Wednesday, August 6, 2014

2014 Chachi #59 Hector Neris


#50
Hector Neris
Relief Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  190
Born:  June 14, 1989, Villa Altagracia, DR
Home:  Villa Altagracia, DR
Signed:  Signed as an amateur free agent, April 29, 2010
Teams:  Phillies 2014
Acquired:  Via free agency

Phillies Cards in My Collection:
No Phillies cards for Neris yet, but I do have four minor league baseball cards of his in my collection.

First Chachi Card:  2014 Chachi #59

The photo for this card is just awful and if a better photo of Neris becomes available I'll definitely make an updated card.  This "awful photo version" of Neris' first Chachi card could become a scarce collector's item.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Astros at Phillies: August 5th to August 7th

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

Astros 47-65, 4th Place in the A.L. West, 21 1/2 games behind the Athletics
Phillies 49-63, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 12 games behind the Nationals

Astros Probables:  Dallas Keuchel (10-7, 2.97), Brad Peacock (3-7, 4.93), Collin McHugh (4-9, 3.32)
Phillies Probables:  Kyle Kendrick (5-11, 4.92), David Buchanan (5-5, 4.40), Roberto Hernandez (6-8, 3.87)

At the Ballpark:  There are a few different theme nights during this series, but otherwise no giveaways or special promotions.  The true fun will come over the weekend when the Phillies host their annual alumni weekend and Wall of Fame festivities.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Ben Revere - .302
Runs:  Jimmy Rollins - 57
Home Runs:  Marlon Byrd - 21
RBIs:  Marlon Byrd and Ryan Howard - 63
Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 30

Wins:  A.J. Burnett, Cole Hamels and Roberto Hernandez - 6
ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.42
Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 139
Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 26

1988 Topps #342, #306, #24 and #643
1988 Topps Appreciation:  This quartet of Astros spent time with the Phillies, with some making more of a mark than others.  Of the four, Larry Andersen is the most well-known ex-Phillie.  L.A. had his first stint with the Phils from 1983 to the beginning of the 1986 season when he was released by the club and signed by the Astros in mid-May.  He'd go on to pitch five scoreless innings over two games for the Astros in the 1986 N.L.C.S. against the Mets.

Phillies Room favorite Rocky Childress appeared in 18 games for the Phillies in 1985 and 1986 before becoming a regular in the Astros bullpen in 1987.  He kicked around for the Astros Triple-A teams until 1991.

You're forgiven if you don't recall Billy Hatcher's 43 games with the Phillies prior to the player's strike ending the 1994 season.  And I'd be very impressed if you remembered either of Jim Deshaies' two starts for the Phillies in 1995.  Deshaies lasted a combined 5 1/3 innings, allowing 12 runs on 15 hits for a career Phillies ERA of 20.25.  I wrote about his lack of a Phillies card (and rightfully so) back in my 1995 Phillies Missing Links post.

Monday, August 4, 2014

1969 Topps Decals Chris Short

Nationals 4, Phillies 0
Game 112 - Sunday Afternoon, August 3rd in Washington
Record - 49-63, 5th Place, 12 1/2 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  The Phils were blanked by Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals in their latest lethargic defeat, 4-0.

What It Means:  There are only 50 games left this season and then we can turn our attention to complaining about the lack of transactions in the offseason.

What Happened:  Once again, Cole Hamels pitched a fantastic ballgame and once again he came away with a loss.  Hamels allowed an unearned run (courtesy of a Cody Asche error) and four hits in his seven innings of work.  Strasburg allowed three hits and struck out 10 in his seven inning outing.

Featured Card:  From Bob Vetrone Jr.'s Twitter feed, Hamels is now 6-6 with a 2.42 ERA.  The last Phillies pitcher with at least 20 games started, a .500 or worse record and an ERA under 2.50 was Chris Short, who was 9-11 with a 2.39 ERA in 1967.

Transaction:  Phillippe Aumont and his 19.06 ERA found their way back to Lehigh Valley following Friday night's game and pitcher Hector Neris was recalled to take his place.  Neris will be card #59 in the rapidly expanding 2014 Chachi set.

Sunday, August 3, 2014

1981 Topps Stickers #201 Larry Bowa

Nationals 11, Phillies 0
Game 111 - Saturday Night, August 2nd in Washington
Record - 49-62, 5th Place, 11 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Another Why Even Bother Post-Vacation Massive Catch-Up, Part 8 of 8

One Sentence Summary:  The Phillies were embarrassed by the Rockies in an 11-0 beat down.

