June 7, 1993 Houston Astros at Philadelphia Phillies
Mariano Dunk Can
An Introduction
I’m the guy who is still mad that Danny Tartabull only played 3 games for the Phillies. 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
the 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…
The plan had been to write about the June 6th game between the Phillies and the Rockies, so to
prepare to write this section, I did research on the June 5th game that was not on youtube. When I
started to watch the youtube video called June 6th, I was quick to learn it was actually the June 5th
game. So instead of looking back, we’re moving forward to the Astros series. The Phillies won both
the June 5th and 6th games against the Rockies, as Tommy Greene threw a complete game on the
5th, and the Phillies opened the game on the 6th with a 5 run first inning and coasted to an 11-7
win. The Phillies come into this series with the Astros winning 6 of their last 9 games, while winning
their last 3 series and have a 7.5 lead in the NL East.
The Astros are currently 31-23 and sitting in 2nd place in the NL West (remember when the Astros
were in the National League?) as the San Francisco Giants started the season red hot. Houston
was one of the first teams to have a free agent spree in Major League Baseball, when they went out
and signed both Gregory Swindell from the Reds, and Doug Drabek from the Pittsburgh Pirates
before the 93 season. Along with the two pitchers, the Art Howe-led Astros have baby HoFers Craig
Biggio and Jeff Bagwell as well as Luis Gonzales, Ken Caminiti, and Steve Finley. The Phillies
swept the Astros to open the season, but the Astros had rebounded to win their next 5, and coming
into Philadelphia tonight have won 4 straight and 8 of their last 10.
Today’s Game
It is Monday, June 7th, 1993 in the City of Brotherly Love. Today’s broadcast is once again on the
Prism Network (make sure to watch Hot Shots! The mother of all movies). In the booth for the full
nine innings is Chris “Wheels” Wheeler and Garry Maddox, according to Wheels, Jay Johnstone is
“on assignment in Manitoba, which I believe is in Canada”. It’s still not entirely clear why anyone
thought it was an okay idea to allow Wheels to do nine innings of play-by-play for lots of games, but
we’ll probably get to that later in the month.
Watch for Yourself at:
The Line-up
CF Lenny Dykstra (Leads the NL in doubles)
2B Mariano Duncan
1B John Kruk (leads the NL in walks)
3B Dave Hollins
C Darren Daulton
LF Pete Incavigla
RF Wes Chamberlain
SS Joe Millette (.205 in scattered at bats in 1992)
P Danny Jackson
On the Mound:
Once again for the Phillies we have former first round pick of the Kansas City Royals, Mr. Danny
Jackson. In his last start, he lasted 6 ⅔ while giving up 3 runs for a no decision against the
Cincinnati Reds. He has a 4-2 record on the year with a 3.77 era over 74 inning, which with the
quick math of 70 hits and 26 walks (96/77), you figure he has a 1.25 WHiP. The Phils are 8-3 in his
starts.
For the visiting Astros it’s Greg Swindell on the hill. Swindell, was one of the big name free agents
going into the offseason after pitching for the Indians and Cincinnati from 88-92 and accumulating
92 wins with a 3.43 ERA. He was an All Star in 1988 while winning 18 games and throwing 12
complete games. The Phillies made an offer to him after David Cone turned them down, but
Swindell was dead set on returning to his native Texas, and the Phillies moved on to offer Danny
Jackson a deal. So far in the 93 season he is 5-4 with a 5.09 ERA, and coming into this game he
has never given up a run at the Vet. The three year deal with Houston wouldn’t work out quite how
the Astros wanted with Swindells posting a sub .500 record and 4+ Era during his stint. Swindell
would move to the bullpen in 1998 and eventually wind up on the 2001 Arizona Diamonbacks (with
93 Phillie Curt Schilling) and win the World Series. In the 7 game series against the Yankees,
Swindell would pitch 2 ⅔ innings and give up no runs.
Highs (Hopes) and Lows
Low: The Vet on TV
As we talk more and more about the possibility of empty stadium baseball games in the year 2020
and what that could look like, look no further than games at the vet. It’s not that there’s no one there
at the Vet, they’re drawing huge crowds this season, it’s that the giant concrete circle is the least
appealing backdrop for baseball. Behind home plate is a giant green wall with an observing window
(did they sell tickets for those seats, I’ve wondered for 27 years), the space between 1st base and
the dugout is cavernous, and the outfield wall has a ten foot gap between the wall and the fans for
the bullpen. There are long periods during the game where you don’t see any fans in the shot. It’s
so uninteresting.
High: Bottom 6- Lenny Dykstra’s Batting Eye.
