June 16, 1993: Philadelphia Phillies at Montreal Expos
Skip to Alou
An Introduction...
I’m the guy who still hates Omar Daal, Travis Lee, and Nelson Figueroa for being a part of the Curt
Schilling trade (Padilla Flotilla forever though). With the chance of the season dwindling and only the
KBO to salve my baseball addiction, I made the decision to go back in time. Thanks to the internet
and more specifically the saint who runs the ClassicPhilliesTV youtube channel
1993 Phillies, day for day just like if it was 27 years ago (but with the internet). To reminisce about
the legends of John Kruk, Mitch Williams, and Darren Daulton, mixing the knowledge we have now,
with jokes of how dumb things were then. Follow along for the month of June and if it works out, I’ll
continue to the month of July.
Where We Last Left our Intrepid Heroes (and Villains)
The Phillies lost last night for the first time in a week, they currently sit in first place in the NL East
and have a 45-18 record.
The Montreal Expos are at 34-30 and second in the NL East while fielding the youngest roster in the
league with an average age of 25.7. The key to their success the previous year when they won a
surprise 87 games, and their eventual success in 93, was coach Felipe Alou. Alou has the distinction
of being the second Domincan born Major League Baseball player (First regular playing), a country
that would go on to breed some of the greatest baseball players the planet would ever see. The Alou
family (whose real last name is actually Rojas and was only billed as Alou due to a 1960’s scout not
understanding spanish) is baseball royalty and should be viewed as so. Not only was Felipe a
phenomenal player for the Giants, Braves, A’s, Yankees, Expos, and Brewers, but his brothers Matty
and Jesus would come join him in the majors to substantial careers. In what must have been a pretty
great time for the family, the 1963 San Francisco Giants started all three Alou brothers in the
outfield. After collecting over 2100 hits, leading the NL twice in hits, and finishing 5th in MVP voting in the 1966 season, he became a minor league baseball coach within the Expos organization. Alou had excelled in player development and with coaching winter ball throughout the Caribbean, winning
four winter ball championships, as the Expos continually passed him over for the Major League job.
When he finally was hired in 1992 he became just the third Latino manager in baseball history. Alou
would go on to win over a thousand games while winning the 1994 Manager of the Year award
(when the strike stole his best chance at a World Series), for the Expos and Giants. He has been
inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and
his player Delino DeShields said of him in the Expos Book, “He put us in the right situations, there
was never any doubt about what was going on between the lines when he was managing. Plus he
had the ability to connect with players, and still give them space. I never saw him in the locker room,
never saw him invading anyone’s space. If you came to him, sure, he’d talk to you. But he never
crossed that line.”
Today’s Game:
It is June 16th, 1993 (Happy birthday 5 year old Adam) in Montreal Canada, where they speak
French, and the Metric System is king at Olympic Stadium. The broadcast today is on Sportschannel
and our team for nine innings is Andy Musser and Kent “Tek” Tekulve.
On the Mound:
Coming off a complete game win against the New York Mets is Curt “don’t buy video games from
me” Schilling. He has an 8-1 record so far in the 1993 season with a 3.03 ERA and a (self-
calculated) 1.04 WHiP in the midst of his first really great season as a starting pitcher.
For the opposing Expos is a young man by the name of Kent Botenfield who holds a 1-4 record with
a 3.77 ERA. This is his 6th start of the year as he had begun the year in the bullpen. As mentioned
yesterday, the Expos rotation was, in a polite way, experimental at this point. Musser mentions a
local newspaper writer (whom Andy refers to as “some wag”) describing it as “Martinez and Hill then
three days to kill”. Bottenfield is only spot starting today for an injured Ken Hill, but would find some
success as a starter with the Cardinals. His best season came in 1999 when Bottenfield was an All
Star and had an 18-7 record with a 3.97 ERA (but a 4.75 FIP).
Watch For Yourself At:
The Line-up
CF Lenny Dykstra (2nd in NL in Doubles)
SS Mariano Duncan (.345 in June)
1B John Kruk
C Darren Daulton
RF Pete Incavigla
LF JIm Eisenreich (6 game hitting streak)
3B Kim Batiste
2B Mickey Morandini (2nd in NL in Triples)
P Curt Schilling
High- Lenny Dykstra Leadoff Savant
Tek and Musser start off the broadcast heaping praise upon Lenny Dykstra, first mentioning his 10
game run scoring streak, then his keen ability to take pitches and work counts, and finally his way of
annoying the starting pitchers while on the base. As this goes on, Dykstra fell into an 0-2 hole then
worked it to a 3-2 count before fouling off a pitch, and then on the 9th pitch of the at-bat, took his
walk to first base. Soon after, Dykstra would steal second and then advance to third on a fielder’s
choice, and then score on a single by John Kruk to make it a 1-nothing lead. Dykstra extends his run
scoring streak to eleven.
Low- Sending Kruk from first
Third base coach (and Phillies legend) Larry Bowa decided to tempt fate in the first inning with the
rotund (but still athletic) John Kruk’s speed. With Kruk on first, Darren Daulton hit a line drive to the
Right Field wall. In Right Field was Montreal Expo and cannon armed Larry Walker, who even that
early in his career was known for his throwing ability. With this knowledge, Bowa decided to give
Kruk the green light around third to score, but after a perfect relay to/by Delino DeShields and a nice
block of the plate by catcher Tim Laker, Kruk was nailed at home.
