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For the third year in a row, Doug and I attended the Wall of Fame night at Citizens Bank Park with every intention of not watching any of the actual Phillies game. Staked out at great location right in front of the door of the alumni suite in the Hall of Fame Club, little did Doug (or I) know that when we arrived at 5:30 we wouldn't leave our spots for the next four hours. There was a steady stream of Phillies alumni coming in and out of the suite and most of them were very gracious with their time, happy to sign several dozen autographs.
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My role was limited to hanging back and taking pictures while Doug asked for autographs on his Bobby Abreu Wall of Fame print, that night's giveaway item. I had Phillies photo cards from my collection with me and the deal was that if Doug already had his print signed, he'd try to get my photo card signed too. He ended up with 25 signatures on his print (shown above) to go along with two vintage baseball cards signed by Tony Taylor. I ended up adding 15 signed photo cards to my collection, thanks to Doug's hard work. We were hungry and our feet were sore at the end of night, but it was worth it. The print will occupy a prime spot in Doug's collection along with the prints from the prior two years. Some other observations:
- Everyone who signed was great, but interactions with Dickie Noles, Greg Dobbs, Scott Eyre and Dale Murphy stuck with me. Dobbs got dinner with his family, promised to come back to sign for everyone and he did. Several other notable alumni promised to come back, but never did.
- Doug was really hoping for Bobby Abreu to come back through at some point, but he never returned.
- Ozzie Guillen was there to celebrate Abreu's big night and he was the sole non-Phillie autograph Doug added.
- Shane Victorino signed for maybe five or six people but then ducked inside the suite. Jayson Werth, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley didn't sign at all, quickly making their way to and from the suite.
- We missed getting an autograph from Ben Francisco as he skipped over a bunch of people standing in Doug's area.
- I blew it with Jack Taschner as I didn't recognize the former relief pitcher at all. He lingered around our area talking to other alumni, but none of the autograph seekers standing around us knew who he was. I didn't realize it was Taschner until seeing him in Sunday's pre-game ceremony.
- I did however recognize short-time Phillies Paul Bako and Tyler Walker who were mostly unrecognized by the people standing around us.
- Steve Carlton refused to sign, but he did agree to look in my general direction for a picture.
- There were too many new cards for one post, so I'll post the rest of the custom cards I've created in a follow-up post.
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Memory Lane - Past Induction Ceremonies/Alumni Weekends
2009 - Harry Kalas
2010 - Darren Daulton
2011 - John Kruk
2012 - Mike Lieberthal
2013 - Curt Schilling
2014 - Charlie Manuel2015 - Pat Burrell
2016 - Jim Thome
2017 - Tribute to Jim Bunning, Dallas Green and Darren Daulton
2018 - Roy Halladay and Pat Gillick
2019 - Bobby Abreu
Meanwhile, we watched most of the game on the wall monitor positioned outside the alumni suite.
Phillies 3, White Sox 2
Game 110 - Saturday Night, August 3rd in Philadelphia
Record - 58-52, Tied for 2nd place, 7 games behind the Braves
One Sentence Summary: The offense stayed mostly dormant but Aaron Nola and Nick Pivetta managed to keep the White Sox quiet as well in this 3-2 win.
What It Means: The win moved the Phillies into a tie for second place with the Nationals.
What Happened: Nola went seven strong innings, striking out 10 and allowing only three hits. Pivetta pitched the final two innings to record his first career save. Bryce Harper (19) and Rhys Hoskins (24) hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth.
Transactions: Mitch Walding was sent outright to Lehigh Valley after clearing waivers and Yacksel Rios was claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
