Archive: May, 2012
Bob Vetrone Jr.
Loyal reader Nicholas Hoyt points out that the Phillies have a good shot at reaching the 12,000-home run mark this weekend against the Marlins. Heck, Ty Wigginton may get them there himself.
When they get there, they will be the 8th of the 30 current franchises to reach 12K HR. The numbers for each (through Thursday), according to baseball-reference,com:
| Team | Games | Homers | Team | Games | Homers | |
| Yankees | 17,336 | 14,603 | Twins | 17,369 | 9,649 | |
| Giants | 19,770 | 13,677 | Rangers | 8,172 | 7,859 | |
| Cubs | 20,300 | 12,932 | Angels | 8,187 | 6,878 | |
| Braves | 20,267 | 12,689 | Brewers | 6,888 | 6,351 | |
| Tigers | 17,388 | 12,563 | Mets | 8,019 | 6,282 | |
| Red Sox | 17,348 | 12,321 | Astros | 8,027 | 5,889 | |
| Reds | 19,885 | 12,078 | Blue Jays | 5,599 | 5,695 | |
| Phillies | 19,696 | 11,994 | Nationals | 6,884 | 5,408 | |
| Orioles | 17,361 | 11,853 | Mariners | 5,600 | 5,351 | |
| Athletics | 17,322 | 11,789 | Royals | 6,878 | 5,176 | |
| Indians | 17,361 | 11,784 | Padres | 6,894 | 5,150 | |
| Dodgers | 19,685 | 11,546 | Rockies | 3,066 | 3,485 | |
| Cardinals | 19,888 | 11,003 | Marlins | 3,061 | 2,857 | |
| Pirates | 19,845 | 10,346 |
D'backs |
2,319 | 2,461 | |
| White Sox | 17,357 | 10,204 | Rays | 2,316 | 2,257 |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
If the Sixers are to bounce back and win this conference semifinal series against the Celtics, someone is going to have to start impersonating Andrew Toney.
Toney was known as the Boston Strangler in the early 1980s, as he more than once helped carry the Sixers to a postseason victory over the Celtics.
How valuable was he? He averaged 25.9 points per game in playoff victories over Boston, but only 15.5 when the Sixers fell. His field-goal shooting difference was enormous (57.1% to 39.6%).
Bob Vetrone Jr.
Odds, ends and factoids from Monday's Game 5 of the Sixers-Celtics series:
♦ Brandon Bass had not led the Celtics in scoring in a game all season. He outscored the Sixers in the third period by himself, 18-16.
♦ Bass was 9-for-10 from the line and his playoff free-throw percentage went down. He was 23-for-24 coming in. He is 101-for-109 (92.7%) from the line in the postseason in his career, which is third all-time among players with 100 FTM. (Mark Price 94.4%, Calvin Murphy 93.2% are ahead of him.) Bass is a career 82.4% FT shooter during the regular season.
Bob Vetrone Jr.
If youth and freshness have anything to do with it, the Sixers have a pretty good shot at getting through to the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Celtics' nine-man rotation, led by the aging Kevin Garnett (left), has 50 years and 95,000 NBA minutes on that of the Sixers.
