Series Preview - Phillies at Blue Jays: August 20th

2020 Chachi 1991 Missing Links #3

1991 Topps #101

Double Header Thursday 1:07
Sahlen Field - Buffalo, NY

At the Ballpark:  These games are being played to make up games cancelled on July 31st and August 1st when the Phillies had to postpone a week's worth of games following the COVID-19 outbreak on the Marlins.  The final missed game, originally scheduled for August 2nd, will be played as part of a double header on September 18th.

Buffalo's Sahlen Field is the Triple-A home of the Blue Jays' top farm team, the Buffalo Bisons.  With restrictions in place in Canada resulting from the pandemic, the Blue Jays are playing their 2020 home games at the ballpark, which opened in 1988.

Phillies 9-10
3rd Place in the N.L. East, 2 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Spencer Howard (0-1, 7.88)
Vince Velasquez (0-0, 7.88)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Bryce Harper - .349
Runs:  Bryce Harper - 19
Home Runs:  J.T. Realmuto - 8
RBIs:  J.T. Realmuto - 20
Stolen Bases:  Bryce Harper - 4

Wins:  Zack Wheeler - 3
ERA:  Aaron Nola - 2.05

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 37
Saves:  Hector Neris - 2

Blue Jays 10-11
4th Place in the A.L. East, 4 1/2 games behind the Yankees

Blue Jays Probables
Chase Anderson (0-0, 3.00)
Trent Thornton (0-0, 2.25)

Blue Jays Leaders
Average:  Randal Grichuk - .344
Runs:  Cavan Biggio - 17
Home Runs:  Teoscar Hernandez - 7
RBIs:  Randal Grichuk - 15
Stolen Bases:  Bo Bichette - 4

Wins:  Tanner Roark and Hyun Jin Ryu - 2
ERA:  Hyun Jin Ryu - 3.46

Strikeouts:  Hyun Jin Ryu - 27
Saves:  Anthony Bass - 3

Scrapbook Sunday (Late Edition): September 22, 1991

I distinctly remember thinking back on September 22, 1991, "When will that be us?"  As the Pirates celebrated on the field at Three Rivers Stadium that day, many of the '91 Phillies had the same thought.  (I love Cliff Brantley's quote:  "Golly, maybe someday."  Please click the picture to enlarge.)  "Someday" would come two years later on September 28, 1993, when the Phils returned the favor and clinched the NL East against the Pirates at Three Rivers.  A long, long dry spell followed, and we had to wait until September 30, 2007, the last day of the '07 regular season, for the Phillies to clinch their next division title.

1992 Topps Debut '91 #20

We've been spoiled every year since then.  The Phils have won three straight division titles, and if they can just hang on for 12 more games, they can clinch their fourth in a row.  I've said it before on this blog - suffering through the lean years of the late '80s and again from 1994 through the mid-2000s, makes me appreciate what the Phillies are doing now even more.  The 2010 Phillies look absolutely unstoppable right now, and it's made all the more enjoyable when I think back to the road it took to get here.  Golly.

Maybe Someday?:  Brantley never made it to the Postseason.  He pitched in 6 games for the '91 Phils and in 28 games for the '92 Phils, putting together a 4-8 record with a 4.25 ERA.  He latched on with the Expos' organization from the '92 season, but he ended up back within the Phillies' organization by season's end.  He pitched in 7 games for the Phils' AAA team in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before hanging up his spikes.