Archive: July, 2011
Bob Vetrone Jr.
I have been to three baseball All-Star games (the two at Veterans Stadium in 1976 and 1996; 1990 at Wrigley Field), and my favorite memory is from the first one. Actually, it is from before the first one.
We had seats in the first couple of rows of the 600 level in left-center field. I had never sat that far from home plate and my buddy and I were in the seats as early as possible because we were looking forward to batting practice almost as much as the game.
We were not disappointed.
Bob Vetrone Jr.
Tuesday night will mark the 11th All-Star Game started by a Phillies pitcher. Hopefully, Roy Halladay will do a little better than his predecessors, who have 7.04 ERA in those starts:
| Year | Pitcher | City | Stadium | Dec. | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO |
| 1950 | Robin Roberts | Chicago (AL) | Commiskey Park | — | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1951 | Robin Roberts | Detroit | Briggs Stadium | — | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1952 | Curt Simmons | Philadelphia | Shibe Park | — | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 1953 | Robin Roberts | Cincinnati | Crosley Field | — | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1954 | Robin Roberts | Cleveland | Cleveland Stadium | — | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 1955 | Robin Roberts | Milwaukee | County Stadium | — | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1957 | Curt Simmons | St. Louis | Busch Stadium | L | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1979 | Steve Carlton | Seattle | Kingdome | — | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1993 | Terry Mulholland | Baltimore | Camden Yards | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1999 | Curt Schilling | Boston | Fenway Park | L | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Totals | (ERA: 7.04) | 0-2 | 23 | 26 | 18 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 15 |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
There are plenty of points over the previous couple of seasons where you can see the Phillies’ record improve dramatically from that time on. Here’s one of our favorites ...
The Phillies’ records since 2007 before and after the Dodgers opened their one regular-season series at Citizens Bank Park:
| BEFORE | REST OF SEASON | ||||
| Season | Date | W- L | Pct. | W- L | Pct. |
| 2007 | Aug. 21 | 65- 58 | .528 | 24- 15 | .615 |
| 2008 | Aug. 22 | 68- 59 | .535 | 24- 11 | .686 |
| 2009 | May 12 | 15- 14 | .517 | 78- 55 | .591 |
| 2010 | Aug. 10 | 62- 49 | .559 | 35- 16 | .686 |
| 2011 | June 6 | 35- 24 | .593 | 22- 10 | .688 |
| Totals | 245-204 | .546 | 183-107 | .631 | |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
Cliff Lee's home run Saturday was the fifth hit by a Phillies pitcher at Citizens Bank Park since it opened in 2004. That includes the first — hit three innings before he hit the second — by Randy Wolf and Joe Blanton's memorable blast in Game 4 of the 2008 World Series.
| Date | Player | Opponent |
| Aug. 11, 2004 | Randy Wolf | Rockies |
| Aug. 11, 2004 | Randy Wolf | Rockies |
| Aug. 29, 2004 | Corey Lidle | Brewers |
| Oct. 26, 2008 | Joe Blanton | Rays (World Series) |
| July 9, 2011 | Cliff Lee | Braves |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
As Cliff Lee took the mound in Toronto last Sunday, burgers were on the grill, cold beverages were making their way toward bellies and this question was in the air: "Did Steve Carlton have anywhere near as good a month in his great 1972 season as Cliff Lee had this June (5-0. 0.21)?"
The answer is no (as you can see below), but it did bring to mind that Carlton, who would finish the season 27-10 for a team that won just 59 games, actually entered June of that season with a losing record (5-6) and that the Phils lost six of his nine starts between April 29 and June 3.
He then unfurled a 15-game winning streak en route to one of the great pitching exhibitions on the modern baseball era.
Bob Vetrone Jr.
There were 21 players taken in the first round of the 1990 NHL Draft. Jamomir Jagr would be the 10th of those 21 to play at least one game for the Flyers. Those 10 include four of the top five picks and six of the first nine.