What It Means:  The 2014 Phillies are not a very good team.

What Happened:  Manager Ryne Sandberg and A.J. Burnett were both ejected in the second inning, after Burnett questioned the location of a few pitches.  Burnett had already allowed five runs in his 1 2/3 innings of work.  Phillippe Aumont entered the ballgame and allowed six more runs in his two innings of work to increase his ERA to an impressive 19.06.

Featured Card:  With Sandberg's second ejection of the season, bench coach Larry Bowa got to manage the club once again.  Every time the television camera caught Bowa in the dugout, he definitely was not smiling.

2003 Playoff Portraits #127 Marlon Byrd

Phillies 2, Nationals 1
Game 110 - Friday Night, August 1st in Washington
Record - 49-61, 5th Place, 10 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Another Why Even Bother Post-Vacation Massive Catch-Up, Part 7 of 8

One Sentence Summary:  Marlon Byrd's home run in the sixth broke a 1-1 tie, and Roberto Hernandez pitched another great ballgame as the Phillies took their second in a row from the first place Nationals.

What It Means:  From the Phillies.com game recap -
"[Philadelphia general manager] Ruben [Amaro] will make sure he lets some GMs know every time I have a good game: 'You know, you could have had that.'  I'm sure my agent said the same thing," Byrd said.  "But it's just one of those thing where, right now, I'm trying to win games for this team."
What Happened:  Hernandez won his sixth game of the season (tying A.J. Burnett and Cole Hamels for the team lead) by pitching eight solid innings, allowing an unearned run on five hits.  Jonathan Papelbon (also still here) recorded his 26th save.

Featured Card:  I went back into the Archives for this Byrd card.  I have to believe there's still a really good chance he'll be traded before the end of August.

2014 Topps Allen & Ginter #307 Cliff Lee

Phillies 10, Nationals 4
Game 109 - Thursday Night, July 31st in Washington
Record - 48-61, 5th Place, 11 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Another Why Even Bother Post-Vacation Massive Catch-Up, Part 6 of 8

One Sentence Summary:  The Phils thumped the Nationals, 10-4, but this day will be remembered as the day Ruben Amaro, Jr. failed to make any trades and former ace Cliff Lee threw his last pitch of the 2014 season.

What It Means:  Bugger it all.

What Happened:  I left the beach around 2 on this afternoon in order to fully focus on hitting refresh on Twitter and MLB Trade Rumors.  There was a false report with about an hour left to the 4 P.M. deadline that Marlon Byrd had been dealt to the Yankees.  And then the deadline passed.  And the Phillies hadn't traded one player.  And I wished I hadn't left the beach.

In the game, Grady Sizemore paced the offense with three RBIs.  The offense pounded out 17 hits, led by Ben Revere's four and three hits a piece from Sizemore and Jimmy Rollins.

Featured Card:  Lee's 31st pitch in the second inning was likely his last of the year.  He threw the pitch, winced a little, pointed to his elbow and walked off the field.  It was one of the most depressing moments of a completely depressing season.

Transaction:  Lee was placed on the disabled list following the game and reliever Cesar Jimenez was recalled from the IronPigs.

2013 Topps #646 Phillippe Aumont

Mets 11, Phillies 2
Game 108 - Wednesday Afternoon, July 30th in Flushing
Record - 47-61

Another Why Even Bother Post-Vacation Massive Catch-Up, Part 5 of 8

One Sentence Summary:  The Mets completely dismantled the Phillies in an 11-2 drubbing.

What It Means:  When we look back on this long, dreadful season, there will be a dozen or so losses that will stand out as much worse than all the other losses.  This will be one of those such losses.

What Happened:  Kyle Kendrick was actually doing well until the fifth, when he allowed the Mets to put up a four-spot.  He was chased after six innings.  The bullpen trio of Mario Hollands, Justin De Fratus and Phillippe Aumont didn't fare much better.  Aumont allowed two more runs in his inning of work and his ERA for the season is now up to 14.73.

Featured Card:  Prior to this game, I listened to the pre-game show on the radio while sitting on the beach. General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. was the guest on the pre-game show and he was fielding questions from fans calling in.  One of the callers asked Amaro what one move he'd take back if he could.  I was surprised that Amaro answered the question directly instead of giving a cliche-heavy response.  Without hesitation, he said he wished he hadn't traded Cliff Lee to the Mariners when the team acquired Roy Halladay.