Here are the nine-man rotations for each team, their age and career regular season and postseason minutes played heading into Monday's Game 5:
SIXERS |
Age |
Season Minutes |
Playoff Minutes |
Total Minutes |
| Elton Brand | 33 | 31,258 | 960 | 32,218 |
| Andre Iguodala | 28 | 23,216 | 1,265 | 24,481 |
| Thad Young | 23 | 10,169 | 739 | 10,908 |
| Lou Williams | 25 | 9,955 | 691 | 10,646 |
| Spencer Hawes | 24 | 7,732 | 367 | 8,099 |
| Jrue Holiday | 21 | 6,864 | 567 | 7,431 |
| Jodie Meeks | 24 | 4,425 | 198 | 4,623 |
| Evan Turner | 23 | 3,510 | 440 | 3,950 |
| Lavoy Allen | 23 | 624 | 182 | 806 |
| Totals | 224 | 97,753 | 5,409 | 103,162 |
| CELTICS | ||||
| Kevin Garnett | 36 | 45,779 | 4,454 | 50,233 |
| Ray Allen | 36 | 42,373 | 4,587 | 46,960 |
| Paul Piece | 34 | 37,785 | 4,756 | 42,541 |
| Rajon Rondo | 26 | 14,226 | 3,098 | 17,324 |
| Keyon Dooling | 32 | 14,052 | 571 | 14,623 |
| Mickael Pietrus | 30 | 11,564 | 1,268 | 12,832 |
| Brandon Bass | 27 | 8,057 | 793 | 8,850 |
| Ryan Hollins | 27 | 4,088 | 198 | 4,286 |
| Greg Stiemsma | 26 | 766 | 84 | 850 |
| Totals | 274 | 178,690 | 19,809 | 198,499 |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
The Sixers have played 10 playoff games this season, and in nine of the them, they have managed to ring up a "9" somewhere in their final score:
| Day | Date | Opponent | Dec. | Score | Opp. |
| Saturday | April 28 | at Bulls | L | 91 | 103 |
| Tuesday | May 1 | at Bulls | W | 109 | 92 |
| Friday | May 4 | Bulls | W | 79 | 74 |
| Sunday | May 6 | Bulls | W | 89 | 82 |
| Tuesday | May 8 | at Bulls | L | 69 | 77 |
| Thursday | May 10 | Bulls | W | 79 | 78 |
| Saturday | May 12 | at Celtics | L | 91 | 92 |
| Monday | May 14 | at Celtics | W | 82 | 81 |
| Wednesday | May 16 | Celtics | L | 91 | 107 |
| Friday | May 18 | Celtics | W | 92 | 83 |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
As the Phillies conclude the three-game set with the Red Sox Sunday and looking forward to the Sixers-Celtics conference semifinal series continuing Monday, we'd thought we look at how the current teams from each city have fared against each other (through Saturday):
| Regular Season | Postseason | |||
| Team | Opponent | Games | Series | Games |
| Phillies | Red Sox | 20-28 | 0-1 | 1-4 |
| Sixers | Celtics | 113-157 | 4-7 | 32-37 |
| Eagles | Patriots | 6-5 | — | 0-1 |
| Flyers | Bruins | 63-85-21 | 3-3 | 13-18 |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
When the Texas Rangers’ Josh Hamilton went on his little home run stretch last week (nine dingers over six games), it brought to mind the tears that former Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt would go on that had him looking like a man playing a boy’s game.
We found nine such stretches (of at least 10 games each) where Schmidt’s performance was fun to watch and hard to believe. (We easily could have squeezed in another dozen.)
It is possible to see the 548 dingers on his career resume and think of Schmidt as just a home-run hitter, but notice that most of the hot streaks listed below include at least one triple and all have a high on-base percentage.
| Year | Dates | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | Avg. | OBA | Slg. |
| 1977 | June 6-July 12 | 33 | 119 | 36 | 44 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 40 | .370 | .472 | .916 |
| 1979 | July 6-29 | 20 | 73 | 19 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 31 | .425 | .482 | 1.041 |
| 1980 | Aug. 11-24 | 14 | 61 | 14 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 20 | .410 | .486 | .869 |
| 1981 | April 11-May 8 | 22 | 82 | 23 | 25 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 25 | .305 | .406 | .768 |
| 1981 | Aug. 10-Sept. 4 | 24 | 84 | 18 | 33 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 26 | .393 | .495 | .798 |
| 1983 | April 13-May 7 | 17 | 59 | 23 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 22 | .441 | .553 | .847 |
| 1985 | Aug. 4-Sept. 15 | 37 | 132 | 22 | 45 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 32 | .341 | .450 | .720 |
| 1986 | May 27-June 25 | 29 | 100 | 24 | 36 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 20 | .360 | .430 | .670 |
| 1987 | Aug.7-31 | 24 | 88 | 15 | 32 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 20 | .364 | .477 | .659 |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
ESPN Stats & Info points out that the Sixers have recorded two of the three biggest comeback victories in this year's postseason. And they have been involved in three of the five largest:
| Date | Team | Opponent | Def. | Score | Time Left (Qtr.) | Final |
| April 29 | Clippers | Grizzlies | 27 | 57-84 | 2;12 (3rd) | 99-98 |
| May 18 | Sixers | Celtics | 18 | 31-49 | 10:50 (3rd) | 92-83 |
| May 4 | Sixers | Bulls | 14 | 53-67 | 10:16 (4th) | 79-74 |
| May 12 | Celtics | Sixers | 13 | 32-45 | Halftime | 92-91 |
| May 5 | Thunder | Mavericks | 13 | 73-86 | 9:44 (4th) | 103-97 |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
There are many steps to becoming a Phillies' all-time icon. Slapping Wrigley Field around like Carlos Ruiz did Wednesday and Thursday is one of them. (Hitting .363 on the season, as the Phillies catcher is doing this year, is another.)