Players drafted in that round with date of Flyers debut and games played for the Orange and Black (regular season and playoffs):
| Pk. | Team | Player | Flyers Debut | RS | P |
| 1 | Nordiques | Owen Nolan | |||
| 2 | Canucks | Petr Nedved | Jan. 21, 2006 | 49 | 6 |
| 3 | Red Wings | Keith Primeau | Jan. 27, 2000 | 312 | 58 |
| 4 | Flyers | Mike Ricci | Oct. 4, 1990 | 146 | 0 |
| 5 | Penguins | Jaromir Jagr | (Oct. 6, 2011-?) | ? | ? |
| 6 | Islanders | Scott Scissons | |||
| 7 | Kings | Darryl Sydor | |||
| 8 | North Stars | Derian Hatcher | Oct. 14, 2005 | 203 | 21 |
| 9 | Capitals | John Slaney | April 8, 2002 | 5 | 1 |
| 10 | Maple Leafs | Drake Berehowsky | |||
| 11 | Flames | Trevor Kidd | |||
| 12 | Canadiens | Turner Stevenson | Oct. 5, 2005 | 31 | 0 |
| 13 | Rangers | Michael Stewart | |||
| 14 | Sabres | Brad May | |||
| 15 | Whalers | Mark Greig | Jan. 7, 1999 | 30 | 5 |
| 16 | Blackhawks | Karl Dykhuis | Feb. 23, 1995 | 227 | 50 |
| 17 | Oilers | Scott Allison | |||
| 18 | Canucks | Shawn Antoski | Feb. 16, 1995 | 89 | 20 |
| 19 | Jets | Keith Tkachuk | |||
| 20 | Devils | Martin Brodeur | |||
| 21 | Bruins | Bryan Smolinski |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
According to baseball-reference.com, Phillies' pinch-hitters have a higher batting average than any other position on the club, edging out center field, third base and shortstop.
And for all us National League purists, Phillies' pitchers have a higher batting average and slugging percentage than their designated hitters (although they have only needed a DH in six games).
The Phils' hitting breakdown based on where each batter was listed as playing when he came to bat:
| Position | Avg. | OBA | Slg. | H-AB | HR | RBI |
| Catcher | .230 | .334 | .314 | 68-296 | 4 | 19 |
| First Base | .257 | .351 | .483 | 85-331 | 18 | 70 |
| Second Base | .261 | .329 | .379 | 84-322 | 4 | 31 |
| Third Base | .269 | .326 | .340 | 94-350 | 4 | 44 |
| Shortstop | .268 | .338 | .387 | 97-362 | 8 | 37 |
| Left Field | .238 | .291 | .403 | 81-340 | 11 | 45 |
| Center Field | .270 | .338 | .465 | 96-355 | 12 | 43 |
| Right Field | .230 | .329 | .390 | 73-318 | 12 | 43 |
| DH | .136 | .240 | .136 | 3- 22 | 0 | 1 |
| Pitcher | .149 | .177 | .172 | 26-174 | 0 | 9 |
| Pinch-Hitter | .271 | .348 | .347 | 32-118 | 1 | 17 |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
Four years ago Thursday, the Phillies registered the 9,999th loss in their history.
The next day — four years ago Friday — they took to the diamond as one at Denver's Coors Field to help the Colorado Rockies’ ground crew corral an infield tarp gone awry during a sixth-inning thunderstorm.
Since that tarp rescue, the local nine are a mere 117 games over .500 (383-266, .590) in the regular season. Throw out their erratic interleague play over that stretch (29-37) and they are 125 games over .500 (354-229, .607) against National League opponents.
Bob Vetrone Jr.
Jimmy Rollins is hitting .300 this season against every team in the NL East ... except the Braves, who visit Citizens Bank Park for a three-game set starting Friday.
His home run in Florida Wednesday was his eighth of the season, half of which have come against the Marlins.
And although he is batting just .189 against the Braves this year, five of his seven hits have been doubles.
Bob Vetrone Jr.
Despite Tuesday's 14-2 drubbing of the Marlins, the Phillies still have a losing record (4-9) in games following a shutout tossed by their pitching staff:
| SHUTOUT WINS | NEXT GAME | |||||
| Date | Opponent | Score | Date | Opponent | Result | |
| April 7 | Mets | 11-0 | April 8 | at Braves | L 3- 6 | |
| April 10 | at Braves | 3-0 | April 12 | at Nationals | L 4- 7 | |
| April 14 | at Nationals | 4-0 | April 15 | Marlins | L 3- 4 | |
| April 21 | at Padres | 3-0 | April 22 | at Padres | W 2- 0 | |
| April 22 | at Padres | 2-0 | April 23 | at Padres | (11) W 4- 2 | |
| May 7 | Braves | 3-0 | May 8 | Braves | L 2- 5 | |
| May 21 | Rangers | 2-0 | May 22 | Rangers | L 0- 2 | |
| June 8 | Dodgers | 2-0 | June 9 | Cubs | (11) L 3- 4 | |
| June 16 | Marlins | 3-0 | June 17 | at Mariners | L 2- 4 | |
| June 22 | at Cardinals | 4-0 | June 23 | at Cardinals | L 2-12 | |
| June 24 | Athletics | 1-0 | June 25 | Athletics | L 2- 4 | |
| June 28 | Red Sox | 5-0 | June 29 | Red Sox | W 2- 1 | |
| July 4 | at Marlins | 1-0 | July 5 | at Marlins | W 14- 2 | |
