April 28th, 1993: Philadelphia Phillies (14-5) vs San Diego Padres (9-10)
Ricky Tikki Tavi
An Introduction…
I’m the guy that cries every time he watches the intro to the 2008 World Series DVD. It’s crazy, but the Major League Baseball season was actually played in 2020, and the Phillies have again done everything they could do to try to ruin my fanhood. So I’ve decided once more to go back in time and revisit the greatest season of baseball of my childhood, the 1993 Phillies. Thanks to the internet and more specifically the saint who runs the ClassicPhilliesTV youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWb6dGkCnKBlrQLJAjZ-4-w), I’m going back and watching every 1993 Phillies I can find just like if it was 27 years ago (but with the internet)... Previously I attempted to go day for day with every Phillies game in the month of June, which was a bold idea but proved to be futile. Now the plan is to start from the beginning of the season and attempt 1-2 game recaps per week until we get to game 5 of the 1993 World series and then decide if I really want to torture myself with game 6. Come along for the ride to reminisce about the legends of John Kruk, Mitch Williams, and Darren Daulton, to mix the knowledge we have now, with jokes of how dumb things were then.
Where We Last Left Our Intrepid Heroes (and Villains)
After falling behind 8-0 in the first game of the series against the San Francisco Giants, the Phillies fell behind 6-0 to the Giants in the second game of the series, but unlike in game 1, the Phillies were unable to come back against the boys from the Bay and lost 6-3. The split against the Giants leaves the Phillies record at 14-5.
The San Diego Padres, (almost the San Diego Gorillas) as a franchise have always dealt with an uphill battle. Their problem is that San Diego is arguably the greatest place to live in America, and no one cares to go to Baseball games, when everywhere around you is beautiful. As Kruk puts it in his book, “In San Diego, there’s so much else to do. It’s like, ‘it’s six-thirty. What do you want to do? How about we go watch the Padres?’ It’s almost like an accident that they come to games.” Or as Jack Clark, perennial baseball asshole, meanly put it, “Everything that they should cheer for they’d boo for, and everything they should boo for they’d cheer for … and the town is so stupid that they can’t see.” Thus it became more and more difficult to field competitive teams when you could not profit off of them, so the Padres always had the demeanor of a penny pinching franchise. But in 1992, they’re scrap heaping, high draft picking ways, seemingly paid off for them. Going into spring of that year, the Padres looked to field a team that was stacked with talent, a season in which San Diego would host the All Star Game had them field 5 All Stars. Perennial Superstar Tony Gwynn led the way for a wrecking crew that included Benito Santiago, Fred McGriff, Derek Bell, and former Brewer cast-off Gary Sheffield, along with a decent starter group that included Andy Benes and almost World Series MVP Bruce Hurst, the Padres seemed to be the team to beat in the West. Yet as you plan, God laughs, and the Padres stumbled throughout the 1992 season, with no particular help from their manager Greg Riddoch. Riddoch, a former utility infielder, became manager for the Padres in 1990 when Jack McKeon fired himself from the job to return to only being the General Manager for the team, after gaining the job the Padres lost 11 of their next 12 and Riddoch lost a reported 22 pounds from stress. By midway through 1992, Riddoch had lost more than weight as the veterans were reported to have voted to not play for him (I can’t find a primary source for this story, but multiple offhand remarks about it happening, sadly the database for 1992 newspaper articles is not as accessible as one might hope), and the owner decided to fire him with 12 games left, while the Padres were 4 games back in the NL West, which is WILD. Brought in to replace him is Jim Riggleman, who would eventually make a career of being a replacement coach, Rigs was unable to turn the team around in the last 12 games, with the Padres finishing a disappointing 82-80 and 4th in the NL West. Subsequently the Padres went on a fire sale the like of which the MLB has never seen before, one might argue that it directly effected the next 5 World Series. The first piece moved was Catcher Benito Santiago (Santiago in 92 had won an arbitration case against the team and was the highest paid catcher in baseball that season) when he was released to go to the Marlins, next was the release of Larry Andersen who would play a pivotal role for the 93 Phillies. The Padres then traded Tony Fernandez to the New York Mets, who a month into the 93 season would be traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, where in the 93 World Series Fernandez would knock in 9 runs in the 6 game series. Also traded during the 93 season were First baseman Fred McGriff to the Atlanta Braves, where he would help them win 108 games in 93, as well as the 1995 World Series, and aid them to the 1996 World Series. And finally is Gary Sheffield, a then third baseman, was traded to the Florida Marlins, he would go on to lead those Marlins to the 1997 World Series, in return the Padres got a relief pitcher named Trevor Hoffman who would help lead the Padres to the 1998 World Series. Though some of those players remain at this point in the 1993 season, the signs are on the wall that this Padres team, currently at 9-10, is going to get much worse.
