Showing posts with label Diaz B.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diaz B.. Show all posts

Monday, April 29, 2024

Phillies at Angels - April 29th to May 1st

1984 Topps #535
1984 Topps #520

Monday and Tuesday 9:38, Wednesday 4:07

Angel Stadium - Anaheim, CA

At the Ballpark:  On Tuesday, the Angels will be giving away a Logan O'Hoppe bobblehead.  The trade that sent O'Hoppe from the Phillies to the Angels on August 2, 2022 in exchange for Brandon Marsh is one of those rare baseball deals that seems to be working out for both teams.

Philadelphia Phillies 19-10
2nd Place in the N.L. East, 1 1/2 games behind the Braves

Phillies Probables
Cristopher Sanchez (1-3, 2.96)
Spencer Turnbull (2-0, 1.33)
Zack Wheeler (2-3, 1.93)

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Alec Bohm - .365
Runs:  Trea Turner - 23
Home Runs:  Kyle Schwarber - 7
RBIs:  Alec Bohm - 26
Stolen Bases:  Johan Rojas and Trea Turner - 7

Wins:  Ranger Suarez - 5
ERA:  Ranger Suarez - 1.32
Strikeouts:  Zack Wheeler - 46
Saves:  Jose Alvarado - 5
Los Angeles Angels 10-18
4th Place in the A.L. West, 5 games behind the Mariners

Angels Probables
Griffin Canning (1-3, 7.50)
Tyler Anderson (2-3, 1.78)
Patrick Sandoval (1-4, 6.33)

Angels Leaders
Average:  Logan O'Hoppe - .293
Runs:  Taylor Ward - 17
Home Runs:  Mike Trout - 10
RBIs:  Taylor Ward - 23
Stolen Bases:  Luis Rengifo - 7

Wins:  Reid Detmers - 3
ERA:  Tyler Anderson - 1.78
Strikeouts:  Reid Detmers - 37
Saves:  Carlos Estevez - 4

Saturday, November 7, 2020

1986 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards


Number of Cards:  49
Card Size:  3 1/2" x 5 1/4"
Description:  With the exception of the copyright date on the bottom right, these photo cards are identical in design to the set issued in 1985.  Fronts feature a full color picture and the backs include brief biographical notes on each player, coach or manager.  The multi-player Future Phillies cards return for a second year in a row and each of the four National League pennant winning teams from the franchise's past get their own team cards.

How Distributed:  The set's entry in the 2001 Standard Catalog Baseball Cards notes the "cards were given away at the Phillies' annual baseball card promotion."  Double checking the team's promotional schedule for the season, there's no actual mention of a photo card giveaway day.  My best guess is that these sets were available for sale at Veterans Stadium throughout the season.

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically with uniform number and position from the front of cards): 

1. Luis Aguayo (#16 - INF)
2. Larry Andersen (#47 - RHP)
3. Steve Bedrosian (#40 - RHP)
4. Steve Carlton (#32 - LHP)
5. Don Carman (#42 - LHP)
6. Rocky Childress (#50 - RHP)          
7. Darren Daulton (#10 - C)
8. Jim Davenport (#2 - CO)
9. Lee Elia (#4 - CO)
10. John Felske (#7 - MG)
11. Tom Foley (#11 - SS)
12. Greg Gross (#21 - OF-1B)
13. Kevin Gross (#46 - RHP)
14. Von Hayes (#9 - 1B)
15. Charles Hudson (#49 - RHP)
16. Tom Hume (#41 - RHP)
17. Chris James (#26 - OF)
18. Steve Jeltz (#30 - SS)
19. Joe Lefebvre (#23 - OF)
20. Randy Lerch (#35 - LHP)
21. Garry Maddox (#31 - OF)
22. Claude Osteen (#3 - CO)
23. Shane Rawley (#28 - LHP)
24. Gary Redus (#22 - LF)
25. Ronn Reynolds (#29 - C)
26. Robin Roberts (#36 - HOF)          
27. Dave Rucker (#39 - LHP)
28. John Russell (#6 - C)
29. Mike Ryan (#5 - CO)
30. Juan Samuel (#8 - 2B)
31. Mike Schmidt (#20 - 3B)
32. Rick Schu (#15 - INF)
33. Dave Shipanoff (#33 - RHP)
34. Dave Stewart (#48 - RHP)
35. Jeff Stone (#14 - OF)
36. Kent Tekulve (#27 - RHP)
37. Milt Thompson (#24 - CF)
38. Fred Toliver (#43 - RHP)
39. Del Unser (#25 - CO)
40. Glenn Wilson (#12 - RF)
41. Ramon Carabello / Joe Cipolloni
42. Arturo Gonzalez / Mike Maddux
43. Francisco Melendez / Ricky Jordan
44. Kevin Ward / Randy Day
45. 1915 Phillies Team
46. 1950 Phillies Team
47. 1980 Phillies Team
48. 1983 Phillies Team
49. June 11, 1985 - A Night to Remember          