What set Lenny apart from most lead off men (and essentially cursed the position for the generation
of Phillie fans after), was his disciple to take pitches and work counts. Say what you will about the
post-baseball career, or about PEDS, but it’s impossible to ignore the elite batting eye that Lenny
Dykstra possessed. A perfect example comes in the bottom of the 6th inning when the Phillies are
down 1-0. With nobody out and Swindell about to go through the Phillies line-up for a third time,
Dykstra quickly falls behind in the count 0-2. He then battles back by fouling off any ball that’s near
the zone and gets the count to 3-2. He fouls off three more pitches, before drawing a walk on the
12th pitch of the at-bat. Mariano Duncan follows up by drilling a 1-0 pitch to the Right Field corner
for a triple to tie the score 1-1.
High: Bottom 6- Inky Strikes Back
After Dave Hollins hits a sacrifice fly to score Duncan from 3rd and give the Phillies a 2-1 lead.
Darren Daulton singled, and brought Pete Incavigla to the plate. Before this game Incavigla, who
the Phillies picked up from the Astros, had been in his career 3-34 against Gregory Swindell. Earlier
in the night Inky hit a single, but with the Phils in need of an insurance run, Inky delivered again to
double home Darren Daulton to make it 4-1.
High: Top 7- Fregosi Makes a Pitching Change
Instead of what has become the predictable move of trusting his starting pitcher to get out of a high
pressure jam in the 7th inning, Fregosi goes to his pen with the bases loaded and two outs. Could I
nitpick that Fregosi should have brought in a reliever after Jackson put two men on base? Yes, but
when dealing with the past, it’s best not to stew. Larry Andersen comes in and makes quick work of
Craig Biggio, and the Phillies head back to the dugout. Were that it twere so simple…
High: Bottom 7- Walking Dykstra to get to Duncan
With Wes Chamberlain on second with two outs, Houston Astros Manager Art Howe makes the
decision to intentionally walk Lenny Dykstra to get to Mariano Duncan. “Playing the percentages”
Wheels calls it. Duncan then triples for the second time in the game, scoring two more for the home
team making it 5-1. The very recently late Art Howe is probably best known to most baseball fans
for being the coach of the Moneyball era Oakland A’s and being portrayed by brilliant actor Phillip
Seymour Hoffman in the film. So it’s fun to see him pretend to understand analytics to gain an
advantage and fail in this scenario. The Phils would go on to score 2 more in the bottom of the 7th
to make it 7-1.
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Wild Rides
With a cozy 7-1 lead, intrepid Phillies manager Jim Fregosi decides to allow his big lefty reliever
David West attempt to go for a 2nd inning. In Fregosi’s defense, West had looked lights out in the
8th, striking out 2 and easily retiring the side. But baseball logic has told us for almost a century that
one inning relievers are one inning relievers for a reason. West puts two guys on to begin the 9th,
and gives up a 3-run jack to catcher (and current Seattle Mariners Manager) Scott Servais to cut the
lead to 7-4. As Mitch Williams warms up, West gets two outs before serving up a solo shot to Craig
Biggio making it 7-5, “It’s starting to get a little Itchy” says Wheels. Mitch enters the game to the
sounds of Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl” (for some reason), throws 4 pitches, forces a pop-up,
and earns his 17th save of the season.
Final: Philadelphia Phillies (39-16) 7 Houston Astros (31-24) 5
Words of Wisdom from Garry Maddox (and sometimes Wheels)
“Up here with your three houses that you’re renting. Like you’re Donald Trump, I’m going to start
calling you ‘the wheels’” - Garry Maddox. While I time travel I would prefer to not be reminded of the
present, please and thank you Garry.
“Ironman’s back up is a tough thing to be”- Garry Maddox talking about Todd Pratt’s lack of playing
time. I don’t think he’s referring to Tony Stark, but it would be cool if he was.
“If you want to know how they got Bagwell, well they traded Larry Andersen for him”- Wheels. Now I
haven’t gone back and watched the first series vs the Astros, but this may be the first time anyone
mentioned this Larry Andersen fun fact. Something that follows (and bothers the shit out of) Larry to
this day. It’s not his fault the Boston Red Sox really needed a reliever for the 88 postseason run,
and it was for sure not his fault that the Red Sox threw in a weird squatting third baseman named
Jeff Bagwell. Now Larry has to deal with the joke, and Jeff Bagwell is rightfully in the Hall of Fame.
“We know with LA, it’s going to be slider, slider, then a slider”- Garry Maddox. When Larry comes in
with the bases loaded in the 7th, he then threw slider, slider, and slider to future Hall of Famer Craig
Biggio to get him to ground out to first
Final Conclusion:
Danny Jackson puts the Phillies into a position to win, and the Phillies do just that with the aid of a
walk by the Dude and a couple of triples from Mariano Duncan. 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 plan is to be back tomorrow, June 8th, with game 2 of the series
against the Houston Astros from Veteran’s Stadium. Here’s a beautiful strike em out throw em out from
the second inning as a goodbye gift.
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| beautiful |
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