Today’s Game:
It is Wednesday April 28th, 1993 and the Phillies have just flew across the country to play a two game set at Jack Murphy Stadium. Remember when stadiums were named after people and things (hi the Vet) instead of sold to the highest bidder (hey Enron!). The stadium is named after the sportswriter who built up local support to get the stadium to be built. That’s kind of nice. The television broadcast is brought to you on Sportschannel, PRISM’s weird little brother, and all nine innings are with Andy Musser and Kent “Tek” Tekulve.
Watch for yourself at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wL_fiyWd7E&t=686s
The Line-up
CF Lenny Dykstra .
2B Mickey Morandini
1B Ricky Jordan 20 game hitting streak as a starter
3B Dave Hollins
C Darren Daulton Has hit a home run in every NL park but SD
RF Pete Incaviglia
LF Milt Thompson
SS Mariano Duncan
SP Curt Schilling
On the Mound:
Coming off a game where he pitched a complete game 5-hit shutout versus the Dodgers, Curt Schilling is in the midst of a sizzling first half that bursts him into an elite starting pitcher. We know now that Schilling will never be in the Hall of Fame, not because he wasn’t good enough, but because he’s a terrible human being, like no debate about it, no excuses, Curt Schilling is a no good, evil intended, soulless, rotting piece of human flesh. Yet in 1993, I waited with my sister and Dad in a line outside a sporting good store for four hours to get his autograph and my picture taken. In 1993, he’s one of the best, most surprisingly great pitchers in all of baseball with a 3-1 record, a 2.59 ERA, and 21 strikeouts vs 7 walks on the season. Schilling tells the broadcast teams that he attributes his turnaround to a talk from Roger Clemens in which Clemens told him, “You should work harder.” Inspiring words from the Rocket.
Taking the ball for the San Diego Padres is Greg Harris, that’s Greg W. Harris, not Greg A. Harris who currently (1993) pitches for the Boston Red Sox. I bring this up, because the broadcast mentions it, as well as his wikipedia page, and every article I could find about the man on the internet. Harris became a starting pitcher midway through the 1991 season (unhappily, apparently) and quickly became one of the hottest young pitchers in the league, going 8-4 with a 2.11 ERA over 16 starts. Harris used this half season as leverage for a 2 year 3 million dollar deal. He enters today’s contest with a 1 win and 4 loss record and a 5.4 ERA, he also leads the league in most home runs allowed with 5, for his career up to this point he is 1 and 4 against the Phillies. If you didn’t understand the whole firesale aspect of the Padres, you’d be surprised to learn that Harris too would not be long with the Padres, eventually traded to the Rockies. The Rockies were looking for any pitching and ignored the danger of small sample sizes to trade for Harris just days after Harris threw a complete game 1 run effort against the Rockies. Harris would have a disastrous tour in Colorado and eventually need surgery on his shoulder which is where it gets really interesting for Harris. To quote another blogger and his post, Remembering Greg Harris, the Colorado Rockies' first pitching casualty what happened was, “Harris had been set up by his agent, an accountant, and a doctor in San Diego. His career ended prematurely not because of on-field events, but rather a questionable financial arrangement. The agent, accountant, and doctor were in on a scam behind Harris' back that involved a $40,000 payment when the agent, David Morway, funneled the pitcher to the doctor, Gary Losse, for shoulder surgery.” Harris would eventually win 10 million dollars in the legal case, so he’s got that going for him. Which is nice.
Highs (Hopes) and Lows
High- Top 4th- Ricky Jordan
Ricky Jordan is starting at first base for the second game in a row following John Kruk’s quad pull during the San Fran comeback. Jordan is often acknowledged by the broadcast team for being such a quality back-up first baseman, and coming into today’s game he is batting .500 (5 for 10) with 3 walks over the first month of the young season. Jordan is a former first round pick of the Phillies from the 1983 amateur draft, and at one point had seemed like a cornerstone for the franchise. In his first at-bat in the 1998 season, Jordan homered, and the next night he hit another one. During his rookie season of 88 over 69 games, Jordan hit 12 home runs, and batted .308, more than enough to gain the starting job at first base for the 1989 season. The 89 season saw a regression for Jordan in all areas, particularly for a right handed first baseman, and with the acquisition of John Kruk, Jordan went from future first basemen of the 90’s to decent back-up. Yesterday in his first start of the season, Jordan went 3-4 with a home run and began today’s game off with a single and in the fourth inning singled and later scored on a Dave Hollins double. Hollins would also scored thanks to Pete Incaviglia’s 9th RBI in 5 games 2-0 PHI
High- Bottom 5th- What are we doing, San Diego?