Low- Frank Bolick’s Near Career Series
After tying the game on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the 1st, the Expos took the lead in the
second, thanks to “that guy I’ve never heard of” Frank Bolick. The good news for Frank Bolick is he
continues to impress with a double and scoring a run to help the team. The bad news is that his
career is about to take a long downward spiral. The plan was to argue that this was his best series
as a professional baseball player, but it turns out in a week he’s going to accumulate roughly 20
percent of his career counting stats against the Pirates. After that he would have a long streak of
very little production and an eventual demotion back to the minors. Bolick would spend the next 4
seasons in the minors before a near literal cup of coffee with the California Angels. Frustrated with
American baseball, Bolick decided to follow in the footsteps of Charlie Manuel, Tom Selleck, and
Stephon Marbury, he went east far east. Bolick would become somewhat of a legend in the
Japanese Pacific League for the Chiba Lotte Marines (future home of Bobby Valentine and Benny
Agbayani), where in the 1997 season the Marines went 22-2-1 in games where Bolick hit a home
run. In 2001 He hit .279 with 31 home runs and was given The Best Nine award (essentially the JPL
equivalent of the Silver Slugger) for designated hitters. So good for him.
Low- Braves Coming
At this point in the season, the San Francisco Giants hold a 7 game lead in the NL West over the
tussling for scraps, Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves. But time travelers know that the 1993
season is famous for not only the plucky Phillies, but because the NL West’s battle-of-the-titans-down-to-the-last-game division race. Musser and Tek start to provide foreshadowing during this
game mentioning how David Justice and Ron Gant are starting to turn things around. The
countdown to Fred McGriff has begun. During this terrible talk, Curt Schilling gives up a solo shot to
Third Baseman Sean Berry. 3-1 Expos.
High to Low- Milt’s first pinch hit, Kruk’s bad at bat
With two outs and Jim Eisenreich on third base, Milt Thompson is brought in to pinch hit for Curt
Schilling (ending his day with 6 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 5K) who is 0 for the season as a pinch hitter. That
changes today with a big single to score Jim Eisenreich and cut the lead to 3-2. Fun Fact: Milt
Thompson led the Phillies in batting in 1986-1987. After a pitching change, the Phillies load the
bases for John Kruk, who decided today would be a great day to pretend to be Mighty Casey to end
the inning.
 |
| Still looks cool though |
Low- KKKKim
Kim Batiste had a no good, very bad, day at the plate, which was bound to happen, and earns
himself a golden sombrero by striking out 4 times.
Wild Rides
The Phillies enter the top of the ninth inning trailing 3 to 2, and Mickey Morandini with Wes
Chamberlain quickly pop up for two outs. With the game on the line, out walks the most valuable dude on the Phillies, Lenny Dykstra. Tek mentions, “Is he looking for one fastball that he can ride it out of here? 5 home runs on the season, he has the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark if he gets
one in his zone” as Dykstra works a 3-1 count. The next pitch a fastball is delivered by Mel Rojas
right in Dykstra’s zone.
 |
| "You called it Tek!"- Musser |
David West enters the game for the Phillies to pitch the bottom of the 9th and immediately walks a
guy. After a long great catch by Eisie, there’s a man on third with 2 outs, but West is able to get
Moises Alou to fly out to end the 9th.
Extra Wild Rides
With Mel Rojas going for a third inning of relief, Kruk starts off the 10th with a single but gets out on
a fielder’s choice by Daulton. Inky follows this by hitting the first pitch he sees into a double play to end the 10th.
West is out for a second inning, because as Tek mentions earlier in the game Fregosi likes to pitch
West, Andersen, and Williams when they’re winning and DeLeon, Mauser, and Davis when they’re
losing, but what he really means is that he plays the first group when the game is close and matters,
and tries to get by with 2nd group if the game is out of hand. It’s good to note as time travelers, that
DeLeon and Mauser will be traded in two weeks and Davis released.
Again, David West walks the first batter of the inning, then, when the Expos attempt a sacrifice bunt,
the Phillies make a huge error. Though charged to David West’s throw, Mickey Morandini makes a
key mistake while covering first allowing for the runner to be safe and advance, the Expos now have
men on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. After an intentional walk to load the bases, David West is able to
strike out Delino DeShields for the first out of the inning, but the next batter David Lansing hits a
sacrifice fly to score the winning run. Phils lose 4-3 in 10 innings.
Words of Wisdom from Musser and Tek
“It’s fun to watch Andy (Larry Andersen) pitch, because everyone comes up to bat and know exactly
what he’s going to pitch.” - Tek
“When you analyze what you want from a pitcher, he’s not it” Tek on Larry Andersen, he adds that
who cares, Andersen gets people out.
“Inky says Davey Lopes is the one who taught him how to play the outfield.” - Musser, my heart
swelled at the mention of my favorite Phillies coach of all time Davey Lopes. Of course Davey would
be able to help Inky, Davy helped everyone.
In Conclusion
The Phillies lose their third series of the season, and two games in a row for the first time since Mid-
May. Schilling was decent, but the Phillies again left a gaggle on pond. If you enjoyed this wonderful
blast from the past please feel free to share, like, or comment on it. The hope is to have more people
watching 93 Phillies games on youtube and talking about it. So hit me up @Kevin_Seamus on twitter or
@loudphilliesguy on Instagram. The Phillies get no day off as they head back to Philadelphia from
Montreal to play four games against the Florida Marlins who make their first visit to the home of Rocky,
but there’s no youtube video for it, so I’ll be back on the 18th for game 2 of the series.
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