Phils Swept; Go 1-8 on Home Stand

On th 45th anniversary of Jim Bunning's perfect game, you would expect a special game from Cole Hamels. Well he did indeed deliver, going eight innings, striking out 10 and surrendering two runs on seven hits. Surely one of the best offenses can give Hamels the support. Wrong. After Greg Dobbs solo home run in the second, the Phillies offense could only manage two hits as they lost 2-1 to the Baltimore Orioles, capping another sweep and a 1-8 home stand.

Hamels was just fantastic despite giving up the two runs. His change up was deadly and his fastball was hitting all the spots. Just shows how good a pitcher does when the game is being caught by Carlos Ruiz. He also showed more promise at the plate than most of the Phillies offense as he almost doubled down the line during one at bat and almost hustled out a grounder in another.

I don't like to play the "if card" but seriously, if the umpire made the right call in the eighth when Jimmy Rollins was "tagged," Shane Victorino's double would have driven him in. Rollins hit a slow grounder to first basemen Ty Wigginton who then flipped the ball to the pitcher who clearly missed the tag. The umpire called Rollins out, forcing Charlie Manuel to argue the call and get ejected. Victorino doubles and then Chase Utley grounded out to waste the opportunity.

Unfortunately for Jimmy, that does not excuse him for the ripping he's about to get. He sucks, plain and simple. Ever since his MVP year, he has tried to be better than the player he truly is. He's a great fielder and a 6-8 spot hitter and nothing more. A lead off hitter should not have a .260 OBP. Once Raul Ibanez is back, Victorino should be the lead off guy with Utley and Jayson Werth flopping in the two-spot depending on the opposing pitcher. Rollins should sit in the six or seven spot, swapping with Pedro Feliz now and then. I understand he's trying to draw more walks but he's hitting fly balls and not getting on base.

Friday: The pitching got knocked around en route to a 7-2 butt kicking to the lowly Orioles.

Saturday: It was a very exciting game. Down 3-0, the Phillies got two runs in and had two men on. The sick Ryan Howard pinch hit, and drove a ball deep into the bull pen to give the Phillies a 5-3 lead. In the top of the ninth, Ryan Madson surrendered a solo home run, allowed a base runner, and then Brian Roberts took his two-out, 1-2 fast ball deep to right to give the Orioles the 6-5 lead. They held on and won.

Series MVP's:

Shane Victorino (PHI): 5-9; 2 runs; 3 doubles; stolen base

Brian Roberts (BAL): 5-13; 3 runs; double; game winning HR; 5 RBI's; SB

Nex Series: Philadelphia Phillies (36-31; 23-9 on the road) at Tampa Bay Rays (37-34; 21-12 at home)

This is the World Series rematch MLB has been waiting for except for both teams aren't as hot as they were when they last met in the fall classic. For the Phillies, this will be the first real rematch versus Pat Burrell. We also will have to listen to those damn cowbells all series.

This is a huge series for the Phillies, who are currently on a six game losing streak. The Rays took two of three from the Mets, helping the Phillies. The Phillies are 3-9 versus the AL while the Rays 8-4 versus the NL.

I expect to see some shaking up of the line up during this series. I don't know if Manuel will stick with Rollins at lead off but I certainly wouldn't. If I could chose the line up, it would look like this:

Victorino CF/Utley 2B/Feliz 3B/Howard 1B/Werth LF/Rollins SS/Stairs DH/Ruiz C/Dobbs RF

Rollins will not be swinging out of his slump so I want to drop him to six. As for my 3-4-5 pitch, Feliz has done a great job at getting on base. Howard could use the RBI opportunities with Victorino, Utley, and Feliz in front of him while Werth can protect Howard. This line up will also force the Rays to dig into their bull pen in late innings.

Probables:

6/23: Moyer (4-6, 6.35 ERA); Price (1-1, 3.46 ERA)

6/24: Blanton (4-3, 5.28 ERA); Garza (4-5, 3.83 ERA)

6/25: Bastardo (2-2, 5.21 ERA): Sonnanstine (5-7, 6.60 ERA)

FIM Recap

I'm still up for absolutely no reason whatsoever so I decided to recap moment 15-2 of the Famous/Infamous Moment series. Tomorrow morning I will post #1 which is pretty obvious as to what it is. Here is the list:

#15 - Steve Cartlon (1994), Mike Schmidt and Richie Ashburn (1995), and Jim Bunning (1996) get inducted into the Hall of Fame.

#14 - The 2007 run when the Phillies helped the Mets create the biggest choke in baseball.

#13 - The birth of our beloved Phillie Phanatic.

#12 - The Phillies record career loss #10,000 versus the Cardinals in 2006.

#11 - Veterans Stadium is imploded.

#10 - Ryan Howard wins the Rookie of the Year and MVP in back-to-back seasons.