Schilling cruises through his first four innings in classic Schilling fashion, quick work and short pitch counts. His first hiccup comes in the bottom of the fifth when he gives up a double to Jeff Gardner with no outs. It’s notable only because it highlights the stupidity in which multi sport stadiums are designed. The coolest thing in the world for a city to have in the 1970’s was a multi-sport stadium, which would provide ample opportunity for locals to hold events as well as to be home to both a baseball and football team. These concrete circles started popping up all across the lower 48 states, like the Vet or Three Rivers in Pittsburgh, or Jack Murphy in San Diego. These “flexible” spaces gave little thought on where bullpens should be put permanently which tended to leave them in very awkward places. The Padres solved this problem by making a cove behind the 3rd base bleachers, thinking that obviously there’s no way a ball could be hit in fair territory and reach that cover. That’s exactly where Gardner’s double goes, as Milt Thompson must run past the scurrying San Diego Padre relief pitchers, find the ball amongst their equipment and then throw the ball into play by making sure he clears the fans in the stands on the third base line. It’s wild.
One pitch later, Ricky Jordan appears out of nowhere to snag a line drive to get the first out of the inning, allowing Schilling to calm down and strike out the next two Padres to get out of the inning unscathed 2-0 PHI.
Mids- Bottom 6th- Ouch
As Lenny Dykstra says in Whatever It Takes Dude “And now you can see why I had nightmares about Inky running full speed right at me for a ball in the gap”
High- Top 7th- Hit Me Jordan One More Time
With Dykstra on base after his second single of day (raising his average back over the Mendoza line), Ricky Jordan smashed a double to centerfield to score Dykstra. Jordan scores 2 pitches later on a 2nd RBI double by Dave Hollins, Hollins’ 14th RBI of the season 4-0 Phillies.
Low- Bottom 8- Over Trusting Pitchers
Jim Fregosi sends out Curt Schilling with 4-0 lead into the 8th inning. He’s sitting at 105 pitches, but just breezed through the 7th inning. The 6th inning was a different story as Schilling gace multiple hard hits up the middle as it seemingly felt that the Padres hitters were starting to get to him. This matters not to Fregosi, who puts all faith and trust behind his starting pitchers, and Schilling loads the bases after giving up 2 singles and a walk. Fregosi finally gets Larry Andersen and David West to start warming up as Curt Schilling faces off against Fred McGriff. Maybe it’s good that Schilling got an intense at bat against McGriff in April, and gets the Crime Dog to hit a sacrifice fly to Right Field to score a run. Fregosi still doesn’t bring in a relief pitcher as Schilling is now up to 120 pitches to face pinch hitter Guillermo Velasquez (who I googled just to make sure he’s not related to Vince), and surrenders a single that scored another run to narrow the score 4-2. Finally, Fregosi brings in Larry Andersen, who induces a ground out to short to end the inning. 4-2 PHI
Wild Rides
The Phillies scored an insurance run thanks to a single by Mariano Duncan, but forced Fregosi to use a pinch hitter for Andersen, so out came Mitch Williams for the save. After allowing a single, Tekulve casually mentions how Mitch Williams hasn’t been living up to his “Wild Thing” moniker this year by only allowing one walk so far, and Mitch proceeds to walk the bases loaded with no outs.
Now I don’t expect Mitch Williams to be perfect during this adventure through the 93 season, so it was really quite wonderful to feel these feelings again. The anger I had at Mitch’s inability to throw a strike, the depressingly familiar sense of disappointment in a Phillies player, it all was exhilarating to achieve in February during a pandemic. Musser mentions, “Phils 2nd and short are playing for a double play.” Tek adds, “Mitch doesn’t get many double plays.”
And to my utter surprise and excitement, Mitch got Phil Clark to ground into a 5-3 double play, allowing 1 run but causing two outs. Williams then earned the save with a grounder to Mariano Duncan to finish the off the Padres.
Final: Philadelphia Phillies 5 (15-5) San Diego Padres 3 (9-11)
Words of Wisdom from Andy and Tek
“The hits are just around the corner”- Milt Thompson told Andy Musser before the game. It’s tough to think about how Milt Thompson is on the back 9 of his career and is currently not hitting very well. Just trying to hang on for one or two more seasons. He has to say stuff like this to growing concerns if he has anything left. He does.
“Fregosi won’t be criticized for this” Tek argues that Fregosi is making the right move to go to the bullpen after Schilling gives up two runs. I don’t know Tek, maybe Fregosi should have pulled Schilling after getting 7 strong innings instead of praying for an 8th? I’ve got a couple complaints.
Final Conclusions
The Phillies win their first of a pair against the San Diego Padres, thanks to Ricky Jordan’s convenient hitting and another strong effort by Curt Schilling. 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. Tomorrow’s game in 1993 against the Padres is supposed to be one of the better games of the season (according to the books) but it doesn’t seem to be on the youtube page, so we’ll be moving on to Los Angeles to face off against Tommy Lasorda on his home turf for the last game of April.
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