April 17, 1993: Say It Ain’t Sosa

 April 17th, 1993: Philadelphia Phillies (8-2) at Chicago Cubs (5-5)

Say It Ain’t Sosa

An Introduction…

I’m the guy who has a backpack from college filled with every Philadelphia Inquirer Sports section from October 2008.  It’s crazy, but the Major League Baseball season was actually played in 2020, and the Phillies have 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)

The Philadelphia Phillies have lost their second game of the season, putting their record at a very respectable 8-2 start. Manager Jim Fregosi is using multiple platoons to great success, but still as a sinkhole at short stop. They are first in the NL East, a game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals.  

The Chicago Cubs are at a less auspicious 5-5 start under the management of Jim LeFebrve. The Cubs came into the 1993 season with a lot of question marks after failing to secure the services of their staff ace and future Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux, as well as their best outfielder and future Hall-of-Famer Andre Dawson. LeFebrve is “Baseball’s first new age coach” according to Sports Illustrated saying that “ The Cubs do not have coaches they have pitching and hitting coordinators” the italics and condescension there within are all SI’s. The 2021 Red Sox just hired Jaseon Varitek as game day coordinator, and Miami Marlins unofficially have deemed their hitting coach their offensive coordinator. 

Today’s Game:

It is Saturday April 17th, 1993 at the Friendly Confines in Chicago, Illinois. Though it is much sunnier than the previous day it is a balmy 45 degrees in April.  Today’s game is on Sportschannel (an offshoot of Prism) which means our hosts for all nine innings are the venerable Andy Musser and former relief pitcher Kent “Tek” Tekulve. The Cubs are wearing uniforms this season that for the first time in their history provide the names on the back of the jersey. 

Watch for yourself at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjx5U72ctgM

The Line-up

CF Lenny Dykstra 11 Runs in first 10 games 

2B Mickey Morandini

1B John Kruk Leads the NL in doubles

3B Dave Hollins

C Darren Daulton .306 Lifetime Average in Wrigley

LF Milt Thompson

RF Wes Chamberlain

SS Juan Bell

SP Curt Schilling

On the Mound:

Taking the ball for the Phillies is Curt Schilling who on the year is 2-0 with a 1.59 era. His last start was also against the Cubs and he silenced them to the tune of four hits and a complete game shutout. With Schilling’s Hall-of-Fame candidacy being discussed currently (in January 2021) I’d like to step away from his playing record and his utterly disgusting public record since retirement and take a look at what his teammates  and coaches thought of him. Jim Fregosi was quoted as saying “Curt Schilling is a horse on the days he starts and a horse’s ass the four other days.” This quote in some form is also attributed to Darren Daulton. Kruk would later say, “Curt wants to be one of us but we won’t let him.” Curt would defend himself and his position on the team by saying things like, “I like to read books and they didn’t.” 

Pitching for the Cubbies today is Jose Guzman, a Puerto Rican native whose pitching arsenal consists of a power sinker, a split finger, and a change-up according to Tek. Guzman was the 1991 Comeback player of the year for the Texas Rangers, and followed the award with his best year as a professional pitcher in 1992, going 16-11 with a 3.66 ERA and 3.2 FIP. His last outing was against the Phillies where he gave up 2 unearned runs over 6 ⅓ innings of work. His first start of the year against the Atlanta Braves was arguably the best start of his career, taking a no-hitter into the 9th inning. It wasn’t until the last hitter the Braves had left, Otis Nixon, came up to bat with two outs that Guzman gave up his first hit of the game. For the 93 season Guzman has a 0.00 Era, with batters hitting .103 against him. During his career Guzman was four times in the top 10 in k/9 and twice top 10 in K’s, which is pretty cool.  

Highs (Hopes) and Lows

Low and Lower- 1st Inning- A Bad Start

After Mickey Morandini busted out of a 0-13 mini-slump with a double, Guzman walks the bases loaded with two outs and Milt Thompson at the plate. This is very familiar territory because almost the exact same thing happened in the previous game. Sadly, just like yesterday (in 1993) Milt Thompson grounded out back to the pitcher to end the inning with zero runs scored. Schilling then adds to the woes by giving up a lead-off home run to Dwight Smith (who came in 2nd in NL ROY voting in 1989), making the score 1-0 CUBS.

Low- Bottom 2nd- Ghost of Baseball future

To start off the 2nd inning, Schilling once again gives up a home run to a Cubs outfielder, Tek says of the home runs, “two guys you don’t really expect to hit a lot of home runs”. The second Cubs outfielder is a tiny little Dominican by the name of Sammy Sosa, who at this point is at the start of his fifth season in the Majors and with that home run has a career total of 38. He will hit 571 from this point until his retirement in 2007. Sosa is the poster child of the steroid movement and is the guy every one points to when they say you could take any player and make them a super star with steroids. It’s interesting that Bonds and Clemens continually get close to the 75 percent vote rate while Sosa continually gets less and less votes for the Hall. The argument has shifted to they’re all cheaters, to well Clemens and Bonds were really amazing but also used steroids.   2-0 CUBS

Low with a High Kicker- Top 3rd- The argument against Moneyball

The most basic tenet of the Moneyball ethos particularly if you only saw the movie, is that walks are good. Getting on base is extremely important when attempting to score runs, and runs are the reason you win baseball games. Billy Beane looked at on base percentage as an indicator on how to create runs, while other talent evaluators were obsessed with batting average. The basic principle (without taking other numbers into account) being that if a guy hits .300, but has an on base percentage of .312 (Peak Ben Revere numbers) he’s not as productive as a guy who hits .268 but with an on base percentage of .420 (hello Bryce!). The argument that developed against this (once again very basic idea) was that if your best hitters are taking walks instead of swinging, you’re taking the bat out of the hands of your best players. Which is what occurs once more with the Philadelphia Phillies, for the fourth time in 2 games the Phillies loaded the bases, and in three of those occasions both Dave Hollins and Darren Daulton, the number 3 and 4 hitters in the line-up, were walked. The heart of the order and the players most expected to knock in runs by doing the “smart” thing and taking pitches. On this occasion, Guzman decides to do the Phillies a small favor and throw a wild pitch to allow a run for the away team. But Wes Chamberlain then grounds out to third base to end the inning, with the Phillies once again failing to take advantage of having runners on base. The law of averages does say that the rest of the Phillies will start hitting in those situation and scoring runs,  two games is a very small sample size, but still this has been annoying. 2-1 CUBS  

Low then Lower then Lowest- Bottom 5th- The Anger Never Goes Away

These games happened 27 going on 28 years ago, but that doesn’t stop me from getting angry at managers, pitchers, or most importantly umpires. With two on and no outs, 3rd Basemen Steve Buchele hit a slow roller to Phillies 2nd Baseman Mickey Morandini, who astutely tried to tag out the runner, Sammy Sosa, as he attempted to get to 2nd base. The fiendish Sosa, dodged the tag, by very obviously running out of the base path and continued to 2nd. Morandini then threw to first base to get the force out at first. Except the umpire didn’t call out Sammy Sosa for stepping out of the base path, because the Umpire was only looking to see if Morandini had made the tag (which he did not).

And since this is 1993, the umpire can’t look like an idiot and reverse his decision, because it would make him look like an idiot, and since since this is 1993, there’s no video review. Fregosi comes out and yells for ten minutes, but it doesn’t matter, the Cubs get an extra out and extra base runner. Unsurprisingly as these things go, the Cubs will go on to score four more runs in the inning to make it 6-1 CUBS. 

Low then a little High- Top 7th- Here we are again

The Cubs call to their bullpen and immediately load the bases by walking Phillies for the 5th time this series. For a change of pace, John Kruk the three hole hitter is up to bat, for a terrible twist, he then hits into a 1-2-3 double play. Like literally pitcher to catcher to first. Some solace is achieved when Hollins follows up with a double scoring two Phillies to tighten the game 6-3. Since I’m actually in 2021, it’s impossible for me to imagine a scenario where a Philadelphia Phillies team could possibly overcome a 5 run deficit. 

Wild Rides

The Chicago Cubs Closer Randy Myers is a perfect 8-8 on save attempts against the Phillies, and his only two saves this season are against Philadelphia. Dykstra walks to provide some excitement, but then Morandini strikes out on a bad pitch.

Let's go ump.

Kruk sacrifices Dykstra to second on a nubber in front of the plate, but the game ends when Dave Hollins strikes out. Randy Myers improves to 9 for 9 against the Fightins. The Phillies lose their first series of the season and their first consecutive games.

Final: Philadelphia Phillies 3 (8-3) Chicago Cubs 6 (6-5)

Words of Wisdom for Andy and Tek

“The Plate looks the size of a postage stamp and seems about 50 miles away” Tek is commenting on a Cubs pitcher who walks the bases loaded. I enjoy metaphors.

“Saves them a big sewing bill.” Musser talking about how Rockies decided not to put their player’s names on the back of their jersey. 

This isn’t a quote, but Jim Lefebrve wears batting gloves while he coaches… why?

Final Conclusions

The Phillies continually get the bases loaded, but fail to make the most of those opportunities and lose again 6-3 to the Cubs. 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 leg of the 3 game set is scheduled with Danny Jackson facing Terry Hibbert (whoever that may be), we’ll just have to see when I write it.

April 16, 1993: LeFebrve for more Cowbell

 April 16th, 1993: Philadelphia Phillies (8-1) at Chicago Cubs (4-5)

LeFebrve for more Cowbell

An Introduction…

I’m the guy who legitimately feels jipped by not being alive to root for an NL Champion Phillies team whose average age was 36 (RIP Joe Morgan).  It’s crazy, but the Major League Baseball season was actually played in 2020, and the Phillies have 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)

The Phillies currently stand with a record of 8-1 which equals the best start in the (then) 110 year history of the team, matching the 1915 NL Champion Phillies (Whose four outfielders first names were, Dode, Beals, Possum, and Gavvy). They just finished sweeping the Cincinnati Reds and are starting a three game set at the friendly confines of Wrigley Stadium. Their third year manager, Jim Fregosi is using three platoons and depending on veteran leadership to help bring his team to the World Series. Fregosi was a 6 time all-star shortstop for the Los Angeles Angels and when asked by Tommy LaSorda one time if Fregosi ever faced LaSorda, Fregosi replied “No Tommy, that’s because I was in the majors … YOU were pitching in the minors.” 

The Chicago Cubs are currently 4-5 but four of their losses were one run games. They have also handed the Phillies their only loss on the season in an 11-7 slugfest. The 1992 offseason has left the Cubs without number 1 starter and future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux and their number 1 slugger and future Hall of Famer Andre Daweson. Both departed the Windy City without even getting an offer from a penny pinching Cubs ownership group. Now to start the season, future Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg is on the injured list, and the pitching staff has been lackluster. Their second year coach Jim Lefebrve (pronounced Le Fever) is optimistic though, telling Sports Illustrated “Not signing Maddux and Dawson was a blessing”, for he has great hopes for newcomers Willie Wilson (the strike out victim of Tug McGraw in the 1980 World Series) and Candy Maldonado, but also has great faith in young outfielder Sammy Sosa to step up in Dawson’s absence. SI’s 1993 season preview also mentions that Lefebrve is “Baseball’s first New Age manager” without actually mentioning in what way he is other than the he didn’t hire coaches he hired co-ordinators. Some research brings up that Lefebrve was a hot name in coaching circles in the mid 80’s after being on the bench with Tommy LaSorda in Los Angeles and Tony LaRussa in Oakland. After playing for the Dodgers, Lefebrve spent some time in the far east playing in Japan where he befriended home run king Sadaharu Oh and studied Zen with him,  before returning to America and becoming a hitting guru. Lefebrve would get his first shot as coach of the Seattle Mariners before not getting re-signed and heading to Chicago. Despite finishing above .500 in both 1992 and 1993 Lefebrve would again not be retained and would only coach one more season in professional baseball with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1998. According to an Los Angeles Times article about his hiring in Seattle, Lefebrve is the best managerial prospect since “Bobby Valentine” and is exceptional in that he actually talks to players about themselves. According to one relief pitcher, “(Lefebrve)’s talked to me more in two weeks than (former manager) Dick Williams did in two years”. The article also describes Lefebrve’s exit from LaSorda’s good graces (and hitting coach position) when LaSorda believed Lefebrve was going directly to ownership to try to take LaSorda’s job. Lefebrve thought that LaSorda was being paranoid and that LaSorda was telling hitters to ignore Lefebrve’s advice. This all came to a head in the parking lot of a Los Angeles Sports talk show, and ended when Lefebrve punched Tommy LaSorda and split his lip. LaSorda would tell the press he was sucker punched, Lefebrve agreed and said, “He’s right. It was the sucker who got punched”. 

Today’s Game:

It is Friday April 16th, 1993, in the Windy City of Chicago at the perennial home of the Cubs, Old Wrigley Stadium. At time of starting pitch the temperature is a balmy 44 with a wind chill that takes the tempertature all the way down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s important to note at this juncture that Chicago, while quite windy, was not called “the Windy City” because of weather patterns but because it was so politically corrupt. Today’s game is on Sportschannel (an offshoot of Prism) which means our hosts for all nine innings are the venerable Andy Musser and former relief pitcher Kent “Tek” Tekulve. 

Watch for yourself at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGWoiuwfC90

The Line-up

CF Lenny Dykstra

2B Mickey Morandini

1B John Kruk

3B Dave Hollins

C Darren Daulton

LF Milt Thompson

RF Wes Chamberlain

SS Juan Bell

SP Terry Mullholland

On the Mound:

For the visiting team, Terry Mulholland takes the mound coming off two starts where he gave up a combined 1 run in 17.2 innings. Terry was a first round draft pick in 1983 to the San Francisco Giants after an exemplary career at Marietta College in Ohio. Later in life mulholland bought Marietta’s baseball field a new lighting system and the College named the street on which the field sits, Mulholland Drive (no correlation with the David Lynch film).

Pitching for the home team is Mike Morgan who currently sits at 0-2 for the year with a 3.29 ERA and as of 1993 has a lifetime career of 83-114. A former 1st round pick (4th overall) of the Oakland A’s in 1979, Morgan was fast tracked to the majors as an 18 year old where he was unsurprisingly trounced to the tune of 2-13 record over 90 innings with a 6.15 era and a 5.56 FIP. He would then spend three years seasoning in the minors before returning to become the quintessential journey man starter nicknamed “The Nomad”. Morgan would retire in 2004 while playing for a then record 12 Major League Baseball teams. He made one all star team as a starter for the 1991 Los Angeles Dodgers which coincidentally was his first winning season as well. In 2001, along with 93 Phillie Curt Schilling, Morgan would win the World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks as a relief pitcher. In the 7 game series, Morgan pitched 4 ⅔ innings without giving up a run to the New York Yankees. 

Highs (Hopes) and Lows

Low- Top 1st- Leaving men on.

The offense starts as it typically does through the first 9 games of the season, with the Phillies loading the bases with a John Kruk double and walks to Dave Hollins and Darren Daulton. Yet, uncharacteristically for the men in red, they are unable to take advantage of the situation when Milt Thompson grounds out to the pitcher leaving the game scoreless.

Low- Bottom 1st- Early Holes

Mulholland is coming off back to back gems and is the early leader in every pitching category in the NL, but as with the Phillies Offense in the first inning, Mulholland also uncharacteristically falters in the first inning. After giving up two dinkers to the Cubs lead off hitters (one of which should have been a fielder’s choice if not for Juan Bell), Mark Grace smashes a double down the first base line off of Kruk’s glove to score two runs.

So close

Grace is knocked in a batter later on another dinker that barely finds a hole between short and 3rd. 3-0 Cubs.

High and Lows- 2nd through 7th inning- Cruising

Following a very active first inning, both starting pitchers decide to put their respective cars int cruise control. Morgan would give up 2 hits and a walk in 59 pitches (after 21 in the first inning) silencing what has been one of the most potent line-ups in the NL. Mulholland would equal Morgan for the most part scattering 5 hits and 3 walks without giving up another run before making way for Mark Davis. 3-0 Cubs.

High- Top 8th- Close but no cigar

After finally getting Mike Morgan sent to the bench following a Lenny Dysktra single, the Phillies try to make their move. A Kruk single moves Dykstra to third, and Dave Hollins knocks in Nails in the next at bat to narrow it 3-1.

Daulton does his part with another single to load the bases once again for the Phillies, but for the second time today, the Phillies can do nothing in the situation and the rally is ended with a fly out from Eisenreich and a ground out from Wes Chamberlain. 3-1 Cubs

Wild Rides

The ride starts wild with a pinch hit double by back-up catcher Todd Pratt in his first at-bat of the season. The Phillies are then retired promptly with a strikeout to Pete Incavigla, a pop up from Lenny Dyskstra and a final strike out to Mickey Morandini to end the game 3-1. The Chicago Cubs Closer Randy Myers was 6 for 6 in save opportunities against the Phillies in 1992 and continues his dominance today.

Final: Philadelphia Phillies 1 (8-2) Chicago Cubs 3 (5-5)

Words of Wisdom for Andy and Tek

“According to our good friend Whitey Ashburn, that ivy doesn’t help a whole lot, even in July”  - Andy Musser, discussing with Tek how much it hurts when you go run into the Wrigley Field wall which is made of brick. The idea being that the vines are just as good as padding, but it’s still winter in Chicago and there is no ivy. 

“The writers down in Jim’s office this morning and asked ‘Jim how are you getting Mitch to do what he’s doing’ and Jim goes ‘shhhh’” - Tek, if Mitch Williams is rolling, no one mess with him.

“Todd Pratt got on the bus in a short sleeve shirt today… that’s a man that forgot to pack!”- Andy Musser

“Look at Lenny”- Musser

“Lenny saying that one was high” -Tek

“I believe those umpires would prefer Lenny didn’t exactly”- Musser

“Yeah usually those hand gestures aren’t really high on things they want to see you do up there” -Tek. Dykstra did not agree with a call in the ninth and visually made the ump aware of it. According to Macho Row Lenny would intimidate umps into giving him a better strike zone by blackmailing them about gambling? So I’m going to keep an eye on these situations, but mostly in my opinion Lenny was just a dick.

Final Conclusions

The Cubs put away the Phils 3-1 after a fluky first inning and a strong outing from “The Nomad” The Cubs remain the only team to beat the Phillies in the 1993 season.  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 Phillies look to split the series tomorrow in Chicago as Jose Guzman takes on Curt Schilling. 

April 14, 1993: A Rivera Runs Through It

April 14, 1993 Philadelphia Phillies (7-1) vs Cincinnati Reds (2-6)

A Rivera Runs Through It

An Introduction

I’m the guy who thinks his fantasy team was cursed because he decided to go against his soul and picked up Dansby Swanson for two weeks. . It’s crazy, but the Major League Baseball season was actually played in 2020, and the Phillies have 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 cruising to a Grapefruit League best record of 16-10 in Spring Training, the Phillies rocketed off to a 7-1 start, sweeping the Astros before losing their first game of the season against the Cubs in the home opener. The day after that loss was (spoilers) only day the 1993 Philadelphia Phillies spent out of 1st place in the NL East. Coming into today’s game, the last of the series against the Reds, the Phillies have won 4 straight games. The night before Tommy Greene pitched 7 innings giving up 2 hits, 1 run and 1 walk while striking out 8 Reds and with the help of a John Kruk double, the Phillies won 3-1. 

The Reds have stumbled out of the gate, with promising youngsters, Reggie Sanders and Bip Roberts, superstar Barry Larkin, and free agent signings John Smiley and Kevin Mitchell, the Reds were expected to do battle with the Braves for NL West (yes the great cities of the West: Cincinnati and Atlanta) supremacy. Instead they began the season 2-6 and have four key players injured coming into the game today. While on-field play is an issue, what’s going on behind the scenes is the real cause for the fall of the 1990 World Series champions. As I wrote about in the June 1st and June 2nd entries of this series that occur in the future of this entry, the Reds are at the beginning of their long messy divorce with owner Marge Schott. Schott bought a minority stake in the Red in 1981 and for 11 million dollars in 1984 she bought a controlling share and became the first woman to buy a Major League Baseball team. In November of 1992 in a wrongful termination lawsuit against her by former Reds employee Tim Sabo, Schott was quoted via testimony by another former Reds employee as saying that Reds players Eric Davis and Dave Parker were “million dollar (n words)”. It should also be noted that Sabo believed he was firing for not following Schott’s unwritten rule to not hire black people. Major League baseball set up a four person committee to investigate Schott and in February of 93, Schott was banned from attending Reds games for the 93 season and fined 250,000 dollars. After word leaked of the Sabo testimony, the Reds World Series winning Manager Lou Pinella declined to return to Cincinnati and ran for Seattle. With a huge PR problem on their hands, the Reds baseball operations pushed Schott to hire Reds legend (and minority) Tony Perez as their coach. This would last a total of 44 games before Perez was fired, the shortest stint for a preseason hired manager in 65 years. For the move, General Manager Jim Bowden Jr “needed around-the-clock police protection because of death threats to himself and his family. Fans were also upset because Bowden fired Perez over the phone instead of face-to-face”  (according to the Redleg Journal). Eventually Schott would be suspended from baseball again in 1996 after she said of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler “He had a lot of good ideas, he just went a bit too far” and was forced to sell her controlling shares by 1999 and bowing out of spotlight. The New York Times dubbed her “Baseball’s Big Red Headache”.

Today’s Game:

It is Thursday, April 14th, in the great city of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, at the trash-can cat shelter we know as Veteran’s Stadium. Today’s games is being presented on PRISM, the regional premium cable channel that is home to 45 Phillies games this season. They are also running commercials explaining a narrator’s uncle who has issues not drinking and driving at Phillies games (it’s implied) so thank god they got PRISM so he doesn’t have to drive to Phillies games anymore. (I swear to God).

In the booth today is Chris “Wheels” Wheeler who refers to a Philadelphia Inquirer story today about how he’s quoted as being “in awe” of Harry Kalas but wants to clarify he is not. Along with him are former Phillies outfielders Garry Maddox and Jay Johnstone. Sadly in the brief months I took a break from this series, Jay Johnstone has died due to complications from Dementia and Co-vid 19. Johnstone played with multiple clubs in his career but was a mainstay on some of the greatest Phillies teams of the 1970’s, including both 101 game winning squads of 74 and 75. These same great Phillies teams constantly ran into the Cincinnati Reds’ Big Red Machine and Johnstone was eventually traded to the New York Yankees where he helped them win 2 World Series in 78 and 81. He was league renowned for his great ability as a locker room prankster and much like the Phillie Phanatic his favorite target was Dodger’s Coach Tommy LaSorda. As is described in Johnstone’s books, he once locked LaSorda into his hotel room by tying a string to a palm tree, and another time he stole LaSorda’s uniforme, padded it, and made a visit to the mound as LaSorda. For good measure in the film The Naked Gun in the infamous baseball scene where Leslie Nielsen imitates an Ump, Johnstone appears at the plate as a Seattle Mariners hitter, and as a prank to only himself, the left handed Johnstone batted right-handed. Vaya Con Dios, Jay Johnstone.

Watch for yourself at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIGPCL8nbNg

The Line-up:

CF Lenny Dykstra

2B Mariano Duncan

1B John Kruk

3B Dave Hollins

C Darren Daulton

LF Pete Incaviglia

RF Wes Chamberlain

SS Juan Bell

P Ben Rivera

On the Mound:

Pitching for the home team is Ben “Bienvenido” Rivera, the 6 foot 6 Dominican fastballer is the only Phillies Starter to record a loss for the season after he got rocked by the Chicago Cubs in the home opener. Acquired by the Phillies in a trade with the Atlanta Braves in 1992, Rivera went a pretty incredible 7-3 with a 2.81 ERA (and respectable 3.51 FIP) to close out the season (and ensure a chance at a rotation spot in 93). His first start left him with a classy 23.14 ERA on the season with 1 strike out.

For the Red Legs, the pitcher tonight is Tom Browning who is also currently 0-1 with a respectable 30.86 ERA after one start in the 1993 season. Some amazing tidbits about Browning, he threw the 12th perfect game in the history of Major League baseball against the Dodgers in 1988 and followed that up with going 8 innings of perfection against the Phillies in his very next start before finally giving up a double in the top of the 9th. Browning also finished second in Rookie of the year voting in 1986 while finishing 6th in Cy Young voting after going 20-6 with a 3.55 ERA. He was an all star in 1991 and finished his career with exactly 1000 strikeouts. During the 1990 World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and Oakland A’s, Browning’s wife went into labor at the beginning of the 2nd game. After driving herself to the hospital, Browning was notified and left the dugout to be with his wife. As the game went into extra innings, the coach of the Reds Lou Pinella got nervous losing a member of his pitching staff and called up to the Reds radio play-by-play guy. The Reds play-by-play guy got an APB (all-points bulletin) sent out in search of Browning by the local PD, and then the World Series broadcaster Tim McCarver repeated the announcement to help find Browning. Browning heard it in the hospital and did not care because his wife was in labor. The Reds won in extra innings, Browning pitched 6 innings of game 3, earning the win, and the Reds would go on to sweep the Oakland A’s and win the World Series (in a terribly sad ending, Browning would eventually be arrested for not paying child support according to wikipedia). 

Highs (Hopes) and Lows:

  

Low then High: Top 2nd- Catching Fundamentals 

After cruising through a 1-2-3 first, Ben Rivera pitched himself into trouble in the bottom of the 2nd, walking the bases loaded, and causing the boo birds to come out of their early season hibernation. With a 2-0 count, Rivera gets Reds Catcher Joe Oliver to pop up to right fielder Wes Chamberlain (who I was certain as 5 year old was the same person as Wilt Chamberlain), who uncorks a perfect strike to home plate to nail the runner and complete the 7-2 double play and end the inning.

More impressive than the Chamberlain throw is Darren Daulton’s expert blocking of home plate that prevents Randy Milligan from scoring. Daulton’s ability to withstand plate collisions put him on par with Dottie Hinson from A League of Their Own (she dropped the last one on purpose) and puts a spotlight on one of the lost parts of playing catcher in the modern game of baseball. A few years ago, Buster Posey the (then) young catching phenom for the San Francisco Giants was lost for the season when he improperly blocked home plate and got his leg broken in multiple places. This caused a league wide discussion about the unsafe nature of the play at the plate, which they weren’t wrong to have. The days of Pete Rose not sliding but instead throwing himself full speed,  shoulder first, into a waiting catcher are for sure over. What we know about concussions, and long term injuries from such plays make it impossible to ignore the negative repercussions. Yet what happened to Buster Posey wasn’t one of those plays, but instead had more to do with Posey not really knowing how to play the position of catcher. For decades the position of catcher was one where defensive acumen was more important than offensive contributions, the ability to call a game and prevent runs was more valuable than producing runs. Yet when the sabermetric disciples of Bill James and Moneyball started thinking outside the box in front offices, the defensive minded catcher became expendable. There was no reason to give up a line-up spot to a player who couldn’t help produce runs (runs being the crux of the Moneyball argument), so thus began the moving of more offensive productive players to the catcher position, regardless if they could actually play catcher. What I’m trying to say is that Darren Daulton was pretty amazing as a defensive catcher and for the few years injuries didn’t bother him, he was an absolute offensive force.

HIgh: Bottom 3rd- Kruk’s Komes Through

John Kruk singles in the first run for the Phillies in the bottom of the third, knocking in Lenny Dykstra from 3rd base. Kruk is batting .412 for the season after batting .407 in 1992 during the month of April. A batter later,  Dave Hollins knocks in Duncan with a single to make it 2-0.

High: Bottom 5th- 2 out runs

With a man on third, clean-up hitter Dave Hollins, sadly struck out to make it two outs in the inning. After a Darren Daulton walk, there were Phillies on the corners when Pete Incaviglia came up to the plate. With a 2-0 lead and a pitcher who was about to face the Reds line-up for the third time, the game was still in doubt and the Phillies were in need of some help. Right Fielder Pete Incaviglia would answer the call with a bouncer in the hole for a single to make it 3-0. Wes Chamberlain followed that up with his 3rd single of the day and score another run, before Juan Bell (of all people) doubles home two more before the inning ends to make the score 6-0, with all four runs being scored with two outs.

High: Top 6- Working Out of Jams

Much like in the first inning where Ben Rivera walked two Reds to load the bases before getting out of the inning with the Chamberlain throw, Rivera walked Randy Milligan to load the bases in the 6th inning. This time instead of depending on great defense to bail him out, Gentle Ben dug deep into the reservoir and threw 6 straight strikes to K both Gary Varsho and Randy Milligan to end the threat and the inning. Rivera’s day ends after 6 innings 0 runs 4 hits 4 walks and 7 strike outs. 

Low: Top 7- Jose De not Good

After adding another run in the bottom of the 6th to make it 7-0, Manager Jim Fregosi opens up the bullpen with right hander, Jose DeLeon. DeLeon came to the Phillies for three spot starts in September of 92 after being released by the Cardinals, fun fact he twice lost 19 games in a season and with Kerry Wood is the only pitcher to win less than 100 games and strike out over 1500 people. Now in the bullpen, DeLeon is already 2-0 in the young season with a 2.38 era, but this is not his finest pitching appearance. After two quick hits and a completely (COMPLETELY) bogus catcher’s interference call, the bases are loaded with one out for Jose DeLeon who answers the challenge with a wild fork ball that scores a Red. DeLeon proceeds to walk the next batter to force the bases loaded again which brings out pitching coach Johnny Podres. “Fans are cheering because they think it’s a pitching change” chimes in Wheels. Podres leaves the mound and DeLeon then throws another wild fork ball to allow another Red to score, and brings the first real rain of boos from the Philly Phaithful in 1993. “Fans haven’t had much chance to boo this year and take advantage of it now” adds Wheels. 7-2 Phillies.

Wild Rides

This section is reserved in telling the final outs of Phillies games, whether it will be the last chance of a rally or the ongoing adventures of closer Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams, it will be covered here to summarize the game. The Phillies tacked on two more runs in the 8th on an Incaviglia double to take any drama out of the 9th inning. So, in this edition we have David “Big Bird” West, so called because he legitimately looks like Big Bird, with some of the worst 90’s hair you can imagine. West came over to the Phillies from the Minnesota Twins in a trade for Mike Hartley whose most interesting factoid on his wikipedia was that he was the head coach of the Croatian National team in 2011. David West is one of those players that current Phillies fans should look at optimistically for how the current bullpen could be re-imagined. West was a lackluster starter/long reliever for some very good Twins teams, his best year was arguably 1991 when he started 12 games won 4 lost 4 and accumulated a 4.54 ERA, a 4.99 FIP and a 1.32 WHiP. Yet the Phillies saw something in him to give him a chance in their bullpen, and even though he had a “shaky” spring (Wheels’ word, I can’t find any spring training stats from 1993 on the internet weirdly) the West idea  (spoilers) pays off in spades as he becomes one of the best left handed relief pitchers in the NL in 1993. In today’s game, West is in his second inning of relief and quickly dispatches Cecil Espy and Juan Samuel with pop-ups before inducing a grounder from Roberto Kelly to end the game. The Phillies win 9-2 sweeping the Reds and bringing their record to 8-1 which equals the 1915 Pennant winning Phillies for the best start in franchise history. 

Final: Philadelphia Phillies 9 (8-1) Cincinnati Reds 2 (2-7)

Words of Wisdom from Jay and Garry (and Sometimes Wheels):

“You know they’ve been trying to shorten the game of baseball, you hear so much about how the game has gone to be too long.” -Jay. It’s crazy that there were the same complaints from nameless people who want baseball games to be faster in 1993. Here we are 27 years later and it’s the same thing. Today’s video is 2 hours and 48 minutes. 

“Last winter people were saying at best this team would be mediocre, and here we are a week in and people are saying we could win this thing” -Garry Maddox. 

“Phillies fans have come so accustomed to pitchers throwing strikes this season”- Wheels when Rivera first walked the bases loaded.

“It’s great to see Tony Perez coaching. He deserves that shot.” Jay. Oh the sad irony, that Perez wasn’t getting his shot, and in fact would never get another real chance to coach a baseball team. The Phillies also take the time to make an adorable Tony Perez tribute video for the 1983 NL Champion Wheeze Kids 10 year anniversary. Perez, then 40, was brought in by the Phillies to be a bench player but due to injuries he ended up starting for most of the first two months of the season and helped lift the Phils with a .333/.368/.440 (ba/obp/slugging) and 21 RBIs. 

“A foot outside, but hey” Garry Maddox after Ben Rivera’s last strike out which wasn’t quite a strike persay, but it helped the Phillies.

Final Conclusion:

The Phillies phinish their sweep of the Cincinnati Reds thanks to 6 two-out runs and 6 innings of scoreless pitching from Ben Rivera. 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 Phillies are on the road to Chicago and the next game will be against the Cubs on April 16, 1993. 

April 5, 1993: Open to Possibilities

 April 5, 1993 Philadelphia Phillies at Houston Astros

Open to Possibilities

An Introduction

I’m the guy who talks himself into every relief pitcher the Phillies sign. It’s crazy, but the Major League Baseball season was actually played in 2020, and the Phillies have 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)

The 1992 Philadelphia Phillies finished in last place in the NL East, which is very important to the narrative of the 1993 Phillies, but can be misleading when researched further. In fact, in many ways the 1992 Phillies are eerily reminiscent of the 2020 Phillies which was a surprising thing to realize when coming back to this project. The 92 Phils were a very potent offensive team with a just god awful bullpen. They finished 2nd in the NL in runs scored behind the NLCS losing Pittsburg Pirates and directly in front of the NLCS winning Atlanta Braves, while also being 3rd in the NL in Home Runs,  On Base Percentage (OBP), and Weighted Runs Created (wRC+). The Bullpen on the other hand was last in Earned Run average (ERA) with a 4.20 (nice) ,Walks and Hits per inning Pitched (WHiP) with 1.5, walk percentage (BB%) with 12.2%, and Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) with 4.03. There’s no way to know how many times they lost 3 run leads though without slogging through that whole season too. Those Phillies went into the offseason with a great outfielder taken from a rival, a fun 1st basemen, a young gun 3rd basemen, a catcher in need of a new contract and one great starting pitcher, in need of a couple outfielders, a starter or two, and a fully revamped bullpen. Or as Jim Salisbury put it on Phillies.com recently about the 2020 offseason “even if the Phillies resign Realmuto, they still need to completely reimagine the bullpen, acquire a starter or two, acquire a shortstop and possibly even an outfielder or two.” 

Houston went an honorable 81-81 in the 1992 season, their year was particularly harrowing when due to the Republican National Convention they went on a 26 game road trip from July 27th to August 23rd. In their offseason they got a new owner in Drayton McClane Jr, a billionaire who would end up putting a great deal of money into the team during his tenure leading to their first World Series appearance in 2005 before selling the team in 2011 to Jim Crane. To make a splash McClane would spend big money on starting pitcher free agents Doug Drabek and Gregory Swindell. Their coach Art Howe in fact looks nothing like Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Hoffman was just that good of an actor. Bonus note, the 1993 Houston Astros season Wikipedia page begins with these two sentences “ The Houston Astros' 1993 season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Houston Astros attempting to win the National League West.” 

Today’s Game

It is Monday, April 5th, 1993 in Houston, Texas, at the concrete monstrosity that is the Astrodome. This home of the climactic scene of Bad News Bears in Breaking Training was also where it was decided to premiere Robert Altman’s film Brewster McCloud in front of 23,000 people. The cavernous baseball field turned out terrible for hearing a film’s dialogue (particularly Altman’s overlapping fair) and was a disaster for both the film and Altman’s career post M*A*S*H. The Astrodome was opened in 1965 and the first game featured one inning of play-by-play from the one and only Harry Kalas calling his first professional baseball game. Kalas would work in Houston from 65-70 when the Phillies signed him away to help open their own concrete monstrosity the Vet in 1971. The game is being broadcast on WPHL 17 with the aforementioned Harry Kalas as well as Richie “Whitey” Ashburn and Chris Wheeler. Also in attendance, just short of four months from his removal from office by the will of the American people, former President George H. W. Bush. Some opening day fun facts, the Phillies have lost the last eight opening days spanning back since 1984 and eleven of the last 12. At this point in 1993 the Phillies have had ten different left fielders start on opening day since 1983. The left field streak would continue for two more years with Incavigla and Gregg Jefferies in 94 and 95 respectively, then in 96 it would go back to Incavigla then to Jefferies again in 97 with Jefferies officially ending the Defense Against Dark Arts curse by starting consecutive opening days in 97 and 98. 

Watch for Yourself At:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig2PUFS7cMY 

The Line-Up:

CF Lenny Dykstra

2B Mickey Morandini     batted .340 in Spring

1B John Kruk                2nd in NL in OBP in 92

3B Dave Hollins            2nd in NL in Runs in 92

C Darren Daulton          5 Home Runs in Spring Training

LF Milt Thompson

RF Jim Eisenreich

SS Juan Bell

P Terry Mulholland

On The Mound:

Please feel free to go back and read my previous entries on Terry Mullholland to read my belief that he was an unheralded ace of the early 90’s. Let me just say this, in 1992, Terry Mullholland was really good on a pretty bad starting staff (the Aaron Nola of 93 if you will), finishing with a 13-11 record, a 3.81 ERA, 1.19 WHiP, and a 3.13 FIP. Most impressively he finished with 12 complete games, which was good enough to lead the NL. 

Pitching for the Houston Astros is Doug Drabek, the 1990 Cy Young Award winner is starting his first game for the Astros after spending a majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Many teams made bids for Drabek’s services (even the Phillies) but his mind was made up when the opportunity to play in his home state Texas came around. It’s so nice to hear about athletes deciding that they would prefer to play for their hometown team. Wouldn’t it be great if say the best player in baseball would move back to the city he grew up near,  where he owns season tickets to the local football team, and still has lots of family in the area, and go play for that team? What a magical world that would be. Drabek was great from 1987-1995, with his best season obviously coming in the 1990 season where he won 22 games while leading the Pirates to the NLCS, that year he also took a no-hitter 8.2 innings before giving up a lame single in an 11-0 win against the Philadelphia Phillies. Better known to more current Phillies fans for being the father of Kyle Drabek a Phillies 1st round pick who became a major piece in the Roy Halladay trade from the Toronto Blue Jays in 2010. 

