May 14th, 1993: Philadelphia Phillies (24-8) vs Atlanta Braves (20-16)
Gant Hardly wait
An Introduction…
I’m the guy who once started an “MVP” chant for Alfonso Soriano when he returned to left field after he ended the previous inning getting picked off… The Philadelphia Phillies in the meantime did something in 2022 that blew the minds of every one of their fans with a World Series run that could only be compared with a similar run (almost) thirty years previously 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 30 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 game recap 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)
The boys in red pin stripes are coming off a series against Pittsburgh where they took 2 out of 3 from the cross state Pirates. On their day off before this series against the Braves, the Phils took a sojourn to Scranton/Wilkes Barre for an exhibition game against their AAA affiliate the Red Barons. The Red Barons became the Phillies Triple A team in 1989 before that the Phillies top minor league affiliate was the Maine Guides (changing to the much lamer Maine Phillies in their last season) from 1986-1988, before that it’s quite the adventure. From 83-86 their AAA affiliate would be in Portland… Oregon, and before that Oklahoma City. For a decade when the Phillies needed to call up a minor league player that guy would have to travel cross country to join the big leagues, which is weird. Even weirder, the triple AAA affiliate for the Phillies from 1966-1968? Why of course the San Diego Padres (before the minor league owner sold the franchise, but kept the name to start the major league Padres). Before this, I thought the triple AAA team playing the major league team only occurred in sequels of Major League, but apparently this was a near annual occurrence. Last night (in 1993) the Red Barons upset the future NL Champs (sitting a majority of their regulars and starting Jose De Leon) thanks to a 3 run home run by Ruben Amaro Jr in front of a sold out crowd. That aside the Phils come into Atlanta winning 5 of their last 6 and 8 out of the last 10, cementing their lead in the NL East. At this point in the 1992 season the Phillies were 12-19 and 9 games out of first place.
The Atlanta Braves, with their super racist chant (if you’re of the thought that “the chop” is totally fine because it’s honoring indigenous culture or that the indigenous “don’t mind”, you’re wrong and you're wrong and also you're kind of a piece of shit) are in year 3 of their fascist rule over the National League. As mentioned a few times in the previous series, the Barves (misspelling intended) won the last two pennants over the Pirates, but as was their wont, the Atlanta team couldn’t finish the deed, losing to the Minnesota Twins in 91 and the Toronto Blue Jays in 92. Their manager is the stalwart Bobby Cox who followed the 80’s trend of hiring himself as coach while he was the General Manager of the team from 1986-1990 (he actually coached the team from 1978-1981 as well). As GM, Cox was responsible for assembling the murderer’s row of pitchers that would lead them through the next 14 years of dominance, as well as drafting some guy named Chipper number 1 overall in 1990 just prior to moving back to the dugout. Bobby Cox would retire after 20 years of managing the Braves in 2010 with the 4th most wins by a manager in the history of baseball, the next closest active Manager (Dusty Baker) is still 400 wins away from him. The Braves came into the season as heavy favorites to win the NL West but have stalled at the gate, currently sitting in 3rd place behind the Giants and Astros with a 20-16 record after having won 8 of the last 10.
Today’s Game:
Tonight is Friday, May 14th 1993, and we are currently tuned into WPHL 17, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies (make sure to stay tuned to watch True Stories of state Highway patrol after the game). The broadcast crew of Harry Kalas, Richie “Whitey” Ashburn, and Chris “Wheels” Wheeler will guide us through all 9 innings tonight in Atlanta. The Barves’ Fulton County Stadium is sold out for the game (as well as the rest of the weekend) to host the 1st place Phils and the super white crowd is already doing the super racist chant. In Phillies news, Larry Andersen was placed on the disabled list and the Phillies brought up starting pitcher Mike Williams from Scranton/Wilkes Barre to fill the roster spot. This is a bit of surprise according to the Inquirer as most expected them to bring up a relief pitcher to replace Andersen, and thought that Tim Mauser who is a perfect 9-for-9 as the Red Baron closer. Some one who really expected Mauser to get called up? His wife. "She got all excited," Mauser said. "I got in the car and she said, 'Have you got any news for me?' I was like, 'No, what?' I didn't know what she was talking about. I had no idea (Andersen) got hurt in the first place."
Watch for yourself at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF4T_vRIgVA&t=6922s
The Line-up
CF Lenny Dykstra .
