Phillies in the Postseason - Part One

2007 Finest #155, 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter's #266,
2005 Donruss Diamond Kings #382 and 2013 Topps Gypsy Queen #293

Like the rest of us, the Phillies have been sitting at home over this past month watching the eight remaining teams compete in the 2013 postseason.  To keep myself occupied during these late postseason games, I decided to look back at the ex-Phillies appearing in this year's postseason and see how they fared.  I'll start with those teams eliminated first and then work my way up to the eventual World Champions.  The years in parentheses are the years each player, coach or manager spent with the Phillies.

Cincinnati Reds - 2nd N.L. Wild Card - Lost Wild Card game to the Pirates
The only ex-Phillie with the Reds is first base coach Billy Hatcher (1994)

Cleveland Indians - 1st A.L. Wild Card - Lost Wild Card game to the Rays
This was manager Terry Francona's (manager, 1997-2000) first year at the helm for the Tribe and his team exceeded everyone's expectations.  Center fielder Michael Bourn (2006-2007) went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in the Wild Card game.  Bench coach Brad Mills (coach, 1997-2000) also reunited with Francona in Cleveland after a rough stint as the Astros manager.

Atlanta Braves - N.L. East Champions - Lost N.L.D.S. to the Dodgers, 3-1
Freddy Garcia (2007) was the starting pitcher in the decisive Game 4, and he actually pitched a decent ballgame.  Garcia left after six innings with the Braves up, 2-1 against the Dodgers.  The Braves bullpen, overseen by pitching coach Roger McDowell (1989-1991) coughed up the lead and the Dodgers advanced to the N.L.C.S.

Tampa Bay Rays - 2nd A.L. Wild Card - Lost A.L.D.S. to the Red Sox, 3-1
Delmon Young (2013) went 3 for 11 in five postseason games with the Rays.  He started the scoring against the Indians in the Wild Card Game with a solo home run.  Third base coach Tom Foley (1985-1986) also spent some time with the Phils.

Pittsburgh Pirates - 1st N.L. Wild Card - Lost N.L.D.S. to the Cardinals, 3-2
Outfielder Marlon Byrd (2002-2005) went 8 for 22 (.364) in his first ever postseason after 12 seasons in the Majors.  In his first postseason at-bat, Byrd homered off the Reds Johnny Cueto, helping the Pirates advance to the N.L.D.S.  Pirates third base coach Nick Leyva (manager, 1989-1991) returned to the postseason for the first time since serving in that same capacity with the Blue Jays in 1993.

Thanks to reader Mark for recently sending me the Byrd card seen at the top of this post.

Oakland Athletics - A.L. West Champions - Lost A.L.D.S. to the Tigers, 3-2
First baseman/DH Brandon Moss (2011) went 2 for 18 (.111) in his second postseason with the A's, starting in all five games against the Tigers.

I'll follow-up with a post on the ex-Phillies on the four teams that advanced to both League Championship series.

2007 Bowman Heritage #48 Freddy Garcia

Yankees 7, Phillies 4
Spring Training Game 2 - Sunday Afternoon, March 4th in Tampa
Record - 0-2

One Sentence Summary:  The Phils committed four errors and dropped a sloppy game in Tampa, as they remain winless in 2012 Grapefruit League play.

What It Means:  Still doesn't really mean anything, other than I'm still thrilled to be able to watch baseball on TV again.

What Went Wrong:  Michael Martinez accounted for half the error tally with a few misplayed balls over at third.  Joel Pineiro and Philippe Aumont were each touched for three runs a piece, although they were each only charged with one earned run.

For the second day in a row, Hunter Pence hit a two-run first inning home run.  Roy Halladay made his spring debut and struck out three in his two innings of work, while also allowing a home run to Alex Rodriguez.  Domonic Brown dropped a ball in the outfield, but he did have a nice day at the plate as he went two for four with a triple.

Featured Card:  Freddy Garcia had an awful one-year stay with the Phillies, starting only 11 games in 2007 and going 1-5 with a 5.90 ERA.  He enters the spring in competition for the Yankees fifth starter job.  Garcia started for the Yankees yesterday and he gave up Pence's home run and three other hits in his two innings of work.  Garcia was featured as a Phillie on a number of baseball cards in 2007, including this homage to the 1952 Bowman set.