Series Preview - Marlins at Phillies: June 21st to June 23rd

2019 Chachi Fan Favorites #10

2019 Chachi 1971 Missing Links #3

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05 and Sunday 1:05
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Marlins 27-46, 5th place in the N.L. East, 12 games behind the Braves
Phillies 39-35, 2nd place in the N.L. East, 4 1/2 games behind the Braves

Marlins Probables:  Sandy Alcantara (3-6, 3.73), Elieser Hernandez (0-2, 3.95), Jordan Yamamoto (2-0, 0.00)
Phillies Probables:  Aaron Nola (6-1, 4.89), Vince Velasquez (2-4, 4.71), Enyel De Los Santos (0-0, 6.43)

At the Ballpark:  The Phillies will pay tribute to Chase Utley in a special pregame ceremony tonight, with all fans receiving an Utley bobble head modeled after his appearance from the 2008 World Series Parade.  Following Saturday's game, country star Brett Eldredge will perform a concert on the field.  And on Sunday, all kids will receive a Rhys Hoskins wiffle ball and bat set.

Marlins Leaders
Average:  Miguel Rojas - .275
Runs:  Curtis Granderson - 27
Home Runs:  Jorge Alfaro and Brian Anderson - 9
RBIs:  Brian Anderson - 32
Stolen Bases:  Miguel Rojas - 5

Wins:  Pablo Lopez - 5
ERA:  Trevor Richards - 3.54
Strikeouts:  Caleb Smith - 82
Saves:  Sergio Romo - 13

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Jean Segura - .269
Runs:  Andrew McCutchen - 45
Home Runs:  Rhys Hoskins - 15
RBIs:  Bryce Harper - 50
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez and Jean Segura - 4

Wins:  Three tied with - 6
ERA:  Zach Eflin - 2.83

Strikeouts:  Aaron Nola - 90
Saves:  Hector Neris - 15

Highlights from the 2019 Phillies Phestival (Part 1) #StrikeOutALS

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #1

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #19

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #16

On Thursday afternoon, we attended the annual Phillies Phestival, which raises money in the fight against ALS.  One of my collecting regrets (and a regret as a lifelong Phillies fan) is that we never even considered going to this event until three years ago.  As rookies in 2017, we meandered through the ballpark using our pre-assigned autograph tickets and paying cash for autographs when the lines died down.  In 2018, I attended the event on behalf of my employer, which unbeknownst to me, had been a long-time sponsor of the Phestival.  I became involved with the Philadelphia ALS Chapter over the past few years partly in tribute to our friend Bob who passed away in January 2019 after a courageous battle with the disease.  I'm looking forward to continuing (and increasing) my involvement in the coming years.

This year, we again attended as sponsors and it's the first year we were fully prepared to collect autographs as efficiently as possible while still having fun.  Sponsors are given a button to wear, which allows us to stand in any autograph line.  Within the sponsors packet were explicit instructions informing us we couldn't go to the front of any line, which makes complete sense, and that we couldn't go to the Bryce Harper photo booth.

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #2

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #5

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #7

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #8

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #14

Similar to the past two years, I created a special set of Chachi cards to commemorate our day and the autographs we hunted down.  Here's a summary of what and how we did:

• The sponsors assemble in the Diamond Club and my company's name was called around 2:45.  We made our way down to the field to meet with Phil Gosselin and Jay Bruce who would be signing autographs at our designated station.  I let Bruce know it was great not to boo him this season, and my son Doug talked to Gosselin about their mutual history with the All-Star Baseball Academy.  Gosselin is an alumni and Doug is currently on one of their travel teams.

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #3

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #4

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #6

• We had a plan.  Doug and I took the left side of the ballpark while Jenna and Ben took the right side.  Doug and I started in the Hall of Fame Club, where the lines were very short to start and some of the tables had no lines.  We walked right into the suite where Gabe Kapler was signing and had two people in front of us.  Kapler's a fascinating guy.  Very intense, very polite, very engaging and he made his hat work.

• Jenna and Ben made Aaron Nola their first target, so they had a longer wait to get started.  Doug and I had cleared four tables by the time they were getting Nola's autographs.