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (0)
First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (11):  Bedrosian, Foley, Hume, Redus, Reynolds, Rucker, Shipanoff, Stewart, Tekulve, Thompson, Toliver
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (22):  Aguayo, Andersen, Carman, Carlton, Childress, Daulton, G. Gross, K. Gross, Hayes, Hudson, James, Jeltz, Lefebvre, Lerch, Maddox, Rawley, Russell, Samuel, Schmidt, Schu, Stone, Wilson

Manager (1):  Felske
Coaches (5):  Davenport, Elia, Osteen, Ryan, Unser
Commemorative Cards (1):  Roberts
Other Cards (5):  Four pennant winning team cards; June 11, 1985 commemorative card

The "Night to Remember" photo card commemorates the night the Phillies defeated the Mets 26-7, thanks in part to two first inning home runs from Von Hayes.  Hayes, Glenn Wilson, Juan Samuel, Mike Schmidt, Garry Maddox and Bo Diaz are all featured on the card in a Dick Perez painting.

Surprises:  Robin Roberts was presumably a guest instructor during spring training 1986, hence his inclusion in the set.  I always think it's odd seeing former Phillies wear current uniforms they themselves didn't wear during their playing days.  Seeing Roberts in maroon pinstriped jersey is just strange.  Dave Shipanoff is the only player to receive his own solo card not to appear in a game with the Phillies in 1986.

Omissions:  This is a very comprehensive set, featuring the entire 25-man opening day roster, the two players who started the season on the disabled list (Tom Foley and Tom Hume) and solo photo cards for six players who started the season at Triple-A Portland - Jeff Stone, Chris James, Ronn Reynolds, Randy Lerch, Fred Toliver and Rocky Childress.  The checklist creators missed out on five players who would start the season in the minors and make an appearance with the Phillies during 1986 - Greg Legg, Michael Jackson, Jeff Bittiger, Bruce Ruffin and Marvin Freeman.  Legg was the first one up, getting recalled on April 14th when Samuel landed on the disabled list.


Variations/Rarities:
  Surprisingly, none.


Resources:  Beckett.com

This set was originally featured in a post back in October 2014, and I'm going through these older team-issued set posts to update them with new information learned (if any) over the past six years.


Saturday, September 26, 2020

1982 Tastykake Philadelphia Phillies Photo Cards


Number of Cards:  35
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  This is the first of eight years during which Tastykake sponsored the Phillies team issued set.  The cards feature black and white pictures, with a mix of action shots and portraits.  Some of the cards include blue facsimile autographs on the fronts, and the backs of all cards are blank.

How Distributed:  The Phillies released two versions of most of these cards.  The first version, and the more readily available version, was released early in the 1982 season and included the Tastykake logo and cards of the coaches and manager with most cards adding a blue facsimile autograph. My best guess is that these cards weren't ever distributed in set form, although I could be wrong.  The cards were most likely handed out to fans individually and supplied to the players in order to reply to fan mail or honor autograph requests.

The second version was issued in set form later in the 1982 season and omitted the coaches, the manager, the Tastykake logo and the blue facsimile autographs.  There are 25 cards in this rare issuance, with Bill Robinson replacing Dick Davis as Robinson was acquired from the Pirates on June 15th and Davis was swapped to the Blue Jays on the same day.  The Dave Roberts card shown below is an example of what the cards from this second set look like.  (I'm not sure of the exact make-up of this 25-card set, other than the fact there's a Bill Robinson card and no Dick Davis card.)

