Game 43

Braves 6, Phillies 5
Game 43 - Tuesday Night, May 24th in Atlanta
Record - 20-23, Tied for 2nd Place, 8 games behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary:  Despite late heroics from Bryce Harper, the Phillies bullpen imploded yet again, handing the Braves a 6-5 win.

What It Means:  On a truly awful day in our country, this game didn't really seem to matter much.

What Happened:  Harper did his best to single-handedly deliver a victory for the Phillies, tying the game at 2-2 with an RBI double in the sixth, getting the Phillies to within a run with an RBI-single in the seventh, and finally delivering a go-ahead two-run home run off Braves' closer Kenley Jansen in the top of the ninth.  Harper's blast travelled 438 feet, and he finished the game having gone 3 for 5 with four RBIs.

Reliever James Norwood couldn't retire a batter in the sixth, allowing a pair of runs on three hits and a walk.  Nick Nelson, with Corey Knebel apparently unavailable, tried to close out the game with a wrap-around appearance.  Manager Joe Girardi's gamble on Nelson failed miserably as the reliever allowed a lead-off double in the bottom of the ninth and then uncorked a wild pitch.  A fly ball hit by Ronald Acuna, Jr. was dropped by center fielder Roman Quinn, allowing the Braves to tie the game.  William Contreras then singled home the winning run.

Featured Card:  No card for this post.  I wanted to share the comments delivered from the radio voice of the Phillies, Scott Franzke below.  In Franzke's words, "Choose your way to help, please."

2022 Virtual Phillies Wall / 2022 Season Summary Index / 2022 Chachi Set Checklist

Game 162 - Fan Appreciation Day; Long Offseason Begins

Marlins 4, Phillies 3
Game 162 - Sunday Afternoon, September 29th in Philadelphia
Record - 81-81, 4th place, 16 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies missed out on their first winning season since 2011, dropping the 2019 season finale by a 4-3 score to the last place Marlins.

What It Means:  Was this manager Gabe Kapler's final Phillies game at the helm?

What Happened:  With Maikel Franco representing the tying run on second base in the bottom of the ninth, Andrew Knapp struck out swinging on a ball out of the zone to end the game and the Phillies extremely disappointing season.  Bryce Harper and Adam Haseley had a pair of hits.  The offense went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position, leaving 13 men on base.  A bullpen game from the start, the Marlins jumped on starting pitcher Blake Parker for three runs early.

Featured Card:  Brad Miller hit two more home runs (13) and went 4 for 5 overall with three RBIs.  Matt Breen Tweeted Miller is the first player in Phillies history with three multi-home run games in a nine-game span and Corey Seidman added Miller's 12 home runs and 16 extra-base hits were both the most by any Phillies player ever with 130 or fewer plate appearances in a  season.

Field Report:  My family arrived to the ballpark early, as we've now made it a tradition to attend the final game of the year and enjoy Fan Appreciation Day.  While Jenna, Ben and I decided to eat first (Jenna and Ben at Pass and Stow and me at Bull's BBQ), Doug took off as soon as the gates opened for a prime spot down the first base line to hopefully add a few last autographs to his collection.  Fellow collector Rick kept him company and both were featured in the Phillies' Instagram story of the day.

Doug added autographs from Miller, Jared Eickhoff, Zach Eflin and Scott Kingery and Rick passed along a Phil Gosselin Chachi Photo Card he had signed for us.  Doug was bummed Bryce Harper didn't make his way over to the waiting crowd to sign any autographs.  In between eating his pizza, Ben and I got pictures with Jared Hughes and Edgar Garcia, and we caught part of the broadcast team - Larry Andersen, Scott Franzke, Ben Davis and Gregg Murphy as they were leaving the Diamond Club entrance lobby.

Once at our seats, we noticed Aaron Nola talking to a small group of people and the ace of the staff posed for a quick picture with Ben.  We didn't come away with any prizes or other souvenirs, but we had a great day and we're already anxious for Opening Day 2020.