#9 - The departure of Harry Kalas and Whitey Asburn.

#8 - The Phillies trade Larry Bowa and Ryne Sandberg for Ivan DeJesus.

#7 - The collapse in 1964.

#6 - Schmidt hits his 500th homer.

#5 - The Whiz Kids win the 1950 pennant.

#4 - Jim Bunning goes perfect in 1964.

#3 - The Phillies win their first world championship in 1980.

#2 - Joe Carter breaks our hearts.

I wonder what #1 will be.....

FIM #4: Bunning Goes Perfect

1964 was one of the most memorable seasons in Phillies history. It was full of highs and ended in disaster. One of those special moments came on June 21 versus the Mets at Shea Stadium. It was also Father's Day (ironically this year Father's Day falls on June 21 again) and Jim Bunning would throw the greatest game any pitcher in a Phillies uniform ever threw.

Johnny Stephenson steps up to the play with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th. Bunning, who already dropped the first 26 batters, makes Stephenson his next victim as he strikes him out. That's what we like to call perfection.

Bunning went 9 complete innings, striking out 10 and giving up no runs, hits, or errors. 27 men stepped to the plate and 27 men couldn't reach first base. Bunning only threw 90 pitches, 79 of them were strikes. His perfect game was the first one the National League had seen in 84 years. Basically a perfect game in the NL was like a World Series to the Cubs (ouch!).

Bunning also helped his own cause offensively as he drove in two runs with a double that game and got offensive support from Johnny Callison's solo home run.

Here is the box score of that amazing day:

FIM #7: The Phold

The Reds' Chico Ruiz steals home

1964 was supposed to be a great year for the Phillies. They already saw a no hitter from Jim Bunning and they were in the clear to take the division. Well with a 6 1/2 game lead, they blew the last 12 games to miss the playoffs. Known as the "Phold," this was originally the worst collapse until 2007 when the Mets choked worse than this team.

They couldn't ask for a better season from Bunning, who went 19-8 with a 2.63 ERA that year. Chris Short also helped Bunning support the pitching. They even got some help from third baseman Dick Allen, who had an excellent rookie season. Manager Gene Mauch knew this team was going to win it's first world championship.

Starting on September 21, the Phillies went on a ten game losing streak, and the Cincinnati Reds went on to win nine in a row. The turning point in that September 21 game was when Chico Ruiz stole home in the bottom of the 6th inning. The game ended with a Reds victory of 1-0. This began the Phillies 10 game slide.

The crucial series came when Phillies were in 2nd place. They traveled to St. Louis to play the Cardinals after their losing home stand. They dropped the first game of the series to Bob Gibson by a 5-1 score, their eighth loss in a row, dropping them to third place. The Cardinals would sweep the three-game set and assume first place for good. The Reds would catch up and tie the Phillies for second, winning thanks to a tie breaker.

In an interview with the NY Post back in 2007 about the Mets collapse, Bunning talked about his collapse: "The one thing we never got in '64," Bunning said, "was the one performance, the one big hit, the one huge pitching performance that could have stopped the bleeding."

It's an image that only a few still remember. Like many of the other bad moments in Phillies history, this wiped out by the 2 world championships won in 1980 and 2008.

FIM #15: Three Straight Years of HOFers

It was in the wake of a World Series run that ended in heart break. But fans were soon reminded of the great players that have worn the Phillies jersey in years past. 1994 was the first of three consecutive years a Phillie would get inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

In 1994, Steve Carlton was inducted. He is considered one of the greatest pitchers to ever play the game. Carlton came over to Philadelphia in the “greatest trade in Phillies history” for Rick Wise in 1972. He continued to be the dominatne pitcher he was in St. Louis, helping the Phillies win their first World Series in 1980. Carlton won 329 games in his career with 254 complete games, 55 of those were shut outs.

In 1995, the Phillies were treated with 2 HOFers: Mike Schmidt and the late Richie Ashburn. Schmidt is considered the greatest third basemen ever. He was a Phillie his whole career and was a 9-time Gold Glover, 12-time All Star, 6-time Silver Slugger, and 1-time world champion.

Ashburn was a member of the 1950 pennant winning team nicknamed the “Whiz Kids” and became one half of the famous Harry and Whitey broadcasting team. He could hit, get on base and steal then would steal them. He is 3rd in Phillies history in runs scored. He is also a 5-time All Star. He passed away on September 9, 1997.

Lastly, in 1996, Jim Bunning was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Bunning was famous for throwing the only perfect game in Phillies history in 1964, the same year they had their monumental collapse. Bunning was excellent his whole career, winning 224 games and striking out 2855 batters.

All four players have had their numbers retired by the Phillies. Surely it was a wonderful consolation prize after losing the heart breaker in 1993.