Complete Standard Checklist (Unnumbered, presented here alphabetically): 

1. Luis Aguayo
2. Porfi Altamirano
3. Dave Bristol CO
4. Warren Brusstar
5. Marty Bystrom
6. Steve Carlton
7. Larry Christenson      
8. Pat Corrales MG
9. Dick Davis
10. Mark Davis
11. Ivan DeJesus
12. Bob Dernier

13. Bo Diaz (action)
14. Ed Farmer
15. Greg Gross
16. Deron Johnson CO      
17. Mike Krukow
18. Sparky Lyle
19. Garry Maddox
20. Gary Matthews
21. Len Matuszek
22. Tug McGraw
23. Sid Monge
24. Claude Osteen CO  
25. Ron Reed
26. Dave Roberts
27. Pete Rose
28. Dick Ruthven
29. Mike Ryan CO
30. Mike Schmidt
31. Manny Trillo (without hat)      
32. Del Unser
33. Ozzie Virgil
34. George Vukovich
35. Bobby Wine CO  

One and Only Phillies Baseball Card (0)
First Appearance in Phillies Team Issued Set (11):  Altamirano, M. Davis, DeJesus, Dernier, Diaz, Farmer, Krukow, Matuszek, Monge, Roberts, Virgil
Returning Players in Phillies Team Issued Set (18):  Aguayo, Brusstar, Bystrom, Carlton, Christenson, D. Davis, Gross, Lyle, Maddox, Matthews, McGraw, Reed, Rose, Ruthven, Schmidt, Trillo, Unser, Vukovich

Manager (1):  Corrales
Coaches (4):  Bristol, Johnson, Osteen, Ryan, Wine
Phillie Phanatic (0)
Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (0)

Surprises:  None, and the player selection is representative of the players who suited up the most for the Phillies in 1982.

Omissions:  Had there been a normal update set, and not the later logo less update set, Bill Robinson would have been a natural inclusion.  Other potential update cards could have been issued for Julio Franco (16 games), Willie Montanez in his return to the club (18 games), Bob Molinaro (19 games) and Stan Bahnsen (8 games).

Variations/Rarities:  The Beckett database entry for this set omits the Bystrom card and adds three cards for a total of 37 cards in the master set. The three cards added are photo variations for Diaz and Trillo, along with a card for ball girl Karen Eberhard.  As fellow collector Rick recently pointed out to me, this Eberhard card shouldn't be included within the set's checklist as a photo of the card shows it has a completely different design.  Also, I'm not sure which versions of the Diaz and Trillo cards are more prevalent or if both versions were printed in equal quantities.

Photo Variations
1. Bo Diaz (portrait)
2. Manny Trillo (with hat)   
Second Set, No Tastykake Logo
1. Bill Robinson


  Ball Girl Card
  1. Karen Eberhard



Also See:  1982 Topps Phillies1982 Topps Traded #28T Bob Dernier

Resources:  The Trading Card DatabaseBeckett.com; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)

This set was originally featured in a post back in October 2014, and I'm going to slowly go through some of these team issued set posts and update them with new information gleaned (if any) over the past five years.


Thursday, June 11, 2020

1985 Game 55 - A Night to Remember


Phillies 26Mets 7
Game 55 - Tuesday Night, June 11th in Philadelphia
Record - 21-34, 5th Place, 14 1/2 games behind the Cubs

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies destroyed the Mets, 26-7, in one of the most memorable Phillies games from my childhood.

What It Means:  This is it.  This game represents the highlight of the season and the most positive moment from the entire Phillies' 1985 output.  They would string together some wins throughout the rest of the year, but nothing would top the euphoria of this absolute bashing of the Mets.

I clearly remember watching this game on PRISM, the Philadelphia-area cable TV channel, and I was thrilled to find the game on YouTube, embedded below.  Andy Musser and Chris Wheeler called the game for the Phillies.

With the 2020 season now possibly beginning in mid-July, I gave some thought to stopping these daily posts from the 1985 season at this point and leaving on a high note, but I decided to keep going a little further.  If nothing else, this exercise has provided a daily diversion from these strange times and I think I'll keep it up until and if live baseball resumes.