Memory Lane - Game 162
This is my 11th season of posting on this blog and I truly enjoy and appreciate the outlet this has provided for me to share my love of baseball, baseball cards and (occasionally) the Phillies.  Unlike some of the Phillies current coaching staff, I'll be back in 2020 and I sincerely thank you for following along, commenting and sharing your Phillies stories.

October 4, 2009 - Catcher Paul Hoover singled in the winning run in the 10th in a 7-6 win over the Marlins.
October 3, 2010 - The Phillies lost 8-7 to the Braves in their final tune-up before facing the Reds in the NLDS.
September 28, 2011 - The Phillies closed out the 2011 regular season with a 13-inning victory against the Braves, setting a franchise record with their 102nd regular season win.
October 3, 2012 - The Phillies closed out their 2012 season with a lethargic 5-1 loss to the N.L. East Champion Nationals.
September 29, 2013 - Zach Miner got the ball for the Phillies and lasted 2 1/3 innings in a 12-5 loss to the Braves.
September 28, 2014 - Cole Hamels pitched another fine game and suffered through another outing with minimal run support.
October 4, 2015 - Phillies avoid 100 losses and Ichiro makes his pitching debut in a 7-2 victory.
October 2, 2016 - Phillies bid an emotional farewell to franchise icon Ryan Howard.
October 1, 2017 - Phils clobber Mets in Pete Mackanin's final game as manager.
September 30, 2018 - Lame duck Phillies win season finale in Gabe Kapler's frustrating debut season.
September 29, 2019 - Phillies miss postseason for 8th year in a row, Brad Miller finishes the season red hot.

Want to revisit every game of the 2019 season?  My handy game summary index can be found here.

Game 104 - Photo Night Returns! (Part One)

2019 Chachi Photo Night #2

2019 Chachi Photo Night #16

2019 Chachi Photo Night #8

Braves 15, Phillies 7
Game 104 - Saturday Night, July 27th in Philadelphia
Record - 54-50, 3rd place, 7 1/2 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  The Braves absolutely demolished the Phillies in this 15-7 loss.

What It Means:  This is one of the worst games Jenna and I have ever witnessed in person.  It only helped a little that both teams were wearing awesome throw-back uniforms, with the Phillies in their infamous, all-burgundy Saturday Night Special uniforms.  These uniforms were worn once and only once back in 1979.

What Happened:  Zach Eflin allowed 10 runs (six earned) in his 2 2/3 innings of work, with Jean Segura and Rhys Hoskins contributing to the drubbing with costly errors.  The offense showed some punch with 12 hits and both J.T. Realmuto (13) and Sean Rodriguez (3) hit home runs.

2019 Chachi Photo Night #3

2019 Chachi Photo Night #5

2019 Chachi Photo Night #10

Featured Cards/Field Report:  Photo night returned!  One of the games we look forward to every season is the annual Phillies Photo Night promotion.  The players and coaches walk along cordoned sections of the outfield - some fast and some slow - and pose for pictures with the fans.  With last year's event cancelled due to rain, it was nice to return to this now annual tradition.

Promptly at 5:40, Bryce Harper was the first player to emerge and he took a brisk walk around the ballpark, never getting more than 15 feet away from the sectioned off fans.  Maybe over the next 13 years, that will slowly change and he'll interact more with us.  After Harper's stroll and polite waves, the rest of the team made their way around the outfield.  We enjoyed talking with the broadcasters and coach Pedro Guerrero asked if he could try on Ben's sunglasses.  New Phillie Mike Morin was very nice and he was one of the last players, along with Pat Neshek, out on the field.  Neshek was great to talk to as well.