SS Mariano Duncan
1B John Kruk
3B Dave Hollins
C Darren Daulton
RF Wes Chamberlain
LF Pete Incaviglia
2B Mickey Morandini
SP Terry Mulholland
On the Mound:
The Ace of the Phillies, Terry Mulholland is on the bump for the visiting team. Currently (in 1993) Terry is 4-3 and leading the National League with a 2.29 era Mulholland was drafted by the San Francisco Giants after winning a D-II College Baseball championship with Marietta College, and today in the current time line (I watched this game on Sunday June 20th 2023) is the 34 year anniversary of the day Terry was traded to the Phillies for Cy Young winning closer (and 1993 Atlanta Brave) Steve Bedrosian. On the same day the Phillies would also trade for Lenny Dykstra, Terry and Dennis Cook (and my sister’s favorite Phillie Charlie Hayes) were brought in to revamp a rotation that was starting the likes of Ken Howell (the number 1 starter for the 89 Phils was 12-12) Steve Ontiveros (who would never start a game after 1989), Mike Maddux (the Zeppo to Greg’s Groucho (parentheses inside parentheses alert: because Greg Maddux wears glasses)) and of course opening day starter Floyd Youmans (who went 1-5 in 10 starts and never played in a major league baseball game again). From the Philadelphia Inquirer, “The thought of watching this team, with this starting rotation, for an entire season was too much for any general manager, not to mention any Phillies fans, to endure.” An unnamed scout quoted in the inquirer said about the trade, "Mulholland has an average fastball, better-than-average curve, average slider and control and also throws a forkball. He has a herky-jerky delivery and appears to short-arm the ball. He is an above-average major-league prospect." and further “They got themselves two young lefthanders (Dennis Cook and Terry Mulholland), and the reports on them are good. Everyone is looking for pitchers like that.” Cook would get traded a year later after starting the 1990 season 8-3, but Terry would stick around in Philly, throwing the first no-hitter by a Phillie at the Vet in 1991, and leading the 1993 rotation. In his last start, Terry went 10 innings to beat Rheal Cormier and the Cards, and in 1992 Terry was 2-0 with a 2.04 era against the Braves last year, so the entire pregame show is about the pitching match-up.
Pitching for the Braves, is the stone faced, lefthanded, future hall-of-famer, Tom Glavine. Drafted in the second round of the 1984 MLB draft, just months after he was drafted in the fourth round of the 1984 NHL Draft (drafted before Brett Hull and Bones guest star Luc Robataille) from Billerica, Massachusetts (home of my best friend, hi Ahni!), Glavine made his debut in 1987, but wouldn’t find his true form until 1991 when he won 20 games for the first of five(!) times in his career and his first of two Cy Young awards (the 2nd coming in 1998). In the 1993 season, Glavine is 4-0 with a 3.54 and so far in his career he is a smooth 10-3 against the Phillies including winning the last 9 against them. What set Glavine apart from most 90’s pitchers and led to him winning 164 games in the decade (second only to Greg Maddux’s 178) was Glavine’s athleticism and durability. Glavine was one of the best hitting pitchers of his era, collecting 5 silver slugger awards and hitting over the Mendoza line (.200) 9 times and finishing with a lifetime .188 batting average, and he wouldn’t land on the injured list until 2008, his 22nd season in the league, at the age of 42.
Highs (Hopes) and Lows
High- Tom Glavine’s hilarious first inning woes- Top 1
The Phillies start this game like they start most games in the 1993 season, immediately getting guys on base to set up their big bats Dave Hollins and Darren Daulton. Dutch once again comes through for the boys in red with a 2 run double. And yes I went in depth into Daulton last time, let’s just take a quick look at Daultons stats from 1989 to June 1993 and compared to JT Realmuto’s Phillie stats from 2019 to June 2023.
Darren Daulton was good as hell. 2-0 PHI. Starting in Left Field for the Barves is future friend Ron Gant, who would spend a season and a half with the Phils (slashing .257/.348/.453 and accruing a barely above average 102 WRc+) at the end of the millennia before getting traded to the Anaheim Angels for Kent Bottenfield. He helps today’s cause by first completely losing a routine fly ball from Pete Incaviglia allowing Daulton to score.
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A batter later Wes Chamberlain hits another catchable ball to Ron Gant who misplays it for the second straight time allowing another score.
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Gant is able to gain a modicum of self respect by throwing out Chamberlain at the plate after a single from Mickey Morandini. Glavine at even this point in his illustrious career is well known for his difficulties in the first innings of games, while being near untouchable afterwards. Here he gives up four runs to the Phillies, but more recently in his last start with the New York Mets in 2007, Glavine was unable to finish the first inning against the Miami Marlins giving up 5 runs, while in Philadelphia the Phillies would take on the Washington Nationals and win the NL East championship with a big assist from Glavine.
Low- Ruh Roh- Bottom 1st
Almost immediately the Braves answer back by dinking and dunking all over Terry Mulholland when he gives up a walk and four singles in the first as the bad guys scratch out 3 runs before Lenny Dykstra makes a great diving catch to end the bleeding. “This first inning is unbelievable” Harry muses as the pitching duel everyone expected goes down the drain. 4-3 Phillies
Low- Redemption- Bottom 2nd
Chipper Jones' placeholder, Terry Pendleton is currently (in 1993) batting a putrid .188 as more and more people in Atlanta fat shame him as the reasoning (real talk Pendleton just has a weird body shape, Whitey tries to describe it as “He’s got long legs and a very short upper body” so he’s like squeezed in the middle like an accordion). Anywho, he just roped his 2nd hit of the day to tied the game, by the end of the game Pendleton will have raised his average over .200 and will end up .272 on the season. With one man on, Ron Gant reminds the Atlanta faithful why you accept defensive shortcomings from certain players by blasting a two run home run and taking a 6-4 lead for Atlanta. My notes: “I’m sad”.