What Happened:  Von Hayes hit two first inning home runs, becoming the first player in Major League history to accomplish that feat.  The Phillies were up 9-0 after the first inning and 16-0 after the second.  The offense set a franchise record for most doubles in a game with 10, with Bo Diaz (3), Glenn Wilson (2), Mike Schmidt, Juan Samuel, Rick Schu, reliever Dave Rucker (!) and Steve Jeltz all contributing to that tally.  Interestingly enough, the 1986 Phillies would break this record with 11 doubles in a game on June 23, 1986.  Schu and Garry Maddox also tripled.

To date, the only two players in Phillies franchise history to hit two home runs in one inning are Hayes and Andy Seminick, who did it on June 2, 1949.  The runs scored and total hits (27) are still franchise records in a single game for the Phillies.

Future Phillie Tom Gorman and Calvin Schiraldi were the two Mets pitchers hit the hardest, allowing a combined 16 runs on 14 hits over 1 2/3 innings.  Joe Sambito was the sacrificial lamb from the depleted Mets bullpen, soaking up three innings and giving up 10 more runs, eight of which were earned.  Phillies starting pitcher Charles Hudson was the beneficiary of the win, despite not pitching well himself.  Hudson gave up seven runs (six earned) on 13 hits in his short five-inning outing.  Rucker, along with his double, provided three scoreless innings of relief.


Featured Cards:  There are two cards in my collection commemorating this game.  Donruss celebrated Hayes' first inning heroics with a card in its 1985 Donruss Highlights set, released late in 1985.  The Phillies issued one of my favorite team-issued cards in its 1986 Tastykake set featuring a painting from artist Dick Perez.  The back of the Tastykake card contains the full box score and a summary of all the MLB, National League and Phillies records set or tied.

1985 Virtual Phillies Wall / 1985 Season Summary Index

Sunday, April 19, 2020

1985 Game 9 - 1985 Fleer #250 Bo Diaz

Mets 1Phillies 0
Game 9 - Friday Night, April 19th in Philadelphia
Record - 1-8, 6th Place, 7 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Reigning Rookie of the Year Dwight Gooden dominated the Phillies lineup, outdueling Steve Carlton in the process, as the Mets clipped the Phils, 1-0.

What It Means:  This was the first of four meetings in 1985 between Gooden and the Phillies.  He'd go 3-0 with a 1.45 ERA over 31 innings pitched, striking out 35 to just 7 walks.  This was his only appearance in 1985 at The Vet as his other three starts against the Phillies were all at the Mets' home ballpark, Shea Stadium.

What Happened:  Gooden allowed only three Phillies hits while striking out seven.  Jesse Orosco pitched a perfect ninth to record the save.  Carlton pitched well too, only allowing a pair of Mets hits over his seven innings of work and he departed with the game in a scoreless tie.

In the ninth, Charles Hudson allowed a lead-off single to Wally Backman.  Don Carman would relieve Hudson a few batters later and Backman scored on a Keith Hernandez single.

1985 Cramer
Portland Beavers #42
Featured Card:  Now a backup catcher to Ozzie Virgil, Bo Diaz gets the featured card for this game based on the note below.

Transaction:  Prior to the game, the Phillies placed Diaz on the 15-day disabled list with a broken right wrist and recalled catcher Darren Daulton from Triple-A Portland.  The newspaper clipping shown above provides more detail, as the injury was suffered during an exhibition game against the Double-A Reading Phillies the day before.  Diaz's bad luck would continue into May when he had to have surgery for kidney stones.  His Phillies tenure would eventually come to an end with an August trade to the Reds.

This was to be Daulton's second stint with the club after appearing in a pair of games in 1983.  He'd serve as Virgil's back-up while Diaz recuperated throughout May and again after Diaz was dealt to Cincinnati.

Sunday, December 31, 2017

1982 Topps - Phillies Cards

1982 Topps #720
1982 Topps Traded #69T
1982 Topps #438
1982 Topps Traded #52T
Each year I sincerely enjoy planning out my Chachi set of custom cards, and I have fun spending the entire year with the design and cards from a vintage Topps set.  I spent a lot of time with the 1982 Topps set and design in 2017, and get ready to see a whole bunch of 1978 Topps cards in 2018.  Before closing the book on the 1982 Topps set, I wanted to tally the number of Phillies and Phillies-related cards in the set, as I've done in prior years with other Topps sets - see below.