2019 Chachi Photo Night #1

2019 Chachi Photo Night #4

2019 Chachi Photo Night #6

2019 Chachi Photo Night #7

2019 Chachi Photo Night #9

Doug snuck autographs from Morin and Brad Miller, although technically that was against the Photo Night rules.  We missed seeing Rhys Hoskins and Sean Rodriguez as their handlers shuffled them off the field right before both arrived at our location.  We also missed getting photos with Jean Segura (walked right by us), Scott Kingery, Nick Williams, Aaron Nola and Nick Pivetta, as none of them made it over to our spot.  Any other players and coaches (including manager Gabe Kapler) not listed here or not featured on the cards I've created, we simply didn't see.  J.T. Realmuto and Zach Eflin were excused as they were getting ready for the game, and unless I'm mistaken I think Jake Arrieta skipped the event entirely.

After leaving the field, Doug stationed himself by the Phillies dugout and added autographs to his collection from coaches Dusty Wathan, Rob Thomson and Figueroa.  Adam Haseley also graciously signed for him again.  I'll have the rest of the Photo Night insert cards in a second post.

Memory Lane
1984 Photo Day - Hudson, Maddox and Lefebvre
2004 Photo Day - First at Citizens Bank Park
2006 Photo Day - with Rick White
2007 Photo Day - with Shane Victorino
2016 Photo Day - Parts One, Two and Three
2017 Photo Night - Parts One, Two and Three
2018 Photo Night - Cancelled due to rain
2019 Photo Night - Part One and Part Two

Highlights from the 2019 Phillies Phestival (Part 2) #StrikeOutALS

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #20

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #24

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #25

Yesterday, I include a summary of our time at this year's Phillies Phestival benefitting the ALS Association.  The first half of the cards I created to commemorate our day were included in that post, and this post gathers the remaining cards.

We're already anxiously awaiting next year's event!

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #12

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #13

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #15

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #17

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #18

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #21

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #22

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #23

Phillies Phestival Memory Lane

2017 Part 1 and Part 2

2018 Part 1 and Part 2

2019 Part 1 and Part 2

Game 136 - 2018 Chachi Friendly Encounters #15 Scott Franzke

Cubs 8, Phillies 1
Game 136 - Sunday Afternoon, September 2nd in Philadelphia
Record - 72-64, 2nd place, 4 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Aaron Nola struck out 11 but allowed three solo home runs and the offense went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position on the way to this 8-1 loss to the Cubs.

What It Means:  The Phillies offense scored four runs in the three-game weekend series with the Cubs.  The team absolutely needs to start hitting against the Marlins and Mets this week if there's any hope of a postseason.

What Happened:  Nola departed after 5 2/3 innings with the Cubs ahead 4-0.  Luis Garcia allowed four more Cubs runs in the 8th, putting the game completely out of reach.

Roman Quinn started the game by getting thrown out at third trying to stretch a double into a triple.  That was pretty much the only excitement generated by the Phillies offense all day and it was over in less than 10 seconds.

Transaction:  Justin Bour was activated from the disabled list, giving the Phillies 32 players on their active roster.

Featured Card/Field Report:  For the second time this Labor Day weekend, the four of us made the trip to Citizens Bank Park.  The weather was much different than Friday night, as it was sunny, hot and humid.  Fortunately, we were able to find some shade sitting with Jenna's Mom and brother who were also attending the game.  The boys added Phillies backpack/cooler bags to their ever growing collection of Phillies-related backpacks/bags.

About an hour before first pitch, we met radio broadcaster Scott Franzke on the concourse and he was kind enough to pose for a picture.  It was all downhill from there.  Standing in his usual spot at the end of the Phillies dugout, Doug managed to get an autograph from pitching coach Rick Kranitz before needing to retreat from the sun.

I took a few pictures of new Phillie Jose Bautista on the field as a professional photographer asked him to pose in several classic baseball card poses.  Bautista obliged the photographer with bat on the shoulder, full swing, half swing and kneeling with bat poses.  It will be interesting to see if any of these shots show up in either Topps Update or Topps Heritage High Numbers (my guess).