Only Aumont remains in the organization from that miserable trade, and it doesn't appear as if he'll be around long-term.


2007 Bowman #15 Cole Hamels (and Chase Utley)

Phillies 6, Mets 0
Game 107 - Tuesday Night, July 29th in Flushing
Record - 47-60, 5th Place, 11 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Another Why Even Bother Post-Vacation Massive Catch-Up, Part 4 of 8

One Sentence Summary:  Cole Hamels dominated the Mets in a 6-0 win.

What It Means:  It doesn't mean a whole lot, but it does solidify Hamels' position as one of the top pitchers in baseball.  I spent the majority of this game following Twitter for the latest trade rumors and hitting refresh on the MLB Trade Rumors page.  As of this writing (Wednesday evening, July 30th) the Phils hadn't dealt anyone.  I'm starting to think they won't be making any moves at all.  (Post vacation update - I was right.)

What Happened:  Hamels pitched eight fantastic innings, striking out eight and allowing only six hits.  Ken Giles pitched  a scoreless ninth to lower his ERA to 0.93.  All the offense came on three home runs - Jimmy Rollins' 14th, Grady Sizemore's first as a Phillie and Chase Utley's grand slam in the seventh.  It was the fifth grand slam of Utley's career.

Featured Card:  I wanted to post a card that featured both Hamels and Utley, given that those two played the biggest parts in this win.  According to my trusty Zistle database, I have four such cards in my collection.  Three of these cards have been featured before, and I honestly wasn't familiar with the fourth.  Unbeknownst to me until now, Hamels' 2007 Bowman card features his photo on the front, but Utley's photo on the back.  So technically . . . it's a Hamels/Utley combo card.  Here are the four Hamels/Utley cards in my collection:

2007 Bowman #15
2008 Topps Allen & Ginter Boxloader #BH3
2009 Phillies Team Issue World Champions
2009 Goudey 4 in 1 Red #35-47

1986 Topps #39 Dave Rucker

Mets 7, Phillies 1
Game 106 - Monday Night, July 28th in Flushing
Record - 46-60, 5th Place, 12 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Another Why Even Bother Post-Vacation Massive Catch-Up, Part 3 of 8

One Sentence Summary:  In what could potentially be his final start with the Phillies (it wasn't), A.J. Burnett got lit up early and the Mets went on to win this ballgame easily, 7-1.

What It Means:  It seems as if everyone the Phillies are trying to trade right now is struggling.  (These posts are running late, but I'm actually composing them shortly after the games are finished.)

What Happened:  Burnett allowed four first inning runs and was chased after just five innings.  His final line wasn't pretty - seven runs on eight hits and one three-run home run to former Phillies prospect Travis d'Arnaud.  Marlon Byrd and Carlos Ruiz both had four hits in this game, but it was all for naught.

Featured Card:  I was going to feature a d'Arnaud card from his time in the Phillies system, but I've previously posted the three cards of his in my collection.  Instead, here's the Dave Rucker card that my oldest son Doug pulled from a pack of 1986 Topps purchased from the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk for a dollar.  (He threw out the gum.)

There's a gift shop on the Ocean City boardwalk that sells Star Wars men and baseball cards, among other things.  It's an annual stop of ours whenever we walk the boards and this year Doug spent his money on packs of junk wax era cards.  He came away with packs of 1988 and 1991 Score, 1986 Topps and 1991 Fleer.  He spent the evening sorting and studying these cards and asking when we could go back for more packs of 1988 Score - his favorite of the bunch.

2004 Upper Deck Phillies McDonald's #17 Roberto Hernandez

Phillies 4, Diamondbacks 2
Game 105 - Sunday Afternoon, July 27th in Philadelphia
Record 46-59, 5th Place, 12 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Another Why Even Bother Post-Vacation Massive Catch-Up, Part 2 of 8

One Sentence Summary:  Roberto Hernandez pitched another solid game and the Phillies benefited from a few errors and the flawed new home plate collision rule in their 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks.

What It Means:  The Phillies notched a rare series win and head to New York to open a three game series with the Mets.