By my very unofficial count, there are a whopping 172 cards in the 1982 Topps and 1982 Topps Traded sets featuring players, coaches or managers who at one point suited up for the club.  I attribute the high count to the massive number of trades the Phillies pulled off in the late 1970s/early 1980s.  Here's the complete list and some cards that weren't previously featured this year in series preview or game summary posts.

National League East (63 - 17 without Phillies)
Atlanta Braves (6) - #32 Gene Garber, #296 Bob Walk, #502 Steve Bedrosian FS, #668 Dale Murphy, #733 Larry McWilliams, #4T Steve Bedrosian
Miami Marlins (0)
New York Mets (3) - #399 Pat Zachry, #743 John Stearns, #783 Greg Harris
Philadelphia Phillies (46)
Washington Nationals (Montreal Expos) (8) - #118 Terry Francona/Brad Mills FS, #131 Stan Bahnsen, #292 Dave Palmer, #779 Grant Jackson, #788 Woodie Fryman, #7T Tim Blackwell, #83T Al Oliver, #104T Dan Schatzeder

National League Central (34)
Chicago Cubs (14) - #23 Willie Hernandez, #89 Steve Henderson, #117 Rawley Eastwick, #215 Mike Krukow, #273 Doug Bird, #374 Tim Blackwell, #484 Ivan DeJesus, #10T Larry Bowa, #16T Bill Campbell, #49T Fergie Jenkins, #52T Jay Johnstone, #76T Keith Moreland, #82T Dickie Noles, #92T Mike Proly
Cincinnati Reds (3) - #763 Tom Hume, #41T Greg Harris, #56T Jim Kern
Milwaukee Brewers (4) - #93 Larry Hisle, #466 Randy Lerch, #487 Bob McClure, #709 Don Money
Pittsburgh Pirates (7) - #235 Mike Easler, #332 Don Robinson, #458 Willie Montanez, #485 Kent Tekulve, #543 Bill Robinson, #24T Dick Davis, #77T Jim Morrison
St. Louis Cardinals (6) - #27 Tom Herr, #86 Dane Iorg, #262 Doug Bair, #367 Jim Kaat, #727 Sixto Lezcano, #108T Lonnie Smith

1982 Topps #669
1982 Topps Traded #42T
1982 Topps #629
1982 Topps #27
National League West (19)
Arizona Diamondbacks (0)
Colorado Rockies (0)
Los Angeles Dodgers (11) - #6 Fernando Valenzuela LL, #166 Fernando Valenzuela LL, #213 Dave Stewart, #338 Dave Lopes AS, #345 Fernando Valenzuela AS, #348 Derrel Thomas, #510 Fernando Valenzuela, #681 Ron Roenicke, #740 Dave Lopes, #741 Dave Lopes IA, #774 Jay Johnstone
San Diego Padres (3) - #330 Rick Wise, #434 Joe Lefebvre, #63T Sixto Lezcano
San Francisco Giants (5) - #406 Al Holland, #722 Jerry Martin, #754 Joe Morgan, #755 Joe Morgan IA, #66T Renie Martin

American League East (8)
Baltimore Orioles (0)
Boston Red Sox (3) - #255 Tony Perez, #256 Tony Perez IA, #619 Bill Campbell
New York Yankees (5) - #472 Oscar Gamble, #669 Larry Milbourne, #694 Dave Wehrmeister, #706 Barry Foote, #95T Shane Rawley
Tampa Bay Rays (0)
Toronto Blue Jays (0)

American League Central (29)
Chicago White Sox (9) - #269 Jim Essian, #328 Ed Farmer, #363 Bob Molinaro, #521 Billy Almon, #599 Jay Loviglio FS, #654 Jim Morrison, #714 Jerry Koosman, #720 Greg Luzinski, #721 Greg Luzinski IA
Cleveland Indians (8) - #141 Von Hayes FS, #258 Bo Diaz, #287 Allan Bannister, #601 Sid Monge, #773 John Denny, #42T Von Hayes, #69T Bake McBride, #71T Larry Milbourne
Detroit Tigers (6) - #238 Kevin Saucier, #261 Dave Rucker FS, #535 Lance Parrish, #603 Rich Hebner, #629 Johnny Wockenfuss, #691 Dan Schatzeder
Kansas City Royals (5) - #397 Ken Brett, #594 Renie Martin, #625 Hal McRae, #46T Grant Jackson, #65T Jerry Martin
Minnesota Twins (1) - #438 Pete Mackanin

