June 9, 1993- Houston Astros at Philadelphia Phillies
Mr. Mulholland’s Opus
An Introduction...
I’m the guy who thought it was a sign from God when Game 3 of the 2008 World Series went into a
rain delay, and waited till after I finished performing in a play to continue so I could watch it. 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…
The Phillies had lost for the first time to the Houston Astros in the 1993 season yesterday, splitting
the series 1 to 1. Coming into the series, the Phillies had only lost two series all season, but hadn’t
lost more than 2 games in a row, or back-to-back games at the Vet. The Phillies also have a streak
of not being shut out that dates back to the 1992 season, and both John Kruk and Darren Daulton
are leading the popularity vote to start in the 1993 All Star team to represent the National League.
The Phils lead the senior circuit in team Home runs, doubles, walks, and complete games, while
posting the best record in baseball at 39-17. Things are going well.
The Astros stand at 32 wins and 24 losses in the record books, and currently are 4 games behind
the Giants for first place in the West. Their first baseman (and future HOFer) Jeff Bagwell was
named player of the month for the month of May, but immediately fell into a 3-43 slump when the
calendar hit June. The Astros have cornerstone players at Center Field (Steve Finley), First Base
(Bagwell), Second Base (Craig Biggio), Third Base (Ken Caminiti), and just spent big money on 1st
and 2nd starters (Doug Drabek, and Greg Swindell respectively), but still are struggling in the NL
West. Bagwell would say of the season, “When we started out, we thought we had the best team in
the division. We stayed a long time in first place, but I don’t think we ever played up to our ability.”
Today’s Game
It is Wednesday June 9th, 1993 at the corner of Broad and Pattison. Our game today is being
broadcast on Prism, with Gary “Wheels” Wheeler for the full 9 innings along with Jay Johnstone and
Garry Maddox for the ride. A further note on Prism, it’s kind of hard to fathom at the current time of a
premium channel that in some ways held local sports ransom to a fanbase. I admit to remembering
that Prism was a thing, and that Phillies games were broadcast on them, but until now I had no idea
the extent of games (and Sixers and Flyers) that were on the channel. It’s just kind of crazy the
amount of people who had basic cable that were unable to see a majority of Phillies games. It
makes me feel better when I illegally stream baseball games on Reddit.
Watch for yourself at:
The Line-up
CF Lenny Dykstra
SS Mariano Duncan
1B John Kruk
3B Dave Hollins
C Darren Daulton
RF Jim Eisenreich
LF Milt Thompson
2B Mickey Morandini
P Terry Mulholland
On The Mound
Pitching for the home team is Terry Mulholland, fresh off being a hard luck loser against the
Colorado Rockies. In his previous start, Mulholland pitched a complete game in which he struck out
14 without giving up a walk, and allowing only 2 runs (in the 9th). The 14 strikeouts are a high for
the National League for a single game during the 93 season (as of June 9). Mulholland has been
near dominant this season with 5 complete games, a 2.81 ERA, and an unofficial 1.04 WHiP (it’s my
calculation since the broadcast doesn’t know it’s a stat yet, and baseball-reference doesn’t do game
to game WHiP), but comes into today’s game with only a 6-5 record.
Taking the ball for the away team is Pete Harnisch, a 6 foot 2 accounting major from Fordham
University. So far in the 93 seasons Harnisch has accumulated a 6-2 record with a 3.13 ERA, “he
throws hard, a hard fastball, a hard slider” according to Wheels, which doesn’t really mean anything.
He’s won his last 2 starts, and the previous time he pitched against the Phillies he went 7 innings
while only giving up 1 hit, a home run to Daulton, in a game the Phils would go on to win in extra
innings. Harnisch would go onto have a pretty strong Major league career, he made the All Star
team in the '91 season when he was 12-9 with a 2.7 ERA. Harnisch is a player who would not have
done well with analytics, in his good years, he would have a good ERA, but an above average FIP
(fielding independent pitching). One fun fact of note is that Harnisch was the 26th pitcher in major
league history to strike out the side in an inning on 9 pitches. Harnisch is also noteworthy for being
a pioneer in professional sports in a much different way. During the 1997 when Harnisch was a
member of the New York Mets and struggling, he was diagnosed with Clinical Depression. Now in
2020, athletes like Kevin Love have hopefully normalized the idea that proper mental care is
fundamental for all people, but in '97, it didn’t go over well. He was accused (according to Harnisch)
of “being scared of pitching, being afraid to pitch, not being able to out there.” by Mets coach Bobby
Valentine as he was released. The next two years with the Reds, Harnisch rebounded by winning a
combined 30 games with a 3.41 ERA over that period of time. As a fun Phillies tidbit, Harnisch was
traded from the Baltimore Orioles to the Houston Astros alongside Curt Schilling. For a more “what
a crazy world out there” tidbit, Pete’s brother Paul Harnisch, while working for the New York District
Attorney’s office, went through a manic episode while driving and was charged with the second
degree murder of an inline skater in 1998.
Highs (Hopes) and Lows
High- Home Runs
The Phillies entered the game leading Major League Baseball in Home Runs as a team with 58. This
game, with the exception of a Mickey Morandini RBI single, would be all home runs for the
Philadelphia Phillies. Daulton starts off the scoring with a huge 400 foot home run to Right Center
field, that puts him in 2nd place in the NL in home runs with 15 (behind some Bonds guy). Dykstra
would add on a home run in the 5th inning, his second in two games. What’s really impressive is
that the pitch before Dykstra homered, he hit a home-run distance foul ball, he then readjusted by
10 feet. Milt Thompson would add his first home run of the season later in the 5th inning of the
game to make the score 6-0.