What Happened:  Hernandez won his fifth game of the year, thanks to seven strong innings in which he allowed just two runs on four hits.  Ryan Howard, recently de-benched (is that a word?), hit a two-run home run in the first and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth when it was ruled that Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero didn't give Howard the proper "lane" to score.  Howard was originally out on the play, but was ruled safe upon further review on instant replay.

Featured Card:  I'm fresh out of of the cards of the current Roberto Hernandez (the pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona), so the best I can do is present a card of the prior Roberto Hernandez.

2009 Upper Deck Update #U46 Antonio Bastardo

Diamondbacks 10, Phillies 6 (10 Innings)
Game 104 - Saturday Night, July 26th in Philadelphia
Record - 45-59, 5th Place, 12 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Another Why Even Bother Post-Vacation Massive Catch-Up, Part 1 of 8

One Sentence Summary:  Cliff Lee had his second straight mediocre outing since returning from the DL and Antonio Bastardo crashed and burned in the 10th, allowing the Diamondbacks to take the lead and eventually win the game, 10-6.

What It Means:  I'm writing these posts semi-real time following these games while the kids are taking naps or otherwise recovering from days at the beach.  Once I'm back home, post-vacation, I'll scan in the featured card, upload and publish.  So as I sit here writing this (beer in hand, ocean visible from our second story deck, in complete vacation mode) I have no way of knowing whether or not I've seen Bastardo pitch for the Phillies for the last time or not and if he'll be traded prior to Thursday's non-waiver trade deadline.  But I sure hope so and I sure hope he is.  (Post vacation update - He's still here.)

What Happened:  Lee lasted just five innings, surrendering three runs on nine hits.  The recently reliable bullpen allowed the Diamondbacks to creep back into the game as the Phils at one point held a 6-2 lead.  Bastardo looked awful in the 10th, giving up four runs on three hits and walk.

Cody Asche (7) and Marlon Byrd (20) hit home runs for the Phillies.

Featured Card:  For a guy who has been a part of the Phillies bullpen since 2009, Bastardo has had surprisingly few widely released Phillies cards.  By my very unofficial tally, he appeared on this 2009 Upper Deck Update card and has only appeared within two other major releases - 2009 Topps Heritage and 2012 Topps.

Saturday, August 2, 2014

2014 Chachi #56 Andres Blanco


#4
Andres Eloy Blanco
Infielder

Bats:  Switch  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'10"  Weight:  188
Born:  April 11, 1984, Urama, Carabobo, VZ
Home:  Urama, Carabobo, VZ
Signed:  Signed by the Kansas City Royals as an amateur free agent, August 2, 2000
Teams:  Kansas City Royals 2004-2006, Chicago Cubs 2009, Texas Rangers 2010-2011, Phillies 2014
Acquired:  Signed as a free agent formerly with the Washington Nationals organization, March 31, 2012

Phillies Cards in My Collection:
I have three IronPigs cards in my collection featuring Blanco, but no Phillies cards.

First Chachi Card:  2014 Chachi #56

Friday, August 1, 2014

2014 Chachi #55 Sean O'Sullivan


#61
Sean Daniel O'Sullivan
Starting Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  220
Born:  September 1, 1987, San Diego, CA
Home:  Spring Valley, CA
Drafted:  Selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 3rd round of the June 2005 draft
Teams:  Los Angeles Angels 2009-2010, Kansas City Royals 2010-2011, San Diego Padres 2013, Phillies 2014
Acquired:  Signed as a minor league free agent formerly with the San Diego Padres, December 17, 2013

Phillies Cards in My Collection:
O'Sullivan is in the 2014 Lehigh Valley IronPigs team set, but he has yet to appear on a Phillies baseball card.

First Chachi Card:  2014 Chachi #55

2014 Chachi #54 Koyie Hill


#47
Koyie Dolan Hill
Catcher

Bats:  Switch  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  205
Born:  March 9, 1979, Tulsa, OK
Drafted:  Selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 4th round of the June 2000 draft
Teams:  Los Angeles Dodgers 2003, Arizona Diamondbacks 2004-2005, Chicago Cubs 2007-2012, Miami Marlins 2013, Phillies 2014
Acquired:  Acquired from the Washington Nationals for a player to be named later or cash, March 17, 2014

Phillies Cards in My Collection:
Hill doesn't have any Phillies cards yet, but he does appear in the Lehigh Valley IronPigs' team set this year.

First Chachi Card:  2014 Chachi #54