Low- New Pitcher Same Results- Bottom 4th
Newly promoted Mike Williams takes over for Mulholland after the Ron Gant Home. The inning and two thirds outing by Mulholland is his shortest start in two seasons and immediately Wheels assumes that Terry is hurt. Later in the game they say Mulholland had an elevated temperature and chose to pitch anyway. Williams had been 15-1 in his career at AAA but his cup of coffee with the big league club in 1992 went very poorly, resulting in a 1-1 record in 5 starts and a 5.34 ERA, in this game he gave up another hit to Terry Pendleton to make it 7-4 then another double to Ron Gant, and then one of the stars of the Flintstones’ s husband hit another home run and suddenly the 4-0 Phillies lead is a 10-4 Phillies destruction. From my notes:
The watching of this game has become torturous, and because I re-watched The Good Place this week, I’m convinced that deciding to do this experiment was in fact a plot set forth by Michael the demon. “The Tomahawk chop is in full Chop” remarks Wheels. Am I going to fast forward through the rest? I don’t think a six run comeback is in the cards (nor do I remember such a thing happening in my memory). There’s still 5 innings left!?!?
10-4 ATL
Sort of High- Don’t give me hope- Top 5th and 6th
With the aid of a Dave Hollins double, and a Darren Daulton fielder’s choice, the Phillies start clawing their way back in the top of the 5th to make it 10-6. Incaviglia then blasts a ball into the bleacher seats, only that it was a foul ball, and then ends the inning. It’s in the 6th inning when Wes Chamberlain blasts a solo home run to make it 10-7 that I start actually believing, hey just maybe this could happen. Maybe I just memory holed this comeback story after reading about it in the Phillies books over the year, maybe because it was a slow comeback no one needed to mention it. These are the optimistic thoughts I allowed into my brain even though they completely defy logic. 10-7 ATL
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Mids- Paul McCartney at the Vet
Hey! Paul McCartney is coming to the Vet, and if you want to win free tickets all you have to do is watch Married with Children every day this week from 6-7 pm so that you’ll know when to call in on a toll free number to be entered into a chance to win free tickets! God I long for the day of contests like this. I wanna hear every story of every person who won something this way, that and every kid who had to put together the silver statue in Legends of the Hidden Temple. Just give me a podcast of interviews of those two things and I’ll never stop listening.
Low- Fregosi tossed- Bottom 7th
Mark Lemke lifts a fly ball to center field and Lenny Dykstra has a track on it, Dykstra closes out as the ball starts to tail down the earth. Dykstra catches it and slides to the ground to slow himself. This is what everyone watches happen on television and in person. Which is why it’s wild that the 2nd base umpire signals that Dykstra did not catch the ball and Lemke goes to second with a double. As one might imagine, this did not sit well with Lenny nor manager Jim Fregosi who quickly gets thrown out of the game after disagreeing with the umpire’s decision in a loud and disruptive manner. Judge for yourself. “Ground can’t cause a fumble, can it?” ponders Whitey
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Wild Rides
The Braves bring in their closer Mike Stanton (not the same guy as Giancarlo Stanton) who is a perfect 13 for 13 on save attempts this season but with a bloated 4.02 era. After getting out of the 8th, Stanton puts two Phillies on base with 1 out as Dave Hollins and Darren Daulton come up to bat. Sadly they are not able to muster up the magic that had been a major hallmark of the season so far as they both fly out to end the ball game
Final: Philadelphia Phillies 7 (24-9) Atlanta Braves (21-16) 10
Words of Wisdom from Harry and Whitey (and I guess Wheels)
“Amazing this first inning, you talk about the great pitching match-up and all kinds of things are happening” - Harry Kalas
“Probably the scouting report from Bobby Wine” Harry Kalas commenting on the Braves game plan to take Mulholland the opposite way. Kalas says this with great joy because Bobby Wine, while currently an Atlanta Brave scout, is a longtime member of Phillie family, first playing in the 60’s (poor bastard was on the 64 Phils) then coaching during the golden era of 76-83. But more importantly to me, Bobby Wine while playing for the Phillies decided to move down the street from my house in the suburbs. His son Robby Wine Jr. remains the only baseball player to be drafted from my high school and play in the MLB (he also coached at Penn State).
Final Conclusions
The Phillies lose the first game of the series against the Atlanta Braves after staking their best pitcher to a 4-0 lead. 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, or get these e-mailed to you by signing up for my substack. Next up is Curt Schilling’s turn to take on the Barves in a sold out Saturday showdown at Fulton County Stadium.
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