Trio of Kevins Joins Broadcast Booth

1994 Fleer #601

2001 Topps #172

2012 Choice International League All-Stars #19

During the Phillies Broadcaster Golden Age between 1977 and 1997, the core broadcasting team consisted of Harry Kalas, Richie Ashburn, Andy Musser and Chris Wheeler.  There were some supporting players that came and went during that time, but the core four were the primary voices of the Phillies.  I miss listening to Harry and Whitey call a game, and no one will ever replace them (in my opinion).

In recent years, I've thoroughly enjoyed the radio broadcast tandem of Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen and those two have worked together since 2006.  My wife Jenna fully supports the nightly ritual of me muting the TV and turning up the radio so that we can listen to Franzke and L.A. call the game.  With Andersen announcing he'll no longer travel for road games in 2018, a replacement was needed to give Franzke a new partner.  The Phillies will fill Andersen's void with three former players - Kevin Frandsen, Kevin Jordan and Kevin Stocker - and I can't help but feel the broadcast booth is getting way too crowded at this point.

If you're keeping score at home, here's the Phillies broadcasters' line-up for the 2018 season that now includes 11 (!) voices.

Television
Play-by-play - Tom McCarthy
Color commentary - Ben Davis and John Kruk (although not always together)
Color commentary, home weekends - Mike Schmidt
Roving reporter/occasional fill-in for play-by-play - Gregg Murphy

Radio
Play-by-play - Scott Franzke
Play-by-play, middle innings - Jim Jackson
Color commentary, home games - Larry Andersen
Color commentary, road games - Kevin Frandsen, Kevin Jordan and Kevin Stocker

2017 Phillies Team Issue - Broadcasters

Comeback Falls Short; Photo Night Highlights! (Part One)

2017 Chachi Photo Night #22

Brewers 9, Phillies 8
Game 95 - Saturday Night, July 21st in Philadelphia
Record - 33-62, 5th place, 24 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Down 8-1 heading the bottom of the eighth, the Phillies mounted an improbable comeback but ultimately fell short in a 9-8 loss to the Brewers.

What It Means:  It was a fun few innings, but Hector Neris couldn't keep the Brewers off the board in the top of the ninth.

What Happened:  Cesar Hernandez (7) hit a three-run home run in the seventh, followed by a three-run home run from Cameron Rupp (7) in the eighth to tie it up.  Odubel Herrera went 4 for 4 with a solo home run (9) in the fifth, and an extremely impressive bat flip following a double in the second.

Jeremy Hellickson didn't improve his trade value with his shaky outing, allowing six runs on seven hits over five innings.

2017 Chachi Photo Night #3

2017 Chachi Photo Night #7

Featured Cards/Field Report:  This past December 4th, while walking around the Valley Forge baseball card show, I missed a call from Phillies broadcaster Larry Andersen.  Andersen left me a voice mail explaining I had won a prize in the early-bird season ticket holder sweepstakes (we have a partial plan), and I'd later find out that my prize was four Diamond Club tickets to a 2017 Phillies game.  My first choice for the game was the Pete Rose Wall of Fame night, but I was told no Diamond Club tickets remained for that entire weekend.  So I chose last night, Photo Night, as my second choice.

We had a blast on the field before the game getting pictures with the Phillies, and then we were lucky enough to be inside the Diamond Club when a brief tropical rainstorm passed over the area.  Similar to what I did last year (see below), I decided to make a Chachi insert set for the photos we took.  The Phillies were more than accommodating when posing for pictures and we only missed a few players.

Jenna and I felt that they were a little sped up this year due to the approaching bad weather and we missed pictures with Aaron Altherr, Ty Kelly, Cameron Perkins and Hoby Milner.  Those four players never made it to the area where we were standing.  Cesar Hernandez sped by too fast for a picture and Jeremy Hellickson understandably wasn't walking around as he was preparing for his start.