1982 Topps #706
1982 Topps #238
1982 Topps #603
1982 Topps #258
American League West (19)
Houston Astros (5) - #218 Dave Roberts, #377 Kiko Garcia, #404 Dickie Thon, #539 Vern Ruhle, #698 Tony Scott
Los Angeles Angels (California Angels) (1) - #9T Bob Boone
Oakland Athletics (4) - #29 Dwayne Murphy, #392 Rick Bosetti, #757 Tom Underwood, #64T Dave Lopes
Seattle Mariners (3) - #52 Larry Andersen, #197 Shane Rawley, #31T Jim Essian
Texas Rangers (6) - #16 Steve Comer, #36 Al Oliver TL, #463 Jim Kern, #590 Al Oliver, #591 Al Oliver IA, #624 Fergie Jenkins

Memory Lane
1970 Topps - 114 cards with Phillies connections
1973 Topps - 107 cards with Phillies connections
1979 Topps - 111 cards with Phillies connections, plus one more
1982 Topps - 172 cards with Phillies connections
1985 Topps - 153 cards with Phillies connections
1988 Topps - 154 cards with Phillies connections

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Series Preview - Cardinals at Phillies: June 20th to June 22nd


Tuesday and Wednesday 7:05, Thursday 1:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Cardinals 31-37, Tied for 3rd Place in the N.L. Central, 5 games behind the Brewers
Phillies 22-46, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 19 games behind the Nationals

Cardinals Probables:  Mike Leake (5-6, 3.14), Michael Wacha (3-3, 4.78), Carlos Martinez (6-5, 2.86)
Phillies Probables:  Jeremy Hellickson (5-5, 4.91), Nick Pivetta (1-3, 4.46), Aaron Nola (3-5, 4.76)

At the Ballpark:  It's Star Wars night on Wednesday, with fans holding a theme night ticket receiving a fantastic Phillie Phanatic bobble head wearing his X-Wing Fighter uniform.

Cardinals Leaders
Average:  Jedd Gyorko - .291
Runs:  Dexter Fowler - 38
Home Runs:  Matt Carpenter and Dexter Fowler - 13
RBIs:  Matt Carpenter - 38
Stolen Bases:  Tommy Pham - 6

Wins:  Adam Wainwright - 7
ERA:  Carlos Martinez - 2.86
Strikeouts:  Carlos Martinez - 107
Saves:  Seung-hwan Oh - 15

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Aaron Altherr - .278
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez - 40
Home Runs:  Aaron Altherr - 12
RBIs:  Aaron Altherr - 37
Stolen Bases:  Howie Kendrick - 7

Wins:  Jeremy Hellickson - 5
ERA:  Jerad Eickhoff - 4.81
Strikeouts:  Jerad Eickhoff - 65
Saves:  Hector Neris - 6

1982 Topps Traded #108T
1982 Topps Traded #29T
1982 Topps Appreciation:  On November 20, 1981, the Phillies, Cardinals and Indians pulled off a five-player, three-way trade with Bo Diaz coming to the Phillies, Lonnie Smith going to the Cardinals and Silvio Martinez and Lary Sorensen going to the Indians.  The Phillies also sent Scott Munninghoff to the Indians to complete the trade on December 9th.

The trade worked out for the Cardinals as Smith was an All-Star in 1982 and he also helped the team win a World Championship against the Brewers.  He'd go on to win his third World Series ring with the Royals in 1985.  (His first of course was earned with the Phillies in 1980.)