Obviously, the current Phillies do not have as many chances to do so, with just one trip to the Windy City each year, as the 1970s and 80s Phillies did. Those teams made three trips to Chitown each season when both teams were members of the NL East and squared off 18 times a season.
Nonetheless, you can do a lot with a little, as Ruiz' 2012 two-game totals there show. Especially as compared to how he had performed in Wrigley prior to this season:
| 2007-11 | 2012 | |
| Games | 15 | 2 |
| Batting Avg. | .205 | .667 |
| Hits-AB | 9-44 | 6-9 |
| Doubles | 2 | 1 |
| Triples | 0 | 0 |
| Home Runs | 0 | 1 |
| Slugging Pct. | .250 | 1.111 |
| Total Bases | 11 | 10 |
| On-Base Pct. | .298 | .700 |
| Walks | 8 | 1 |
| Strikeouts | 5 | 0 |
| Runs | 6 | 3 |
| RBI | 3 | 4 |
Bob Vetrone Jr.
As soon as Hector Luna's grand slam left Wrigley Field Wednesday night, we went right to the baseball-reference.com play index and found the 27 ninth-inning or later slams hit by Phillies since 1958 (below).
Although they are few and far between, two players — Benito Santiago and Ryan Howard — each hit a pair within a few months of each other.
Year |
Date |
Batter |
Opponent |
Inn. |
Pre-Slam Score |
| 1958 | July 27 (G2) | Wally Post | Dodgers | b-10th | T 2-2 |
| 1958 | Sept. 3 | Rip Repulski | Braves | b-9th | L 1-11 |
| 1959 | Aug. 9 (G1) | Ed Bouchee | at Cardinals | t-9th | W 4-3 |
| 1967 | Sept. 16 | Rick Joseph | Dodgers | b-11th | T 4-4 |
| 1968 | Sept. 29 | Dick Allen | at Mets | t-9th | W 6-3 |
| 1970 | July 16 | Byron Browne | at Padres | t-9th | L 6-7 |
| 1970 | July 19 (G1) | Jim Hutto | at Dodgers | t-9th | T 4-4 |
| 1970 | Aug. 2 | Tony Taylor | Giants | b-9th | L 3-6 |
| 1971 | June 20 (G2) | Deron Johnson | at Mets | t-11th | T 5-5 |
| 1978 | June 3 | Davey Johnson | Dodgers | b-9th | T 1-1 |
| 1983 | April 13 | Bo Diaz | Mets | b-9th | L 6-9 |
| 1983 | July 11 | Mike Schmidt | at Reds | t-11th | T 7-7 |
| 1983 | Sept. 2 | Ozzie Virgil | Giants | b-9th | L 1-3 |
| 1986 | June 29 | Juan Samuel | at Cardinals | t-9th | L 4-7 |
| 1989 | Sept. 17 (G1) | John Kruk | Cardinals | b-12th | T 5-5 |
| 1991 | Aug. 6 | Dale Murphy | Cubs | b-11th | T 2-2 |
| 1993 | June 14 | Jim Eisenreich | at Expos | t-9th | W 6-2 |
| 1993 | Aug. 13 | Kim Batiste | Mets | b-9th | T 5-5 |
| 1996 | May 3 | Benito Santiago | at Braves | t-9th | T 2-2 |
| 1996 | May 26 | Todd Zeile | at Giants | t-9th | W 4-1 |
| 1996 | July 21 | Benito Santiago | at Marlins | t-9th | W 8-3 |
| 2000 | June 21 | Pat Burrell | at Mets | t-9th | W 6-5 |
| 2005 | Aug. 10 | Ryan Howard | at Dodgers | t-9th | T 5-5 |
| 2005 | Sept. 21 | Ryan Howard | at Braves | t-10th | T 6-6 |
| 2009 | April 24 | Shane Victorino | at Marlins | t-9th | L 2-3 |
| 2009 | Sept. 10 | Matt Stairs | at Nationals | t-9th | L 2-8 |
| 2012 | May 16 | Hector Luna | at Cubs | t-9th | W 5-2 |