• All the players were engaging and friendly, and even though there was a loose "no posed photographs" policy in place this year, pretty much everyone stopped to look and smile while we were taking pictures.  Rhys Hoskins said he remembered being in our Christmas card, although he may have just been being polite.

• Ben's highlight was getting Maikel Franco to sign the back of his favorite Franco t-shirt.  He also talked to the broadcast team for awhile.  When he asked why they didn't have any cards to sign, Scott Franzke said it was because the Phillies couldn't get them all together at the same time.  He was then invited by Ben Davis to sign their table cloth, and he obliged.

• Larry Andersen had run out of photo cards by the time we got to his station (with John Kruk and Mickey Morandini) so he offered Doug a cookie instead of an autograph.  Doug took him up on the offer.

• I was bummed that none of the newer Phillies players had any photo cards produced for them to sign.  I had come prepared with a list of potential exclusive photo cards - Bruce, Edgar Garcia, JD Hammer, Adam Haseley and Ranger Suarez - but there were no new cards to be had.  Bruce and Gosselin had what looked like regular paper at their station with their names printed at the top.

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #9

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #10

2019 Chachi Phillies Phestival #11

• When the autograph session time expired, we had visited all but three tables - J.T. Realmuto (by choice since we had already received his autographs in May), Charlie Manual (since we forgot to bring anything for him to sign) and Pat Neshek/Jim Gott.  The Neshek/Gott omission was a symptom of simply running out of time.  The only table we doubled up on was Scott Kingery's as we both had time to visit with him as the clock was ticking down.

• We met up with fellow collector Steve and his son in time to stand in line for our mystery grab bags.  Our five bag haul was decent, with baseballs signed by Roman Quinn (two), Nick Pivetta, and Hector Neris.  We received a pair of Raul Ibanez bobble heads, three solar Liberty Bells, a Jimmy Rollins World Series ring and Jenna got her Mother's Day fleece she had wanted from the May giveaway.

We had a blast, the Phillies raised over $768,000 to aid in the fight against ALS, and we're already making our plans for next year's Phestival!  I've share Part 2 with the rest of the cards from the event in a post coming soon.

The almost completed checklist

Our grab bag haul

Phillies Phestival Memory Lane

2017 Part 1 and Part 2

2018 Part 1 and Part 2
2019 Part 1 and Part 2

2019 Chachi #27 Phillies Coaches - Chris Young

#45
Christopher Matthew Young
Pitching Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'4"  Weight:  218
Opening Day Age:  37
Born:  April 19, 1981, Biloxi, MS
Teams - As Coach:  Phillies 2018-

2018 Chachi #28

First Phillies Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #45
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #45
Newest Card Added:  2019 Phillies Team Issue #45
First Topps Flagship Base Card:  N/A

2018 Phillies Team Issue #45

3 - Young baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/1/19.

Complete Chachi Checklist
2018 Chachi #28 (with Dusty Wathan, Pedro Guerrero and Jim Gott)
2019 Chachi #27 (with Rob Thomson and John Mallee)

2019 Chachi Set Checklist
Virtual Phillies Wall - Featuring Current Active Roster

2019 Chachi #27 Phillies Coaches - John Mallee

#8
John Donald Mallee
Hitting Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  170
Opening Day Age:  49
Born:  May 5, 1969, Chicago, IL
Teams - As Coach:  Miami Marlins 2010-2011; Houston Astros 2013-2014; Chicago Cubs 2015-2017; Phillies 2018-

1991 Classic Best Martinsville Phillies #8

2018 Chachi #27

First Phillies Minor League Card:  1991 Classic Best Martinsville Phillies #8
First Phillies Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #8
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #8
Newest Card Added:  2019 Phillies Team Issue #8
First Topps Flagship Base Card:  N/A

2018 Phillies Team Issue #8

5 - Mallee baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/1/19.

