Friday, May 8, 2020

1985 Game 25 - 1985 Topps Glossy All-Stars #10 Pete Rose

Reds 8Phillies 2
Game 25 - Wednesday Night, May 8th in Philadelphia
Record - 10-15, 5th Place, 7 games behind the Cubs

One Sentence Summary:  John Denny got knocked around in this game, with the big blow being a three-run home run from Reds catcher Dave Van Gorder in the sixth, as the Phillies lost 8-2.

What It Means:  The Phillies were three losses in to what would ultimately become a seven-game losing streak.  Nothing was going well as the team continued to pitch, hit and field poorly.  It didn't factor into the game's outcome, but there were two more errors in this game from Mike Schmidt (his sixth) and Glenn Wilson.

What Happened:  Denny pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) on eight hits.  The Phillies held a brief 2-1 lead in the first when Von Hayes doubled home Juan Samuel and Schmidt followed with an RBI ground-out to score Jeff Stone.  That was all the scoring the Phillies would do in this game.

Featured Card:  Player/manager Pete Rose doubled in the third off Denny for his 4,118 career hit and bringing him just 74 hits away from breaking Ty Cobb's all-time record.  He also scored three times.  In his entry for this game in his book, Countdown to Cobb, Rose provides some foreshadowing by mentioning his conversation with Phillies president Bill Giles.  The Reds were looking for catching help and despite Van Gorder's three-run home run in this game, he was still only hitting .218.  Rose's summary mentions both Bo Diaz, on the disabled list for the Phillies, and Alan Knicely, who was tearing it up for the Triple-A Denver Zephyrs at the time.

On August 8th, the Phillies would end up trading Diaz and minor leaguer Greg Simpson to the Reds for Knicely, Tom Foley and player to be named later Freddie Toliver.  Kniceley would appear in seven games for the Phillies in September, going 0 for 7.

Diaz would have to shave his mustache upon joining the mustache-less Reds.  He'd find success in Cincinnati, making the N.L. All-Star team in 1987.

No comments: