May 11th, 1993: Philadelphia Phillies (23-7) vs Pittsburgh Pirates (15-15)
You You You Otto Know
An Introduction…
I’m the guy who talks himself into every Phillies loss this season by thinking, it’s fine it was worse last year. 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 year 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)
Historically the Philadelphia Phillies in their 140 year history have never started the season off fast, even in their very few great years in the first 100 years of their existence they’ve never had a prolonged great start. In the championship season of 1980, the Phillies scraped to a 16-14 start. The 08 champs started a pleasant if somewhat disappointing 18-12 record as did the 83 wheezers and the 1950 whizzers (also the 1916 post pennant Phillies who finished 2.5 games behind the Brooklyn Robins in the NL). Before 1993, the best 30 game start in franchise history belonged to the 1976 Phillies who began 22-8 on their way to a 101 win season and a sweeping out the playoffs by the hands of the Big Red Machine. In more recent history, the Tampa Bay Rays this season started 24-6 and the 116 win Seattle Mariners of 2001 started an equal 23-7. This start by the Phillies was special, and they currently sit a cool 7 games up in the NL East standings.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are at a cool 15-15 record in their first season on their descent to the bottom. Their coach is one of the few vestiges leftover from the 1980’s that is still kicking around today in 2023 as a baseball lifer. Leyland’s run is very similar to that of Tony La Russa which is fitting because Leyland started as La Russa’s third base coach in Tony’s first stint with the Chicago White Sox in the 80’s. Leyland landed the Pirates job in November 1985 which luckily coincided with the Pirates drafting (in June of 85) arguably (depending on your steroid stance) the greatest baseball player in history, Barry Bonds, who would make his professional debut in May of 1986. The two together would resurrect a Pirates franchise that was averaging less than 10,000 fans per game in 1984 and 1985 and turn them into a juggernaut. Leyland would win Manager of the year in 1990, and 1992 while taking the Pirates to the NLCS (and losing) in three straight years. In both 1991 and 1992 the Pirates took the Atlanta Braves to 7 games before succumbing, but after the devastating 1992 NLCS loss, the owners of the Pirates, who were a consortium of Pittsburgh businesses who bought the team in 1986 to prevent the previous owner from moving the franchise to Portland, decided putting more money into the team was not worth it. It should be noted that the Pittsburgh Associates were never intended to stay in control long term, but were searching for a permanent owner who would guarantee the franchise stayed in the Steel City, thus were attempting to run a team with no desire to put in money. This cash crunching led to the free agent departure of Bobby Bonilla in 1991, the aforementioned Barry Bonds in 1992, eventually Jay Bell and Andy Van Slyke, and in 1996 Jim Leyland could stand it no more and walked out on his contract with four years and four million dollars remaining. He would head to Miami and win the World Series with the Florida Marlins in just their 5th year as a franchise in 1997, but run into an even worse Ownership situation. After watching a second fire sale with the Marlins, Leyland resigned once again and took his talents to another relatively new franchise, the Colorado Rockies. This time Leyland was greeted with great ownership but found himself in a Sisyphean struggle against nature and the mile high home of the Rocky mountains, and resigned once again this time in frustration with the thin air. Finally Leyland found a true home with the Detroit Tigers where he once again won Manager of the Year in 2006 while leading the Tigers to the playoffs for the first time since the 1987 and their most success as a franchise winning three straight AL Central titles and twice going to the World Series (in 2006 and 2012 respectfully), but ultimately losing both times. Leyland with his old boss Tony La Russa are the only coaches to win three straight Division championships in both the AL and the NL, and when he finally did retire Leyland ended up with 1769 victories leaving him currently as the 18th winningest coach in the history of Baseball just behind Lou Pinella and in front of an ever charging Buck Showalter. Leyland would of course have one last managerial hurrah when he coached the 2017 USA team in the World Baseball Classic leading the Americans to their only tournament victory in the event and making Leyland the only man on Earth to win both a World Series and the World Baseball Classic as a coach.
Today’s Game:
Tonight is Tuesday, May 11th 1993 at Veterans stadium, where over 30,000 raucous fans have shown up in South Philly for the game. We’re once again watching the game on Philadelphia’s premier regional premium channel PRISM where we’re happy to report tis MayDays on PRISM, where you can watch these four Danny Glover classics: Lethal Weapon 3, Grand Canyon, A Rage in Harlem, and To Sleep with Anger. Next month starts Summer Movie Madness with the totally appropriate for Children not at all weirdly sexual Batman Returns. Nine more innings of Chris “Wheels” Wheeler for us watching at home, but Jay Johnstone and Garry Maddox help break up the monotony.
Watch for yourself at:
The Line-up
CF Lenny Dykstra 2-23 with RISP in 1993 .
2B Mickey Morandini
1B John Kruk
3B Dave Hollins
C Darren Daulton
RF Wes Chamberlain
LF Pete Incaviglia All 3 of his home runs have come in the 3rd inning
SS Juan Bell Hasn’t played since April 29th
SP Ben Rivera
On the Mound:
Pitching for the hometown Phils is Bienvinido “Ben” Rivera, the 6 foot 6 Dominican fireballer is 1-2 with 5.00 ERA and 2.00 WHiP in the young season. Due to a stomach flu during Spring Training and a schedule with lots of off days, and a rain out, Rivera hasn’t had much work to start the 93 season. So he was actually sent back to Florida for extended spring training last week, where he pitched a start against A ballers to keep himself in the correct rest rotation. His last start in the majors came 10 days ago when he went 7 innings, giving up 2 runs, 7 hits, 2 walks with a strikeout in a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Rivera was traded to the Phillies in the middle of 1992 in exchange for a prospect named Donnie Elliott (who would go on to pitch 35 relatively effective innings in his Major League career). The trade came in response to the 92 Phils’ need for any Major League caliber pitching after releasing disgruntled starter turned bullpen arm Danny Cox. Cox had been removed from the rotation the week prior (in 92) and when Fregosi was asked about who was pitching "The only thing I can tell you," he said, "is that it won't be Danny Cox." General Manager Lee Thomas said of the trade at the time "We got great reports on (Rivera), this guy is strictly a power pitcher. He's got a great arm. He's a little on the wild side, which we know." Rivera would have a few shaky turns in the rotation in 92 (his second inning as a Phillie Rivera walked the bases loaded on 12 pitches) before being sent down to AAA, where in his second start he threw a 7 inning no-hitter, the first in Scranton/Wilkes Barre Red Baron history, only missing out on a perfect game when Rivera walked the first batter of the game. Big Ben would return to the Phillies and pitch 7 great innings in a 1-0 losing effort on August 3rd 1992 and got rave reviews "He had some great stuff today. He was throwing a 92- mile-an-hour bowling ball." said Curt Schilling, and since then Rivera has been set in the rotation.
The Pirates starter for the evening is the 6 foot 7 beanpole Dave Otto, a former University of Missouri product (where he graduated Magna Cum Laude “That means he’s pretty smart right?” asks Wheels, with a degree in Accounting), the left hander is 1-2 with a 4.76 ERA as a spot starter. He was traded to the Pirates in the offseason from the Cleveland Indians which is the only place Otto found whatever can be argued as success. In 1992, Otto was 5-9 with a 7.06 era, but in 1991 he was almost kind of serviceable as a starter going 2-8 in 14 starts and 100 innings, but with a very healthy 3.76 FIP (fielding independent pitching) which was good enough to be ranked 64th among pitchers with 100 innings that season, which was better than 18 game winner and 6th place Cy Young finisher Steve Avery. 1993 is Otto’s first season in the NL so it’s his first and only start against the Philadelphia Phillies in his career, in which he will start but 3 more games as a pitcher.
Highs (Hopes) and Lows
HIGH- Phillies take the Lead- Bottom 1st
Mariano Duncan is out with a bad hamstring, which means two things. The first that weak link Juan Bell is being called upon to play shortstop, and second Mickey Morandini will not only play against Left handers, but he’s at the top of the line-up (because he can’t be in the 8 spot where Bell is). It pays off in the first with a double by Mickey, followed by a wild pitch moving him to third and a single by John Kruk to score the runner. 1-0 PHI
LOW for the Phils but HIGH- Mighty Otto at the plate- Top 2nd
The Pirates manage a couple base runners with 2 outs in the top of the 2nd, when their tall ass pitcher walks up to the plate. Otto has spent his entire career prior to 1993 in the AL so this is his first professional season as a batter, but at the University of Missouri, Otto was a Big 8 conference All American not just for his pitching but as a power hitting DH (He's even in U of Missouri's Hall of Fame! though the website has him incorrectly listed under basketball). Otto rakes a single past John Kruk to score a run, Wes Chamberlain bobbles the ball for an error allowing another run. 2-1 PIT
LOW- Wes Chamberlain’s descent- Bottom 3rd
Wes Chamberlain had at one point been a prospect, and seemingly was destined to be the Phillies starting Right Fielder of the future after finishing 5th in Rookie of the Year voting in 1991. Yet pretty much everything that was planned for 1992 went seriously astray, none more so than Wes Chamberlain. He began the season as the starting Right Fielder, but opened the first month and a half with an ice cold slash of .200/.220/.360 and was sent down to AAA to get his head right. He did not take the news well, but lucky for him the Phillies had injury problems that led to his return in June where he righted the ship with a much healthier .285/.315/.452 line before an injury ended his season in mid-August. The Phillies responded in the offseason by signing three outfielders with a lot of major league experience to push Chamberlain out of a job. There’s of course the near infamous story of Wes showing up late for the home opener, but now in mid-May Chamberlain finds himself attempting to answer Manager Jim Fregosi’s challenge. Chamberlain has started 6 straight games and 22 of 30, the platoon with Jim Eisenreich be damned, to the tune of a .277 average yet just a .317 OBP and 97 WRC+ (the average MLB player having 100). After his error gave up the go ahead run in the 2nd, Chamberlain comes to the plate in the bottom of the third with the bases loaded and 1 out (after two swinging bunts and a walk). Chamberlain grounds out to 3rd in what could have been a double play ball if not for a very hard slide by Darren Daulton. 2-2
HIGH- Hollins’ Timing- Bottom 5th
After both pitchers settle in a bit, Dave Hollins decides to shake it up with a long drive to right field. The home run breaks the tie and is Hollins’ fifth of the season. Every Dave Hollins home run so far in 1993 has given the Phillies the lead. Which is pretty impressive. It’s still odd that Hollins sits in the middle of this line-up even though he doesn’t have half the career results of Kruk or Daulton, but Fregosi just loves splitting up the lefties with the switch hitting third baseman. 3-2 PHI
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LOW- Uh Otto- Top 6th
As mentioned in the Heroes and Villains section, Manager Jim Leyland is one of the last of the old school baseball men, famously known to smoke in dugouts even after it was outlawed, and stubborn as hell. Tonight after 5 innings of 3 run ball, Leyland’s pitcher Dave Otto is due up with two runners on, 1 out, down a run. Most might think it illogical to trust a person who did not take a meaningful swing between the years of 1987-1992, when you have a full bench of professional baseball players who are paid to hit. Yet Jim Leyland is set in his ways and he expects 6-7 innings from his starter, situation be damned, and he sends Dave Otto up to the plate. And, of course, he’s proven correct when Dave Otto hits a long well hit drive to right field that gets misplayed by Wes Chamberlain (the second time today) to score two runs and land Otto at 3rd with his first and only professional triple. 4-3 PIT
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MIDS- Tying it up- Bottom 6th
Hilariously, Otto lasts only two more batters after he gives up a double to Pete Incaviglia, who gets sacrificed to third by Juan Bell. Otto’s final line ends up as 5.1 innings with 4 runs, 3 walks, 7 hits, and 2 K’s, while batting 2 for 2, 3 RBI’s and 1 run scored.
The Pirate’s new pitcher’s first pitch is wild and Inky scores to tie it up at 4.
LOW- Falling apart- Top 7th
Rivera gets pulled after 6 innings with a workman’s effort giving up 4 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, with two strikeouts. Relieving “Gentle” Ben is 1987 Cy Young winner Mark Davis. Davis was actually drafted by the Phillies and made his debut as a September call-up for the World Series winning 1980 Phillies, going as far as starting the last game of the season after the Marooners already clinched the NL (enough to get a World Series ring amiright?). Davis’ calling card was a breaking ball that baffled hitters to the tune of 45 saves in 1987, but now that breaking ball baffles less and hangs more, which leads to a 4-4 game becoming a 7-4 game very fast. “And believe it or not there are actual boos here” comments Wheels after the fairy tale like start to the season. Jose De Leon, king of mop ups, enters and gives up another run making a divisible 8-4 lead, Pirates, going into the 9th
Wild Rides
Pitching the 9th for the Pirates is the beleaguered Stan Belinda. Belinda had been called upon in game 7 of the NLCS to close out the series for the Buccos, he entered with the bases loaded with no outs and a 2 run lead. He gets the first out but allows a run with a sac fly, a walk loads the bases again, then an infield fly makes it two outs when the Braves back-up catcher Francisco Cabrera (who only batted 10 times all season) singles in to score two runs and end the Pirates’ season. Belinda will get traded later in 1993 and will never outlive that moment. Tonight he puts two Phillies on in the 9th with one out when Wes Chamberlain comes up, but Wes pops up to shortstop and exits to an array of “boos” (it may be “boo urns”). So far Chamberlain has started 22 of 30 games, but he’ll only start 50 of the next 130. Incaviglia pops out to end the game.
Final: Philadelphia Phillies 4 (23-8) Pittsburgh Pirates (16-15) 8
Words of Wisdom from Johnstone and Maddox (and Wheels)
“King came in and tried to make a bare hand play a la Mike Schmidt. But we all know there’s only one Mike Schmidt”- Jay Johnstone
“The crowd is really into this game. And it’s only the 3rd inning!” Wheels sounds dumb here but it’s cool how loud the fans were on a Tuesday in May.
They interview Larry Andersen for a feature and he mentions that when he made the Majors the league minimum was 16,000 dollars.
“Ben will swing hard. Just in case he hits it.”- Wheels
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Final Conclusions
Dave Otto had his best day at the plate of his career and helped down the Phillies on this Tuesday in May. These are much more difficult to do when the Phillies lose, but it's always interesting. 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 final of the three game set is on Sportsnet with Tommy Greene set to win the series against the Pirates.