Complete Chachi Checklist
2018 Chachi #27 (with Rob Thomson, Rick Kranitz and Jose David Flores)
2019 Chachi #27 (with Rob Thomson and Chris Young)

2019 Chachi Set Checklist
Virtual Phillies Wall - Featuring Current Active Roster

2019 Chachi #27 Phillies Coaches - Rob Thomson

#59
Robert Lewis Thomson
Bench Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  200
Opening Day Age:  55
Born:  August 16, 1963, Stratford, Ontario, Canada
Teams - As Coach:  New York Yankees 2008-2017; Phillies 2018-

2018 Chachi #27

First Phillies Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #59
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #59
Newest Card Added:  2019 Phillies Team Issue #59
First Topps Flagship Base Card:  N/A

2018 Phillies Team Issue #59

3 - Thomson baseball cards in my collection per The Phillies Room Checklist as of 5/1/19.

Complete Chachi Checklist
2018 Chachi #27 (with John Mallee, Rick Kranitz and Jose David Flores)
2019 Chachi #27 (with John Mallee and Steve Young)

2019 Chachi Set Checklist
Virtual Phillies Wall - Featuring Current Active Roster

2018 Chachi #27 Phillies Coaches - Jose David Flores

#3
Jose David Flores
First Base Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  185
Opening Day Age:  47
Born:  January 1, 1971, Rio Piedras, PR
Teams - As Coach:  Phillies 2018

2018 Phillies Team Issue #3

2 Flores Baseball Cards in My Collection per The Phillies Room Checklist

First Topps Flagship Base Card:  N/A
First Phillies Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #3
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #3
Newest Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue 2 #3

First Mention on The Phillies Room:  December 15, 2017 - Phillies Winter Meetings Recap . . . Finally, Gabe Kapler's coaching staff was completed with the addition of Jose Flores as the first base, infield and baserunning coach.  Flores had been the Cubs' minor league infield coordinator for the past five seasons.  I'm now fairly sure this is not the same Jose Flores who played in the Phillies system between 1994 and 1999.  That Jose Flores was Jose Carlos Flores and he was traded to the Mariners in 1999 for Domingo Cedeno.  The new Phillies coach is Jose David Flores.

Complete Chachi Checklist
2018 Chachi #27 (with Rob Thomson, John Mallee and Rick Kranitz)

Card statistics through 6/2/18.

2018 Chachi #27 Phillies Coaches - Rick Kranitz

#39
Richard Alan Kranitz
Pitching Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  175
Opening Day Age:  59
Born:  September 15, 1958, San Rafael, CA
Teams - As Coach:  Chicago Cubs 1996-1998, 2000-2002; Florida Marlins 2006-2007; Baltimore Orioles 2008-2010; Milwaukee Brewers 2011-2015; Phillies 2016-

2016 Chachi #32

5 Kranitz Baseball Cards in My Collection per The Phillies Room Checklist

First Topps Flagship Base Card:  N/A
First Phillies Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue #33
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2016 Phillies Team Issue #33
Newest Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue 2 #39

2016 Phillies Team Issue #33

First Mention on The Phillies Room:  October 23, 2015 - Rick Kranitz was named the team's new bullpen coach, taking over for the departed Rod Nichols.  Kranitz was the Brewers pitching coach for the past five seasons (2011-2015) and he also served in that role with the Orioles (2008-2010) and Marlins (2006-2007).  Kranitz has been appearing on minor league and team issued baseball cards since 1980, but he's never been featured on a mainstream release.

Complete Chachi Checklist
2016 Chachi #32
2017 Chachi #32
2018 Chachi #27 (with Rob Thomson, John Mallee and Jose David Flores)

Card statistics through 6/2/18.

2018 Chachi #27 Phillies Coaches - John Mallee

#8
John Donald Mallee
Hitting Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  170
Opening Day Age:  48
Born:  May 5, 1969, Chicago, IL
Teams - As Coach:  Miami Marlins 2010-2011; Houston Astros 2013-2014; Chicago Cubs 2015-2017; Phillies 2018

1991 Classic Best
Martinsville Phillies #8

4 Mallee Baseball Cards in My Collection per The Phillies Room Checklist

First Topps Flagship Base Card:  N/A
First Phillies Minor League Card:  1991 Classic Best Martinsville Phillies #8
First Phillies Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #8
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #8
Newest Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue 2 #8

2018 Phillies Team Issue #8

First Mention on The Phillies Room:  November 12, 2017 - New manager Gabe Kapler officially added three coaches to his staff on Friday . . .