This is the first time I can remember the Phillies holding the event prior to a night game.  Both our boys have already asked if we can go back again for Photo Day/Night in 2018.

2017 Chachi Photo Night #1

2017 Chachi Photo Night #2

2017 Chachi Photo Night #4

2017 Chachi Photo Night #5

2017 Chachi Photo Night #6

2017 Chachi Photo Night #9

2017 Chachi Photo Night #10

2017 Chachi Photo Night #11

Memory Lane
1984 Phillies Photo Day
2006 Phillies Photo Day with Rick White
2007 Phillies Photo Day with Shane Victorino
2016 Phillies Photo Day - Parts One, Two and Three
2017 Phillies Photo Night

2016 Phillies Team Issue 2 - Phillies Broadcasters

Braves 12, Phillies 2
Game 158 - Wednesday Night, September 28th in Atlanta
Record - 70-88, 4th place, 22 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  In his final start of the season, Adam Morgan was hit hard and the Phillies dropped another laugher, 12-2.

What It Means:  Ryan Howard and A.J. Ellis called a players only meeting following this latest loss, discussing the need to finish strong over the final four games.

What Happened:  Morgan finished the 2016 season with a 2-11 record and a 6.04 ERA.  In five innings, he allowed nine runs on 10 hits.  Phil Klein entered the game in the sixth and by keeping the Braves off the scoreboard for that one inning, he became the first Phillies reliever in 11 appearances to not allow a run.

Featured Card:  This is as good a time as any for my annual show of appreciation towards the Phillies primary radio broadcasters - Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen.  I've mentioned before how my preferred method of enjoying a Phillies game is with the television muted and the radio broadcast synced up to the video.  Franzke and Andersen are a fantastic team and they've made the last few weeks of dreadful Phillies baseball almost bearable.

Franzke and L.A. are flanking former big leaguer Ben Davis on this year's broadcaster card found within the series two team-issued photo card set.

Want to revisit every game of the 2016 season?  My handy game summary index can be found here.

Fun at the @Phillies Photo Day! (Part One)

2016 Chachi Photo Day #35

2016 Chachi Photo Day #25

2016 Chachi Photo Day #21

Phillies 4, Mets 2
Game 92 - Saturday Night, July 16th in Philadelphia
Record - 43-49, 4th place, 13 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Ryan Howard homered and Maikel Franco drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh as the Phillies defeated the Mets, 4-2, on Photo Day.

What It Means:  Our family - siblings, kids, cousins, parents and friends - occupied 17 seats in Section 421 for this game and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in spite of the occasional rain shower.

What Happened:  Howard hit a solo shot (13) in the second inning and Franco broke a 2-2 tie with his hit.  Carlos Ruiz scored in the eighth on a wild pitch to add an insurance run.  Jared Eickhoff pitched six strong innings (two runs on five hits) and Jeanmar Gomez earned his 25th save.

Featured Cards/Field Report:  We made our way down to the field at around 5:10 to take our place in the outfield for the team's annual Photo Day.  After a six (or seven?) year absence from the event, it was great to be back and both our sons had an absolute blast.  The majority of the players were extremely gracious and most of the them took the time to small talk with our sons.  I was going to pick one or two of my favorite photos for a few custom cards, but then I thought . . . why not just make a whole set of cards?

So that's what I did.  Here's part one of the set, and I'll feature parts two and three in future posts.

Be sure to check out the 2016 Season Summary page with game results and links to game summary posts.

2016 Chachi Photo Day #1

2016 Chachi Photo Day #2

2016 Chachi Photo Day #3

2016 Chachi Photo Day #4

2016 Chachi Photo Day #5

2016 Chachi Photo Day #6

2016 Chachi Photo Day #8

2016 Chachi Photo Day #10

2016 Chachi Photo Day #7

2016 Chachi Photo Day #9