1949 Bowman #145 Sylvester "Blix" Donnelly

Braves 6, Phillies 2
Game 106 - Sunday Afternoon, August 2nd in Philadelphia
Record - 41-65

One Sentence Summary:  The offense was quieted by Braves starting pitcher Julio Teheran as the Phillies lost the series closer, 6-2.

What It Means:  After a day off today, the Phillies open a three-game series against Jimmy Rollins and the Dodgers on Tuesday night.

What Happened:  Ryan Howard and Freddy Galvis both had a pair of hits, but overall the offense went 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

Featured Card:  Had the Phillies been able to complete the four-game sweep, it would have been their first four-game sweep of the Braves in Philadelphia since September 2-4, 1949, back when the Braves called Boston their home.

On Sunday, September 4, 1949, the Phillies completed the sweep by winning both ends of a double header.  Blix Donnelly started the second game for the Phillies that day but was chased from the game after the first five Braves batters reached.  Ken Trinkle and Curt Simmons would come in to pitch the rest of the game and the Phillies mounted an impressive 8-7 comeback win thanks in part to Dick Sisler's two-run home run in the sixth.

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1950 Bowman #176 Sylvester Donnelly

Pirates 3, Phillies 2
Game 87 - Saturday Afternoon, July 5th in Pittsburgh
Record - 37-50, 5th Place, 12 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The team's struggles continued as they dropped the second game of the series to the Pirates by a score of 3-2.

What It Means:  The Phillies are in the midst of a 3-12 stretch in which they've hit .210 as a team while hitting .142 (15 for 106) with runners in scoring position.  (Hat tip to Todd Zolecki.)

What Happened:  David Buchanan had a decent outing (3 runs in 6 innings pitched), but the Phillies offense was mostly quiet yet again.  Cody Asche and Marlon Byrd hit solo home runs to account for the team's two runs in this game.

Featured Card:  Is the Phillies season beyond repair?  Are we as Phillies fans going to be subjected to substandard play for the remainder of the season while the veterans of the team are unceremoniously traded off to contending teams for prospects?  Will the remaining game summary posts on this blog from now until late September slowly devolve into a rambling, incoherent babble of complaints and woe is us drivel?

Some possible responses to the above questions are:  Yes, probably.  Yes, probably again.  And no, not at all.

There's no denying that I'm frustrated and unhappy at the direction this season has gone.  But I'm a Phillies fan.  I've been a Phillies fan my whole life, and the performances on the field from the Adam Eaton's or the Delmon Young's or the Domonic Brown's aren't going to change that.  More importantly, my seven-year-old son Doug has taken his first steps into the world of being a lifelong Phillies fan this season.

Each morning, he asks what time the Phillies are playing.  He asks if their opponent is any good.  He asks if Cameron Rupp or Koyie Hill is catching that day.  He asks if I think it's possible for the Phillies to trade Jeff Manship and John Mayberry, Jr. to the Angels for Mike Trout.  And yesterday when I received a small envelope in the mail containing a few vintage Phillies cards I had recently ordered, he wanted to look at them with me.

"That card's cool," he said when I showed him this gorgeous 1950 Bowman baseball card of former Phillies pitcher Blix Donnelly.  It sure is.  And while I'm bummed that the Phillies season is most likely a bust, I'm thrilled that Doug can now appreciate a great baseball card.  It makes me smile when he asks if we can turn on the TV around six so that he doesn't miss the Phillies pre-game show.  And he's probably the only seven-year-old in town who knows who Jeff Manship and Koyie Hill are.  That's my boy.