John Mallee returns to the Phillies organization after a 25-year absence.  Mallee was originally drafted by the Phillies in the 12th round of the June 1991 amateur player draft.  He played in parts of two seasons with the Martinsville (rookie) and Spartanburg (Low A) Phillies teams, appearing in 115 games and hitting .208.  More recently, Mallee served as the hitting coach for the Marlins (2010-2011), Astros (2013-2014) and Cubs (2015-2017).  Mallee was let go by the Cubs following their loss to the Dodgers in the playoffs.  He replaces Matt Stairs, who left the Phillies to fill the hitting coach position with the Padres.

Complete Chachi Checklist
2018 Chachi #27 (with Rob Thomson, Rick Kranitz and Jose David Flores)

Card statistics through 6/2/18.

2018 Chachi #27 Phillies Coaches - Rob Thomson

#59
Robert Lewis Thomson
Bench Coach

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  200
Opening Day Age:  54
Born:  August 16, 1963, Stratford, Ontario, Canada
Teams - As Coach:  New York Yankees 2008-2017; Phillies 2018

2018 Phillies Team Issue #59

2 Thomson Baseball Cards in My Collection per The Phillies Room Checklist

First Topps Flagship Base Card:  N/A
First Phillies Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #59
First Phillies Team Issued Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue #59
Newest Card:  2018 Phillies Team Issue 2 #59

First Mention on The Phillies Room:  December 6, 2017 - The Phillies' 2018 coaching staff continues to take shape with the addition of Rob Thomson as the bench coach, Chris Young as the assistant pitching coach and Rick Kranitz officially getting the title of pitching coach.  At this point, only a first base coach is needed to round out Gabe Kapler's staff.

Thomson had served as the Yankees bench coach for four seasons (2008, 2015-2017) and their third base coach for six seasons (2009-2014).  He was one of the finalists for the Yankees' managerial vacancy, and that position was recently filled by Aaron Boone.  Thomson played four seasons in the Tigers' minor league system between 1985 and 1988.  His baseball cards can be found in a bunch of Tigers and Yankees minor league team sets and he received his sole mainstream card within 2009 Topps Heritage on a Yankees' coaches floating head card.

Complete Chachi Checklist
2018 Chachi #27 (with John Mallee, Rick Kranitz and Jose David Flores)

Card statistics through 6/2/18.

Mallee, Wathan Join Coaching Staff; Kranitz Returns

1991 Classic Best Martinsville Phillies #8

2007 Choice Ottawa Lynx #24

New manager Gabe Kapler officially added three coaches to his staff on Friday.  Rick Kranitz, who was the bullpen coach in 2016 and the assistant pitching coach in 2017, is to date the sole holdover from Pete Mackanin's staff.  His role has yet to be determined, but it was confirmed that he'll return in 2018.

John Mallee returns to the Phillies organization after a 25-year absence.  Mallee was originally drafted by the Phillies in the 12th round of the June 1991 amateur player draft.  He played in parts of two seasons with the Martinsville (rookie) and Spartanburg (Low A) Phillies teams, appearing in 115 games and hitting .208.  More recently, Mallee served as the hitting coach for the Marlins (2010-2011), Astros (2013-2014) and Cubs (2015-2017).  Mallee was let go by the Cubs following their loss to the Dodgers in the playoffs.  He replaces Matt Stairs, who left the Phillies to fill the hitting coach position with the Padres.

Dusty Wathan was who I hoped would be the next Phillies manager.  Instead, he'll serve as Kapler's third base coach.  He's managed in the Phillies minor league system for the past 10 seasons, so he knows all the younger players well.

Mallee has a number of minor league baseball cards to his name, including the 1991 Classic card shown here.  Wathan has been appearing in Phillies minor league sets since 2006, first as a player and then as a manager.  The card featured here is from the Phillies' one year relationship with the Ottawa Lynx back in 2007.