 

Highs (Hopes) and Lows:

Lows: First Inning Malaise

Mickey Morandini tries to get the Phillies season off on the right foot by singling then stealing second, but with one out and John Kruk on first, Jim Fregosi decided to call for a hit-and-run. Dave Hollins, batting, then strikes out on a Doug Drabek curveball, and John Kruk is caught stealing second to end the inning. Not the best first trip to the heart of the Phillies’ line-up. In the bottom of the first with 2 outs and a man on first and third, Juan Bell decides to make his first terrible error of the 93 season and the Astros take the lead 1-0. Stumbling out of the gates is an understatement.

Highs: Top 4th- Taking the Lead

John Kruk takes his second walk of the game before a Dave Hollins hit, and is driven home by a huge double by Darren Daulton. Hollins scores two plays later on Jim Eisenreich’s first hit and RBI in the National League. Both Hollins and Eisenreich are left handed hitters who went opposite field for their singles which made me think of how they would have been played in today’s shift-heavy defensive schemes. Most likely there only would have been a 3rd baseman standing on the left side of the diamond with Astros expecting them to pull. Which poses the question, did baseball players stop being able to go opposite way? Or did going opposite way stop being a priority in the Three True Outcome (the only events in which the defense has no involvement, walking, striking out, or hitting a home run) era of hitting philosophy?

Highs: Bottom 8th- Terry in Trouble

With two outs in the bottom of the 8th inning, Terry Mulholland is cruising with only the unearned run in the first inning as a blemish, when he allows a fly ball to center field. It’s a long run for Lenny Dykstra, and he gets there in time with a slide, but he is unable to make the catch allowing Chris James a double. The next play is a bouncer to short stop Juan Bell who throws low enough that Kruk is unable to handle it, leading to a man on first and third with two outs. Fregosi started up the bullpen after the double and at this point sends out his pitching coach Johnny Podres to the mound to buy time. In baseball today, there’s a near zero percent chance that Mulholland would stay in the game, right? Fregosi should pull his starter and bring in his best reliever to get the most important out of the game, right? Doesn’t that seem logical? Well too bad it’s 1993, and logic hasn’t really entered into the reality of bullpens yet. So Mulholland, seeing that Podres is coming to the mound shakes his head “no”, and Podres scurries back. This is Terry Mulholland’s game now. Three pitches later, Steve Finley grounds out weakly to second base to end the threat.

Highs: Top 9- Insurance

With only a 2-1 lead, the Phillies go to work on a cushion with an opposite field double by John Kruk who is moved to third on a sacrifice by Dave Hollins. Catcher Darren Daulton is then walked and Art Howe decides to make a pitching change to face Milt Thompson. Jim Fregosi counters with pinch hitting Pete Incavigla to face his former team, Inky then promptly singles in the insurance run to make it 3-1. Going into the offseason, Fregosi made it a mandate to the front office that he needed professional hitters to fill his bench if they wanted any chance to compete in the National League. Lee Thomas, the General Manager, responded by signing Jim Eisenreich and Pete Incavigla, both who knocked in runs in their very first game in Phillie pinstripes. 

Wild Rides:

This section is reserved in telling the final outs of Phillies games, whether it will be the last chance of a rally

or the ongoing adventures of closer Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams, it will be covered here to summarize

the game. The Phillies have a 3-1 lead and a starting pitcher who refuses to leave the mound during his first start of the season. Mulholland’s first pitch to Jeff Bagwell is a foul ball that looks like it is obviously going into the seats, but it just hangs there and hangs there, and Eisenreich keeps drifting over and over. Then Boom! in the slightest of spaces Eisenreich makes an amazing catch for the first out of the inning.

One pitch one out, and followed up with a second pitch and second out on a grounder to second base. Ken Caminiti causes some drama with a single up the middle which brings the tying run to the plate, but one more pitch is all it takes to induce the last out on a comebacker to Mulholland himself who tosses over to first base to end the game.  

Final: Philadelphia (1-0) 3- Houston Astros (0-1) 1

Words of Wisdom from Harry and Whitey (and sometimes Wheels)

“These fans are applauding a deep fly ball.” - Harry Kalas

“They thought that was pretty neat when Biggio tagged up… it’s alright if they don’t clap at the right times”- Wheels. Houston was not quite known as a baseball town in the 80’s and early 90’s.

“This is a uh not a good play. It’s not an easy play but its a play a major league shortstop has to make with two outs” Wheels talking about Bell’s error in the first inning. He ain’t wrong.

“This is one of those borderline pitches outside corner again. Too close to take… oh that was outside. Well he had two strikes on him.” Whitey talking himself out of the ump’s call on a 3rd strike for Terry Mulholland. If it was a Phillie batting, Whitey would have been livid. 

“Lenny was there, he almost made a great play. He got to the ball… diving. See he’s there, actually there fairly easily. Actually he should have caught it” -Whitey talking himself out of giving Dykstra credit for missing a catch in the 8th. 

Final Conclusion:

Terry Mulholland continues his completing games thing, by going 9 innings allowing only 4 hits and one unearned run for a gem of a first game. The Phillies start the season 1-0, and their new players are contributing. 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. Sadly April is a bit scarce on our benevolent and almighty youtube page, so our next game will be April 14th, 9 days away, but don’t worry we’ll catch up.