1

One Sentence Summary:  Jay Bruce's two-run double in the first paced the offense and Aaron Nola pitched two scoreless innings in his spring debut.

What It Means:  Everything stopped on Sunday afternoon as my family and I gathered around the TV and watched the first few innings of the game - the first of many games we'll watch together in 2020.

What Happened:  The Phillies enjoyed a four-run first inning and made the lead stand the rest of the game.  Jean Segura and Kyle Garlick accounted for the other two Phillies runs with RBI singles.  Nola allowed three hits and struck out a batter in his outing.

Featured Card:  It was exciting to watch the Phillies on TV again, but the big news for the club was the "evolution" of the team's mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, who debuted his new look.  For the record, I'm fine with this.  He looks strange for now, but our kids seemed to shrug off the changes and fans will get used to the new look over time.  There's a copyright lawsuit going on now between the Phillies and the original creators of the Phanatic (Harrison/Erickson) and the tweaks to the Phanatic's appearance are mostly, if not entirely, due to that.

The new look Phanatic has actual hands, some sort of scalloped wings on his arms and star shapes around his eyes.  His eyes are now surrounded by bushier blue fuzz.  He appears to be skinnier with a blue tail feather and he's wearing blue socks with red shoes.  His snout is also shorter.  Shown above are a few cards tracking the evolution of the best mascot in baseball over the years.

Camp Head Count:  70