Bo Diaz was never an All-Star with the Phillies, but he did bridge the gap between the Bob Boone years and the Darren Daulton years.  In four seasons with the Phillies, Diaz hit .256 with 36 home runs.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Phillies at Reds: June 8th to June 10th


Monday and Tuesday 7:10, Wednesday 12:35
Great American Ball Park - Cincinnati, OH

Phillies 22-36, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 9 games behind the Mets
Reds 24-31, 4th Place in the N.L. Central, 13 games behind the Cardinals

Phillies Probables:  Cole Hamels (5-4, 2.88), Aaron Harang (4-6, 2.45), Jerome Williams (3-5, 5.68)
Reds Probables:  Mike Leake (2-4, 4.40), Anthony DeSclafani (4-4, 3.60), Jon Moscot (0-1, 7.20)

At the Ballpark:  There looks to be a bunch of themed and discounted ticket packages available for this series, but no notable promotions or giveaways.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Ben Revere - .266
Runs:  Ben Revere - 28
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 11
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 27
Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 12

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 5
ERA:  Aaron Harang - 2.45
Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 84
Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 12

1985 Topps #737
1985 Topps Traded #68T
1985 Topps Appreciation:  The Phillies pulled off two major trades with the Cincinnati Reds over a five month span in late 1985.  In the series preview post from a few weeks ago, I covered the trade in December 1985 that sent John Denny (and Jeff Gray) to the Reds for Tom Hume and Gary Redus.

Five months earlier, on August 8, 1985, the Phillies shipped popular catcher Bo Diaz (and minor league pitcher Greg Simpson) to the Reds for Tom Foley, Alan Knicely and a player to be named later (eventually Fred Toliver).  Diaz enjoyed several relatively successful seasons with the Reds between 1985 and 1989, making the All-Star team in 1987.  I first talked about this trade in a series preview post from last season.

This trade could be viewed as a definite win for the Reds, as Knicely (7 games with the Phillies, going 0 for 7) and Foley (85 games, .274 average) didn't do that much to make their time in Philadelphia memorable.  Toliver went 1-7 with the Phillies over 26 games with a 4.67 ERA.

Friday, June 6, 2014

Phillies at Reds: June 6th to June 8th

Friday 7:10, Saturday 4:10 and Sunday 1:10
Great American Ball Park - Cincinnati, OH

Phillies 24-34, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 7 games behind the Braves and Marlins
Reds 27-31, 4th Place in the N.L. Central, 7 games behind the Brewers

Phillies Probables:  Cole Hamels (1-3, 4.01), Roberto Hernandez (2-3, 4.03), David Buchanan (1-2, 6.11)
Reds Probables:  Johnny Cueto (5-4, 1.68), Alfredo Simon (7-3, 3.03), Homer Bailey (6-3, 4.99)

At the Ballpark:  I like it when there's a nice giveaway or event for all three games of a series.  Such is the case at the underrated Great American Ball Park.  Tonight is Fireworks Friday and the first 20,000 fans tomorrow will receive a Reds hat featuring the floating head of Mr. Red.  On Sunday, the first 8,000 kids to enter the ballpark will receive a Brandon Phillips growth chart.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Chase Utley - .311
Runs:  Chase Utley - 31
Home Runs:  Ryan Howard - 11
RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 40
Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 15

Wins:  Cliff Lee - 4
ERA:  Cliff Lee - 3.18
Strikeouts:  A.J. Burnett - 67
Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 13

1988 Topps #203, #265, #686 and 1988 Topps Traded #55T
1988 Topps Appreciation:  It's a grab bag of former Phillies and Reds in the latest installment of 1988 Topps Appreciation.  First up is former Phillies catcher Bo Diaz, who was traded with minor leaguer Greg Simpson to the Reds for Tom Foley and a player to be named later back on August 8, 1985.  The player to be named later turned out to be pitcher Fred Toliver, also featured here.

Surprisingly, to me at least, Diaz played more games with the Reds (460 over five seasons) than he did with the Phillies (333 over four seasons).  He made the All-Star team with the Reds in 1987, but then steadily declined in 1988 (.219 in 92 games) and his final season, 1989 (.205 in 43 games).  Toliver spent parts of three seasons with the Phillies, going 1-7 with a 4.67 ERA over the course of 26 games.

I had to squeeze in the cards of Danny Jackson and Terry Francona here, since this is the final meeting between the Phillies and Reds this season.  Jackson was traded by the Royals to the Reds following the 1987 season, and he'd experience his best year by far in 1988, winning 23 games and making the All-Star team.  Francona had already departed Cincinnati by the time Jackson arrived, signing with the Indians as a free agent in February 1988.