High- 1993 Trade Rumors
Back before we had twitter, and Woj bombs, or full episodes of Baseball Tonight dedicated to trades
and rumors, there was just people talking out loud. In the 2nd inning tonight, Jay Johnstone notices
that the Astros are playing their veteran shortstop Jose Uribe instead of usual starter Andujar
Cedeno, and starts hypothesizing, “I have a feeling the Phillies are looking at this young man for the
Phillies to make a deal” he does add, “this is off the top of my head.” This is how trade rumors
started in 1993. Later in the telecast, they bring in Houston Astros assistant GM Bob Watson (the
first player to hit for the cycle in both leagues, scored the 1 millionth run MLB history, and also died
a month ago in 2020 so RIP), and start talking more about the possibility of a trade. Watson won’t
go as far as to start offering trade demands, but does mention, “we’ve had conversations in the past
about various players that could possibly help the Phillies do the thing they want to do which is win.”
He also makes sure to add about the Phillies current infield woes, “you can’t win it without having a
good shortstop”.
High- Ode to Eisie
We’ve mentioned previously in this space, how Eisenreich had struggled in the past to conquer his
tourette’s syndrome to play professional baseball. But not enough attention has been paid
to the fact that Eisenreich had, in the middle of his development, left baseball for two full years (the
Twins replaced him with someone named Kirby Puckett)! After returning for a few years with Kansas
City Royals, the Phillies signed him with the hope that Eisenreich could help platoon with Wes
Chamberlain. He entered the game today batting .350 while playing in all but 2 games in the
season. In his first at-bat he tripled off Steve Finley’s glove (and later scored), in his second at-bat,
he doubled home Darren Daulton to make it 3-0, and in his final at-bat Eisie hit his first homerun of
the season on a laser that lands in the concourse. Not only was he playing the best baseball
of his career, he was also for the first time comfortable on a team. From More than Beards, Bellies,
and Biceps, The Story of the 1993 Phillies, “I took a lot of abuse, same as everyone, but that only
made me feel a part of the group. They didn’t treat me any different or special. What a great year!”
Another story from that book, puts the most adorable cherry on top of the sundae, “By midseason
Jim’s wife Leann, approached Kruk and said, 'I hate you John Kruk, because this is the happiest Jim
has ever been in his career. Now he keeps me up till three in the morning listening to all the crazy
things you do.'"
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| Just a single from the cycle |
Middle- Wheels’ tendencies
This is neither here nor there, but every time Wheels’ talks about a new pitcher who enters into the
game he always mentions where they’re from and where they currently live. It’s just odd that he
seems to needs people to know where Baseball players live in the off season.
High- That’s my Ace
One start after pitching a complete game with 14 strike outs, Terry Mulholland tries to outdo himself.
While allowing 5 scattered hits, Mulholland struck out 9 Astros without giving up a free pass or a run
over 9 innings. It’s his 6th complete game out of the 7 wins he has this year, and he was able to
achieve a Bill James Game Score of 84. He did this all with a 29 minute rain delay in the 4th inning.
In a lot of ways, it was like watching a 2009 Cliff Lee Start, Terry Mo worked fast, made no mistakes,
and dominated the inside against a pretty good team in the NL while throwing around 110 pitches
(they announced he had 100 with 1 out in the 9th).
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| Sit down, please |
Wild Rides
Nothing wild about this one, as Terry Mulholland entered the 9th inning with an 8-0 lead, and though
he gave up one hit, cruised through for the complete game win.
Final: Philadelphia Phillies (40-17) 8 Houston Astros (32-25) 0
Words of Wisdom from Musser, Garry Maddox, Jay Johnstone, and Bob Watson
“(Pete Harnisch) looks like the guy from The Drill Instructor with Jack Webb.”- Jay Johnstone
bringing out the 1957 references (36 years old in 1993).
“(The Phillies) like everything hard.” - Jay Johnstone.
“But hey, it’s a hit in the box score tomorrow.”- Jay Johnstone on Mickey Morandini’s broken bat
barely single.
“(Mickey Morandini) is one of the only guys who chokes up on the bat. The other is Barry Bonds…
not saying they’re the same type of player.” Bob Watson… I am Bob. I am.
“How hard is it to hit two home runs in one at bat. Boy is he hot right now”- Garry Maddox.
“I’ve seen enough this is one of the funkiest deliveries I’ve ever seen.” -Garry Maddox.
In Conclusion:
The Phillies, with the help of four home runs, win the series against the Houston Astros, and sit
5 ½ games up on the Montreal Expos in the NL East standings. Mulholland tossed another gem,
Jim Eisenreich continues to rake, and the Phillies have the best record in baseball. 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 Phils are on their way to Queens to play the lowest form
of life on the Earth, The New York Mets. Sadly the ever bountiful youtube page ClassicPhilliesTV does
not have the June 10th game (i’ll never get to watch Tommy Greene), so we’ll be back for game 2 of the
series from June 11th.
5 ½ games up on the Montreal Expos in the NL East standings. Mulholland tossed another gem,
Jim Eisenreich continues to rake, and the Phillies have the best record in baseball. 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 Phils are on their way to Queens to play the lowest form
of life on the Earth, The New York Mets. Sadly the ever bountiful youtube page ClassicPhilliesTV does
not have the June 10th game (i’ll never get to watch Tommy Greene), so we’ll be back for game 2 of the
series from June 11th.
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| When Phillies Fans don't know much about 1993 |
